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pollenat · 3 years

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“An empty lighter” | ljh.

➛ SEVENTEEN’s Indie drummer!Woozi. We’re back to Jihoon smoking, but this time after a bottle of beer, so you’ve been warned about the usage of cigarettes and alcohol.

➛ Word count: 1472.

➛ This short follows the events of “Readings done in smoke”.

The night you is a different type of person. At least so says Mingyu, someone who has had many chances to observe you in different surroundings. The night you is apparently surrounded by a dark cloak of mystery, as if your breath belonged to late hours.

“You emanate with power. I wouldn’t mind writing a song about that.” You know what he means by sweet words and longing looks. Though anyone else would find it impossible to deny Kim Mingyu, you’re an oddity. His fluttering lashes, attractive features, lower pitches – you cannot say you don’t find him beautiful. Just not in I’m-in-love type of beautiful.

“Sure thing, Mingyu.” Though you look away, his falling shoulders are visible in your peripheral vision. Disappointment, you bring him nothing but it.

Your gaze meets Jihoon’s. A second passes and he looks away, too shy to admit his curiosity. Despite a whole sea of moving people between the two of you, he still found and observed you. His act goes on for a moment, but then he turns to Jun and tells him something. Presumably asks about you and Mingyu. Your position – his silhouette leaning towards you, hand resting above your shoulder, eyes still set on you and your indifferent lack of movement – cannot be taken out of context. Jun looks at you as soon as Jihoon is finished talking, then turns to stare at him and laughs. Yeah, everybody knows, but nobody understands. It’s the case of poor Mingyu and cold-hearted you.

“I need to get myself a drink.”

He perks up instantly. “Oh, I can go get it-“

“No. Thank you.” Mingyu freezes in place as if struck by a cold breath down his neck. “I’m perfectly capable of getting it myself.”

His following gaze accompanies you until the crowd takes over. When under the influence, Mingyu can be a bit… intense. He doesn’t mean wrong, he’s just helpless when it comes to love. Your rejection gave him a lot of pain, then you didn’t handle things well and it isn’t wrong to say the guy still has some hope.

“Thanks.” The beer may not be the best anesthetic, but you’re lost on what to do with your free time. The club is full of strangers. Aside from your bandmates, nobody can charm you with company.

“You guys don’t mind the loud music?” Jihoon and Jun look up at you.

“Do we look like the library type?” The latter laughs at his own joke, turning to check whether his friend is just as amused. Jihoon just smiles and nods.

“From the distance you sure do.” A third beer bottle is placed on the small table. “Entertain me, please?”

“Mingyu looked pretty eager to entertain you over there.” Jun’s snickering has your eyes rolling. No need to make you feel even shittier.

“Save it. He’s just drunk. Give him a minute and he’ll be entertaining someone else.”

Nobody responds to that. You’re sitting in perfect silence, though your surroundings are anything but silent. People move around, twisting, jumping, licking each other’s faces off and among them sits a somber you. Mingyu’s disappointment haunts your memories. You want the thoughts gone. Swig after swig, you meticulously complete a circle of taking and putting away your beer. Next to you Jihoon nods to Jun’s comments. How nice would it be to enjoy yourself? Maybe if you’ve just done what Mingyu wanted of you – fallen for him – clubs would be a drama-free experience? Maybe-

“Want to go for a smoke?” Jihoon offers you the sight of his lighter. It surprises you – firstly, just a moment ago you were lost in thoughts. Secondly, of course, Jihoon knows you do not enjoy nicotine. You’ve told him yourself. The thing is, something about his asking gaze lets you know that the smoke isn’t about smoking.

“Yeah, why the hell not.”

“Huh?” Jun looks back at you, surprised, meanwhile Jihoon doesn’t comment on the sudden change of heart. It’s a wordless understanding between the two of you. “You’re smoking now? Since when?” Both you and Jihoon ignore the third party. “Hello?”

Outside is nice. Though the city air is polluted, it’s a mare of freshness – a change from the overused breath of sweaty partygoers.

You inhale a big swig in and watch as the smoke-like creation escapes your lips. Jihoon is silent for a longer moment, until he realizes he doesn’t have a cigarette out. He takes a moment to search pockets, slapping every single one loudly, before he sighs in victory. A paper pack is produced out of his jeans, along with a lighter he hid before leaving.

“Shit. Empty.” You offer a sympathetic smile to the discovery. “I don’t suppose… Of course not.”

“Haven’t considered keeping an emergency lighter.”

“Maybe you should start.” He answers, staring dejectedly at his untouched cigarettes. “Be a step ahead of me.”

It’s a fun thought to imagine – offering Jihoon a lighter before he can even find his. Watching surprise bloom on his cold features. Stopping yourself from smiling in answer. Feeling useful to someone. Doesn’t mean you’ll make it happen. You don’t plan on encouraging his smoking habits. Also, the possibility feels too intimate. Like a comforting kiss shared between lovers, with an exception being that you do not plan on kissing Jihoon’s lips.

It makes you wonder how desperate to escape Mingyu’s affection you must’ve looked back then, so that Jihoon, someone you aren’t in any way close to, took it upon himself to cheer you up.

“Are you alright?” He asks, fingers still gripping the sad pack of cigarettes.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

For a moment you lack proper words, so you wave hands around, doing your best to confine the meaning in your gestures. “The whole… consoling thing. Why are you consoling me?”

“Well,” Jihoon looks embarrassed. “I saw you and Mingyu and- Ekhm, you looked uncomfortable. Or bored? I’m not nosy, or anything. I just felt like you may need someone to help you get your mind off of it.”

Through his hard features and bored eyes, you can take a glimpse at a man who’s interested in people in his close surroundings. Feels nice to be taken care of.

“I’m used to it. You can’t really control your feelings, so I don’t hold it against Mingyu.”

Jihoon stands quiet for a moment, his eyes staring at your feet. You aren’t sure what’s so interesting to him in your boots. A group of drunks passes the two of you, laughing at something you lack the context of. Neither of you acknowledge the disruption.

“Here’s the thing – you shouldn’t get used to it. He needs to learn boundaries.” His words irritate you. After all, they’re an accusatory finger directed at someone who’s your close friend.

“You’re talking about him like he’s some predator.” He does nothing to correct you. “Mingyu’s just lovestruck, doesn’t mean me any hurt. I don’t need your protection, Jihoon. I’m capable of dealing with this myself.”

“I know you can deal with it, but… You need to stop yourself from putting it away. It won’t do any of you good.”

His confidence in a diagnosis that’s nothing but wrong has you fuming. If you weren’t under the influence, you’d have the strength to explain your situation. But in the current context? With alcohol buzzing, embarrassment plaguing and coldness biting? Your exterior is a fragile egg shell, about to be dropped on a hard surface.

“Fuck you.”

“(y/n)-“

“You know nothing about Mingyu and I, so- Fuck you, really.”

