#soul mate (2016)

[poptrendswithjenna]

No but this clip 😍🥹

2016. Olivia mentions “your soul mate is right in front of you” and Courtney immediately starts to look at Shayne before looking at Olivia.

Girl knew even then

[seemeunseelie]

‘LIX’ from Absolute Solitude: Selected Poems (2016), by Dulce María Loynaz, tr. James O’Connor | Kate McGahan (unknown origin) | starpeace | ‘I Cannot Be Known’ from Selected Poems by Paul Eluard (1936), tr. Gilbert Bowen (1988) | Norwegian Wood (1987), by Haruki Murakami | ‘Walking Home’ from Magdalene (2017), by Marie Howe | Ruin and Rising (2014), Leigh Bardugo | ‘Soul Mates’ from Love and Misadventure (2013), by Lang Leav | Gabriela Mistral, from a letter to Doris Dana (c.1950), tr. Velma García-Gorena | I Origins (2014), dir Mike Cahill |‘It’s All Coming Back To Me Now’ from Original Sin (1989), Jim Steinman | ‘All Things End’ from Unreal Unearth (2023), Hozier | all other images taken from Baldur's Gate 3 (Larian Studios)

[thewriterg]

𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠

pairing(s): Leonardo x afab!reader, Raphael x afab!reader, Donatello x afab!reader, Michelangelo x afab!reader, heretic!reader (witch and vampire), soulmate AU

summary: Fighting an army of foot clan soldiers by yourself was easy but seeing your mates and their father that you began to call your own in pain was one of the hardest things you’ve ever been through you’ve ever been through on your over three centuries of earth and you could never see your mates in pain, not ever.

word count: 10.8k+ —damn boy she’s thick— 😎🤏👴🏿

warning(s): mentions of death and suicide attempts, violence, blood, descriptions of weapons, angst, they’re all 22-20 don’t hit me with that minor bayverse turtle bs, crying, feeling a soul bond dying?, pet names, kisses, and language

A/n: —GIFs; @tkappi & @aurora-the-kunoichi— So I rewatched TMNT 2014/16 the best one beside 2012 btw 🙄 and I’m actually taking this from a draft of mine from like two years ago…

You stood surrounded by over a dozen foot soldiers in the alley just above the sewer occasionally throwing daggers and ripping flesh with your bare teeth you had no desire to drag this fight on any longer than you had to you did however feel the strong tug of your bond pulling you to protect your mates

your mates

Little over three years ago you would’ve never even thought of thinking of such you were a witch yes and you did your studies over the subject but it was brief something you couldn’t get into because you simply would not have something like that of your own

Well you could see how far that got you

At the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017 you had a very awaken feeling in your heart and stomach and the longer you tried to pull away from it the more empty you began to feel so you began to travel with no reason why and after a long five months you were in New York

The turtles didn’t have a clue what was going on in their bodies they had passed mating season and it was almost like the hibernation like symptoms they experienced in the winter because they in fact did not hibernate

From lively, upbeat, hyper, and energetic the reptiles turned into slow, easily irritable, cranky creatures. They had no motivation to train as hard as they usually did, had endless arguments snapping at each other, sleeping for more than twelve hours at a time if Splinter didn’t wake them, and despite an empty feeling in their stomach and chest they had no desire to eat

Leonardo couldn’t utter another motivational speech as he was before when his team were experiencing said dilemmas as he was the last to get hit with the dreadful feelings he could barely drag himself out of bed to use the bathroom so why would he force his brothers to train?

Raphael was snapping at anything that made a noise around him or even seemed to breathe in his direction on the regular he would occasionally bump heads with Leo but now no one was safe from the Red Clad turtles rage and he spent most of his time in his weight room pounding his fish into a worn and abused punching bag

Donatello couldn’t tell you when’s the last time the group had showered nor could he tell you when’s the last time he invented or fixed something hell he couldn’t even think of the last time he even began to touch his equipment he along with Leo often slept the longest even after Splinters attempts of getting them both up

Michelangelo who was usually the most talkative and hyper of the group had fell silent and drained he hadn’t rode his hoverboard in weeks and couldn’t even begin to try to think to pick up a spray can or pencil to draw anything he instead was up all night and asleep all day

The problem was that they were at the end of spring they were not in winter so they should have not been experiencing those said feelings

Splinter had had enough he knew his boys were strong and would eventually shake the feeling like they always did but they didn’t usually get like this until the colder times of the year and it was indeed blazing hot

When the thought crossed over his mind he denied it quickly they were animals such thing couldn’t be possible as he thought it was but as time went on it made more and more sense

Animals had mates and mating seasons yes, his son’s experienced it every year that wasn’t the issue it was the who would fulfill the roles as each of the terrapins mates that confused him the books of turtle mating didn’t cover enough ground for him to get the answers he needed so he was soon once again standing face to face to face with the bookshelf he hardly touch that taught him wisdom and the art he knew today

The mutant rat had picked up a book he had yet to read the only book he hadn’t read it had a brown leather cover and it was thick and full with unread pages he carefully dragged his pawed hands over the front carefully making sure to watch his claws

He’d read the book front to back making sure to read over each page at least twice but he was most efficiently reading over soul ties and sealing soul bonds

Soon enough weeks after he was sure Splinter had all of his sons in front of him and even though they felt this way this odd, empty, pitiful, way they all held their respective positions on their knees their three fingers pressed up against their other pair and head bowed even though they slouched as they all could hear sleep and the voidness beg their names out with a screeching voice

“I have a gift for you all, something as a serve of hope” The mutant spoke in his usual prideful, wisdom filled, tone as he began to explain the tale bits and pieces at a time until the puzzle was made up and the picture was made out in front of them

Leonardo was glad he had an explanation or even a start of why they were feeling this way he could slowly feel some of the weight on his his chest and deep within his plastron

Raphael was skeptical even though he never doubted his Sansei he raised him, never lied to him, trained him, kept him safe when he was defenseless, but he couldn’t help but be skeptical. Even if he did have a soulmate what type of being with a brain and sense of surrounding would want to be with a freak like him?

Donatello was on the middle side of the fence he had his doubts what if they were just going through an early ‘hibernation’ period? Though Donnie wasn’t as open to it as Ralph was he did have a slight fear of rejection but he also had a feeling of excitement? Maybe fuzziness and warmth at the thought of being loved unconditionally that was made for someone just for him.

Michelangelo was ecstatic he would have an angel by his side. What if they were a Jedi? What if they were looking for him too!?

“How do we find our mates!? We should look for them! I gotta find my Angel cakes!” Mikey was out of his kneeling position he was ready to do anything his chest hurt a little less and soon he would realize it wasn’t the discovery but the newly found distance that lifted the weight

“Mikey we can’t just go on a side quest to find people we don’t know” Leo intervened is brothers rambling also getting out of his position of kneeling as the other two turtles followed in suite

“That’s your problem bro it’s not a ‘side quest’ it’s the main mission” The orange clad turtle stated in a matter of fact tone with a smile on his face

“And if we actually meet these people-”

“They’re our mates not jus’ some random people if you wanna be lonely all yer life that’s on you but you can’t make decisions for us” Ralph interrupted with a gruff coolly voice the pair began to argue as Donatello sighed heavily Along with Splinter who suddenly bursted from his quietness

“Silence! Before I send you all to hashi!” The mutant rodent shouted and the room fell silence the only thing erupting from the room was Mikey slightly whining about not doing anything but the group knew that it would just about alway be a group punishment

“You need to find an efficient plan that still allows you continue your duties while finding you’re peace” Splinter spoke wisely before retreating his steps to his room to meditate

“What if we send two of us at a time to search for them while the other two stay here to patrol” Donnie spoke up it wasn’t the most effective plan but it was the best they had the purple clad turtle had finally had relief of the dreadful empty feeling he didn’t plan on going back

“That’s not a bad idea… We should all go back to patrolling for now and then after a month or so we can get everything under control and then we can carry out the plan” Leo finally spoke up after a moment of silence as everyone subconsciously nodded eventually they all went their separate ways with a bit more hope than they started with

They had their Sansei to thank for that

💌💌💌💌

As weeks passed the brothers were too caught up in protecting the city to carry out their plan the reptiles all stood around in the dojo listening to the TV as the channel nine news played filling the silence

There had been ‘animal attacks’ going on all over the city multiple pictures of punctured wounds showed up on the screen and none of the brothers were dumb enough to believe the story that was being sold the wounds were too… clean to be from an animal attack their was two punctured spots with usually a bit of bruising around them and was often found around the neck just below the jugular or on the wrist barely missing a vein

“What if there’s a vampire out there just… feeding from people” Mikey stated in awe at the thought before Ralph through one of the terrapins nunchucks at his forehead while he hissed rubbing over the sore spot

“Vampires aren’t real idiot” The red clad turtle rolled his eyes as he placed is sais in their holsters at his hips

“You don’t know that! What if they could be hiding around us in plain sight” The youngest brother dragged as the group began to move towards the tunnels

“Well the news hasn’t report anyone sparklin’ like a disco ball ‘cause they’re in sun and these bites that people are getting aren’t turning them mad so I think that answers that pretty well” The raging turtle resorted with an eye roll as Mikey sucked his teeth

“Can you both be quiet!” Leo hissed as they quickly traveled through the tunnels the last thing they need was Splinter to hear their conversation bouncing of the metal as they traveled to the surface somewhere they were indeed not supposed to be

Soon enough the group was traveling over the roof of buildings watching over the streets of New York they weren’t as busy as they usually were but they were never empty

“Please, you’re taking too much” Donatello heard it first a small voice slightly whimpering followed by Leonardo as they alerted their brothers silently landing on the next roof close to an alley

“Shut up” A women’s voice erupted from the shadows and suddenly the noise of the first voice was gone the only thing left signaling life was heavy breathing

💌💌💌💌

You hadn’t had blood from the vein since you were around 220 it had been a while 146 years to be exact but even if you happened to be angry at the world for an unknown reason you weren’t stupid leaving a trail a bodies with bite wounds wouldn’t be ideal for laying low

You could’ve gave your victims some of your blood heal them up so they no longer had a mark to show for the attack but humans were idiotic and you didn’t need a baby vamp on your hands because they had found some way to die in twenty four hours

So you settled with this

You could feel different presences around you as you finally let up on the man who you had pushed against the wall tuning in on the heartbeats around and there were four not including the blonde in front of you but they didn’t sound human

Before you could comprehend a hand was on your shoulder crushing your collar bone you quickly gripped what you could make out as a three fingered hand throwing a packing kick to the things knee before swiping under its hold the wind whispering and whooshing behind you

Leonardo slightly faltered in his stance at the attack on his knee as a figure sped around him at a inhuman speed but it in fact was a human and he could feel string of his heart tug slightly but couldn’t think on it too much as Ralph called out to him

“Alright fearless that was your way hears mine” The red clad turtle stated in a gruff voice as you finally stood still in the middle of the alley that voice… it made your ears ring you couldn’t pawn on it long as you got swept off your feet your head hitting the concrete as the light post flickered so neither opposing sides could see each others identities and before the unknown creature could lay another hand on you you had your hand in the air before swiping it right as the being crashed into the the brick wall the sounds of trash bins falling filling the empty air

“What the hell” Ralph groaned quick to get back on his feet while Mikey stood beside him helping him up and was soon going back to the battle

No matter what the team threw at the unknown woman she was back up in an instant and seemed to be healing? Leonardo was sure he felt one of his katanas graze skin on her arm but he watched as the wound quickly mended itself together at a concerning rate

Whatever they were dealing with was not human

“I told you, I called it! It is a vampire!” The youngest brother cheered after coming from checking on the stranger along with Donnie the man was slightly bleeding from his neck and was experiencing some after shock symptoms but other than that was fine

“Mikey!” The other reptiles called as the youngest rolled his eyes mumbling about getting no credit before joining the fight with his brothers

Leo and Ralph were on their knees in front of the girl clutching their heads in pain as she held her hand out towards them and Mikey couldn’t help but realize she looked… human? other than her baring fangs and the prominent purple colored veins under her eyes her skin wasn’t paper white, she didn’t wear a cloak she wore… black jeans and a leather jacket?

