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mayhemproduces · 2 years

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Sardonyx (c) vs Lacey Karmens - MPW Fatales Championship

April 24th, 2021.

Wes Barkley was the first person to fall, quickly fading to Mass Destruction as Sardonyx began her warpath throughout MPW. Big names and MPW originals alike have fallen at the feet of the Savior. 538 days, 49 victories, 0 losses. Two of her biggest victories came against long time rival - turned friend and stablemate, Riley Ishimori, BLADE, former MPW Tag Team Champion, Bayley, and the heavily decorated 44OH!. It didn’t matter who stepped up, what accolades they held or their history, their in-ring style. It didn’t matter if they attacked from behind or challenged her head on, Sardonyx was always prepared, always ready. Whether it was a 30-minute classic against submission specialists or former champions, or 8-minute squash matches against Queens or Goddesses, the fact remained the same. Sardonyx always wins.

Darkness Falls marked the beginning of the Savior’s unstoppable reign over the Fatales division, and it was hard to imagine anybody could stop her. But Lacey Karmens is the ultimate underdog, with several big wins under their belt. Nick Gage, Talia Rogue, Lilith Brookes, BLADE, and even a pinfall victory over their dear friend, Jade Cargill. They were the odds on favorite to win the Femme Fatales tournament - but how many of those people have beat Sardonyx? How many of them could?

“The following contest is a singles match, set for one fall, and it is for the MPW FATALES CHAMPIONSHIP!” Chicago screams at the beginning announcements. On one side of the ring, the challenger, Lacey Karmens, stared down the champion with a heated, intense gaze. Shoulders rolling as Steve Guy continues his announcements. “On my left, the challenger. Fighting out of San Francisco, California, and weighing in tonight at 148 pounds, they are Karma, LACEY KARMENS!”

It’s undeniable that Lacey is a fan favorite everywhere we go, but tonight had to be the loudest one yet. Thousands of people shrieking as Lacey’s name is announced, the challenger turning to face them, raising their arms before they gesture to their waist, indicating that the title is coming home with them. Cocky, for sure, but Lacey knows it’ll be a lot easier said than done. It’s going to take every ounce of strength, every ounce of energy, every play in their arsenal if they want even a chance of walking out of here with the belt around their waist.

“And to my right, the champion,” a much more somber reaction from the crowd tonight. There was a time when Sardonyx might’ve been on their good side; the aloofness making her a mystery to all, but since she’s aligned with The Fallen, that has changed immensely, “Fighting out of Auckland, New Zealand, and honoring The Fallen, she has been undefeated for 538 days, and she is the MPW Fatales Champion, SARDONYX!”

Sardonyx drops to her knees in the middle of the ring, two toned locks hanging in front of her face, with the Fatales Championship raised into the air, left arm stretched at her side. The NOW Arena is loud, a mixed reaction leaning more towards hostile. When she stands, Jessica Carr asks for the belt, but Sardonyx ignores her to get directly in Lacey’s face. Nose to nose with her challenger, Sardonyx holds the title up next to their face, but Lacey’s eyes are locked with Sardonyx’s. They vowed to come after all titleholders, but this one has become more personal than just a chance at the silver and purple title in Sardonyx’s possession. Lacey Karmens presents a real, massive threat to Sardonyx’s title reign, but it’s going to take more than just a threat to scratch the invulnerable champion.

The moment the bell rings, the room becomes electric. There’s been so much speculation, so much talk, but it would all come down to this. Opinions and statistics won’t matter now, the only numbers they need to care about are 1 - 2 - 3. Ultimately, it’s going to come down to who wants it the most. Who can persevere, who can withstand, who can survive the longest. Lacey steps forward, but Sardonyx is a stone wall. Unmoving, emotionless, while Lacey’s burning with desire. Their love for this business, their want, their need, to pick up their first piece of gold in MPW was shining brighter than ever. Their head tilts to the side as the white hot crowd begins to chant for Karmens, most of the arena with a resounding, “LET’S GO LACEY!” But the other half, growing in numbers, responds with, “UN-DE-FEAT-ED!”

“LET’S GO LACEY!”

“UN-DE-FEAT-ED!”

“LET’S GO LACEY!”

“UN-DE-FEAT-ED!”

The NOW Arena is split in half, rooting for both of them, as The Fallen have, so far, been much more beloved in Chicago than they are in most other places, and that was no more true than it is right now. Of course, Lacey is a beloved fan favorite on any side of the globe, even more so here in Chicago. The chants die down after nearly a minute as they begin to circle each other, before they finally touch, for the first time in their respective careers. Moving into a lockup, they battle for control. They fight to the ropes, Lacey pushing back, before Sardonyx switches them around, pinning Lacey. She slips back and pats Lacey’s chest, telling them to bring it as she backs up. Lacey looks down before they go swinging, but Sardonyx is able to duck and trip them up, slipping and sliding over Lacey’s back before locking in a front facelock. Lacey reverses into a front facelock, but Sardonyx rolls out and on top, into a waistlock, bringing Lacey up and into another facelock. Lacey picks the leg and works the ankle, maneuvering over Sardonyx before getting her in a headlock. Sardonyx rolls back, holding onto the waist, but Lacey hangs onto the headlock all the way up to their feet. Sardonyx pushes up against their face, pushing them back to the ropes. Sardonyx grabs the arm as they’re whipped away, pulling Lacey back and slamming them down on their head - but Lacey kips back up! Sardonyx turns them around and pops them in the mouth with a right hand, before pushing them to the ropes, but Lacey reverses and whips Sardonyx across the ring. They charge, knocking Sardonyx down with a single leg dropkick! The challenger scores the first point, asking Sardonyx if she needs a time out, before nailing her with a forearm smash.

Moving to the ropes, Lacey gets a running head start, but when they touch the ropes, Sardonyx goes low, kicking their knees out from under them! Lacey goes face first on the mat, and Sardonyx stays on the knee, sliding right out of the ring and slamming it on the apron. An elbow is driven into the tender muscle, leaving Lacey hobbling on the right leg. The left is placed on the guardrail before Sardonyx lifts it up, slamming it right on the barricade! That’s a straight shot to the hamstring! Sardonyx rolls inside the ring as Lacey’s left to their own devices, the leg becoming more useless with each brutal shot. Lacey forces themselves back inside the ring, and Sardonyx is instantly on the attack, jumping on the knee before it’s wrapped around the rope, bending it over the stiff cable. Lacey grunts in pain, burying their face deep in their arm. Eventually, Sardonyx relents, no rules in place in this championship contest to stop her. When she relents, they’re forced to their feet, but Lacey swings back and nails Sardonyx with a chop, the champion visibly wincing from the pain. Lacey rears back, landing a forearm smash, before following up with another chop, taking Sardonyx off her feet. They turn to run the ropes, but Sardonyx grabs the left leg, holding on and tripping Lacey up. Lacey tries to kick back, but Sardonyx kicks the left and hooks her legs around them, turning Lacey over in an inverted figure 4! The left leg is hyperextended over the right, Sardonyx locking in the submission deep. She may not keep the title via submission, but she’ll do plenty of damage to the knee like this. Eventually, Lacey’s able to move on their forearms and to the ropes, grabbing hold of the bottom. Sardonyx doesn’t have to break, but as Lacey starts to pull themselves out, Sardonyx lets go and drags them up to their feet. She holds onto the leg, but Lacey fires back with forearms, getting Sardonyx off them. Throwing her to the ropes, Lacey twists for a rolling elbow, but Sardonyx hangs onto the ropes, avoiding danger, and forcing Lacey to stop their momentum in an instant. Sardonyx charges, but gets tossed overhead with a belly to belly suplex!

Sardonyx lands hard on her tailbone, and holds it as she gets to her feet. Lacey sees the opportunity and takes it, trying to take Sardonyx out with the San Fran Bicycle knee - dodged! Sardonyx moves out of the way and swings, aiming for a spin kick, but Lacey ducks under it and grabs Sardonyx, spiking her with a DDT! A twinge of pain flashes through the left leg, and Lacey grabs for it before grabbing Sardonyx, throwing an arm over their own neck to prepare for a back suplex, but Sardonyx holds on. Locking down so she can’t be lifted, before driving her elbow into the back of Lacey’s neck. Lacey drops to a knee, and Sardonyx looks to run the ropes - but they’re drawn in by the tights! Sardonyx is spun up high, and driven down with a sitout powerbomb! Shoulders down!

1… 2… Kickout!

Sardonyx survives the first cover of the matchup, a moment of disappointment flashing over Lacey’s face, but they knew it wouldn’t be that simple. Sardonyx wouldn’t have gone undefeated this long if that was all it took. Getting Sardonyx up in the corner, Lacey charges in with a running boot, but Sardonyx moves out of the way at the last second! Lacey’s leg is hung up on the top rope, and Sardonyx rolls them up, shoulders down!

1… 2… Kickout!

After Jessica’s hand hit the mat for the first count, Sardonyx put her feet up on the ropes, but Lacey kicked out anyhow. Jessica caught it, and warns Sardonyx against doing it again. The champion only glares back at Carr, rolling her eyes. It was a mere test to see if Lacey had what it took to be here tonight, or if they could be outsmarted so easily. That would not be the case, but this discussion gave Lacey enough time to get to their feet, surprising Sardonyx with a charge - but she won’t be caught off guard tonight! Sardonyx lifts Lacey up, dumping them on the top rope, but they don’t bounce off. Lacey hangs on while Sardonyx runs the ropes, blasting Lacey with a dropkick to the face! Lacey flops back into the ring, but Sardonyx moves out to the apron. She leans over the ropes, trying to pull Lacey up, but Lacey punches their way out of it. Back on the mat, Lacey charges, and nails Sardonyx with a running big boot! Sardonyx is slouched over the top rope, and Lacey moves to the apron, getting behind Sardonyx and grabbing their waist, trying to hit a German suplex onto the floor, but Sardonyx desperately clings to the ropes. Maybe she even wouldn’t be able to survive a fall like that, and has to dive into the ring to avoid certain doom, but she still gets a headbutt from Lacey. Lacey gets back inside, and Sardonyx kicks the rope, vibrating it against the left leg! Lacey’s hung in the ropes, stuck there, and Sardonyx kicks her to the floor with a running bicycle knee strike on the side of the head! Lacey’s knocked to the outside, and Sardonyx hops down as well, telling all the fans and staff members to clear the area. Steve Guy jumps on the mic to advise they stay out of their way, as Sardonyx drags Lacey over to the third row. On top of the chairs, they stand side by side before Sardonyx leans back, hitting a Russian leg sweep onto the chairs! That’s a rough landing for both parties! Lacey’s face is contorted in a deep look of agony, and Sardonyx only adds to it as she rains down punches on Lacey’s head, beating them further into submission. At this pace, Lacey’s chances of walking out of here with the Fatales Championship were looking worse and worse by the minute.

Hopping over the barricade, Sardonyx moves up the second turnbuckle, hanging out on the outside as she waits for Lacey to find a way to her feet. When they do, Sardonyx jumps off the turnbuckles and crushes Lacey with a diving crossbody! They’re driven into the chairs, and Lacey might be done for! Sardonyx might’ve just taken out her opponent for the night, and she’s looking to seal the deal! Moving them back inside the ring, Sardonyx gets up on the top turnbuckle, going high risk once more, with a Phoenix Splash! She crushes Lacey, and hooks the far leg, trying to retain!

1… 2… Kickout!

Not yet! Lacey hangs on, but as they kick out, Sardonyx transitions into a crossface! With the submission locked in tight, Sardonyx wrenches back, applying intense pressure to the jaw and the neck, while forcing Lacey to spin on that left leg to get over to the ropes. They eventually find a reprieve, but they spend long enough in the hold before doing so, but Sardonyx looks slightly annoyed. She moves to Lacey’s side as they hang onto the ropes, trying to pick themselves up, before Sardonyx starts to kick. Not at full power, but it’s enough to send Lacey rolling back. Sardonyx looms over them, sinking fingers into their hair. Lacey grabs the hand locked into their hair and bends back on the fingers, forcing the hand onto the mat. They’re both pinned down by Lacey’s toes, Lacey flinking Sardonyx’s hair out of her eyes so she can see Lacey’s gift, a middle finger to the face, before launching their boot to Sardonyx’s jaw, hitting a bicycle kick! Sardonyx is rolled back, and Lacey lifts her back up, going for a wheelbarrow German suplex, but Sardonyx rolls through! Shoulders down!

1… 2… Kickout!

They get out, but Lacey’s back up and at it with a clothesline, but it’s a swing and a miss. Sardonyx grabs them by the waist, but Lacey elbows back, knocking Sardonyx sideways. Lacey to the ropes, but the champion strikes, grabbing Lacey under the arm, and hitting a pop-up knee strike! It hits square in the forehead, and their eyes roll to the back of their head, as Lacey falls through the ropes. Sardonyx looks at them before turning to run the ropes, diving through the middle - but they’re caught! Lacey grabs them in a vertical suplex, slamming Sardonyx onto the apron! What a reversal, and Sardonyx is HURT! It clearly took a lot out of Lacey to counter that dive and inflict that much pain on Sardonyx, and they’re able to persevere through the pain. No pressure is put on the left leg, but the energy pouring out from the crowd, their chants filling the room once again, Lacey is energized. They’re able to dig down deep to find what they need to get the action back inside the ring. With Sardonyx in one corner, Lacey faces the corner opposite. Head down as they shake out the left leg, getting themselves prepared for whatever they’re planning. They turn around and charge, nearly taking Sardonyx’s head off with a running boot! Her head is nearly sent to the third row, and Lacey wants to take it off all the way, throwing Sardonyx to the ropes and into a rolling clothesline - but Sardonyx ducks!

She hangs on and floats around, hooking her hands under Lacey’s arms and pulling her up into the crucifix. Quickly, Sardonyx spins, before pulling them up and into a powerbomb! Normally Sardonyx would get the sitout here, but slamming Lacey down meant landing on her own tailbone, and after it was just introduced to the hardest part of the ring, the impact does almost as much damage to deliver it. She’s clutching her tailbone as she moves to her feet, Lacey doing the same. After two excellent, high impact reversals from both parties, we still don’t have a victor, Lacey getting the shoulder up off of one of Sardonyx’s newer, spectacular moves. You’d be smart to bet on this one being nowhere near finished, with these two likely pushing the time limit, if they don’t end up going the distance. And that could very well be a possibility here, as, somehow, Lacey surprises Sardonyx with a rolling elbow, catching her right on the jaw! Sardonyx is spun around from the force of that shot, and Lacey grabs her by the waist, planting Sardonyx with a release German suplex! She damn near lands on her head after that one! Sardonyx is seeing stars while Lacey is fueled by adrenaline. The pain in their knee seems to be ancient history as Lacey holds onto the ropes, watching as Sardonyx groggily pulls herself together. They hit the ropes, and absolutely DECAPITATE Sardonyx with a clothesline! Sardonyx completes the full circle before hitting the mat, what power from Lacey Karmens! And it could win them the title, shoulders down!

1…. 2… KICKOUT!

Only two! Lacey almost can’t believe it, but they haven’t even busted out their best move yet. They’ll have to put everything they have behind it, if they’re able to find the opportunity to do so, since it could be their only shot. On their hands and knees, Lacey places their head on the mat as the NOW Arena starts to chant for Karmens, trying to will them back into the fight. The Un-de-feat-ed chants aren’t quite as loud now, as almost all of Chicago was on Lacey’s side right now. That could change with the tides, but for now, it was fueling Lacey, giving them what they need to get back up. They punch the mat as they rise, rolling out their arms as they crouch over Sardonyx, picking her up by the waist. Lacey snaps back for another release German suplex - but Sardonyx sticks the landing! She lands on her feet, and catches Lacey by surprise with a hurricanrana, but Lacey holds on! They throw Sardonyx up for a powerbomb, but Sardonyx shifts her hips, and turns it into a Canadian Destroyer! Lacey is spiked on their crown! They’re practically folded up on their neck after that one, and a dazed Sardonyx crawls into the cover, throwing an arm over their chest!

1…

2…

KICKOUT!

Lacey gets the shoulder up at two and a half, and even more than that, they’re on their feet! After all that, Lacey is standing, but they’re not for long, as Sardonyx charges into an omoplata, bringing them down into another Crossface! Softening up for the Hemonga Lock, without introducing it to Lacey too early on. She knows this is going to be much easier said than done, and doesn’t want to show Lacey her best tricks yet. There’s still more left to come, but she may want to rethink that soon. Very soon in fact, as Lacey overpowers the Crossface! They lift Sardonyx right off the mat, and spin them into a Tombstone position. Lacey lets her slide down a bit, arms hooking over the legs, before they drop, crunching Sardonyx’s neck with a cradle Tombstone piledriver! Sardonyx is dropped right on her neck, and this could be it! Shoulders down!

1… 2… KICKOUT!

It’s starting to feel like nothing was going to end this one. We could be looking at a rare MPW draw. There’s only been one before, all the way back when VENY faced Kenny Omega for the first time, their original bout coming to a 30-minute draw. In title matches, the limit is upped to 60, so we could be in for a long wait before we have a decisive victor.

Nevertheless, Lacey remains undeterred. They still have plenty of tricks up their sleeve as well, and look to enact something here, when Sardonyx grabs their leg. They look down, clearly annoyed, and knocks Sardonyx back with a hard knee to the jaw. They start to crumble, but they’re able to rear back, catching Sardonyx with a superkick! The champion goes down, but the left leg of the challenger gives up, leaving neither with an advantage. But Lacey could be wanting to change that here as they move to the top rope. They leap off, going for a Moonsault Leg Drop - but nobody’s home! Lacey hits the mat hard, landing directly on their legs, and Sardonyx charges, knocking them down with a penalty kick! She forces them upright, and sinks into a Black Widow! One of Lacey’s own moves, and Sardonyx is trying to beat them with it! She has the submission locked in tight, middle of the ring, but they’re able to shift Sardonyx onto their back, slamming them to the mat! A modified Air Raid Crash gets Lacey a reprieve, and they’re able to find a way up to their feet. Hair hanging loose in their vision, Lacey surges forward, knocking Sardonyx down with a superkick under the jaw! Sardonyx rolls outside of the ring, trying to shake off the cobwebs, while Lacey stays in the ring. They run the ropes, looking to fly, and dive out between the ropes - but nobody’s home! Lacey risks life and limb to make that dive, and it might’ve just cost them big time!

Lacey hits the venue floor HARD, and Sardonyx drags her motionless corpse up, trying to add injury to more injury with a back suplex on the unprotected tiles, but Lacey, somehow, has it in them to hold on. She doesn’t get the back suplex, but Sardonyx still rocks them with a forearm. Lacey’s stumbled, but fires back a forearm, sending Sardonyx back a few steps. She forces them to stand tall, and take another forearm smash to the jaw, before they both collapse! Down on their knees on the floor doesn’t stop these two from fighting, as Lacey rears back, landing another forearm! And Sardonyx keeps the pattern going with a third forearm from her! Lacey falls to their back, but it’s not the last of it as she powers back with another forearm, forcing them self to sit up to deliver it. Sardonyx barely moves back as the shots come more frequently, more intense, until Lacey’s rocked onto their back again. Sardonyx holds onto their locks as they’re pulled up, Sardonyx laying into them with even more forearms! She’s all but battering Lacey now, the challenger dropping to their knees, and Jessica Carr leaves the ring to separate them, wanting to check on Lacey. But Sardonyx isn’t having any of it. With Carr being the usual enforcer in the Fatales title defenses, Sardonyx has grown more consistently fed up with the referee, and shoves Carr to the floor! Jessica tries to pick herself up, but Sardonyx uses her back like a launching pad, taking Lacey off their feet with a European uppercut! What innovative offense, but that’s gotta be a fine?! These two are willing to risk anything and everything they have to walk out of here the winner, no matter what the cost may be!

Getting Lacey up on their feet, Sardonyx goes for a Northern Lights Bomb, but Lacey manages to turn it around, leaning back into a Tombstone! But they can’t deliver, the leg giving out as they attempt to, but they’re able to come back with a roundhouse kick! The champion’s dropped, and Lacey picked them up and put them upside down, this time, successfully hitting the Tombstone piledriver, spiking Sardonyx on the venue floor! Lacey’s leg gives out at the last second but they’ve taken Sardonyx down for a moment! Hopefully it’s long enough to give Lacey a chance to recover. Eventually, after several long moments of resting, they do make their way back inside, Lacey sliding in under the bottom rope before Sardonyx grabs their feet. Turning them back around, Sardonyx grabs their head and pulls them back, before spiking Lacey with a hangman DDT off the apron! Their head’s driven into the floor! Lacey might be out cold after that!

Sardonyx moves this one back inside the squared circle, kneeling as Lacey crawls over, and lands a headbutt! They’ve used their feet, their legs,their arms, and now resort to using their head as a weapon. But Sardonyx has no qualms with that, and knocks Lacey all the way to their back with a stiff headbutt. Lacey’s seeing stars, and doubting their choice in attack, as Sardonyx pulls them back up and hits a second headbutt. Standing in the corner, Sardonyx calls Lacey up before charging, trying to take their head off with a running bicycle knee strike, but Lacey ducks under it and tries to trip Sardonyx up, but the champion stands tall and sits on Lacey! Sardonyx holds onto the waist before a count is registered, pulling them up into a wheelbarrow - and slamming them down into the Hemonga Lock! It’s locked in DEEP, dead center in the middle of the ring! Nowhere for Lacey to go! Sardonyx has the arm digging into Lacey’s throat, cutting off the carotid arteries and choking the air out of Lacey’s lungs. They desperately try to search for more, but none is found, as they’re quickly losing consciousness. To come so far to be choked out in the end is a bitter pill to swallow, but there’s no shame in losing to someone with the track record and prestige of the MPW Fatales Champion. As much as many wanted to see them sit at the top of the mountain, it doesn’t seem to be fate, at least not tonight, as their eyelids begin to droop. Growing heavier by the passing moments, their arms slow to a gradual stop, and they look to be fading here. Carr crouches down, grabbing the arm… one… a second test… and Lacey stops it at the last second! There’s still life in the challenger!

Sitting up, Lacey rises from the ashes and leans back, breaking the submission! They get to their feet, unleashing a battle cry before they slip behind Sardonyx, landing a German suplex! Sardonyx lands on her god damn neck, but she springs up! Arms around the waist, she snaps back, hitting another German suplex, and putting Lacey right on the base of their neck! But Lacey won’t stay down! They’re wobbling, but they’re on their feet, unleashing another battle cry! Moving behind Sardonyx, Lacey hits a second brutal German suplex, only for Sardonyx to roll through into another German suplex! They’re teetering, but somehow, both parties remain on their feet. Sardonyx tries a third German, but Lacey sticks the landing! They run the ropes, bringing Sardonyx down with a hurricanrana, tucking her in tight for the cover!

1… 2… KICKOUT!

As Sardonyx kicks out, she pulls Lacey up into the 9 of Swords! Before she can deliver, Lacey starts to kick, forcing their way out, and forcing Sardonyx back. Lacey charges, and nearly takes Sardonyx’s head off with a running high kick, nearly kicking her over the ropes! Sardonyx is pulled down to the mat, and Lacey punches at the left knee before climbing up the ropes. They perch before flipping back, hitting the Moonsault leg drop! Shoulders down to win the title!

1… 2… KICKOUT!

No dice! Sardonyx out at two, and Lacey lays back with their head in their hands, wondering if they have anything left in the tank. But they wouldn’t have come to Chicago if they didn’t. Lacey gets up and pulls Sardonyx to her feet. One arm hooked in, then the other, before Lacey moves up into a wheelbarrow, and snapped back with a Dragon suplex, bridged over!

1… 2… KICKOUT!

Still two, and Lacey’s eyes nearly bug out of their head! Lacey falls back again, shaking their head, while Sardonyx moves to the top rope. Lacey jumps up and climbs up, only to get knocked back by a headbutt, but Lacey comes back and slaps Sardonyx across the face. Lacey tries to climb up, but Sardonyx wraps an arm around their head, locking them into a hanging Guillotine from the top rope! She can’t get the submission victory like this, but she can utilize every second given to her to inflict as much damage as she can, and choke Lacey out. When she lets Lacey drop, Sardonyx drops down to the apron. She slingshots into the ring - AND EATS A SAN FRAN BICYCLE! LACEY PULLS IT OUT OF NOWHERE, BUT SARDONYX FALLS THROUGH THE ROPES!

Lacey falls to the mat, head in their hands, as they just watched their best shot yet fall through their fingers! What unfortunate luck was that. After all of this intense back and forth, Lacey finally hit the big one, but Sardonyx was in the ring place at the ring time. Whether it was by luck or by design, Sardonyx will hang onto the Fatales Championship, if only for a few more moments.

Self-pity aside, there’s still a match going on, and Lacey still has a chance. More than a chance now that Sardonyx is out of it, having taken all of that knee strike to the jaw and neck area. Maybe if they’d landed it on the temple instead, there might be a different story here, but they’ve been targeting that jawline all night, so it made sense to use that big red X for the final blow. But as luck would have it, Lacey’s time has not yet come to pass. It could be soon, though, as Lacey gets them back inside the squared circle. But as Lacey slips in through the ropes, Sardonyx jumps up, cracking their temple with a roundhouse kick! They droop, and Sardonyx plants them right on the neck with a Northern Lights Bomb! One big move transitions right into another, as Sardonyx all but deadlifts them up into a vertical suplex. At the last second, Sardonyx moves them over, and spikes them with a Suplex Piledriver! Lacey’s dumped right on the top of their skull, and they’re out cold! Folded up like an accordion, this is it! Sardonyx retains!

1…

2…

KICKOUT!

LACEY SURVIVES! WHAT THE HELL IS IT GONNA TAKE TO END THIS?!

Sardonyx is tired of playing this game, of dealing with the stubbornness, the resilience of Lacey Karmens. She demands a definitive victor, and demands it be her, and she’s going to ensure that in a big way. Leaving the ring, Sardonyx digs around for plunder, and eventually finds… a glass sheet. The pane is slid into the ring, Jessica already pulling out thick, black construction gloves in anticipation of what’s coming next, as Sardonyx leans the pane up against the corner. She turns and moves up to Lacey, pulling them up by the hair. She hooks them into another Crucifix, and charges, trying to throw Lacey through the glass - but they slide off! They shove Sardonyx, but she’s able to grab the ropes to stop herself. But she isn’t scot-free! Lacey charges, delivering a San Fran knee to the back of the neck, and sending Sardonyx through the glass pane! It shatters into a million tiny pieces as Sardonyx is forcefully driven through it, her head smacking into the turnbuckles in the process. Coming out of it, her face is leaking profusely, draining down the front of her body, while Lacey runs the ropes, nailing a second straight bicycle knee strike! Sardonyx drops to a knee, but it’s not enough to knock the champion down! Lacey looks a bit frustrated, maybe even heartbroken, but doesn’t stop fighting, doesn’t stop swinging. They hit a superkick, a shoot kick, then a buzzsaw, trying to knock Sardonyx down, but she won’t budge. Another superkick into a quick knee on the temple, then another buzzsaw, and a bicycle kick. Superkick, buzzsaw, knee strike - Lacey’s lighting up the champion, laying into Sardonyx until blood starts to drip out between her lips, mixing in with the blood making its way down her face. Sardonyx raises her arms to her sides as Lacey moves back to run the ropes. Sardonyx, somehow, is on her feet as Lacey does it, and they bulldoze through Sardonyx with another bicycle knee strike! Sardonyx drops to the mat, but they kip right up! For a moment, Lacey isn’t sure what to do, but they decide to run the ropes, hitting another bicycle knee strike! Sardonyx goes to kip up again, but as her feet hit the mat, her body gives out. The sudden blood loss mixed in with all those kicks to the head, 9 kicks, 3 bicycle knee strikes, all in the matter of a few seconds. It was enough to keep a normal man down, but Sardonyx isn’t human, until she is. Until the blood loss, the head shots, the months and months of agony and pushing through to win comes crashing down on her, in this very moment, but Sardonyx doesn’t stay down. She tries to get back up, her blood covering the mat, her partial white locks starting to turn pink, as she gets to her hands and knees, Sardonyx is trying to get back up. One more push to the finish line, and she could make it there. She could make it to 50-0, but Lacey runs the ropes, and cracks her temple with a third straight San Fran bicycle, their fourth of the night, and they fall on top of Sardonyx in delivering it, getting a deep cover to snap the streak!

1….

…..

2…

…..

THAT’S THREE!

LACEY KARMENS HAS DONE IT!

THE STREAK DIES AT THE HANDS OF KARMA!

“HERE IS YOUR WINNER, AND NEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW MPW FATALES CHAMPION, LACEY KARMENS!”

Tears fill the eyes of Lacey Karmens as their name is announced by Steve Guy, the confetti and streamers popping off into the air. Lacey’s unable to move off their knees, frozen in shock, as they’re presented with the Fatales Championship. 49 other wrestlers came and failed, but Lacey Karmens is the 1 in 49-1. Lacey takes the Fatales Championship and holds it in their arms, cradling it like the precious trophy it is, before turning to the Chicago fans, the fans that have showered them with love since day one, and holds their prize high in the sky. The building is practically shaking at this point, cheering Lacey, before they begin to shout in unison.