“I didn’t mean-“ but you’re already marching back inside. “Where are you going?” Hot tears stream down your cheeks. Why are you so mad? “(y/n)!”

The truth is, you don’t understand what does Mingyu see in the night you. They’re just clad in darkness, hoping to keep the nocturnal thoughts away. But the night brings you nothing but sadness. The power is a mask for contradictory powerlessness. You’re so lost on what to do, how to feel, you depend on wordless passiveness, along with the hope that someday the hardships will pass.

“(y/n)!” Strong arms hang on your neck. Mingyu reminds you of a small child and that’s why you know the feelings you’d want to push yourself into feeling won’t happen. “Where did you go?”

“Let’s go, you’re too drunk.”

“Too drunk on my love for you?” You choose to ignore Jihoon’s presence. He followed you all the way back. Fuck his caring nature. Fuck his stubbornness. Fuck the night and its consequences.

“Yeah, yeah.” Two pairs of eyes stare intensely at your face. “You’re suffocating me.”

Mingyu weakens his grip, but laughs. One of his hands lets go and is instantly grabbed by Jihoon who pulls it over his shoulder. Together, you lead the man out, both avoiding Jun’s confused stare.

Fuck the night.

➛ To be continued.

➛ pollenat’s list of headcanons

➛ pollenat’s list of shorts

➛ pollenat’s list of scenarios

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blackaquokat · 6 years

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Bruised Hearts

Fandom: WKM

Pairing: DAtective (Abe x Y/N District Attorney)

Summary: In which an innocent outing turns into a fist fight and the fall out leads to an unexpected consequence.

(Or, alternatively, the author attempts to write in another character with mixed results.)

A/N: Hey guess what? I didn’t forget about this, but I had three different drafts and hated each of them until I finally powered through this one. I ended up going with suggestions by @beereblogsstuff , @dontworryaboutanything , and @skidspace but I did love ALL the suggestions in my inbox, so I will be tackling them at later dates. Something to note: this won’t be canon in Law & Disorder. Instead, this will be part of a different one which will be more in line with the canon suggested in Wilford Motherloving Warfstache. Take from that what you will.

(Spot the Ocean’s 11 Reference in this piece.)

Now, without further ado, here is the DAtective Installment of my 200 Follower Celebration works!

Oo00oO

“This is taking some getting used to…” his partner comments as they adjust their new glasses.

“I thought you had glasses when you were a DA?”

Abe thinks they look rather scholarly with the thick black rims framing their eyes. It’s still a bit of a shock to see his partner in modern-day wear, but…not an unpleasant shock.

Or at least it’s unpleasant in the way that a modern-clothed District Attorney sends his heart into sporadic beats of Morse code.

“I only needed them for driving before,” they answer, oblivious to the heat rushing into his neck. “Or for going to the theater. Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised that death impaired my vision…”

Abe shouldn’t laugh, but he does. He also shouldn’t have this urge to grab their glasses and try them on himself, but that’s another problem entirely.

He half-heartedly protests when they drag him out of the biting cold air and into the nearest pub. “What’s going on here?”

“If I have to wear glasses on a regular basis now, then we’re damn well going to mark the start of this hell-fest with a drink.”

And they call him overdramatic.

(One time Abe announces a zombie apocalypse when a dead body twitched in front of him and suddenly he’s overdramatic. At least Wilford didn’t judge him, though he could have done without the gun waving at the time.)

While he’s on that line of thought…

“Shouldn’t we make sure Wilford hasn’t burned the apartment down?”

“It’ll be good to leave him alone a little longer, show him some responsibility, if he’s even at the apartment right now. Shot of whiskey, please,” they order from the bartender.

He orders a beer as his partner’s whiskey is placed in front of them. They banter back and forth, discuss the growing pile of cases waiting for them at home, and overall just…exist.

Together.

Even after a year since his partner’s unexpected return, and a little longer since Wilford destroyed his preconceptions of this nonsensical world they’re all trapped in, Abe still expects to wake up to an empty apartment. He still finds himself staring at his partner while they curse at the coffee pot, or when they sing whatever modern song they most recently discovered (lately it’s been an odd roulette of Beyoncé and some European metal group). Sometimes he’ll do something obnoxious like tug on the sleeves of their sweaters or ruffle their hair to get a rise out of them (which usually involves a hand-swat or a not-so-gentle elbow to his gut) to keep himself tethered to their presence.

(These moments tend to be hijacked by a randomly appearing Wilford, who either says something off the wall or does something rather insane to derail these moments. Abe only puts up with this since he wouldn’t have found the DA again if not for the psycho. He still questions as to when the term “psycho” became a term of endearment.)

He restrains himself from these actions now, since he’s already hyper-aware of how close they’re both standing next to each other at the bar, their glasses reflecting the hanging television screens and highlighting the liquid penny color in their eyes. Long before his partner lost their body and soul at the manor they looked like they’d witnessed eternity and scoffed at its depths, now they’re just tinged with an even darker awareness.

That eternity-tinged gaze is directed over his shoulder, narrowed in suspicion. “Can we help you?”

Abe turns to see three guys standing behind him. The one in the center has bloodshot eyes and keeps swaying from side to side.

(What kind of jackass gets flat-out drunk at eleven in the morning?)

“Hey, asshole, you’re in my seat,” the guy says without preamble. The two behind him do not look like they’re about to discourage him.

Abe chugs the last sip of his beer and settles it back atop the bar with a satisfying thunk. “I don’t see your name on it, bud.” He steps forward enough to keep his partner out of the jackass’s sight.

“I’d like you to move, pal.”

“Who you calling ‘pal,’ friend?”

“Who you calling ‘friend,’ jackass?!”

“Hey!” Abe jabs a finger at the guy. “You’re already ‘jackass’ in my head, we can’t both be jackasses today!”

“You son of a—”

“Ladies, ladies, you’re both pretty,” his partner suddenly interjects, treading between the two. “Please leave us alone before we all get kicked out for causing a scene,” they direct to the strangers.

Ever the attorney, his partner.

The trio of jackasses doesn’t hear the undercurrent of threat in their voice, however. The center jackass looks Abe’s partner up and down with something lewd and dismissive lined in his mouth. “Oh we’re way past that, birdie, now why don’t you back off and let the big boys hash it out? I can deal with you later.”

The word “deal” is emphasized with a shift of his eyebrows and Abe almost throws down right then and there, but his partner holds their arm out, as if sensing the direction of his thoughts.

Abe isn’t surprised when his partner stands their ground. They’ve never put up with being talked down to for long.

He is surprised when they clock the guy in the face without further verbal sparring.

The situation descends into chaos from there as Abe and the jackass’s friends join the fight with flying fists, bruised faces, and two bloody noses along with many other injuries until the bartender threatens to call the police.