“Donnie!” Leo called out groaning and gasping for air the pain going through his head was like a hundred needles stabbing at his brain is this how he was going to die?

“Sorry bro wrong turtle” Michelangelo grinned taking one of Raphael’s fallen sais before throwing it into the women’s shoulder blade as she let out a hiss and the orange clad terrapin was soon too on his knees in pain

Suddenly the light post flickered on and as You saw all three of the mutant turtles in front of you your invisible assault on the brain faltered as you looked at them closely your brain screaming at you to protect them, to touch them, to heal them.

You began to take a step forward before there was a cloth forced down on your nose and mouth and your face burned as you smelled the familiar plant clouding your senses

Vervain

You felt weak as you struggled against the rough yet warm embrace that held you down the plant was one of your very few weaknesses how’d they even know? Where did they even get it? As your vision became blurry, your face stung and burned, and you’re eyelids became heavy and soon you were limp in this familiar yet foreign embrace

The turtles watched as Donatello held a black cloth to the woman’s face and how she went limp in his hold they also watched as their brother stared at the stranger with a foreign care and something else they could quite figure out

Leonardo was the first one to get on his feet as he approached the pair something simply drawing him in and Donnie fought the urge to growl at his brother to get away as he subconsciously held the body tighter It hit then hit the leader like it did his brother as his mind screamed at him

Protect mate!

protect!

protect!

protect!

“It’s her” The terrapin whispered as he reached his arm out to touch her skin Donatello took a step back a low growl in the back of his throat as started at his brother with wild eyes

“Are you tellin’ me I ‘gotta share a mate with you idiots?” Raphael’s voice was deeper than it usually was his accent a little heavier as he stared at your limp body suddenly next to his brothers with some sort of anger at your unconscious state

“Dudes tell me you feel that too” Michelangelo questioned staring down at you and they could. The bubbling sensation in their plastrons, the protective nature screaming in their head, the odd feeling of the word spinning, and that nothing else no longer mattered

“We have to take her to the lair” The red clad turtle said suddenly ignoring his brother rabid animalistic gazes as he took a step forward to to get a better look at your features the skin around your mouth, nose, and chin slowly mended together itself together at a way slower rate than it was before Leo took note standing by his brothers side

“That herb, that’s her weakness. Donnie what Is that?” The leader questioned now inspecting the black cloth in his hands it didn’t burn or hurt him like it did you

“It’s an oil I made from a plant called Vervain, it’s a strong natural sedative. I figured if we did actually come into contact with an animal than it would be easier to put them down than tackle with it” Leave it to the purple clad turtle to think of every scenario they could be in

“What the hell are you doin’? It’s burning her idiot” Raphael growled now grabbing his brother scaled wrist as he went to sit the cloth back on your face and Leonardo snatched his hand away before responding

“We need to keep her unconscious until we get to the lair. I don't know if you're aware but she's not human or did you forget how she had you on your ass?” The leader rarely swore and it made the hot head get defensive but he was unusually uneasy

His mate was the one who drank blood from civilians.

His mate was not human.

His mate was not just his mate.

“Oh and she didn't have you on your knees begging like a pussy?” The red clad terrapin sneered as the two brothers stared at each other intensely nostrils flaring

“Guys we need to get her to my lab I don't care how we do it but we need to do it quickly” Donnie nugged Leonardo and Mikey tugged on Raphaels arm pulling them away from each other and the leader went to approach the blonde haired male who sat next to a trash bin with a newfound terror in his eyes softly shaking

“Do not tell anyone what you saw tonight. If you do, we will find you.” The reptile stated darkly after making sure the man was fine to walk and had a sense of surrounding

Soon the turtles were back on top of roofs the night winds grazing their scales as they jumped from one building to another quickly keeping Donnie infront as he held your unconscious body in his arms

When the group reached the manhole they were quick to run through the tunnels with silent feet and what would've been and fifteen minute walk to get to the lair was a five minute run as landed silently in in the dojo tip toeing to keep their Sensei unaware of their presence as they safely made it into Donatello's lab

“What are we gonna do to hold ‘er? She’ll just run again if we don't have ‘er held down” Ralph stated and for once Leo agreed while Mikey stood above your unconscious figure laying on Donnies bed, you were so beautiful, nostalgic even. He felt the strongest urge to protect you, the weight in his chest was empty, he felt complete.

You couldn't get away, you couldn't leave them and they just got you.

“What if we tied her down to a chair? You know how they do in those interrogation scenes in the action movies!?” The terrapin said suddenly causing his brothers to look at him pondering

“It's a good idea but, if she can push over Ralph and Leo like she did back there than ropes would be a piece of cake” Donnie shook his head slightly meeting his older brother's eyes as Leo spoke

“Do you still have some of that oil you made?”

💌💌💌💌

You felt your mind drifting in and out of consciousness as the voices around you suddenly went silent you blinked the fuzzy feeling in your brain away as your eyes open vision blurry and you began to take you hand to rub at it to be met with a searing pain around your body if you weren't up before you were now

You roughly thrashed around you restraints Vervain laced ropes clever you had to admit you felt too weak to break out of the chair you were strapped do

“Woah trouble slow yer roll there”

“Please don't hurt yourself anymore than you have ”

“Just relax Angel cakes you're all good ”

“We're not gonna hurt you”

It was pretty ironic that this..mutant tortoise in front of promised you such thing as your flesh repeatedly burned and healed itself

“Let me go” You hissed baring your fangs as purple veins traveled underneath your eyes and your once y/e/c eyes were now replaced for pitch blackness you fought the warm feeling in your chest that was pulling you to these… things

Donatello and Michelangelo watched you in curiosity in this weak state you resemble more of a shaken scared animal then whatever being you were taking on four mutant turtles in the alley thirty minutes prior suddenly the brothers all watched as Leonardo dropped to his knees in front of you staring you dead in your pitch black eyes

The feeling of a tug was no longer there as the feeling now pushed you roughly into this unfamiliar yet certain embrace and the veins under your eyes slightly faltering before you looked away from the Leaders gaze

You were fighting it he though amusingly

He took his hand bringing it up to your face to force you to old hold his gaze ignoring the hiss that erupted from your throat instead just steadily keeping your gaze and finally his brothers took note of what he was doing and followed in his steps coming Into and eye level position with you

Your pupils dilated, the veins vanished from your eyes, and your fangs retracted as you looked at all of them taking it in as a small voice in your head injecting familiar words into your brain

protect them

hold them

heal them

It was never the same from that day but you were… whole, complete.

💌💌💌💌

You were fighting over twenty foot soldier by yourself as the boys fought underground you were simply holding these ones off quickly discarding each that couldn’t seem to get a hand on you sweeping through the grounds with a speed quicker than light

You swept your foot under a masked man making him lose his balance falling on the concrete with a sickening crunch the last small group of soldiers came sprinting towards you and you fought the urge to roll your eyes

You held your hand out as they dropped to their knees some screaming in pain as others groaned and whimpered you held your hand there for a second before turning your wrist quickly as quaking cracks erupted the air around you as bodies fell to the floor limp

You turned on the heel of your boot as you went to open the manhole to the sewer two colossal vans surround both exits of the alley releasing large herds of assassins and soldiers yelling out random codes if Mikey or Raph were here they would squish or poke your cheeks because you ‘looked mean’

Not because you were a vampire over 300 years old and a menace to society

“Any last words freak?” One of the most formal dressed soldiers called out to you surrounded by a dozen more the whole herd pointed their assault rifles at you the red beams bouncing of your clothes you figured he was Lieutenant a weak one but a lieutenant nonetheless

“I do actually” You stated simply and you could see it took some of them back while you held your hands up in the air as a surrender as they waited for you to speak

💌💌💌💌

Raphael pulled himself and April through the crushed rocks and debris that had collapsed from the ceiling as they began to approach the end of the makeshift tunnel an ear piercing scream shook the gravel under their feet the red clad turtle smiled slightly before continuing his path as the brunette shakily stood in her spot

“Shouldn’t someone go help her” She questioned with a concerned look on her face as Ralph turned to look at her smirking before shaking his head before beginning to pull them the rest of the way out

“That’s a battle scream princess you know that out of anyone, nothing worried about” The terrapin knew if you were next to him you would definitely probably kick his ass for calling someone else one of your pet names but how he loves how you glared

April slightly shuttered at the thought to put it in a short term you didn’t get off on the right foot, you hated her when you first met to put it in the most appropriate words she could

💌💌💌💌

You fled around buildings at a inhuman speed looking for the four brothers you went down to the lair and hadn’t found them there Splinter how ever was wide awake and was the face you were met with when you hopped down from the tunnel so now here you were speeding from rooftop to rooftop trying to find the terrapins

“That guys gonna be drinking out of a sippy cup for months!” You listened closely around a mile away you could hear Donatellos voice tracking through the air over the voices, cars, and overall noise of New York

Inhuman speed and hearing just another benefit

“That’s what I’m talking about brother, shadows in the night completely unseen” Was the last statement you heard before a camera flash fluttered across the roof maybe catching your frame in the corner

You didn’t wait before in a blink in an eye you were in front of the girl taking her by the collar of her jacket railing over the roof dropping her onto the hard ground