“YOU DESERVE IT! YOU DESERVE IT! YOU DESERVE IT!”

And deserve it, they do.

#match

0 notes

dameronology · 3 years

Text

rescuer {din djarin}

summary: din djarin rescued you - and then you rescued him {for @drinksomecoco !! i hope u enjoy}

warnings: brief mentions of torture, swearing

this is like....4k words?? it got a little out of hand, i won't lie to u.

- jazz xx

It wasn’t often that The Mandalorian found himself becoming attached to bounties.

Twice. He’d done it twice.

The first time, he swore to himself that it would be the last. Adopting his little green surrogate...frog? Son?

Okay, adopting his little green surrogate Grogu had brought enough tension into his life. It had gotten him back onto the radars of both the Empire and the New Republic; thrown him into some weird form of fatherhood that he wasn’t quite ready for and tipped his entire way of life upside down. Despite all that, he never stopped to question if all the exhaustion was more trouble than it was worth, because he loved his kid. Completely and entirely in ways that no parenting book or fairytale could ever quite describe. It was an intense form of love and attachment - and Din knew it was going to hurt when he would eventually have to return the Child to his own people. That was a little far off though, because he couldn’t investigate any further til he had the means to do so. Money and resources weren’t limitless and even The Mandalorian had to find means to an end.

Going back to the Bounty Hunter’s Guild wasn’t ideal, especially not with the kid in tow - but did he have any other way? Din didn’t know any other way of life, let alone another way of earning money. Besides, he figured it would only be a quick few months. A couple jobs here and there until he had enough in savings to travel far enough to find where Grogu really came from.

But it was two bounties; two bounties that he would find himself becoming attached to. Grogu was the only one.

It was through that decision to return to the Guild that Din Djarin would find himself stumbling across the next one. He was offered five pucks - the first four were easy. Standard jobs, really. Runaway criminals and Imps who had crossed people so many times that trying to work out their loyalty was head-ache inducing. He found them all in a matter of days, really. They were good at hiding but it didn’t count for much when The Mandalorian was good at finding.

Then there was you; the fifth puck. The one he thought was going to be the easiest.

Finding you wasn’t a problem. Tucked away in a corner of rural Tatooine - maybe twenty, twenty five minutes shy of Mos Eisley - you were hiding in plain sight. It would have been enough to protect you from anyone else but Din was an unrelenting expert in finding those who didn’t want to be found.

He never quite knew what to expect when he closed in on a bounty. Sometimes they ran and sometimes they hid. A few of them had tried to appeal to his humanity; to try and connect with the man they hoped was behind the mask. Because aside from the husky voice that occasionally escaped the helmet, there was no proof that The Mandalorian was anything other than a very convincing droid. That was, until, someone would lay a hand on his son or ship and suddenly, a wave of pure human rage would burst out from beneath the beskar.

You couldn’t have hidden from him or run away, even if you wanted to. Not because you were scared, but because you were chained up; wrists and ankles in shackles, keeping you tied to the walls of a filthy docking bay. From the sand piled around your feet, it was clear that you had tried to kick up a fuss at some point.

But based on the way that you looked at him - with tired eyes and a hopeless expression - that made Din realise: you’d lost the will to fight. He knew that you weren’t going to wriggle away or try to engage in combat.

“Are you…” The Mandalorian trailed off. “Are you alone?”

“Probably,” your eyes flicked up from the ground, unknowingly capturing his gaze. “I think I’ve been left for dead.”

He sighed. “I’m looking for a...Kan Durant. Is he here?”

“No,” you shot back. “He left me here for dead about a week ago. Probably knew that a bounty hunter was going to come after him at some point.”

“Do you know where he went?”

“I’m chained up,” you said. “Isn’t the answer to your question a little axiomatic?”

“Maybe,” he replied. “But if you know anything, it might be helpful.”

“Try Corellia,” you muttered.

Corellia. That was...doable. Not too far and not too hard to search. That would be his fifth and final puck and then Din could set off for the sunset in search of his kid’s home planet. That’s what this whole thing had been about.

But...you. You’d been left for dead - and based on the bruises around your eyes and on your limbs, that was the least of what you’d gone through recently. What kind of man would it make him if he left you? A fucking awful one, obviously, but what was he supposed to do?

Din slowly leant down, pulling a thin tool from his belt. He fiddled around with your cuffs for a moment, until there was a low hiss. They fell from your hands and onto the sandy ground - he expected you to get up, or to run, or do anything but sit there and stare at him with gaunt eyes. Maybe it was foolish of him to think that merely freeing you of your restraints was doing his part for the greater good.

“Is there anywhere around here where you can go?” he asked. “An inn? A cantina?”

You snorted. “No. I’ll die.”

“You can get food and medicine out there.”

“Mos Eisley is swarming with Durant’s men,” you explained. “The minute I step foot in any town or port here, they’ll know.”

Maybe being with Grogu had softened him, or maybe The Mandalorian genuinely couldn’t find it himself to leave you. But, he found himself doing the unthinkable: sticking his hand out to you, lifting you up, and leading you out of the docking bay and back towards his ship. He didn’t know what he was going to do or how he was going to do it but really, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. His main focus had been on keeping you alive until you were within the safety of the Crest.

You stumbled slightly when he put you down, tripping and falling towards the control panel to shut the loading bay doors. At least you were intuitive.

With that, you fell back to the ground. It was becoming clearer and clearer that you were in a bit of a state - how long did you say it had been? A week since Durant had left - so that was at least seven days without proper food or water. It was a miracle you were alive. Din had got there just in time.

“Why are you helping me?” you asked. “What do you want?”

He glanced over in your direction. “I don’t want anything.”

“I don’t believe that for a second,” you shot back.

“I wasn’t going to leave you there,” Din replied. He paused for a moment, before turning to face you. “I’ve heard Durant’s name before. I know what he does to people.”

“Aren’t you more worried about finding him and getting the bounty?” you pushed.

Truth be told, Din wasn’t that bothered. He had enough money from the last four pucks to get him where he needed to be. The fifth had just been a little extra, so he had an easier time letting go of it. He certainly wasn’t the only hunter going after Durant’s ass and worst case scenario, Karga would give him a little bit of shit for not completing the job. All of that was a lot more manageable than living with the guilt of leaving you in the dark to die.

“Someone else will get him. I’m sure.” Din muttered. He reached for a ration pack stored away on a shelf and tossed it in your direction. “You should eat this. I’ll get us in the air and find some bacta-”

“- you really don’t need to,” you cut him off.

“Eat,” he pushed again. “You’re weak. You’ll need it.”

Over the next few days, you would come to find that forceful-but-caring demands were The Mandalorian’s main language.

He didn’t talk much - or at all really. He didn’t need to, not when you kept to yourself on the lower deck of the ship whilst he dealt with everything else. He didn’t seem to mind that you weren’t helping; after all, you’d been in a weak state when Din had found you and standing up had been hard, let alone maneuvering around the flying hunk of metal. You were beginning to feel a little more spry, thanks to the food, water and bactaspray. The combination was hardly an elixir of life but you’d found yourself feeling a little more human.

Sleep was the hard one. A combination of confusion - at the situation, at Din, at where you were going - and nightmares made it hard. Every time you closed your eyes, you found yourself hurtling back in time to when Durant had first captured you. You’d been a test dummy for all his weapons and experiments and really, you were just lucky to be alive and in one piece. It didn’t count for much though, not when you couldn’t get a single fucking second of shut eye.

You would have been a fool to think that Din hadn’t picked up on it.

He was observational by nature and even more so by craft. A man who was constantly looking over his shoulder and straight ahead; a warrior who had been raised to keep a weapon by his side at all times. Of course he was going to notice your insomnia, and the way your eyes seemed even more sunken and dull than when he’d first found you.

You were sitting in the hull when he approached you. Not a lot had been said, other than the occasional eat this or put this on your bruises. Again - all a little forceful, but with a sense of genuinity behind the words. You still had a hard time believing that he was legitimately just a man who wanted to help you.

“I find that noise helps.”

You glanced up at him. “I’m sorry?”

He cleared his throat. “When I can’t sleep, and when I have nightmares, I find that being in a room with white noise helps distract my brain.”

“Oh, right,” you gave him a small nod. “I s’pose it is pretty quiet down here.”

“It’s noisier up there in the cockpit,” he replied. “We’re going to be in hyperspace for a while so if you want to get some sleep, I’ll stay down here.”

“Thank you.”

For the first time in days, you finally showed a glimmer of emotion. It was just a smile - and one he figured was a forced one - but still, it was a good sign.

Din’s eyes followed you as you stood up, heading for the ladder up to the cockpit. You stopped in front of it for a moment, palms wrapping around one of the rungs. At first, he thought you were just pondering, or taking a moment to rethink your actions, but then a light bulb went off in his head. You were too weak.

Moving slowly, The Mandalorian positioned himself behind you.

“Is it okay if I put them here?” he quietly asked, large, gloved hands hovering over the side of your hips.

“Uh, yeah,” you replied. “Thank you.”

With Din’s support, you were able to grab onto the hatch above and pull yourself up, boots hitting the ground of the cockpit. He followed you up, guiding you over to one of the pilot’s chairs. The lights of hyperspace were flashing by, illuminating the entire room in a white-gold glow. It felt odd to be up here after so many days of confining yourself just to the hull - forbidden, even with the invite from The Mandalorian himself.

“How did you know that I get nightmares?” you asked, turning around to face him.

The helmet tilted slightly. “I get them too.”

“I’m sorry,” you softly sighed. “Thank you again for your help.”

“It’s okay,” Din brushed it off as though it were nothing. “We have about four hours til our next stop. I’ll wake you up before we get there.”

“Is that where I get off?” you asked.

“No,” he firmly replied. “It’s not safe there either.”

You had more questions that you wanted to ask - now more than ever that he was finally talking - but you were far too exhausted to even try. Once you’d fallen back against the chair and been handed a blanket out of nowhere, the noise of the surrounding machines practically dragged you out of consciousness.

---

One question you had wanted to ask Din had been about the duration of your stay.

How long were you supposed to stay on board? How long did he want you there?

You were almost scared to ask, for fear of the answer. After all, you barely knew him. He could get up at any moment and demand that you left, and you wouldn’t have been able to argue. All of this - this looking after you, this roof over your head, this care - felt too good to be true. Like it was all part of some elaborate ruse.

But it was funny, because you were even more scared that it wasn’t. If Din - or The Mandalorian, as you knew him - was truly just a nice person with pure intentions, then that was about to be dangerous territory for you. The minute that you started trusting him, and the minute you started to see him as someone who could protect you, would spell trouble. You had never intended to become attached, but it was only natural. You hadn’t had a single person look out for you - not once in your life.

Every time he made you food, or helped you up into the cockpit, you felt yourself slipping that way. A six-foot pile of beskar should not have been a sign of comfort, but the helmet came to symbolise...something. You didn’t know what. Attachment, maybe? A little inkling of affection for whoever the hell was below those inches of steel?

A few weeks passed and the tension slowly began to falter. It was probably the proximity more than anything, but the time proved to you more than anything that Din was genuine. He was helping you because he wanted to - there was no personal gain for him, nor monetary. He actually, honestly just wanted to do good.

And doing good, he was. Whilst he still kept his distance, he looked after you. He made sure that you ate enough to recover from your periods of deprivation and once a day, he would clear out of the cockpit for you to get some rest. He still helped you up the ladder every time -and even when you told him you were strong enough, he still stood back and watched just to make sure.

Because, truthfully, The Mandalorian was beginning to see something in you. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what, but he was intrigued by the way you were slowly beginning to show him parts of yourself. Where your eyes had once been gaunt and lifeless, they now had a spark in them. You were quiet when you’d met, but now you spoke to the kid and you hummed to yourself. It was like the life that was sucked out of you was slowly being breathed back in, day by day and bit by bit.

“Do you wanna get some sleep?” Din asked you one day.

“Yeah, sure,” you glanced up at the Child, giving him a small smile. “When did you last sleep, Mando?”

Another helmet tilt. “I get enough sleep.”

“I don’t believe you,” you thinned your eyes at him.

The Mandalorian sighed slightly - normally, that would have been a sign to literally anyone else to drop it. But with you? Nope. You saw that as a sign of progress; that the little, tiny display of emotion meant you were beginning to chip past those godforsaken layers of beskar.

“I get nightmares about Durant,” you continued. “Every time I panic and wake up in a cold sweat, I remind myself that I’m safe, because I know that you and the kid are here.”

“You do?”

“Yeah,” you admitted. “You can tell me anything and I promise I won’t judge you. You’ve never judged me.”

He pondered for a moment, before releasing another deep breath. “I can’t sleep alone.”

“Really?”

“Last time I did, I woke up and my parents were gone,” Din explained. “So I wait til the kid wants to go to sleep and I just go with him, so that I’m not alone.”

Your heart dropped a little at that - partially because he’d opened up to you, but also because the Child rarely ever slept. If Din only ever waited around for their exhaustion to coincide, it must have been months since he’d last got a decent night’s rest. It was the least he deserved.

Nodding, you stuck your hand out towards him. “C’mon.”

“What?”

“I’m gonna sleep and so are you,” you replied. “You need it and if I’ve done everything that you’ve instructed so far, I think I should have the same in return.”

Din didn’t want to admit it to himself at first.

It being multiple things: the fact you were helping him, the fact your presence on his ship had made the place seem better, the fact that his heart skipped a beat every time you brushed past him.

Bar his surrogate son, Din had never been close with anyone before. He’d never even slept in the same goddamn room as anyone else, even. That was a fucking mammoth step for him, but when you took his hand? It felt like a baby step. Just a tiny hop from A to B. Not a massive milestone, or a moment of personal progress. You had made it seem so simple.

Maybe that was it.

You never over-complicated anything. Your intentions were always clear and simple - there was no moral ambiguity, no moments where Din had to question whether or not he could well and truly trust you. He just knew. It was funny, because it was the exact same situation you’d had with him - questioning why he was helping you, trying to work out what he wanted. This whole time, Din had been helping you solely because he thought it was the right thing and it’s what you were doing for him too.

Din liked when you sat close to him. There was a little wave of warmth he felt every time you shuffled a bit nearer to him when you both crashed on the floor of the cockpit, and a tiny swarm of butterflies that flew through him when you stuck by his side in busy towns and cities. It was clear that you found comfort in him after so many years of going without it.

In turn, he found comfort in you. Not just in the way you unintentionally looked after him, but just...everything. Your presence had been a little odd on the Crest at first, but now it felt weird to be without it. Hearing you single quietly in the shower and have one-sided conversations with the Child filled a hole in his life that he hadn’t even realised had been there.

It was as though he’d had a missing puzzle piece his entire life; a gap between all the interconnected parts that hadn’t been integral, but certainly inconvenient. And now that it was filled, he could take a step back and finally look at the bigger picture that had been forming. All the pieces were finally there - you and the kid and whatever odd family unit that made you - and the galaxy didn’t seem so nonsensical anymore.

A little over two months after he first found you, word got around that Durant had finally been captured. Not by Din, but that hadn’t mattered - because killing the man who had hurt you, even after everything, would never amount to everything he’d done for you.

The relief didn’t last long for you, though - because as soon as you realised you no longer had a reason to hide, it dawned on you that you no longer had a reason to stay with Din. Or, at least not one you were willing to share with Din. Begging to let you stay just for the sake of being near him didn’t seem like a very convincing argument - at least not from where you were standing.

But from where Din was standing, it was a little different. You were part of his life now, even if you had no idea. That wasn’t your fault, though. He wasn’t exactly the best at vocalising it. Admitting it to himself had been hard enough, let alone to you.

“So,” you spoke softly, clearing your throat. “I suppose you’ll drop me off at the next planet?”

You were both sitting in the cock-pit; the Child was asleep downstairs and the Crest was soaring through the last stretch of hyperspace before Nevarro.

Din didn’t want to drop you off. He didn’t want his ship to be silent all over again or to sleep without you by his side. The thought alone of not having you around anymore was enough to make him a little watery-eyed beneath his beskar barrier. You’d grown on him, and in return, he’d kind of, accidentally fallen in love with you.

“You don’t have to go,” he said.

You peered over at him. “If you can think of a reason for me to stay aboard, please do let me know.”

“I want you to stay,” Din replied. He gently reached out a hand and took it in his - it was the first time that he’d given you such a vast gesture. “Isn’t that reason enough?”

“Yeah,” you smiled. “It is.”

Staying aboard the Razor Crest was one of the best decisions you’d ever made.

Not only because it meant you were well and truly safe, but because Din’s direct request was a sign to you that you weren’t imagining things. Whatever attachment you felt to him, he felt it too - but it ran deeper than that. There was a mutual concern and respect for one another. Something born of two lifetimes spent on their own, finally coming together in one.

Things had been a little slow before then; the way that you danced around each other, like two magnets that were meant to come together - just with a little hesitancy. There had been a lot of late nights and long trains of thought about the signals that the other was giving off; about whether you’d misinterpreted the way his hands lingered over yours, or the way you’d practically passed out on his shoulder.

But, after that - after Din had openly asked you to stay, and you’d happily agreed, things began to move a little faster. Where you’d once been slowly walking down that hill and towards each other, you were now slipping, tripping and falling.

With each passing night, you inched closer towards each other. God forbid you ever found out, but Din even found himself pushing the pilot’s chairs closer to each other when you weren’t in the room, just so he could properly feel you next to him when you dozed off. He enjoyed your presence at the best of times but it was those dark, quiet moments when he genuinely and fully needed you.

It came to a head one night when you’d laid down with the Child beside you - not upstairs in the cockpit, but in the tiny cot in the hull of the ship.

There wasn’t room for one person, let alone one person and a tiny creature. Even worse, for two people - one in a beskar suit - and the creature. It just didn’t work. It shouldn’t have worked.

But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the moment that Din saw you dead to the world with the Child in your arms, he was certain that he was going to make it work. Maybe with a bit of reshuffling there, and if he just moved the kid here - and that was when Grogu bit him pretty hard on the finger.

Disregarding his reshuffling plan, he knew there was only one option left.

It was something he’d never dreamt of doing before, simply for how terrifying and exposing it was - but he took one glance at you, and once glance at his kid, and he knew it was going to be worth it in the long run. It was merely a necessary step to getting closer to you - physically, mentally emotionally.

You stirred slightly at the sound of metal clattering to the floor - not enough to wake up, but enough to be a little more aware of the room around you. A moment later, there was a quiet hiss, and then everything went black.

In your sleepy state, your brain reacted a little slowly - but then the mattress beneath you dipped, and you felt someone’s skin against yours. Not just skin, but stubble against the back of your head as he pressed a kiss to it, and warm fingers tangling with yours.

“The armour,” you murmured. “You took it off.”

“It was the only way,” he softly replied. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

“Okay,” you let out a sleepy hum. “Good night…”

“Din,” he quietly said.

“Good night, Din.”

#din djarin x reader #din djarin reader insert #din djarin imagine #din djarin imagines #din djarin x you #mandalorian x reader #mandalorian reader insert #mandalorian imagines #star wars reader insert #star wars fan fiction #star wars x you #star wars imagines

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timbourinedrakejr · 3 years

Text

Missing you

My secret Santa recipient was @moonlightstar64 !!! I saw you liked Mari being the bio!sibling of one of the Batfam, so I got a bit carried away with this big brother Jason fic, I hope you enjoy it!!! (Part 2 of the gift is here)

@maribat-secret-santa-2020

Jason tapped his foot impatiently on the floor, and gave another over dramatic sigh, which gained multiple glares from his siblings. They were meant to be visiting the Marché de Noël at Notre Dame to do a bit of christmas shopping and get food, and he was starving.

But for some god forsaken reason his brothers were taking ages to get ready, and he was sick of waiting for them. He opened his mouth to give another complaint when Alfred cut him off, sending him a stern glare.

“If you cannot wait any longer Master Jason, I suggest you go on ahead and get something to eat and stop fussing. We will be along shortly.” It didn’t take much else for Jason to get the message, Alfred had had enough of his impatience and wanted him out.

With one short glare at the rest of his (incredibly slow) family, Jason turned and left the hotel, determined to make the walk to the market as quick as possible. It had just begun snowing again, and the sunlight was quickly disappearing, giving the streets of Paris a magical feel.

He would never admit it straight up, but he was actually enjoying the forced family vacation, even if his family infuriated him sometimes. It was the first year he’d ever actually accepted the invitation to join them, and despite all his worries, it’d been going surprisingly well.

The tradition to have a Christmas vacation had started a few years ago, when Alfred had decided that he’d had enough of missed Christmas dinners and that the whole family deserved to enjoy a holiday. Alfred had determined that the best way to fully remove the temptations of working over Christmas, would simply be to forcibly take Bruce out of Gotham altogether. Of course Bruce put up a fuss, and so did the rest of their workaholic family, but there was no fighting Alfred sometimes.

It didn’t stop most of them from bringing cases to work on, but it still gave them all a much needed break, as well as a whole lot of unspoilt ‘family bonding time’. Every year the location of the holiday changed, and this year Paris was decided on. As he walked along the streets, admiring how the strings of christmas lights glistened off the snow, he was glad he’d agreed to come this year.

He really was hungry though, and despite being so close to the market, he couldn’t wait to eat any longer. He spotted a small sign up ahead for a boulangerie patisserie, and the delicious smells and warm glow coming from inside, were enough to tempt Jason in.

As soon as he stepped in, his eyes darted straight to the display case, so distracted by his hunger that he almost didn’t notice how the shop assistance’s greeting abruptly cut off with a gasp.

Jason looked up to see what had caused their reaction, only to stop short himself, as his eyes landed on a girl with two familiar pigtails, who’s watering blue eyes were currently locked on him in shock.

“Jason?”

Marinette had never thought she would see Jason again. Not since she was 11 and saw the headline that had torn her heart in two, the one that had crushed all her hopes of one day being reunited with her brother.

When she was younger, freshly adopted and living in her new home in Paris, he was all she would ever talk about. Her parents would listen with a fond grin as she babbled on in broken french about how cool Jason was, and how much he would love it here, especially the food.

They had been separated after their mother had died, sent to different care homes despite all their protests. When her new parents had discovered that she had a brother, they had tried looking for him, only to find out Jason had run away a few weeks prior. Marinette had been heartbroken, but she knew deep down that Jason was looking for her, and one day they would see each other again.

Marinette had been a logical kid though, so she understood that the chance of Jason finding her in France, was extremely low. At best, Jason would be found and adopted by loving parents who would help him find her (which, knowing Gotham, was very unlikely), and at worst, he would have to wait until he was eighteen to look for her himself. She never even considered the possibility that he wouldn’t make it to eighteen.

Jason was a survivor. He was brave, kind, and always always looked out for her. Her mother had tried her best to take care of them both, Marinette knew that, but most of the time it was Jason looking after both of them. Jason had told her that she’d been the best Mom, before she got ill, and before their dad had made it worse, but Marinette was too young to remember the before.

All Marinette could remember was Jason. Jason was the one who cooked most nights, the one who made sure she was in bed on time, the one who got her ready for school each morning. He’d always try and protect her when their dad was in one of his moods, and always patched her up afterwards, no matter how much worse off he was.

No matter how bad some of her memories of Gotham were, Marinette didn’t want to forget Jason. So she did whatever she could to remember him. She told all her new friends about him, and insisted that her parents learnt how to make all his favourite foods.

She even kept her hair in the exact same style that Jason had always put it in. She’d used to complain that all the other girls had their hair in pretty styles, whilst hers was always boring and let down, so Jason had learnt how to do her hair. Granted, the only style he could do neatly were pigtails, but it was still better than nothing.

Every morning they would sit down, and Jason would brush her hair, making up grand tales for her whilst she sat quietly in awe. Those mornings were some of Marinette’s most cherished memories, so to make sure she never forgot, she got her Maman to teach her how to do them herself.

She wore them everyday, without fail, and would proudly tell anyone who commented on them, that it was for her brother. Marinette secretly hoped that it would also help Jason to recognise her when they were finally reunited.

It was also a habit for Marinette to watch the Gotham news every day. She still missed her old home despite how dangerous and corrupt it was, and watching it was a comfort, a way to keep in touch with her roots.

It was also how she found out that the adopted son of Bruce Wayne was killed in an explosion. She’d only been half paying attention, working on her homework whilst she waited for her parents to cook dinner, when she suddenly heard her brother’s name mentioned.

Her world had stopped as a picture of her brother, looking healthy and older in the arms of Bruce Wayne, was displayed on screen, with the newsreader calmly announcing his tragic death alongside it.

Marinette had been inconsolable for weeks, no amount of reassurance from her parents able to stop her tears. She spent days going through news articles, reading anything that mentioned her brother, saving every photo she could.

It hurt knowing that if she’d just paid more attention to Gotham, searched for her brother properly rather than just sit by and wait, she could’ve found him. Could’ve talked to him, let him meet her new family, meet his new family.

But now none of that was possible. Because he was dead and nothing could change that.

Marinette stopped watching Gothams news after that. She stopped talking about him because it hurt too much. She didn’t even tell Tikki at first, only telling her after she noticed the picture of him pinned to the wall next to her bed.

But despite how much the memories hurt now, Marinette still clung to them. The memories were the only things she had left of him, and even though it hurt too much to talk about, she didn’t want to pretend he didn’t ever exist.

So, even though she got teased for it being too childish, and even though it still stung to remember, she kept her hair in pigtails. A small reminder to herself to never forget, and to hold the good memories close.

Life had moved on, and even though Marinette still missed her brother, the pain wasn’t so raw anymore, feeling more like a dull ache rather than a bleeding wound. Still, Marinette always felt worse around the holidays, and liked to keep busy rather than dwell on the thought that Jason should be here, enjoying life, too.

The bakery was always hectic around the holidays, and gave Marinette the perfect excuse to busy herself and help out, often manning the till to give her parents a break.

It had been a miraculously quiet afternoon, which Marinette attributed to the local market, and she’d been doodling on a napkin when the bell chimed, indicating a customer. She’d straightened quickly, automatically greeting the customer, before she looked up and immediately froze.

Because standing in front of her, was what should’ve been a dead man. He looked older, as if he’d actually aged the last five years. She could see scars that weren’t there before, and his hair looked different, a streak of white in the front, but no matter all the changes, she was certain that was him.

That was Jason.

“Jay?”

She barely registered that she’d spoken, and her suspicions were confirmed when the man looked up in wide eyed shock. The tears that were forming in her eyes began to overflow as he replied, the Gotham accent as strong as ever.

“Nette?”

That was all it took for Marinette’s restraint to break, and she practically jumped the counter in her rush to get to him, to prove to herself that he was really there, and not just some akuma trick. But an akuma wouldn’t show her Jason all grown up, and he wouldn’t just be standing there looking like he was the one who’d just seen a ghost.

As soon as she was close enough, she threw herself at him, and clung on to him for dear life. Only a moment later she felt strong arms return the embrace, just as hard. She felt a million different emotions all buzzing through her head at once, but the clearest feeling of all was the pure relief.

She didn’t know how or why he was back and apparently alive, but at this moment, she did not care. Her brother was back, and he was here, and she was never gonna let him go.

“Never do that again,” she managed to choke out, her words muffled by how her face was pressed into Jason’s chest. “I don’t want to lose you ever again.”

Jason’s own words were almost just as tearful when he replied, pulling her closer as he did.

“I promise. I’ll never leave again.”

#maribat #maribat secret santa #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #mlb x dc #platonic jasonette #my art #my fic

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jonismitchell · 2 years

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Tis the damn season... to definitively rank our favourite media of the year! When I say ‘our’ favourite media, I mean mine, and when I say ‘of the year’, I mean albums I listened to this year, not necessarily albums that came out this year. Now that that’s cleared up, I’m sure you’re excited to hear what my favourite albums were this year, and even more excited to argue with me about them. (Which I welcome! Please come contest my personal preferences!) I listened to eighty-three new albums this year, so it was extremely hard to narrow it down to a top ten and even harder to decide an order. Without further ado, let’s test the extent of my ability to make decisions.

1. Born in the U.S.A by Bruce Springsteen While this list is based on my personal preference, I know that this album is universally recognized as one of the greatest of all time. It is hence impossible to come up with a novel way to describe how brilliant Born in the U.S.A is as a body of work, much less articulate what the album means in a manner that doesn’t feel trite or repetitive. I will only shed light on it through my best known lens: personal experience. Every morning since I began listening, I’ve played this album on the subway to school. The songs almost sound unfulfilled without the rush of public transit behind them. Whenever I think of these moments, No Surrender lunges to the front of my mind in unprecedented colour. There is an understated triumph in this song; victory in the choice to keep going. “I want to sleep beneath peaceful skies in my lover’s bed,” sings Springsteen, “with a wide open country in my eyes and these romantic dreams in my head.” Most of the songs on Born in the U.S.A. acknowledge the present, which is dissonant with the ideal, but these lyrics possess a simple hope. The ultimate success of this polished, insightful, and emotional record is its own ability to imagine something greater than itself.