Abe grabs the former District Attorney by the waist to keep them from giving one of the guys a second black eye. They fight vehemently against his hold.

“Whoa there, partner, take it easy—”

“Put me down, Abe, I got this!”

“I know you do, but why don’t we not deal with the cops today?”

Abe really shouldn’t enjoy carrying them outside and several blocks down, but he does. They’ve never been tiny, per se, but their solid form against his chest does odd things to his pulse. Their warmth also helps the initial rush of cold air pricking at his skin once again.

He finally releases them and they turn on him with an anger he’s certain could vaporize better men than he. Their glasses are askew, but somehow undamaged despite the peppered scratches on their cheek and split lip.

They jab a finger in his direction, voice going low. “Never. Carry. Me. Again.”

“Fine, but what the hell was that?” Abe demands. “Since when do you pick fights with total strangers?”

“If I recall, you were the one who almost got into that fight, I just beat you to it—”

“Don’t derail me with semantics, partner, what’s the problem?”

They cross their arms. Their knuckles are split and bleeding. “I didn’t realize I needed a license to beat the hell out of a bunch of perverted idiots.”

“C’mon, you know that’s not what I meant—”

But they’re already walking down the block again. Abe groans to himself and trails after them.

He doesn’t press for answers again, though it would be nice to have an answer for why he has a black eye right now.

He catches a glimpse of them shivering at the sudden rush of rain-threatening wind. They stifle the shaking once he catches up to their brisk pace.

At least this is familiar territory.

Abe takes his jacket off and puts it on their shoulders. He watches from the corner of his eye as they slip their arms into the sleeves.

As the rain slowly begins to trickles down around them, Abe spends far too much time wanting to take off their glasses to wipe the water off and maybe kiss their nose while he’s pushing boundaries.

Only the fear of another well-deserved elbow to his gut, or maybe even a punch to his face, prevents him from doing so.

Oo00oO

His partner doesn’t speak to him when they arrive home, but they do wrap up an ice pack for his eye. They head for the bathroom attached to the bedroom before he can try to fix up their own injuries, but not before he catches the guilt in their frown.

The urge to demand an explanation wells up again, and Abe crushes it. He can ask later, or they will tell him. He’s hoping for the latter. If he has to ask, it might mean they have no plans to bring it up themself.

And they really need to discuss this.

A quick glance around the apartment tells him that Wilford is not in, and probably has not been in for a while. Abe’s best guess is that the crazy bastard is off dancing again (when did “crazy bastard” also become a term of endearment?). So long as Abe and his partner don’t get any calls regarding any shenanigans Wilford gets up to, perhaps he and the DA can have the talk they need to have. In the meantime, he hangs up his wet jacket to dry and starts up the coffee pot because why the hell not?

A half-hour later, his partner re-enters the main room, their knuckles wrapped and the largest cut on their cheek bandaged. Their glasses rest on their nose still, smudged from a cleaning attempt it looks like. Without a word, they go sit on the couch. They pat the cushion beside them.

Abe sighs in relief. He hops over the couch and lands with a plop onto the cushions.

Before they speak, Abe blurts out, “I’m sorry.”

Their brow furrows. “I—what?”

He didn’t quite mean to jump right into this, but so long as he’s on the subject…

“You were right. I could have walked away, but I didn’t. Had you not stepped in, I definitely would have beaten the guy into a bloody pulp before you. I can’t exactly judge you for getting a head start on me. So I’m sorry for giving you a hard time about it.”

His partner taps their fingers against their forearm and shakes their head. “When I was still a lawyer, I probably would have just pulled you away and we both could have gotten out unscathed. Now…”

Abe hadn’t thought of that, but in retrospect, maybe that’s where his surprise came from. Far as he knows, they’ve only ever gotten into fistfights when no other options were available.

“Now?”

Their head tilts back to gaze at the ceiling. “Most days I still feel like I’m not here. Like I’m still trapped, like…like I still have something clawing to get out of me. When that guy looked at me the way he did…it brought back awful memories and I decided to just let it all out for a moment.” Their laugh is a bitter sound. “At the time, it felt good to let loose and finally tear into a guy without worrying about what it might do to my reputation.”

They look back at him. Their hand takes his, fingers tracing over a bruise on the back of his hand.

“I forgot, for a moment, that just because I wouldn’t necessarily be consequences for myself, didn’t mean there wouldn’t be consequences for someone else.” Their gaze is so intense Abe can barely breathe. “So I’m sorry you got hurt because I couldn’t walk away from a fight either.”

Abe should be thinking about their words, and he is, truthfully.

He remembers how uptight they were Before. Always afraid to stray off the straight and narrow the slightest bit for fear of all their hard work being undone in an instant. Even when they were undermined left and right they would keep silent, or as much as they could bear to depending on the circumstances. Abe can understand how the sudden disappearance of that intense pressure would affect them like this.

He remembers all of that.

But all he can think of now is how alive they looked when they clocked that bastard in the face. The furious fire alight in their eyes, the power of their hits, he never considered fist fights to be romantic, but then again, Abe never really had a specific type before.

Or perhaps his type has slowly taken shape into complicated former attorneys who call him out on his shit as much as they take part in it.

Abe doesn’t realize he’s moved until he’s already taken their glasses off their face and started cleaning the smudges with the bottom of his shirt. He chances a glance at his partner, who is staring at his moving hands like…well, he has no idea. A strange mix of confusion and something indefinable.

He doesn’t even try for an excuse for why he did that. And they haven’t done anything to stop him.

When he’s satisfied that the lenses are far clearer than before, Abe grins triumphantly at his handiwork, holding them up like a trophy.

His partner smiles back. There’s a bruise right on their cheekbone.

Abe means to put the glasses back onto their face, he really does. Instead he shifts closer to them, leaving enough space so they can move away if they wish to.

They don’t move.

“I will gladly have your back in any fist fights we start in the future,” he whispers. Before he can second guess himself, he pulls them in closer by the shoulder with his free hand so he can press a brief kiss to their forehead.

He intended to scurry off right after doing so, but they grab his hand and he stills. There is a long, pregnant pause.

They do not stare so much as probe deep into each other’s eyes like something out of a damn soap opera or something nonsensical and ridiculous along those lines. He wonders if they feel like their skin has been peeled away too. He wonders what they see that keeps them from breaking away from whatever this is.

Are they getting closer to him, or did he start leaning first, or is he just going crazy?

“Quite a storm out today, my friends!”

Abe and his partner jump to opposite ends of the sofa when Wilford suddenly appears, sitting on the middle cushion with his legs crossed. He’s wearing that godawful afro again. The false pink hairs are tipped with pearly raindrops.

His partner brushes their curls out of their face and clears their throat. “Hi, Wilford.”

Abe has no idea how they manage the nonchalance in their voice after the intensity of the moment five seconds before. Then again, they adapted to Wilford’s random and impossible materializing far quicker than Abe did.