“You think it’s okay to take pictures of people because they look different from you little girl?” You questioned as the brunette shook slightly in terror watching as your pupils dilated eyes turning pitch black while veins crawled actively underneath your eyes

“花/Hana” Leonardo tried softly sitting a three fingered hand on your shoulder as you snapped around to look at him giving him a soft hiss standing up to your full height from crouching over the girl which didn’t look like much compared to the over six foot turtle (flower)

“You said no more secret patrolling” You stated darkly walking towards the turtle with a slight threat in your step as he backed away the brothers winced they knew they weren’t safe either

“I kno-” The blue clad turtle began

��You all said if you patrolled again you would tell me first” You hissed again jabbing your finger into the leaders plastron as he chuckled nervously

“Listen trouble, we didn’t mean for it to happen like this were sorr-” You were in front of the red masked turtle with a blink of an eye April watched as you practically teleported in front of the turtle with a speed she couldn’t quite comprehend as a human

“Are you sorry because you did it or sorry because you got caught?” The brunette had a slight fear for the turtle beings you all knew each other no doubt as she watched the most buff turtle nervously laugh under your rough gaze

Raphael didn’t have time to respond as you were back in front of her dragging her to her feet and she could see the peak of your fangs as you spoke

“You are going to leave, and you aren’t going to tell anyone what you saw tonight. If you do I will find you” You were back in front of her now looking her directly in her eye’s pupils dilating as April let the feeling of her body take over she didn't have a say a foot forced one in front of another as she came back down the latter she came from beginning to walk the streets of New York

“Did you have to compel her?” Was the last thing the brunette heard as she began to walk home

💌💌💌💌

The pair made it out the tunnel as Raphael told the woman to stay put as she hid in Donatello's lab peeking from behind the door watching as the red clad turtle run off to go help his brothers

Leonardo attempted to go assist Splinter but he was soon stopped in his tracks as a small group of foot soldiers tased his scaley body as he spoke in soft groans falling to the floor at the harsh electrical impact shouting for his brother

“Hang on Leo, I'll be right there!” Donatello wanted to help his brother in the moment her really, trull did but it was a bit difficult when he was swinging his Bo-staff blocking bullets from assaulting his body as at least four different foot soldiers shot at him Raphael finally emerged from the shadows taking two of the men dressed in all black knocking their heads together holding out a hand for his brother

April watched as Shredder began gaining gaining the upper hand on Splinter throwing the rat on top of the dojos platform slowly strolling towards him steel claws slicing through the thick air that fell over the lair

Adrenaline pumping through the news reporters veins as she gripped and pulled on the handle on one Raph's sais that had gotten stuck in a wired basket before sprinting towards the armored bot like man stabbing him in the control system on his back as it sparked from the impact he turned around quickly

“You stupid little girl” The deep robot like voice degraded taking a threatening step towards the girl

“April!” Splinter called out quick to get back on his feet wrapping his long tail around the brunettes frame throwing her out of the dojo into safety as she landed with a whimper at the newfound pain in her ribs and forearm stumbling behind Donatello's steel desk out of the open

“Sensai!” Leonardo shouted sprinting towards his father as the rat landed near a concrete bared gate with a thud

“No, my sons stay back!” The mutant rat crawled to the small lever on the wall dropping the gate the terrapin began hitting his katanas against the bars watching as his father figure got dragged away by a metal fist before he scrambled loose limping back toward the gate

“NO,”

“Save yourselves!” He croaked

“Sensai, Dad! Dad! What are you doing!?” The blue clad turtle cried out

“Hide!”

💌💌💌💌

You watched as the turtles struggled to get the bar gate open from blocking the dojo you rushed over quickly holding your hand out raising it with a strain as the makeshift door slid open

They all looked back at you and could’ve sighed in relief they knew you could hold your on but as your mates they were always worried

The group of terrapins rushed in as their father was held in front of them shoulders slumped breathing shallow and irregular the only sign of life was pleading look in his eyes for them to run, to get away from here

“Drop you weapons or your… father dies” The gruff robotic like voice spoke into the air pausing in a moment of disgust as foot soldiers surrounded them

Just as the turtles were about to abandon their arms of defense a voice spoke out into the open

“You let them all go, or I’ll kill myself.” You stood above the railing looking down on the Dojo as the attention shifted towards you including shredder as his head turned with a metal shriek

“Y/n!”

“What the hell are you doin’!”

“Please!”

“No!”

To put together your statement you had a piece of wood from a broken leg chair directed in front of your heart and as you stepped forward a little into the light Donatello noticed the blood continuously seeping through your clothes

Why the fuck weren’t you healing?

“We both know what I am, that’s why some of your men have wooden bullets?” You questioned even though it was more of a statement and the terrapin’s stomachs dropped with nausea

you could only be killed with wood piercing you heart if one of the soldiers had just a few extra seconds then…

“We also know that I’m stronger than anyone in here so… you can get the turtles with me hunting you down, and not stopping until I’m tearing you apart or you can leave them and take me on your side” You couldn’t meet your mates gaze it would tear you apart so instead you looked dead into the black shield where the man’s eyes were supposed to be

Shredder dropped Splinter from his cold grasp and the turtles immediately began to protest as Raphael was quick to step forward two foot soldiers were quick to turn on their tasing wands with a threatening crack

Shredder suddenly jumped onto the platform above landing in front of you with as the ground trembled beneath you dressed in all silver armor he stared down at you and you made sure to hold his gaze as he held up his cold hand up to you face as his knives rested under your chin and you dropped the makeshift stake from your hands

“Turn it off, no further harm will come to them” He stated gruffly almost as if he was trying to comfort you he had done his research on your kind it was difficult and took years of critique but he’d mastered how to build up and break down your species you knew what he wanted Shredder didn’t have many things but he did have his word

“So, Turn it off.” He repeated

“No! 花/Hana” Leonardo struggled against the grip of four foot soldiers as they tased his plastron and you breathed in a shaky breath closing your eyes feeling tears slip down your cheeks as memories of all you together flashed through your mind (flower)

“Fuck! Princess don’t do it!” Raphael groaned out a yell on his hands and knees his figure jerking as shock waves spread through his body

“Please dove!” Donatello deeply whimpered probably getting the worst of it all as he shook at the taser on his shoulder a little too close to his neck

You opened your eyes and the assault on the turtles ended your expression was lifeless, like a never ending void that went on and on, that you couldn’t get out of.

“No” Michelangelo whispered breathlessly you were without your emotions, without a humanity.

You jumped from the platform into the main room of the lair taking a few steps forward before swiping your hand to the right in front of your body making foot soldier go flying some landing with sickening cracks as you went to stand in front of the turtles

“If you get in my way, I’ll kill you all myself” Leonardo watched as something lit in your eyes before it quickly died down to a nothingness

Shredder watch you with a slight… curiosity he wouldn’t allow you to kill terrapins that was simply against your deal but your emotionless state amused him

“Take care of your master” He stated gruffly and you held onto the silver armor before you were gone zipping through the lair and suddenly there was no trace of you Shredder included

“Fuck!” Raphael screamed into the empty air throwing the closest thing next to him which was a wired basket and hit the wall bending the metal

“Sensai, dad” Leonardo along with Donatello crawled over to the mutant rat who lied down on the floor in defeat pink tail slightly swaying against the floor with light ‘thumps’

“Please don’t do this, tell me what to do” The leader sniffled watching as his teacher, his protector in early years of life, his father seemed to crumble in his hold

“A little beating never stopped this old rat” The older mutant wheezed out while the purple clad turtle looked him over with his goggles a few cracked and bruised ribs wouldn’t be enough to put down Splinter and Leo and Donnie chuckled watery hearts still heavy

“You all need to go put a stop to the Shredders madness and rescue your mate” He stated carefully and all of the brother tuned in listening

“We can’t just leave y-”

“I’ve never informed you all of this because I was in… denial, self loathing even.” The rodent cut off the blue clad turtle and he knew that was a warning so he stayed quiet watching as he slowly raised his body to sit up

“When I was researching about the intertwining of souls I studied that the bond meant more than life itself. I was angered for a short time as your protector. It was… sore how once you found your mate that you would figure you all no longer needed me but then I was at peace knowing that a beings soul was yours to protect and vice versa. I could die tomorrow and as long as Y/n is unharmed you will all be fine and whole” The rat occasionally stopped in the middle of sentences to breathe in sharp breathes as the brothers listened closely water lines slowly filling including Raphael who stubbornly wiped it away

“What are you sitting around waiting for!? Go on now, if my daughter isn’t home by nightfall you all will be sent to the hashi!” Splinters tail threateningly swiped at their feet while Michelangelo laughed brightest out of them all as they began to run to the exit tunnel

Leonardo looked back to see April now at Splinters side as they helped each other with wounds and soon he was out of lair into the world

“Wait, I’m coming with you!” The brunette panted behind the four mutants standing in the alley

“Absolutely not it’s dangerous, and you’re hurt” The leader in blue immediately denied their mate wasn’t in a good headspace hell their mate didn’t have a sense of humanity last thing he needed was no be worried about another body to look after

“It’s a sprain light fracture at most and I have a ride it’s broad daylight how are you gonna get there without being seen?” She stated stubbornly and Ralph tried to cover a chuckle with a poorly concealed cough

“Fine. But you stay in the car”

💌💌💌💌

“Figuring the turtles will come to rescue Mrs Hamato-” Eric Sacks stood in front of you as you watched him walk through the lab going over the plan for the fourth time in a little less than an hour

“It’s Y/l/n I’ve said for the third time now stop threading on my patience Eric respect your elders or I will make a meal out of you” You we’re in front of the man in a blink of an eye hand wrapped around his throat at a bone crushing grip the man weakly nodded before you dropped him out of your hold and Shredder chuckled darkly in amusement while you went to go stand next to him

“We capture the turtles, take some of their blood. If it looks like you’re taking too much from them… I will end your life capeesh? Wonderful” You sarcastically smiled stepping out of the lab into the hallway

“If your emotions happen to get in the way of this, the deal will be off” The heavy metal softly shrieked in the quiet air as Shredder stood behind you and you sighed in annoyance

“I think what you fail to realize is when I turned off my emotions my humanity went with it I don’t feel mad or sad or anything” You briefly spoke before walking out of the man’s sight

💌💌💌💌

“Ram the gate” Raphael interrupted Verns ranting of course Aprils ride was a dweeb who talked their ear off nervously the whole car ride as the brothers began to get in position

“Ram the gate? This channel six propert-”

“I said ram the gate!” The red clad turtle yelled as the brunette man winced pressing his foot on the gas as the wood broke in piece against the van April and Vern who sat in the front seat ducked from the bullet breaking the windshield flying past their temples making a sharp turn running over some foot soldiers in the process