2. Sleep Well Beast by The National The National’s exceptional seventh record is a testament to the music that can emerge not despite chaos, but because of it. A slew of songs from this record lack the professional, stately gleam of most recent releases, instead privileging the coarseness of a late night confession as a guide to their musicality. The production value on this album is rough around the edges, jarring the ear in the same vein that you might when a polite rejoinder comes out a touch too pointed. What draws me to this album more than anything is the presence of control—but a control so strictly managed that it threatens to slip away. The point of this album is endurance. That’s why Matt Berninger sings about walking it back, wondering about the day you die (the alternative to dealing with the present), ruminating on how there’s nothing left to say. In one of my favourite Sappho poems, a line is translated as either ‘everything can be endured’ or ‘everything can be ventured’. Sleep Well Beast seems to suggest that they might mean the same thing: venture to think that things will be different but endure your inevitable failure to change them. I hesitate to describe an album that rings so true to me as a study in cowardice, but perhaps that’s exactly the feeling I recognize.

3. Colour Green by Sibylle Baier If I were a betting woman, I would put money on no one reading this post knowing what album I’m talking about here. This handful of quietly poignant folk songs were originally recorded by Baier in the early 1970s, then compiled by her son and released in 2006. The fairytale nature of this origin story only serves to underscore how wonderfully ethereal the songs feel. Each song is short and concise, with the entire album clocking in at just over half an hour. Baier’s lyrics are often simplistic, allowing her voice and the simple hope of folk to balloon into an emotional honesty that catches the listener off guard. Simplicity does not mean the reduction of complex ideas into vapid similes, but rather the distilling of rabid emotions into well formulated lines of song. This is the nature of my favourite track from the album, Forget About, which cannot even finish its own hook (‘you made me forget about…’). It depicts the feeling of being around someone who makes your anxieties fall away, but the pain does not require description once it cannot be remembered. It becomes merely a soft, tender place, one you might not wish you companion to touch but which you certainly notice the presence of. I have explained this emotion with clumsy tools called sentences, but Baier does not even have to finish hers to convey the same idea. The gentle lullabies of Colour Green are as emotionally vivid as they are beautiful in composition, and that is what makes this record a classic to me.

4. Highway 61 Revisited by Bob Dylan We were in the car this summer, on vacation in Vancouver during sweltering heat. I was talking about Bob Dylan, praising his lyrical abilities with increasingly effusive gestures in response to the derision of my sister and father. ‘If you want great writing, why don’t you just read a book?’ my sister asked, a comment met with a high five from my father and an eye roll from me. They disparaged Dylan’s voice—which I’ll admit is an acquired taste—and claimed it undermined his talent. This is where I must disagree. When I listen to a song like Queen Jane Approximately, I want the song to sound exactly as messy as it feels. I don’t want to add my wildly fluctuating vocals to a song that’s the sonic equivalent of a magazine, because screaming your heart out to someone who sounds exactly as torn up as you are is a thousand times more cathartic. This strange, eclectic, haphazard collection of songs (yes, they’re brilliant, I know, they’re brilliant because they’re nuts) come together to create one of the best albums I’ve heard. Strangely enough, it is also an album defined by the environment you lean on it in, despite feeling like it should bypass that limitation. No matter how much time passes, Highway 61 Revisited will always sound like summer to me.

5. Tapestry by Carole King The insurmountable issue of writing about albums that are universally beloved enough is that every Dick, Tom, and Jerry who can write worth a dime has already shared an opinion that I can only reiterate. Carole King’s words are unassuming, lack arrogance in their clarity, and stand out vibrantly against the beautiful arrangements that compose this album. The starkness of her feeling catches me off guard, a poet accustomed to burying a simple human desire beneath a pile of self-conscious metaphors. ‘Can’t say much of anything that’s new,’ King sings on the incomparable So Far Away, a song that is poignant for the sheer universality of the emotion it depicts. I dare anyone to listen to all of Tapestry and find themselves unmoved, unrecognised by King’s eloquence. The compassion and intimacy which infuses this record makes it feel like a companion, someone who understands you as closely as a friend or family member might. While that may verge into the oft-bemoaned parasocial relationship, I urge the reader to recall that it is not due to a real connection but due to King’s talent for finding a human emotion we all feel and describing it better than any of us can. There is nothing more that can be said about this album except that is a masterpiece, and that is an observation common enough to become a Carole King song itself.

Honourable Mentions: Take the Sadness Out of Saturday Night by Bleachers, Daddy's Home by St. Vincent, Home Video by Lucy Dacus, Jubilee by Japanese Breakfast, Stranger in the Alps by Phoebe Bridgers

#arden speaks #2021media*#when not a single album released in 2021 makes it into your 2021 top 5 you know you have a problem #it is funny that i used a taylor gif for a post that does not mention taylor once #and yes i know this is long as fuck #praying that the read more works

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slightlymore · 4 years

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doyoung + back 2 u (am 1:27) + angst (and/or fluff) if you’re still doing the challenge ❤️

doyoung; angst + fluff ending

w: explicit talk about sex and a few sexual innuendos for plot purposes, swearing

1.7K

_____

When he would leave, he'd take a piece of you with him, leaving you colder and more lonely every time.

Holding you tight, fingers brushing your skin and his breath caressing your ear as he whispered about how much he adores you, it seemed impossible for him to turn so distant.

This time, you would think, this time you'd talk to him, make him listen and understand. You had to be on the same page. But every time he'd come around and lay his eyes on you, the thoughts and intentions you harbored for weeks were thrown out of the window as quick as your clothes.

Hungry and needy, he would show how much he'd miss you and you bathed in that feeling. Quick and intense like a lighting you would both come undone, holding each other for a while, listening to his sweet murmured words. Then you'd giggle as suddenly he'd flip you over and want more and more, this time slowly, just like he'd been imagining the whole week you were apart.

"I have 15 minutes left," he brushed his lips on your temple. Head resting on his chest, you watched the way your hand pressed on it would rise and fall following his breathing.

A little whine came out of you and you pressed your face into his body, making him chuckle.

"It's always like this," you lamented.

"I know," he brushed your spine slowly.

"I don't want you to go."

"You know that I can't stay longer."

The silence started to make your heart beat faster and you let it give you the courage to lift your face and look at Doyoung's dark eyes.

"Do you have somebody else?"

His eyebrows furrowed and it looked like a fiery storm. Scary and intimidating but fuck, you loved storms so much.

"No. Why would I have somebody else?"

You sighed and lifted your weight on your knees, the bed sheets slipping down to your waist. Doyoung placed his palm on your thigh but his eyes were still on yours, demanding.

"Am I the somebody else, maybe?" you asked with a timid voice.

You were terrified to find out and nights after nights you wondered if it was a good idea to ask. Crawling into the unknown, alone in a gigantic field of darkness, you, the only illuminated thing and him, when he approached. But then he'd step back into the darkness and you had no idea what surrounded you at that time or what surrounded him. You'd be alone waiting for his eyes as if locked up in a tall tower.

"I have a mistress," his voice was deep and rough from being so late at night. You jolted. "And that's my job."

You sighed and closed your eyes for a moment.

"You know I'm busy with work and you agreed to everything. What's going on now?"

"I didn't actually fully agree."

Your tone made Doyoung's hand stop on your thigh. His expression was asking you to explain.

"I never said that I like this. Us hiding, you not calling or texting me back for days. I accepted it but now…"

Doyoung sat up and passed one hand through his hair. "You want us to stop?"

You let out a dry and incredulous laugh.

"To stop? Can you stop? If I said I want us to not see each other anymore, would you be able to do it?"

"Wouldn't you?"

Your shoulders dropped. "So this is just sex for you? I was right?"

Doyoung sighed again and put his feet on the ground, turning his back to you. You stared at his shoulders grateful for him not seeing the tears pooling in your eyes.

"This is not just about sex and you know that." He retrieved his clothes and started to wear them.

"So are we dating?"

"Why do you need a label so badly?" he threw his shirt on the bed and turned around to face you. His eyes softened in a second upon seeing you wet cheeks and you quickly dried them up with the back of your hand.

"I don't want a label," you replied quietly. "I just need security. I want to be safe. Every time you go away I feel--used."

The pain was evident on Doyoung's face and his fingers twitched.

"Why would you feel like that?"

"I have needs that are not met, Doyoung. We've never had to talk about this because it was spontaneous and I loved it. But now, I want to talk."

"I don't want to repeat mistakes from the past."

"You're making new mistakes now."

"I really have to go now. I'll call you."

"You never do."

"Don't be like this. It's not like I don't want to and you know it. It's unfair."

"You know that it's not about being busy. You're unavailable emotio-"

"Talk to you later."

_____

He didn't call nor did he text.

Staring into the nothingness you jolted when a young man approached you with a drink.

"Good evening," he smiled kindly.

You smiled back and greeted him but you also gave a side eye to the glass of champagne in his hand.

"Oh," he realized, "I legit just took it from the waiter. I swear I didn't-- wait, we'll take a new one now."

You opened your mouth to say that it wasn't necessary and that you trusted him but he was quick to grab another glass from a passing waiter's tray.

"I'm so sorry," he handed you the glass. "I came off quite awkward. This is my first elegant party, I barely know what I was looking at when I saw the buffet."

You chuckled and thanked him. "Are you new in the company?"

"Oh no actually. It's just that our company has never done high-end gatherings before and I think most of us are awkward now," he added and looked around trying to find his colleagues in the crowd of people from at least five different companies.

"Oh, I am Renjun by the way. Nice to meet you," he shifted the glass from the right hand to the left to be able to shake your hand.

"Nice to meet you too, I am Y/N."

"Oh! And this," he looked behind your shoulder, "it's my best friend Doyoung."

You turned around and locked eyes with said man. He looked as shocked as you were as he approached both of you.

"Hey, this is Y/N," Renjun introduced you and he extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you Y/N."

"Nice to meet you too Doyoung."

_____

"Your own best friend doesn't know about me?"

"Keep your voice down."

You scoffed and turned around, taking a few steps away from Doyoung and inhaling the cold air of the terrace.

"It's not like I talk with my friends about who I fuck with."

You suddenly faced him. "Who you fuck with?"

Doyoung closed his eyes for a second and sighed.

"Do you understand that this," you gestured towards you and him, "doesn't make any sense?" you asked.

"You know I have to keep this a secret. Why are you making a scene now? Is it wrong that we have this type of relationship?"

"Is it wrong that I want more?"

"I know I'm letting you down and maybe we should have talked about it in the beginning, but I can't give you more than this."

_____

Looking at your back as you left, Doyoung wondered what the hell was going on with him.

He would stare at his phone day and night, reading your texts and not replying to them, thinking about your voice but not calling you, missing you like crazy but not telling you.

"I can't think clearly when I'm with you. My mind is clouded and I keep wondering why you're still with me," he'd type late at night then delete the text.

There were moments with you when Doyoung felt so emotional that he would have wanted to burst into tears. There were moments when he was so close to confess how much he loves you. And you were right. He'd get so terrified that he'd put his guard up and fuck you like he didn't have a single feeling.

"Ah, fuck, every day I feel stupid for not asking the number of that girl from the party," Renjun sighed.

Doyoung sipped from his mug, the heat misting his glasses.

"You did well."

The other raised one eyebrow. "What?"

Doyoung sighed and put one hand on his shoulder. "I'm dating her. Don't even think about it."

Renjun's eyes widened as Doyoung walked away. "Hello? I met her first. I can't believe you snatched a girl from me. Come on!" he followed him.

"She was mine all along."

"She told me she was single!"

"Perhaps she felt like that before but not anymore."

"Wow I hate you."

"You wouldn't have stood a chance with her anyway."

"I'm going to beat you up."

"You can try."

_____

When you saw Doyoung's name on your phone's display, you had to sit down.

"I don't want to have sex with you," you spoke into it with a trembling voice.

"That's a lie but I'm not calling for that."

You waited.

"Are you free tonight? I want to take you out on a date."

You furrowed your eyebrows. "You really decided to be cocky in this situation? What are you trying to do?"

"Have dinner."

You rolled your eyes. "You know what I'm talking about."

"I-" he breathed in, "-really like you."

"Well, it's too late now, Doyoung."

"Please."

You've never heard that tone before and you hated yourself for being so weak.

"I'm not going back to you."

"That's a lie."

You sighed and had to start walking around in your room to release the steam.

"Just let me try again. Just once. I miss you.”

"You just miss fucking me."

"I miss fucking you. Yes. And I also miss your whimpers and little pleas. And I miss your touch and your lips on my body. And I miss your voice when you talk about topics I've never heard of. I miss your smile and your laugh. Yes."

"You make me so mad…" you whispered.

"You can be mad at me. I can take that."

“This is not a second chance. I just want free dinner.”

“Okay. I’ll try hard. I promise.”

“I want your friend to know about me.”

“He does.”

You bit your lower lip.

“I want a three course meal.”

Doyoung smiled. “I’ll give you dessert too.”

“And I want to walk on the beach while holding hands.”

“Deal.”

You pouted and opened your closet. “I’ll be ready in 20 minutes.”

His chuckle warmed your chest so much that you smiled too.

#doyoung #doyoung angst #doyoung fluff #doyoung imagines #doyoung scenarios #nct #nct angst #nct fluff #nct imagines #nct scenarios

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snkpolls · 4 years

Text

SnK 131 Chapter Poll Results

The chapter poll closed with 2,192 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by @momtaku, /u/staraves, Crunchwrap, u/_Puppet_, Luna. Thanks as always for your support.

RATE THE CHAPTER 2,118 responses

This was a standout chapter for the fandom, garnering a positive rating from over 90% of respondents and an average score of 4.68 which makes it the highest rated chapter since 122 - and in the top 5 in the history of the poll! Many of you were eager to express your enjoyment of it, with this question getting the most responses it has since chapter 102 (over two years ago!). As we go deeper into the endgame, it’s good to know enthusiasm is going strong.

Yams is a damn genius. This is one chapter I have not been able to stop thinking about or rereading. It's just... its so fucked up and SO. WELL. DONE.

I really, really loved this chapter. My favourite so far probably.

This is the first time I cried after a chapter. It hit me so hard.

Almost made me quit the manga. We finally got a confession from Armin, but right in the middle of all that grief, I couldn't enjoy it. Poor Ramzi and Halill, and all other innocent people beyond and within the Walls.

This chapter has had a ripple effect on how I’m seeing the series now in retrospect. I’ve been re-reading the manga , & I’ve become very melancholic after the Rumbling , knowing everything was leading to this.

This was a phenomenal chapter. Thank you Isayama for everything.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

2,137 responses

Finding a favorite moment in a tragic chapter isn’t easy but we managed. “Child Eren’s moment of happiness” tops the list with an impressive 30% of respondents. “Seeing the reality of the rumbling” (18.8%), “Eren’s tearful apology to Ramzi” (15.9%) and “Getting Eren’s thoughts on the Rumbling while in Marley” (13.8%) round out the top four.

Very cool to finally see the destruction caused by the rumbling and some more insight into Eren's character

I like that this chapter showed perspectives from both the initiator of the rumbling (Eren) and the victims of his choice. It makes you sympathize with Eren, but at the same time, terrifies you with the price humanity has to pay.

Definitely one of the most depressing, if not the most depressing chapter thus far. Isayama brilliantly handled the transition between Eren's despair and the result of Eren's despair (Rumbling). Beautiful artwork. Great cliffhanger. Definitely a 9/10.

Tragic, Terrifying, Heartbreaking also Awesome because atleast AruAni became somewhat cannon

beautiful art as usual

The freedom scene with kid eren is the most beautiful/horrifying scene of the manga.

I also loved the Annie and Armin talk, anyone who says it's shipping cringe is a child, this was a long time coming and it was executed beautifully. (I also love how Hitch was mentioned twice, she would be proud of Armin this chapter.)

Ramzi and Halil deaths were the saddest part of this chapter, and I don't know about Ymir, but I guess she's helping Eren.

The panel showing the wall titans faces, especially the one shown on the right with empty eye sockets, gave me the chills. Can't wait to see how things will go down between the gang and Eren.

WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER’S MVP? 2,144 responses

This month giving us the most harrowing chapter in a while made it feel wrong to be looking for an MVP amidst all this despair, and almost half of you agree (47.5%). Just over a quarter of you believe the Eren focus earned him the spot (28.9%), with 9.4% choosing Armin and 9.1% selecting best bros Ramzi and Halil. A distant minority of you chose Annie and Birb, the former of which coming dead last. Poor Annie, you’ll be more popular than a bird one day.

the true mvp was the depression we got along the way

Eren needs a hug

Eren needs to be put down.

I really admire the way Isayama deeply makes you care for a character in a few panels, like he did for those two - relatively unknown - boys.

Annie is the best girl

birbs are the rreak mvp since chap 1

EIGHT MONTHS AFTER FIRST APPEARING IN THE MEMORY SHARDS, WE GET FEZ-KUN’S STORY. DID IT LIVE UP TO YOUR EXPECTATIONS? 2,121 responses

Only a month ago, the fandom had no idea what to make of the mysterious Fez-Kun. The plucky pickpocket had a simple but effective story, and knew more secrets than he could possibly have understood. A perfect half of respondents were pleasantly surprised with Fez kid’s part in the story. 41.2% were content as it was about what they expected. 6.2% wanted to see a more in-depth picture but alas, that chance has been crushed mercilessly along with Ramzi’s hopes and dreams (and… the rest of him). 2.5% just weren’t into anything that let Eren lean into some morally black territory. Don’t worry, there are still plenty of grey shades here. Very dark shades of grey.

I didn't expect Ramzy's story to be expanded on, but it's so brutal to see the man he's been talking to killing him, his brother, his family and his hopes.

I know Ramzi and Halil were plot devices, but damn their death hit hard.

I think Eren saving Ramzi is foreshadowing. He knew Ramzi was gonna die in rumbling, yet he saved him. Same will happen, after someone reaching him and reminding him who he is, Eren will stop this madness and die. Or I wanna be hopeful.

even if i'm satisfied with Ramzi's story, I wish there would have been more to it because it is a tiny bit dissapointing but it's more or less what I expected.

Ramzi and Halil didn’t deserve death

i think everybody who dies in this rumbling will get back alive same will happen to halil and ramzi they will come back alive

Ramzi and Halil's deaths were so horrible but so good to see, because this is what it means when you destroy the world. You don't get to pluck out the nice ones and enjoy killing the bad ones. It's the height of cruel selfishness. And no amount of apologies changes that.

Ramzi and Halil deserved so much better

WHY WAS EREN DISAPPOINTED THAT HUMANITY EXISTED OUTSIDE THE WALLS? 2,117 responses

There’s been disagreement over exactly what Eren meant when he said he was disappointed that humanity existed outside the walls and our poll reflects that. Just over a third of the fandom (34.2%) take Eren’s words literally and believe that his disappointment was with any existence of humanity since it marred his pristine childhood vision. The second most popular option is that he was disappointed in the attitudes, selecting “he was disappointed to discover all of humanity was filled with violence and oppression” (29.5%). We deliberately left off an “All of the above” option but that didn’t stop more than 50 people from writing it in.

He is disappointed at the fact that he has to fight humans with homes, families, pasts and futures and not mindless titans.

It's also a clear contrast between the outside world Armin envisioned and the one Eren wanted. Armin genuinely wanted to know more about it, Eren wanted his worldwide natural park to walk on. When it was full of civilization, he wanted to get rid of it. Like any typical villain wanting to purify the Earth of all the worms infesting it.

When he discovered that humans are just as cruel within the walls as without, it put his entire journey into perspective. He could not be Eren the hero or Eren the explorer and ultimately meant that the sacrifices made by his comrades were negligible in comparison to the big, cruel world , at least in his own mind.

He thought of all the beautiful landscapes and stuff that Armin showed him. Too bad there's these stupid humans in the way. Makes sense to eliminate the entire human population ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Everyone's fight against titans was pointless and the people who caged them could enjoy the things that Eren will never experience. The world is not a uninhabited landscape open to explore it, the world didn't need them and their freedom wasn't a possibility to enjoy it like the others civilizations do.

The world was out there and yet they did NOTHING to help Eldia

yes, eren is disappointed because there are now more enemies. but more than that, he's disappointed that they're not the monsters he's imagined them to be. that he can't kill them without feeling guilt and remorse.

he would never be able to enjoy the freedom he wanted because the clock is ticking and he will have to keep on resisting the whole world till the end without ever having time to properly realize his dream

I think he's disappointed in the fact that he's feeling sorry for humanity outside the walls just like Reiner used to feel sorry about people inside the walls. When he discovered Reiner was a traitor, he especially hated that part of his behavior, and how he realizes they're not that different, and in any case he's worse because at least Reiner had his child soldier brainwashing as an excuse

His disappointment is as bad as it sounds, having to deal with humans outside the walls was too bothersome for him and when the option to wipe them out was available to him, he was more inclined to take it, instead of fight for another resolution.

Typical privileged White boy outraged by prejudice and hatred OUTSIDE the walls, as if that didn't exist in Paradis already.

Any hopeful expectation Eren had of the outside world were completely decimated. Not only did he discover that humanity hadn't perished, but they actively contributed to or blissfully ignored Paradis' hell. In addition, the outside world is exploiting one other for resources. Paradis’ synthetically concocted hell is just part of a game to the outside world (there’s some uncomfortable real-world allusions here and I think it’s important that it’s being explored). Eren thought he was the saviour of humanity only to discover everything's he's done was for naught, humanity's the problem in his eyes.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF EREN’S CONTRADICTORY NATURE? 2,106 responses

Deciding to crush the vast majority of the world and its citizens kind of takes a mental toll on people. Who knew? 48% of respondents think Eren’s emotional breakdown side by side with determination to reach freedom at any cost is simply him deciding the results will be worth his immense guilt. 23.2% think it’s a very human case of cognitive dissonance, and that Eren’s just trying to juggle his conflicting values. 19.2% believe his mental state is fraying at the seams reminiscent of the way Reiner’s did. 6.8% don’t buy that there’s any contradiction being shown here.

He was willing to throw away his humanity to become the monster that brings change

He's being a hypocrite. His guilt doesn't hold any value because it's entirely his choice. He's apologizing because there's no greater good, just his selfish dream.

He's never been okay, it's just that we're finally seeing him for who he is without the "protagonist illusion".

I don't think it's contradictory though. He's grieving sure, but he's also going along with his plan. Because he wants to be free.

He's not mentally stable and it shows

He's to some extent influenced by the Shingeki and/or its previous holders

He's trying to convince himself that humanity is evil sl he won't feel guilty about what he's doing

Hes a fully grown adult who knows better, no matter how bad he feels he doesnt deserve sympathy

The future cannot be changed and Eren is a slave to the attack titan's objective to push foreward

This chapter shows a lot of parallel between Eren and Reiner, he even said himself that he's worse than Reiner in the genocide that he's created. says himself that

What a fucking asshole

When Eren saw the future he knew the rumbling was inevitable so he is the one having to carry to burden of being ‘humanity’s enemy’ whether or not it was Eren to fulfill the rumbling it would’ve happened either way so he isn’t immediately a devil

Erens nature isn’t contradictory. He’s just now becoming self aware of the impact of his violent nature

He feels guilty about his actions and feels sorry for people who are going to be killed, but on the other hand - he is selfish and will do everything to reach his perfect reality.

Humans are an amalgamation of their actions. They sometimes arrive at destinations they did not fully intend. They may also realize too late that the path that they’ve set down is leading them in a direction they are not happy with, but eren is too far gone. He’s sane, understands he is objectively evil, but cannot turn back.

He totally snapped and turned into the psychopath that was sleeping inside of him for a long time. It was indeed very dangerous to entrust him with more power than he can handle.

Isayama did the same thing with Zeke. I think he likes the idea of the cool, mysterious guy, but it falls flat when the motivation doesn’t line up & the characters turn out to be crying & weak to fit the narrative once it’s revealed.

I don't know how to word this, but he is caged in his own vision to the point where any human decency and the ability to think is killed. Only a selfish, hateful and childish shell remained that is throwing a tantrum over his childbook fairytale not being true. It's not the same as Reiner, because Eren chose this. He wanted this, it is his fault. He had the power to stop this, but didn't. He can apologize as much as he wants, but he isn't feeling sorry at all.

He feels guilty, which is why he is having a mental breakdown like Reiner.

He’s having a mental breakdown but it's worse than Reiner's

painfully obvious this chapter was just Eren trying by all means to justify the Rumbling. Not because of some noble intention or cornering them into the inevitable, but just because he wanted to erase the world.

the eren reiner parallels man.. they never stop

IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS, RAMZI SEES AN APPARITION OF YMIR. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN? 2,104 responses

Ymir has finally appeared since we last saw her in chapter 122, and her presence as well as motivations are seemingly shrouded in mystery. Over a third believe she is watching everything but not necessarily feeling good or bad about it (32.1%), and some of you think she may be questioning her decision (16.2%). A minority of you opted to choose that her appearance means she is enjoying seeing it unfold (9.6%), or that we are witnessing a phenomenon related to titan deaths that have occurred all this time (7.5%). The most popular choice, however, (34.6%) is simply expressing bewilderment at the Evangelion-esque shenanigans we’re seeing.

Ymir could be the one doing all the actions of destruction since Eren let her free.

i really think after ymir appeared again even tho eren freed her that she's regretting giving him the founder's power and will have a role is taking him down

the presence of Ymir intrigues me and I hope that in the next chapter we will have her point of view.

I think Ymir is the one who's been pulling the ropes for a long time. Whenever Eren thinks there might be another way (especially throught he disappearance of the Eldian race) he compulsively thinks that he just CAN'T accept that, like there's a force driving him towards seeking freedom.

I hope that Ymir appearance means that she is counting and seeing Eren victims so she can create them Again without Eldian hate

Ymir being outside, and Kid Eren appearing in the paths might have a connection. Ymir was a grownup when she was killed but inside the paths she was shown a kid. Same as Eren being shown in the paths. This might signifies Eren is not in control of the situation but Ymir is.

I have had theories for a while about Ymir possibly turning on Eren, whether this is to save the world to show she is better than Eren, or to bring Paradis to destruction as well to show she is just as bad.

WHAT IN THE EVA?

Loved the Evangelion reference. YAMS YOU MADLAD!

Ymir might be the true enemy

WHAT THE FUCK IS YMIR AYANAMI DOING THERE?

WHAT IS KID EREN DOING HERE? 2,099 responses

Child Eren appears in one of the most stunning panels of the chapter, but what does it mean? Two options came out on top, with the idea that Eren is mentally regressing to a child (37.9%) edging out that it’s symbolism comparing child Eren to current Eren (36.1%).

I think we are going to see different Eren during the rumble, the past with Eren as a child, the future perhaps with a more mature or elderly Eren and the Eren of the present.

Adult Eren is incapacitated and Kid eren took his place through paths, will wake up for the "see you later, Eren"

Adult Eren unknowingly brought kid Eren’s consciousness to the present while he was sleeping under the tree. This is part of his “dream” that he had at the beginning of the story.

It is symbolises Erens mentality as a kid and how his flawed ideology doesn't hold up to the real world he faced outside of the walls. Also to cope.

Eren is the only character who cannot overcome the cycle of violence, so he will die.As you know, only without people can you become absolutely free, so he enjoys it when he realizes that nothing else binds him.

He has taken over paths from ymir, but since he is not bound by anything, he can do whatever the hell he wants, and is the reason he connected to armin while speaking to him.

It shows that Eren is not fully in control of the PATHS. For example in this scene, he remembers Armin because of his memory as a child talking about freedom with Armin then Armin suddenly appears although Eren himself didn't wish for something like that to happen thus it's just to show that PATHS connecting all Subjects of Ymir even in different timeline.

This links in with Floch... Eren loves Floch.

He was dreaming about the past and accidentally used the power of the Founder to show his younger self a vision of the Attack Titan's current point of view.

He's a sociopathic freak

It is symbolic of his old dream that he will have to give up on soon.

Can I say all of the above again? I saw it as a representation of Eren in his most pure, idealistic state which is then contrasted by the realistic horror of the destruction he is causing.

Brought into the present by adult Eren to give his younger self a taste of freedom without all the guilt. This is the beginning of the long dream kid Eren awakes from in Chapter 1.

Child Eren's Evangelion/Devilman(Crybaby)-esque "elation" seems like a metaphorical emotional release (and P A T H S shenanigans).

Something about the kid-Eren “freedom” scene is just so incredible and impactful; fully restored my faith that Isayama will deliver an amazing finale for this masterpiece.

THE MORE I LOOK AT THIS PANEL THE MORE MY HEART HURTS. ITS SO BEAUTIFUL YET SO DAMN FUCKED UP. GOD. FRICK. FRIIIICKKKKKK

KID EREN FINALLY WITNESSES “THAT SIGHT”, BUT WHAT DID HE ACTUALLY SEE? 2,113 responses

The world-shattering reveal almost a year ago of Eren gaining an important glimpse into the future, characterised as “that sight”, was finally answered in this chapter -- or was it? The majority of you believe kid Eren was merely enjoying the view from above that filled him with freedom, blissfully ignorant to the carnage of the rumbling (50.8%). Close to a quarter (23.8%) think he was able to see the rumbling but was enjoying the freedom in spite of it, with a small portion (5%) believing all the death was a part of his glee. Some aren’t yet sold on the idea that this is “that sight”, perhaps believing we will see it later (20.4%).