“Were you out dancing?”

“Of course I was! Best way to pass a rainy day is a good disco party!”

“And the candy cane?” his partner asks.

“The what?”

They point to Wilford’s afro where, sure enough, the edge of a candy cane is sticking out.

Wilford pulls the treat out of his hair and stares at it for a moment. He shrugs and starts licking the cane, heedless of the synthetic fibers still stuck to it. “Perhaps one of Santa’s elves paid me a dance!” He declares mid-lick. “There were some lovely people there with pointed hats and striped stockings.”

“It’s October,” Abe points out. He doesn’t know why he’s still attempting to apply logic in this wherever-they-are, but it makes him feel better to try.

“An elf is an elf year round, my friend,” Wilford intones with the wisdom of an age-old scholar.

“They might have been witches, that’s all I’m saying. Wrong time of year for an elf to be hanging about.”

“Are you saying elves can’t be witches as well? My dear Abe, I wouldn’t have thought you to be so close-minded!”

“Yeah, Abe, don’t be so prejudiced,” his partner teases. “You might not get a visit from Santa otherwise.”

What the hell are they talking about right now?

His partner holds out their hand, uncaring of Wilford between them. Abe blinks and realizes he’s still holding their glasses. He hands them back sheepishly.

As they put their glasses back on, Wilford comments, “Well, look at you now, dear friend! You look like a scholar ready to prove the existence of dear old Nessie herself!”

They roll their eyes with a smile. “I appreciate that, Wilford.” They wink at Abe and he jerks his head away to hide a smirk of his own. “What are you up to now?”

“Well, now that we’re all on this couch together, I say let’s just enjoy one another’s company!”

Abe glances back to see a bowl of popcorn in Wilford’s lap, and the remote in his hand. “How the hell—?”

“Can we go to that channel that plays classic movies?” his partner asks without missing a beat. “I’ve been in a mood for something like Casablanca or Shop Around the Corner.”

“Oh, alright!” Wilford grumbles. He gestures at them wildly with the remote before switching on the television. “But I say we look for Tom and Jerry after this!”

“Sure. Now pass me the popcorn.”

Abe spares a glance at his partner again and thinks about their shattered moment. He shakes his head as a black-and-white film takes shape on the glowing television before them.

Probably for the best if he pretends there’s nothing between him and his partner. The three of them are already stuck in a world that doesn’t make sense.

Why begin one more thing he barely understands, even if it does stir up parts of him he thought were long dead?

Oo00oO

@skidspace , @peaceiplier , @wkm-detective-abe-squad , @veryobsessivefan , @lizard-in-a-skinsuit , @babymadz , @rainbowkittens97 , @peachythekeen-deactivated201810 , @statictay , @starcrossedforever87 , @dontworryaboutanything , @falseroar , @intemperantiae , @ren-mon , @memetoyoko , @soul-wolf , @musical-jim , @silver-owl413 , @sassy-in-glasses , @chelseareferenced , @sketchy-scribs-n-doods

#datective #kat writes #abe the detective #y/n district attorney #wkm #my last wkm post before nanowrimo #but more on that later

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acekyloren-blog · 7 years

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Reylo Song Compilation from the Official SW Spotify Playlists + Their Recurring Themes

(A.K.A. More Reylo Receipts, A.K. A. They Couldn’t Make It Any More Obvious)

The two official spotify playlists being discussed: Rey / Kylo Ren

For ease of access, I decided to compile all of the possible Reylo-centric songs that the Star Wars official Spotify has put in Rey and Kylo Ren’s playlists. Many are blatantly referencing their dark/light dynamic, while others are only vaguely referencing what could possibly be Reylo, but could also possibly be referring to other relationships - those songs have been pointed out. I wanted to outline the songs that are clearly Reylo-centric, so I also included the best lyrics to give as evidence as to why that song is Reylo-centric. Beneath the lists are the analyses of these love songs and the recurring themes throughout them from both Rey and Kylo Ren.

Truth be told, after paying attention to all the love songs in Rey and Kylo Ren’s playlists, I am 98% sure Reylo is now, or will be, A Real Thing. The other 2% is the possibility that it will an unrequited love from Kylo Ren towards Rey, because Kylo Ren’s love songs are so assuredly about Rey (female pronouns, too romantic to be Leia) while there are still a few of Rey’s songs that cannot be 100% proven to be about Kylo Ren. That being said, a large majority of her love songs, as will be discussed, revolve around fighting and conflict - so unless she will have another love interest that is going to be fighting with her in the trilogy, I’d say those ones are at least definitely pointed towards Kylo Ren.

*possibly referring to rey and f.inn, possibly referring to kylo and leia or merely kylo himself > my personal favourites because they just scream reylo

While looking through these lyrics, remember to keep in mind that these songs were specifically chosen to be put in OFFICIAL Star Wars playlists for these characters for a reason. In the order that they were listed in playlists:

Rey’s Playlist

NO ONE - ALICIA KEYS* ( people keep talking they can say what they like // but all i know is everything's going to be alright // no one can get in the way of what i feel for you )

COMPASS - ZELLA DAY* ( if we make it out alive, from the depths of the seas // compass points you anywhere closer to me // where you are, i will be )

COME AND GET IT - SELENA GOMEZ ( can't stop because i love it, hate the way i love you )

LEVELS - NICK JONAS ( so much to discover, please don't stop me now // all this heat keep rising, make you stop, drop, and roll // i’m bottling up the lightning, supernatural )

CAN’T FEEL MY FACE - THE WEEKND* ( and i know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb // and she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come // all the misery was necessary when we're deep in love )

OMEN - DISCLOSURE ( i'm feeling something, something different // needed you to show me, without you I am lonely // my mind would rule my heart // i didn't pay attention to the light in the dark, it left me torn apart )

WE FOUND LOVE - RIHANNA ( it's the way I'm feeling i just can't deny // shine a light through an open door // turn away 'cause i need you more // we found love in a hopeless place )

BLUE JEANS - LANA DEL REY ( you fit me better than my favorite sweater, and i know that love is mean, and love hurts )

> BATTLEFIELD - JORDIN SPARKS ( i never meant to start a war, you know, i never wanna hurt you // don't even know we're fighting for, why does love always feel like a battlefield // baby, we don't have to fight )

A SKY FULL OF STARS - COLDPLAY ( i don't care, go on and tear me apart // 'cause in a sky, 'cause in a sky full of stars i think i saw you // 'cause you're a sky, 'cause you're a sky full of stars, i wanna die in your arms )

RUNAWAY (U & I) - GALANTIS* ( even if we’re strangers til we die // anywhere out this place, i wanna run away, just U and I )

SMOKE AND FIRE - SABRINA CARPENTER ( oh, oh, our love is running into a burning building // feel the heat, so we started running // you know you saw it coming, but the memories are still in my mind )