The turtles burst through the side of the Van Leonardo taking care of the few foot soldiers in front of him alone as the rest of them watch the terrapin flip through the air kneeling when he was done as Raphael rolled his eyes as they moved through the building

“Feeling flashy today Fearless?” The red clad turtle grunted out sarcastically settling to use his fist instead of his Sais and the leader shrugged with a small smirk on his face

“Watch he’s gonna do his Batman voice!” Mikey laughed handling his nunchucks lightly as they caused damage and destruction

“I watched that movie once!” He exclaimed as they all rushed through door they came into contact with four glass cages and the sound of heavy metal hitting the floor

“So we meet again turtles, the cages are for you” The bot stated dark jerking his arm down to reveal a claw full of knives and swords and Raph and Leo immediately took their swords from their holsters charging at the shredder and they quickly landed on the floor below

As Mikey and Donnie went to follow your whimper stop them in their tracks as they quickly looked around to finally spot you curled in a corner a stake plunged deeply into stomach as the pair ran over crouching over to your aid

“Donnie, Mikey, please.” You whimpered and their heart broke straight down the middle as you gripped onto the purple clad turtles forearm whispering something incoherent as he leaned his down to listen to you better suddenly you elbow connected to his jaw as he landed less than a few feet away from you stunned before scientist were quickly tasing him making sure he wouldn’t get up

“Jeez Angel cakes that was a low blow” Michelangelo was quick to get on his feet dodging the chair you tried to smash over his head as you quickly stood up snatching the stake out of your stomach dropping it to the side as your skin mended together healing itself

“Come on babe please don’t make me do this” The orange clad turtle pleaded as you hissed at him fangs on display, eyes pitch black, veins crawling under your eyes

“Fuck” He muttered to himself placing his nunchucks in their place on his belt ready to try to hurt you as least as possible even though he knew you could take it

Mikey along with Donnie were the fastest on the team with their more lanky and thinner figures they still however we’re not faster than you as Michelangelo tried to block a good amount of your hits until a sudden kick to his plastron had his stance faltering

You finished the fight with jerking your neck to the left as the youngest turtle slid in front of the scientist and was quickly held in the glass cage

The two weakest were out the way two more to go

You jumped down from the railing landing in front of the two blue and red brothers who had an upper hand on the Shredder they suddenly look towards you Raphael’s assault on the metal armor slightly faltering

“Miss me?” You mocked sweetly before taking a dagger from your boot throwing it to hit Leonardo’s shoulder if he had stood in place for a second longer Shredder took this as an invitation to to kick Raphael’s plastron from his position on the floor as the two were back at it

Leo had charged at you throwing you under all of his body weight he knew you easily lift him but it was a good distraction as you struggled under him before finally flipping positions as you straddled his waist throwing direct blows to his jaw

The blue clad turtle took you by your hip before flinging you off of him as you landed a few feet away you were a little slower than usual and not using your powers as much and the leader realized you were getting tired you were a heretic usually even if a vampire was witch before they transitioned they lost all of their magic but you were a siphon witch and now that you were a vampire you siphoned the energy from yourself

So it wore you out a little more when you used your magic and Leo couldn’t call the last time you had a blood bag which you had substituted from living people

“I told you to stay out of my way” You stated darkly holding a hand out as the leader dropped towards his knees groaning slightly

“Never, not while you like t-this. We’re always gonna be there for you” You through the terrapin up towards the ceiling dust and debris falling towards the ground as he landed with a harsh ‘thump’

“Shut up” You hissed swiping your hand through the air as he landed back on the floor above crashing into a cage as you stood in front of him moving your fingers to put the broken glass back in it place

“Raphael!” April screamed as she watched shrewder gain the upper hand on the hot you quickly sped to one of the now filled canisters sitting it in its brief case before you were out of the building

“Little girl” The man tainted darkly turning to look towards the brunette before Raphael stabbed his metal chest plate earning his attention back

“Focus on me” He grunted and would soon wince at the decision of words as he held onto the metal armored leg while Shredder began to slug his jaw repeatedly

“Donnie! Donnie!!” April screamed through the thick glass banging her hand against it roughly the fight or flight feeling pumping through her veins to heavily to wince at her sprained wrist as the mutant terrapin finally looked up at her glasses slowly sliding down his face

“What do I do!?” She questioned desperately as the turtle muttered something incoherent she pressed he ear to the to hear him better

“What!?”

“Adrenaline” He muttered his head slightly lolling forward as she rushed to the machines harshly tapping on the plus button for the adrenaline stimulation

Raphael struggled underneath the weighted pressure on his shell he could it creaking and cracking underneath the weight of Shredders foot as he finally fell from his knees and hands to his stomach before Vern turned away running towards April as She banged her fist against the machine

“GET UP!” She screamed anguished just beige the three turtles gasped at the air returning to their lungs Leonardo not as affected as he was last to get trapped

The turtles broke out of glass too much energy in their system to simply stand still as they flipped and ran in circles uttering and babbling nonsense

“OH I FEEL REALLY GOOD RIGHT NOW”

“DO YOU FEEL EXCITED IM SO EXCITED”

“I FEEL LIKE CLEANING, WHO WANTS TO CLEAN THE DOJO!? ILL CLEAN THE DOJO!”

“ENDORPHINS? ENDORPHINS!”

“WE HAVE TO GET RAPH!”

“RAPH!”

“RAPH!”

They turned ran into the railing causing it to cave under their weight making them fall to the next floor but they payed it no mind getting right back up helping their brother to his feet while they kept repeating the same question as he groaned to a stand

“ARE YOU OKAY!?”

“YOU ALRIGHT!?”

“YOU OKAY!?”

The terrapins explained to their brother why they had to go to the finishing each others sentences as they ran around him in circles

“Come on let’s do it for Sensai and Y/n” He stated deeply running out of the building his brothers hit on his tracks making up their on little game of ‘who can catch raphie first?’ he rolled his eyes at it but figured it would tire them out a little so he kept his legs moving

💌💌💌💌

The brothers made it on top of the building as You stood next to Shredder clicking the keys on the keyboard to initiate the toxin for release over New York

You didn’t take a second glance as Shredder turned skeins facing all four terrapins and it could’ve pulled a groan out of him

“Buy me some time… You break the deal and I’ll kill you” You stopped the armored man before continuing your journey of hacking through the systems

“cowabunga!” Michelangelo exclaimed as the turtles ran at Shredder before they were quickly kicked and put down to kiss the floor as Leonardo stood in front of him and he pulled his katanas from his back before nodding as the pair ran towards each other

Shredder slammed the leader on his shell getting a stomp on his plastron before attempting to throw a punch to his jaw the blue clad turtle dodged the hit repeatedly before blocking his face with his katana’s as the steel clacked against each other before the steel made man took him roughly by the shell throwing him off the side of the building

Donatello was next as he held his staff out and Shredder took to blades from each of his hands before putting them together to make double bladed wielding sword and the two clanked both weapons together but the purple clad turtle was soon to thrown off the building

Michelangelo was second to last trying to buy his older brother more time with his cracked shell as he swung his nunchucks freely using the the retractable blade on the side of them the stab into his armor and hop onto his back trying to weld the sharp steel back before he too was quickly thrown off the building with a speed high enough to get him whiplash

Raphael was last more of a distraction than anything as he wasn’t much of use alone parts of his cracked shell covered with duck tape he really wished you could heal him the moment and ended with the same fate as his brothers

Shredder turned back towards you walking back by your side as you set the timer for five minutes before the turtles were back on the building

Suddenly you were out of his sight with a blink of an eye but he paid it no mind as the turtles rushed at him one by one gaining enough momentum to push the armored man off the side of the building

“You know how to work this thing?” The red clad turtle stated gruffly as Donnie set his eyes upon to computer trying to find a place to start to decode it

“It’s a simple command line interface it hasn’t been used in fifteen years, I read about it online but this kind of thing takes time” He stated carefully typing on keys while Raphael watched as Shredder pull himself over the building onto is feet

“I’ll buy you some time” The red clad turtle along with his two other brothers blocked Donnie and themselves from being his blocking Shredders knives with their own defense weapon

“BAM! System disabled! Who wants Italian!? I’m buying! Tiramisu for everybody!” The purple clad turtle cheered soaking his hand flat down on the laptop before he was quickly cut off watching as Shredder called back his knives before throwing them back into the towers weak metal as the canister finally tipped over

“Fall in!” Leonardo shouted as the brothers rushed under the tower taking a corner groaning under the weight

“If the spire falls and the toxin makes a ground impact, it’ll contaminate a ten block radius” Donnie shouted out into the open trying to keep his mind off the weight on his shoulders quite literally

“What’s the odds of us stopping that from happening!?”

“Uhh 0.000000003%!”

“I’ll take it! Nobody moves no matter what.” The blue clad turtle stated finally as Shredder walked to the group Leonardo being his first target as he took a metal fist to the plastron without dropping his arms from holding the falling tower

Suddenly the armored man was pulled back with a force too strong to be human and the turtles could cry at the sight of you standing in all your glory holding a hand out as his metal shrieked against the floor dragging towards you as you put a foot on his metal chest plate

“You traitor” He said with a slight wheeze voice still deep and robotic like as you hummed before speaking

“I just don’t fancy the world going under a pandemic because of silly little chemical, you mortals truly amuse me… You will never be a god Oroku” You chuckled darkly and Leonardo realized you humanity still wasn’t on they’d have to fix that when this was all said and done

Without another word you jerked your neck as the man slid off the side of the towers and you approached the tilting towers and the terrapins felt the pressure leaving their shoulders as they watched you hold both of you hands out with a grunt holding the tower up putting back in place breaking the canister as the red air pressed against a sort of force field pressing back into itself before it finally distinguished

You dropped to your knees blood dripping from your nose as you panted heavily and the brothers rushed towards you bombarding you with questions touching you skin a hand was suddenly on your cheek before you were flooded with darkness

The brothers attentions snapped to April while she gasped loudly mutagen held in her hand as she had just watched the leader in blue snap your neck with a sickening crack

“woah, woah, slow yer’ role there. Vampire, immortal, can only die by a stake to the heart ring a bell by any chance? She’ll be up ready to kick my ass in an hour” Raphael questioned somewhat sarcastically before continuing with his infamous smirk on his face as the news reporters breath immediately slowed

“We gotta get out of here… Thank you O’Neil” Leonardo stated finally carrying your unconscious body in his arms and the brothers one by one said goodbye in their own way and the brunette watched as they finally jumped from one building onto the next the people on the ground below too focused on Shredders unconscious body to see the four mutants silhouettes gone into the light of day

She knew however they would see each other again

💌💌💌💌

“It’s been four days Donnie” Raphael huffed pacing back and forth as they all watched you on the nanny cam or vamp cam as Mikey called it you were tied to a chair shoulders slumped, vervain pumping through your veins, and slowly healing

“It’s tedious process Raph I’m trying to speed it up as most as we can” The purple clad reminded his brother pushing his glasses up on his face

The was the problem the process was too tedious and they all remembered the stages you had to go through so they could find a crack in your humanity

First they had to weaken you which is what called for the vervain pumping through your system like as a makeshift IV Then they had to cause you pain and it was hard for all of them but after multiple days seeing not doing so hot you all know where they were a little less reluctant to, trying to make you feel any emotion possible anger, rage, anything.