I don't think that his inner child is aware of the rumbling. He is only focused on the scenery and wants Armin to see that too.

A world without any walls is what kid eren always wanted to see. Through paths, kid eren achieved this (without seeing the death)

HOW WILL ARMIN BEING ABLE TO SEE KID EREN THROUGH PATHS AFFECT THE PLOT? 2,114 responses

Child Eren showing up was confusing enough, but he had to see Armin through paths too!? What does it mean!? A majority, at 55.5% think it foreshadows Armin’s coming importance in whatever the endgame turns out to be. Almost a third, at 28.6% think that it also opens up the possibility for other characters to connect with Eren through paths.

Armin was the person Eren has been sharing his dreams with. He is mentally showing his friend that the realisation of their dreams is finally at hand.

Eren can call forth anyone he wants, but if he doesn't want to see them I'm not sure if they could get to him

It foreshadows Armin and Eren clashing on a deeper level. I don't think anyone can actually stop Eren at this point.

Eren is so suped up with in this final form and with Ymir's "support" that when he thought about Armin it created a link through the paths.

Armin gets to briefly see the old "idealistic" Eren again. The one he can somewhat see eye-to-eye with and incidentally "created".

I think it might be just a visual metaphor on how Armin and Eren never really understood each other while sharing the same dream and that Armin is realizing that (I mean that the dream of "seeing the outside world" didn't mean the same thing to them). Or it might be that Eren is in a comatose sort of state and that since he technically is in control of paths, his thoughts are "sent" to Armin since he's reflecting on their shared dream

It shows Eren and Armin both want the same end goal. Though they disagree on the means of getting to it

The world is not like the one he saw in Armin's book. Hence why he contacted him, this is his way of reaching for his vision of freedom that he was denied because of the trauma of the wall.

Reference to the ocean scene where Eren was depressed and Armin excited, now its reversed

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF ARMIN AND ANNIE’S TALK ON THE SHIP? 2,124 responses

While this tiny moment of apparent romance was a delight for the 20% of the fandom who expressed “Whoo hoo Aruani is canon!!”, the remaining 80% were slightly more subdued in their reaction. The largest percentage (35.3%) was happy that the build up between their characters had some payoff. The second most popular selection had nothing to do with Armin or Annie at all with “I just wanna know what’s up with the birds” garnering 26% of the vote. Lastly, 11.2% felt like this moment was completely out of place, selecting “Now’s not the time for love drama Isayama.”

We better see Armin and Annie kiss next chapter

The Armin/Annie was not that necessary, I’d loved way more a more "group" discussion with Mikasa, Jean n Reiner in it. Old 104th days style

Besides the shipping moment, Annie just came to terms with that she’s still not alone, which is huge for her character

I'm not sure if Isayama knows how unnatural aruani is. These two had a grand total of 3 interactions, and sparing each other still isn't prone to romantic feelings blooming on either side.

a bad fking attempt by isayama at romance, should have stuck with eren historia love child

The aruani was unexpected but nice xD I don't exactly ship them but they are cute in this chapter(I can't help but feel one of them is getting a death flag because of this though💀)

What about them talking about all the shit she did or has been through? I wanted to see that.

SHE'S NOT TAKING MY MAN ISTG SHE'S NOT ON MY WATCH

Ship and let ship, this is actually a very intresting pairing and I think the scene flowed very naturally. But I still hope that in the future manga focuses more in the plot and not in the ships. I'd hope the same from fandom, but of course that's too much to ask...

This was a nice moment away from death and destruction

They’re definitely gonna die soon

am i the only one who don’t ship annie and armin? like bro... she squashed your little friends like bugs

Yoo bitch AruAni is canon LETSS FUCKING GOOO Love this cinnamon couple..More canon couple please Yams!

CANT BELIEVE ARMIN IS TRYING TO GET A GF WHEN MILLIONS R DYING HES FR A HOE🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

I only saw Bertolt there.

Maybe it's just me but i dont see anything romantic about the scene to me i prefer the weird friendship they have

While it seemed slightly out of place I’m glad Isayama touched on their “therapy sessions”.

Oh God no please don’t do this, Annie isn’t they type of character that needs any sort of romance in her story to be happy

Both aruani is canon 🥳 and wtf Isayama not the time…

c'mon falling for an enemy uncounscious girl with whom you have wangsty once-sided talks, a girl you manipulated to capture and used as a bait against enemies, really ???

They’re finally talking, I’ve been waiting so long for them to talk things out, also I really like Annie’s character development! And finally CANON, I’ve been waiting for sooooo long!!!!!!

I selected the bird because I feel threatened by it but also WOO HOO ARUANI IS CANON

I really enjoyed the scene between Annie and Armin. I think it further cements AOT as a very human narrative. They both know there are bigger things going on, but that doesn't allow them to turn off their very human emotions, which come out in a moment of rest. I don't believe this will necessarily lead to more romantic scenes between them, unless the ending of the story is far more hopeful than I expect it to be.

WHY DO YOU THINK EREN APPEARS TO BE IN A SLEEP-LIKE STATE? 2,088 responses

Not long after his grand arrival on the shore, Eren seems to be having a little nap. 45.3% of respondents think he’s relying on his base instincts for his walk around the world. 15.8% think he’s wide awake but just trying to ignore the squishy things he’s stepping on. Turns out it’s actually pretty tiring to declare war on the world, or so say 14.2% of you. 12.1% think it’s no coincidence his apparently sleepy face was shown right after the intense stare of birb, and 8.8% think that the image hints at a secret puppet master pulling Eren’s strings. We received a lot of comments suggesting Ymir might be the big bad after all - now how is Eren gonna earn that sweet sweet freedom if he’s not willing to bust a few billion skulls, eh?

He left the Attack Titan on auto-mode

i just wish to know that....now that Eren has a long ass neck.....will he come back as a human or....he will be like this forever

Symbolic of the fact that he isn’t really seeing the sight. It’s a fools errand like Eren’s goal.

I think it is symbolic. The 'adult' in him is sleeping while the 'child' in him is taking the reigns.

His consciousness has been transferred to his titan's brain. He's essentially an Attack Titan battery .

He is dreaming, ignorant to the destruction below and seeing the freedom he envisioned as a kid.

his consciousness is in PATHS dimension and he's controlling things from there

How the fuck is he sleeping when the wall titans are executing complex commands, like diving under ships and surrounding the city?

I don't think he is sleeping. He rather looks beaten and devastated and just numb to what he is doing in order to cope.

I figure that bc he's so big, he kind of has to be like this. Normally when he's in his titan with his eyes open, he's being active. I think that although he's set the titans in motion, he's in a more passive role now. He also can't be all that active when he's that huge, right?

I honestly don't know. I can speculate its connection to Ymir's apparition and child Eren's lucid dream?

He's irrevocably fucked thanks to good old Gabi and her rifle.

He's losing his will to live. Also leaves an opening for Armin to wake him up like he did in Trost.

HE'S THE SLAVE NOW

Maybe he is actively controlling / managing something else at the time? Maybe something crucial we don't know about yet, I don't believe that he is just exhausted.

His adult self is asleep now because his child self is having fun in his perfect world. Eren is mentally weak as adult but his inner child is strong and is reaching everything Eren always wanted - freedom and happiness.

He’s unable to regenerate due to controlling all the colossal titans, or just won’t because he wasn’t in Titan form when his head was blown off, meaning he will eventually die

i feel as if having eren not be in control would be mildly disappointing because the manga has done so much to set up erens decent into madness and how his actions became so extreme, i would be disappointed if all of that went to waste.

I would guess that Eren might be sifting through future memories at the moment. Looking at the "unknown world"/"the scenery" that made him smile wistfully instead of being horrified/the thing "beyond hell" Eren mentioned to Falco.

His adult self is sleeping now, while his young self is having fun.

I think hes not fully in control (maybe ymir calling the shots)

I'm kinda torn between him operating on base instincts and him being controlled by someone (Ymir?) so I'm gonna go with both as the possibility.

Maybe he really doesn't want this? I think Ymir's the one in control

Ymir is controlling him

He is not the one driving this titan, Ymir is.

Really? You talk about his eyes being closed and not the fact that he has the neck structure of a turkey!?

THE FINAL PAGE ENDS ON ARMIN’S HOPEFUL WISH FOR THE EXISTENCE OF THE OUTSIDE WORLD HE ENVISIONED AS A CHILD, BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK? 2,101 responses

Despite the darkness this chapter brought to the story, Armin ends on a hopeful note. The top two options were 36.8% thinking there’s a possibility Armin will in fact be able to stop Eren. and 33.7% believe Armin to be too optimistic, and that it won’t pan out the way he wishes.

Armin's recalling of his childhood dream with Eren in the last page made me think there's still a hidden solution to resolve the dilemma.

This chapter also shown Armin not wanting to give up with reconciling the Eren he wanted to see and the actual Eren. He hears no evil.

Tragic ending, yes, but I don't think Armin's hope is misplaced all the same. I think Eren cannot be stopped without death, but I also don't think the entire world will be destroyed, and I don't think it will end hopelessly.

Either Armin’s gonna save humanity or everybody just dies the end 😹

That one bird that was perched on the ship might be the symbol of peace. But I'm not sure how that peace is going to be achieved if the option's still on the table.

I hope the alliance is able to save Eren from doing this unthinkable sin.

Probably a blossoming hope through Armin breaking Eren from Ymir's plan uwu

I think Armin could join/support Eren

THIS CHAPTER CONTINUED THE BIRD MOTIF, THIS TIME HAVING A FOCUS ON SCENES ENDING WITH A BIRD STARING DIRECTLY AT A CHARACTER. WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?! 2,067 responses

The Spy Birds theory seemed a bit nutty last month, but I don’t trust that seagull one bit. And it looks like many of you agree because that nutty theory has gone mainstream! The majority of respondents (54.1%) think that the birds are under the influence of a higher power, mainly that of Eren (27.4%) or Ymir (26.7%). 26.6% don’t think the birds are suspicious, they’re just free, man. 13% just reckon Isayama has moved on from his love of drawing thicc horses, and birds are the cool new animal. No complaints here. But I still don’t trust that seagull.

The birds are up to something

Animals sense danger coming from nature before humans do.

bird is symbol for freedom, but some bird like crow and raven in some culture are symbol for death.

I think that pigeons are watching me through P A T H S

Black birds symbolize the people's doom , white bird that flew to armin symbolises hope

black birds: death ; seagul: garbage :))) I dunno, the seagul was so random. It means they are approaching the shore?

EREN IS BRAN STARK IN AOT UNIVERSE LET'S GOO

I dont sure its eren or ymir. But i hope there is something about bird. I hope there are a huge plot twist

Might be another Odin parallel if Eren is using them, but I don't really see why he'd bother. I don't think he needs to do recon.

FREEEEEEEDOOOOOM

Last time I thought that the bird theory was a little far-fetched but now I think that's 100% the deal. That seagul is just somehow way too focused on to be just a random animal.

I commented in the previous poll that the birds are surveillance cameras and i’m even more convinced now. And isn’t it poetic that the Wings of Freedom logo is made up of a pair of black and white wings, representing the different interpretations of freedom pursued by Eren and Armin.

This is all just a Genjutsu by Itachi

my personal favorite theory, it’s zeke seeing everything transpire through the power of the beast titan

Pure!Boy Armin gets the seagull because he still has DREAMS and Eren gets crows because he wants to feast on human flesh.

WHAT'S UPP WITH THE BIRDS AAAAAAHHH TELL ME

I don't know but is really cool if you see it as a symbol of hope/freedom. Birds are the only kind who will not going to be tumble over the rumbling.

I think it's about the colors, black is dark, just like the destruction Eren is causing to the world (including Ramzi and Halil) and white is bright, just like the peace that Armin wished for and is aiming to achieve with the alliance

HOW DID THIS CHAPTER AFFECT YOUR VIEWS ON THE RUMBLING? 2,100 responses

If we thought seeing the reality of the rumbling would be a game changer when it comes to our view of it, we were wrong. Only 5% of people who formerly supported it no longer do. For the rest of us 44% do not support the rumbling and 30% do. Most curiously, 21% claim to have no opinion. More on that below when we mirrored this question about our views on Eren.

I still don't support The Rumbling, I just want it to stop. It doesn't do anything good for anyone, even Eren himself, and this awfully awesome chapter proves it. I totally expect that via P A T H S.FM Armin and Mikasa could stop him (and save him, physical or psychologically, idk) . It's the only plausible way.

I think the rumbling is justified but I don’t think the civilians who had nothing against Erin don’t deserve to die.

I don’t think there is any other solution, and that’s the point… His outburst at Hange tells me that he was desperate for something. This is coming from Eren who can essentially see everything and inherited multiple people’s memories. If he couldn’t come up with it, I don’t think anyone else can (aside from Armin? But I’m not holding my breath). The 50-year plan was a delusional fantasy at best, technology would evolve rapidly and nullify any threat the Rumbling poses.

I was still kind of hoping Eren had something up his sleeve that wasn't mass slaughter, but I guess we're going there

I believe the full rumbling is a morally grey decision, but I’ll concede and say it’s on the darker end of the spectrum. ultimately eren will have to answer for what he’s done, necessary or not killing millions of innocent people is a horrible thing to do.

The world was never peaceful, and never will be. The Rumbling was inevitable, nothing could stop that.

ON A SCALE FROM “IT’S JUST A FLESH WOUND” TO “HOLY SHIT THIS IS AWFUL”, HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PORTRAYAL OF THE RUMBLING? 2,110 responses

This probably didn’t need to be asked but we did it anyway. For the vast majority of us, the portrayal of the rumbling was overwhelming in terms of sheer horror. “It’s awful! I love it!” seems to be a common reaction.

Whelp... we wanted to see the rumbling. I guess be careful what we wish for.

I am once again reminded how gory SnK can be.

No holds barred. This is the sad, traumatic truth that we asked for.

RIP in pieces Clown-kun

At this point, it makes me sick to read pro-rumbling posts. Normally, when you like a villain or a morally grey character (Eren went past this point long ago) you enjoy seeing how their mentality works. And this is fully respectable, but not the "uuuh my baby did nothing wrong". If we did the same with our kings Floch and Zeke, it would be crazy, wouldn't it?

I’m glad the Rumbiling was shown in its full glory. It didn’t hide anything about the situation and was very gory. I’m glad we were shown what happened to the people during it, and not just after.

I can't feel engaged in the rumbling when it has been the default scenario since the sea, but more specifically 123. The boy had a death flag the size of Marley and now he's dead. Thanks for the shock, Yams. I'm interested in the potential of everything else. I hope I didn't follow this story for the final conflict to be whether to save more people or less people

It was great to see the Rumbling in its full gore. Isayama showed it masterfully and rly put emphasis on how terrifying and disturbing it is. I was never anti or pro of it before, bc I'm just enjoying the view as the reader, that didn't change, and I still like Eren bc he is a very entertaining character.

I loved seeing how awful everything was. Ofc in real life I wouldn't support it, but narratively? Wow!

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING BEST DESCRIBE YOUR FEELINGS ABOUT THE RUMBLING? (MULTISELECT) 2,109 responses

This chapter didn’t hold back in its brutal display of the rumbling, and it may be difficult to find the words to describe it, so we gave you twelve. A clear majority are able to agree on it being both tragic and terrifying, closely followed by those who would describe it as unavoidable, distressing or immoral. The choices in the minority included describing the rumbling as awesome, justified or heroic. Fun fact, over a third of the people who chose “heroic” also described it as some combination of “excessive”, “immoral” and “indefensible”. Talk about mixed feelings.

HOW DID THIS CHAPTER AFFECT YOUR VIEWS ON EREN? 2,093 responses

If we thought seeing the horrors of the rumbling would be a game changer when it comes to our view of the person who unleashed it, we were wrong. This chapter did nothing to change the minds of the 40% who support Eren and the 30% who do not. Only a minority (8.3%) said this chapter made their support for Eren wane.

We were most curious about the 20% who selected “I have no opinion.” When we’ve waited so eagerly for Eren’s POV, how could a quarter of the fandom be neutral on how it affected them? Was this a failure on Isayama’s part or were our poll options poorly worded? We decided that rather than having no opinion, “I don’t know what to think yet” might have been the better cop out...err I mean *neutral* option :P

I was one of those that was convinced that there had to be something more to the Rumbling, and this chapter shocked me to my core by revealing that there really isn't. Eren is just that disturbed. We wanted Eren POV but we weren't ready for it. Now I just want to see how Armin and Mikasa end this.

i love eren so much nothing can make me hate him but he is insane... all this and for what. THEY COULDNT HAVE TALKED IT OUT??? i feel so bad for eren he clearly does not want to kill all those people man...

We finally have Eren's pov now; I still don't know how to feel about it, but I'll always support him.

Eren is a character who really disgusts me because of his fucked up delusion of fReEdoM but I love him at the same time because he's really well written, this boy is a fascinating mess.

This chapter seems to have made things pretty straightforward. Eren is a lot of things but he’s not one to go back on his word. He said he was gonna rumble and now he’s doing it. Not sure why people are having a hard issue saying he wouldn’t have done it. Uhhhh hello he’s nuts

i get eren's side but i just wish that there was another way to bring freedom and justice without genocide

I support eren as a character, however if his actions were translated to real life I would disagree with them. At the end of the day, genocide is not ok. He could’ve wiped out military bases, but civilian deaths is not ok. HOWEVER, for the sake of fiction, & the fact that there’s no decent alternative, it’s team Yeager.

Deep down his choice is selfish and this is why he is ashamed of it, the rest are just justifications. And he is not the only character who has selfish objectives hidden over good intentions, Erwin fought for humanity, but deep down he wanted to prove his father right, and Reiner on his quest to "Save Humanity" was just a mask to become a hero.

Really I want to see Eren fufill his dream, I’m still supporting him.

Ymir might have a role to play in his mental state.

Not to support the rumbling or anything, but I do feel sorry for Eren. He's like a cornered animal that attacked in panic and that attack's freaking deadly.

Even though the rumbling is tragic, this is Eren truly getting his way, no matter what. It's a rare thing to see in any literary work, and although I'm curious as to what the downfall/tragedy of his character will end up being after this, I love it all because for what feels like the first time, a character with bad intent is using the god power to accomplish their goal, and I can't get enough of it.

WHAT BEST DESCRIBES YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT EREN THIS CHAPTER 2,111 responses

Empathy for Eren is the theme for nearly 70% of the fandom with “I feel for him. He’s in a tough position” (43.7%) and “my heart aches for him” (22.1%) being the top two selections. On the opposite and more extreme ends of the spectrum, those who think he’s the greatest (15.1%) and those who think he’s the worst (14.9%) are nearly evenly matched. Interestingly only 4.2% expressed “I have no opinion” on this question compared to more than 20% on the question above.

Eren is my favorite character but I also don't support his actions.

I was disstressed for a few days after it. How did it go to this? I kept reading this far just because I wanted Eren to be happy and have his happy ending, and what do we have now?..

I feel bad for eren, he's in a position no one would want to be, and he hates what hes doing no matter how much he needs to

This chapter could possibly stablish once and for all Eren as a unchangable character since he has reached a point of no return.

Eren is GOAT, the rumbling is wrong but I still love eren

This entire chapter just reaffirms the fact that Eren has always been a self absorbed, self-pitying child from the very beginning

I don't get how people can still support Eren just because he cried a little.

To think that all the shit that has happened since RTS (Sasha killed, Liberio attacked, Tybur murdered, Zackley assassinated, Nile and Pixis titanised, Levi forced to decimate his own titanised squad and then nearly dying, Jaegerist coup, Shadis beat up, Historia pregnant AND ANYTHING ELSE I'VE FORGOTTEN) is all because of some long, convoluted plan for one single boy's childish, problematically simplistic, black-and-white dream for "Freedom" is. I can't. I'm tired. Eren's pov is so outrageously outlandish that I can't relate. At all.

I cant feel bad for Eren, he is the only person responsible on his guilt and sadness. Also genocide is the worst option and even Eren says it.

He was sheltered his whole life; he has no proper context or framework for concepts like racism and war between humans. He “optimistically” thought his fight was that of human vs titan. That's why I don't blame him for coming to the Rumbling conclusion after the basement reveal. I give him a lot of credit for empathizing with "the other side" and I do believe Eren tried his best to come up with alternative solutions.

I feel for Eren, he was sold the idea of a perfect, peaceful, untouched world, ripe for discovery, filled with the beauty and awe of nature, but in reality it was full of cruel xenophobia people who hated his very existance. I don't support the rumbling but i understand why Eren did it.

Eren is obsessed with his perfect vision of "Freedom" where there are no limits to his will, but sadly for him, he lives on a reality where others exist and as long he has to interact with them, there are going to be limitations he is going to be bound. So even if he kills everyone outside the island, there is going to be another "wall" he needs to overcome.

Seeing Eren cry and hear his doubts actually made me just more angry with him: "If you are so sad about the fate of the outside world then fucking change the future, don't just give up!!!!!!!" He seems to be very clung in the idea that the future is set and there is nothing he can do to change it.

Okay but look at Eren's centipedal Hell's creation's TINY BUTT. It's so funny seeing that little boney ass on this gigantic thing

EREN SEEMS TO HAVE MANY MOTIVATIONS. HOW WOULD YOU RANK THEM?

This one was interesting. With this chapter’s iconic imagery of kid Eren spreading his arms declaring “this is freedom”, it’s unsurprising that most of us agree with that as a very important motivation for him. His friends were also chosen as a very important motivation, though not as much as his love for freedom. Historia and her child just edged out the motivation of the people of Paradis, though interestingly it has less “somewhat important” votes and more “not important at all votes”, making it clearly divisive even if it has more “very important” votes.. But the motivation with an even more divisive perception is revenge, with nearly an even split between those who view it as very, somewhat and not important at all.

Everything Eren is doing is for the sake of his friends and Historia, there was no other choice to protect the island.

I think that the only thing what matters to Eren is freedom and reaching the perfect world he saw in his dreams after reading Armin's book. The dream of his inner child is playing the most important role in his life. Eren is ready to sacrifice his friends, his mentors and people on Paradis - just to see the special scenery and finally feel FREE.

Feel sad to see eren need to do all of this, but i know its for his friend and paradis

I hope that Eren doesn’t harm the alliance

REGARDLESS OF WHETHER YOU FEEL POSITIVELY OR NEGATIVELY ABOUT EREN, DO YOU THINK HE IS BEING PORTRAYED AS A VILLAIN AT THIS POINT IN THE STORY? 2,098 responses

It’s truly a testament to Isayama’s strength as a writer when a character’s deliberate annihilation of billions is met with a majority response of “there are no villains or heroes here.” 57.1% think that as tragic as the situation now may be, nobody in this manga really qualifies as villainous. Or at least, not when our feisty protagonist is involved. 33.7% think the manga is a tale of a hopeful boy slowly turning to the dark side. 5.6% see this all as part of a hero’s tumultuous journey. Finally, 3.5% think it’s unfair to cast Eren as a villain since he’s not the one in control. Gotta say, if Eren is not the one destroying the world he really shouldn’t have said he was going to destroy the world.

This chapter just proves that Eren ISN'T a complete villain. I disagree with the rumbling, but what Eren's going through is something that I empathize with.This chapter just made it easier for me to keep rooting for everyone, even though a completely happy ending is not an option anymore.

I really hope Eren's in for a change of heart soon. I hate the idea of him being the final villain. He's definitely redeemable. Even he is eligible to have a dark foil and rival. Maybe we'll get that later on in Zeke who I feel is also redeemable.

More and more of the story is unveiled, I really like how this is going. Ever since knowing the outside world I have decided that Eren is no longer a hero but then he is not a villain either so does everyone in the story. I like Eren a lot but I'd say that I just like to observe, to see, never to support or to oppose. So this chapter is really amazing to me as I managed to see more about Eren.

eren is a villian whether you like it or not

I feel Walter white Vibe from Eren.

Eren is evil period!!!! There is no justification for mass murder. If he wants to savr his ppl then just wipe out the army, navy, air force, warriors and the leaders period not everyone including INNOCENT ppl....

EREN IS GOAT. He is portrayed as a hero who makes tough choices that no other shitty shonen character even can do.

Eren needs to stop the rumbling. It maybe justified his needs but the people outside the walls didn't deserved it. They're both each other's enemies. He used to say people outside the walls are monsters but he became one himself. He desired freedom but in the end he was a slave to his own desire.

Isayama could chose to make him some what of a villainous character, or he could chose to set it up as if eren is more of an anti hero doing then wrong things for the right reasons

DESCRIBE THE CHAPTER IN ONE WORD 1,543 responses

No superlatives to describe how great or awesome this chapter was this month. The Rumbling hurt us all (well done, Yams, mission accomplished). That being said, it looks like we’re all masochists, considering this chapter is in the top 5 highest rated chapters since chapter 91.

Tragic [169; 4.69]

Sad [89; 4.73]

Pain [77; 4.86]

Depressing [69; 4.75]

Heartbreaking [48; 4.77]

WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 2,089 responses

With what we want next chapter we find it especially surprising that the majority are ready to give Eren’s perspective a break. Since google sometimes fails us in displaying the data, we’ll just list it all out. Of the options we provided, our wishes for next chapter from most to least popular are: Let’s keep it with the Eren POV (23.4%), The alliance reaching Odiha (22.4%), WHERE TF IS LEVI??? (10.6%), I could go for a few more mental breakdowns (10.1%), More Ymir being mysterious (7.9%), WHERE TF IS LEVI??? (10.6%), SAVE US ZEKE (8.9%), Oh god go back to Historia please (8.5%), Finality for Floch (6%) and More birbs ovo (2.2%)

Yo where tf is Rico

I want to see levi

fuck yeah more mental break down, I'm ready to be depressed

I really want to see more of Armin and kid Eren in Paths next chapter. That one panel was super interesting and I would love to go back to it.

hurt me more isayama

Please yams I want to see Flochad kill Hange, that’s all I ask for.

Zeke returns next chapter pleaseeeee

HOPE WE GET TO SEE HOW THE ISLAND IS DOING NEXT CHAPTER

It's getting to the final and I don't like that

as only 3-4 chapters are left, I dont think we are going to get another eren POV, I am still dying to see the conditions of the other main characters, whereas zeke and floch are unfinished mysteries.

someone from alliance is dying soon

I've gotta see more Historia. What is she doing and thinking right now? What is her role moving forward?

Just shut up with historia in this survey. She's irrelevant. Now I hate answering your polls.Never again!

i literally don't know what to expect next chapter like yams is just THAT good

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 2,025 responses

The platforms where we discuss the series remain relatively unchanged with Reddit providing the plurality of responses. Thank you Reddit! We appreciate it. That said, we’d love to see this chart balance out a little more so please feel free to share the poll wherever you discuss the series. That includes the 5 of you degenerates on Snapchat.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 553 responses

Uhhh *disappears*

ZEKE-KUN PLEASE BE A GOOD ONII-CHAN AND SAVE THE WORLD FROM YOUR TROUBLED LITTLE OTOTO

listen, birds are pretty cool ok

Beautifully tragic, exactly what I wanted to see from Eren after being shown in a villainous light for 30+ chapters. Being introduced to a new character, in particular an innocent child and then finally revealing his name and story was a perfect way to show the true horrors of an indiscriminate near-omnicide, it definitely brought tears to my eyes.

(😢) SIE SIND DAS ESSEN UND WIR SIND DIE JAEGER (😢)

As expected of Isayama-sensei, it's exactly right.

Annie being revealed as aromantic is the unexpected happy development in this tragedy.

Kiddos, the "it's just fiction" argument refers to the fact that you are allowed to *enjoy* watching fucked up things in fiction because people, in general, can distinguish between fiction and reality. It does not mean writing essays to *justify* said fucked-up things that happen in fiction, because you almost certainly start bringing your own real-life logic to fictional events. Aka, mixing up reality and fiction. Showing your true colors. Allowing your beliefs to slip into discussion. Whatever you call that.

THE BIRDS HAVE PATHS, I CALLED IT LAST CHAPTER!

Annie has always had a hard time expressing her feelings and that she has had complexes for a long time. I'm glad Armin was able to tell her what he was thinking because it will give Annie more confidence. Plus, Annie has always been introverted and I love that Isayama tells us more about her character.

The ravens are a reference to Odin’s, a mythology character. He has two ravens, they symbolise memory and mind/thought.

What a manga.

what eren did is right you can come up with any other solution

What in the everliving fuck is going on? Can we go back to factory reset and knock some sense into Eren before he starts having wild ideas like this one? Please

BEST SHIP FINALLY HAPPENING PROPERLY AHHHHH MY BOY ARMIN IS FINALLY TALKING ABOUT HIS FEELINGS EVEN IF IT'S SUBTLE

If Eren is the bird he really is Armins WINGman.

I KNEW ARMIN LIKED ANNIE! But seeing Annie blush was a nice surprise. I thought she was the ice queen in terms of romance.

This poll is bias toward historia. I wish if y’all stop the shipping b.s

birds are supposed to symbolize freedom in most cultures, innit?

