#wr soulmate au

[roseyrays]

# ENHYPEN SMAU RECS 💖

# RIKI

# more time with you! — by @yenqa, it’s very CUTE and the ANGST is scrumptious :))

# love dive — by @tzyuki, RIKIY/N ARE SO CUTE

# love is (not) easy! — by @kynrki, riki smau, THE ANGST RHAHAHA MADE ME CRY BUT I LOVE IT

# shoot! — by @amakumos, again ADORABLE and THE FLUFF (rikiy/n is what i want in an relationship), can’t believe you can find the love of your life in genshin

# cupid’s corner — by @amakumos, ANOTHER GREAT SMAU, ITS JUST SO CUTE & RIKIY/N MAKES ME WANNA JUMP OFF A BRIDGE

# trial and error — by @kyyuri, AGHHHH, again rikiy/n>>the world

# beat the allegations — by @woonierkiz (aka my mutual), it only has two chapters for now BUT AHHHHHHHHH

# don’t date my brother — by @mosinterlude , LOVED HOW YOU ADDED KONON AND THE ANGST 🤌🤌, also love the fact that it has some idol’s sisters (and brother) <33

# soulmate tracker — by @son4taa, i remember reading this a while back but forgot about it im sorry 😭😭, ITS VERY GOOD THOUGH

# 💌 c u p i d 💘 — by @roseyrays (aka me!), yes this is self promoting 🤌🤌

# ( 尤も ) natural — by @ifearjwn, NOT THE PADDLE BOARD, y/n simps 🫵😁, love u riki, can’t wait for more chapters!

# oh, ni-ki you’re so fine! — by @aernx ,made by mutual! ,sooha jumpscare 😟, NI-KI SO CUTE

# JUNGWON

# stuck by glue — by @yyunari, WINX CLUB AU!, me when y/nwon 💖💖

# mint chocolate shirt — by @wonieleles, i love me some one-sided rivalry, won just stop being mean and kiss her already 🙄

# idol crush! — by @enhas-bestie, I WANT TO PUNCH THE ANTIS SO BAD

# whats after like?! — by @haew0nz, i forgot about what happened 😭, will reread but ik it’s good!!

# cat hotline ♡ — by @faelyncore, CATS AND LOVE=FAV

# wr⩇ng r⩇⩇m! — by @soov, SO CUTE SHSJSJSJSJ

# our beloved leaders — by @tzyuki, yes i just binged the whole smau today, f that zira anti fr, Y/NWON 😔😔🩷🩷

# JUNGWON & RIKI

# pick me! — by @urszn, YUUURRRRR

# SUNOO

(i only read one 😭 please recommend me some)

# ykwim? — by @astrae4, still only has a few chapters but i love it already 💖💖

# SUNGHOON

(i only read one 😭 please recommend me some)

# vlive confession — by @starjaeyun, ITS JUST SO AHH, waiting for more chapters 💖💖

# JAKE

# paper rings — by @117luv, the kids are adorable ❤️❤️, when he changed his user 💀

# dad diaries — by @117luv, spinoff of paper rings, cute ☹️❤️❤️

# hey prez!! ✰ — by @yeeunjia, on hiatus but really good ❤️

# rink of love — by @pagesofmiracles, so cute 😭😭🩷🩷

# JAY

unfortunately didn’t read a jay one yet 🫠 will read after i’m done with this

# HEESEUNG

# dear, heeseung — by @jungwnies, will reread ❤️, it’s cute too

# twitter sucks! — by @filmbyjy, the comedy here LMAO, riki in this is literally me

# curious cat — by @heerocks, AHHHH 💖

# JUST ADDED

# don’t date my brother — by @mosinterlude, LOVED HOW YOU ADDED KONON AND THE ANGST 🤌🤌, also love the fact that it has some idol’s sisters (and brother) <33

# soulmate tracker — by @son4taa, i remember reading this a while back but forgot about it im sorry 😭😭, ITS VERY GOOD THOUGH