But you however figured out very soon that the brothers couldn’t actually do any serious damage to you around four hours ago

💌💌💌💌

You screamed out a groan in agony as Leonardo held the shutter to the window open letting the sun lay on your skin burning you while you struggled against your restraints squirming your daylight ring sitting on the table across the small room that kept you able to walk in the sun freely before finally shutting it waking to stand next to his brother

“You’re gonna thank us for this, once you turn it back on, you realize life of no emotions blew” Raphael stated gruffly before you cut him off

“You knew what else blew? Having to worry about your every move and baby you just because you don’t follow simple directions” That was a low blow but the red clad turtle didn’t let it show on his face as he nodded a sarcastic smirk on his lips as he rolled his eyes

There was a small silence before you were suddenly out of the chair opening the shutters letting your skin burn as you screamed Leonardo quickly rushed to fire extinguisher blowing the cold foam over you blazing body as you dropped to floor wheezing out a chuckle

“I’m the girl you love, I’m your mate. You wouldn’t do anything to actually hurt me you just proved that. So what do I really have to be afraid of?” You stated dryly as Michelangelo and Donatello rushed through the door having watched everything on camera and after the purple clad turtle made sure you were okay he dragged to your feet your arms behind your back before finally sitting you back in the steel chair sticking the needle connected into a tube that connected to the main IV and he made sure up dosage on how much Vervain solution pumped into your bloodstream as you let your head fall backwards sighing deeply and the four brothers left a room without another word

💌💌💌💌

Mikey now sat in the corner on the floor in the fan room as it was his turn to watch you for the night and when he heard you rattling against your chains he knew everything was in motion and just how he expected you were in front of him in a flash not as fast as you usually were with all the vervain in your system but it would do

You pulled him up to his feet and without another word he felt your fangs pierce his neck vision getting a bit blurry as you took blood from him and he soon fell to his on all fours before rolling on his back breathing heavily

“Oh come on I barely drained an artery. Come on get up I’m hungry, my heads fuzzy, I can’t think straight I need more.” You taped his side with your foot ushering him back to his feet as he continued to lie in his unmoving position

“Y/n stop” The orange clad turtle raised his head to lol at you for a second before falling back to the floor with a thud as you mocked for forgiveness

“But you’re so good” Just as you dragged the youngest brother to his feet ready to bight the jugular of his neck you were pushed against the wall your head slamming roughly against the concrete

“Hey! You’re cut off, done! Stop it!” The leader in blue growled in your ear as you struggled against his grip screaming at him for you to let him go

“‘Nough” Raphael stated loud enough for your attention to shift towards him as he shoved Donnie away from checking over Mikey’s body dragging his little brother to his feet as his head fell to the side eyes struggling to stay open

“Yer, actin’ like a little spoiled brat you know that? You think we cant punish you? Maybe not but I can sure punish him”

“You seriously think this is gonn-”

“Shut up! I’m done playin’ nice. Turn yer’ emotions back on Y/n or so help me God I will give ya’ somethin’ ta’ be sad about, I will kill him right in front of you” The red clad turtle cut you off gripping his younger brothers frame against his

“Raphael” Leonardo started

“Don’t Raphael me, she don’t love anyone? Fine prove it, and If I’m wrong what difference does it make? He’ll be outa my hair.” He dropped the orange clad turtle to his knees as he incoherently groaned and whimpered looking towards you for a response

“You’re bluffing.” Not a second later you watched as the red clad turtle twisted Michelangelo’s neck the sickening crunch bouncing off the walls as he fell limp to the floor Leonardo let you out of his hold and you gasped taking a step forward before rushing over to him scrambling to take a seat as you cradled his head you head in your lap

“How ‘bout now you feelin’ anything now? You angry I just turned your buddy into roadkill?” As you took quiet gasps running your hands over his scaled face having taken his orange mask of as sat on the floor beside you

“Or are sad that the guy that everybody loves is just a bag of bones? Trying to imagine when he was a little kid? Warm heart, big goofy smile, brightest laugh, biggest imagination” Raphael pressed as You choked out a silent sob while you pressed your forehead to Mikeys and the apologies spurting from your tongue would never be enough you thought

“My baby, my baby.” You sobbed hardly chest aching heart pounding in your ears and Raph crouched down to meet your eye level

“It’s a good thing he’s wearin’ this then right?” He lifted the youngest terrapins arm to bring in your line of sight and what was on it was a T-pad that Donnie had been working on and he pressed the button of the realistic ‘crunch’ that had sounded through the air

“You feel that weight lifting off yer’ chest? That’s joy ‘cause he ain’t dead, that’s emotion baby, that’s humanity” You took a sharp breath in letting the rest of your tears fall down and Leonardo dropped to his knees behind you wrapping an arm against your shoulder

“You’re okay 花/Hana everyone’s okay” The leader shushed you (flower)

“Why isn’t he waking up?” You sniffled hopelessly looking up towards Donnie as he sadly look down at you before doing the same as his brother taking a seat next to you pressing a kiss to your forehead

“Just a little blood loss he’ll be fine, you can speed it up if you want” He spoke quietly and quick you brought your wrist to to your lips biting into your flesh before you pressed it to Mikey’s mouth letting the blood coat his lips and slide down his throat

“I’m so sorry, I was just trying to protect you I didn’t mean for this to happen for the first time in centuries I was actually scared. I-I didn’t know what to do” Donatello read your vitals starting to come down you were just in a bit of shock it was expected

“Don’t be so harsh on yourself Angel cakes if it made you feel better that was totally hot” The orange clad turtle spoke from his position and rushed to hold him tightly his skin mended together the only thing left was smeared blood against his neck

“Can’t believe that plan actually worked, yer a little wuss you know that?” Raphael’s voice cracked slightly eyes watering as you stared up at him with a relieved watery look on your face and that’s all it took for the buff raging red turtle to join in the forming turtle pile around you

💌💌💌💌

WOO after about just under a week and a half of writing I’m done

*cracks neck*

time to take another three week break 😊

[bagginshieldlibrary]

Omg a Library! Can I check out some fairytale AU? (No Fem!Bilbo please)

Oooo that's a good ask!

My recommendations are:

Mugr by the_Hexerer. Written in 2021. It's based of "Bearskin" by the Brothers Grimm. Its a soft feely one and a great bedtime read.

1001 wishes by aquileaofthelonelymountain. Written in 2016. This is not your traditional fairytale au, being that it is based on just genies and not an actual story that I can personally find. Great read. Gets some light angst but some good feels. Has an Explicit second part.

Also to be noted, This fic is locked on A03. so you have to have an account to read it.

Dragonhearted by @lordoftherazzles

Beauty and the Beast Au. The only one I have read that is m/m. A great long read. Has one explicit chapter. A classic with a twist, if i do say so myself.

A most unlikely dance Partner by @fantasyinallforms.

This fic gives all the Cinderella vibes you could ask for, and hits all the right spots. Masquerade, magic, dancing, Soul mates, confusing fairy godfathers (I'm looking at you Gandalf). Another great bedtime read.

I absolutely adore these fics. I hope you do too! Thank you so much for the ask! If you have anymore requests, I will do my best to find what you're looking for!

HAVE A GREAT READ!

[acourtofthought]

Things said about Lucien by SJM (receipts available upon request "

"Lucien has always been one of my favorite characters"

Lucien - "My love <3"

Lucien was "originally based on Sam Heughan's Jamie Fraser" (SJM is obsessed with Outlander)

"happy to be out in nature the most"

"there is someone special for Lucien. At some point further down the road" (said in April 2015, before ACOMAF was released in April 2016)

"I always kind of thought he'd be with Nesta.... until I realized that he and Nesta would shred each other to pieces, and not in a good way - like in the kind of way that would only worsen the deep, unhealed wounds they both have"

"I realized that Elain was kinda the person both Lucien and I didn't see coming - and without getting too spoilery, there was actually a great deal of tension, growth and healing to be found for both of them (together)"

Three possible outcomes for those who are given a mating bond:

Rejected Bond -

There will always be a … tug.

The males … It can drive them mad. It is their burden to fight through,

But it will still be a bond, however weakened, that will trail (them) for the rest of (their) existence.”

Accepted but Poorly Matched Bond -

Many mated pairs will try to make it work, believing the Cauldron selected them for a reason. Only years later will they realize that perhaps the pairing was not ideal in spirit.

Sometimes, the bond is nothing more than some … preordained guesswork at who will provide the strongest offspring. At its basest level, it’s perhaps only that. Some natural function, not an indication of true, paired souls.

“My mother—she loved my father deeply. Too deeply, but they were mated, and … Even if she saw what a tyrant he was, she wouldn’t say an ill word against him."

My father was cold and calculating, and could be vicious, as he had been trained to be since birth. My mother was soft and fiery and beloved by everyone she met. She hated him after a time—but never stopped being grateful that he had saved her wings, that he allowed her to fly whenever and wherever she wished.

Soul Bonded Mating Bond -

“High Fae mostly marry,” he said, his golden skin flushing a bit. “But if they’re blessed, they’ll find their mate—their equal, their match in every way. High Fae wed without the mating bond, but if you find your mate, the bond is so deep that marriage is … insignificant in comparison.”

Knowing what we know about SJMs personal thoughts on Lucien, which option is most likely? Would she give one of her "favorite characters", "her love", a male who she didn't want to end up with someone who would cause him more pain, her "Jamie Fraser inspired male":

1) A rejected bond that will always trail him and cause him suffering? Something he'd always have to fight through and that "CANNOT be broken"(confirmed by Amren and in the CC series) no matter what some anti's think Lucien will be capable of with his day powers?

2) A poorly matched bond where after giving things a shot he'll find out years later that Elain wasn't right for him?

3) A bond that is so deep, marriage is insignificant?

[exhaustedwerewolf]

unending love, rabindranath tagore (1890) // 君の名は。(your name), dir. makoto shinkai (2016) // same soul, pvris (2017) // futon couch, missy higgins (2018) // past life, streetlight cadence (2019) // all i've ever known from hadestown, anaïs mitchell (2019) // soul mate, flora cash (2021) // the kingdoms, natasha pulley (2021) // have we met before?, sarah barrios (2021) // a marvellous light, freya marske (2022) // a taste of gold and iron, alexandra rowland (2023) // spire episode 13: loop, matt wilson (2023)

[destinyc1020]

I swear, 2023 is the birth of Tomdaya 3.0, how many events have happened so far makes me dizzy. And it's only May... 🥹😍

Girl!!!!!