This chapter was so important to me. It showed the reality of the rumbling, and that scenery, and most importantly, Eren's true feelings on the genocide, including his now split younger self. He feels guilty about it, he knows it's bad yet he has to do it because he has no other option if he wants Paradis and everyone he loves to survive. During my life I have had a lot of instances where I had to sacrifice a lot in order to survive, including disociating and splitting my personality in two, crushing my own feelings to do what had to be done, so characters like Eren are very relatable in that sense to me. In a kill-or-be-killed situation, there is no place nor time for doubts nor mercy and you have to do what you have to do.

Very interesting, trágico and raw, but also liked the comparison between different concepts of the world and freedom between Armin and Eren. Also loved all the AruAni moments, they were not only adorable but also helped those two characters talk about things they needed to open up about since a long time ago lol.

I want to get off Mr. Isayama's Wild Ride

Am I the only one who can't take the alliance seriously?

Wasn't really feeling the AruAni moment, but other than that top tier chapter can't wait for more.

Armin possibly realizes Eren isn't in the right state of mind. If Eren is projecting himself as a child, then Armin might be able to come up with a plan to stop what he is doing.

Fantastic, worth the wait.

Fav chapter yet. Fall of Wall Maria got overthrown as the most depressing event in the series for me.

Favourite line in AOT :"SIT DOWN"

I don't want it to end, but I am very happy about the direction the manga is going.

I felt for eren

This chapter was legendary, it hit all the right notes for finally giving Eren's POV. The shot of child Eren above the clouds will go down as one of the best panels ever... also Eren's line about "disappointment"... fantastic it gave me chills.

I find ‘the cycle of revenge’ storyline tiring. I’ve seen it so many times before and there isn’t anything new being covered here. I just feel tired and sad honestly. My last (and probably unfulfilled) hope for the series would be for Levi to make it through this, work things out with Zeke without violence and be able to move on in his life. He could help the survivors of the rumbling and reestablish civilization, maybe open his tea shop, see the world, maybe fall in love. I don’t really care. I just want to see my boy alive and doing okay for himself. A ridiculous thought for this series, I know. With 3-4 chapters left I feel we will most likely just be left in a misery marinara. I’m soaking in it right now.

I have too many thoughts on this chapter, I wouldn't know where to begin

i wanted him to save ramzi, but i didnt at the same time?? i was glad he didnt spare him, but im sad he didnt?? i dont know why

I just want everything to end already

i just want the best ending for all characters, esp Eren.

I like how Isayama is pushing the cognitive dissonance that i have of what side i should choose.....he is really fuckin with me at this point. All the thinking has now made me kinda numb

I like Isayama drawing birds and see the art improvement through the chapters :D I announce August is the Eek Appreciation Month dedicated to the Wings of Freedom! EEEEEEEEEEEK

I like that it pretty much ended the discussion of Eren having other plans. He's been totally honest the entire time. If he had other plans, why'd he put his friend in danger by having them fight against him?

for real had to pause for a bit at many points in this chapter lmao

Maybe this is why he never talked to his friends- he didn't care about discussing what's right for them, he just wanted his FrEeDoM and would walk over children to get it.

Glad to see Armin and Annie being cute, they deserve a few moments of happiness.

Glad to see Eren’s thoughts and feelings about the rumbling. There are a lot of loose ends that I was hoping to have some answers for in this chapter but it didn’t happen in this chapter, which just made me more intrigued.

Glad to see that Eren's uncaring exterior was finally dispelled this chapter

God I can't see this ending good and I just really want this to be over soon. Never rooted as much for an MC to die as now.

Which of the following best describe how you feel about the rumbling? Pointless, it won't achieve anything.

while i find aruani cute i still find it weird since she literally was crying the previous chapter. i was disappointed that we didn't get to see all the alliance

Why tf is Ymir in the realworld!?

WHENS MAHVEL

SS ARUANI GONNA RUMBLE THE SHIP HARDER THEN EREN RUMBLED THOSE POOR CHILDREN, TAKE THAT NONBELIEVERS no really, this was built up from s1, and they have wonderfully complementing personalities. Sad that half the fandom gets triggered from any het ship (and vice versa)

Crack theory: Eren has two personalities which is why he acts in contradictory ways. The "evil" nature is in kid Eren and the "good" nature is in the bird. There is no consciousness in his actual body anymore.

Genocide route best route

Way better than the last chapter. 130 was just good art and shipping bait which felt like it was forced for the sake of the end of a volume. This chapter was amazing and balanced its multiple purposes effortlessly, as opposed to the clunky nature of the previous chapters. Probably the best chapter since Ymir's backstory. I love how Armin tied into it, we haven't seen he and Eren's shared dream brought up for a while, as it had faded into background despite being such a driving force for both characters before the timeskip.

I was sure that the dichotomy between Eren's motivations was clearly between his friends/the people he wants freedom for, and his own quest to soothe the anger he has in his heart. Essentially is he doing this for love or hate. Yet we get a third motivation introduced this chapter, of him achieving his child self's dream of freedom in a wall-less world, and what do you know it's tied into "that scenery/that sight", Isayama you genius. What does this mean about those other motivations, though? Is everything false and it's just what Eren is telling himself? What's the lie? What's the truth? What to believe…

It might just be because Eren subconsciously called to Armin. So if more memories surface, more characters can talk with him potentially.

Time loop theory!

Timey Wimey P A T H S shenanigans.

Even if I'm not surprised, it's disappointing to see how Eren is the worst Jaeger after all. He used to make bad decisions trying to help "humanity", but now he just thinks he's right, when not even half of Paradis agrees with his ideas.

I hate Eren from the bottom of my heart. He's disgusting, a total piece of shit. And I love Isayama for giving me all these feelings. He's the real GOAT here.

Really made me wish Isayama hadn't gone for the ~mystery~ of Eren becoming the villain and had instead at least given us the flashbacks in chronological order. The way this long-awaited PoV reveal has been done has felt so clunky and awkward.

I honestly don't understand those who used to support the Rumbling but no longer do after this chapter; maybe they are the same kind of people that romanticized Omnicide and kept defending it as the "morally correct thing to do" and that they "would most certainly do it" if they were in Eren's shoes... Until the reality hit them and all of their posturing like a bag of bricks - i.e. the typical edgy keyboard warrior.

As a pro-Rumbling fan, I always knew this was the expected outcome; if anything this chapter was everything I hoped that Isayama would show to us because it once and for all disproved the idea that Eren has a plan beyond the Rumbling. A Lelouch ending (which I hope doesn't happen) can still be pulled, but its not something that Eren is actively working torwards, but the end result if the alliance somehow stops him.

rumbling go brrrrrrrr

Zeke is controlling the bird with his beast Titan ability that he learnt from the paths realm

"what will my mother think of me?" Ashamed of you, eren, duh.

I really can't feel sorry for eren when this is ultimately the choice he made. There were always other choices up until the point where he killed many world leaders in his attack on Marley.

A bit sappy but understandable. From a egoist point of view Eren is justified in his actions, but of course this just reaffirms the Eldians "monstrous" nature to them. The Eldians dont have a realistic out unless the titans are truly gone forever if Eren loses. Curious about the birds.

A freckled girl appeared. That's progress.

BRUTAL.

Also what about the Eldians living outside of Paradis Island? IMO they are the ones suffering the most

Can he even be stopped?

Can people stop saying that because you enjoy the direction of the story that you’re a genocide supporter? I like shooter games too but I’m obviously not going to go kill anyone, everyone needs to chill out with the moral policing, you sound like the Tipper Gore crowd. Is the rumbling justified? No, but it’s a great direction for the story and it was inevitable once it was established what was in the walls. Chekhov’s gun had to go off sometime, I’m actually surprised how many people seem to be agonizing over this.

Can't put it into words how amazing AOT has become and is just stepping over each level taking one step at a time !!!

Can't wait till next one

Changed the opinion of many people on eren's genocide

Chapter confirmed Eren is NOT the father

Cruel just like the world

This chapter re-assured me that that first scene of Mikasa is the moment she says goodbye to a dying Eren.

Damn bro it’s great

Dang. When this is animated, I guarantee a lot of youtubers and just the anime fandom in general will think this is the best series of all time.

Eren is one of the best MCs of all time.

Eren is one of the most tragic characters on manga

Eren is the best protagonist

Eren is the GOAT but is also wrong and needs to die real soon

EREN IS THE GOATTTT. AOT IS THE GOATTTT. ISAYAMA IS THE GOATTTT.

Eren is truly the best developed main character from any shonen series, this chapter made my mind.

Eren loses it, again

great job Isayama. well done you madman

Great painfull chapter, Eren having a breakdown Made me so sad and depressed, I wish him to achieve freedom

Greatest manga of all time

greatest piece of fiction of our generation

Hange is right, this is not an acceptable solution

I cried while reading it no joke

I don't even know what to say about Eren. Sure, this chapter is showing his guilt, but that definitely does NOT justify his actions. EXPLAIN YOURSELVES, YEAGERISTS, EREN STANS!!!!!! (sorry I'm just angry about him)

I still think there needs to be a twist, because for me the character development still doesn't work. Eren and Historia have both forgotten common sense and do awful stupid things for stupid, hollow (plot) reasons, and the 104th this entire arc have both become somewhat useless and self-righteous at the convenience of the author. I don't care if the whole arc happened this way just because clearly Isayama wants to have the rumbling as the last arc, but if this was his objective he should have been more focused on character consistency and less on the mystery of it all. It still all feels less like the choices of actual characters than plot convenience, and it gives me the same sensation of the Serumbowl, which I thought was the nadir of the series.

If truly there's won't be some last minute twist it's just bad character writing in service of a plot decided in advance. Same with Historia and the 104th. Who cares about character consistence? Not Isayama, apparently

For some reason Eren wants Armin to the what his is doing.

Honestly, of all the characters Armin is the last I'd want succeding in stopping Eren. Let Mikasa have the spotlight, damn it.

Beautiful pain

Beautifully drawn but very gory

a person can gladly become a devil or a god if he has to, for justice.

A truly sad and terrifying chapter. I never understood how anyone could support this. Don't get me wrong. I understand plotwise why it had to happen. I knew Isayama would show us this. This part was unavoidable for the story he's trying to tell. Doesn't mean I have ever supported it, or that I ever will. But hey at least Aruannie is cannon, so that's a silver linning to this absolutely horrible chapter.

PS. I never wanted to punch a fictional character in the face as much as I want to punch Eren's. Alas, he's not real and I will never get the satisfaction of doing that.

Adding onto child eren's freedom panel, i believe it represents the idea of freedom he had wished for before he was betrayed by the world itself.

All hail the mad king

All that suffering, for what. You won but at what cost

IT MAKES MY HEAD SPIN AND THE FORSHADOWING BUILD UP TO THIS CHAPTER IS JUST *chefs kiss*

It really shows that Attack On Titan isn’t an ordinary story. It is a storyline filled with emotions, tragedies and somehow the cruel reality that this world possesses.

It shifted through a lot of POVs, it was pretty good.

It showed the rumbling and Eren in much more impartial way.

It was crazy to finally see in Eren's Head but all it did was confirm the things I was thinking for awhile and put me more on his side.At this point I'm ride or Die Eren Yaeger just so I can see how this all ends.

It was good, but I wish we would've gotten more with the rest of the crew going to Marley.

Listen, I really love Eren, I have deeply felt for him. I still do, I relate too much with his own traumas but since the timeskip. I have distanced myself from him and I don't and have never supported on his stance for genocide because he set this up with Zeke and pushed Marley to go into war while they didn't want it in the first place. However I have too much of a strong emotional connection to him so I understand him and I admit, it made me doubt a little bit on some of my stances. Since Eren is so different from who he was back before the timeskip, I have always assumed and the manga has not proved me wrong, that he's being influenced by something or someone which is feeling on his traumas, anger, depression and dissapointments. So I am still extremely optimistic about him.

Jesus Fucking Christ

its funny how the dream dies with reality

Its great to finally get some of Erens thoughts but it’s just made me think he’s not acc the one in control

My tears create a whole new ocean.

no opinion really, chapter felt kinda flat and repetitive in parts

Alliance supporters learning that Eren is suffering with all this shit and isn't trash and pitiful like their hypocrite babies who were genociding their own people in the last 32 volumes.

Amazing. The way Eren developed from this angsty little child to someone who's willing to kill everyone to achieve his childhood dream and save his pals is truly wonderful.

Rumbling go wee

I found it tragically ironic that Eren just has a passing thought of what his mom would think of his actions, and it reminds me of how he wouldn’t listen to her when he was younger. Do you think this is a subtle indication that Eren hasn’t matured from the thought processes of a selfish boy, or does he truly hold weight and more consideration to what his mother (and other people) would think? Personally, I think he is more aware of outside views, but just refuses to accept that reality because he is so stuck on his own desires.

It's one of the pivotal scenes because atleast I know that within Eren he still at somepoint have consicience and shows that at somepoint he can be stopped.

Rumbling goes rumble

Eremin <3

Yams makes me confused! I dunno!

Collosal Titans go brr

CONFUSING IN WAY TOO MANY PARTS!!! where to start or stop... from ymir to bird to child eren is all confusing af but nice :)

Depression and depression

Did we really need to spend that many pages on that AruAni BS? So much for fucking 5% being left.

Dis gon be good

Let's get the final confrontation underway!

Welp, there is absolutely no defying it: Eren is the big bad and there is no secret plan to make it up.

Let’s get ready to RUUUUUUUUMBLE!

LETS FUCKING GOOO

Levi and Hange convo when? Armin and Annie end of the world sex when? Jean confessing to Mikasa when? Floch suprise killing Connie or Jean when? Floch getting thrown over board to die at sea rather than being shot when?

LOLZ at anyone still defending the rumbling after this chapter portraying it as something heroic or justifiable

Make me feel. Make me feel more.

Man, this is rough.

Overall well rounded chapter. Time to get back to alliance and Historia after this though.

Poor Eren. But I kind of understand.

Ppl who are calling Eren GOAT or saying they were only sad in this chapter bc Eren cried are legit psychopaths.

Seeing Eren’s POV and reasoning behind pursuing the rumbling makes me feel for him. We know he cares about his friends, paradis, etc. I am at a loss of words for this chapter. However I will say this, Armin in paths with Eren is not a coincidence. I think isayama is foreshadowing of a conversation THEY’VE ALREADY HAD, and what’s to come..

Isayama is being stingy about letting his characters talk to each other properly. I mean really how many scenes do we have left on this boat while the rumbling goes on? When there’s still so much to be said. Wasted chapter imo, a lot more could’ve been said and done.

E+H=Y

Eren confirmed that he will kill everyone. The rumbling cannot be stopped.

Even though we have gotten some insight on Eren's pov, it has created more questions than answers. His motives are still very confusing and we are still being kept in the dark

Every chapter update makes me sad :( the story has gotten so tragic and i love it but oof. I didnt think it could get sadder but Isayama proves me wrong every month

Every new released chapter is better than the last one. I love these series. Props to mr. Hajime Isayama 💪🏆

Exactly what we needed, have more faith now.

Exceeded my expectations. The last two chapters were mindblowing after a slow mini Arc at the port. Isayama can really pull ar your heartstrings with flashbacks and Eren's pov.

Thanks Isayama for the microscopic eremin crumbs

that kid eren scene though... easily the best scene the series so far

That was damn perfect

That was f***ing amazing and awful at the same time. I want this series to end, but actually no. Keep going Isayama. You crazy motherf***er.

the "beyond the walls" talk between armin and eren is being brought up again and im emotional now thx

The ending's gonna disappoint people, no matter how well/badly it's executed. Chapter was cool, but overhyped imo

The pacing seems slow, but then again, it was recently nodded to that the manga won't end at Chapter 134 or 135 but 136. And Isayama does have everything planned out for a long time. I don't think he'll disappoint.

the significance of many things in the story are too epic, carla and mikasa look alike, grisha and eren look alike, historia and dina even look alike, the repeating actions, along with the intricate history formed, give us a lot to speculate but nothing to confirm.

I am somewhat sad for eren, to see the point that he has reached by having that freedom that he longed for so much but that I hardly think exists is sad, I don't know how the hell this is going to end but hey I don't know

I can't even begin to imagine how this is going to look in the anime. Definitely not for the faint of heart.

I can't imagine how the manga will end in a few chapters

I can't wait for 132.

I can’t believe this

I can’t wait to see this chapter voice acted, holy shit.

I loved the context that Eren's apology provides, really gives some much needed insight on his thoughts about the future during the timeskip

I need him to talk to mikasa and armin!

On this poll, I noticed that there's nothing about Mikasa haha. I want her to have a moment for the next chapter, or appear on Eren's memories. We know she's gonna be playing a big role for this arc.

I like where the story is going and I can’t wait for the anime so I can show AOT to everyone.

I think Eren is going somewhere. If he wanted to rumble the world, he can control the titans even from the safety of Paradis. I think he is going to that tree under which Ymir fell.

I think it focuses on Eren a bit too much. Maybe show us some Levi? Thank you.

i think reiner is gay

I am currently not taking a side. Not with Eren or with the Yeagerists or with our heroes. I'm just here to see how it all goes down and how Isayama wants to play it out. I've been enjoying every single chapter and being so moved it's insane. F the ship wars and the bs, this story is much more than that. And tragedy is written all over it. Ok brb getting my tissues prepared for next chapter.... 👍

I don't know how many more issues we're going to have but I worry that the story is going to come to a screeching halt and leave too many questions unanswered. Isayama has got so many plates spinning, narratively speaking, I have no idea how he is going to finish them or if he'll finish them at all.

Just a series of gut-punches one after the other after every panel, oof this chapter affected me more than any other. It also made me wonder about how the planet in general would be affected. Like how would ecosystems change? Will Eren only go after the civilized countries and then stop? Or will he not let a single person survive outside the island and just actually steamroll the whole planet? If he does, wouldn't that change climates and stuff? What's about the animals and plants? Am I thinking too much about this? How will the drastic changes affect the Paradisians? All this assuming the alliance doesn't manage to stop him (which is likely)

although initially him and reiner seemed to pursue the same path, eren initial motive was to wipe them all and he said it multiple times, I don't believe he has guilt nor remorse because "it was all set from the very start"

We also got a seamless reintegration of the theme of what it means to be a "good person", something both Armin and Annie have grappled with as far back as Female Titan arc, and it's great to see it re-emerge in the context of the rumbling. Annie is an underrated character. Isayama could have had her come back with some bullshit royal blood or daughter-of-Kruger twist, but instead he decides to integrate her into the conflict as her own person and make her a more interesting character than Reiner (sorry Soul).

Eren is allowed to have emotions, he should be able to feel terrible about himself for having to wipe out most of humanity. But he also believes that this is the only way. He begged Hange if there was another way, he WANTED an option that didn't end with the world being rumbled. When Hange had no ideas, and no else had a plan that would keep Paradis safe, he felt like he had to move forward, towards freedom.

Eren is neither right or wrong in his decision. Killing innocents, destroying entire ecosystems and ending human civilization is morally bankrupt. In many ways his plan is short sighted, but when I say this, my stance comes from a logical standpoint rather than a moral one(the political instability of the island, the precedent it sets, the danger he put his friends in). The *most* moral thing to do was a partial rumbling(there are still some issues both logistical and moral) and while 2 wrongs don’t make a right, I hold Marley and many other nations equally at fault for not being willing to end this diplomatically. Their scorched earth policy brought this on. It’s unfortunate that their citizens are paying the price for their governments crimes. But you can’t threaten to wipe out an entire civilization with no negotiation and not expect a desperate response like a full rumbling. This doesn’t absolve eren of responsibility of his actions, but the rumbling is an extremely unfortunate even that was 100% avoidable if diplomacy had been an option.

Eren, no! That’s all I can say at this point! Armin please, I’m begging you, stop your mans.

Eren, what the fuck?

Eren's self pity doesn't change the fact that he's killing millions of innocents and he's not going to stop despite it.

Eren’s guilt over his actions doesn’t mean a thing considering he’s still doing it. The fact that he saw the future and did nothing to stop it (and actively made it happen) makes him even worse. I don’t feel sorry for him in the slightest.

Even though Eren has the skeletal structure as an (I don't even know.. turkey/bird.. eh...) people are still going to simp the shit out of him on twitter, like jfc-

Eren wanted to destroy all life outside paradis not because he wanted outside world to be just a wonderland of blazing fire , grasslands etc. but because the people outside are making it impossible enough for him to realise his dream of total freedom

I would like to add that AruAni scene was, in my opinion, really important for both armin and Annie character development, since they're having a romance scene with the theoretically enemy (armin is from paradis and Annie is from Marley). I think this represent well that people from Marley and people from Eldia can live together, without violence. (I wish I could write more, but English is not my first language)

I'm glad we're finally getting things more thoroughly from Eren's perspective. Up until now, his motivations and thoughts have mostly been discussed by other characters, but we finally get to hear from him directly. This chapter mostly confirmed what I suspected, that Eren isn't heartless, but he was also a tragic character that was perfectly aware of the destruction he was about to bring upon so many people. Overall really good, can't wait for the next chapter, whatever it may be.

I'm happy that Isayama made clear what an egoist and violent nature Eren always had, since he was a child: he's not an hero, not an avenger and surely not the "chad goat" some teen edgelords think.

I'm literally shaking so hard rn

The wall titans were always an obvious metaphor for "what if Japan had WMDs", but in this chapter this is made even more obvious when there is nothing left from migrant children but two dark kid-shaped splatters on the ground, which is a pretty clear visual reference to citizens of Hiroshima leaving nothing but scorched silhouettes behind when the atomic bombing happened.

Ironically, there was a popular twitter thread this week about the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and despite not being very familiar with the topic itself, I was somewhat amused to find the arguments in the comments to be very familiar. It's payback, it's to prevent future war, it was justified because of Japanese government's war crimes, Japanese citizens were indoctrinated and racist and would NEVER give up fighting foreigners so bombings were a mercy, it's collateral damage, etc etc.

The warriors deserve much better than being used as props.

There's 99% chance this series is getting a downer ending

They had it coming. The world was warned yet they still provoked him so much. I feel for Eren..

What is the most disappointing thing is how selfish and unreasonable mankind can be. So much hatred between so many people and nations, the world of Attack on Titan is a cursed one. So much blood spilled everywhere, and why? Is it because it's justice? Or is it because it's mother nature? Or is it because mankind is known for bloodshed and selfishness? So much hatred has blinded people, they no longer care to listen for the reason. Nothing matters to them, just their goals. All of this pointless conflict when people can simply try to speak up, try to understand each other, simply make bonds. If people could only live with a bit more empathy... All we can do is hope that so many deaths will have any meaning. Or perhaps Genocide/omnicide never had any meaning... Perhaps all of this was pointless strife.

This chapter confirmed Uri's predictions during his conversation with Kenny by the river. It remains to be seen now whether the alliance will be able to stop eren. I am sad for the world and for Ramzi and his brother. The pictures were horrible to watch (Isayama is very good at drawing emotions).

i'm...so very tired

I’m freakin cryin i need someone to hold me

Slowly, everything is coming back in its place. I am super dedicated at this point to the manga and I just hope Isayama is gonna be able to reach the perfect conclusion for such all these years of construction.

So Eren is a fish Titan...?

Still pro-rumble

Such a tragedy this whole story is. Really heartbreaking to witness. But so meticulously done and masterfully written.

Somebody said, maybe Eren and Zeke were actually fighting or going on memory journey schmuck in the Paths currently, that's why Eren is sleeping and automatically runs the titan on the outside.

If zeke didn’t pull this shit up in the first place none of this wouldn’t happen

Starting to reconsider the time-loop theory being wrong. Everything is literally coming full circle.

Isayama youre a genius but you love seeing us hurt and confused dont you 😭😭😭

It bothered me how surprised people were that Eren did the rumbling and it was sad. He's been saying he was gonna do it for ages, and now he is. What's with the surprised pikachu fandom?

Jesus Christ everyone needs therapy

Please end this story with happy ending!

#snk poll #snk polls #snk chapter 131 #snk 131

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lixiepeach · 4 years

Text

The Heart of the Sea, Part 8

Pairing: Arthur Curry x OC

Summary: Marina Allen has dedicated her life to conserving wildlife but when she stumbles upon the truth about the company she’s working for she decides to take a stand. A stand that leads her to nearly being killed and meeting her soulmate by chance. It seems like fate is intent upon repeating history but Arthur Curry has other ideas.

Warnings: Oral, lots of angst.

A/N: I’m back bitches! Have some almost smut and some pain!

Masterlist | Part 9

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

Settling into living with Arthur was easy. They got everything unpacked and had taken a trip to Boston to go shopping and pick up some necessary items for the house, and some decorations to make it seem more like home. Marina and Arthur had also spent plenty of time breaking in their new bed.

Marina had acquainted herself with the tub, loving the big claw-footed bath. She used it often, the view of the beach a plus. Arthur had gone out to get a few things, and she had decided to relax in the bath. They’d been decorating all day and Marina was tired. She wasn’t superhuman like Arthur, who just seemed to be able to go, go, go. So much had happened to her in a short amount of time. Her entire life had turned upside down, changed and molted into something she never dreamed of. She’d nearly died, found her soulmate who happened to be a king of an underwater kingdom and now they were living together. It was a lot to take in now that she’d stop to think about it.

She hears the front door, knowing it’s Arthur. She can hear the heavy clunk of his boots as he makes his way through the house, coming straight to the bathroom. He pushes the door open, leaning against the door frame, staring at her. She feels her cheeks heat up from his gaze, despite the water covering everything important.

“I see you got started without me.” He says, grinning.

Marina shrugs. “You left me all alone.”

Arthur comes closer, at least having the decency to kick off his boots before he steps in the tub. Water rises, splashing over the sides as he kneels down, leaning forward to kiss her. She laughs, kissing him back.

“I’ll just have to apologize for that.” He mumbles against her lips, moving his kisses down her jaw and neck.

He sucks a mark on her collarbone, teeth nipping at the sensitive skin. Her hands are in his hair, tangling in the soft strands. His beard tickles her skin as he moves lower, skirting around her breasts before his face disappears into the water. More water spills out of the tub as he submerges his upper body, hands gripping her thighs. She watches him kiss his way down her stomach, shifting her slightly before lifting her thighs, draping them over his shoulders.

Marina’s head falls back, a moan leaving her lips as Arthur mouths at her clit. Bubbles rise to the surface as he eats her out under the water in the tub, tongue doing a number on her clit until her legs are shaking. Her back arches, hands gripping the sides of the tub for dear life as he pushes her closer and closer to the edge. Her hand tangles in his hair under the water, suddenly grateful for his ability to breathe underwater as he brings her to her peak, sucking on her clit to send her over the edge.

She’s breathing heavily, legs still shaking as he slowly rises out of the water, smirking at her. She bites her lip, reaching towards him as he wraps his arms around her, pressing his lips to hers as he lifts her up, standing in the tub. He climbs out, leaving a trail of water to the bedroom.

*****

Marina braids her hair back, looking out the window of their bedroom. The sun was setting, painting the beach and the ocean in orange hues. It’s quiet out, the sound of the waves on the beach coming through the open window. A movement in the distance catches Marina’s eye, her focus drawn to the figure making their way out of the water. Marina drops her hands, watching the figure for a moment before turning and calling for Arthur. He appears at her side a moment later, looking out the window.

His hand squeezes her shoulder for a moment. “I’ll be right back.”

Marina watches him leave their room, the backdoor opening and closing before Arthur jogs down the path leading to the beach to meet the person making their way up the path. Marina watches them for a moment before heading to the kitchen to get started on dinner.

She’s surprised when the backdoor opens, Arthur coming back in with the figure that had come out of the water. Usually Arthur didn’t involve her in Atlantean business, even though she hated that fact. She didn’t know why she couldn’t know, but obviously Arthur had his reasons. So when he walked through the door with a fellow Atlantean, Marina was more than shocked.

Arthur walks over to her, smiling brightly. “Vulko, this is Marina. Marina, this is Nuidis Vulko. He trained me.”

Marina gets over her shock quickly, smiling at him. “Nice to meet you.”

He nods to her. “Nice to meet you too.”

Arthur wraps an arm around Marina. “Vulko says he has good news.”

Vulko nods, looking over the two for a moment. “We think we found it.”

Marina feels Arthur tense up beside her at his words. She doesn’t have a clue what they’re talking about, but she has a feeling she’s about to find out.

Arthur leans against the kitchen island. “Where?”

“In the South Atlantic. They couldn’t get close enough to be positive. But they think that’s where it is.”

Arthur grins, hitting his fist against the island as he straightens up. “Finally. Some good news.”

Marina stares up at him, no doubt looking confused. Arthur smiles down at her, no doubt about to explain everything to her.

“There’s an old Atlantean legend about a way to change humans physiologically into being like Atlanteans.” Arthur tells her.

“The legends were old even before Atlantis fell. No one remembers them, but after some digging we uncovered what we could about this way. We’ve been searching everywhere for this mysterious device and we think we may have found it.” Vulko says.

Marina looks between them for a moment. “Do you know if it will work?”

Arthur rubs a hand over his face. “We still don’t know if it’s even real. But it’s worth it to me. It’s a chance at us being able to be together. Completely together.”

