#like they're making do choices that aren't exactly choices since they planned everything

[godisasimp]

Stellarons Hunters in a nutshell

[angelicyoongie]

lovesick (XVl / finale)

— pairing: yandere ot7 x (f) reader — word count: 13.3k — warnings: yandere, obsessive behaviour, explicit sexual content unprotected sex, breast play, fingering (vaginal), VERY mild d/s, consensual punishment (spanking), consensual voyeurism (jimin watches like the freak that he is). — summary: You dreamed of the day you would get your very own soulmark. Though, you didn’t expect to wake up to a searing hurt in your arm, the phantom pain of your shoulder being dislocated and your forearm fractured. As if dealing with the worst possible soulmark ever wasn’t bad enough, you also have to come to terms with the fact that you’re being stalked. When the letters and gifts you receive begin to escalate and the police offers no help, you have no other option than to figure out who’s behind it yourself – and hopefully before it’s too late. — a/n: please read the author's note at the end of the chapter!

Previous - Masterlist

It takes six months before you finally hear the words you've been waiting so desperately for.

"Sunshine, we've been talking and we think it's time we relocate to somewhere else." 

Your fork clatters to the table, clicking loudly against your plate. You wonder for a moment if you're dreaming – if your brain has started to hallucinate scenarios to make up for how suffocated you feel in this cabin – but Jimin's hand squeezing your knee is too real to be made up.

"What?" You breathe, shocked. 

"We can't stay here for much longer, baby, the station uses the cabin sporadically throughout the summer months," Jimin says. He takes a bite of his food, shrugging as he admits, "Our stay here so far hasn't exactly been legal. I'd rather not get us all in trouble for using the place unauthorized." 

"We know how cooped up you've been here," Seokjin adds, giving you a sad smile, "We never planned on staying here this long but we had to figure some things out first. We wanted to find a place that was perfect for us, somewhere that could be our home, so we couldn't rush it." 

You drop your hands into your lap, clutching them together tightly. You hope it's enough to hide how badly they're trembling, blood pumping loudly in your ears as it dawns on you that this is your ticket out. You might not be able to escape, not in the way you attempted so many months ago at least, but it's a start. The boys wouldn't make this decision if they didn't trust you, if they didn't feel confident enough in your connection that you won't try to run away from them. 

And you won't. 

You've come to terms with your situation; that your soulmates need you to get better. 

Though you haven't had much of a choice, you have decided that you're going to stay until the bond settles, just until they stop being so obsessive and paranoid. Maybe then you'll be able to go back to the life you had before and do everything right with them this time.

The you from six months ago would've been disgusted that you're even entertaining the thought of giving them a second chance, but you know better now. Your soulmates are sick. Perhaps with time, and a lot of therapy, they will be able to understand what they've been putting you through and try to make amends for it. 

You know that the healthy thing to do would be to run away without a backward glance but you can't. Try as you might to hate it, your soul – your heart – has long since accepted them. You can't quite call it love, not with the circumstances of how those feelings came to be, but you do like them. 

"It's some hours away but it's a quaint home, just big enough for the eight of us. It's on the outskirts of– the city! So it has a big garden and a lot of picturesque trails around it," Seokjin's voice cracks as he almost lets the town name slip, Namjoon elbowing his side with a low hiss. 

"It's perfect for taking Yeontan on walks!" Taehyung pipes up with a grin, sneaking the whining pup at his feet a piece of sausage. 

You're not surprised that the boys aren't willing to share any information about the new house and place you'll be moving to. They may not be as paranoid as they were at the beginning but that still doesn't mean that they have full faith in you just yet. But you expected that. You just need to play your cards right – stay at the house until they let their guards down and then, maybe, you'll be able to slowly lay down the foundation you need to convince them to let you go back to your home. 

"That sounds lovely," You smile, glossing over Seokjin's blunder. 

Needing to act as normal as possible, you once again pick up your fork and try to resume eating your dinner. The piece of chicken you shove into your mouth doesn't taste like anything, your nerves making everything bland and tough to chew. But you push through, moving around some rice on your plate as you nonchalantly say, "But what about your jobs? Jungkook's degree? I would hate for our move to affect you like that." 

"You don't have to worry about that," Jimin squeezes your knee, "I'll be commuting with Seokjin hyung and Hoseok hyung. Namjoon hyung has been hired at the library in the city we're moving to and Jungkookie is going to finish the rest of the semester online." 

"Taehyungie and I can work a lot from home, so we're planning on doing that. We might have to go into the office now and then, but that's no problem," Yoongi supplies. He gives you a fond look as he says, "We're hoping it'll make the transition into the new house easier for you since some of us will always be home to spend time with you." 

And it'll be easier to make sure you don't do anything stupid. 

"Ah, I see, that's nice," You say. "Thank you for thinking of me." 

"Always," Namjoon grins sweetly, his dimples indenting his cheeks. 

It might not be a lot to go off, but the fact that the majority of them are planning on commuting every day must mean that the new city can be too far away from your old one, even if you don't know exactly where it is yet. An hour, maybe a little more, if they're being extra careful. You can work with that.

Hoseok catches your gaze from across the table, his expression earnest as he says, "We want you to be able to have a normal life, Y/n. With us."

"I know our methods have been a bit..." He trails off with a small grimace, no doubt thinking about what transpired in his shop and everything that followed. You can't exactly say that Hoseok looks remorseful, none of them do, but there is a touch of shame in their faces that hasn't been present before.

"I won't apologize for what happened because that's what led us here and gave us the chance to grow closer like we were supposed to all along. But, we want to do better by you and we're going to do our best to make sure that happens." 

The others voice out their agreement, nodding along to Hoseok's words. 

You shove a mouthful of rice into your mouth to dampen your sigh.

You're not even sure why you feel disappointed by the fact that the boys refuse to apologize for what they did to you, you already know they don't feel bad about it. Still, perhaps the part of you that likes them was hoping for it nonetheless. Maybe it would be easier for you to accept everything that has happened if they did – if they admitted that they had hurt you and wanted to repent for it. But, you're probably going to have to wait a very long time before that day ever comes – if, it ever comes.

Swallowing your food, you try to shake off any useless thoughts. You need to focus on the future, on the fact that you'll be regaining a sliver of freedom soon. 

You move one hand under the table, covering Jimin's hand with yours. 

Squeezing it, you hope you don't sound too eager as you ask, "So, when do we leave?" 

Two weeks. 

You figured the move would happen soon, but not that quickly. The boys must have planned this for a long time, far longer than they let on, because there's no way they could have closed on a house this fast. 

The day after they told you of their plans, Namjoon had already begun moving some of his books out of the cabin. Truthfully there wasn't much any of you needed to pack up, only a few random personal belongings and decor elements that had been placed here and there to make your stay a little more cozy. In the end, it all fit into three boxes placed neatly by the door.

A few days before the move, the boys spent an hour rearranging the furniture back to how it was when you had first arrived, erasing any trace of the last six months with it. It was as if no one had ever been there in the first place, as if it hadn't served as a prison for half a year.

When you first arrived you wondered if you would ever be able to leave, and now, you're about to do just that. 

"Y/n."

You turn around as Yoongi calls your name, watching as he steps closer with a piece of fabric between his hands. Yoongi unfolds it under your gaze, revealing it to be a black opaque scarf. 

"We're all ready to go, love, but you have to cover your eyes with this," Yoongi frowns apologetically. "We want to trust you, but for everyone's peace of mind, this is the best thing to do. It's just until we arrive at the house." 

You eye the scarf for a moment, flashing Yoongi a weak smile as you say, "It's okay, I understand." 

He steps closer, bringing the fabric up to your face. The material is soft, and cool, as it covers your eyes, blocking out any semblance of light. The scarf is wide enough that it covers everything from your eyebrows to the tip of your nose, removing any chance you might have had to tilt your head to peek at the outside world. You should've figured they would've been prepared for that possibility. 

Yoongi's hands are careful as he ties the scarf behind your head, making sure he doesn't tangle or tug at your hair in the process. You can feel his breath against your cheek as he binds it securely, double knotting it to make sure it's not going to come undone. 

"All done," Yoongi announces softly, curving one hand along the back of your neck. He tilts your head up slightly, just enough for his lips to brush against yours. Your eyes fall shut despite the darkness already hindering your vision, leaning forward to catch his lips in a proper kiss. 

Yoongi indulges you for a few seconds before he steps back, removing his hands. 

"Come back," You pout, your fingers searching blindly for his coat. 

"We're going to be late, love, the others are waiting for us," You can hear the smile in Yoongi's voice as he grabs your hand, intertwining his fingers with yours. 

As if summoned, the cabin door flies open, Jungkook's voice echoing slightly in the near-empty cabin as he asks, "Are you coming, hyung? Y/n? We're all ready to go." 

You let Yoongi lead you forward, your steps a little unsteady despite his promise that nothing is in your way. Jungkook grabs your other hand as you near the door, chattering excitedly about how he brought some of your favourite snacks for the trip as they both help you down the stairs. 

Your heart jumps, picking up speed, as you hear the steady thrum of a car motor running. You can't believe this is actually real – you're truly leaving this place for good. You know that Taehyung, Jimin, and Namjoon have already left, the boys eager to get everything in order at the new house before your arrival. 

You're maneuvered into the car without too much trouble, Hoseok clicking your seatbelt into place as you're placed between him and Jungkook in the backseat. You find a bag of sweets dumped into your lap the moment you're situated, Hoseok chiding Jungkook lightly for startling you. Yoongi has taken his place in the front seat, groaning loudly as Seokjin declares that as the driver; he's going to be responsible for the music and that no one is allowed to complain about his choices. 

You lean back in your seat, getting yourself comfortable between Jungkook and Hoseok. Their bodies being flushed with yours in the cramped car feels grounding, the feel of their strong thighs pressed against yours being something you can easily divert your focus to with your sight momentarily blocked. Seokjin and Yoongi bicker as the car begins to pull away from the cabin, the gravel road crunching loudly under the wheels. 

Finally.

Knowing there's no chance of you catching a glimpse of the surroundings on the way there, not with the blindfold so securely wrapped around your head, you slump to the side, resting your head on Hoseok's shoulder. Slender fingers wrap around yours as Hoseok takes your hand into his lap, his thumb moving soothingly across your knuckles. You close your eyes, allowing yourself to zone out and daydream about all of the possibilities ahead of you. It's not like the boys are going to magically become more trusting the moment you arrive at the new house but the move will open new doors for you – give you more opportunities to show them that they can lower their guards and trust the bond without any consequences.

They don't have to worry about you running away anymore.

The boys seem content to let you rest on the drive over to the new house, filling the silence between songs with jokes and lighthearted bickering. You easily accept the pieces of candy that are pressed to your lips at steady intervals, smiling at Jungkook and Hoseok's pleased words whenever you accept their offers. Before you know it, the car begins to slow down and you hear Seokjin exclaim, "Ah, there it is!" 

The door on Hoseok's side is opened the moment the car stops, Taehyung whining loudly about how long it took you to get there. You follow their lead out of the car and inside the new house, placing one foot blindly in front of the other. 

"We'll show you the outside later, babe," Taehyung promises as he steers you forward with both hands securely placed on your shoulders, "We just want to see your reaction to the inside of the house first." 

Namjoon helps you slip off your shoes as you step into the house, the smell of a freshly cleaned floor hitting your nose. Taehyung urges you to walk forward a bit more before he stops you, his hands moving from your shoulders to untie the knots behind your head. 

"We hope you'll like your new home, darling," Namjoon says, revealing a hint of nervousness in his tone. 

You're practically bursting with anticipation as Taehyung undos the first knot, the wooden floorboards under your feet giving you the impression that this is likely an older, more traditional, house. You blink as the blindfold finally falls away, the sudden burst of light stinging your eyes.

Your lips part in surprise as your vision adjusts, taking in the space in front of you. 

You're standing in the middle of a large entryway, the area opening up into a big combined living and dining room. One wall is practically filled with windows, letting lots of beautiful sunlight stream in and warm up the space. You notice a massive couch on one side of the room, the size of it definitely big enough to comfortably seat eight people at once. It's facing the built-in fireplace in the wall in front of it, a big TV hung above it. The dining room portion has a lovely intricate hardwood table with eight matching chairs pushed up against it.

You notice that one of the smaller walls has a bookcase spanning the entire width of it, already half-full with what you can only assume to be Namjoon's books. You do recognize little trinkets here and there that the boys kept at the cabin, and even a few larger plants you eyed when you visited Seokjin's shop way back then. 

"I love it," You gasp, stunned at how well they've designed the living room. 

It does feel cozy – home-y, even. 

"I told you the couch was the right choice!" Taehyung walks into the room, grinning smugly at Jimin. 

Jimin rolls his eyes, "It would've looked too out of place if it wasn't for the rug that I found to go along with it." 

"There they go again," Hoseok sighs behind your back. He nudges your shoulder gently, voice low as he says, "They're going to keep doing that for a while. Why don't we go look at the kitchen in the meantime?" 

"Please," You nod, excited to see if the rest of the house looks as good as the living room. You follow Hoseok's lead back to the entry and through the open door on the left, the rest of the boys trailing behind you. 

"The kitchen needed an upgrade so we let Seokjin hyung and Yoongi hyung design it since they do the majority of the cooking," Hoseok scratches his neck, a little sheepish as he pauses next to the large island in the room.

The kitchen is sleek and modern, definitely newer than what you've seen of the house so far, but not out of place by any means. It just feels inviting and bright, like a breath of fresh air. Maybe cooking won't be so bad if you can do it in a kitchen like this. 

"It looks great," You comment, walking around the island to marvel at some of the fancier appliances that are out on display on the counters.

"Thank you, angel," Seokjin preens. He shares a pleased look with Yoongi over your compliment, the younger man's cheeks flushed from the praise.

You catch sight of the pretty, colourful garden outside as you walk past the sink. Looking outside the window above it, you find that spring is already in full bloom here. While you had noticed a few more wildflowers around the cabin a few days before you left, it's nothing compared to the abundance of flowers and shrubs that are blossoming here. 

The view makes you smile. You know your stay here isn't permanent but it does make your heart flutter to know that you're going to be spending your foreseeable future here – in a lovely house with a pretty garden – and not an old cabin in a dark forest. The boys did well by picking this house, it's the type of place you actually would like to live in. 

"Y/n, let's go have a look at the downstairs bathroom and study before we move upstairs," Seokjin says, gesturing to the hallway.

You can still hear Taehyung and Jimin's heated discussion as you cross over the entry to look at the rooms on the opposite side of the house, the french double doors leading to the study winning you over immediately. Both rooms look like they've gotten a recent refresh, the new paint and tiles the boys picked out for the bathroom nicely complementing the old features of the home. The house is the perfect blend of rustic and modern.