Ikr?? My head is swimming!!! 🤯😂

It's all building up.... to SOMETHING really niiiiice.... 😏

It really does feel like they've had 3 phases of their rlshp already lol.... 😂

They were ALWAYS serious with each other right from jump, but they've def GROWN in their love and connection, and the trajectory of their rlshp as far as I'm concerned.

Tomdaya 1.0 (2016-2019): The insane, young love, falling in love, puppy love, still trying to figure this thing out and how to have a PRIVATE rlshp while being in the public eye phase....

2019-2020: BREAKUP. Massive Heart break....😭 Still in love with each other but know it's best for each of us to BOTH move on right now....

Tomdaya 2.0 (2020-2022): The REBIRTH of Tomdaya... Reconnecting with each other again. Still feeling like this person is my soul mate, my best friend, wanna try again, person. 🥰❤️ Elation. Joy. So GLAD to be back with my best friend again. The love has only deepened. We learned from our mistakes as younger adults, and we've committed to doing things better this time around. We got outed as a public couple, but it's only served to make us grow even CLOSER. Now, we no longer have to hide our affection and love for each other in public. 🥰We've grown. We've matured. We've worked out our baggage, and we would never want to go through life without each other ever again, phase.

THEN.... THERE'S....

Tomdaya 3.0 (2023 - ???): We're deeply, madly, and even MORE in love with each other than we were at the beginning (as if that were even possible lol 😆). We're FULLY committed, we've moved into the future life stage, and are BUILDING a forever future with each other. We've temporarily chilled on the work life for a bit, and just FULLY enjoyed each other's company without too many distractions. London is becoming more of BOTH our homes 🏡, and the future is being planned out, phase. 🥰❤️

[ineffablemurderhusbands]

Hannigram Fanfiction

It's my own desire (It's my own remorse)

It's Purge night and Will is stranded in the city with no weapons or transport alongside his new dog Winston.

The night so black that the darkness hummed (Rated E)

Will reckoned that Hannibal was soft and tender during sex. The man just exuded a pristine exterior and although Will was quite insightful because of his empathy disorder he couldn’t read Hannibal like nothing other than proper.

So imagine Will’s surprise when they actually had sex.

Family Liaisons

The Holmes brothers have another sibling.

They don't talk about Will Graham.

National Hero (Olympics AU)

Will Graham is a national treasure for the United States of America, being the youngest swimmer to win Gold in the Olympics of London 2012, now he’s 21 years old and still the best bet to win Gold in Rio 2016. Hannibal has a long list of gold medals for his country Lithuania and this is his first year going again to an Olympics since he retired, this time as coach for Matthew Brown. Hannibal’s confident his swimmer is gonna win the Gold. But Will is his best and only adversary.

Through Time (Soulmates AU)

AU where Hannibal and Will are soul mates and keep finding each other through time only to one of them to die. Will they finally be together?

[bobbie-robron]

Robron Fanfiction Recommendations (Dec-2023)

The below were recommended on Twitter in Dec-2023.

Discovered (2016) 13.1K words, robron_til_the_end

It’s April 2015 and Robert and Aaron are on their own enjoying themselves at Home Farm until Chrissie comes back early only to find them in bed together revealing their affair. This being Robert, he does the usual to convince Chrissie to stay with him and that Aaron was a mistake. In the end, Chrissie gives him an ultimatum… leave the village with her or they are through. What will Robert’s decision be and will he regret it in the end?

Oh, cause I need you to see that you are the reason (2018) 3.0K words, storiesthatmakeus

It’s time for Reunion 2.0! The club setting remains as does the pointless one being effectively and promptly dumped by Aaron but that’s where things change. A taxi drive back to the village and Aaron doing his best to get his soulmate/husband back while the rain falls on them.

Robron: Evening classes (2016) 12.7K words, jdinglemonkey

Aaron decides to take an evening dance course and the lecturer is Robert which he becomes smitten with quickly. But Robert has a dark past with a broken heart which makes it difficult for the two to make progress, on the personal side that is. When Aaron is told what Robert’s past holds and why he left the village, will it too much to move forward together?

This is How it Could Have Gone (2015) 3.6K words, dirtylittlegreasemonkey

We all know how Robert and Aaron started out those early weeks in 2014. Now, here, we have three scenarios where things happened differently (no need to go into detail, is there?): Mates? Join me if you want? The callout to the layby. Enjoy!

It’s a beautiful sound, It’s a beautiful noise series (2018) 10.6K words, andyyouknowitis

A set of three stories focusing on Robert and Aaron after their reunion including focus on finding balance in their lives, struggling with money, Robert getting gifts from the heart from Aaron, Aaron’s worry about failing both Liv and Sebastian, and a reflective look over the course of a year ending with Sebastian’s absence in their lives. Cannon compliant (mostly) with more texture added to flesh out moments.

The Green Eyed Monster (2018) 2.9K words, coffeeandghostwriting

Reunion 2.0. The girl squad (Robert’s sister, Vanessa and Tracy) take Robert to Bar West to help him ‘move on.’ That might not be so easy especially when Aaron shows up not liking his husband/ex (he can’t decide) being chatted up (while he himself is there with the pointless one and his mates). A bit different ending. Also includes a side focus on Vanessa and Charity.

Music is a window to the soul series (2016) 7.7K words, RobronForever

Two stories in this series taking place before the trial starts with both Aaron and Robert learning more about the other through songs. First, while helping Robert’s sister, Aaron hears a song that reminds him of Robert but wants to keep that tidbit from reaching Robert’s ears. In the second story, Aaron wants to know what is on Robert’s ‘Aaron’ playlist even if it means getting him tipsy to get it…

Broken (2016) 3.4K words, imaginentertain

Robert wants to get the perfect Christmas present for Aaron after the rough year they had but each (extravagant) idea he comes up with, it gets shot down by those he asks close to Aaron. So, what do to? The ideal gift was there all along, it just needed to be pointed out by a certain someone because it’s not gift itself that matters but what the person does for another...

[bogbees]

I was gonna go to bed but I think I came up with a soulmate au perfect for Matt n Gil 7:48 AM · Apr 20, 2020

so it goes like this: when you touch somebody, their mark appears in your palm. there's several placements you can have, like for family bonds (mother's will generally always be the first bond a person has), friendship, love, probably hatred idk

over time, when a person dies or the bond fades, the mark scars, becoming the abstract background for new relationships you make

so Matt n Gil are pretty much immortal in canon. not so much Gil anymore, but he's been around a long time, so his palms are probably scared to fuck with marks —

everywhere but the love area. sure, some friendships skittered around the area, but while he might hate soulmates with his old age, he's stupid ab the idea of true love.

it's kinda fucked him up a bit in the modern era lmao. been alive so long and yet here he is

so canon au would have Matt touch Gilbert first. he doesn't know who owns this mark, bc he doesn't pay attention, so he thinks it's some mortal and he's kinda sad ab it, bc it's big, at the very centre of his palm and those are like, Best Kind, but c'est la vie

(while Gilbert has been having the opposite problem, mortals finding their love in him lmao)

while Matt and Gil have no idea the other exists (well ish. Francis probably goes off ab the other to them all the time), Matt discovers love in mortals to patch up the horrid fact he never even got to meet The One. a couple marks scar a ring around his centre mark

until one day in like, the 60s, he notices "yo this never scarred. it's always been solid" and goes maniac with glee and relief and a weird sense of wasted mourning

Al finds it funny that no one picked up on that fact all this time. bc their family all has solid centre marks and their friend family marks are still pretty solid

some of Matt's lovers picked up on it, but he dismissed it as "I don't know who they are" and it's dismissed and they better make the best of what they have

Francis tells Gilbert ab the delightful news "oh Matieu never lost his soulmate after all!! he's immortal!" and Gilbert is like pained smile grumble "oh good for him!" while painfully recalling every conversation Francis had ab Matt's current so

he figures it makes sense but good god

they can't figure out who the fuck out of their entire group is Matt's so. Francis wants to hold an event bc he's dying to know, but Matt's like, "I thought they were dead for 500 years, I'm cool to find out naturally."

Arthur casts a divination after and he n Francis go nuts once they learn the truth of the matter. Francis drinks so much he needs his stomach pumped. Gilbert calls him, and just hearing his voice, Francis gets into a giggle fit, they don't talk for like, 4 years

over the next 40 years, Matt n Gil will Wonder ab the whole soulmate thing. Matt bc he can't imagine who it could be, and Gil bc he's like, sad he himself doesn't even have that clue that they're even out there

they properly meet in 2009, the whole pancake and maple syrup thing, but no one touches. they form a bond of course, mutual understanding of loneliness, turns out they're like two peas in a pod

Francis has no idea they even became friends until 2016. he peaks at the palms of their hands, and is delighted to see Gilbert's centre is finally marked

and it's not for another ten years that they realise they're each other's soul mate 😔 7:48 AM · Apr 20, 2020

actually that's a dumb ending, bc I was falling asleep 5:09 PM · Apr 20, 2020

new ending: Gilbert always touches the ppl he likes. pulls them in for hugs, slaps on the back, drags them off to do things. the first time he crashes at Matt's bc he thinks they're best buds, he slaps Matt across the back for being a goof

he is of course surprised by how solid Matt is, and wow his hand actually hurts, so he rubs at it and notices the mark. he short circuits.

Matt is like "dude you didn't break your hand did you? sorry oh my god lemme go get the first aid kit for a splint til we get to the hospital ah fuck"

and Gil is like "no no no I'm fine! don't worry about it! hah hah hah I'm gonna go nap I'm actually pretty tired, jet lag"

Matt thinks it's weird bc he was just do animated a moment ago, but shrugs it off, can't be too bad right?

only Gilbert doesn't pop up for dinner. doesn't come out of his room at all. matt's like "damn he must have been real tired," leaves him a note saying he's got leftovers in the fridge

but Gilbert is just going insane. the note didn't help bc it implies smth surely.

what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck. so the dude Matt thought was dead for the last 500 years was him??? if they interacted back then, why didn't Gil touch him??? what the fuck Happened

Gil frantically texts everyone he knows. Liz, Antonio, Al, they all just congratulate him. His brother gives him a five paragraph lecture on being nice. Feli sends him a bunch of cute ideas on how to tell Matt. Roderick has him blocked.