# rink of love — by @pagesofmiracles, so cute 😭😭🩷🩷

# our beloved leaders — by @tzyuki, yes i just binged the whole smau today, f that zira anti fr, Y/NWON 😔😔🩷🩷

# 💌 c u p i d 💘 — by @roseyrays (aka me!), yes this is self promoting 🤌🤌

# ( 尤も ) natural — by @ifearjwn, NOT THE PADDLE BOARD, y/n simps 🫵😁, love u riki, can’t wait for more chapters!

# oh, ni-ki you’re so fine! — by @aernx ,made by mutual! ,sooha jumpscare 😟, NI-KI SO CUTE

[dauntlessdiva]

I'd Know Those Doe Eyes Anywhere

For @steddieholidaydrabbles warm up prompt: High School/College AU

Rating: G

CWs: Implied/Referenced Transphobia

Tags: College au, Trans Steve Harrington, Coming Out, First Kiss, Bisexual Eddie Munson, Halloween Parties

~♡~

Stevie had taken a few necessary years between high school graduation to finally starting her college education.

She used that time to save up some money through her minimum wage customer service jobs that she worked alongside her best friend and platonic soulmate, Robin Buckley.

With the money she squirrelled away in a savings account combined with the trust left to her by her grandparents, she finally moved out of Hawkins and into a small apartment in Indianapolis. With Robin as her roommate, obviously.

Now out from under her parents' thumbs, away from the watchful gaze that followed her everywhere in places where everyone knew each other, Stevie felt free to finally be herself in the anonymity of the big city.

And now that she'd fully made the social transition, and with her physical transition was under way, she felt that it was finally time to return to the world of academia. For better or for worse.

What she was not expecting was to run into an all too familiar face. Stevie couldn't recall exactly when Eddie Munson finally graduated from Hawkins High, but clearly he must have, or he wouldn't be squinting at her from the back of the class every Monday morning.

It would unnerve her if she thought he recognized her, but between the 'hot girl makeover' (Robin's words) and the fact that she'd changed her last name to her grandmother's name, she was fairly confident that he didn't know who Stevie Evelyn Marie even was.

Eddie didn't know what it was about that Stevie girl in his English class, but he showed up to his classes on Monday more often than any others before 12pm through the rest of the week.

Regardless of what was nagging at the back of his mind about her, Stevie was pretty. He still tended to lean more towards men than women, but he had eyes, and Stevie was easy to look at. She was shy and soft spoken, but she seemed to know the curriculum well and answered every question asked of her thoroughly and thoughtfully, but worded it in a way that even the dumbest of jocks could understand.

The thought of jocks had Steve Harrington coming to mind, and holy shit that's what it was! She looked like the spitting image of King Steve. If The Hair was a girl, he'd be Stevie Marie. But what if? No, it couldn't be. Unless? Steve did, famously, skip town with Robin Buckley of all people, and has yet to make a reappearance. Was this why? Not that he could blame them for leaving either way, Hawkins was a hell hole that he'd been more than happy to leave in his rear view.

Stevie hadn't planned on coming to the campus halloween, but now that she was here, she didn't want to be anywhere else. With Robin as her plus one, she felt confident enough to flirt with a few of her classmates, even going so far as to wink when she'd made eye contact with Eddie from across the room.

The next moment he was standing beside her, and just like that they were laughing and chatting like old school friends catching up and talking with a familiarity hitherto unknown (yes, hitherto, Stevie knew her vocab words).

So of course with everything going so well, Stevie's brain had to betray her. She could see Eddie lean in to kiss her and before she could think about it she was pushing him away with a muttered 'sorry' and rushing off to the nearest bathroom.

"Stevie? Are you in there?" Eddie called out before cautiously stepping into the communal bathroom. "Stevie, if this is about what I think it is, then you should know that I don't care what gender you are." Oh god, Eddie knew! How did he know? He knew he should've picked a different first name, damn Robin for reassuring him that Stevie was fine. "But if this is about something else then you need to tell me, okay? I can't fix it if I don't know what I did wrong."

That finally broke through the panic spiral. "Re-really?" She spoke hesitantly, unlocking the door and poking her head out from the stall she'd run to. Eddie's worried face greeted her in the main area of the bathroom near the sinks. "D'you really mean it? About the-" she paused to take a breath- "the gender thing?"

Eddie's face softened instantly, cautiously walking forwards as he spoke, "yeah, baby. I'd know those doe eyes anywhere, on the face of the sporty boy who made me face my own bisexuality, or the kindest and most well spoken young woman in the whole damn college."

"You recognized me by my eyes?" Stevie asked, leaning in to the touch as Eddie's hands came out to hold her face.