Jungkook grabs your hand as you turn to follow Yoongi up to the second floor, excitedly dragging you up the stairs ahead of the others. He quickly explains that the second-floor houses all three bedrooms and an additional two ensuite bathrooms. Jungkook eagerly tells you about the choices they made for the bedrooms, from the color of the wall to the bedside tables to even the small light near the window that projects stars on the ceiling when it's dark out. 

Yoongi takes special care to point out the wainscoting he put up in the second bedroom and he flashes you a gummy smile as you praise him for the work he's done. You drag your fingers over the soft duvet on the seemingly king-sized bed in the room, a lightbulb going off in your head as you remember that there are only three bedrooms. 

"Wait, if there's only three beds, what are the sleeping arrangements going to be like?" 

Hoseok speaks up from where he's leaning against the wall, "We're all going to share, sunshine. Some of us will have to stay overnight in the city due to our jobs every so often so that should clear up some space, but aside from that, we'll be sharing beds." 

The surprise must be evident on your face, because Namjoon grimaces and quickly supplies, "We know we've been neglecting each other as soulmates. We don't feel the bond in the same way as we do with you but we are connected regardless. This... well, this is our attempt at strengthening that connection. We're trying to accept that the bond goes eight ways – not just one." 

You find yourself speechless at what you've just heard. You knew that the bond was slowly mellowing them out but you never thought that it would start affecting the connection between them as well. If that part of the soulbond starts to heal then... You might be able to get back to your normal life sooner than you first dared to hope for. 

"We still have one more room to look at, love," Yoongi touches your hip, nudging you towards the door. None of the boys seem to expect a response to what Namjoon just told you, understanding that the news has left you a little dumbfounded. 

Taehyung and Jimin must have resolved their bickering during your tour, the two of them waiting by the door to the final room, giggling at something on Taehyung's phone. The hot and cold behaviour the boys have towards each other does give you a whiplash most days but you suppose that too might become less frequent as the bond between them finally gets the nurture it's been needing for years. 

"We didn't want to complete this house without you," Yoongi explains as he pushes open the door. The last bedroom is noticeably less finished than the rest of the house, the walls a tired white and the furniture non-existent aside from another king bed. "This is your home just as much as it's ours, so we'd really like it if you want to help us design the final bedroom." 

"I'd love that," You grin, eager for a project you can occupy some of your time with. 

"We'll be collecting your things soon, babe," Jimin adds, "Your lease is up on your apartment and you don't need it anymore, so we'll take turns packing up everything and bringing it over next weekend." 

You stare at the blank wall, heart sinking in your chest. Somehow, you had forgotten about your lease. A burst of anger you haven't felt in a while bubbles up under your skin, the urge to scream and curse at them taking over your body. But what good will it do? 

In their eyes, this is your new home. The need for your apartment is now obsolete. 

You breathe slowly through your nose, quelling the flames before they can burn too hot. You may lose your apartment, your home, for now, but that doesn't mean you can't make a new home somewhere else later. You'll be fine. You're sure Heejun and Jaemin will gladly let you crash on their couch until you figure something out. For now, you just have to accept the situation for what it is and play along. 

You have missed your things, so it'll be nice to be able to make this house your own for however long you'll need it. 

"Great, thank you," You grit. 

For once, Jimin seems oblivious to your snark. He throws an arm around your shoulders, bumping his forehead against yours as he grins and says, "C'mon babe, let's go have a look at the garden. I think you're going to love it." 

You throw a glance towards the window, plastering on a convincing smile as you say, "I'd like nothing more, Jiminie." 

Time passes quickly in the new house once you begin to settle in.

The unfinished bedroom gets decorated to your liking, the walls repainted and the newly hung shelves display most of the little knick-knacks from your old apartment. As spring begins to bleed into summer, you take on the task of getting the already stunning garden ready for the warmer weather. You often find yourself outside with Jungkook or Yoongi, weeding around the plants or mowing the grass to make sure Yeontan has a nice, safe space to run around in. The pup loves to dig up anything that has been freshly planted, so someone must always watch him like a hawk whenever the soil has been recently turned. You've already lost a bed of beautiful purple hyacinths once and you don't want to make that mistake again (even if the picture of Yeontan napping in a pile of flowers was a little cute). 

Truly, it's all too easy to fall into a new routine and it doesn't take long before you know the boys' schedules by heart. Jimin, Seokjin, and Hoseok are away the most since the nature of their jobs doesn't allow them to work from home. Seokjin and Hoseok have hired more helpers to be able to spend the full weekend at home, in addition to a day or two here and there when they work on the administrative side of their businesses. Jimin, however, doesn't have that option. He often spends three days at the time in the city, his shifts too long and tiring for him to be able to make the drive back and forth every day.

You miss him whenever he's away and it's becoming quite obvious that the others do too. Jungkook and Taehyung in particular often mope around the house when Jimin is working his shifts, lamenting about how unfair it is that he has to stay there for days all by himself. Even if you're a little surprised at how quickly the bond has grown between the boys, you do admittedly find it awfully sweet to see them puppy-piling whoever has been gone for a day or more whenever they return to the house. Though, you always grow a little wary when Jimin comes back, as the days apart usually leave him a little more hungry for mischief than usual. 

You can already tell that Jimin is up to something the moment he steps into the house, his eyes sparkling with interest despite his tired complexion. Your suspicion wavers slightly during dinner with Hoseok and Seokjin, as Jimin keeps yawning between bites and resting his head heavily against your arm the moment he's done eating. He stays glued to your back as you all shuffle into the living room after, hugging you tight to his chest as he settles down on the couch. He only hums in agreement when Seokjin proposes a few rounds of Mario Kart, letting out a tired sigh as he hooks his chin over your shoulder to watch them. 

Jimin has one hand tucked under your sweatshirt, petting over the bare skin on your waist while he nuzzles his face against your neck. The gestures are innocent and sleepy, and you find your guard lowering with every round Hoseok and Seokjin play.

You snort as Hoseok gets hit with a blue shell just as he's about to cross the finish line, Seokjin letting out a whop as he races past him. 

"You're such a cheater!" Hoseok huffs, glaring at the teasing dance Seokjin does to celebrate his fifth win in a row. 

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Hobi, but you're just not as good as I am," Seokjin grins. "I never lose once I set my mind to something, you know that." 

"You're too full of yourself, hyung," Hoseok shakes his head as he gives Seokjin's shoulder a light shove. 

"And you're a sore loser," Seokjin quips, laughing as he gets pushed to the ground. He swats Hoseok's hands away as he tries to wrestle with him, his squeaky laughter filling the room as Hoseok grumbles out his protests. 

The hand on your waist suddenly stills just as Seokjin's laughter lulls. The mischief is back in Jimin's voice as it brushes against your neck, his tone taunting as he says, "Maybe it's time you brought Seokjin hyung down a peg, huh, Hoseok hyung?" 

You hold your breath as Hoseok and Seokjin both freeze, their heads slowly turning to face the couch. 

"What are you talking about, Jimin?" Seokjin, never one to entertain Jimin's antics for too long, purses his lips as he stares him down. 

"You do win almost every game we play, hyung, that's true, but you've also played more video games than all of us combined. Maybe if you and Hoseok hyung played a game that was more.. level to your experiences, it would be more fair?" Jimin proposes.

"What kind of game are we talking about here?" Hoseok asks. You can tell his curiosity is winning out over his usual disdain for Jimin's 'games', his eyes tracking Jimin as the younger brings one hand up to your jaw, turning your head to the side. 

You let out a stuttered breath as you meet Jimin's hungry gaze, his glossy lips twisting into a smirk as he looks you dead in the eyes and says, "How about a competition to see who can fuck our baby better?" 

You hear Seokjin sputter on the floor as Hoseok lets out a pained groan.

"Hyung! You almost kneed me in the balls! Are you seriously still trying to cheat?" 

"I'm not– I'm surprised!" Seokjin retorts with a squeak, "I didn't think that little devil would joke around with something like that!"

"I'm not joking though," Jimin hums as he strokes his thumb along your jaw. "Wouldn't it be interesting to see who would win – who Y/n would crown the best?" 

Jimin's gaze leaves yours for a second as it glides down to his hyungs on the floor, the corner of his mouth quirking into a mocking smile as he says, "Or maybe you're just too scared to find out who she prefers? I guess it might be better for you to give up now Hobi hyung, if you're not confident that you can beat Seokjin hyung."

Your lips part in surprise as you realize that Jimin is serious about his proposal, that he's trying to goad them into competing. It's a low blow and an obvious one too, but you don't think Hoseok and Seokjin care – not when Jimin is openly questioning their ability to pleasure you. 

Seeing Hoseok's brows furrow in thought, Jimin returns his attention to you. He leans forward to slot your mouths together, taking advantage of the access you've given him as he pulls you into a deep kiss. His tongue dips past your lips right away, curling around your own as he holds you still. You can't help the moan that tumbles out as Jimin ravages your mouth, the sounds wet and filthy as he kisses you passionately.

You slump into Jimin's arms, letting him take full control of the kiss. It's only when you start to turn lightheaded that you turn your head away, gasping for air as Jimin moves his mouth to your jaw. You glance with hooded eyes down at the floor as you attempt to catch your breath, your stomach doing a flip as you notice how affected Hoseok and Seokjin seem. They're both turned on by the little show Jimin put on for them, their bulges prominent and straining against their pants.

The tension in the room is palpable. Seokjin and Hoseok look like they're teetering on the edge between hesitance and hunger – both wanting what Jimin is proposing, but still holding themselves back from accepting it. 

You know Jimin can sense it by the way he makes you moan as he sucks your skin between his teeth, leaving his mark on your delicate throat. He lets out a low chuckle at the sharp intake of breath he hears from Seokjin. 

"If the two of you aren't going to pleasure Y/n then you better say your goodnights now. I'll make sure to fuck her twice as good as either of you ever could. Hmm.. Do you think she'll even remember your names once I'm done?" He purrs against your neck, kissing his way back up to your lips. 

"What do you think, baby? Should the two of us go upstairs, or do you want to see what the hyungs can do to you?" 

While you don't particularly agree with Jimin's methods, you can't deny the fact that you have been curious about when Seokjin and Hoseok were going to get intimate with you. You've had countless make-out sessions with each of them, heavy petting involved, but it's never gone beyond that. The boys have been giving you some space to settle in properly and get your bearings in the new house but you've reached the point where you're honestly a little desperate to be touched. You want them to fuck you. And for all of Jimin's schemes, even you can agree that this one sounds fun – hot, even. 

"I–" You shudder at the way Jimin presses his thumb against the bruise he left, eyes fluttering closed as you shyly admit, "I wouldn't m-mind, but I don't want to pressure them–" 

"Fuck," Hoseok curses, pushing himself to his feet, "Whatever, I'm in."

He sends a sharp look down at Seokjin, "You better not chicken out." 

"Yeah, hyung," Jimin chimes in, "Are you forfeiting your chance to finally fuck Y/n? Who knows when you'll be able to do it later when she has five other soulmates who already know her body so well."

Seokjin's jaw is clenched so tight it looks like it's going to break, his expression stormy as his eyes jump from person to person. His gaze lingers on you for longer, drinks in how affected you look after just a little kissing, how eager you seem to finally have your final two soulmates at your mercy. Even if he imagined your first time together to be a little more romantic and with a lot less Jimin, Seokjin can't deny that it's exciting to be able to prove himself as the best lover out of the group. 

"I'm not forfeiting anything," Seokjin huffs, standing up to join Hoseok. "I'll win this fair and square. Just don't be too sad when Angel picks me as the best lover, yeah?" 

Hoseok doesn't deign Seokjin with an answer, his sights already set on you. He brushes past his hyung with long strides, scooping you out of Jimin's arms and into his own. Hoseok rounds the coffee table to place you down on the other side, creating some space between you and the others, drawing a line he doesn't want anyone to cross.

You lean back against the table as he squats down in front of you, watching him with wide eyes as he reaches out to trace your bottom lip with one of his fingers. 

"Sunshine, don't you think you're being too much of a tease?"

Hoseok's gaze hardens as you inadvertently swipe your tongue along the line he just traced, your lip tingling from his touch. You feel the back of your neck flush as you realize what you just did, feeling bashful as you drop your gaze down to the floor.

The denial sits on the tip of your tongue, but you can't make yourself utter the words. Jimin is the one who was teasing them, firing them up, but you didn't exactly stop him either, did you? You're not ashamed to admit that you've been wanting Hoseok and Seokjin for a while now, and Jimin has practically served them up on a silver platter for you. 

"I–" You swallow thickly as you glance up and meet Hoseok's dark gaze, "I'm sorry?" 

Hoseok's mouth quirks, "I don't think you are, Y/n." 

Heat pools low in your stomach at Hoseok's astute observation, your thighs clenching helplessly under his sharp gaze.

"You deserve a little punishment for that, sunshine, don't you agree?" He hums.

The last time you were 'punished' was humiliating and not something you had agreed to at all. But this time, you're given the option to deny him, to walk away if you so wish. Despite everything they've done, you know they don't want to force you to do something you don't want to do. 

Truthfully, it does make you a little nervous to give Hoseok full control, but the soulbond will never settle until you show him that you're willing to put your full trust in him. 

"Yes," You weakly agree, embarrassed, knowing that he's looking for a verbal answer.

Hoseok gives a pleased smile at your compliance, his fiery exterior cracking momentarily until he reins himself back in. 

"Good. Get on your hands and knees, Y/n, you're allowed to use the table for support if you need it." 

The flush on the back of your neck spreads up to your face as you do as you're told. You turn around, crawling forward on your hands and knees until you're upper body is resting on the coffee table, the position naturally pushing your bottom out. You suck your lip between your teeth as you look ahead to find Jimin cupping himself above his pants, his smile wicked. Seokjin has made his way onto the same couch, his usually sweet face all stoic and difficult to read as he watches you and Hoseok. His hands are digging into his jeans, resisting the urge to touch himself and follow in Jimin's footsteps. 

You lower your head as Hoseok positions himself behind you, his hands landing on the swell of your ass. He places a hand on each cheek, letting out a low groan as he kneads the flesh. 

"I think ten should do it for your punishment this time, sunshine," Hoseok says, warming up the area by alternating between squeezing and rubbing his palms in circles over your cheeks. 

"Okay," You say, your belly swooping with nervous anticipation. 

"Hoseok," Seokjin hisses, a warning that gets shushed by Jimin.

For a moment, too wrapped up in Hoseok's dominating aura, you had forgotten that they would all feel your punishment. Just like they did back then in the cabin.

Before you can change your mind though, Jimin adds a decisive, "If our baby can handle it, then you can handle it too, hyung." 

Seokjin sighs, clearly not willing to put up the fight. "Fine." 