DIAMONDS - RIHANNA* ( you and i, you and i, we’re like diamonds in the sky // i knew that we’d become one right away // at first sight i felt the energy of sun rays, i saw the life inside your eyes )

> WILD - TROYE SIVAN ( trying hard not to fall // leave this blue neighbourhood, never knew loving could hurt this good, oh and it drives me wild // 'cause when you look like that I've never ever wanted to be so bad )

SHUT UP AND DANCE - WALK THE MOON* ( this woman is my destiny // we were victims of the night // oh we were bound to get together // deep in her eyes, i think I see the future, i realize this is my last chance )

OUR OWN HOUSE - MISTERWIVES* ( into my soul you stared and bored down every fear // we built our own house with our hands over our hearts )

> BLOODSTREAM - TRANSVIOLET ( cruel desire, danger in our consequence // hey, you wanna rule the world? outlaw love, make you lose control // cosmic violence, chills dripping like acid rain, keep coming back cause it's you i crave )

> FORCE OF NATURE - BEA MILLER ( i tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows, oh but it's too late now, i let you get too close // i know i should take cover, hide inside these four walls, but baby i surrender, it all // 'cause you're a force of nature, look at what you've done // i can taste the danger, but i don't wanna run, so pull me to the ground and i won't put up a fight )

Kylo Ren’s Playlist

ANGELS FALL - BREAKING BENJAMIN* ( grey skies will chase the light away no longer // when angels fall with broken wings, i can't give up, i can't give in // when all is lost and daylight ends, i'll carry you and we will live forever, for ever )

DARK SIDE OF ME - COHEED AND CAMBRIA* ( in this cold reality i made, this selfish war machine, oh, this has become hell, how can i share this life with someone else? // i am not equipped to comprehend human rationale, sirius, is this what love is? )

ASHES OF EDEN - BREAKING BENJAMIN* ( i am not worthy of this // stay with me, don't let me go, because there's nothing left at all // will the light begin to pull me to its everlasting will // heaven above me, take my hand, shine until there's nothing left but you )

NEVER GIVING UP - OF MICE AND MEN ( even though i know you want me to, i'm never giving up on you // you'll never know just how hard it is for me to see you this way, it tears me up, drags me down )

> OUT OF TIME - A DAY TO REMEMBER ( i finally found her, and when i did i just couldn't make things right, is this really happening? oh, god, i think i just ruined my life // don't think you've got to go in alone here // you won't see it, but believe me, i need to be right where you are // 'cause now i think that everything's about you )

EVIL - INTERPOL ( when your friends they do come crying, tell them now your pleasure's set up on slow-release // i can take you places, do you need a new man? // you need someone to take you there, sandy, why can't we look the other way? )

THE ANSWER - SAVAGES ( i saw the answer, it was a girl, will you go ask her // love is the answer // to cry about love, to wait for her, to wait for dying, i can't wait )

AT LEAST I’M KNOWN FOR SOMETHING - NEW FOUND GLORY ( i tried so hard to keep you coming back my way, but you don't know the half and i’m the one to blame // i let my front down and i know i will regret it )

> DEAD INSIDE - MUSE* ( your lips feel warm to the touch, you can bring me back to life // feel me now, hold me please, i need you to see who i am // open up to me, stop hiding from me // it's hurting babe, only you can stop the pain // now i've become just like you, my lips feel warm to the touch, my words seem so alive )

ALL THIS COULD BE YOURS - COLD WAR KIDS ( i have been waiting for you to find that all of this could be yours tonight )

BREED - NIRVANA* ( i don't mean to stare, we don't have to breed // we could plant a house, we could build a tree // i don't even care, we could have all three // she said, she said, she said )

> INNERVISION - SYSTEM OF A DOWN ( i have to find you, i have to meet you // i need to find you, i need to seek my innervision // it's never too late to reinvent the bicycle // a smile brings forth energy or life, giving your force, vision )

> SATELLITE - RISE AGAINST ( we are the orphans of the American dream, so shine your light on me // she told me that she never could face the world again, so i offered up a plan, we'll sneak out while they sleep, and sail off in the night )

> BORED TO DEATH - BLINK-182 ( there's a stranger staring at the ceiling, rescuing a tiger from a tree, the pictures in her head are always dreaming, each of them means everything to me // i think i met her at the minute that the rhythm was set down, i said i'm sorry i'm a bit of a letdown )

WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE - POWERMAN 5000 ( are you ready to go? cause i'm ready to go, what you gonna do, baby? are you goin' with me? cause i'm goin' with you // now who's the light and who is the devil? you can't decide, so i'll be your guide )

> A CROSS AND A GIRL NAMED BLESSED - EVANS BLUE ( there’s a pretty girl somewhere, with a pretty name, but i could never let you know how much this means // i swear we'll end this war, cause we both know It wasn't worth fighting for // she said to me i will be driving in the wrong direction, did you ever think that maybe your life is heading in the wrong direction, baby )

Lyric Analyses & Themes

I will now begin to group together recurring themes in Rey and Kylo Ren’s playlists in order to correlate similarities and parallels. This includes well-known themes that may hint towards certain theories, such as Kylo Ren’s redemption, Reylo sharing a force bond, the balancing of the force, and the Gray Jedi becoming canon. To make parallels clearer, Rey and Kylo Ren’s supporting evidence for each theme will be paired side by side.

“THE TABOO RELATIONSHIP”

Some of the songs hint at disgruntled friends or rumours because of a relationship, and the subjects of the song continuing onwards with their relationship regardless of what anybody says or thinks. Alternatively, it also relates to the initial feeling of guilt or shame for feeling as though they are ‘taboo’ or should not be together. This theme is especially relevant to Reylo in that if they were to come together, it would surely cause friction amongst the other protagonists, and initially Rey and Kylo Ren would have likely been confused and unsure about these feelings themselves.

Rey’s Evidence:

“People keep talking, they can say what they like, but all I know is everything's going to be alright, no one can get in the way of what I feel for you [...] I know people will try, try to divide, something so real.” - No One, Alicia Keys

“It's the way I'm feeling I just can't deny.” - We Found Love, Rihanna

"Trying hard not to fall [...] 'Cause when you look like that I've never ever wanted to be so bad.” - Wild, Troye Sivan

“I tried to tie my heart down, board up all the windows, oh but it's too late now, I let you get too close.” - Force of Nature, Bea Miller

“Hey, you wanna rule the world? Outlaw love, make you lose control.” - Bloodstream, Transviolet

“Anywhere out this place, I wanna run away, just U and I.” - Runaway, Galantis

Kylo Ren’s Evidence:

“When your friends they do come crying, tell them now your pleasure's set up on slow-release.” - Evil, Interpol

"I am not equipped to comprehend human rationale, sirius, is this what love is?” Dark Side of Me, Coheed and Cambria

“I let my front down and I know I will regret it.” - At Least I’m Known for Something, New Found Glory

“We'll sneak out while they sleep, and sail off in the night.” - Satellite, Rise Against

“LOVERS ON OPPOSING SIDES OF THE WAR”

That ever-present Reylo theme that constantly gets mistaken as ‘abuse’. As Rey and Kylo Ren are not in a romantic relationship currently but are instead on opposing sides of the war, this theme touches on the struggle of fighting or hurting someone (or being hurt yourself) for reasons you don’t understand or believe, but have instead been manipulated by outside forces to do so. At this current point in time they are pawns in a war they didn’t start, and I personally believe these songs hint at their growing frustration at this fact. These songs also show the struggle of fighting a war when love gets thrown in the mix to complicate things. Interestingly enough, there are a lot more love songs about fighting or conflict in Rey’s playlist, whereas there are a lot more love songs about redemption or unworthiness in Kylo Ren’s playlist (which will be discussed later). These could possibly be the two prevalent emotions from Rey and Kylo Ren towards their relationship throughout Episode 8.