Francis. Francis grins like a loon the moment he sees the text and calls Matt "mon garçon," he starts, "your heart is closer than you think" and Matt, tired of this old man's cryptic romantic bullshit hangs up sighing heavily

Al visits too. now he knows and he wants to play wingman. that's his brother damn it. so starts the most horrible wingman stunt. everyone is so uncomfortable. when it doesn't work, Al goes to sulk in his guest bedroom

"that was weird even for him" Matt laments. Gilbert, knowing full well what brought it on just cringes. how the fuck did ppl do this whole thing??

Matthew isn't like. bothered? at first he was curious to know if Gil got a mark for him, but after seeing he didn't get any new ones, he was resigned to their friendship not meaning anything. sure he had hoped but ugh, best not to think about it

and Gilbert is freaking out like "why isn't he questioning if they have each other's marks??" he knows ppl do that, he's done it himself! god knows they've been stuck to each other's hip this last month so why?!

so he decides to just ask. "hey did you get my mark?" "oh no, I never got it." and he fuckinh blanks.

then Matt brings up his hand, showing Gil his palm, and there in the dead centre is Gil's mark surrounded by a ring of love. "see," Matt says, "it's the same as when we first met."

Gil had seen Matt's palms a couple times before the revelation. he didn't think seeing it now would affect him much but boy, he's gone brain dead

Gilbert raises his own palm, "mine isn't," and he knows Matt knows he's never had a mark in the dead centre. but there's one now.

"oh," Matt goes, thinking ab all the ppl he and Gil have met over the month, "congratulations, I suppose we'll have to find out who it is…"

which makes Gil go crazy, "no, no, no, how did you—no, Matthew it's you." Matt stares at him like "are you off your rocker?" and Gil recounts the event that gave him the mark, and telling everyone asking for help and how Francis was no help at all

and Matt's like "Yo! Francis called me that evening, saying how my heart was closer than I thought. I thought that he was just drunk, but if…. Tabarnak!" pacing around the room suddenly speaking quick french

there are tears suddenly but he's not wailing, instead smiling wildly, "I thought you were dead!" and Gilbert grins back "I thought you didn't even exist!"

(and idk ab you but this last bit gets me grinning wildly bc Gilbert Will Die, and Matt is usually forgotten to the point he can go ghost. he he he)

so they like. just exist with each other being stupid ab how stupid it all is 8:05 PM · Apr 20, 2020

[taylortruther]

First, how dare you with “I’m yours to keep, I’m yours to lose”….”you’re losing me” 🥲😭

second, what do you think RWYLM is referencing in Taylors personal life? I’ve never been quite sure with that song. I’ve always interpreted like Hoax in that it’s about a lot of different things even if it sounds like it’s about a romantic relationship. Maybe about who she was before everything exploded in 2016/maybe about youth and fame/ maybe about a relationship too somewhere / maybe about her masters

i think it might have been inspired about the time in her life when she lost who she thought was her legitimate soul mate, but also acknowledging this trait of hers, that she can't "get over" things quickly (or maybe ever.) it seems to be something she feels defined by, part of her being sensitive/thin-skinned, part of her depression, part of what drives her artistry and creative output.

she's been aware of this trait for a while (i think "living for the thrill of hitting you where it hurts" and "you might have him but i always get the last word" encompass that in her early career) but i feel like she really dug deep and explored that part of her as she got older.

other examples:

the lakes: what should be over burrowed under my skin in heart-stopping waves of hurt ... i bathe in cliffside pools with my calamitous life and insurmountable grief

labyrinth: it only feels this raw right now, lost in the labyrinth of my mind ... you know how much i hate that everybody just expects me to bounce back just like that

[dearweirdme]

one day I'll stop writing essays in your asks but your questions and the responses are always so interesting to me especially as a non taekooker! So here's another one,lol.

I always knew another member was coming to taes picnic. I knew for the same reason I wasnt surpised when 3 of the members performed at yoongis concerts.

BTS want to see army. That's their whole thing. If they can make time for it that's what they're going to do. I'll admit that I thought it was gonna be JK who came and I assumed it was going to be him up until I heard he left Korea again. Then I was pleasantly surprised when Jimin came.

Not to shade the person who is exhausted by the "vmin" soul mate thing but Jimin wasn't going to taes vicnic because of some elaborate ruse by hybe to push the soul mate narrative, like its not 2020. Nor do i think he was there to make it seem like their relationship is soooo strong.

I want to remind people this is the duo who people have joked about being divorced all year. They both have only recently started mentioning each other and hanging out so I definitely dont think they care about our perception of their closeness through a platonic soulmates lens.I think Jimin and taes friendship is beautiful and i think if youre lucky you'll have several playonic soul mates in your lifetime. I think thats what jimin and tae were/are saying when and if they still use that word about each other.

Its pretty obvious that Jimin was there, not for any elaborate narrative or as a flimsy substitute for Jk. Jimin came cause tae asked him too and beause Jimin enjoys seeing army. Its pretty in his nature to show up for his members and he misses army. He told us he did in his live less than 48 hours ago so why wouldn't he jump at the chance to see us/them?

As to why JK wasn't there its the same reason he didn't get on live for like a month. He had a schedule, he's very busy. And for any taekooker who worries or gets irrationaly annoyed by them not having as much time together, you should know that taekook is more used to each others schedules than any of us are. Im sure JK was worried about tae and missed him when tae was going non-stop as I'm sure tae is worried and missing JK now. But whatever you believe they're doing, jk not being there today doesn't change it and I'm sure he wish he could have been.

I dont see him not showing up as a grand scheme by the company to push any type of narrative but just obvious logistics. Frankly if JK was home and didn't have a schedule I think JK and Jimin both would have come.

((((And this is a bit of a tangent but regarding the idea that theres a fandom narrative that taekook isn't close, I personally am not a taekooker or a jikooker and have never seen that narrative in any of my fandom spaces. I don't think the majority of the Fandom outside of the straw lovers believes that at all, but i could be wrong. Now do I think there's a huge focus on their closeness, when it comes to marketing or pairing them up? No, lol.But if I'm in a queer relationship with my band mate and I'm not ready to be perceived by the public I would take there not being a huge focus or emphasis on my relationship as a blessing. Just a different perspective i thought id offer ,but I get pushing back on the narrative when you see it because honestly its annoying when anyone says two members arent close, but I will say ive never heard anyone say taekook isnt close personally.))

anyways that's my essay for the day and since I seem to be popping up here a lot I will sign off this time so in the future when i pop up you know it's me lol- BYM

Hi BYM-anon!

Sorry for being a bit late in responding!

I agree with most of your ask. I think the things we disagree on are that I think Tae and Jk are more to each other than friends, and I think a large portion of fandom actually does think Tae and Jk drifted apart between 2016 and 2020. I think most of fandom sees that they are close now, and have been for some years.. but there's still those (yes, probably Jkkrs mostly) that disagree.

I think in part the lack of Tkk footage is from allowing them privacy and safety. From Bighit's perspective, having an actual in band relationship must've been super unconvenient, no matter how they personally view queer relationships or Tae and Jk as persons, business wise it's seen as a risk. There's the risk of them breaking up, there's the risk of them having a rocky relationship with drama, there's the risk of them being distracted, there's the risk of discovery in a queer unfriendly country. So I think as soon as BH became aware, they introduced boundaries and rules Tae and Jk had to adhere to. Which isn't all too weird, because in 'normal' situations companies would also probably tell their dating coworkers to act professional. I think Tae and Jk, as well as the other members, do want their privacy. Was the intent from Bighit to protect them? No, I think they just want to protect their company. You can tell that at times Jk and Tae did not like the way they were treated.

How do Jk and Tae feel about the boundaries and rules they had to live by? Probably very conflicted. I think rationally they probably understood, but emotionally it was very hard and different situations probably came with varying feelings. There's so much to consider. There's the band as a whole, they wouldn't have wanted to put the other members' future at risk, they also wouldn't have wanted to put their own future at risk (though at some points they might've wondered if things were worth it). Keeping their relationship safe and hidden, was the safest way for them to carry on professionally and privately. But, being young and in love calls for feelings that are so strong.. they must've felt very frustrated at not being able to show that. I think they also felt the rules and boundaries were too strict, prohibiting them from even acting as close friends. Having to watch other members be close with your partner (having a full blown other ship to take root) while not being able to do much themselves. I think it truly hurt them.

We see a lot of "Jk is trying to hide" stuff, and I do think Jk is a bit more carefull (of sharing friendships and bonds in general), but when all you've ever known is to hide your relationship, that's what has become your safe place. I do believe Jk doesn't like the shippers comemnts in his lives, and justly so. It's people asking for information they have no right to.

Mentioning Tae and Jk in one sentence always comes with some tension.

[dollarbin]

Shakey Sundays #18:

Earth

It's countdown time: I see Neil Young and Crazy Horse this Thursday on the second night of their new tour. I'll be there to scream and lose my mind like a 12 year old. You'll then have to read about it all in minute detail over and over again for years.

But my famous brother, who'll also be there, has warned me that I need to brace myself: Nils won't be on stage with the band as he's busy making serious money with The Boss; nor will Pancho, who's still in retirement, and, although Neil is surely working on the necessary tech as we speak, no one has figured out - yet- how to bring poor Danny Whitten back to life. And so that means Crazy Horse is now welcoming, at least for the moment, its fourth official rhythm guitar player: one of the hipster kids from Promise of the Real Pancakes.

Here's a photo of him from the internet:

You're looking at Micah Nelson, Willie's son. Willie's 90 so either he had a kid at age 78, which seems totally possible for good old Willie, or this photo is not current. Let's google and find out... Micah is apparently 33 years old so either there's a hormone issue going on, or Willie's weed protects his progeny against aging or this is a dated photo; or all three of those things are happening at once. Regardless, I hope Micah wears this shirt while on stage Thursday.

By my count this particular Nelson was involved in at least four different Neil Young records during the dark Montsanto Years - there were two studio records, a live record and a soundtrack for Paradox, one of the worst of Young's 20+ films - which is totally saying something as many of them are largely unwatchable unless you're nuts like me - which is four more record appearances than I can personally claim with Young. Micah may even have a credit on Peace Trail as well; perhaps he programmed Neil's new robot. So, with all that under his belt and this new invitation to join the upcoming tour, Nelson's got to have something good going on for him other than his boyish good looks. We'll see.

Unfortunately, Micah will probably be on my assigned side of the stage: Billy Talbot usually sets up on Neil's right and, these days, Billy doesn't amble about too much; poor Talbot looks like he could use a walker, a hovercraft, or a whole tribe of Road Eyes to stabilize him, but he's still game and I sure as hell hope he sings a lot and pounds out some big boneheaded bass licks at the show: the dude has always given his fellow cavemen a good name.