Both of Hoseok's hands fall away at that, leaving you exposed to receive your punishment. Hoseok's shirt rustles as he raises his hand and it's the only warning you get before his palm lands heavy on your ass, the impact knocking your breath out of your lungs. The next six spanks come in quick succession, each harder than the last. It's only a small mercy that your skin is still covered, the sting still intense despite the slight padding between you and Hoseok's palm. The noises you've been trying so hard to suppress tumble out at the seventh blow, a strangled gasp passing through your lips as he makes contact.

"Good girl," Hoseok praises, pausing his hits to allow you a moment to regain your breath. He tuts as you try to pull away from the fingers stroking over your smarting cheeks. "Don't make me add more, Y/n. Take the rest of your punishment properly and I promise I'll reward you." 

You take a few deep breaths, nodding to let Hoseok know that you'll behave. 

The final three slaps are so forceful you're sure you're going to bruise, your body jolting forward over the table as the smacks rain down on your ass. You cry out at the last one, the sound caught between a moan and a whimper as your heart pounds in your chest. 

"Fuck, that's hot," Jimin curses, palming himself harder. "Stings like a bitch, though," He whines under his breath.

Hoseok goes back to massaging your cheeks, soothing the hurt down to a more manageable level. His fingers drift up to the waistband of your sweats, hooking into the fabric before he pauses and asks, "Are you ready for your reward now, sunshine?" 

"Please," You whimper. 

You lift your knees to help Hoseok pull your sweats and underwear off all in one go, legs shaking as you barely manage to raise yourself enough from the table to remove your shirt after.

"Look at you," Hoseok murmurs, gliding his fingers all over your exposed skin. He follows the curve of your spine, only stopping briefly to thumb across your burning cheeks before he drags his hands down your calves. Your breath hitches as he suddenly spreads your legs.

You're mortified to discover that Hoseok's punishment has made you wet, dripping, without you noticing it, your cunt clenching helplessly under Hoseok's burning gaze. "So pretty." 

You gasp as Hoseok drags a finger through your slit, rubbing and spreading the wetness all over your cunt. He stills near your entrance, teasing you by barely dipping his finger in before he slides it back up to your clit. The slow rubs around your nub cause your thighs to shake, your senses overwhelmed as he repeats the motion over and over. 

"Hoseok, please," You whimper, pushing your hips against his finger as he teasingly tries to dip it in again, the movement swallowing him up to the second knuckle. 

"Are you being impatient, Y/n?"

Hoseok pushes his finger deeper, feeling along your walls before he pulls out to add another one, the slide in easy with how turned on you are. It feels good to finally have something filling you up, your cunt clenching desperately around his digits whenever he goes to pull out. 

"I'll let it slide just this once, sunshine. It seems your cunt is hungry for something more." 

The next thrust of his fingers is harder, slightly curled, and you let out a loud moan as he bumps directly against your sweet spot. Two fingers turn to three, stretching your walls out in preparation for Hoseok's cock. You keep mindlessly moving your hips back, meeting every thrust of his fingers in hopes that you'll take him deeper, feel fuller. The knot in your belly keeps growing tighter and tighter, desperate for that final burst of pleasure to tip you over the scale.  

"Wait–" You gasp, throwing a look over your shoulder as Hoseok removes his fingers, your cunt empty and aching with nothing in it. 

"Don't worry," Hoseok presses himself flush with your back, his lips ghosting over your ear as he says, "I'm giving you what you want. Your sweet little pussy just needs a hard cock to fuck it good, hmm?" 

He rolls his hips against yours, the hardness in his jeans unmistakable. You let out a low keen, breathless as you admit, "Yes, yes, I need it." 

"You'll get it, sunshine," Hoseok presses open-mouthed kisses to your shoulders as he works his pants down his hips, his hard cock springing up against his stomach as he frees it from his boxers. Hoseok groans as he wraps one hand around himself, thumbing at his slit to spread the pre-come with a few quick pumps up and down his length. 

You both let out a moan as Hoseok rubs the head of his cock through your folds, making it even wetter. He positions himself at your opening, one hand gripping your waist as he pushes inside. Your walls open easily, practically sucking in half of his cock in one go. With how relaxed and eager you are, it only takes one firm thrust from Hoseok to bury the rest of him inside of you. 

"Oh gods," You groan, your fingers scrambling over the waxed tabletop for support as you desperately clamp down around his cock. 

"Are you ready, Y/n?" Hoseok places both hands on your waist, holding you still. He draws his hips back, leaving only the tip of his cock inside your cunt, teasing. You feel him twitch as you clench around him, his usually composed voice wavering just the slightest as he says, "I'll give you everything you need, you just have to ask." 

Your pride is already long gone, vanished into thin air at the first touch of Hoseok's skilled fingers. You're not above begging, not if it'll finally sate the arousal licking up the inside of your stomach. 

"Please fuck me, Hobi," You whine. 

The grip on your waist tightens, Hoseok's fingers digging into your flesh as he finally gets to hear the words he's only been dreaming about for so long. His eyes are dark are he stares down at your body, as he memorizes the way your cunt clings to his cock, aching to be filled. Not even the loud groan coming from the couch is enough to tear his gaze away, not when he has such a perfect vision right in front of him. 

"As you wish, my sunshine."

You have no way of preparing yourself for the way Hoseok snaps his hips forward, slamming into your cunt so hard it makes your back arch. Your arms give out under the brutal pace he sets, your hands fruitlessly gliding across the table for something to hold on to as he punches his cock in with every deep thrust. It's only the tight grip Hoseok has on your hips that keeps you from sliding across the surface.

Your head feels like it's filled with static, no thoughts forming beyond more, please, more, as Hoseok moves in and out of you. The harsh noise of Hoseok's skin slapping against yours causes another gush of arousal to wet your cunt, making it sound absolutely sloppy as he delivers another hard thrust, your slick squelching around his cock. 

"Fuck– Fucking hell, Y/n," Hoseok growls, the sound spurring him on as he lowers his thighs to snap his hips even faster, "Are you that desperate for cock, baby?" 

Your next moan is torn from your throat as the new angle causes Hoseok's cock to bump straight into your sweet spot, the unrelenting hammering of his length making you see stars. You can't even close your mouth properly to stop the drool that slides past your lips, your whole body numb with pleasure. 

Hoseok grunts as your walls flutter around him, his gaze flickering from the dazed expression on your face to the couch. He smirks as he sees Jimin with his hand around his cock, the younger's half-lidded eyes watching your fucked out expression intently as he strokes his length. Seokjin has finally caved too, palming himself slowly over his underwear, jeans discharged to the side. 

Hoseok grins as he meets Seokjin's narrowed eyes, his thrusts slowing down in favor of grinding his hips in deep, slow circles. One of his hands slides from your waist to your hair, grabbing a fistful of it to pull your head up. It leaves you staring straight at Seokjin and Jimin, moans and whimpers falling freely from your parted mouth as Hoseok pushes you closer and closer to the edge. 

Hoseok pats your side, voice a little mean as he says, "Did you already forget about our competition, Y/n? I need you to look at hyung while I fuck you and let him know that he won't be able to get the same pretty sounds out of you as I am." 

"Can you do that, sunshine?"

You shudder as he tugs on your hair, the faint sting traveling straight down to your cunt. 

"Y-yes," You gasp, getting your hands under your just enough to raise your head on your own, holding the position Hoseok has left you in. 

His fingers drift back down to your waist, ghosting over the skin there before he slips between your legs, grazing over your clit. The contact makes you jolt, and you both moan as it drives his cock deeper into your cunt.

"That's right, it's time for your reward, baby." 

He starts rubbing circles against your clit as his thrusts once again turn sharper, quicker. You have to fight to keep your eyes open, to keep holding Seokjin's burning gaze as you're pounded into the table. Being watched so openly, so attentively, only turns you on more. Your whole body is shaking, muscles pulled tight, as the wave of pleasure in your belly begins to crest. You know there's no way you can hold back, not with how determined Hoseok is to make you explode. You're bringing Hoseok there right along with you though, your cunt clenching so sweetly around his cock that he knows he's not going to last very long. 

It's a particularly deep thrust combined with Hoseok rolling your clit between his fingers that finally sends you over the edge. You cry out as you reach your climax, trembling as your release washes over you. Hoseok groans as your walls clamp down around him with a vice grip, his hips glued to yours as he grinds once, twice, before stiffening as his orgasm hits. You moan weakly as you feel his come spurt into your cunt, flooding it with warmth. 

You're not quite sure when your eyes slipped shut, but when you open them, you find Seokjin practically looming over you from the couch, jaw clenched. He must've pulled his cock out at some point, the length flushed red from the slow, unsatisfying drag of his fingers. You whimper as Hoseok presses a tender kiss to the back of your neck, Seokjin darkly watching the action like he's one second away from throwing Hoseok to the side to take his place. 

"You're amazing, Y/n," Hoseok says, massaging your sides as he slowly shuffles back and slips out of you. 

You let your head drop to the table, breathing hard as you try to catch your breath. Hoseok keeps rubbing your back until your limbs stop shaking and you feel a little more like yourself.

"Angel," Seokjin calls from the couch, "Are you sure you want to keep going? We can stop if you're tired." 

You push yourself up on your elbows, biting your lip as you take in the sight of Seokjin's hand wrapped around his hard cock, squeezing the base to keep his release from building without you. It twitches under your attention, another pearl of pre-come dripping out of the tip to slick up his length even more, coating his flushed skin. 

"I'm sure," You nod, glancing up at him through your lashes as you say, "Need you." 

"Fuck, alright," Seokjin curses, gripping his cock even tighter. "Come here then, angel, and you'll get what you want." 

The simmering heat in your belly roars back to life at Seokjin's words. You carefully push yourself up until you're standing on your feet, Hoseok's hands curled around your arms for support. You can feel Hoseok's come shift in your belly as take a step forward, whining as a bit drips out of your cunt and trails down to your thigh. 

Hoseok tsks. "You better keep all of that inside, sunshine. Don't waste another drop." 

You clench your walls tight, stumbling awkwardly over to the couch as you try to heed Hoseok's warning. Seokjin has already rid himself of his clothes by the time you reach him, his strong hands pulling you into his lap, making you straddle him. 

"Hi, angel," Seokjin smiles, cupping your face to run his thumb across your cheek. He winds the other around your middle, holding you close to his chest.

You practically melt into Seokjin's gentle embrace, nuzzling into his warm hand, "Hi yourself." 

Seokjin pulls you down to connect your lips with his, the softness of the first few pecks quickly turning more heated as he slips his tongue into your mouth. You bring your hands behind his neck, gliding your fingers through the soft hair there to tug him closer. The way Seokjin kisses you, hungry yet tender at the same time, leaves your head spinning. He swallows up the moan you let out, tongue twirling around yours as he uses his grip on your waist to grind you against his cock. 

You gasp at the first contact, at the feel of his hard cock slipping through your folds, bumping against your clit. You clench helplessly as Hoseok's come begins to leak out of your hole, your walls too stretched to hold it in. The spread of your legs makes it even harder, and the grind of Seokjin's length just arouses you more, making your cunt flutter with the need of being full again. You scrape your teeth along Seokjin's plush lips, whining as you say, "I-I can't–" 

His mouth pauses against yours as he feels something wet drip onto his thigh, understanding dawning on him as he feels your skin heat up with embarrassment. Seokjin removes his hand from your cheek in favor of bringing it down to your dripping cunt, scooping up the come clinging to your cunt before he fingers it back into you. 

"So messy," He murmurs, mouthing along your jaw as he adds another finger, pumping them slowly back and forth, pushing all of it deeper inside your pussy. The wet sucking sound of your cunt eagerly accepting it all back in makes you moan, eyes slipping shut as you hide your face in Seokjin's neck. 

He lets out a low chuckle at your shyness, removing his fingers to replace them with his cock. You mewl into Seokjin's neck as he guides his cock into you steadily, the hand on your waist slowly bringing you down until you're fully seated on his length. You can feel it throbbing deep in your guts, your breaths shaky as you adjust to him. 

"Gods, you feel so good," Seokjin moans as your wet, warm walls welcome him in, your and Hoseok's release slicking his cock. He moves both of his hands to your hips, gently rubbing the red marks Hoseok left there. 

You lightly raise yourself up before you sink back down, getting yourself used to the position and Seokjin's cock. You move your hands to his shoulders, setting a slow pace that gradually picks up as Seokjin's hands begin to roam. Your hips stutter as he reaches up to cup one of your breasts, flicking your nipple teasingly before he rolls it between his fingers, tugging on it in a way that makes your cunt vibrate with pleasure. He moans at the response he gets, his dark eyes drinking you in.

"Love your breasts," Seokjin groans, leaning forward to take it into his mouth, "You shouldn't keep them covered up, angel."  

"Seokjin, fuck," You dig your nails into his back as he closes his lips around your nipple, sucking it into his mouth as he swirls his tongue around the sensitive nub. Your next drop down on Seokjin's cock is a little harsher than before, a choked moan leaving you as your pleasure once again begins to build. Seokjin gives your other breast the same treatment, steadily rocking his hips up to meet yours as you ride him. 

He gives your nipple another swipe of his tongue before he kisses his way back up to your neck, biting down in a way you know is going to bruise. He wets the skin to soothe it, repeating the motion all over your throat as you reward him with pretty, breathy whimpers. You eventually grow restless and duck down to capture his mouth, the kisses filthy and messy as you keep rolling your hips. 

"Pretty," Seokjin moans between kisses, "You're so pretty, Y/n. Absolutely amazing." 

It's only when your thighs start shaking, burning with tiredness, that Seokjin takes over. His large hands grasp your ass, keeping a tight grip on your cheeks as he raises his knees to fuck into you. Seokjin picks up the pace from where you left off, his hands moving your body down to meet every thrust, impaling you on his cock with every stroke. He grunts as you clench down around him when he reaches particularly deep, brushing over your sweet spot. 

You slump against Seokjin's chest as he truly begins to lose his restraint, moaning against his skin as he pounds into you. The sting of your red cheeks slapping against Seokjin's hard thighs with every thrust just makes the fire in your stomach roar, the pleasure pain of it getting you to the finish line faster. 

You try to meet his thrust the best you can but the way Seokjin reaches so deep into your belly leaves you feeling a little dumbstruck, floaty. It's like your muscles have turned to jelly. 

Your cunt sounds sloppy as Seokjin hammers into you, fucking you so hard you swear you can see the outline of his cock in your stomach. Moans and whines fall freely from your lips, Seokjin's name gasped out with every thrust. Your oldest soulmate is feeling more competitive than he first let on and for a half second, you worry he might actually fuck you stupid in his quest to make you come harder than Hoseok could. 

You can feel him tensing up more with every thrust, as close to exploding as you are, the sounds of your skin slapping together echoing through the room. You don't want to come too soon, not without letting Seokjin finish too, but his next words do you in.

"You can let go now, angel," Seokjin half groans, half murmurs between one stroke and the next, "It's time to fill your pretty pussy to the brim – to stuff you full just like you wanted." 