Rey’s Evidence:

"I never meant to start a war, you know, I never wanna hurt you, don't even know we're fighting for. Why does love always feel like a battlefield? Baby, we don't have to fight.” - Battlefield, Jordin Sparks

“I know I should take cover, hide inside these four walls, but baby I surrender, it all [...] I can taste the danger, but I don't wanna run, so pull me to the ground and I won't put up a fight.” - Force of Nature, Bea Miller

“And I know she'll be the death of me, at least we'll both be numb. And she'll always get the best of me, the worst is yet to come. All the misery was necessary when we're deep in love.” - Can’t Feel My Face, The Weeknd (unsure, this could very well be from Rey’s point of view towards another female character, or from Kylo Ren’s point of view towards Rey)

“I don't care, go on and tear me apart, [...] 'cause you're a sky a sky full of stars, I wanna die in your arms.” - A Sky Full of Stars, Coldplay

“Oh, oh, our love is running into a burning building.” - Smoke and Fire, Sabrina Carpenter

“Cruel desire, danger in our consequence. Cosmic violence, chills dripping like acid rain [...] Hold me, break me.” - Bloodstream, Transviolet

“Can't stop because I love it, hate the way I love you [...] This love will be the death of me, but I know I'll die happily.” - Come and Get It, Selena Gomez

“We found love in a hopeless place.” - We Found Love, Rihanna

“And I know that love is mean, and love hurts.” - Blue Jeans, Lana Del Rey

“Never knew loving could hurt this good, oh and it drives me wild.” - Wild, Troye Sivan

Kylo Ren’s Evidence:

“You'll never know just how hard it is for me to see you this way, it tears me up, drags me down.” - Never Giving Up, Of Mice and Men

“I swear we'll end this war, cause we both know It wasn't worth fighting for.” - A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed, Evans Blue

“Sandy, why can't we look the other way?” - Evil, Interpol

“TWO HALVES OF ONE” & “FORCE BOND”

The good ol’ red string of fate theory, based on the repeated tweets of red strings of fate, and the curious lines in the SW: TFA canon books, script, and official website, that clearly describe how Rey and Kylo Ren’s destinies are intertwined and that they both know they are connected somehow. If you haven’t already been informed of this information, you can watch it here. Basically, the Star Wars website says that a “mysterious connection links the two,” and constantly mentions this “strange connection” throughout the informational images. In addition to this, Rey and Kylo Ren are now being referred to as “two halves of our protagonist” or “dual protagonists” by the writers. This is also connected to the fact that both Rey and Kylo Ren appear to have prior knowledge - at least subconsciously - of one another before meeting in person, such as Rey’s dreams featuring Kylo Ren (though she only realizes this when she meets him) and Kylo Ren’s famous “It is you,” line. They also realize this in the script where it says: “Kylo Ren nearly touches her face... They’re both surprised: they react to a feeling that passes between them - an energy they recognize in each other.” I personally believe that this connection is their ‘force bond’: a unique link between two force users that also allows special telepathic communication of thoughts, dreams, messages, etc. While it was usually known to exist between master and apprentice, two lovers on the opposing light and dark sides of the force, Bastila and Revan (that many have pointed out have parallels with Rey and Kylo Ren), were known to have such a bond. These lyrics heavily hint at intertwining destinies, Rey and Kylo Ren being two halves of one, and the strange, irrepressible connection of what could be a force bond.

Rey’s Evidence:

“I knew that we’d become one right away. At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays, I saw the life inside your eyes.” - Diamonds, Rihanna

“I'm feeling something, something different, needed you to show me, without you I am lonely.” Omen, Disclosure.

“'Cause in a sky, 'cause in a sky full of stars I think I saw you.” - A Sky Full of Stars, Coldplay

“This woman is my destiny. We were victims of the night, oh we were bound to get together [...] deep in her eyes, I think I see the future, I realize this is my last chance.” - Shut Up and Dance, Walk the Moon (sung from a male’s voice about a forthright female, again, possibly still about Rey and another female character, or it could be from Kylo Ren’s point of view)

“You know you saw it coming, but the memories are still in my mind.” - Smoke and Fire, Sabrina Carpenter

“You fit me better than my favorite sweater.” - Blue Jeans, Lana Del Rey

“If we make it out alive, from the depths of the seas [...] compass points you anywhere closer to me. Where you are, I will be.” - Compass, Zella Day

“Into my soul you stared and bored down every fear. We built our own house with our hands over our hearts.” - Our Own House, MisterWives

“Keep coming back cause it's you I crave [...] Take me, I need you in my bloodstream.” - Bloodstream, Transviolet

Kylo Ren’s Evidence:

“I finally found her [...] You won't see it, but believe me, I need to be right where you are, 'cause now I think that everything's about you.” - Out of Time, A Day to Remember

“I saw the answer, it was a girl, will you go ask her? Love is the answer.” - The Answer, Savages

“There’s a pretty girl somewhere, with a pretty name, but I could never let you know how much this means.” - A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed, Evans Blue

“I have to find you, I have to meet you. I need to find you, I need to seek my innervision.” - Innervision, System of a Down

“The pictures in her head are always dreaming, each of them means everything to me.” - Bored to Death, Blink-182

“Don’t you worry about your bad dreams, ‘cause I’m not in them.” - Bad Dreams, Joywave

“UNWORTHINESS LEADS TO REDEMPTION”

I don’t think I need to explain this theme too much, but basically I believe these songs hint at Kylo Ren’s redemption, and how Rey plays a key part in that redemption due to Kylo Ren’s feelings of unworthiness towards her in his current ‘monstrous’ state (however, please do not assume that I think that is her only role in the dynamic). I will not go too much into the specific theme of Rey’s light and Kylo Ren’s darkness in terms of the Force, as I will discuss that and the lyrics relating to that in more detail next. This theme focuses heavily on the workings within Kylo Ren’s own mind, meaning all of the songs will be from his playlist as the best hints at his inner struggle and what causes it would be seen from his own perspective. I think these lyrics are sure evidence of Rey affecting Kylo Ren’s redemption. Kylo Ren’s redemption is also implied throughout his playlist to be ignited by his refusal to continue obeying Snoke’s wishes; but as I discuss this topic separately from Reylo, you can find it in my ‘redemption when’ tag. As mentioned previously, while a majority of Rey’s love songs center around fighting and conflict, this is the theme that a majority of Kylo Ren’s love songs center around instead.