Marina nods slowly, taking it in. There was a chance she could be with him. She could be like him. She wouldn’t have to be alone when he had to return to Atlantis. She would be alone while he searched for it, but it was worth it to her to be alone for that time. She already knew what she was getting herself into with being his soulmate. She had already prepared herself for that. But it seemed like it was so far off, him having to leave. She hadn’t really processed she would be alone for a foreseeable time.

“When are you leaving?” She asks finally, looking up at Arthur.

Arthur cups her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her skin. “Tomorrow morning.”

The answer is like a blow to the stomach for Marina. She had thought days maybe, not tomorrow. But she knows it’s for a good reason. He wanted to be with her, completely with her. And he was willing to chase folktales to do so.

She nods, blinking back the sadness welling up inside her.

“I have some things I have to take care of in Atlantis before we leave. I don’t know how long it’s going to take. Weeks, maybe.”

Marina’s heart shatters all over again. She knew he’d have to be gone for a while when he returned to Atlantis, but she was losing him so fast, and he’d be gone for weeks. She takes a deep breath, nodding again. “Whatever you need to do. You know I’ll be right here.”

Arthur smiles, leaning down to kiss her forehead before pulling her against his chest, holding her close. She listens to the vibrations of his voice in his chest as he speaks with Vulko, blocking out the words. She doesn’t want to know any details. Any more than she already did. She had enough to mull over; she didn’t need anything else to worry about.

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

Marina pulls a dress over her naked body as Arthur gets dressed. She’d never seen him fully in his Atlantean garb but it’s nothing like what she pictured. The sun was just starting to come up, painting the sky over the ocean in pinks and oranges. Marina watches Arthur, admiring him as much as she can while he’s still here.

“You’ll have my parents if you need anything.” Arthur tells her, slipping on his boots.

She nods. “I know.”

He leans an elbow on his knees, looking up at her where she’s standing in front of him. “If I had known this would come so soon, I would have told you sooner.”

Marina nods. “I know.” She steps forward, standing between his legs, putting her hands on his shoulders. “I knew what I was signing up for. It...It was a shock, but as long as you come back, I won’t be too upset.”

He smiles, pulling her in for a kiss. “I promise I’ll come back. I’m not going to leave you standing on the beach every morning for thirty years.”

Marina grins. “You better not. I’ll hunt you down and drag you back.”

Arthur kisses her hard, wrapping his arms around her waist. Both of them were going to feel the pain of the distance between them, and both of them knew it was going to be hard. But, if things went well, it would be the only time they’d have to go through it. Arthur was fully prepared to go to the ends of the Earth to find some way for them to be together.

He leans his forehead against hers as he pulls away, breathing her in. “I love you.”

Marina tangles her hands in his hair, holding onto him as long as she can. “I love you too.”

Arthur kisses her again before standing, grabbing his trident. Vulko was standing on the beach, waiting for him. Marina takes his hand, walking out to the sand with him. It’s silent between them as they make their way towards the water. Not an uncomfortable silence, but an understanding one.

Arthur squeezes Marina’s hand, the waves hitting her knees. She doesn’t want to let go, but she knows she has to. Arthur looks down at her, his golden eyes shining with emotion. He leans down, kissing her one more time. He pours all the emotion into the kiss, the bond between them buzzing to life. Marina feels her heart clench at the thought of being apart, but she knows she has to let go.

“Don’t take too long.” She whispers against his lips, letting her hands fall away from him.

“I’ll be back before you know it.” He says, kissing her softly one last time before walking into the waves, disappearing from sight.

#arthur curry #aquaman #dcu #dceu #arthur curry x oc #arthur curry x original character #arthur curry x reader #i'm back

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imlovethomassanders · 4 years

Text

Destined - Chapter 2

You can also read on ao3

This work is completed and will be updated daily until completion:

Chapter 1 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 (FINAL)

Summary: Damien never wanted soulmates. When his fifteenth birthday came, he prayed he wouldn’t receive a “hint” - a way soulmates are connected to help find each other. And to Damien’s horror, the universe gives him multiple soulmates. He’s determined to not let them find out about them. He wants to let them live in ignorant bliss and not force them to deal with him. As Damien grows older, he moves away and goes to college - He even manages to find a boyfriend that he chose himself, and Damien tells himself that he’s happy. But on Damien’s twentieth birthday, the universe gives him and his soulmates another hint - and this one is not one Damien can avoid.

Pairing: DLAMP

Warnings:Abusive romantic relationship (physically, sexually, and verbally), past physical parental abuse, sex and alcohol mentions, general angst (but happy ending)

Words: 3724

Taglist:

@touchstarvedvirgil

@lamp-calm-sanders

@ninjago2020

@confinesofpersonalknowledge

@secret-novelisthost18

@phander-sides

@sherlock-lives-on-bakerstreet

Damien woke up alone again, but that was expected. Jackson wasn't coming back until late that night. He groaned as he pushed himself up. He didn't want to think about how Jackson would react to his new hint.

He glanced down at his wrist to see writing, and he quickly looked back up - not quite ready to deal with all that.

He went to take a shower to clear his head, and turned the water to almost as hot as it would go before sitting on the small shower floor to let the hot water wash over him. Taking a deep breath, he decided to finally check the writing on his arm.

'Hello dear. I know we have yet to meet, but I already absolutely adore you. I was overjoyed to hear that I have a fourth love to pamper and dote on. I don't know what you're going through, but I know I want to help in whatever way you need me. I'm here for you <3' R wrote in their familiar messy cursive.

'I'm afraid I don't quite excelt in emotions, but do know that I hope you're alright and I look forward to the day we finally make acquiantance.' from L.

'Talk to us soon, please. We want to know you're safe.' from the purple writing.

'I told you they'd be excited <3' from Patton.

Damien wiped the tears from his eyes. They should be furious with him! They should want nothing to do with him! But instead they say they care about him - that they want him to be okay.

But he is okay. And how can they really care about him? They know nothing about him.

"So they can't really care," Damien muttered to himself as he stood up. He showered and dried off quickly so he could hurry and get his clothes back on.

Damien waited nervously for Jackson to come home. While waiting, he tried to figure out how to tell him about the new hint, but couldn't find the right words. When Damien heard the front door unlock, he still had no idea what to say.

"Hey," Damien said. He was immediately pulled into a kiss which caused him to smile and wish he could forget about his soulmates for just a few minutes.

"How're you?" Jackson asked as he slid his hand down Damien's back and squeezed his ass, causing Damien to jump.

Oh yeah. He had forgotten that was on the agenda.

"I actually have something to tell you..." Damien said. Jackson's eyebrows furrowed together.

"What?"

"I got another hint."

Anger flashed over Jackson's eyes, but it was gone almost as quickly as it appeared.

"Which one?"

"We can see through each other's eyes. I can't control when it happens," Damien said.

"What happened?" Jackson asked as the grip he had on Damien's arm grew tighter.

"It only happened once. He talked to me, but I didn't do anything back."

Damien yelped as Jackson yanked his arms towards him and pushed his sleeves up to read what they had written.

"Well, I'll just have to remind you who you belong to, huh?"

Jackson looked up at him with dark eyes. Damien shuddered, but he nodded. And before he knew it, he was being picked up and flung onto the bed.

It was two weeks until their new hint was triggered again. Damien was about to fall asleep, Jackson's arm wrapped around his waist, when he was alerted it was going to happen again. He winced as the world went white.

He was in an empty theater. There was a ghostlight on the stage and a single spotlight on him, but everything else was dark. The stranger Damien was looking through had frozen in place.

"Well, hello!" they said after a couple of seconds. "I was wondering when I'd get the chance to talk to you."

They walked downstage and sat down on the edge, looking over the dark house.

"I'm Roman. I'm a bit surprised that the universe decided now was a good time for me to speak to you, but I'm not complaining. I'm here practicing my big monologue for the play coming up," Roman said as he grabbed his water bottle. He took a drink before continuing. "I've been doing theatre since I was a kid. Not to brag, but I'm pretty damn good at it. The professors here love me~"

Damien rolled his eyes.

"They gave me a spare key to the theater for practice. It's so hard during the day when students keep coming in and out of the theater. Do you know how many times I've found some student just sleeping in the house seats? It's ridiculous."

Roman fell onto his back to lay down on the stage.

"...That morning when Patton told us we had another soulmate, I almost didn't believe him," Roman said softly after a moment, raising his hand to the light. "I mean, no offense to you, but years without a fifth person's writing would make you think that. But he told us how he spoke to you. He sounded so serious. And Pat's not one to joke about things like that."

Roman dropped his arm beside him.

"But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. As much as I adore the other three, there has always been this feeling that something was missing. I was never willing to bring it up as to not worry my beloveds, because I didn't want them to think I was unhappy with them. I'm happier than I ever imagined I could be. But it felt like... like when you don't need something for school one day, so you leave it home. But then for the entire day you feel off because that familiar weight isn't in your backpack. That's how it felt, and now I understand why.

Damien's eyebrows furrowed as he adjusted himself further into his pillow.

"I really can't understand why you won't talk to us," Roman said after another moment. "I don't want to offend you or scare you off, but I really don't get it. I spent my entire childhood looking forward to my fifteenth birthday. Then again, I'm told I'm quite the romantic. Perhaps you are not? I don't want my fervor to scare you away. However doting I may be, more than anything I want my soulmates happy. Don't ever think I wouldn't be happy to slow down to whatever pace your comfortable with."

They were alerted that their time together was almost over, and Roman sighed.

"Don't be afraid to talk to us. See you soon, my darling."

And Damien was back in his room.

...My darling.

Roman didn't even know him and he had called Damien his darling.

He thought back to what Roman said, about going at Damien's own pace, and how Jackson treated him.

Damien then pushed that train of thought aside, adamant to not let these strangers make him think poorly of Jackson. Jackson did everything he did because he loved and wanted him. They chose each other.

He was sure that whatever promises his soulmates made to him would be broken as soon as they met. As soon as he opened his snarky mouth around them, they'd change their minds and leave. Just like everyone else - except Jackson.

In his sleep, Jackson tightened his grip on Damien and snuggled closer. Damien smiled and nestled further into Jackson's chest, ready to finally be able to sleep.

It had been a few months after Damien's night with Roman. It was now the summer leading into his next year of college, and Damien was glad things had gone back to normal. His and Jackson's relationship had fallen back into their regular pattern of date nights and sex, Jackson's jealousy rarely flaring up.

Summer had been quite boring, spending days on end alone in the house whenever Jackson went off with friends. But it did give Damien plenty of time to practice and experiment with makeup. Pretty soon, he felt he was ahead of anyone else in his upcoming makeup classes.

With this newfound confidence and the comfort of his normal routine, he rarely found himself worrying about his new hint.

That is, of course, until it happened again.

Damien sighed as he sat back in his chair in front of the mirror.

"Let's just get this over with," Damien thought as the world again went white.

He was on a campus. His school campus.

Oh, no. They went to his school.

He was walking towards one of the main student parking lots, though it was mostly empty since it was summer. Whoever he was seeing through was holding a phone to their ear.

"I have my phone so I can speak to you without worrying passerby," the stranger said. "It is quite unexpected timing, but that is not to say I am displeased. I am actually very grateful that I have been given this chance to talk to you, especially since it has been so long since any of us have had a... visit from you, I guess would be an appropriate term."

"My name is Logan. I am taking summer classes here. I'm majoring in chemical engineering, but I am also pursuing education to become a teacher or professor if I so choose."

"I call it a backup plan. Roman calls it overkill."

Logan unlocked his car and shoved his phone in his pocket before shutting the door and starting the ignition.

"I have been thinking about what I would say to you when given the chacne, but now that I find myself in this predicament I can not seem to find my words."

Logan paused as he backed his car out of the parking lot.

"Roman and Patton told me what they said. While I entertained the thought of giving an emotional spiel of the same caliber, I am afraid I am just not capable of putting emotions into words. Facts are more my forte - Concrete statements that can not be disputed. So here are the facts: I understand your hesitance of speaking to your soulmates, since it took me weeks after my fifteenth birthday to write to Patton. I do not know you, so I can not claim that I adore or love you, but I genuinely do hope that you are in a safe situation, and I look forward to when we are able to meet."

"There. Maybe when we meet in person I can think of something better to say, but for now I think this will suffice."

Damien sighed in relief. He didn't know if he could handle another emotionally guilting speech.

"We have an apartment not too far from campus. We used to live on the other side of town and the commutes got so annoying."

Damien tensed as he watched Logan turn onto the road by his apartment. Oh, for the love of God, please don't let them live in the same complex.

Damien sighed in relief as Logan drove past.

"It was hard to find a relatively cheap apartment that could fit the four of us - we are incredibly lucky for what we have. We had to buy a larger bed, and we still argue over the one bathroom sometimes, but all in all I say it has been worth it."

As Logan stopped at a red light, the two were alarted that their time together was going to end.

"Well, I hope this was not a miserable experience for you. Frankly, I am still trying to get used to the concept. I hope I get to see you soon, and I wish you the best."

Damien was staring at himself in the mirror. He didn't feel like doing makeup anymore.

While that experience had been easier to stomach than the previous ones, it still wasn't ideal. Damien sighed as he reached for his makeup wipes.

They went to his school.

How many times had he walked past them? Had they seen each other before? Did they share any classes?

Damien knew he had to me much more cautious this upcoming school year.

A bit more than a month later, Damien was reading over his class schedule again. School was starting soon, and he couldn't stop worrying about meeting his soulmates.

Damien was hesitent to tell Jackson. Jackson would probably set even stricter rules for Damien, or he might even force Damien to stop going to campus altogether.

It was getting late and Damien was again waiting for Jackson to get home. Around in the morning he gave up waiting and went to get ready for bed.

He was brushing his teeth when he waws alerted he was going to see through one of his soulmates again. He groaned as he spit out his toothpaste. He was really tired and he just wanted to get some sleep. He left the bathroom and fell onto his bed, hitting the mattress as soon as the world went white.

It was dark - Damien couldn't tell where his soulmate was. But after a moment he could tell they were staring at their lap.

"Sorry," they suddenly said in a weak voice. "Give me a moment."

They took a shaky breath and wiped tears off their face. That voice wasn't Patton's, or Roman's, or Logan's. This was the purple handwriting.

The stranger looked up and though it was too dark to see much, Damien could tell they were sitting on the roof of a building.

"I just.." the stranger started, but trailed off. They sighed.

"I've been waiting for my turn to talk to you. I've been worrying about what I should say because I didn't want to say anything that might drive you even further away because I'm not great with words and then as more time went on I was worried that the universe decided I shouldn't speak to you because I'd just mess things up and-"

The stranger stopped their rant and took another shaky breath.

"I'm sorry. I just... I don't want to screw this up."

"The others are asleep. They don't know I'm up here. It's a good place to go to just be alone for a while."

"I'm okay, by the way. I'm just worried about the school year. It starts really soon. I'm an art major minoring in creative writing and while I really love it, it sometimes feels like too much to handle. Sometimes I can't help but think about every possible thing that could go wrong."

The stranger paused.

"I know you don't want to talk to us," they said slowly. "But we would like to get to know you. Even if you don't want to meet, if you'd just write us or... or... something. It's stressing all of us out. Patton's sad almost all the time. Roman's angry. He tries to act like he's not but he is. Logan and I are trying to be the reasonable ones, but I can tell it's bothering Lo, too and I just... I just... I..."

The stranger trailed off before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

Damien clenched his fists, sharp nails digging into his skin. He wasn't responsible for other people's emotions. He can not be to blame for how they are behaving-

"I'm sorry," the stranger whispered, snapping Damien out of his thoughts. "That was guilting. I don't want you to do anyting you don't want to do. If you really think you'd be happier without us, then okay. We want you to be happy."

Damien unclenched his fists.

"Is it something we said? Are you older than me? Younger? How long have you been reading our conversations without every saying anything?"

"Did Roman scare you off? I know he's obnoxious sometimes but he's a really nice guy and he knows when to tone it down when necessary. Maybe Logan? Look, he's brutally honest and sometimes doesn't know when to keep his opinions to himself, but he's a good dude."

"It couldn't have been Patton, could it? I mean, I guess he can be a bit overbearing, but it's only because he cares so much."

"...I wouldn't be surprised if it was me," Damien's soulmate whispered. "I know I'm snarky somtimes. And rude. And overly sarcastic. And I know my anxiety can be annoying to deal with. But the last thing I'd want is to drive anyone away."

Damien's mind was racing. His heart hurt for this stranger, and he was angry about it. It wasn't his soulmate's fault! This was all on him!

"And it isn't as bad as I made it out to be. I tend to exaggerate. We're getting better. It was a huge shock at first, but we're learning to live with it. So don't feel bad about that. Roman isn't really mad at you. He's mad at whatever is keeping you away from us. Sorry again for being so guilting."

His soulmate sat in silence as he stared towards the horizon. Damien wondered when their time together would run out. None of the other encounters had been this long.

"I was so scared on my fifteenth birthday," his soulmate whispered suddenly. "I didn't have a great upbringing. Well, none of us really did, but mine was particularly bad. Years of parental neglect and vicious bullying left me an anxious wreck."

Damien's breath hitched.

"I wanted a soulmate so badly. I wanted that special person that was promised to love me and accept me. So when I wrote 'hello' on my arm at midnight and no one wrote back, I cried for hours. Now I know that my soulmates were just asleep, but my mind didn't let me think rationally. My mind went to the worst possible scenario: I didn't have a soulmate"

"Then I woke up and saw three different sets of handwriting on my arm and I had a panic attack."

"But they were so nice and so excited to see me. I quickly fell for these three strangers, and they were the only people I trusted - even if I hadn't met them. They were there for me for ther est of high school. They helped me. No one had done that before."

"I actually stopped writing to them once I got to college, though. I fell into a really bad mental state. I convinced myself I was going to fail my classes and drop out and never do anything with my life. I thought the others would be better off without a burden like me.

"I couldn't help but read what they wrote, though. They would regularly ask if I was there, if I was okay. But I never answered. They had never even met me, so they'd get over me eventually, right?"

"Then I met Patton. We had an art class togther, though we never talked. I never really talked to anyone. But one day he had doodled all over his hand, so his doodles were on mine, too. He didn't notice at first, but I couldn't stop staring at him. Eventually he noticed, and he smiled at me with that Patton smile that melts any cold bone in you and assures you that everything is going to be okay."

"And you know what I did? I ran out of the room. I ran to my dorm and locked myself in the bathroom. Pathetic, huh?"

Damien could hear the smile in his voice.

"He later wrote to ask which one of us he had seen. I'm certain he knew it was me, though. When Roman and Logan found out they got so excited. They asked if I looked like I was doing okay. Patton said that I looked 'tired and dangerously skinny,' but that was normal for me. They were all so worried about me. That's when I realized it was bad for all of us for me to ignore them."

"The next art class, Pat was standing outside the door waiting for me. He asked if we could talk, and he gave me such a gentle smile I couldn't say no. We talked and talked and cried a bit, but we figured it out. Patton was adamant he get me out of the dorm with my shitty roommate, so we got a little apartment together. Later we ran into Logan and then Roman, and I thought things couldn't get any better."

"Then a couple years later, one morning Patton tells us we have another soulmate. I completely blanked. I remember staring off into the distance as everything around me turned blurry. The others were speaking, but I couldn't tell you what they had said. Logan led me to the couch and snapped me out of my daze. I was confused. And scared. Everything was finally becoming perfect, and now something was disrupting that."

"I was worried for you, but also anxious for myself, as selfish as that sounds. But then I started wondering, what if there was a fifth person with us? What if someone could be with me while the others had calsses? What if there was a fifth person made for us to join in on cuddle sessions and date nights? I realized we were missing a piece of ourselves, and that missing piece was you," his soulmate finished in a soft whisper.

"I'm sorry. I'm talking too much. You're probably getting sick of me."

Surprisingly, Damien found that he wasn't.

They were alerted that their time together was almost over, and his soulmate sighed.

"I should go back to bed. Take care of yourself, okay?"

Damien was back in his room. He took a shaky breath and pulled his blankets up right under his chin. He stared at the wall for at least half an hour before he heard the door open, meaning Jackson was home.

Damien didn't feel like dealing with Jackson, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep. Jackson called out his name, and he heard Jackson huff as he headed towards the bedroom. For a moment, Damien was worried Jackson would want to wake him up, but instead he just laid down next to him, which Damien was thankful for. He just wanted to go to sleep so he didn't have to think about everything he had just heard.

Right before Damien succumbed to sleep, he realized his soulmate forgot to give his name.

(Thanks for reading! Chapter 3 is scheduled to be posted tomorrow, Jan 9 2020)

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insfiringyou · 5 years

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BTS - Explaining our headcanon masterlist / headcanon universe!!!

Our full masterlist can be found here

To read each member & their girlfriend’s headcanon universe fics in order, follow the links here:

RM / Jin / Suga / J-Hope / Jimin / V / Jungkook

Find out more about the headcanon girlfriend, their visuals, hobbies, interests etc. here

As our more dedicated readers will have realised, although all of our fics and scenarios can be enjoyed by themselves, the majority of them are part of our headcanon universe. This basically means that instead of writing BTS’s girlfriends in a vague way, we imagine them as fully fleshed out characters of their own with their own timeline in terms of their relationship.

We do not tend to write our scenarios in order which means that some of the fics which happen later on in a certain members relationship may be written earlier. We understand how super confusing this can be as a reader (hence this post). Even more confusing is when we write all member scenarios based on certain prompts, yet the timeline for each member is different. (For just one example, in the scenario ‘You ask them to make love to you’, Suga’s part takes place around 4 months into his relationship with Jeong-sun, but J-Hope’s part takes place 3 years after this as he has not yet met his girlfriend, Nana, when Suga’s scenario is written.)

I will therefore attempt to list both our original characters below and list key scenarios within their relationship. This means some “all member” scenarios will be repeated, as each member’s timeline will be different (to find the relevant part, just go to the member you are looking for and read their part)

As we update our headcanon universe, I will also update this!!!

(We really hope this makes sense!!! If not, please message us and we will be super happy to clarify for you!)

Contains spoilers

Original Characters

Ji-eun - RM’s girlfriend.

Not to be confused with the singer IU who shares the same name. She is a solicitor who has been married and divorced prior to meeting Namjoon. She is older than him by several years. He meets her during a business party and have sex for the first time after several months of dating (here). They temporarily break up five months later during a boat party (here) and, following, Namjoon questions the number of men she has dated to the other members, inadvertently revealing the number of people the other members of BTS have slept with (here). He personally, reveals he has slept with 5. They do get back together two weeks later (here) and (as mentioned here during ‘The Play’) and he eventually begins spending more time at her apartment than his own. (the events of “making a sex/intimate tape” and “you ask them to make love to you” and “A late night conversation in bed with RM” take place around this time.) Ji-eun does become good friends with both Cassandra (RM’s girlfriend) and Min-seo (Jin’s girlfriend) and plans Min-seo’s bachelorette/hen party (here) during which time she gets a bit tipsy and reveals some information about her sex life. Ji-eun likewise warms to the other girlfriends, as shown at Jin and Min-seo’s wedding (here). Prior to RM entering the military, they go on a double date holiday with Jin and Min-seo to Cyprus (here) where Ji-eun and Namjoon make a sex tape to give something for her to remember him by when he enters the military. Although she finds it hard with Namjoon being away, he visits as often as he can (here), though the strain ultimately takes its toll on the pair. During his final vacation from service, Namjoon upsets Ji-eun during a sex act (here), though later apologises over a voicemail, explaining how down he has been without her and with the added pressure of his uncertain future with the group (here).

READ ALL OF RM AND JI-EUN’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Min-seo - Jin’s girlfriend.

She is a Sales Assistant in a department store who studies Sociology at university. It is revealed in a later fic (here) that she met Jin when he came into her store to buy a suit for an award ceremony. She is several years younger than him and has never been intimate with anyone else. She loses her virginity to Jin after several months of dating (here) and often accompanies him to events and parties. She is familiar with Suga and RM’s girlfriend, having met them both at Supreme Boi’s boat party (here). Although she was upset to learn that Jin has dated more people in the past than she thought (5) (here), she realises that it doesn’t mean he loves her any less. She typically stays out of drama and plans on settling down and starting a family with Jin (as revealed here). Prior to dating Min-seo, Jin did have a one night stand with a woman he met at a wedding (here), but he wouldn’t feel the need to share this with Min-seo. After a year and a half of dating and a week after Min-seo graduates from university, Jin proposes to her (here.) Six months later, Jin and Min-seo celebrate their upcoming wedding with separate stag/hen (bachelor/bachelorette) parties that don’t go to according to plan (here). A week later, she marries Jin (here). Their honeymoon period is cut short, however, when 3 months later Jin is due to start his military duty. In an attempt to keep his new wife company during his time away, he buys her a puppy called Bomi (here). When Jin comes out of the military, he is upset to find that Min-seo’s sister has sold details of their marriage to a newspaper, causing a rift between their families and tensions with his wife. Min-seo is likewise upset and, on a double date holiday to Cyprus with Namjoon and Ji-eun, she falls ill (here). She finds she is pregnant shortly after and reveals to the other members during a group dinner (here). Shortly before giving birth, she makes up with her sister (here) and later is induced into labour since being overdue (here).

READ ALL OF JIN AND MIN-SEO’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Jeong-sun - Suga’s girlfriend

She is a Pharmacy Assistant and is around the same age as Yoongi. Several years prior to dating Jeong-sun, Yoongi had a six month relationship with a white Korean girl who cheated on him (can be read here) & (Jeong-sun finds out about her here) and two weeks before meeting Jeong-sun, he has a one night stand with the singer Shin Suran (here). He meets Jeong-sun when they are paired together during a game of 7 Minutes in Heaven (here). Although they initially do not get on, they quickly realise there is sexual tension between them and Yoongi asks her on a date where they share a kiss (read here.) Things quickly escalate when he performs oral sex on her during the second date (found here). Things become more intimate a few weeks later when Jeong-sun invites Yoongi back to her apartment for the first time and he fingers her despite her being on her period (here). Later that night, Suga discovers her tattoos and she realises she really likes him (here). Despite being close from an early stage, they wait a month and a half before having sex (here). Their time together is brief, however, as he goes on a two month world tour after several months of dating. It is during this time that Jeong-sun realises that, despite herself, she has fallen in love with him (as hinted here). When he returns, they spend a week together in solitude before he is due away again. It is during this time he confesses that he loves her and she reveals she feels the same (here). Despite their intense feelings for one another, spending so much time apart begins to take its toll. Furthermore, their relationship is mostly a secret from their friends (as revealed in the boat party fic here) as they are very private about their personal lives. Jungkook does catch them kissing passionately in public (here) but does not reveal it to the rest of the group. 8 months into their relationship, Jeong-sun has a pregnancy scare and takes a test which turns out negative (read here). The strain of their relationship eventually becomes too much for them. In an attempt to save their increasingly fragile relationship, Yoongi proposes to Jeong-sun (here). She declines his offer and they do not see each other in person for over a month and half (as mentioned here when they have phone sex.) The strain of the relationship causes Jeong-sun to break up with Yoongi, despite the fact she loves him (can be read here - bring the tissues!). During their time apart, before Yoongi’s military enlistment Jeong-sun begins to date someone else (Yoongi discovers it here). Although Yoongi cannot bring himself to start a relationship with anyone else, during the band’s tour in England, he and Hoseok have a threesome with a stranger they meet at a bed and breakfast (this can be read here) & the following month he has a one night stand with an African-American woman he meets in a bar (here). A few weeks later, Yoongi receives his military enlistment letter and, later that day, sees Jeong-sun for the first time in 6 months at the supermarket. Although they exchange some small talk, Yoongi does not reveal his letter to her (can be read here.) Three months following his military enlistment, Yoongi sees Jeong-sun at work (can be read here) and they agree to keep in contact. The following day, she calls him and they agree to go on a coffee date (can be read here.) However, their date has to be canceled when her boiler starts to leak. Yoongi manages to fix it and they almost kiss but the moment is lost. (here). The following week they finally go on their planned date and end up briefly holding hands. (here). A few days later, Yoongi visits her apartment late at night when he realises it is her thirtieth birthday. She reveals she has been feeling down recently due to her career and he ends up staying the night with her. Although nothing happens beyond cuddling, they do speak quite candidly about their past relationship and things becomes quite heated. In the morning, they finally kiss and after he leaves, Jeong-sun, in a moment of elation and emotion, sends him an explicit picture (can be read here). The following day, they meet for lunch and establish that they are willing to give their relationship another try. Although they do not feel ready to have sex again, they share an intimate bath together. (read here). Two weeks later, they have sex again for the first time since their break up (here), though they both feel pressure for it to be perfect. The following morning, while having breakfast in bed, Yoongi admits that he would marry her ‘in an instant’ and they discuss meeting each other’s parents (here). After Hoseok is discharged from the military, Yoongi organises a group dinner and introduces Jeong-sun as his girlfriend. During the event, they both reveal they are still in love with each other (here). A few months later, Yoongi finally meets Jeong-sun’s dad and finds out more about her family during a trip to Gwangju where they go fishing together (here).