But anyway, I've got to get my mind open to having this Nelson kid on stage so today I'm going to make myself listen to another Promise of the Real Potato Salad Neil Young record. We've already survived, barely, the first of them and I'm not listening to that overwrought codswallop all over again; I could sit through their second studio album together - it sounded cool for an anticipatory moment back in the day with its Time Fades Away meets anti-Trump vibe - but that record turned out to have a circus themed song on it that shook my soul down to a wounded, terrified core, so that's out, and there's no way I'm going to sit through another screening of Paradox any time soon: I feel like it was mostly iphone shots Micah and his band mates in period dress lined up and waiting for access to outhouse crappers.

So that leaves Earth, Young's nutty live-but-autotuned / field recordings record from 2016. I listened to the whole thing a few times way back in the day: I laughed a bit, got into it for moments and then never listened to it since. All that changes right now. Micah Nelson, please don't ruin my day.

The album sounds okay! It opens with Mother Earth, which, as I've discussed elsewhere, was the wrong song to end Ragged Glory with. But it sounds pretty lovely here with Neil alone on his pump organ. Go Neil, go.

But midway through the song Neil pasts on some professionals' studio vocals in an effort to ruin the good thing he had going; my memory tells me that he does the same on just about every song; Neil called the additions "edgy" at the time; I'd choose another descriptor. "Dumb" could work. Or "wacko". But let's just settle for "good old Shakey".

Because they're not that unexpected. Neil is surely a big fan of Dylan's Christmas record and Micah Nelson wasn't even a twinkle in Willie's eye when Young brought in a full boy's choir for Touch the Night, instructing the kids to sing joyfully along with him about a fatal, or perhaps just harrowing, midnight car accident; they're probably all still in therapy.

And remember, there's a 100 person choir out there who are still wondering if that session in which they sang about nausea and sexual death actually happened or whether it was all just a crazy dream.

We're fairly deep into this whole Shakey Sunday thing and I'm probably failing miserably in my originally stated goal of explaining, at least to myself, why Neil Young? But I want to suggest the obvious point here all the same: Neil Young just does whatever the hell he wants and typically that means doing something utterly wacko. And we love him for it.

So go for it Neil: bring in a pro choir and have them sing the names of gas stations with earnest polish while you do your crazy grandpa routine! It'll be totally edgy. I guess.

The other wacko, or truly Shakey, choice here is shoving a whole nature documentary into the record. Again, we probably should have seen this coming: Young's songs and focus at the time were almost solely on climate change concerns, and ever since his very first film over 50 years ago, there are often crackling fires to be heard on some of his best songs. Plus he came of age hearing the rooster in The Beatles' Morning Morning and the dogs chasing the train on Pet Sounds, and there are bird cries layered into Young's fantastic original version of Pocahontas.

There are times on the record when Young's assembled monkeys, badgers and hornets sound totally appropriate. For example, every time they interrupt a song from The Monsanto Years, I'm totally into it: I'd rather listen to bears bellow than hear any of the songs on that record anyway.

But hold on, I just fired up disc two on my trusty IPod (no, of course I don't own this record on vinyl; I don't have 165 dollars to spare on the CD-Rom compatible blue ray download immersion set complete with pan pipes and rolling papers likely available on Neil's forever beta website) and either I'm currently drunk (well, maybe I am sorta: how the hell else do you expect me to make it through 4 hours of frog sounds mingled with The Promise of Real's bongos on every track?) or Box Store, another of The Monsanto Years' problem tracks actually sounds pretty great here.

Let's paste it in and give it another listen; you tell me: does this song still suck or is it a sweet space opera about Walmart?

We've got a car horn honking and ambiance and then it's time for a typical Neil Young song. Yes, I know, the choir croons a lot of sophomoric and terribly rhymed nonsense about Volkswagen being too big to fail and too rich for jail but there are no bongos to be heard, Neil's own vocals are strong and there's all kinds of 90's style remix action going on interspersed with vintage Shakey guitar shredding. This is actually pretty damn good. And when Neil drops a huge F-bomb about TV toward the end and then start ordering us all into line before dropping some real bombs, then frogs, on our faces I'm ready to award Micah and his preteen band mates honorary middle school diplomas. They likely need them.

And what about the songs we actually liked to begin with? Vampire Blues sounds pretty cool, I guess: Young's vocals are great anyway, the Chevron tie-in is so meatheaded that you've got to bow down, and Neil does demonstrate that he can successfully play the song while not totally wasted.

But Western Hero just sounds dull and After the Gold Rush, with its rampant participation from a sentient being, is downright horrifying. And yeah, after 34 years I'm finally into the song Love and Only Love now that I have it on vinyl but, for god's sake, why is there a 28 minute long version here complete with a whole orchestra pit filled with every bongo Joe Freakin' Lala ever owned and every member of Willie's rampant progeny wailing away?

Come on, Neil: you could have given us the rest of On The Beach in that same time instead. For the Turnstiles would feature baseball bleacher chatter and whale voices while the oblivious choir chants "Ten Dollars at the Door" with no idea whatsoever that they're filling in for pimps; the title track could clobber us with intermittent wave crashes, seagull screams and radio static before devolving into penguin screams. Could be pretty damn edgy.

Knowing Young, he's probably got that exact album in the can already; yet another new live album, F#$%kin Up, came out earlier today; so knowing Neil, Earth 2 will be out in mid-May

[aftgficrec]

Sorry, @ketchupfriesandallthingsnice, for some reason tumblr won't let me edit your original submission, so now I'm trying it this way. Let’s hope that this fic will find a few more admirers, thanks to your rec!- S

Watermark by fairietailed [Rated T, 4689 words, complete, Aftg Exchange 2016]

Part 1 of Dear True Love

He hops into the kitchen on one foot, catching his mother before she carries the bowl of peas she’s holding into the dining room.

“Jeremy?” Her eyebrows pull together in concern at the look on his face. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” he says, sticking out his foot. “I think it’s my soul mate?”

-- 

In which bruises and scars from your soulmate appear on your skin, and Jeremy's skin is a myriad of colored stains.

tw: violence, tw: implied/referenced torture

[acourtofthought]

Contains HOFAS Spoilers

Using Google Translate

About that Cauldron.......

Yes, the Cauldron was stolen by the Asteri.

But it did not originally belong to them as all life in their world originally came from it.

What is NOT canon is that mating bonds were created after the Asteri used it.

What is canon is the characters often speak of mating bonds being created by the Mother / Fate / Urd. Was the Cauldron used to do so? Maybe, but that would have been before the Aster imbued their power into it when you consider that Rhys calls his bond with Feyre a "beautiful, wonderul thing that had come into his life, this GIFT from the Cauldron". Something beautiful and wonderful seems like something the Mother would have granted to the fae, don't you agree?

If the Cauldron tainted mating bonds then how do you explain Nessian's bond? Feysand's bond? Aelin and Rowans bond? Bryce and Hunts bond? Lidia and Ruhn? Especially when half of those were bonds that were created in 2016, long before SJM ever came up with the Asteri storyline.

The reason the Asteri did what they did with the Cauldron is because of the following:

As soon as we left our home world, our powers began to weaken. Too late, we realized that we depended on the magic inherent in our land. The magic of other worlds was not potent enough. But we couldn't find our way back home. Those who ventured here found ways to amplify this power, thanks to the gifts of the land. We gathered our power and imbued these gifts into the Cauldron to work our will. With this the treasures were Made and then, we connected the essence of the Cauldron to the soul of this world. If you destroy the Cauldron, you destroy this world. One cannot exist without the other.

The Asteri didn't seem at all worried about who fell in love with who, all they wanted was an insurance policy, exactly as the Asteri did on Midgard:

"The core is tied to the very soul of Midgard" Rigelus continued. If you destroy it, the entire planet will cease to exist. Bryce felt chills. I might have responded that was nonsense if it weren't for Vesperus' claims regarding the Cauldron.

That E/riels are turning what was a basically the Asteri's version of a horcrux that spanned across two series into a grand scheme to undo the Elucien mating bond.

Seriously???? I love Elucien but the Asteri could not give a fuck about their bond.

You know what E/riels are conveniently leaving out? While there is no proof that mating bonds were created by the Cauldron after the Asteri got their hands on it, there is proof that they created something else..........

"The Asteri's blue eyes looked down at the dagger. "You dare to draw that in front of me? Against those who created you, soldier from night and pain?"

"You don't know how to use it, do you? Azriel pointed his dagger at the advancing Asteri. " Typical of your species. They want to play with our weapons, but they have no idea what they can do " (and no, TTs big power is not that it can "cut " mating bonds 🤦. First E/riels are claiming the Asteri were the ones to create mating bonds then in the next breath they claim TT was created to undo them. Why would they need to undo something they supposedly orchestrated in the first place? There is no sense in these theories.

TT when combined with the Starsword can create realms with no life, revealed later in the book.

A whip of blue magic shot across the world, a ribbon of cobalt piercing the primalux and darkness. She could see every loop and spiral wrapped around Vesperus's neck. Time returned, speeding up to it's normal pace. "Stop!" shouted Bryce, but it was too late. Vesperus brought her hand to her neck as Azriel's blue light dissolved into her skin. She gave a strangled laugh as blook leaked from her mouth. "Still so ignorant. Your power is and will always be mine. Blue magic appeared at her fingertips, absorbed the the Illyrian attack. She wrapped one hand around it like a glove and grabbed the Starswords handle. As if this provided the barrier she needed, allowing her to touch the blade." Vesperus tore away the Starsword and dropped it on the rocks, covered in blood. No…it hadn't worked. The sword and dagger combined did not kill her.

The Illyrians. And Truth Teller. Confirmed as being created by the Asteri.

All their lovely, "adorable' theories about Az giving Elain Truth Teller....and it's a blade created by evil beings. He himself as an Illyrian, a people created by evil beings wielding a weapon also created by those evil beings.

So if Elucien's bond was created by the Asteri...of which there is absolutely no canon evidence, how is that any worse than Elain ending up with someone actually created by the Asteri? Whose power belonged to the Asteri?

[suzieburself]

Byler Week Fanfic! Soulmates

At ten everyone is supposed to get their soul mark, printed into their skin and guiding them to their true love. And so on March 22, Will Byers, who is a fool in many ways but not when it comes to his own heart, he knows exactly who he wants his soul mate to be.

The only problem, Will's supposed soulmate doesn't get any mark at all.

————

"Or- Or maybe I just don't have a soulmate." The tears return to run down Mike's cheeks in their set tracks. "There's just no one out there for me."

I'm out there. I'm here, in front of you, caring for you. I'm here, Will thinks.

But he keeps his mouth shut. "I can- I can draw a mark for you if you like."

"Huh?" Mike sniffs.