You cunt spasms the moment you get permission to come, your walls hugging Seokjin's cock so firmly he can barely move his hips as your release hits you like a freight train. Your eyes roll to the back of your head as Seokjin grinds you down against his cock, your clit rubbing over his toned stomach. Your moans are unintelligible, slurred, as Seokjin keeps up his pace for another dozen thrusts. It prolongs your orgasm, your toes curling as Seokjin finally hits his own high. 

His loud moan sends another wave of pleasure crashing over you, your cunt massaging his length as he spills into it with hot spurts. Your arms are shaking like a leaf as you push yourself up, just enough to look at Seokjin's face.

He's a sight to behold with his head thrown back, his flushed chest rising and falling with every hard breath. His hair is messy from you tugging on it, his skin glowing with the sheen of sweat that has settled on you both. He looks beautiful.

You clumsily kiss his swollen lips, your body still too fucked out to work properly.

Seokjin opens his eyes slowly, grinning as he says, "There's my pretty girl." 

"Are you feeling okay?" He winds his arms around your back, plastering you against his racing heart. 

You open and close your mouth a few times, feeling dehydrated and exhausted, the words just a little too far out of your reach. 

You blink as Jimin suddenly pops into view, his smile bordering on feral as he reaches out to cup your cheek. "Oh, our poor baby is completely cock drunk," He coos.

You whine out a protest, too tired to engage in Jimin's teasing. He's also not... entirely wrong. 

"Thank you for the show, baby, you looked so fucking good," Jimin groans, adjusting himself in his sweats. He must have come while Seokjin was fucking you, too excited by the view in front of him to keep up with his comments. One of Seokjin's moans had sounded a little airer than normal, so you can only conclude that it was Jimin, hitting his own release while you were chasing yours. 

"It's a shame you're on birth control, otherwise the hyungs would've bred you so well," He pouts, his eyes shining with something wicked at the reaction it causes. 

You can't help but clench down around Seokjin, the dirty talk hot despite you not being close to ready to have kids. 

"Jimin," Seokjin warns, his cock twitching with interest inside your warm cunt. 

Even Hoseok lets out a pained groan from where he's perched on a nearby chair, his cock half-hard in his jeans. 

"Fine," Jimin huffs. He brushes his lips against yours, tone sweet as he asks, "Well then, baby, who won the competition? Which hyung fucked you the best?" 

You watch Hoseok tense up just as Seokjin's arms tighten around you, both anxious to know the result. You share a sly look with Jimin – one that makes him chuckle and shake his head – before you turn your face into Seokjin's neck, hiding your smile as you say, "Mhm.. It's a tie." 

"What do you think?" 

You smack your lips together, savoring the slightly tangy sauce. Yoongi watches you carefully, the spoon still hovering near your lips.

"It's good!" You grin, "I think it's perfect." 

Yoongi's smile turns into a pout as he glances down at the spoon, "Ah, but now I can't taste it. Hyung would kill me if I double-dipped."

"Can't you just grab–"

Your words are cut off by Yoongi's lips, a sweet kiss being pressed against your mouth. He lightly sucks your bottom lip between his own, his tongue just barely dipping into your mouth. He flashes you a gummy smile as he pulls back, nodding in satisfaction, "You're right, it is perfect."

"Hey!" You whine, lightly hitting his shoulder, "You totally set me up."

Your heart flutters as Yoongi leans in again, his eyes twinkling with amusement as he says, "Maybe." 

He steals another kiss before he turns back to the simmering pot in front of him, the spoon abandoned in the sink. You huff, stepping up behind him to rest your head against his back, your arms wrapping around his middle. Yoongi always smells like forest and warmth, something pleasant you just want to lie down and sleep in. 

Yoongi hums a low tune as you stand there, basking in the warmth of his body and the promise of a tasty lunch. He places one hand on top of yours, petting your skin, as he slowly stirs the pot with the other. 

"Hyung, I'm hungry!" 

You open your eyes to find Taehyung walking into the kitchen, rubbing his stomach with a pout. He brightens up as he sees you, the magazines in his hand thrown to the counter as he quickly rounds it to attach himself to your back. 

"Babe, I thought you were still in bed," Taehyung whines against your neck.

"Got hungry," You giggle. You lean more of your weight onto Yoongi, laughing as he complains about having two clingy brats as soulmates. You can see the fond smile on his face as you peek over his shoulder, the way he easily braces his feet to accept the two bodies practically lying on top of him. 

"Oh right! How long until the food is ready, hyung? I'm starving," Taehyung sighs dramatically. "My client is a fucking ass, he went almost an hour over time in our meeting complaining about things I can't even fix. It's not my fault his secretary is useless." 

"I'm sorry, Tae. Can't you drop him if he's being too unreasonable?" You ask.

Taehyung grumbles against your neck, his body tight with tension, "I wish. He brings too much money to the company to even consider ending the contract with him. He knows he can act like an ass and get away with it because he's practically paying us to babysit him." 

Yoongi lets out an annoyed snort, shaking his head as he says, "I hate to say it, but he's not going to be the only shitty client you're going to have to deal with. It comes with the job." 

"I know, hyung," Taehyung sighs. "But you know what's not shitty? Your cooking! And having some of your food would definitely brighten me up." 

"Brat," Yoongi chuckles. "It'll be done in five minutes, you can go grab some plates while it finishes cooking." 

Taehyung gives the back of your head a loud smooch before he skips over to one of the cupboards, doing as Yoongi instructed. 

You finally detach yourself from Yoongi's back, smiling at Taehyung's antics as you glance over at the magazines he dropped off earlier. You reach out to shuffle through them, none of them particularly piquing your interest until you catch sight of a flyer tucked between two pages. 

You carefully pull it out, excitement thrumming through your body as you realize it's for a flower parade. Your eyes widen as you catch sight of the town name, knowing it's a city that's only about an hour away from your old one. You're not sure if the house is within its limit or if it's just a neighboring one, but it does finally give you an idea of where you are. You quickly glance up at Taehyung and Yoongi, deliberately placing your thumb over the name as you notice that neither of them has seen you with it yet. 

"What's this?" You softly clear your throat, grabbing Yoongi's attention as you show it to him.

You see Yoongi's shoulders rise, his eyes frantically scanning the flyer until he sees your thumb. He motions for the paper, angling it away from you once it's in his hands, making sure the town name can't be seen.

"Ah, this," He gives you a slightly uneasy smile, "It's an annual flower parade they do in the town over to celebrate the beginning of summer. It says it's supposed to happen next weekend." 

You keep your expression schooled, tucking away that new piece of information into the back of your mind. 

"That sounds like fun! Do you think we could go?" You ask, giving him your best puppy dog eyes. "I would love to see it." 

You're beginning to border on frantic for a change of scenery, for something that isn't just the four walls of this house. The garden does help and you have been allowed on a few walks around the neighbourhood, but it isn't enough. You will go stir crazy at some point or another if they keep you cooped up here forever. 

"What flower parade?" Taehyung walks over to Yoongi, peering down at the flyer. You cheer inwardly as Taehyung's smile broadens to a grin, a pleading expression taking over his face as he says, "Hyung, that looks like so much fun. We should all go watch it!" 

You know that Taehyung has a penchant for flowers, that he loves them almost as much as Seokjin does. After all, there's a reason you always received them along with your letters. 

"I don't know," Yoongi chews on his bottom lip, eyeing the flyer nervously. 

"Hyung," Taehyung whines, "pleaseeee. You know I love stuff like this." 

"Why don't we discuss it over dinner?" You propose, knowing you need to calm Yoongi's worried thoughts before he settles on a firm no.

"We'll only do it if everyone wants to go. I would love to experience it with you guys though–" You muster up a soft smile, your heart squeezing painfully at the truth as you say, "I've always wanted to do something like that with my soulmate. It seems really romantic." 

Yoongi's gaze is unreadable as he stares down at the flyer. You're almost holding your breath by the time his shoulders finally sag, his voice defeated as he murmurs, "Sure, if that's something you want, we'll discuss it later." 

You giggle behind your hand as Taehyung tackles Yoongi into a hug, your heart racing in your chest. As long as you play your cards right, you might finally get that taste of freedom you've been wanting for so long. Luckily for you, after almost eight months trapped together with your soulmates, you know just what buttons to push to sway the boys to your will. 

It only takes some begging and a little sweet talk to win the rest of the boys over. Their unease and suspicion quickly melt away as you murmur sweetly about how romantic you find the event – and that while you are nervous about the crowds (a lie), you wouldn't mind it as long as they stick close to you. Taehyung and Seokjin's enthusiasm for it works in your favor too, as Seokjin's bubbling excitement over finally getting to experience the flower parade erases the last of Yoongi's anxieties. 

The week leading up to the parade passes syrupy slow, the days dragging on as if they're mocking you. You're a bundle of nerves by the time you're driving into the city, squirming in your seat as you get closer and closer to your goal. If everything goes well during the parade, you'll be one step closer to earning their full trust – to them letting you go. 

The blindfold around your head comes off the moment the car passes by the town sign, the boys still taking whatever precautions they can to limit your knowledge about where you are. You already know, of course, but you have no intention of letting that slip. It's better if they think that you don't.

"Here we are, darling," Namjoon offers you his hand as he opens the door for you. His grip is iron-tight as you intertwine your fingers, clearly on edge as you step out to join the rest of the group. 

There's an air of tension wrapped around them all as they flock around you, one that doesn't dissipate even when they flank you at all sides as you walk further into town. Jimin has claimed the other side of your body, wrapping one of his arms snuggly around your waist, anchoring you to him. Nervous. 

Hoseok and Jungkook keep throwing glances over their shoulders as they walk in front of you, making sure you're still there whenever you go quiet for more than a few seconds. You can practically feel Taehyung and Seokjin breathing down your neck, their steps matching yours perfectly as they hold up the back. Yoongi keeps drifting back and forth like he can't quite decide where he should be to best ensure your safety. 

It should be suffocating but their behavior is simply pushed to the back of your mind, unimportant, when you finally lay eyes on actual people, strangers, crossing the street in front of you. A lump forms in the back of your throat as you watch a group of friends spill out of a nearby shop, their laughter echoing in your ears long after they've passed you by. 

The town is loud and bustling, music seeping out from every building you pass by. They've embraced the parade to the fullest, decorating the pathways with beautiful florals hanging from every lamp post and flower archways adorning some of the more expensive shops. It's like you've stepped into an explosion of colour as you reach the main street, no stone left undecorated and flowers clinging to every possible surface. The people milling about are just as colourful, the majority of them wearing bright, fun clothing, their faces painted with different patterns and artistic renditions of florals. You've heard talk of this parade before but you had no idea it was this big of a deal, that the townspeople take such pride in the event. 

"I think there's an available spot over there!" Jungkook points to somewhere in the middle of the street, leading the group over to the area he saw. It's just big enough for all of you to squeeze into, leaving you almost first in line on the sidewalk to watch the parade.

You've barely planted your feet on the ground when you hear a couple occupy the spot behind you, the rest of the sidewalk filling up quickly as the start of the event draws near. 

You look around, taking in the sights around you, your senses a little overwhelmed with the colours and noise after so many months of nothing but your soulmates for company. Your heart is picking up speed, matching the sound of distant drums as your gaze glides from couple to couple, their bright expressions and relaxed postures nothing like the love you know. 

The couples across the street hold their lover's hand gently, arms resting loosely around their shoulders to provide a safe bubble against the crowds around them. They lean into each other's bodies for comfort, to bear the ache of standing on their feet for a long time. 

Your lovers hold your hand with bruising grips, arms wound around your body like snakes, constricting you tighter and tighter with every breath. There's no comfort in their embrace, not when they cling to you with desperation – like they'd bury themselves under your skin if they only could.

You swallow thickly, your palm going clammy in Namjoon's tight hold.  

"You okay, darling?" Namjoon asks, leaning down to make sure you hear him over the crowd. 

"I'm fine," You lie, offering him a faint smile, "It's just a lot of people." 

"Let me know the moment it becomes too much and we'll leave," Namjoon presses a kiss to your forehead, giving you a worried look. He doesn't turn away until you reassure him that you're okay, your mouth dry with the untruths that keep spilling from it. 

You can feel the sun beating down your neck, pearls of sweat forming along your back, sending shivers down your spine as they race down it. Seokjin, now in front of you, is taking pictures, capturing every little detail of the flower arrangements and different colourful species that have been grouped together along the street. The shutter of his camera sounds like bullets firing through the air, quickening your pulse with every snap. 

"There it is!" Taehyung grins, pointing down the street. 

Your vision feels like it's swimming as you turn your head to look, the drums so loud they force your heart to skip to the beat, sending it into a frenzy. You stare in a daze as people dance and cheer as they walk past you, flower petals raining down as they throw handfuls out of the baskets they're carrying. A float pauses in front of you, the florals an organized mess of every colour you can imagine. There's a particular arrangement you can't look away from, one that fills your stomach with dread.

It's them.

The tower in the middle of the float is made up of red, pink, purple, blue, green, yellow, and orange flowers, the same kaleidoscope of colors that have been haunting you for the past years. 

It's like a punch to the gut, reality suddenly snapping back into place. The cheers around you turn muffled, your mind reeling with the possibilities you've been suppressing for so long. 

Your mind flashes back to the police station you saw as you drove into town.

This city must be far enough away from your old one that Jimin won't have any connections here. The chances are slim that there are any officers here that are enamored with him, that worship him, like they do where he currently works. They might have heard of him and how he saved Jungkook, but you doubt they would dismiss your case just based on his reputation. Jimin might have already been talking to the officers in your new town, just in case you try something stupid, so this – this might be your only chance at getting real help. 

Heejun and Jaemin will for sure corroborate your story, and if the officers are quick, they should be able to secure the needed evidence. You know exactly where your old letters and gifts are stored in the attic. Hell, some of them are even displayed around the house. It shouldn't be difficult to find something incriminating. 

But–

Your gaze sweeps to the side, lingering on the boys. Jungkook's precious bunny smile is on display as he watches the dancers move around the street, a hint of awe in his eyes. Taehyung is practically hanging off Seokjin's back, pointing to everything he wants Seokjin to capture with his camera. The boys look mesmerized by the parade, their earlier tension eased by the excitement in the air. 

Your soul feels split in half, torn between what you want and what you should do. You don't want to leave them, despite everything they've put you through. They are your soulmates and over the past months, you've grown to really, really like them. The thought of leaving them hurts you, makes your heart ache something fierce, but you also know that you can never have a proper life if you stay. You are terribly worried about what might happen to them – the bond – if you go away, but you're also limiting the possibilities of ever finding a cure for their sickness if you don't. Maybe there's someone out there who can help you and them if you only look. 

Jimin's arm has fallen away from your waist during the parade, his hands around his mouth as he cheers for the performers.

You slowly ease your hand out of Namjoon's grip, hoping your smile isn't as shaky as it feels as you quickly explain, "I just need to tie my shoe."