READ ALL OF SUGA AND JEONG-SUN’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Nana - J-Hope’s girlfriend

Hoseok is one of the last members within the group to meet his OTP. He reveals prior to meeting her, to the other members, that he has slept with four other women (revealed here). During the 7 Minutes in Heaven party game at Supreme Boi’s house, the same occation when Yoongi meets his girlfriend Jeong-sun, Hoseok becomes friendly with the girl he has been paired with, Yu-jin, a friend of Jeong-sun (Suga’s girlfriend) (7 mins can be found here). Yu-jin is on the autistic spectrum and finds it difficult to meet new people, but she immediately takes a shine to Hoseok when he asks her on a date to the zoo. They continue to stay in touch but she eventually moves to China to become a Marine Biologist at Beijing zoo before any real feelings can develop between them (as revealed here.) (and also mentioned by Jeong-sun here.) Although Hoseok does have some sexual encounters, including him and Yoongi having a threesome with a woman they met while on tour in England (here), he is not serious about anyone during this time until he meets Nana after she has an accident and falls over in the park. He invites her back to his house to clean. They realise they like each other immediately and they have sex on the sofa (can be read here). Nana is a primary school teacher and around a year older than Hoseok. Although she likes him immediately, she does suspect he is cheating on her after around a month and half into the relationship when she reads a gossip article that confirms him to be dating his stylist. J-Hope, upset to see her reaction, reassures her this is not the case (can be read here). Nana warms to the other member’s girlfriends at Jin’s wedding (here), though their time together is cut short when Hoseok enters the military. During this time, she becomes closer to the other girlfriends. Hoseok books a short vacation from his service to visit Nana, though their time is interrupted by V’s girlfriend, Cassandra, who needs a place to stay following a big argument with her boyfriend (here). Later, Hoseok is discarged from the military and a reunion dinner is organised by Yoongi for him (here). A few months later, Hoseok and Nana make the decision to move in together and possibly adopt her elderly neighbours dog (here).

READ ALL OF J-HOPE AND NANA’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Angel - Jimin’s first girlfriend

Despite being a bit of a womaniser, Jimin reveals to the other members that he has only slept with three women (here). He does have an ongoing sexual fling with Angel, a university friend of Jeong-sun (Suga’s girlfriend) and the hostess of the 7 Minutes in Heaven party (here). Following the party, Angel gives Jimin a blowjob and, a few months later, they finally have sex during Supreme Boi’s boat party (as mentioned here from the POV of other people) and here from Angel and Jimin’s perspective. Although Angel studied Philosophy at university with Jeong-sun, they are not especially close friends, with Jeong-sun often going to events with her out of habit more than real friendship. Jimin has another sexual encounter with Angel when they bump into each other as the theatre (here), and he later asks her to be his girlfriend (during phone sex here). They go on several dates including shopping for sex toys (here) and one which the other members tease him about (here) but it does not last long. They break up at a party when Angel goes off with Supreme Boi and Jimin meets another girl, Ara, (here).

Ara - Jimin’s second girlfriend

After confirming that he and Angel are truly over, he asks Ara on a date to the beach (here). After several months of dating, Ara loses her virginity to him (here). Although they have a good relationship, Ara does occasionally become quite jealous when other women flirt with Jimin (as can be seen here). She also maintains a good friendship with the other member’s girlfriends (as can be seen when she attends Jin’s wedding here), particularly Cassandra who she knows from singing lessons. After dating for a year, Jimin and Ara decide to move in together, but the experience is bittersweet as it reminds Ara that her mother, who she lost when she was a teenager, is not around to see her happy (here). Jimin encourages Ara to pursue a career as an Idol, believing it is what she wants, and he uses his influence to get her an audition for a girl group (here). Despite not being a natural dancer, Ara’s connection with Jimin ensures she debuts early, starting in Japan (here), however her first album with the group also does well in Korea (here).

READ ALL OF JIMIN AND ANGEL & ARA’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Cassandra - V’s girlfriend

Unlike the other member’s girlfriends, Cassandra is only half-Korean. Her mother is from Belgium. She is one year older than Taehyung, a Fine Art student and a stage actress. Taehyung first sees her during a performance of ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ where she plays Titania, Queen of the Fairies (as is mentioned in later fics). They have sex after three months of ‘dating’, although Cassandra was initially unsure of whether they were indeed officially an item as Taehyung never confirmed this (this can be read here). Including Cassandra, Taehyung reveals to the other members he has only slept with three women (here). Cassandra feels insecure when she meets one of the women he previously had a ‘fling’ with during college (here). The other members’ opinion on her is mixed. While they support her as an actress, they feel slightly intimated by her due to how controversial her roles are. She is the centre of our fic ‘The Play’ here. She does become quite friendly with the other member’s girlfriends, particularly Ji-eun and Min-seo and helps to plan the latter’s hen/bachelorette party (here). Despite being a fairly turbulent couple, they always tend to resolve any arguments. Their relationship begins to take a bad turn, however, when Taehyung sells his apartment to move in with her, something which she believes he should not have done. They end up pushing each other to their sexual limits, such as when Taehyung asks her to have sex with one of her colleagues, while he watches (here). Three months before Taehyung’s military enlistment, a sexual roleplay where they play Cleopatra and Ceasar ends in disaster when Taehyung gets too in character and ignores Cassandra’s uncomfortable body language. She is forced to use her safeword when he starts to choke her and she leaves the apartment in tears, heading to see Nana. (read here). At Nana’s apartment, Cassandra confirms she is planning on breaking up with Taehyung and has a heated argument with him on the phone where she threatens to phone the police and take out a restraining order against him. Despite himself, Taehying shows up at Nana’s apartment that night and, finding Cassandra to be asleep, gives Nana her house keys, promising he will move out. (here). A few months later, Taehyung sends Cassandra flowers to her dressing room, as he did on the day they first met with a note telling her that he will be enlisting shortly. Cassandra goes to Jimin’s apartment, where Taehyung has been staying since she asked him to leave, in order to gain some closure on their relationship before he enlists. She confirms that she is ending their relationship, though they end up having unprotected sex (here). Despite agreeing to keep in touch once he starts his service, she does not return his calls or letters (here), prompting him to beg her friends to tell him news of how she is (here). 7 months into his service, Ji-eun tells him that Cassandra is back in Seoul and pregnant. He rushes to her apartment, using holiday time from service, and discovers this is true and that the baby is his (here). Despite the shock of the situation, a few days later they both agree to raise the child together, despite being romantically seperated (here).

READ ALL OF V AND CASSANDRA’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Jia - Jungkook’s FIRST girlfriend

Jia, who is a year younger than Jungkook, is his first ever girlfriend. He believes himself to be in love with her and they lose their virginity to each other. Despite getting off to a good start, their relationship is soon revealed to be very unstable. Jia is quite emotionally manipulative towards Jungkook and often behaves in coercive manners when things do not go her way (here she makes him feel guilty for not being able to get an erection) and (here she deliberately pretends that he hurt her during sex to make him feel bad). After they are photographed together by the paparazzi, Jungkook realises his relationship is naturally drawing to a close (here). Following a big argument where he learns she has blocked his band mate's numbers, he breaks up with her (found here.) Some months later, he has a brief sexual encounter with his ultimate crush, the singer IU when they become trapped in an elevator together (here). The encounter cures him of his fascination with her and allows him to move on. He has a one night stand with an older woman who he later realises was a single mother (can be read here) and has a brief sexual encounter with Seo-yon during the 7 Minutes in Heaven party (here). She is a friend of Angel (Jimin’s fling) and a casual acquaintance of Jeong-sun (Suga’s girlfriend).

Young-soon - Jungkook’s SECOND girlfriend

Some months after the encounter at the 7 Minutes in Heaven party, Jungkook meets Young-soon, an administration assistant from a PR company who is six years older than him. He asks her on a date to a funfair and, although she initially believes him to be too young for her, she finds herself ridiculously attracted to him after he saves her from being mugged. They end up having sex that evening (here) and, a week later, she implies she would like him to be her boyfriend (here). Although the other members sometimes make fun of him becoming too domesticated due to her being older than him (as mentioned in the boat party fic here) and (’The Play’ fic here) he falls in love with her quickly. She does occasionally feel insecure about some of his crazier fans such as Seo-yon (here), but he always reassures her. She also finds that she has a suspicion of how unhealthy his last relationship was with Jia. Although he never speaks a bad word about his ex-girlfriend, it becomes increasingly apparent that things were not all well (here). After four months, he meets her parents (here) who greet him warmly. It is during this time, he realises he is in love with her, which he confesses to her a few weeks later, with her revealing she also feels the same. (here). Despite this, he does find himself in certain sticky situations, such as when he accidentally sees RM’s girlfriend naked on webcam (here). Around 7 months into his relationship, Jungkook drunkenly cheats on Young-soon with a stranger he meets at a party (read here.) A few days later, Young-soon finds out when she realises Jungkook had caught an infection from the stranger (read here) and, despite being heartbroken by his betrayal, helps him by buying a chlamydia test. A few weeks later, she calls him and reveals she needs time to think through the relationship (here). Over the following months, they slowly become close again when her car ends up needing repairing and he offers to drive her to work each morning (here). They end up having sex again, and, at Jin’s wedding, she confesses that she wants to one day marry him (here). A year later, her father suffers a stroke which leaves him hospitalised. Jungkook and Young-soon decide to move to Incheon together in order to be closer to her family (here).

READ ALL OF JUNGKOOK AND JIA & YOUNG-SOON’S SCENARIOS IN ORDER HERE

Other characters

Donghyuk - aka Supreme Boi. Almost a member of BTS and music producer. Mentioned in several fics as a casual friend of the members of BTS and Angel.

Ji-young - A friend of Angel and Seo-yon known for her orange hair (as included in the Boat Party fic)

We really hope this has helped clear things up a little! We will permanently link this on our MASTERLIST page and keep updating as we add new headcanon scenarios. Thanks for reading and for the continued love and support!!! <3

Remember, we can also be found on Ao3 here

You can support us by buying admins a coffee here (if you wish). :)

(Photo credit goes to http://bangtan-sonyeon-scans.tumblr.com/)

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artificialqueens · 5 years

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Notebooks and post-it’s - chapter 2 - (Branjie) - thankyoumissvanjie

A/N: come the angst filled rabbit hole with me.

“Oh. It’s you. What do you want?” Vanjie wanted to shiver with the iciness of her tone, as Brooke just kept on blending her purple smokey eyes.

“We got’s to talk.”

LINK TO AO3 HERE

The season 11 tour was an experience.

It was hard work, an insane amount of travelling and also a bit like being on summer camp.

There was no other way for Nina explain it. Being together with her season 11 sisters was amazing. The absence of cameras made them all relax more, which made the drama disappear.

It made it possible for her to really appreciate all her sisters.

She was in awe over Yvie’s drag, she loved A’keria and her tendency to stir the pot. Plastique, Soju and Ariel made her feel old while teaching her everything about filters and hashtags. Shuga was a delight and Silky was loud and fun. Vanjie was… different?

Nina couldn’t really put her finger on it. Vanjie was still loud and hilarious. But something seemed very off.

It was, however, difficult to investigate, as both Silky and A’keria had kind of closed ranks around Vanjie.

They probably thought that Vanjie needed protection from Brooke, even though the Canadian queen was isolating herself from everyone, even Nina.

The last time Brock had reached out to her was weeks ago, as he called her in the middle of the night, sobbing and completely out of it. From what Nina could gather, Brock had drunk dialled Vanjie, only to realise that she was with… someone.

Nina tried to console him, to tell him that maybe he needed to reach out to Vanjie after he had sobered up.

But she knew that he hadn’t done it. In fact, the day after all she got was a text that said

Sorry. Got a bit too drunk last night and was an idiot. Please don’t make a thing out of this.

So Nina didn’t.

She left Brock alone and saw him transform into Brooke Lynn Hytes, current reigning queen. Brooke was flawless and if you didn’t know her you would think that she was doing okay.

But Nina could see the protective layers of ice that she had covered herself in. She saw how Brooke only truly shined on the stage and during Meet & Greet’s.

Nina noticed how the smile would fall from her lips the moment Brooke walked backstage. How the queen would keep to herself and not really participate in any of the shenanigans.

But Nina didn’t know what to do. Brooke had put up an impenetrable wall that would’ve made Trump jealous.

Seeing the heartbreak that Brooke was going through made Nina want to yell at Vanjie.

Except, It was clear that she was hurting too.

It was obvious that her eyes sought out Brooke in every room she entered. Just for a moment. Every single time that Vanjie thought no one was looking, she would search for Brooke.

So what was a soft and cuddly Miss Congeniality, who most of all just wanted her friends to be okay to do? Brooke was out of the question, and getting close to Vanjie seemed almost impossible to-

“Hello, hello, hello Miss Nina. Whadya done being hiding here?” The loud trucker voice startled her out of stupor, making her jump a little in her heels.

She turned around, coming face to face with Vanjie in full drag. Her brunette hair, thigh high boots and sparkly t-shirt dress made her look street-fish.

What she also noted was that Vanjie was alone.

“Biiiitch. You can’t scare an old woman like that!” Vanjie’s laugh sounded like a cross between a dying seagull and an old man having an asthma attack. Which in turn made Nina laugh.

Fucking Vanjie.

They both stopped laughing at the same time, staring at each other. Nina opened her mouth ready to finally broach the subject of a certain moody Canadian, but it was Vanjie who spoke first.

“How is he?” It was said quietly, yet quickly. Vanjie looked slightly surprised, as if she herself was bamboozled over the fact that she had actually asked that question.

It was certainly not what Nina expected.

“He’s…” she didn’t want to out Brock, certainly not to his ex. But lying to Vanjie also seemed out of the question. “...good. Yeah. Good.”

That fooled no one, you idiot.

“Don’t be lying. I know him. He be drinking and smoking like he’s Bianca’s Motherfucking twin. He ain’t right and I think I gone done fucked up…”

“Vanj…”

“I know you his good Judy and I ain’t trying to be starting anything… just… I see him and get emotianat- emotio- I get up in my feelings okay. He doesn't look good, Nina.”

“I know. But I-“

“And then he called me - we ain’t talking for months and he just calls drunk on vodka. What was I ‘posed to do? He had on his sad big eyes, looking like I ate the last bit of that stupid Canadian food he fucking love-“

“Poutine ?”

“Yeah, that Putin shit… He done left me, and then he be calling, at night? That’s some wrong ass shit, Miss Nina. I am trying to move on instead of thinking ‘bout what could’ve been. Bitch left me, so why he moping like a toddler?”

“You guys left each other. You were both scared and not ready. You know this. Stop only blaming him, Vanj.”

“I ain’t blaming him! I am just sayin’... he left me.” Her voice cracked on the last syllable. It made Nina’s heart ache.

These two idiots.

“Maybe you guys should talk with each. You’re not okay, and he is… whatever he is. Maybe you need to clear the air, there’s obviously some unfinished business here.”

“Okay, Miss A’keria. Have you seen that tall glass of Canadian ball busting ballerina? He don’t wanna talk with me. I’ve tried.”

“It’s Brooke. You gotta give her no choice. And come on. You’re Vanessa Vanjie Mateo. Since when have you ever let a little Canadian bacon get in your way”

“Well shit, mama. You’re right.” And with that she turned on her heel, marching down the hall with determined steps towards Brooks room.

_________

Vanjie was a chicken.

Despite her determined steps and iron will, she found herself faltering as she stood outside Brooke’s room.

Could she really do this? Maybe Nina was wrong, maybe she should just forget about all of this.

But then she thought about Brooke’s face, the way that she didn’t really seem happy anymore, and made a quick decision.

She was Miss Motherfucking Vanjie, and she sure as shit didn’t hide away nobody.

Pushing open the door, Vanjie barged in, quickly closing the door after herself, ensuring that they would have no audience for this.

The sudden sound made Brooke look up startled, getting eye contact through the mirror with Vanjie.

Her face went through several emotions in a span of a few seconds - all too quick for Vanjie to identify any of them - before she settled on cold and blank disinterest.

“Oh. It’s you. What do you want?” Vanjie wanted to shiver with the iciness of her tone, as Brooke just kept on blending her purple smokey eyes.

“We got’s to talk.”

“I’ve got nothing to say to you. Please leave”

“No.”

“Vanj. Leave.”

“Nu-uh Mama, we doing this.” Vanjie quickly turned around and locked the door, leaning with her back up against looking right at Brooke.

She knew that Brooke could lift her with a pinky, if she really wanted to move her, but shit, there weren’t a lot of options left.

“Oh. So now you want to talk?” Brooke turned around in her chair, looking Vanjie directly in the eye instead of through the mirror. Her eyes were thunderous and Vanjie wanted to cheer out loud, as it was the most emotion the queen had directed at her since it became official that they had broken up.

“Yeah. I’m done hidin’... So let’s talk.” Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Vanjie looked at Brooke expectantly.

“About what? What could I possibly have to say to you?” Brooke got up from her swivel chair and walked towards Vanjie. She was wearing her signature blonde hair and her purple stepford-wife-kaftan-realness dress was swishing behind her.

Vanjie’s mouth dried up, as she was once again reminded of the beauty that was Brock in full drag. The beauty and grace made Vanjie want to stare at her forever, while also making her tingle with the need to wreck the sheer perfection in front of her.

“No really? What? You want to talk about how everyone is blaming me? What about your little post-it quote? Should we discuss how A’keria and Silky keep giving me the side eye?” Brooke’s voice slowly increased in volume as she walked closer and closer to Vanjie. Towering over the smaller queen.

“No wait… I know. Let’s talk about how I fucking have to stare are your face every day and be reminded of what could’ve been!” Brooke poked Vanjie in the chest her eyes flashing.

“I am done with all of this.”

Vanjie’s heart skipped a beat as her mind processed what Brooke had just said “what could’ve been”, the air electric between them.

“We have a meet & greet in 10 minutes.” Brooke was gorgeous, her blue eyes like a storm, anger collected in the fine lines of her face. “So move.”

“No.” Vanjie stood her ground, the word almost getting caught in her throat, Brooke looking like a hunter.

“Move.”

Brooke stepped forward, and Vanjie was the first one to move, her hand slamming into Brooke’s chest pushing her back slightly

“Oh...” Brooke looked down at the hand, like she couldn’t believe what Vanjie had just done.

Brooke shoved back, Vanjie almost stumbling, and then they were kissing, teeth clicking, lips sliding, hands gripping, tearing, taking and Vanjie wanted to disappear into Brooke.

“You fucking bitch.”

The words were hissed through clenched teeth, as Vanjie grabbed Brooke’s hair, her fingers buried in the blonde wig and pulling, forcing Brooke closer, making her be the aggressor. Brooke was quick to catch on, slamming Vanjie against the door.

“No, you’re the bitch.” Brooke whispered it between kisses.

It was hot and hateful, tender and burning, everything crashing down with the words they could not bring themselves to say out loud. Their bodies telling stories of longing and love, of broken promises and heartbreaks that were still bleeding. Tender stories of what they both so desperately wished they could still have; their swollen lips, gripping fingers and tender jaws an exchange between two wounded people who had no language left, but the most primal of all.

It was Brooke who broke them apart.

Brooke who stood up and turned to the mirror, checking her makeup.

It was Brooke who avoided Vanjie’s eyes as she calmly walked out of the dressing room with the parting words:

“You better fix your makeup, meet & greet starts soon”

Vanjie was left all alone in the dressing room. With a heaving chest, wide eyes and a muddled mind that tried to understand what had just happened.

“Well… shit.”

#rpdr fanfiction #brooke lynn hytes #vanessa vanjie mateo #nina west #angst #canon compliant #post break-up #hurt/comfort #notebooks and post its #thankyoumissvanjie #s11

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theslasherchild · 5 years

Text

Micheal Myers love story

Part 5

Once we got home I passed Michael his new cloths, “ I hope you like them Micheal”, I also hope they fit i thought. Suddenly Micheal began to undress, mine and Elie face burnt red as he shirt lifted and his bare skin began to show through, I quickly ran forward and yanked his shirt back down,”NOT HERE” I yelp “go upstairs and changed“ my face still burning pink.

He nodded and quietly walked up stairs, “ buzz-kill” I heard Elie sniggering at me as she began to laugh, I threw a scoul at her. “ you lucky thing having that strapping lad living with you, almost makes me forget he’s a psychopath” she said giggling.

I swiftly turn on my heal and marched into the kitchen leaving Elie in a laughing messing the sofa. I sat on the island in my kitchen, still had a pink to my cheek as I drank my coffee, I sat and look out the window at the kids playing in the street. I once again began to cast my mind back to my childhood thinking about Micheal, he’s grown a lot I though casting my mind back to the little boy with blonde hair I wonder what happened to him once I left.

I sat thinking on it for a few more mintues before I felt someone walking into the kitchen I turn around to see Micheal. He looked...really hot, the jeans I got fit him really well and the black shirt outlined his muscles perfectly, I felt my face going pink as he stood there in front of me, staring at me. I looked up to meet his gaze, it was the first time I had properly look him in the face since we were little I suppose, his eyes were dark brow to the point where they almost look black they were beautiful I started to begin to loose myself in those eyes, so much so that I didn’t realise nor stop my self when my hand began to move to his face cupping his cheeks, what am I doing I thought once my hand touched his face, my face getting closer to his how can one man even do this to me so quickly why am I so desperate to be near him he’s a killer but yet I want him.my head swirling as our face become closer and closer, I begin to feel his breath on my face, my arms wrap around his neck and his hands move down to my waist and he moves himself in between my thighs on the counter, bringing me closer to him as I feel myself press right up against him, god why did he have to be so sexy to me I though. Our lips so close, “am I interrupting something” I heard a nervous voice come from the doorway.

I turn quickly to see Elie stood looking nervous, standing next to the policeman that had came to my door a few days ago, “s-sorry I’m interrupting you two, but I’ve bine sent to this neighborhood again to tell yer about the situation” my face blushing scarlet as Micheal still hadn’t taken his hands off me yet in fact if anything he had tightened his grip on me, “ r-right yes thankyou c-could you just please go into the living room we’ll be there in a minute” I look up at Micheal and gently push him away from me he had a oddly hurt look on his face, “ would you like any coffee sir” I ask , “ why thank you little miss” he replied walking away into the living room with Elie.

I jump off the island and I look up at Micheal sternly “ listen Micheal, that man thinks your my boyfriend and if you want to continue staying here your going to have to play along, I know you’re not the most talkative person but if he ask you anything I need you to answer” he didn’t say anything, “ please Micheal, I don’t want you to go please do this for me” without thinking I wrapped my arms around his waist and look up at him, a slight pink cane across his face, “ fine” he said, “ but only because I want to stay with you” I blushed at his response and squeezed his, I made the guys coffe and walked into the living room, Micheal following behind me.

We sat across from the police guy “so sir what’s this about” I ask nervously gripping Micheal hand, “ please call me bill”, he said cheerfully, he looked over at Micheal “ I do t honk we’ve had the pleasure, he held his hand out to shake his, anxiety ran over my body as I watch Micheal, suddenly michel leaned over reaching for his hand and shook it before quickly grabbing my hand and squeezing it right. “ anyway enough introductions what’s this about” Elie ask sternly “ right, sorry luv, I’ve just come over to tell yer that we’ve bine tracking the car that’s he’s bine using and we’ve actually tracked it to Maine” my face suddenly began to brighten, “ so does this mean he’s left he town”, “must so miss but we’re still asking yer to be careful and make sure yer doors and window are locked” he said once again cheerfully.

After Bill left I quickly ran into Micheal arms, “ isn’t this great some stupid kids must have taken that car you stole to Maine, thing might finally dye down a bit” I said happily. “ he held me tight a small smile going across his face, “ I’m gonna be heading home Ilene”, I turn to see a relived looking Elie, “okay I’ll see you tomorrow at work” I have her a quick hug and waved her goodbye. Once I got back in and locked the door I looked at the clock 22:30 it said, I should get ready for bed I do have work tomorrow I thought. “ Micheal “ I said, he quickly came into the hallway, “ I’m gonna go to bed your welcome to stay down here for a bit though” he nodded and walked into the living room.

I sluggishly walked up the stair, I brushed my teeth and put on my pjs and climbed into my bed, relief washing over me, I was so happy that Micheal would be staying with me I do t know why but I don’t want harm to come his way I want to keep him safe Because he wants to keep me safe i thought about it for while before drifting into darkness. I woke up to the sound of my alarm, after a few minutes it took me a second to realise the hands that were clutching onto me, I began to rock Micheal in hopes to wake him up but all I got was an annoyed grunt, “ Micheal” I said but still no response, “ mikey...” I said in the best sexy tone I could muster up at 6:30 am, however it seem to work as his eyes open and he sat up to face me but then he place his head in my chest pulling me closer to him, oh shit I thought as I tried to pull away, “ please don’t go” I heard Micheal say muffled but my chest, “ but I need to go to work Micheal “ I said gently, I got no response I sighed and thought, I mean I haven’t had a day off since I started at that school, I thought, “ okay fine BUT only this once” I said annoyed he then look up at me his face emotioless but his eyes said everything. I stretched to reach my phone and on my night stand hoping the cable would reach me, I called Elie to tell her I wasn’t coming I and then the school to tell them I was Ill, you know the general excuse.

“Okay I’ve called I’m all your today, but tomorrow I’m going In no excuse” I said sternly. Suddenly he grabbed me lifeting me up as he sat cross legged so that I could sit in his laps my legs either side of him. “ why is your face so red” he ask, he leaned in close so his head was the crook of my neck, “am I embarrassing you” he asked innocently. I pushed away from his in shock, “WOAH, weres mister I don’t talk to anyone gone” I said laughing, “ I don’t feel like I can’t talk to you Ilene” the way he said my name made me feel so special. Once again without realisation my arms were wrapping around his neck as i pushed his down into the mattress so that I was on top, our face got closer until our lips finally connected, it was amazing I had never felt so much emotio in just one kiss, at this point I didn’t care that he was a killer he was mine in this moment, the kiss began to get more sloppy as our lips danced together my tongue exploring his mouth, suddenly I felt something, something hard pressing up against me, I couldn’t help my self but push further down on it making a slight grunt come from Michaels throat, I stopped and sat up “ looks like I’m the one making you nervous” I said with a smug look on my face. I heard a small laugh come from his lips, my face brightened I was so happy that I could make him laugh he always looked so sad to see him smile made me feel so good.

WARNING: mature content ahead (you’ve bine warned)

“I’ve missed you” he said, I froze for a moment staring into his eyes until he continued “ I was so lonely when you left I couldn’t wait until I would be able to see you again” I blushed as he expressed his disire for me, “am I really that special to you” I asked nervously embarrassed by all this attention “yes” he said plainly but his eyes said everything I needed to know, I bent down and peck his lips, “ I dont quite know what it is about you, but you make me feel like I can be myself and loose myself in you” I said. His face grew red at my remark until he quickly tossed me over so that he could be on top, I grew red as his mouth moved to my neck and earlobe kissing and licking me adding in small bites, it felt so good I placed my hand in his hair and neck. This really is crazy I thought me here messing around with a killer but I oddly didn’t care I want to be with him I don’t want this to go away I thought. He suddenly began to push his hips against me moving them rhythmically my grip tighten on his hair and I causiouy moved my hips upward to match his rthym.

Small moan escaping my lips as low grunt came from Micheal as he worked away on my neck. On god what am I going to do with him I thought slightly giggling into one of my moans. I loved this feeling Michael gave me, I never got this much lust when I was with peter or any of my ex’s this felt so real and right to me I never want it to stop. I started to kiss his neck biting and sucking in it, as I switched off my thoughts and letting pleasure take over. Michael slowly moved down from my neck to my collarbone as his hand moved up my shirt, a sudden embarrassment came over me, “ s-sorry there not very big “ I said face night red, with that he whipped of my shirt and just stared at me “ your perfect “ he said as he began to kiss my breast playing with them, my moans became louder as I felt his warm, wet mouth over my nipple sucking on it, “ohhhh my go-“ my moans cut of as he pulled away as disappointment spread across my face.

He sat up to take his shirt off and threw it across the room, my hands rubbing all over him, he really was well built he was so beautiful. He them harshly grabbed my wrist pulling them above my head before quickly pulling my pants down, I closed my eyes and I felt him kiss my stomach moving down further and further until I felt a warm mouth lick me, kiss me there, I couldn’t help my self I moaned out so loud, “ OH GO-Oood yEs rIgHt thErE” my voice shaking, his hand squeezing my thighs. I suddenly felt something cold push against my entrance as I felt his cold finger pushing into me, I yelped out, he kissed me on the lips gently to almost comfert me, as I relax he began pumping his finger in and out before adding another. I became a moaning mess as he kiss me roughly.

He then pulled his fingers out and kissed me again, I looked at his face it was red and flustered he was so cute, I pushed his over kissing him softly before my hand started to push his pants down I pulled him to the end of the bed as I knelt down I rubbed his back as I reached into his pants rubbing him gently his face a deep red and he pushed my hair out of my face. I pulled his member out, oh my god I thought blushing at the sight of it, it was big and thick. I began to kiss the tip and kissing all the way down before licking back up I took a dead breath and took him all in one, hearing him grunt and moan made me so happy that I could be the one to make him feel such strong emotion. My head bobbing up and down faster and faster before he grips my hair right grunting loud shooting his load into my throat before I swallow it. Both panting I snake my way back up into his arms wrapping my legs around his waist as he falls back into the bed pulling the cover around us.