"How else would I recognize such beauty, darling?" He asked, a kind smile gracing his face. Stevie wanted to kiss that sweet smile right off his handsome face, and before she knew what she was doing, she'd pulled him in to do just that.

"Finally!" Robin called out, startling the pair out of their kiss, both turning to look at her before they all burst out in laughter.

Yeah, Stevie was glad she decided to wait a while before entering college.

[curiouslavellan]

hi it's me annoying you with my request to answer all of the ask game questions for the soupmates <3333 feel free to skip those that dont apply or you dont like tho :'D

you're never annoying <3 ty for still being The soupmates fan lol

Gonna put this under a cut because I skipped 0 questions and it got long

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?

You lmao. As I've said, big part of why I'm actually writing it down! Re: the way I wrote it though, I've basically always written stuff with lots of POV switches, I like to see the differences between people's attitudes and levels of knowledge. If I ever write a story where everyone in it starts with all the same facts, I've probably been replaced by a pod person

2: What scene did you first put down?

I write chronologically, so that first scene with Ariel and Bethany was the first thing I wrote

3: What’s your favorite line of narration?

Ariel wasn’t the sort to leave things up to chance any more. Anyone could have seen, and anyone could have turned them in, so there were no fireballs or ice storms for them. No mage’s staff. In Kirkwall, it was all down to daggers and luck.  Sometimes that luck seemed too good to be true. Sometimes Ariel moved faster than a person really ought to be able to, and sometimes the idiots trying to kill them tripped over thin air. Only the paranoid would call that magic. 

Join me in my apostate Hawke as a rogue agenda

4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?

When Justice in his chapter 1 section remarks on Wade and Herren being soulmates with

“I do not see it. This doesn’t happen to spirits,”

mostly because I immediately said "Ha, incorrect" to myself lmao. Justice himself obviously, but using Wade and Herren was an extra joke because idc what the creators said, if Herren is a desire demon in Darkspawn Chronicles, I believe that it's true for every timeline

5: What part was hardest to write?

Can I say the chapter I'm working on rn? I am being very picky about the first meeting because it's pretty essential in a soulmate au

6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

I've never written for this ot3 before, or actually published anything for Ariel or DA2 as a whole. It's fun to get into Kirkwall! Also there are some pretty big time jumps between scenes, which I have done before but not in stuff that follows a set plot like a video games, so it's neat to kind of work into the spaces in an existing timeline

7: Where did the title come from?

The song Out There from Hunchback of Notre Dame lmfao. I'm just glad it wasn't actually called omg they were soupmates at this point

8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?

Not really

9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

Not for the overarching plot but I did have a Lot of back and forth over certain details like Anders and Karl's relationship, when different scenes happen and from whose POV, where this story ends, etc

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

because I love them <3 more seriously, because I love Justice, and I'm sad he's barely a character in DA2, especially because he's so interesting about love in Awakening, and I wanted him to be an equal part of the story. Also because they're the weirdest option in a soulmate au, so I get to poke at the "rules" of the genre

11: What do you like best about this fic?

writing Ariel is so fun! purple Hawke you will always be an icon

12: What do you like least about this fic?

Balancing the different POVs has been stressing me out a little, I know it doesn't actually matter that much but I do want them to be at least roughly equal

13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

I don't listen to my character playlists while writing, because I can't write and hear lyrics at the same time, so I've just been putting on youtube mixes of fantasy writing instrumentals lol

14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

ummm Justice is amazing and you should love him

15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

this is the fic that got me to commit to small daily increments of writing instead of waiting for inspiration to hit, which we've all heard plenty of times but finally hit me on this one

[random-mailbox]

Random-Mailbox's Favorite Sailor Moon Fics - Week 25 - Soulmate AU

The Soulmate Trope is the last of our posts for the month of February! This one is dedicated to  @sinjazz , whose idea it was to add it to the options in the Tophat. When I had mentioned that I was working on this, my husband’s reaction was “isn’t entire Sailor Moon premise all about those two being soulmates?!” - he is not wrong, but it is fun to explore concepts of marks, dreams, and other ways to figure out you are meant for each other 🙂

As always, my apologies in advance for spoiling some of these for you (Fic Titles are linked to either FFN or AO3 entries).