Your knees nearly buckle as Namjoon gives you a once over, terrified that he might somehow catch you out. But Namjoon simply just smiles, showing off his dimples as he nods and turns back to watch the parade. 

You take a step back, crouching down to tie your slightly loose shoelace. Flower petals keep flitting around you, carried by the wind as they swoop and dance across the ground. You secure your shoe with a tight knot, the tips of your fingers so cold you can barely feel them from the anxiety crashing around inside your body.

You slowly stand back up, taking another small step back. 

None of the boys reach out for you, recapture you, their attention caught by the spectacle in front of them. Your group has been moved around by the crowd enough that another step has you standing behind all of them, watching with labored breath as you wait for their realization that you're not anchored to any of them. 

It doesn't come.

The chaos of the parade provides you with the cover you need to inch back, the loud drums and petals covering the ground muffling your footsteps. Your eyes flicker wildly between the seven of them, trying to figure out if any of them have noticed you beginning to slip away, but all you see is the boys laughing and smiling, their focus somewhere else. 

The couple that was standing behind you is now in front of you, their bodies forming a small wall, a shield, against your soulmates. The crowd behind you easily part as you advance backward, eager for a chance to get a closer look at the parade. Your body feels like a live wire, dread and adrenaline pumping through your veins at a rate that leaves you dizzy. 

Your heart is a jumbled mess of stay, go, stay, go – but your mind knows what it needs to do.

You take a mental picture of the sight in front of you, saving the image of the boys looking happy and beautiful, surrounded by warm sunlight and fluttering petals. 

For later. As a reminder that things could be good. 

It's only once you've reached the back of the street, the distance between you and them so wide that you can barely see Namjoon's head as he slowly turns to where you once stood, waving hands partially obscuring his face as his expression twists into despair, that you let crowd swallow you whole and run. 

a/n: thank you all so much for following along with this story for over three years!! what was supposed to be a short 20k fic suddenly turned into one that was 120k haha, but i've had so much fun working on LS and reading all of your theories have been amazing! 💖 thank you to everyone who voted in the original poll, this story is a collab between you and me :')

i know that the ending will leave some of you with a lot of questions and i can answer the most important one right away: No, I don't have any current plans for a sequel. I have told the story I wanted to tell and I'm happy with where it ended :) However, I might be open to doing some commissions down the line of "missing" scenes from the story if that's something you guys want!

it would mean the absolute world to me if you'd leave me a comment/reblog and let me know what you think of the final chapter! 💖 and if you'd feel so inclined, i do have a kofi if you'd like to support me with a coffee!

thank you all so much again!! i do have a few exciting fics coming up so i do hope you stick around for those!

lots of love, maggy.

[obey-me-headquarters]

Cast least to most Masochistic.

-Most-

- Lucifer: I truly don't think he has a limit on how much pain he's willing to take. Not in a prideful way of "I have no limit", just that he loves it so much that he's willing to let you do anything if it means you'll hurt him. Some scenes aren't even about sex or getting off, some scenes are just about pain. He understands if you have a limit, or don't want to hurt him, but even if you're not a sadist he still asks if you'll be willing to be a bit rough with him or scratch him with your nails.

- Barbatos: He and Lucifer are pretty tied when it comes to limits, as in, they don't really have any. Barbatos really likes pain and is willing to show you exactly how he likes to receive pain. I feel like Barbatos also really likes to get into a specific headspace when he's receiving pain, as in, there's no escape and he has no choice but to accept it. While Lucifer prefers you to whip him in his bedroom, Barbatos almost exclusively wants you to hurt him in a special playroom. It looks kinda like a dungeon, and if you're willing it can be the dungeon he takes treasonous demons to. Barbatos gets into the headspace of you being the warden here to hurt Barbatos and nothing else. There's no pleasure in the dungeon, so if you fuck Barbatos he wants you to make it hurt. That said, he is willing and wants to do more softer scenes with pain. You spanking him in the royal kitchen or taking him over your knee in your room. He's willing to mix pain with pleasure as long as the pain doesn't pass a certain threshold, or else he needs to be in that specific headspace.

- Diavolo: it takes a lot for you to truly hurt the demon prince, so you kinda gotta be a hard-core sadist to do it. Simply taking out a cane or a whip wouldn't do it. That said, Diavolo finds that he quite likes pain. He finds it exciting, he doesn't often feel a lot of pain, so this is a new experience for him. He likes a bit of role-play when you're hurting him. Like he's a wild demon that you captured and need to tame, or a demon hunter, or he broke into the castle and get caught and now you're punishing him. It puts him in a headspace that makes the pain feel heightened and allows him to tear down his walls and allow himself to feel pain. When you two aren't roleplaying he still likes a bit of pain. A harsh spank on his ass as you fuck him or a deep scratch sends him moaning, even if he doesn't feel much of it.

- Simeon: he's not as big of a masochist then the top three, but he's pretty high up there. It's not so much about the pain he enjoys but the intensity. He likes feeling so much pain that he can't focus on anything else. As such, he also really enjoys overstimulation mixed with pain. He's also big into role-play too. He has a few fantasies of you catching him with a net and him being the moody angel. You tease him and plunk his feathers as he shakes and fights against the ropes. He wants to go from moody and angry to scared as he realizes that you plan to hurt him, that you want to hear an angel scream and beg for mercy. He's also big into degradation and wants you to treat him like dirt under your shoe.

- Mammon: I feel like he has two or three really, really intense scenes that he only shares with you when you two have been together for years and years. Scenes he feels kinda guilty and ashamed for having since they're so intense. These scenes take a lot of build up and a LOT of trust. Like, Mammon has to trust you so much to be willing to do this with you. And afterward, he needs a whole week of aftercare where he doesn't come out of his nice floaty subspace with you treating him so, so gently.

- Asmo: As the Avatar of Lust he's tired everything once. Everything. And pain? Yeah it's alright. He likes being naughty and getting his ass or pussy spanked. He just doesn't like how welts and bruises damage the skin, even if he does think that getting marked up by his partner is hot. He wouldn't let you smack his face, but anything below the neck? Pretty fair game. He's also willing to get more marked up if he can drink a heaming potion during aftercare. Since he's the Avatar of Lust, his tolerance for pain is pretty high, but he needs pleasure to be mixed in with the pain. He needs to be getting off himself, or having you fuck him when you hurt him.

- Solomon: I talked about him being a masochist in his own headcanons post, but basically he wants you to abuse his pussy. Spank it, pump it, rub ginger oil on it, brush it with an electric toothbrush, etc. He doesn't really like pain that much anywhere else. For example, he's not willing to go any higher than being spanked with a wooden spoon.

- Levi: once you convince him that him getting spanked doesn't mean he's being punished, he actually finds that he enjoys pain quite a bit. Not that much, he isn't quite ready to be whipped or spanked with anything other than your hand, but he kinda likes pain. He likes the thrill of it, how it gets his heart pounding. He also has some pretty intense prey/predator fantasies of you chasing down in a forest and fucking him and he wants you to be rough then. He loves the idea that you need him to much that you can't wait and just have him that moment.

- Satan: being the Avatar of Wrath, you would think he would like pain more, and so did he when you two first got together. But after many scenes where you spanked, caned, or whipped him and he found that he doesn't really like pain. It takes him out of the floaty subspace he likes to be in. That being said, he still does like a little pain, because if he's getting punished and the whole point is him feeling pain, then he likes getting spanked. He doesn't like to get spanked alot, he can't handle more then 15 spanks, but he does like the slight burn. It's not a punishment he wants everytime, but once in a while getting his ass spanked feels good.

- Belphie: yeah. No. Man's a baby. He can't handle any level of pain. He likes the sensation of getting spanked, the feeling of being shifting against your knees as you spank him. The idea of him getting naughty and needing to be punished. But once actual pain seeps through? No thank you. He's out. Being the spoiled youngest brother he hasn't felt much physical pain in his lifetime, and unlike Diavolo who finds the new experience full and thrilling, Belphie absolutely hates it. He's willing to be spanked if it's over clothing and you're not using your full strength.

- Beel: He doesn't like pain that much. It takes a bit for him to actually feel pain, but he finds that he doesn't like it. He wants to feel good during sex, he's all about the pleasure, and so he finds that pain often distracts him from the pleasure instead of enhancing it. He doesn't mind you being a bit rough, actually prefers it sometimes, and he really likes the sensation of being bitten and having you scratch him with your nails. But actually hitting him? No thank you.

[avpdvoidspace]

Since you've mentioned a couple of times having comorbid OCPD, would you mind explaining more about the effect that disorder has on you? Out of every PD, it's the one I never find people talking about. Due to that, and the diagnostic criteria itself being (as ever) exasperatingly superficial and vague, It's hard to know where to even look for information about it..!

Sure. I agree that it's very difficult to find information about ocpd online. I guess I could categorize my experience with ocpd into three categories: things that are absolutely recognized symptoms of ocpd, things that overlap with other obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders (like things more traditionally thought of as OCD symptoms), and things that I have to assume come from ocpd because they seem to but I don't know if they're universal because I don't see other people talking about having ocpd. So in terms of things that are definitely ocpd experiences: I really don't feel safe or comfortable in situations I don't have at least some control over. I need to control my space, my food, who is around me, etc to feel safe. This also applies to my time and schedule. I get very agitated when it's interrupted, even if I don't show it. I tend to plan my day's activities pretty rigidly and it stresses me out when I'm not able to follow through. I also have very rigid ways I like to do things, and it stresses me out if I have to do something with someone else's method or if someone in my apartment does something differently to how I would do it, especially things like eating without washing hands first, not taking shoes off before coming in, etc. I try to keep this kind of thing in check because I don't want to be controlling or obnoxious, but it causes me a lot of stress internally. This has been very difficult when I've had a job and I'm being told to do things a particular way but it's not MY way. It's also difficult when I'm intentionally trying to push myself to try a different method for, say, drawing something. Even though I'm making the choice, I'm breaking my method and it feels extremely Wrong. The next category is overlap with other obsessive compulsive spectrum disorders. I definitely get intrusive thoughts and the anxiety inducing spiral of 'something bad will happen if I don't have the tv volume set to an odd number' and 'I feel compelled to make sure my foot touches to the floor in a very certain way right now for Reasons'. I also have health anxiety that gets worse if I try to engage in reassurance seeking behavior (but this only started after I got diagnosed with a chronic illness, so it could be a combination of ocpd and trauma). But you can apply the mechanics of health anxiety to other things that pop into my head to frighten me with no basis in reality that start the reassurance seeking/me becoming more convinced the terrible thing is true cycle. Then the third category, which is random things I think are ocpd but who knows because there aren't a lot of other people out there talking about their personal experiences with it: I like recording things. Every day, I write the weather conditions down in a notebook. I also have very rigid records of my drawing time and draw with a stopwatch going to make sure I'm keeping track and write everything in a notepad++ file like so

I get extremely stressed out if anything gets in the way of this process! You could say my life kind of revolves around this actually. I've actually drawn at least an hour a day for about a decade (knock on wood...), and I track it every day. In general, I have a lot of fun creating methods and systems to follow rigidly. It's like a game even. Maybe why I like playing games with a lot of organization/time management... Love giving myself a list of tasks and completing them. Speaking of games, I love Pokemon Legends Arceus because it is essentially a checklist simulator. Also, I experience something similar to special interests but maybe not exactly the same. I wouldn't say hyperfixations either because they're not fleeting. They're very enduring. I wish I could explain more about how they're unique from either special interests (in the autistic meaning of the phrase) and hyperfixations (like with ADHD), but it's kind of hard to explain without feeling like I'm explaining it poorly. And last, something that could go in either this category or the second because it's something I've heard people diagnosed with OCD talk about experiencing is I have a weird thing with my memory where my visual/auditory memory are weirdly strongly connected. So if I'm listening to something while drawing, if I listen to it again, I can 'see' what I was drawing at the time. If I look at the drawing, I'll remember the part of the audiobook or whatever I was listening to. It's to the point that if I was listening to an audiobook while playing a certain video game, hearing the audiobook again will make me crave playing the video game really intensely! It's like I can see exactly where I was in the game as if I was playing it right now. Anyway, I hope that was helpful. I tried to include everything I could think of. My life is very rigid, but I guess if there's one more thing I could say about that, it's that the rigidity excites me and feels like it lights up my brain with feel-good chemicals. I think having ocpd is like a combination of extreme anxiety and the ability to create fun engaging activities all by myself and with very few resources.

[blacklegsanjiii]

In the D!Sora au, would be funny and interesting if like, it's mentioned Sanji starts to fully work at Baratie at 14, but what if he started to work some time at Baratie when he's 11, almost 12?

So like, at first Sanji finds this kinda... Weird? Bc he never had really been away from his siblings and mother at own choice. So, Zeff, seeing this, chose to call his lover (Garp) and propose to him that he bring his grandsons so little eggplant have friends while in the restaurant. Garp knows about the story, about the fact that Skylar D. Sora saved his lover, and the boy is her son, but since it's thanks to her Zeff is alive now and he already said her family is welcomed in Baratie, he chose to just... pretend she's not around, when she is in the East Blue.

So well, Garp bring ASL and they love Sanji, love love if you understand me. And for Sanji, having friends that aren't his siblings is... Good? Okay. And they just go like this. With ASL absolutely head over hells for him and fighting for his atention. Reiju finds this funny and amusing everytime she read her little bro letters, Sora is in between amused and protective, 124ji are... protective, of course.

Sanji telled he has siblings, of course he would! He loves them! And this fact comes at all to his boyfriends and Zeff's lover one day, when Makino comes too bc Luffy want her to meet Sanji and she says about the "San" in his name meaning "three", wich he says "Yeah, well, I'm the third of quadruplets, makes sense my name means three. Even if I am, at all, forth of five between my siblings".

Until one time, by mere coincidence, Garp and ASL arrive the exact day Sora is there, with 0124ji. Sora already knows about Garp and Zeff relationship, and the fact the marine will not attack her bc of the fact she saved Zeff, but she still has her guard up.

This day, ASL meet his boyfriend siblings, and during this, Sora and Garp talk. Because he wants to know why the fuck a noble woman left her status and turned into a pirate. And she feels like telling him isn't bad, so she tells to Garp (and Zeff, who goes to talk with them) about her shitty husband, and how much of a monster he was, what she did to save her kids. Both mens definitely agree it was the best choice (even Garp, bc he knows that the fact Judge was a noble would made him don't suffer anything).

And ASL, meeting Sanji's mom, who is a pirate captain?! They would ask so much questions. Sora would reply their questions, amused about them, she also would give them a shovel talk bc they may be good, but they're her son boyfriends.

When Marineford happens, with Ace, Luffy and Sabo alone with her, Sabo asks Sora about Sanji's father and why she seems to hate him, alongside the fact she killed him. And she tells the same story she telled her kids, about how Judge was.