Hello 👋 sorry if the mature bit was bad it was the first I’ve ever write but I hope you enjoyed it

#michael myers #slashers #halloween #halloween1978 #slasher fanfiction #slasher x reader #slashernfsw #nsfwfanfic #maturecontent

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fanfic-scribbles · 6 years

Text

On the Run: Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen: “What is Love” or “Baby Don’t Hurt Me No More”

Masterlist Here

Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Avengers; MCU Captain America

Adventure/Romance – James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes/Reader – Female Reader

Warnings: Violence, language, eventual romance, reader character with sassy/abrasive personality

Chapter Summary: You find yourself in a bad way, thanks to your new Hydra pal. He wants to be introduced to Bucky. He should be careful what he wishes for.

Special Chapter Warnings: Reader peril, described torture, violence being visited upon Reader, I don’t know how else to say ‘bad things happen to Reader’

Words: 5954

A/N: I would like to stress that the reader character does not have a super fun time in this chapter and dissociates during periods of torture/interrogation. I was descriptive of it so please take heed; if you need to skip this chapter that is a-okay. Now, that being said…everyone else, please enjoy. Long chapter is long.

Chapter Thirteen: “What is Love” or “Baby Don’t Hurt Me No More”

You are terrified out of your mind, aching from whatever they had injected into you to knock you out, and in pain with a promise of more to come. However, some things just can’t be helped.

Your personality is apparently one of those things.

“Seriously? A dungeon? Do you LARP in your mom’s basement?”

“Do you ever stop talking?” says the wiry looking dork who has brought with him a rolling tray of assorted sharp and blunt objects. Some of them make you want to wet yourself, like the freshly sharpened knives, needles with who-knows-what in them, and a fucking mallet. However, some of them are sort of ‘eh’. Like that old rusted knife that probably can’t hack its way through butter. Ooo, tetanus. So scary. If you were under ten and couldn’t get a booster shot.

Wait, have you had your booster shot? Shit, that might actually be a problem.

But of course, it’s the long, thin, curved knife that the douchebag’s hand hovers over. “I have it on good authority that no, I don’t,” you say and damn it, you're pretty sure he can hear the quiver in your voice. His smile at you confirms it and you look away. Right at Steve, who is strapped down in some kind of tube thing and doing his best concerned face, so you look at the ground instead.

The others are like him too– Sam, Natasha, and even two people you didn’t really expect to be meeting like this: Hawkeye and Iron Man. Most of them are worse for wear and all of them are strapped to gurneys that slant upwards, enclosed in glass covers that you would compare to Snow White’s coffin if these things weren’t filthy with dirt and blood.

It’s hard to avoid looking at everyone when they’re in a half-circle around you. You’re standing, in your underwear, in the center of the room– well, sort of standing. Your wrists are cuffed behind your back and there’s a chain that is wrapped under your arms and shoulders and goes up to the ceiling, while your ankles are chained to the floor to keep you from…wandering, you guess. All that and the most annoying part of this is the grate you’re standing on. The holes are just big enough that if you don’t step carefully your toes get caught in them and that hurts like a bitch and a half when you don’t notice and try to move too fast.

On the plus side, you’re not in an enclosed tube. On the minus side, you’re pretty sure you’re going to be the lesson for everyone who is.

The DM grabs your chin and forces you to look at him. “Focus, sweetheart. I doubt you want to be here all day.”

Your blood rushes at the nickname. “I’m not your ‘sweetheart’, you sack of shit.”

“No, not mine,” he says, looking no less delighted. He purrs your name and you stare at him head on. You’re a woman in the world. If he wants to be the creepiest man you’ve ever met, he’s got some work ahead of him.

Unfortunately he seems to be up for the job, by how he leans in. “That is your name, right?”

“Ugh.” Your nose crinkles at the smell of…an everything bagel? Whatever it is, it does his breath no favors. “Can you breathe somewhere else? I don’t need to know what you had for breakfast. Also, why the rush? You can go brush your teeth; I’ll wait.”

He hits you so fast it stuns you. Your jaw aches and you blink away the stars and immediate pain. Still, at least it’s not a knife. You look at him, playing as cool as you can.

“We have to start slow,” he says and pulls back. “I don’t want to break you before I get my information.” Before you can ask what information you, the creaky fourth wheel on this hellish road trip, can possibly have to offer him, he starts pulling on a smock. “My name is Richard, by the way. I can tell we’re going to be here a while.”

You roll your eyes. Dick. Well, it’s appropriate. “Buddy, I don’t even know what I had for dinner last night. I don’t know what information you’re hoping to get when you probably have more of it than I do.”

“How about that chit chat you had with your boyfriend?” Dick leans in close again. “Hm?”

Well. Shit. Although you didn’t actually find out anything, other than you’d meet up in New York, which is a relief. Not that you’re planning on telling him that, but you figure the less you know, the better.

Dick punches you in the stomach. You gag and try to double over at the force of it. Try, because the chains keep you up enough and don’t give much slack for your effort to preserve those pesky things you like to call ‘internal organs’. You suck in a breath before Dick grabs your hair and yanks your head up. “Where is the Soldier heading?”

“There are a lot of soldiers in this world,” you wheeze. “Though I don’t think I know anybody on active duty.” You think of making a joke about Steve or Sam but ultimately quash it in case you draw Dick’s attention to them. They can probably take a hell of a lot more than you can, but the thought of anyone else being in this position because of you hurts your stomach more than that punch did.

Mother fucking conscience. The second science comes up with a way to surgically remove it you’re going to be first on the sign-up sheet. That thing is nothing but trouble.

Dick punches you harder, making you gasp and pant for air. “You know who I mean,” he says, still creepily level, like nothing about this bothers him at all. Mother fucking Nazis. If you surgically remove your conscience, can you give it away? They need it more than you do, you swear. “Where is the Asset?”

You take a few extra seconds to catch your breath. “You try putting your missing friend on a milk carton?”

Dick backhands you across the face right where he had punched you, only this feels impossibly harder, making you really see stars as a headache begins to swell. You can’t help the way your eyes tear up but you clench your jaw– ow, okay, bad idea. Still, you don’t cry out and that’s something.

“Where is your boyfriend?”

You spit out a little blood. “I don’t have one.” And a tooth. Oy vey; what a mess. “And, uh, if you’re looking to fill the position– buddy, you are going about it the wrong way.”

He presses his lips together into a tight, grim smile, and you weather the hits as they come the best you can. He keeps asking you the same question, ‘where, where, where,’ but you don’t even tell him that you don’t know. Avoiding the topic all together seems safest. As does denying all possible hints of whatever you and Bucky are to each other. You haven’t even gotten a chance to talk about it with Bucky; no way in hell are you talking it out with Dick. He is officially banned from Girls’ Night.

Thankfully, his hitting and occasional kicking is something you can mostly bear. Seriously, high school bullies are more inventive than this shit stain. You kind of sort of really hope it stays that way.

“All right,” Dick says, walking away and sounding as calm as if he hasn’t just been using you as a punching bag. The pain isn’t as bad as you might have thought. Less sharp, more of a constant ache all over, but you’re panting like you’ve gone a few rounds yourself. Fuck, does this make you Rocky? And is it hilarious or awful to cast the wiry white Nazi as Apollo? You’re gonna go with ‘awful’.

Dick comes back. Holding a tape player.

A tape player. Hydra, feared terrorists, ruthless assassins, and government infiltrators, are using fucking cassettes.

God, if Dick plays you his Excellent Eighties mix you’re going to throw yourself on his torture tray and hope something on there hits a vital organ.

“Please, no Air Supply, anything but that,” you say with as much drama as you can muster. It isn’t. Much, that is. You’re a little woozy.

Dick hits play. The tape is scratchy, but you can make it out just fine.

“Wanna tell us who your girlfriend is?” a raspy, strained voice asks. The person sounds pained to a point you can really relate with right now, honestly.

“No,” says your favorite deadly trash vermin. His voice lowers to a register and tone that, frankly, you don’t ever want to hear aimed in your direction. “And you’re going to regret ever finding out about her.”

Dick stops the playback and does an exaggerated shrug.

That’s…huh.

“But the important question is: did he post it on Facebook?” You ‘tsk’ even as that recording plays back in your head. And again. “Not official unless it’s up on the wall.”

Dick hits you again, and again, and again. You take it as well as you can but you’re still left dizzy and barely able to see, between the double-vision and the tears. He stops you from swaying and the weight of his hands on your shoulders makes you tremble. What is he going to do now? “This is your last chance before we get started,” he says, lowly. It’s pretty piss poor compared to Bucky’s looming voice, but Bucky isn’t here. This guy is. “Tell me what you and the Asset spoke about and I will show you mercy.”

Your stomach sinks. You think about feeding him some lies but he’d probably figure it out and then you’d be in even worse shape. Did Bucky even tell you anything of note? You’re pretty sure Dick doesn’t care about your shared emotional immaturity and Bucky only mentioned that everybody was supposed to be heading home. That he would be too. You almost tell Dick that– that Bucky’s going home where he’ll be safe and far the hell away from any Hydra douchebag who wants him– but would that give them a lead, an edge that they could use to hurt him? Is that something Bucky doesn’t want them to know? It’s best to keep quiet, in this case.

Dick pulls up his knife and holds it in front of your eyes. “Going once, going twice…”

You glare at him. “Going go fuck yourself.” You immediately try to brace yourself for the fallout but Dick doesn’t hit you. He does something worse.

He smiles.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he says and presses sharp steel into your flesh.

It’s a weird night. Bucky is silent, in one of his moods, and you’ve had a shit week so you’re not exactly Little Miss Extrovert yourself. Still, you’re going ahead with your plans to make a ‘decent’ dinner by foisting all the work on the guy who had the audacity to complain about the food you buy. Now maybe he’ll appreciate why you go for easy, oven-heated meals.

But as you walk out of your room after changing into something comfier, you find him standing completely still at the counter. As you move around him you see all of the potatoes have been peeled but only one has been chopped up, and another is gripped loosely in his left hand while he stares hard at the giant knife he holds in the other.

Great. This is totally reassuring. “Bucky?” you ask. He doesn’t budge an inch. Yep, totally great to have a former assassin holding a knife and probably having an episode. You take a small step forward, because nobody has ever accused you of being too smart and sensible for your own good. Bucky tells you the opposite whenever he can, in fact. “Bucky, seriously, if you want to check out your hair go use the mirror like a semi-normal person.”

He still shows no sign of life. It’s times like these you wish there was a manual– ‘How to Take Care of Your Formerly-Brainwashed Super Assassin.’ Granted, he’s not ‘yours,’ but he spends enough time at your house that you feel like you have to take partial ownership. Times like these you don’t really want to, but he’s still staring at the knife and you just hope he won't stick it in your brain. “Hey, Trash Panda!”

He flinches and turns his head to look at you with wide eyes. You find yourself a little helpless in the face of such blatant fear, but he schools himself back to his usual aloofness quick enough for it to be just a little blip. Thankfully. You are not good at feelings, though you sometimes try to make an effort at it.

“Geeze, we’re never gonna eat at this rate.” Your version of ‘try’ doesn’t mean you always succeed, but in this case you do get the knife away from him so you can start chopping the potatoes into mostly-okay pieces. Mostly. Bucky observes you quietly for a few moments as you struggle to keep the fucking food equivalent of a bar of soap in your hand without chopping your fingers off.

“That looks painful,” he murmurs.

“I haven’t cut myself,” you say. Yet.

“I meant for the potato.”

You give him the meanest look you can muster but he just looks smug which is totally unfair but even you won't joke about whatever dark place he just visited. So you punch him. Unfortunately, Bucky has turned and your aim is shit, so your knuckles collide with metal. Not terribly hard, but hard enough to cause a little pain, and hard enough to make you drop the knife in surprise, which you fumble to catch like the dumbass you are.

“Ow! Ow!” you whine to both hands, one aching, the other stinging. Bucky pushes you over to the sink to start rinsing the blood off and he quickly holds a kitchen towel to the cut. He’s shaking and for a moment you’re afraid the blood has triggered a bad memory, but when you look at him he’s silently ‘laughing’.

He’s laughing.

“You asshole!” You use your not-cut hand to punch his not-metal shoulder. Even on flesh it doesn’t go much better for you.

“Go sit down,” he chuckles as he bandages you up. “And try not to bludgeon yourself on the coffee table on the way, yeah?”

You’re set to argue out of sheer stubbornness but both of your hands are out of commission and at this rate you’re going to “Final Destination” your way into a truly ignominious death. A strategic retreat from kitchen hell might be in order. “I hate you,” you grumble and shuffle away.

Bucky ruffles your hair and flashes you a genuine smile you haven’t seen on his face before. “No you don’t.”

Dick makes a small but deep cut in your neck that makes you gasp for how much blood flows out. It’s not technically as bad as some of the others he’s carved into you– that one on your leg is tough to look at– but going out via slit throat seems like a real bad time to you.

But Dick is there, with a cloth and, “Don’t worry sweetheart, I’d never let you bleed out so soon. We’re just getting started. Unless you want to cooperate and tell me where the Soldier– where your Sergeant Barnes is heading?”

The way he sneers, like Bucky doesn’t deserve a goddamn name, makes Rational Thought and Reasonable Discourse take a backseat. Right into the trunk. “Cancun. He needs a nice beach vacation.”

Dick slaps you. You give a half-hearted shrug. As much as you can while strung up, anyway. “Yeah, I told him the Bahamas look much nicer, but what can you do?”

He puts his fingers over a gash he made in your shoulder and pushes them in. You scream but he doesn’t stop and for seconds that feel like minutes that feel like hours you can only think I won't give him up I won't give him up I won't I won't I won–

But why? Why won't you? Not that you’ve ever made a habit of selling out people you care about, but you hate pain and you always figured you’d crack like an egg if anybody ever threatened you with so much as a papercut. The question is worth examining if only to find out why your sanity and self-preservation have left the building.

The answer comes in a flash of pain and isn’t that just the most appropriate thing ever? You actually laugh. Dick grabs a handful of your hair and yanks your head back. “What’s so funny?”

“Hell of a time to have a revelation,” you mumble, still chuckling. It’s sort of funny. You had assumed you care so much about Bucky because you can maybe, some day, sort of, perhaps, in the future, possibly, eventually, kind of come to love that insufferable asshole.

You hadn’t really stopped to consider that you’re already there.

Stupid fucking trash panda. But then what does that make you? Ugh. Best not to think about it right now.

Ice cold water is dumped over you and you yell out in surprise. Dick’s mom’s basement is already chilly but the arctic shower you just took is so cold that your body isn’t shivering so much as it’s spasming.

“Don’t worry,” Dick says, going through a toolbox he’s pulled up. “I’ll find something to warm you up.”

It’s hot and miserable. You’ve been trying to sleep for hours, but the night is relentless and you decide to stop sweating through your sheets for a few minutes.

You get to the living room and jump about five feet. Wow, okay, Bucky’s home apparently. “I thought you said you weren’t a robot,” you say as you approach him. He continues to stare blankly at the window. Out of the window? No, definitely just at. Shit, but that expression is too familiar to be good. Still, you stand next to him. “But normal humans don’t sleep like that.”

He blinks. “What?” he asks.

“Where’s your head at?” you ask back.

He presses the hot poker against your collarbone and you scream. It’s harder to tune this out when the cuts simultaneously burn. You’re starting to sweat.

“I told you I’d warm you up,” Dick says and pushes your head to one side, leaving a broad expanse of your neck wide open.

Bucky shakes his head. “Nowhere good,” he mumbles. His throat pulses with a swallow. “I shoulda stayed gone. It’s too fuckin’ hot.”

“Man, you’re tellin’ me.” you fan yourself. “I didn’t know you got back already. You’re lucky I’m wearing clothes.”

“I don’t know if I’d call that ‘lucky,’ doll.”

You choke on air. “Well, Mr. Barnes, I do declare!” you manage to say as he chuckles. It gets quiet again and Bucky looks a little less unnerved, but still not quite relaxed. He’s still…

“What?” he asks you.

There’s no nice way for you to ask this question. So maybe you shouldn’t. But he’s staring at you and ugh, you might as well just ask and deal with the fallout. “Does your head ever go anywhere good?” you say and lean against the couch arm. “You remember stuff before Hydra…is any of it good?”

He looks thoughtful, not angry, so that’s something. “Sometimes.” He squints, like there’s something only he can see in the distance. His lips quirk into a slight smile. “Cool bottles, hot night. Steve laughing about something.”

From the way the smile molds to his face you assume there’s more to that than he’s saying, but that’s okay. He looks content so you go to the kitchen and turn the faucet on, letting it run until it’s cold while you grab a few things.

When you return to the living room it’s with two wet, cold dishtowels and fresh-out-of-the-fridge beer bottles. You’re already wearing your towel and when you drape the other one around the back of Bucky’s neck he lets out a satisfying little groan.

You plop down next to him. “Sounds nice, but it must have been hard not to actually get your drink while it was cold.” But as you hold the sweating bottle to your cheek, you can see the appeal.

Bucky grunts his agreement and holds up his frosty beverage. You hit yours to it and you both take long pulls, and settle in to suffer together.

Dick drags the hot point down your back and you scream and try to pull away but he holds you steady. Your blood feels like fire, molten streaming down your back. He says “hm” in a pleased tone of voice, like his little lightsaber fantasy has been satisfied. Fucking thank god, though, he walks back around to your front and puts the poker down.

“Congratulations, sweetheart,” Dick says, pulling off his torture-approved oven mitts. “You’ve lasted almost six hours already.”

How is it possibly still the same day? You want to ask but all you can do is drool.

“What’s wrong? No smart comments?”

You roll your eyes and pull up some energy by the sheer power of your assholery. “Buddy…if I was…a…vegetable…I’d still be…smarter than…you.” You breathe deep and force yourself to stand upright. “No comments needed.”

Dick grins. “I’m glad to see you haven’t broken yet.” He smooths your hair back. “I’ll let you rest up a bit and we’ll pick this up later.”

You’re spent so you can’t even pretend to fight back when he has two of his buddies come in and unhook you. Everything is stiff and doesn’t want to move and you almost wish they weren’t taking you down. Almost. Though it’s not much better when they stick you in the most uncomfortable chair you’ve experienced outside of a Pier One or Ikea and strap you down.

You don’t realize you’ve dozed until you’re getting doused with cold water yet again and Dick says, “Rise and shine, sweetheart!”

“Buddy, words cannot express just how much I am not here for your “Flashdance” fetish,” you stammer through chattering teeth.

“It sounds like you had a nice nap,” Dick says and pulls up a chair. “I’m glad. Are you ready to chat, yet? If not, we can get started right away.”

This guy is such a tool. “What part of ‘fuck off’ confuses you?”

He holds his heart– or at least, the space where it should be– and mocks a sad expression. “Sweetheart, I thought we were friends. You keep calling me ‘buddy’.”

“You’re right, so sorry. It’s ‘Dick’, right?”

“Richard, actually.”

“Pretty sure that’s what I just said.”

He grips your thigh and digs his thumbnail into the long, jagged cut, dragging his thumb down and through, splitting the wound and making it bleed once more.

You don’t scream but you choke and gasp and hiss, “Son of a bitch!”

“I like that one. We’ll keep it open,” he murmurs. He smiles bigger and says, normally, “I prefer ‘buddy’.”

“Too bad, Dick.” Seriously, what does he take you for. Wait, it’s probably better not to know. “Though if you stop with the stupid nickname you have for me, I’ll consider dropping the one I have for you.” Unlikely to actually happen, but it seems charitable to at least offer to think about it. You’re nice like that.

“What, ‘sweetheart’? But you are one.” He leans closer. “Will you be my sweetheart?”

Your face almost twists right off your body, you’re so grossed out by the idea. “Ohhhh, ugghhhhh. Man, I’d rather sit through a six-hour lecture on safe sex as given by Captain America.” Actually, when you think about it, that sounds kind of hilarious. “Or I’d rather–” have Dick cut out your ‘sweet’ (gross) ‘heart’ out with the tetanus knife.

“You’d rather…” Dick prompts.

“Eh, I’m not gonna say it because you might actually do it.” Sick bastard.

“If it hurts, then it’s likely.” Dick smiles again and pats your cheek. The touch is light but it still makes you flinch. “It’s all right, I understand. You’re taken.”

You're not getting into that again, so you keep quiet. Dick stands up, looks at the ground, and nods his approval before going to the corner of the room to get something. You glance at the floor but it’s just the same old grate underneath you and flat floor everywhere else. Nothing special.

He rolls over a weird looking box-thing, with dials and switches all over the top and a bundle of wires piled on top. “I’m very excited to share this with you,” he says and starts untangling the wires, pausing to show you two circular pads. “It’s not the exact unit, but this treatment was your boyfriend’s favorite.”

You stare at them for a moment, until it hits you.

You’ve never killed anyone in your life, but if you had to kill him, you’d do it right now without hesitation, and you know it wouldn’t keep you up at night.

“Oh!” Dick laughs. That fucking monster laughs. “He told you about this.”

Not in so many words, which makes it worse. You’re not comfortable with this asshole knowing that, though, so you play it off with a little shrug. “Or I saw it on the news or in an interview or something. There was a lot about the Winter Soldier.” You look him right in the eyes. “Especially when he started kicking you guys right in the teeth.”

Dick smiles patiently and holds the pads up. God, is this how they looked when they hooked Bucky up? Did they smile, laugh, joke when they did this to him? You had a TENS unit, once. The day Bucky had seen you put it on your shoulders– well, it was the one time you had feared Bucky. Feared and been so sad for him. That expression on his face was not, is not, one you ever, ever want to see again.

Something that can hurt Bucky like that absolutely terrifies you. Is it just torture? Or will they do to you what they did to him? Will they strip you down and make you forget?

Also, fuck your life where you can think of anything as ‘just torture’.

As Dick is about to stick those wires to you, a door swings open in the distance. Somewhere over…fuck, you can’t even pretend to know. Or care. But some other guy calls out something in not-English and Dick responds likewise, and they converse for a few moments.

Dick sighs and puts down the wiring, and as much as you don’t want him to know how scared you are, you can’t help how your whole body sags with relief. “I have to go report in, but I’ll be right back,” he says and leaves.

You tug at chains and straps but they don’t get any looser and you certainly haven’t gotten any stronger in the past five minutes. Still, it seems better than sitting and waiting for Farquad to mosey on back.

You haven’t checked on the others yet– you’ve periodically forgotten that they’re there– and you still don’t want to. If they’re alive then they’ve been watching you get worked over and you’re not a fan of however they’re going to look at you. You don’t know how much they’ve heard but there have to get air in there somehow.

Unless they’re all dead…

Fuck it. You do a quick scan to make sure everyone’s alive and you ignore Steve’s attempt to keep your attention. Whatever he needs you to do, you don’t think you’re capable, and doesn’t that just suck. If Natasha and you were switched she probably would have snapped Dick’s neck by now. You’d be out of here, not getting–

Gunshots sound on the level above you and your heart leaps into your throat. You pull on the restraints– again, not any looser, but the thought of being trapped in the open while guns are going off is terrifying.

The door slams open and Dick runs in, blood on his face and looking alarmed. Well, that’s a sight. You don’t really get to enjoy it though; he scrambles behind you, grabs your chin and pins your head to his stomach as he presses his gun to your temple. And then you…wait.

Not for long, though. You didn’t hear anyone follow Dick down but there Bucky is, sliding out of the shadows like a ghost rematerializing. You’re speechless in the presence of him. He’s standing tall, suited up in all black, and already wearing what you assume is his best murder face. But then he looks around at his friends, trapped, and then at you, and if you were Dick you’d wet yourself at the look Bucky is giving him.

Then again, if you were Dick, you would have made very different life choices leading up to now, so, to each their own and all that.

“Put the gun down,” Bucky says, while wielding his own. At Dick. Who is right behind you.

Bucky’s murder face is suddenly way, way, way less attractive.

“No, that’s not how this is going to work.” Dick presses the gun even closer. “Stand down, Soldier.”

Bucky stares at him. This really, really sucks, but all you can do is hope it’s quick and…and…

Bucky unloads the ammo from the gun, letting it fall to the floor before he tosses the gun itself far away from him. But Dick doesn’t let up on you. “All of your weapons, Soldier. I’m not stupid.”

“That’s debatable,” you mutter as Bucky rolls his eyes. Well, at least you’re in agreement on that. But Bucky starts removing weapons from his person– knives, guns, holy hell are those bombs, clips, rounds, and things you’re glad you can’t identify. At the rate the pile of death is growing, you have to consider your trash panda is really more of a murder squirrel. The last thing Bucky throws on the pile is a knife smaller than the two Bowies already buried and it’s all so ridiculous you almost laugh. Almost, because Dick still has a gun to your head and that is not conducive to hilarity.

“Upstairs is almost cleared out,” Bucky says. “You should either try to kill me now or surrender already. You’re not walking out of here.”

“Well…not alone,” Dick says. He says a word in Russian that makes Bucky go stiff and wide-eyed. Dick says another and Bucky jerks, like he’s going for one of his weapons, but then Dick smashes your head with the gun and Bucky stops at your cry of pain.

You’re a little woozy but then Dick says another word and finally, finally you get it. And swallow your heart. “Bucky– no!” you shout over the next word, hoping Bucky will just fucking run or something, but he doesn’t, he stays where he is, why is he still standing there?! Dick grabs your head by your mouth and the silence is punctuated with the last few words.

Bucky goes slack– not falling, but he’s no longer so tense. His expression goes flat, and his eyes–

–you can’t look at them for more than a second. There’s nothing of him in there. No Bucky, no Trash Panda, no person.

The Winter Soldier speaks in Russian and you want to wake up now. Because this– this can’t be happening. Bucky can’t drop his weapons because of you. Bucky can’t be forced to listen to those words because of you.

Bucky can’t be lost because of you.

Dick takes the gun away from your head. You don’t feel any safer for it. “How many did you bring with you, Soldier?” he asks, breathing easier. You hate him with every part of your fucking salty soul.

“Twelve.”

Dick practically hisses. “Damn,” he says and walks around. You assume he’s looking at the others but you can’t stop looking at–…at Bucky. At where Bucky was. Still is. You feel dizzy. Passing out would be real nice right now.

“We have no time to take care of the rest. Shame. But…” Dick goes to stand next to Bucky. He puts his gun in Bucky’s hand.

“Let’s make sure you never want to come out of being the weapon you were always meant to be,” Dick says. “Kill her.”

Bucky takes aim and you can only stare dumbly at them. At Dick, smirking, and at Bucky, so cold and distant. Bucky never talked about what Steve did to snap him out of it. He only said that Steve had almost died because of it. And you don’t have that history. You don’t have that innate level of friendship and love. You have less than a year of memories, some good, some bad, and a lot of ‘maybe’s that could have been.

The shot rings out, and you wonder why you don’t feel any pain.

Until Dick crumples to the ground.

Bucky drops his hand, still holding the gun. “Moron,” he sneers at the body and then looks at you, back to his resting murder face and with life back in his eyes.

You…

You breathe.

Deeply.

Bucky is going to regret not shooting you because you are going to murder the FUCK out of him.

You keep the growing well of rage and upset down while he, with some effort, rips the lid off Natasha’s tube, unstraps her, and snaps something in Russian that has her running to Dick’s body. You even hold it together when Bucky puts his hands on you and braces you while he rips at straps and chains like they’re Silly Putty.

It’s when he’s helping you up and you start to fall, only for him to catch you by wrapping his arms around you, that you lose it. “You– you fucking jerk! You bastard!” You hit him. Not hard; you aren’t capable of it and you don’t really want to hurt hurt him, not really, but– “You asshole you scared the shit out of me!”

He sighs and runs his hand through his hair and, shit, he looks really good. Full-bodied and healthy, like he’s eating enough, and his hair is all soft, and is this some sort of weird halo effect from him saving you? Would you be eyeing Steve this much if he had shot the guy?

Ugh. That’s a gross thought.

“It was necessary.” Bucky is half carrying you because your body is in a state of ‘just don’t wanna’ that you feel you can’t be blamed for. “It’s good that you believed it, because he had to.”

It makes sense. It worked. Still. “You’re the fucking worst,” you mumble and lean into him, intending to rest your eyes for just a second. “Officially my least favorite trash panda. Even under that bastard that left a torn up garbage bag in the middle of the sidewalk.”

He chuckles. “I missed you too,” he says with a warmth that you’re convinced you’re imagining. Heroic rescue is a hell of a drug.

“No you didn’t.” Tears slip down your cheeks. “You weren’t ever going to come back. You would have stayed gone forever.”

He sighs. “It was better. Safer.”

After the past couple of days– actually, the past week plus, you have an itemized list on just how much bullshit that is. You can give a lecture on it, even without updating it to include right now. Luckily for him, exhaustion pulls you out of consciousness before you can start your presentation, but he is gonna fucking get it later.

Maybe you’ll make a PowerPoint.

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