Kylo Ren’s Evidence:

“In this cold reality I made, this selfish war machine, oh, this has become hell, how can I share this life with someone else?” - Dark Side of Me, Coheed and Cambria

“I finally found her, and when I did I just couldn't make things right. Is this really happening? Oh, god, I think I just ruined my life.” - Out of Time, A Day to Remember

“She said to me [...] did you ever think that maybe your life is heading in the wrong direction, baby?” - A Cross and a Girl Named Blessed, Evans Blue

“There's a stranger staring at the ceiling, rescuing a tiger from a tree. The pictures in her head are always dreaming, each of them means everything to me [...] I think I met her at the minute that the rhythm was set down, I said I'm sorry I'm a bit of a letdown.” - Bored to Death, Blink-182

“I am not worthy of this [...] Stay with me, don't let me go, because there's nothing left at all [...] Heaven above me, take my hand, shine until there's nothing left but you.” - Ashes of Eden, Breaking Benjamin

“Your lips feel warm to the touch, you can bring me back to life. Feel me now, hold me please, I need you to see who I am. It's hurting babe, only you can stop the pain [...] Now I've become just like you, my lips feel warm to the touch, my words seem so alive.” - Dead Inside, Muse

“LIGHT AND DARK”

The concept of both light and darkness, and some kind of ‘force’, being mentioned throughout these songs seem to link Rey and Kylo Ren together. The struggle between both the Light and the Dark and finding balance can be seen both in Rey’s playlist and Kylo Ren’s playlist, leaning towards the theory that they will both be the key to balancing out the force in each other.

Rey’s Evidence:

“My mind would rule my heart. I didn't pay attention to the light in the dark, it left me torn apart.” - Omen, Disclosure

“I’m bottling up the lightning, supernatural.” - Levels, Nick Jonas

“Shine a light through an open door.” - We Found Love, Rihanna

“ At first sight I felt the energy of sun rays.” - Diamonds, Rihanna

“ Baby I surrender, it all, 'cause you're a force of nature. Look at what you've done.” - Force of Nature, Bea Miller

Kylo Ren’s Evidence:

“Grey skies will chase the light away no longer.” - Angels Fall, Breaking Benjamin

“We are the orphans of the American dream, so shine your light on me.” - Satellite, Rise Against

“Will the light begin to pull me to its everlasting will? Heaven above me, take my hand, shine until there's nothing left but you.” - Ashes of Eden, Breaking Benjamin

“Now who's the light and who is the devil? You can't decide, so I'll be your guide.” - When Worlds Collide, Powerman 5000

“A smile brings forth energy or life, giving your force, vision.” - Innervision, System of a Down

“KYLO REN’S LOYALTY TO REY”

The last little theme I’d like to point out. Though it is another theme that is only prevalent in Kylo Ren’s love songs, it is a theme that is especially important given how it showcases something Rey needs: somebody to stick by her against the loneliness. Somebody who understands her, and who won’t abandon her. These love songs in Kylo Ren’s playlist display his undeniably persistent nature of never giving up on the subject of his love songs. Whether or not Reylo will be canonically reciprocated, I think it is quite obvious that Kylo Ren, at the very least, is very attached to, and loyal to Rey (or will be). The Star Wars informational pictures also suggest this switch of loyalty from Snoke to Rey, as do many of the other songs in Kylo Ren’s playlist that talk of Kylo Ren being sick of somebody’s lies and torture, and rebelling against them (as mentioned before, this is discussed more in my ‘redemption when’ tag linked previously). Anyway, here are the lyrics in Kylo Ren’s playlist that give evidence to this:

“When angels fall with broken wings, I can't give up, I can't give in. When all is lost and daylight ends, I'll carry you and we will live forever, for ever.” - Angels Fall, Breaking Benjamin (nudge: bridal carry)

“Even though I know you want me to, I'm never giving up on you.” - Never Giving Up, Of Mice and Men

“Don't think you've got to go in alone here.” - Out of Time, A Day to Remember

“To cry about love, to wait for her, to wait for dying.” - The Answer, Savages

“I can take you places, do you need a new man?” - Evil, Interpol

“I have been waiting for you to find that all of this could be yours tonight.” - All This Could Be Yours, Cold War Kids

“Are you ready to go? 'Cause I'm ready to go. What you gonna do, baby? Are you goin' with me? ‘Cause I'm goin' with you.” - When Worlds Collide, Powerman 5000

“GRAY JEDI”

As a last hurrah to the end of all these analyses of playlists I’ve listened to for hours on end, here is one of my favourite tidbits of lyrics that I find veeeeery interesting:

“It's never too late to reinvent the bicycle.” - Innervision, System of a Down

In a song that already mentions things like “force” and “innervisions” and seeking someone in particular for these things, this one line strikes me as being very much like Daenery Targaryen’s famous “I’m going to break the wheel” line. My interpretation of this line, in this song, is that it could perhaps refer to Kylo Ren seeking out Rey due to his ‘innervision’ and then both of them ‘reinventing the bicycle’ so to say: reinventing the past orders of Jedi and Sith into a balance of what we know as the Gray Jedi. Of course, this is only one small line in altogether over a hundred songs between the playlists, so it could very well just be something coincidental. I just found it to be a very interesting point I could end my analyses on. If anybody even actually read this far, I tip my hat to you because honestly I just wanted to write my thoughts down in a coherent manner so that I could solidify them for myself - but perhaps someone else might find this information as interesting as I have!

#kylo ren #reylo #ben solo #reylo meta

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Online dating isn't a game. It's literally changing humanity.

In our Love App-tually series, Mashable shines a light into the foggy world of online dating. After all, it's still cuffing season.

The swipe is about as casual a gesture as it gets.

On Tinder, Bumble and every copycat dating app, choices are made in the blink of an eye. You're not making definitive decisions about this stream full of faces; it's more a question "could this person be hot if we match, if they have something interesting to say, if they're not a creep and we're a few drinks in?"

You feel so far removed from the process of dating at this stage, let alone a relationship, that swiping is simply a game. (Indeed, the makers of the mobile medieval royalty RPG Reigns intended its simple left-right controls as a Tinder homage.) You're like Matthew Broderick at the start of the 1983 movie War Games — enamored with technology's possibilities, gleefully playing around.