ASL definitely start to respect her even more after this, bc what she did was an act of pure love for her childs and seeking for freedom, for her and her kids.

I love the idea but the reason I put Sanji at 14/15 was because after everything that happened I don't think Sora or his siblings would let him out of their sight. Not even mentioning the crew. Let's say they do let him, I gotta imagine there's more than just letters: phonecalls, frequent visits-including surprise visits and the Shirohige showing up occasionally. It's a whole process. Zeff isn't exactly thrilled about that but sure, whatever.

But after spending some more time with the eggplant and his family he begins to understand that Sanji being on the cruise liner, obviously, was not something planned, but the horror on his mother's face when she saw the state he was in, and the disbelief, will be forever implanted in his brain. It's not something he ever wants to happen again. Zeff is of course pleased he knows code but the kid needs more interaction with other kids that aren't his family. So he calls his boyfriend. Garp.

Who brings his grandkids. It's a whole thing but it's going to be good for the eggplant. Except his instincts are on point and pulls a gun off a waiter and immediately points it at Garp before even getting to the table. Zeff told him Garp was coming with his grandsons but didn't mention it was Vice Admiral Monkey D. Garp and Sanji has been raised a pirate, Marines are the enemy. ASL are asking what's going on as Garp laughs and tells the boy it's alright, he won't bite, after all he owes Sanji's mother his thanks. Sanji narrows his eyes as he gives the gun back to the waiter and goes to the table.

So they sit at the table and before introductions can be made Luffy is asking him why he was pointing a gun at his grandpa and Sanji is like 'IM A PIRATE' which sets them all off to start asking questions. Sanji is answering questions to his abilities. He doesn't give his last name or anything but Luffy asks him about why he can be a pirate but they can't? Shanks said kids can't be pirates! Sanji is frowning at them because he was literally born into piracy and says so. Over time ASL become closer with Sanji and Garp agrees to bring Makino because Luffy wants her to meet Sanji and when she asks about his name he explains it to her with a shrug. They've also managed to avoid Sora and her crew so far on their visits. Of course it's only a matter of time, it's been like a year and ASL have all gone head over heels for the guy and well.

All good things must come to an end as the telltale yelling of another pack of Ds sound on the docks of Baratie. Sanji is smiling widely and running to meet the steps. Zeff is groaning as he yells at the kitchen to fire more food. ASL follow but stop short as their (boy)friend is tackled and under a group of kids who all look like him and a woman smiling above them and kicking tapping them with her foot and telling them to move.

"YOURE CAPTAIN SKYLAR D. SORA!" Ace yells pointing at her.

"Aye, and what might your name be?" She smiles at him.

"Ace." Ace stares at her wide eyed and looking back at Garp who is groaning.

"Sanji, are these the boys that li~ke you?" The girl teases making ASL blush. The three other boys look at them with narrowed eyes and Sora tells them to move again and taps them so they move. Mostly by rolling and dragging Sanji with much to his displeasure. Sora has to see Garp and narrow her eyes who narrows his back.

She sits at the table and she props her feet up and grins at Zeff that his lover boy is a vice admiral and has been for longer than she's been alive and Garp asks her how a queen can become a pirate and Sora laughs. It's short and sharp and she asks Garp if he's ever had to drink poison to ensure his kid would be human. Because she had to do it for both her pregnancies. So she left with Reiju and started a pirate crew, fuck the nobles, the government, no one was willing to come save her so she took matters into her own hands. Then he kidnapped Sanji and when she couldn't find him in Germa she sank the whole Kingdom because her child wasn't there. The Cloud Pirates are her family and their ship her home. Eventually all the kids come join. So they move to lighter fare about piracy and answering the questions of ASL.

Then after Marineford, when the brothers are together Sabo asks why she sank Germa and left. Sora tells them matter of factly, just as she did her children and crew. About the poison, about the experiments, taking Sanji and losing him. The fact Sanji was tortured as a child thanks to Judge. Simply put his dues needed to be collected and she was sending him to collections. Sora tells them everything plainly, whatever Sanji hasn't shared remains stays secret.

ASL respected the hell out of her before but now? Now they are forever in her debt.

[andbrokenmemories]

So it's weird how like. The Kennet girls are good at everything, aren't they? [pale spoilers ahead]

Like that's obvious, it's textual -- it's very textual, other characters being in something like awe over it over and over and over across the story. The girls are very good at this, and they have a deep well of power. This comes up continuously.

what's weird is thaaat a lot of the fanbase seem to like, enjoy that. Enjoy having protagonists who can play around with magic in a way Blake never ever could have. I kind of get that, I won't like shit-talk it too hard. (I do like Verona, y'know?)

But it's an interesting fact. Because Wildbow's the underdog protagonist guy! At least in action scenes, that's his whole thing! Taylor and Blake have to eat shit and die to claw their way to victory, and often those scenes work for me. And it's one of the things I think WB gets the most praise for? Like, from his established base. It's a conscious choice to not do that for Pale. He like, introduced the idea that this kind of wild practitioner would be especially powerful. He made that up for this book.

I wonder what that decision looks like -- after Ward, and Ward's issues, especially, since that seemed to be the first break from this. Underdog protagonists seem to be the default, for him; the thing he has most experience with. I've seen posts from him describing his process -- put characters against the wall without having a pre-planned out for them, so WB himself has to puzzle out exactly what they can use to make it out alive -- and he seemed to derive like... An actual enjoyment, out of it?

Yeah, there are fights in Pale where they're up against the wall... even one where, with Dire Consequences for us all, Wildbow had them lose because he couldn't see a way for them to win!

But it's not the same. I'd honestly say they usually lose because of their like, lack of full maturity -- their child soldier-y emotional rawness and uncertainty -- their lack of cohesion, as the book usually plays it. Lucy cannot stop John from joining the Contest because she can't hold her nerve against him. The girls cannot stop the murder plot from coming to fruition because they lack unity, aren't working together as a team. Emotional stuff. The girls have more tools in their box than any Wildbow protagonist before them, by far, but they can't always use them properly to get the W, for emotional reasons, for character reasons.

In theory, that's an interesting direction (maybe, possibly), and I should be relieved that Wildbow is trying something fresh. In practice... I've said I don't like Pale's fight scenes. I think Wildbow is plainly worse at this than the content of his previous works.

Part of this is seen in the Contest. Or, at least, how Wildbow Posts about it. If you can't tell, a specific WoG lives in my brain: Wildbow said once that he kept the story going past Break because he genuinely did not believe the trio could beat Maricica. I can imagine him doing his typical calculus for this, and what led him to that conclusion, maybe. For example, we've heard a lot about the ability of the Fae to manipulate stuff, aaaand to have the girls come along and undo all of that with minimal information to begin with wouuld sort of. Damage our belief in Faerie significance. Still, though -- cards on the table, here -- I think this was a Dumb and Bad choice. (It's a sidenote to this post, but I think it's very strange that, in-story the straw that breaks the camel's back is shown to be the Alabaster allowing shit to go on rather than throwing in with John, effectively a betrayer revealed moment -- a thing that, even if sorta his intention from the start, he could simply say 'aw beans i never really planned this out far enough' and just drop. for the sake of wrapping up a better story. and naturally i believe this would have been better also because it means we never would have fucking gotten White Woman Animus!! i digress. i digress.)

Maricica had weaknesses the story gave us to nibble on, and those weaknesses... are just kind of dangling threads, now? As of where I hopped off? like, guess she can't be that inexperienced with people if she became a goddess and started a cult and helped with all that red heron shit lol

So it's that thing I said, about fight scenes being more character driven. But then also, he's clearly thinking about this the same way as ever! As shown by his weird logic with framing the story going past Break as a thing he Had To Do, for Logical Reasons, or at least that weighing on the decision. a thing that is silly and i disagree with on it's face. right?

And then this shows in the sheer quantity of fight scenes -- if the girl's main limiter is internal emotional context and stuff........... uh... why are there so many fights? Why wouldnt the story naturally curve towards. having fewer fight scenes when theres no other way to square things away. that progress character arcs. whyyy do i care about fight scene 129 when i know how strong these girls are. whyyy are we fighting so many random others, and dedicating genuinely long segments of story to them, rather than montaging that shit? Getting it over with? If it has to be there at all? (for reference -- I just tried to think of a Random Pale Fight i fully don't think mattered. i selected the random like. angel summoner guy? with the fortnite constructor angel. that's a part of the musser invasion or whatever. this is a character with literally no substance, just a musser-side goon. From him entering the ongoing! fight to Lucy getting out of dodge is 4.6k words. Plague 12.7, the Mannequin fight, up to Mannequin leaving -- that's almost the entire chapter -- is 6.9k words. on the worm wiki, i saw there's a brief 'major events' summary of that chapter. i couldnt tell you the major events of the Pale chapter, of which that section of fight is like a third, maybe. lucy gets a bit more upset. lucy gets in a few quips against musser-side characters that actually matter but actually dont matter much to how that broader conflict is resolved. i guess.)

Wildbow writes any random fight the girls get into as being worth as many words as his fights in the past! the scrappy, pay-offy ones. bleh. My point in all this: you cannot simply set your protags up in the way I'm positing, here, and then continue to use the same vocabulary of every other serial anyway. it straight up doesn't work. it's exhausting. The Future is An Eternal Slaughterhouse 9000 Arc. Look, thats a criticism that boils down to 'web serials are too long'. And I'm not sure I care too much about web serials being too long! I have read longer web serials with longer fight scenes! I have written fiction with a longer average word count per chapter than Wildbow, at least during Worm! its a real criticism, but its not one im amazingly interested in personally. But the Kennet three could've had weaknesses to play around -- or at least, more weaknesses. We are in a Post-Pact world, and in this Post-Pact world, the magic in Pale really barely feels like it, uh, relies on discourse and presentation. like at all. And that seems like an option to give these characters obstacles! An option Wildbow gestures at during the Musser meta-arc!

but what struck me getting that word count comparison earlier, skimming that fight? The girls just aren't operating in that world. There's never a thought for presentation -- maybe sometimes, for a slight edge. But it never really matters, certainly not after the blue heron. They're using glamour as a workhorse tool, covering goblins in it for brief misdirects to get an edge in a fight; they're calling on the same shrine spirits over and over. They don't build up tools over a portion of story then cash them out for a satisfying win, they're just... strong. They have more items in their bags than Wildbow probably knows what to do with. Strong enough for just Lucy to dunk on any random set of practitioners, but not strong enough for the story to just skip that part, and not strong enough to just solve the plot until it's time to go fuck up Charles and end the story.

I know you could argue that I'm making this up, or that it's what some people prefer to what Pact was doing. But I just think it's not even what wildbow is good at! (and i always theorize that when wildbow is writing kind of bad, it's probably because he's not actually engaged or happy with what he's putting himself through. did he read a specific thing that made him personally excited to make the girls so versatile? I don't really know, but I don't get that vibe.)

And I have a couple of specific things I want to point out to try and prove this is like. a thing at all, to wrap up on: First, Glamour is used as this very, uh, soft magic thing, this very basic narrative tool. A pure mechanic of, like, mental states. If you're shaken, if you're uncertain, your glamour gives out on you -- if you shake your opponents, make them skittish, your glamour is better at misdirecting them. This is fiiine? But too vague for what Glamour is. Wildbow simply failed to properly present tradeoffs to one of his character's main action verbs, one that literally had those tradeoffs in Pact. And one last example to try and prove this: they dont even wear the hats and cloaks anymore duuude. Like, in my eyes: there was a very simple to read gambit being made, with the hats and masks and cloaks? You are awakening early, you will always have awoken early: You accepted an early shield against what that meant. A constructed image in place of the image of a fully-fledged adult, masking that youth; Whimsical and inherently magical, inherently wild. It's a very basic tradeoff, and one the story promises you it knows: even if they really would rather not have to go through the whole song and dance of suiting up, if it's tactically suboptimal or else they mature out of it and realise it's not for them, they will never be able to escape it -- not without giving up power. A mark accepted that cannot be given up. A mechanical restriction on their powersets to make up for some of their advantages, that also has some character relevancy. The Good Stuff.

except yeah it can. be taken off. it doesn't super matter. not really. they do plenty of magic without all the stuff on or even any of the stuff on -- it's rarely presented as an obstacle. it doesnt really matter. Because then, you see, they couldnt mature out of it and do cool stuff! it'd be. annoying. frustrating. they'd have to like. deal with changing past the natures they made for themselves. they'd have to. be characters. with character issues. that present themselves in fight scenes. you know?? what are we doing.

[girlfromthecrypt]

I also agree you should go for the branch you are thinking of including. Personally, I doubt I'll ever see it in game, since my MC (his name is Trent) is way too nice and way too in love with Flo to even get to the situation. That said, I'm all for it.

The warning proposed by the other anon also makes a lot of sense. I'm not someone who read trigger warnings often, but I know it would be useful for the people who do.

If anything, more than being worried about the warnings, I'm curious how you'll get to a point where MC could do such a thing. Now, I've seen some mean and not so good natured choices in game. And maybe it's just me being too nice while playing. But I don't really see how MC could get to the point of doing what you want to include in game. Maybe it's because we're more or less still in the earliest parts of the story (I imagine, I'm not sure how many chapters you are planning to write), but we've not be able to do anything as dark as what you are planning. So, for me at least, I see the biggest challenge is to get to that point. A part of me would like to propose the idea of MC getting to do such a thing because the supernatural corrupts the minds of the people at the camp, so their moral decision making begins to fail. But that's actually a way of coddling the player if anything. It makes them less responsible for deciding to commit such an act, as well as taking some of their agency, and that to me means the story is weaker. And it would be antithetical to the spirit of IFs as a whole (where our choices are meant to truly change the story and the characters we interact with). Also, horror is way more interesting when it comes not only from the supernatural, but from within. Since the latter is the one kind of horrying truth you'll one day may able to find in your life...

Returning to the topic topic; the only caveat I'm able to see, if looking hard for one, when it comes to include the path you're planning, is that while the game is horror... Well, children are still very present in the story. So maybe some people may feel it doesn't fit to include such a path as the one we're discussing. On the other hand, I very much doubt you'll make the children be involved with it. So far they don't even help romancing any of the RO's, so the whole path you are planning seems so removed from them no one would ever connect them unless they are reading the IF in bad faith.

Overall, I think you should include it. As long as you think it fits with the story.

Also, it makes me wonder if something of that sort has occurred to you for the other ROs? Maybe not as cruel. But something with major consequences, either for the RO (as a victim of MC), MC (as the responsible for the bad thing, getting their comeuppance), or both the RO and MC at the same time.

Woah there's a long ask! Thanks so much for your input; I'll try to pick up on everything.

Firstly, I wish Trent and Flo all the best, and yes, MCs who aren't romancing Sawyer won't be presented with this option. And nice MCs are ofc simply not gonna choose it so you hit the nail on the head there. There's definitely gonna be a warning for it (there will be for many things as the story goes on).