Finding Love: Chapter 66: My Moon Bunny - @wildriverinthesky

This one shot in the collection of stories is all about the mark. Only one half of the pair has it and it changes to being in colour from grayscale once you meet your soulmate. Mamoru has one of those and now knows that Usagi might just be his and now has the task of convincing her to believe him.

Finding Love: Chapter 30: Sexy Cop - @wildriverinthesky

Our second entry from @wildriverinthesky for this week! In this one, Usagi witnesses a horrific motorcycle crash on a way to a Halloween party, only to notice that the person in front of her is the one she has been dreaming of for most of her life. 

Junction - @syrenbattou

Dr Chiba has been called in with many others to help victims of a crash, and while doing round with Ami gets entranced by one of the newly admitted patients (he does NOT break any doctor- patient rules, just so we are clear ;) )

Swirling Colors - @lucicelo

Usagi and Mamoru both saw colours in their dreams, which is very unusual in this AU. One day they bump into each other at Crown, setting off a series of conversations and realizations. 

Haru no Kousekiinai Arimasu - Lina_Natsudori (Jennifer Ellison)

Sailor Moon and Tuxedo mask have a connection that lets the other understand what they might be feeling, something Sailor Venus and Sailor Mars are trying their best to nip at the bud. This multichapter is re-telling of the first arc but with a stronger leaning towards soulmates trope. 

Tokens of Affection: Chapter 10: 1st U_M anniversary: Soul Mates - Lina_Natsudori (Jennifer Ellison)

Our second entry from this author for this week - this one is a fun exchange between Usagi and Mamoru about their knowledge of mythology, with Usagi explaining origins of the term Soulmates to him in a more simplified terms than his textbook

The Space Between: Chapter 19: Destiny  - @uglygreenjacket

I think this one-shot in the collection has one of my favorite lines when it comes to Usagi and Mamoru - “It was a flirtation, you and me. You and Usagi are…" she trailed off, trying to find the right word, "...destiny." In this one shot, Rei and Mamoru discuss what their dating actually meant to both of them.

In a rare change up, we actually have a guest suggestion this week from @iwrestledavongonce:

Self-disclosed Discovery - @hikamaus

In this PGSM!AU Reinako-centered fic, a secluded and externally brusque seeming Rei suddenly gets a message on her skin from her secret soulmate, who seems to know more about her and what she is capable of than Rei could have ever imagined. Will she find out who her soulmate is? And maybe even change her ways and not only find love but also friendship along the way?

—

With this being the last post for February, here is our schedule for March:

March 6 - Amnesia Fics

March 13 - St Patrick’s Day

March 20 - Fix-it Fics

March 27 - Mugs Prompt

Here are the links to the previous Tumblr posts in these series to explore more amazing works based on different themes - make sure to check them out if you haven't had a chance! (Click on title name to go to the post) - I will keep updating the list every week as new posts come up:

Week 1 - Groundhog Day

Week 2 - Established Relationships

Week 3 - Sex Positivity

Week 4 - Unfinished Stories

Week 5 - Darker Stories

Week 6 - Potions 🧪

Week 7 - Reveals

Week 8 - 👻Halloween🎃

Week 9 - Wrong Perceptions

Week 10 - Non-Senshi AU

Week 11 - In-Progress Fics

Week 12 - Mutual Pining

Week 13 - Enemies to Lovers

Week 14 - Slow Burn

Week 15 - Christmas Part 1 - Ugly Christmas Sweaters and Santa!

Week 16 - Christmas Part 2

Week 17 - New Years

Week 18 - High School AU

Week 19 - Slice of Life

Week 20 - Coffee shop AU

Week 21 - Huddle for Warmth

Week 22 - Friends to Lovers

Week 23 - Valentines Day

Week 24 - Do a Grouch a Favour Day (or Cheer Up Fics)

[lunar-years]

Whatever Our Souls Are Made Of

Pairing(s): Jonathan Byers/Nancy Wheeler, background Joyce Byers/Jim Hopper, platonic Will Byers & El Hopper

Rating: T

Summary: "Nancy doesn’t care if her soulmate is going to kiss her or not, or if they’ll get married. Maybe she doesn’t even want to get married. Regardless, she knows she wants to meet them. The little mark hidden out of sight on her ankle, and the knowledge that her soulmate is just…out there…feels almost like discovering a secret magic. What could be more mystifying than a person capable of understanding your soul as completely as if it were their own? Not too many people have someone who sees every part of you like that, Mom says. It’s one of the few things they seem to agree on."