And like Broderick, who discovers that "Global Thermonuclear War" isn't just a fun version of Risk, you couldn't be more wrong. With each choice, you are helping to set uncontrollable forces in motion. When you swipe, the future of the human race is quite literally at your fingertips.

Luckily, you may be accidentally saving it rather than accidentally destroying it. Mostly.

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For millennia, humans were most likely to marry and/or raise kids with (which, then as now, wasn't always the same thing) members of their own tribe. That changed a little when we started to sail and settle around the world, but ideas about religion and race and class still governed our dating decisions — in the rare cases when those decisions were fully ours to make.

In pre-World War II America, we were most likely to meet our significant others through family. In the 1950s came the rise of meeting "friends of friends," and that method stayed dominant through the rest of the century.

Even as we declared in the 1960s and 1970s that love was all that mattered, meet-cute was mostly for the movies. Nearly half of all marriages were drawn from the same old pre-vetted, limited pool, blind-date setups.

SEE ALSO: Here are the best gay dating apps, since meeting people IRL is hell

Online dating started to make a dent in the question of how we find our partners as soon as the internet arrived in the 1990s; it wasn't not just porn we're looking for. By 2000, according to surveys, 10 percent of opposite-sex couples and 20 percent of same-sex couples met via the internet, overtaking family introductions.

By 2010 — two years before the launch of Tinder — those numbers had reached around 20 percent and 70 percent respectively. "Friends of friends" setups had dropped by 20 percent in both cases, so that limited-pool and online-pool setups were about equal.

Surprise, surprise: the Tinder era has supercharged this trend. A fresh-as-of-January Stanford study looked at data in relationship surveys that goes up to 2017, and found that 29 percent of heterosexual and 65 percent of gay couples had now met online.

In 2014, Tinder was processing a billion swipes a day; that is now closer to 2 billion. Tinder says that 36 percent of all people on Facebook have created an account; that would translate to 800 million people. More total Tinder matches have been made than there are people on the planet, by a factor of 3.

It's such an addiction that Bumble's in-house sociologist, who formerly worked for Tinder, has to advise us to do no more than half an hour of swiping a day for maximum results. The rest of the world is just as addicted. The 370 million users of Badoo, the most used dating app internationally, are on the app for 90 minutes a day on average.

Smug internet marrieds

And it's not like we're just spending this time mindlessly matching and never meeting. There are an estimated one million Tinder dates every week around the world. Nor are we just dating and never getting serious; given prior trend lines, a 2015 study found that the wide adoption of internet dating had probably increased the total number of marriages by 33 percent compared to a hypothetical internet-free world.

As counterintuitive as it sounds, Tinder may well have helped save marriage as an institution, simply by bringing us more of them. Not to mention faster. Again contrary to conventional wisdom, researchers say online meeting-based marriages happen more quickly after the first date. The jury is still out on whether online-based marriages are more or less likely to end in divorce; there are studies that point in both directions. Call it a wash.

Either way, this is our new romantic landscape. At least one third of all marriages in the U.S. are now between partners who met online. That's more than 600,000 couples every year who would, in any other era, have remained total strangers.

The influence of these internet-minted couples on the dating world isn't over when they marry; it is just getting started. Internet marrieds get to play yentas. They can set up friends on dates with each other — still a thing, even in this day and age.

Who knows how far out the ripple effects go, how many people who would never dream of being on Tinder and Bumble have the course of their lives changed by swipes and matches regardless.

If you've ever noticed on your commute that a bunch of other drivers are taking the same odd Google Maps or Waze-led routes as you, creating entirely new traffic patterns, you get what we're talking about: sudden chaotic unplanned real-world results based on vast digital adoption. Listen closely to your dating app, and you might just hear the roar of a vast human tide of unbridled connection and love, a great wave that is already changing the world, and shows no sign of slowing.

Race and class

First off, there's clear evidence that online dating is creating mixed-race couples at a faster rate than our increasingly diverse society would. This topic is low-hanging fruit, research-wise, because there's a lot of data already associated with it.

Since it was officially OKed in all states by the Supreme Court in 1967, we've seen a slow but steady rise in the percentage of all new U.S. marriages that are interracial — from 3 percent to about 9 percent in 1995. Progress was slow, but it was progress.

However, separate studies in 2017 and 2018 both concluded that online dating since '95 turned that straight line of growth into a curving one. The stats are worth quoting at length (emphasis mine). The first study:

The second study adds that you're more likely to date someone from a different race if you're dating online, by a factor of about 7 percent. That doesn't seem a huge difference, but it adds up over time as online dating becomes exponentially more popular.

Bottom line: Millennials and Generation Z are doing more for society-wide racial integration than many leaders of the Civil Rights struggle in the 1960s — and even the 1990s — ever dreamed possible.

But online dating isn't all good news for those of us who want a fair and just society. Because of course, race isn't the only dividing line that developed countries like America struggle with today. There's also class.

Here the data gets impossibly murky, because people don't exactly divulge their financial status in the Vows section. But there's another proxy for class, and that's the troubling trend towards exclusive, private membership-based dating apps.

There's the League, which has 300,000 members and a 500,000-strong waitlist. There's Luxy, which boasts that half its members are worth half a million or more. But the poster child for this brave new balkanized world is Raya, the LA-based online dating service that only accepts 8 percent of applicants and is currently 10,000 strong across a dozen countries.

Some of the more desperate have been known to offer as much as $10,000 for a membership, according to this New York Times profile. No dice: to get one you're judged on factors like your Instagram following and how many people you know who are already in the club.

On Raya, the well-heeled and well-connected swipe without having to see a single face from the hoi polloi. The founder had utopian visions of a global dinner party, a "digital Davos" for dating. But as with many utopian visions of the past, this has its own unintended consequences.

If Raya is the kind of thing we all secretly aspire to be on, then the future may be one of multiple tiers. Dating apps would become the new rungs of the social ladder. And all the gains made on the interracial front would be lost as people only meet others at their same income or Instagram-follower level.

That effect could last for longer than one generation, if history is any guide. If you and your partner met on Raya, you may look askance at your kids if they want to hang out on tattered old Tinder. We're talking about dating apps creating a new aristocracy.

Which in turn means that we might want to look at apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Badoo in a new light.

By using these widest possible pools of potential dates, rather than aspiring to something more exclusive, we're keeping ourselves open to more random love connections that cut across lines of race and class and everything else that divides us. We're doing our part to keep society more open, more diverse, less stratified.

Even if we come to the popular apps with certain racial or class preferences, we can still allow ourselves to be surprised by an unusual match, to think outside our normal boxes, at least for the length of one date. We have nothing to lose but our preconceptions.

We still haven't determined the name of this vast global game we're playing, or what the final boss level will be. But let's hope it's less of a snobby, royalty-based medieval Reigns game, and more of a vast, experimental, hot melting pot. Call it Global Thermonuclear Love.