As for how MC would get there; never you worry about that. I already have that section well planned out, and it's going to come up kind of soon in the story, too. Not in Chapter 6 but from what it looks like, probably around Chapter 7 already. I won't go into too much detail since that'd be very spoilery, but I've already outlined how exactly it's gonna happen, and don't worry, it'll be the MC's very own authentic decision. Uninfluenced by any camp horrors whatsoever. I totally agree with what you wrote when it comes to MC having their mind corrupted. Also, outside influence isn't really necessary when it comes to stuff like this, after all, people take advantage of one another irl and while they're sane of mind often enough. Sad as it is.

And NO the children are not involved with ANY of that. There will be absolutely no kids around when this path happens, none of them will witness the conversation with Sawyer where MC can make this choice, nope nope nope. Don't worry, the little ones are gonna remain far removed from this.

Yes, I think I will end up including this--- Everyone so far has advised me to do it and I must say, I agree. I had my doubts bc I'm not used to writing such a blatantly self-serving MC. But I wanna make this IF have choices that count, and I want that to include choices that I myself wouldn't pick.

That's a good question at the end there. I certainly have some... vague... ideas for the other paths such as this one. But they would all happen later on in the game bc the other ROs aren't in the position Sawyer is in. They're "special" as an RO for reasons that'll become obvious. Also, the other ROs simply aren't as vulnerable as Sawyer, and not in the same ways, so it's difficult. But yes, I do plan to give MC the option to turn their back on all of them in one way or another. It's just further away than with Sawyer so I don't know how yet, exactly.

[mistress-of-malevolence]

📖 its me again 😈 do u mayhaps have any more ideas,,,

Sure do!~ here's a few more!

1: (Untitled) A Red Son x Reader LMK arranged marriage/rivals to lovers where Princess Iron fan and DBK are unconfident in their son's ability to do anything right- including finding a spouse worthy of carrying on their great family line. so, they pick one for him. you are the finest soldier in the demon bull corps; smart, strong, capable- you have never failed an assignment, and that's not about to change anytime soon. they assign you to their son's side so that you can grow closer under the guise of you being his aid in attempting to retrieve the monkey king's staff- killing two birds with one stone. Unfortunately, you aren't exactly Red Son's biggest fan, finding his haughty attitude beyond irritating. this wasn't fair to either of you, like hell you would let it go forward. Since Iron fan and DBK hadn't told their son what they were up to or straight-up forced him to tie the knot with you, you guessed that they wanted him to choose you of his own free will- something you are certain would never happen. Your plan was to put everything you had into getting that staff back and absolutly nothing into getting red son to like you. Of course youll have to fake some sort of repour when prying eyes are watching otherwise the jig is up and your bosses will find out your disobeying orders. But it should be fine, your confident that you can manage. You can beat up one measely deleviery boy. You can tollerate Red son for as long as you need to. You can get him to cooperate with the neritive without clueing him in. You wont lose.

2:(Untitled) A Micheal Afton x OC FNAF. Riley moves in with her grandparents after getting kicked out of her old school for getting into a bad fight with the principals daughter. she hates it. she liked her old school and her old friends just fine, most of all she liked her old house. but she doesn't have must of a choice in the matter, her mom cant drop everything to drive her two hours every morning with her hospital jobs hours, so moving in with her grand parents who live within walking distance of her new school is the next best thing. her first night in town, she goes boarding and accidentally knocks some guy off a bike. they don't make a great first impression on each other, but they'll have to learn to get along as long as they're classmates. the more time they spend together, the more they begrudgingly realize they have in common. this leads to a lot of rivalry, fighting and an unrealized awkward tension between them. also, they meet right before Even/CC dies so... yeah :) angst. :)

3:(The Right Path) a Laard Nar x Navigator Invader Zim fic where Nav saves the massive from sailing into the Florpus at the last second by going against the Tallest's command. everyone lived! however, the tallest we not too pleased with his disobedience. so, they had him thrown in a holding cell and scheduled for a Pak wipe. of course, having literally been born to pilot the massive, he knew the ship like the back of his hand. he escaped to a random planet on a stolen voot cruiser. on that planet he wanders, until he comes upon Resisty HQ by complete coincidence.

BONUS! 4: (All Hail Queen Bee!) a Miraculous Ladybug Re-write/Fix-it where Chloe gets to keep the bee miraculous and her character development because I'm bitter & petty. i... i could give a run down about it but there's just so much and yet not nearly enough to talk about. if i tried, id just end up ranting, it honestly needs its own post but i just wanted to let ya know it exists in my brain.

[llamagirl28]

So is our mordred going to always have to ascribe to what you as the author feels like is the 'correct' reaction to condemn Morgana for mordred's conception? It's genuinely kind of baffling that Mordred is allowed so much freedom of choice in literally every other reaction and how they perceive Morgana, but they aren't given that option for this one. You HAVE to be upset at her and have this astronomic meltdown. It feels like there is no actual freedom of character choice for that choice and that you as the author have a very clear and set reaction that you view as the right one. Why is mordred not given an option to just.... not care. or even side with morgana, which mordred's who have been 110% fine with Morgana's plans have been allowed to do, right up until that point? Like I the reader know what morgana did was bad, but why is mordred pigeonholed for this decision specifically? I love the game so far, but my Mordred who has agreed with Morgana's 'we do what we have to to get what is ours' attitude literally every step of the way is not going to meltdown like that or absolutely lose it on her mom.

You know, the funny thing is that as I was working on some more character interactions regarding that revelation, I was actually taking into consideration the Mordreds who excuse Morgana's actions and subscrise to her "do anything for retribution" mentality. I realized I should also revise previous scenes with this type of reaction in mind - though Mordred's initial reaction will always be shocked since it's not just the bit about Arthur they're reacting to, but everything - being conceived solely for revenge, being lied about it, it all comes as a big shock and Mordred can decide that they're ok with these things. Once they settle they can make up their mind about how they feel. I want to look over the initial reaction they have to what Lot says too, and perhaps add at least one additional choice for Mordreds who are more quickly on Morgana's side.

Of course the readers wouldn't know about these additions I want to make until I mention them, which I'm doing now. I'm always open to hearing suggestions. This is a work in progress, and sometimes some possible reactions Mordred can have may escape me, and that's exactly why feedback is helpful. So all I'm asking is for people to approach me with suggestions, but please do so kindly. In a way that doesn't come off as if you're trying to pick a fight with me. That may have not been your intention, anon, but that's how it comes off on my part.

[mcalhenwrites]

Cal's original fiction writing list

Rascal Rascal With a stressful job as the breadwinner of the household, Hazel unwinds at home by surrendering control to his trustworthy partner, Ferdinand. The youngest "Raston Rascal" is under pressure to follow in his father's footsteps. It includes everything from his job to his hobbies to his lifestyle choices. But when there's a new airship being built, one that the Rastons have invested in, Hazel finds a growing interest in the vessel for all the wrong reasons. Rascal Short Stories: Ravish Him Hazel Raston might have been a little drunk when he first spotted Ferdinand Aletto standing by the nearest exit of the dormitory common room. So drunk, in fact, that he snagged Sinclair’s sleeve and hissed much too loudly in his ear, “Who is he? I want to ravish him.” Specifically, Hazel wanted to rip the stranger’s buttons off his shirt with his teeth and lick his chest down to his navel until he had his cock in his mouth. Ungrateful Little Princeling The first time Hazel is ever called an Ungrateful Little Princeling. The insult follows him into adulthood, as do the unpleasant memories. Eda, Darling After her lawyers contact Willie, Edith Anne goes home to face her future ex-husband. Woeful Spring Colds Ferdinand can always count on Hazel to take care of him when he has a cold. In turn, Hazel can count on Ferdinand to paint his ass red whenever they're no longer sick. A year spent together, as always Ferdinand and Hazel are content to spend a lifetime together - even other lifetimes, if permitted. A collection of monthly prompt oneshots from Year of the OTP. all to see you smile Hazel/Ferdinand consensual whipping boy AU. Seasons Seasons Howie Liddell and his siblings are born from wishes their father made during different seasons. But as the years pass, and Howie realizes no one in his family is aging, questions arise. It has been almost two centuries since Howie was born from the first fallen leaf of autumn. His fathers continue to raise Howie and his brothers as if they were small children. When a strange woman starts to appear, mysteries about their past begin coming to light. Seasons Short Stories: Summer in Snow The cruel words and treatment chase Shannon away from home, but the person who mistreats him is the one to bring him back when he runs. Stolen Summer Songs Human babies aren't usually born from cicada shells, but this child isn't human. There are no guides for how to parent a Season, and the fathers are left to wonder exactly how to keep their child alive. The Unfinished Gift We know about the rattan cane. We’ve seen it several times. He’s threatened us numerous times with it, fetching it on occasion to send it whooshing down through air. Something to give us a sense of the impact it would have on our hides were it to land. It is always returned to the umbrella stand afterward. I don’t think he plans to wag it around as a warning this time. Summer's Storm Despair sweeps through me like howling wind. My arms ache as if fighting against the gale, and only then do I realize it’s not an emotion but a physical sensation against my skin. My magic has responded to my grief. Above me, storm clouds brew. The village boys glance up, appalled by the sudden change in the weather. They yell at one another. I can’t make out their words. Only their sense of panic. How to Love When he's little, his parents mean the world to him.But he doesn't mean the world to them.

Geckos, Automata Short Stories: Dancing Bones A glimpse into Julian's growing relationship with necromancy in his youth. Don't Julian's pleas are always silent, but one day, a stranger speaks up for him and says the words he can't. Stand-alone Short Stories: Umbrella Spider A spider with umbrellas for legs helps the local humans stay dry in bad weather, but they aren't always so kind to him. Train Cats A city with a unique tourist attraction: giant cats roam freely, and the citizens accommodate them. The Sky Market A grandmother falls in love with the woman selling crafts. Sanctuary A group of werewolves takes in and raises an abused little girl. Mish's Dolls Every doll Mish crochets and adds a heart to comes alive. Bridge of Affinity Two young girls - one a monster and the other a human - bond over their shared love of stationary and cats. Audra Grief can be consuming, but it helps when you're visited by a cat who can heal people's hearts.

[my-mt-heart]

They wanted Daryl to grow... "Melissa wanted to be on the show"... "It was always the plan"... Excuse me, if that would be true, they're idiots. There're 100 ways to let Daryl grow alone and they'd done it for years on the main show while separating those two. The only truth in those three statements are the first two. They wanted a Daryl show and they knew Melissa wanted to do the spinoff. Obviously, she didn't fit in.

In one of the newest interviews of Norman, he said, both are going separate ways, the show will be about their story until they'll reunite. Yes, why not from the beginning? Because it might not have been the plan?

By separating them, they had the chance to let him grow but even that failed in the first season. He didn't grow, he went back to that redneck from years ago but forgot about his childhood trauma and some weird scenes were born.

Not seeing the nun on the bts pics might mean, A, she died during the first part of the shoot or B, they're hiding her like Melissa at first. B could be very unfuriating and I still don't trust the writers and EP.

If one event seemed to be a timetable, that's the final event and TTD afterwards. Nothing was settled then and MMBs future on the show still unknown.

They wanted the Daryl show, they got it and they had to pay for their pettiness. I hope they're finally able to accept they're idiots with too big egos.

The excuse that Carol's absence allowed Daryl to grow is exactly that, an excuse. Not a very believable one, just like when Gimple tried to say Carl's death in S8 was important for Rick's growth. Between him, Norman, and Nicotero, I'm really tired of hearing them defend the absolutely nonsensical choices they made for whatever personal agendas each of them had, and I'm tired of AMC letting them. I'm tired of the lack of concern for Melissa's professional reputation and for fans. Carylers look to these characters for strength and hope. They don't want to be treated like they're weak, undervalued, unheard, or unlikely to get what they want.

To me, it sounds like Norman and Nicotero wanted the spinoff to feel like the glory days of TWD, which is not the wrong way to go at all, except they thought they had to "reset" the character, having him behave the same way he did in S2, which like you said is the opposite of growth, plus it cheapens everything we saw him experience throughout the rest of the flagship show. Case in point, the childhood abuse. Case in point, his relationships with Carol, Rick, Judith and RJ, Lydia, I could go on.

I'm happy to see Melissa/Carol get the hero arc she's owed, so I'm not too bothered by separate arcs in S2, but it's frustrating at the same time since there are only six episodes and the wait has already been hard. My biggest concern is the potential unevenness of the arcs. I don't want to watch Carol go to the ends of the earth for Daryl while he's second guessing where he belongs. I don't want their reunion to be anticlimactic or ambiguous. The payoff needs to be huge, and like you, I'm having a hard time trusting any of the EPs other than Melissa. I know she'll push for the story Carol/Caryl deserve, but the level of misogyny and gatekeeping I'm seeing makes me extremely wary.

Melissa's deal closed at the end of last year, roughly when AMC sent out a survey regarding the title, so they were well aware of her future on the show, but still decided giving the male EPs what they wanted was more important than giving fans the Caryl show they were promised. I'm worried that they still aren't doing anything to fix the problem.

[sburbian-sage]

Something is seriously wrong with my session

Everything seems malformed and warped in ways it shouldn't be, god man i just

The imps scream in agony and bleed while ogres slough skin and flesh

The poor prospitians, they were all dying when we entered, some kind of plague from what we could gather, the poor queen was half dead like she was rotting apart

We tried to investigate derse but our rage player never came back so we gave up trying

Im a heir of time this session and its just awful, time feels like its stuttering and stopping before something breaks and it keeps going, on better days it feels like im walking through old syrup

Our space player has been near comatose since we started, if she does talk at all its all just utter nonsense, like her words aren't coming out in the right order

We've all heard of those "haha what if sburb was creepy" crap posts on the forums but this is a nightmare

Its like our session has cancer or some shit, a frog with two heads

Im scared and dont know what to do

Wow, that sounds genuinely awful.

First thing's first, confirm whether or not the Rage player is in fact dead or not. Or "suffered a death versus actually dying". I know that's going to be difficult between your sluggishness and the Space player's comatose status (and who knows what else), but you'll need to figure it out. The next step is going to be a bit difficult, so you'll need all the help you can get. Not to mention, it's always better to figure these things out before making big plans. For all we know Derse is fine and they're just too traumatized to want to leave. Either way, you have two equally undesirable options before you.

Option 1 is to complete the game. This ranges from "difficult" to "untenable" with a low hazard rating. All the enemies seem like they would fall apart with one blow, with the Black King potentially collapsing into a pile of blood and tumors if you hit him once. But at the same time, your group seems pretty disabled. Not to mention, who knows what other aspects of the game are broken. Or if it's even possible to breed a Genesis Frog, between the low quality of the entire universe, and your Space player being out of commission. If you go through with this plan, try contacting your Denizen for help. They're almost always unaffected by shit like this.