Or, Jancy's soulmate AU, originally written for @jancyweek2022 Day 7: AU/Canon Divergence. This chapter also has a lot of overlap potential with Day 2: Childhood. :)

xxx

So. uhhhh...

Bad news (?): I broke soulmate AU into two parts because it was getting so long.

Good new: Part one is complete! Read it below or over on Ao3 here! Part two will be out in the next few days.

soul·mate ˈsōl-ˌmāt. plural soulmates or soul mates. : a person who is perfectly suited to another in temperament. : a person who strongly resembles another in attitudes or beliefs.

“I am half afraid to hope for what I long for.” – Emily Dickinson, from a letter to Austin Dickinson wr. c. 1851.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1978

Nancy Wheeler just turned eleven years old, five minutes ago exactly. She's been watching the clock above the classroom door all day, awaiting it.

Eleven years old, and there is yellow nail polish on her fingernails, already beginning to chip away. There are two braids in her hair. This morning, she put on her favorite ruffle socks with the red trim, and a dress two sizes too big for her; It has a peter pan collar and little blue and red flowers all over it. In the store last summer, Mom told her she’d grow into it, but Nancy’s still waiting.

She thought turning eleven would feel differently than it does. More momentous, more…important. She thought she’d at least feel older, and preferably wiser, but instead she feels just the same as before.

There are three bruises across her right elbow and both knees, from falling off the monkey bars yesterday at recess. They turned purple overnight, and so Mom warned her not to go back on them today (but recess would be so completely boring otherwise—and anyway it’s her birthday—so Nancy doesn’t intend to follow through). She has a blobby scar of discolored skin on the inside of one forearm where she burned herself on a gingerbread cookie tray last Christmas.

On the inside of her left ankle, carefully covered up by one of the aforementioned ruffle socks, is her soulmate mark.

She’s not supposed to call it that, and both of her parents yell at her when she forgets. It’s a soul mark, Nancy. And all it means is that there’s someone out there who might be important to you one day, but just as well might not, her mother forcefully instructs. No mark gets to tell you who your soulmate is, remember? Nancy thinks that’s the exact point of the mark, actually, but yes—she remembers. She can practically hear the whole conversation now. She can even hear her own response, well-practiced: Yes, Mom. Yes, I know.

(When her parents aren’t around, she calls it a soulmate mark anyway, and so does everyone else in her class.)

It’s true that the marks can’t really tell you anything though. Well, they tell you some things, just not who you’re going to fall in love with or marry or whatever. But only old people like her parents still think that’s all a soulmate means, anyway. Everyone her age knows a soulmate doesn’t have to be romantic. The marks are a sign that there’s someone out there you’re connected to more deeply than with anyone else. Two souls tangled up in each other, romantically or not. Soulmates.

They talked about it earlier in the school year, in a very embarrassing edition to health class. Miss. Seiborne had sounded just like Nancy’s mom, listing off all the things that the marks couldn’t do. She’d written ‘The Science Behind Soul Marks’ at the top of the chalkboard, and dutifully, because some of this would probably be on the quiz, Nancy had taken notes .

They don’t mean you’re going to meet that person and be with them forever—that’s the first thing any adult tells you, as soon as you’re old enough to notice you have a mark and decide to ask someone about it. Nancy thinks it’s because a lot of adults never found their soulmates and are still pretty bitter about it. Or they did meet them, then got divorced or something

It’s not going to be like that when she finds her soulmate. Nancy won’t marry just anyone, even if he is her soulmate. Maybe even especially then, because if she knows they’re soulmates beforehand she’s going to be extra cautious. He’ll have to be up to snuff.

Her mom likes to repeat this ridiculous story about Virginia and Elmer Hammerstein, some couple Nancy isn’t entirely convinced she didn’t just make up. This couple, Virginia and Elmer, found out they had matching marks and got married right away just because they thought they were supposed to.

Apparently, they’d ended up hating each other so much that all they wanted to talk about was how terrible the other one was, until no one else wanted to be friends with them because no one wanted to hear it anymore. In the end, the only person they had left to complain to was the other, and they ended up doing that forever, miserable and going at it until they died.

