I want that to be my cat ears bondage name. Just all of my immortal on me and I have to find the other person with it so we can compete in spell duels.
Fanfic gripe: when there's a bdsm-type scene that's supposed to be like... consensual and healthy, I'd assume. And then isn't that thing. Being a dom isn't the same thing is being cruel, if cruelty is a thing, you need to have a good idea of what the other person 1) can handle, 2) even wants. Going right for their biggest weak spot for maximum humiliation points is just... augh :( Especially when it happens without a safeword or escape. There's stuff that's supposed to be deliberately extreme and pushing the limits, and I've loved me some dead dove stuff. But framing is really important, and if you're telling me this is supposed to be a positive scene and it really, really isn't, that's going to throw me out of the story super hard. General bdsm-flavored fic gripe, really. It's not even most d/s fics, but it still shows up more often than makes me happy. The no-escape situation that's on my mind was in a fic I was only told about, but I've run into it in the wild too. I've encountered this issue too many times in what were supposed to be happy stories, and it still consistently upsets me :T
A bit belated, but it occurs to me that there are a few non-political variations of 'president' out there. Like, I think you can be 'president of the university of whatever' or something. So that could work out- someone decides to avoid all that potential drama by not going into politics at all, takes up teaching, and then one day they're welcoming a new professor or something...
You know, in the "first words" soulmate AU, shouldn't nearly half the population have some variation of "Whoa, I think you're my soulmate" written on them?
depends - if someone's words are unique enough that they can reasonably expect that the first person they meet who says those words upon meeting them is their soulmate, then that person might well say something like "hey i think we might be soulmates!" in response but if someone's words are "nice to meet you, greg" or "[insert coffee order here]" or something similar, then that someone is less likely to immediately respond with "i think you're my soulmate" because they've probably heard it a fair amount and most of the people saying that will not be their soulmate
Some people make a habit of introducing themself to every new person they ever meet with some weird distinct phrase that their soulmate would HAVE to recognize, they're not going to miss this chance no matter what. This setting would affect socialization at some serious fundamental levels, maybe not for everyone, but for a significant number of people. I could take a whole novel's worth of worldbuilding.
I mean... thinking of 'celebrities who everyone wants to know the soulmate words of because of the scandal' (mentioned earlier). Wouldn't this result in a bunch of people coming up to said person and being like '[attempts to use those soulmate words]'. Famous Celebrity: bombarded with people trying to fake being their soulmate
I was about to mention, what's with people who are deaf, or nonverbal? But if text works ::D Celebrities releasing false soulmate-phrases. Fake soulmate tattoos. Would tattooing even be a thing? Would you even be allowed to have that specific style of phrase tattoo? Are you allowed to tattoo over your soulmark? What are the religious/societal notions towards soulmarks? Do they have to be covered at all times and only your spouse/soulmate is allowed to see them? Do you need to display them? Oh, oh! If it's a quote, is your soulmate the original author of said quote, or someone quoting it at you? Theatre is a bit difficult because presumably you've already talked to your fellow actors before rehearsing. But imagine your soulmark has a different name than your legal name. Like, "Hi Mason" when your name is Deborah. Could be transgender, could be an internet nickname/pen name. What do parents make of this? (Especially awful parents. Oooh boy.). Parents naming their children because of the peculiarities of their soulmark. Philosophical discussions about the nature of originality. Where does a piece of writing have its beginnings, if it's someone's soulmark? What stops them from publishing it first? What are the copyright issues here? What about people with memory issues, or people who meet their soulmate while so fucking hammered that they don't remember what happened? How are dialects/accents transposed? Different language just means different script, but dialects? How does (mental) illness affect this? If only "healthy" people get soulmates, that's kind of shitty, and it places a lot of pressure on the ill people who get told they're unlovable, and it won't ever get better. If all people have soulmates, someone's gonna get stuck with someone whose illness makes them exhausting, or dangerous. Not good in either direction. Also, all this discussion clearly means we should start a fic anthology or two. Just soulmate loop / soulmark fics with some actual worldbuilding wrt the effects of loops and marks on the world.
i want a soulmate au that incorporates aromantics without "they just don't get a mark/whatever the poor dears" non-romantic soulmates? BROS 4 LYFE?
A thought: All the soulmate fics I´ve seen assume that once you find your mate you Have to be with them. Excluding the groundhog day timeloop variation, in general, I don´t see why? There almost certainly would be societal pressure, but what if a pair decides they don´t want to? (Or decide/find out they are fated to be rivals or just bestfriends/moirails?) What about a pair who go their separate ways and one or both find someone else naturally who they just really click with, and either change their marks in the case of marks, or the marks change themselves. (The second is truer to the more classic interpretation ,the first would be interesting.)
Why do none of these fics use like, the TiMER set up? TiMER being a film where like...you get these fucking stopwatches embedded in your arm if you buy one and get a procedure done. It supposedly counts down till the exact moment when you meet your soulmate. With this you could have like. Dramatic moments of gore where someone removes their timer themselves. Violently. Stupidly. There is blood everywhere. A timer is on the floor. Mother screams. Also really that movie is just what most of these fics remind me of and I feel weird seeing this be a big thing because I saw that years ago and was like "oh I guess that's cool". AND THEN.
Oh man. What if you lose your soulmark due to an accident? Doesn't need to be a full amputation, a bad burn might suffice. Does the mark turn up elsewhere? Does it just float in the air? If the area where it was is just damaged, does it appear on the damaged area? Can you transplant marks? Like, chop of the limb in question or just remove the skin, and give it to someone else? Are there ritualistic mark-removals for vows of celibacy or to "make someone soulless"?
I actually do remember more than a few fics with the TiMER inspired setup, but I think they're all in the Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter fandom. Also it was usually not a device embedded in your body, but rather a mark you were born with, though I think there was at least one with the device thing.... though I can't say I remember any of them having the violence you're looking for. Not sure why they didn't show up more in other fandoms, though. ...Actually, I think I remember maybe one in the Avengers fandom, where Steve was born with his soulmate timer showing that he would meet his soulmate in 94 years. So there's that.
I've definitely seen the timer variant of soulmate AU going around in numerous fandoms. Always as a mark you're born with, though, from what I've seen.
... Author, a "raven" is not a black-haired person. It is a literal bird. Unless it is part of a title, you should not be using it to refer to anyone who does not also possess a beak and feathers.
Well, or unless you're writing Teen Titans fic, I assume. Really though, everyone knows the proper term is "ravenette". :P