Option 2 is scratching the game, which might make things marginally less awful. The downside, of course, being that you're unlikely to survive it unless you do a Ring Voyage. I don't know exactly what happens if you stay in one place while the Session scratches, so I'd play it safe and just skedaddle. The Others should also be unaffected, and you'll need their consent to enter the Furthest Ring. You will, of course, also need a vessel. The Battleships and Meteors are always good choices, but you need to steal or be granted the former, and the Space player (or lots of explosives) to fling the latter. In both cases, I would double-check the physical integrity of both, to make sure no Corruption leaks through (on top of other prep, like getting a Grist stockpile, food, etc.) You'll need some coordination and elbow grease to activate the Scratch Construct, enter your vessel, and then take off before getting caught in whatever happens next. The silver lining is, of course, that once you've left the Session, the fact that Reality Is Shit will stop making you stutter, and will wake the Space player up. They will not be happy to find themselves in another status where Space is non-euclidean or otherwise doesn't make sense, but it's probably better than wherever they are now.

As I said before, two tough choices. You're going to need some willpower for this one.

[hypnomastersworld]

Hypno part 7

Words by themselves have no

meaning, especially if they aren't

even said, just written down

For example, I could tell you that

my whole purpose here is to seduce

you, to make you smoothly slip

under until you have no choice but

to submit to me completely, utterly

obedient, accepting my every word

without a thought

Even if that were true there's

already a few problems. First, the

cat would be out of the bag. P'd have

just told you my master plan and so

now you'd be ready for it and could

see it a mile away, defenses ready

Heck, you might even think that's

the dumbest think you ever heard

and be laughing to yourself about it

and would just stop reading, it's not

worth your time.

Yet here you are continuing, the

curiosity perhaps has you intrigued.

Intrigued is an interesting word, it

happens when something happens

that catches your intention in a

way you can't ignore, one might

say it compels you, and so you keep

reading, and now that thought is

in your head. The thought of you

completely submitting to me, you're

intrigued by it, compelled. Or

maybe just intrigued at why anyone

would say all this in the first place,

it seems so out of the ordinary.

What would that feel like anyways,

hypothetically, to succumb to

someone like that? Is there any

hint of excitement there, a brief

rush in some distant back part of

your mind? The simplicity too, not

having to think or make decisions

surrendering that to someone else

But wait, that's not something you

should be intrigued by because

you are confident and in charge

or yourself, you do what you want

not what someone else tells you to

do. So to get those thoughts out of

your head you clear your thoughts

completely, empty them out

flushing everything I'm saying out

with it. Yes and now that your mind

is empty i you can't be intrigued

anymore because there's nothing

left there, just blank. Your mind is

blank.

Now that your mind is blank you

don't have to worry about thinking

about how you might submit like

that, how you might lost control

like that, how you might begin to

obey. You don't have to imagine

me telling you to do something

and you willingly doing exactly

as your told without hesitation

You don't need to think about that

because your mind is blank for me

now, completely blank, completely

empty as my words begin to bounce

around in that void, bounce around

in your once blank mind as it now

begins to slowly fill with my words.

Words that are in your mind, those

are thoughts, and since it's my

words that are filling your mind

it's my thoughts that are flling

your mind, my thoughts, filling you

mind. You're mind is filling with

my thoughts as they become your

thoughts. My thoughts become your

thoughts now, do you understand

my thoughts become your thoughts.

And since you blanked your mind

there's nothing there to push back

as my words continue to rush in as

your thoughts and because they're

your thoughts you don't question

them because why would you

question your own thoughts, they're

yours afterall, your thoughts,

feelings, desires, all completely

valid.

And as my word are now your

thoughts when I write that you

have a growing urge to succumb,

to give in, to fall in line for me, you

understand that this is your own

thought, your own desire, your

own need. You understand that

you will fall in line for me because

it's what you want to do and why

would you deny your own wants

And you understand than when you

read what I write you will accept it

without question because like our

lesson is all about, words

thought, your own desire, your

own need. You understand that

you will fall in line for me because

it's what you want to do and why

would you deny your own wants

And you understand than when

you read what I write you will

accept it without question because

like our lesson is all about, words

by themselves have no meaning

but when words become your

thoughts, when my words become

your thoughts, you will act on them

without question or hesitation,

willingly, immediately, and

obediently, do you understand?

If you do, I want you to leave a

comment introducing yourself and

say Thank you for the lesson sir, I

understand perfectly and am eager

for my next lesson."

[psychelis-new]

Sorry I might sound really dumb rn but from what I understand. Even readings on/abt our destined person is not prominent bcs we constantly changing, right?

Okay, let me try again: All the readings work for PRESENT energies (as you read them, which can happen anytime in your life) and refer to how they MAY be in the future time, again, in relation to your PRESENT energy/situation. e.g. let's say you have planned to go away on vacation next week, so you have planned what you will do there according on how you feel now. But suddenly you get a flu. This means your vacation is cancelled and you'll have to change your plans: you'll stay home and take care of you and you'll postpone your vacation. Your future has changed (ofc this is a stupid example also cause is based on external factors, but maybe it can help you see my point).

Now: yes, we all go through life, experience stuff, and have this thing that is called "free will/freedom of choice". This means we/you/everyone CAN change our future and that POTENTIALLY you may find yourself in a different situation than the one predicted at this PRESENT time: because you made a different choice and this moved you on a parallel path, because the other person did (if we talk about FS)... When you read about a person's traits, it's all predicted as for how they are now. But ofc they can change, they can grow: how? How long will it take? How/when will you meet them? It's not always possible to know EXACTLY cause it's up on your choices (both of you). -This is also what I refer to when I speak about divine timing-.

It doesn't mean that the destined person you're reading about now, is going to be another person "physically" speaking (but for some it could: again, free will). It may just mean that this person has made choices/worked on themselves and so some of their traits that were predicted by a reader MAY not resonate with them (anymore) when you'll be with them.

This is why future is hard to predict precisely anyway, especially the "far" away future (not just FS, but life in general. It depends on your present choices too. Maybe a reader is telling you about your future career, but if you keep procrastinating, you may never see that coming true: it's also on your present choices). And this is why you may keep reading "it's almost there" but you aren't see anything in your 3d: not just that is up on your choices, but also "almost there" in 5d timing may even mean 4 years -as for now/present time- (for example), which is nothing compared to the 20+ you spent searching for your person (for example again).

Readings are to be taken as a general guide based on your present life, not as pure gold and universal truth. You can see bits of what may be in store for you in your future through them, but you can and need to make your choices and be the author of your life in the 3d since now. [Let me add: sometimes something in your *near* future may be blocked to readers and you cannot know about it in a specific moment: this probably means you need to make a choice in that moment (days, months..) that will change that future and it's up on you to decide which road to take to get there. Like... a test, even.] The how, the why, the when in regards to your future, they mostly depend on you and what you'll decide to experience, what you'll work towards, the actions you will or won't take for whatever reason. Ofc some things you may want to experience will probably not become true or may not be good for you cause they're not written in your life (call them lessons), but others will (as meeting your person). It's still worth a try to see which will, and answer all the how, why, when while enjoying the process of living.

We have this need to know precisely everything, every little detail, about our future, probably also cause of our upbringing, and here's why many rely so much and deeply on readings: it makes us feel safer know what's in store so that we can be prepared and act accordingly, reducing the stress (but honestly, this is more of a mental/emotional state and I'm not sure readings will definitely help everyone: we may end up asking the same question everyday and add stress to our life anyway). So again, we cannot know future things in depth cause we can always change that part, we can change how we get there, when, why... We need to understand that we can stay in the unknown and it can also be enjoyable. It doesn't have to be unsafe. It can be uncomfortable ofc cause we're not used to it, but not necessarily unsafe. Especially if you believe in yourself and your own power. And trust your Guides and Universe, they'll always help you giving you signs and having your back. (Reminder I'm a psychic I want to know everything too and not knowing the how to something has been causing me lot of stress but... it's good to put a fullstop to this need sometimes and just live, try and see, hoping and working for the best outcome).

Trust that you'll end up where and with whom you need to be anyway.

[ell-vellan]

💭 right back atcha for El and the reveal about the evanuris - mythal, trespasser, all of it

(Does solas tell her about the vallaslin since she’s with bull?)

Haha, thanks for the ask :) I'm actually planning future oneshots about these events - and tbh, they're not yet set in chronological order as I haven't thought about it in that detail, but I'll tell you about my plans!

Honestly I feel like Solas telling Lavellan about the vallaslin shouldn't have been romance-locked, but maybe friendship locked. I can see him feeling a duty to tell a fellow elf he's come to respect the truth - I can imagine that it rankles him, seeing someone proudly wear what he views as slave markings day after day without knowing the truth. He's held it back for so long, and know his charade will soon have to end -- so he might as well leave with a parting gift to soften the betrayal. (El sure doesn't see it as a gift, though.)

So, yes! I want to write the aftermath of him pulling her aside to tell her, without the romantic aspect of that scene.

Cutting myself off at this point so I don't spam people who don't care about my long headcanons 😉

Honestly, when he offers to remove it, she's...so angry. And she rarely lets herself be truly angry. But she already feels cut off and alone from everything Dalish; she and Solas haven't always seen eye to eye; it's an insult that he thinks so little of a beloved culture that he'd take the last link to her clan and history away.

That part sort of overshadows the revelations about the gods; but she decides quite quickly that it doesn't matter if the gods were exactly what she was always taught. She already had a tenuous belief in the distant elven gods. What good were their gods, truly, if they'd never helped the elves escape slavery, massacre, or subjugation? They were more ideas and vehicles to teach morals to children than anything else. And the older she became, the less she believed they influenced her life in any meaningful way.

So, Solas' origin story of the Evanuris makes sense to her, but it also doesn't change much for El.

The lessons they taught still matter, even if they didn't come directly from gods. The culture that binds her people as one is still important. They made their own stories out of the ashes of old ones.

As to the Well of Sorrows, El can't in good conscience allow the wisdom of the ancient elves go to a human, or be lost forever, so she makes a sacrifice to drink from the well. And she does view it as sacrifice, but she's already sacrificed a lot to become Inquisitor, so what's one more? I'm not exactly sure how she feels beyond "resigned to her fate, and vaguely afraid she just made a terrible mistake." Dealing with the voices from the Well aren't great for her mental health for a while, either.

I want to write both Solas and Bull's reaction to this: the first is angry, maybe out of fear. Bull doesn't know much about this stuff and lets her make her own choice, but secretly worries what it will mean in the long term; there's already the Anchor to worry about - now even more weird magic he doesn't understand. He doesn't like unpredictable magic, not knowing what might happen. He doesn't know what to prepare himself for - but he hopes for the best. And he worries for her mental state, that she would take this risk; it feels like she's sinking deeper into her role and losing herself.

And Trespasser - seeing Solas with his true power as Fen'Harel is both terrifying and somehow makes her deeply, deeply sad. He's every bit the scary tales of her childhood come to life. Learning more about what he tried to do for his people reminds her of own doubts that she was following the right path as the Inquisitor, making the right choices, doing the right things to save the world. She can empathize with that, she can mourn what he tried to do and what was lost. But at the same time, can't stand idly by while he undoes all that she sacrificed to save. Or it all becomes meaningless. And she can't accept that she did all of this for nothing.

She feels not up to the task of stopping him from destroying the world - he's so much more powerful than he ever let on - but still duty-bound to try, until her last breath. After all, she'd befriended the Trickster, the thing she'd been warned about all her life. Her folly and thus, her responsibility.

[webbedphantom]

So I wanna talk about this guy-

Meta Spider is one of the coolest concepts I've ever come up with, somewhat inspired by AUs where Joker or someone else gets Yaldy's power, as well as a very long and very epic fanfic where Yaldy possesses all the Thieves except Joker and tries to resume his plans. (I'd share what the fic was, but I can't remember what it was called sadly, which sucks because I never finished it-)

The idea here was also somewhat inspired by the beginning of NWH, where I was considering the idea of Aaron's identity being revealed, but the issue was that I didn't know how to walk that back tastefully. Keep in mind, NWH released before I'd started writing here, and Twitter doesn't exactly do the concept of verses.

The solution I came up with was simple, a deal with the devil. Which if you're at all familiar with Spider-Man comics, sounds really bad, but I promise this is better than that dumpster fire.

After Aaron begins to stress over how much his life is ruined, and how it has put all his friends in danger, Yaldabaoth appears with a deal. He will manipulate the minds of the masses to forget who Phantom Spider is, though he won't be able to do so for anyone with a Persona or anything similar, meaning the team, Akechi, Shido, and a few others would still remember. And the only thing he asks is to borrow Aaron's body for 24 hours, and more importantly, his innate connection to the Metaverse.

He doesn't agree easily, and he makes sure there are rules a limitations on what Yaldy can do during those 24 hours. Obviously, he's trying to fuse the worlds together, but do that in Aaron's body will require him to get his hands dirty, so he only agrees on a few conditions.

He cannot kill anyone

He cannot harm his friends

He will give Aaron a year to prepare. Not much point in reverting the status quo if he doesn't have time to enjoy it.

Yaldabaoth agrees to not harm his allies, as long as they don't get in his way. If they do, they're fair game, though he still cannot kill them. As for the year to prepare, Yaldabaoth will only agree to a month to get his things in order. He knows if he gives Aaron too long, he's likely to devise away to limit him even further.

Aaron reluctantly accepts.

He doesn't feel he has a choice. His identity being out puts everyone around him at risk. If he ever wants to be in their lives again, if he wants to keep them safe, he has to take this deal.

But he doesn't keep it a secret from them. As soon as the deal is made, he goes and he tells them about it. Obviously, they aren't particularly happy about this, but they understand why he agreed.

So they prepare. They all mark the day of the takeover on their calendars, and they gear up. They don't have to beat him, they just need to stall him.

Now the exact events of what happens during those 24 hours, I've never come up with. Mostly because since this was going to be an event, I was going to leave the details up to whoever I was writing with. But it's a really interesting idea, that I'd love to write sometime!

What I will say is that this would be a really tough fight. Once he knows the Thieves are trying to stop him, he isn't going to hold back much, he will hit them with everything he has as long as he knows they can take it. Aaron won't be able to resist his control, all he can do is nudge things a little to make sure he abides by the terms of the deal. And the only way he can get control back early is if Yaldabaoth breaks his word, which would involve either killing someone or harming one of Aaron's confidants who never got in his way, which aren't exactly ideal.

Last thing I'll say is while I don't have the specifics of the event laid out, I do know what happens if they succeed. Aaron gets his body back, and proceeds to pass the heck out for a few days. But when he wakes, he starts looking into those abilities Yaldabaoth used, to see if he can actually just... do that.

What are those abilities? Don't worry, I've got a post in the works that will explain exactly how powerful Aaron can be. (As well as explain why a lot of those powers won't be seen in a majority of his verses)