Nancy’s pretty sure Mom just made it up to scare her. But even if she didn’t, Nancy secretly thinks that if Virginia and Elmer were unable to talk or think about anyone else after meeting each other, well, then it sounds a heck of a lot like their souls were inextricably linked, or whatever. Nobody said everyone had to be good, healthy soulmates. Maybe they were both just people who loved to complain, and the other person was the only other one out there who was equally miserable. Maybe they were mean-spirited people, together.

Nancy continues to think about her mark well into the math lesson, wondering. Some people share their marks with their best friends. Even family members can have them sometimes, but that’s pretty rare. Nancy read once that it mostly happens with twins. That’s because a soul mark is different from love. That’s the other thing all the adults like to preach: a soul mark can speak to love, but it isn’t love. Nancy isn’t entirely sure what they mean by that. She thinks adults like to speak in riddles a lot of the time, maybe because they don’t really get it themselves.

Many people don’t even have a soul mark. And sometimes the people who do are so scared by it that they end up hating their soulmate for it, or worse, never try to find them at all.

Nancy doesn’t care if her soulmate is going to kiss her or not, or if they’ll get married. Maybe she doesn’t even want to get married. Regardless, she knows she wants to meet them. The little mark hidden out of sight on her ankle, and the knowledge that her soulmate is just…out there…feels almost like discovering a secret magic. What could be more mystifying than a person capable of understanding your soul as completely as if it were their own? Not too many people have someone who sees every part of you like that, Mom says. It’s one of the few things they seem to agree on.

Still, she’s glad her mark is somewhere she can easily hide it. Sometimes she looks down at it—white against her flushed skin—and wonders if the person destined for her like that is in the classroom with her, or if they’re at another school, sitting at some other desk. If they’ll love her and she’ll love them back in return.

Sometimes she wishes it was Barbara. That would make it all so easy, if her best friend was her soulmate. But they compared with each other last year at Sarah Thompson’s sleepover birthday party, and Barb’s soul mark was nothing like her own. The only girls who matched at that party were Sarah’s best friend, Julie, and another girl named Sophie. After that, Julie stopped hanging out with Sarah and traded her in for Sophie, so Nancy’s pretty sure Sarah really regretted suggesting the game.

A tap on her shoulder snaps her out of her head and sets her whirling around in her desk. It’s Jonathan Byers. Nancy frowns back at him, confused. Jonathan does not talk to her. When they were assigned desks so close together at the beginning of the school year, she had reluctantly taken the initiative of saying hello. It seemed rude not to, since she technically did know him. Jonathan was usually with his mom when she dropped his little brother off at Nancy’s house. But Jonathan never talked to her on those occasions, either.

For her efforts on the first day of school,  all she’d gotten was a muttered ‘hello’ that sounded more like a question then a greeting, plus a moment of him awkwardly blinking at her until class began.

Now, he holds out her pencil, the one with her best eraser topper on it, and says “you dropped this.”

Nancy blushes despite herself. She was so distracted thinking about soulmates that she hasn’t written down a single equation. Her elbow must have pushed the pencil completely off her desk.

Nancy takes it from him, and Jonathan does something he rarely does: smiles at her. He even says, “Happy birthday, Nancy,” and before she can ask how he knows that, he gestures towards the decorated bulletin board in the corner, which has the whole class’s birthdays written out on it on individual, brightly colored cardstock shaped into cupcakes.

She’s about to say thank you when she’s tapped again, this time from the front with the sharp edge of paper. It’s Sally in front of her, passing back the math worksheet. Mrs. Turner instructs them all to pair up, and Nancy settles for shooting Jonathan a grateful smile before craning her head around to catch Barbara’s eye, desperate to get her best friend's attention before Sally can ask her to be partners.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1979

Jonathan Byers turns twelve three days after his father walks out on them for good. Lonnie doesn’t bother to call, let alone drop by, but to Jonathan that’s preferable. He only wishes Mom wasn’t so upset. He can tell that she’s trying for him. She finally came out of her room today. She even made him and Will breakfast, and afterwards started to bake him a cake, except she kept having to stop to wipe at her eyes.

Jonathan wants to tell her he’s having a much better birthday without Dad here. His best birthday in years, really. But he’s not sure it would make her feel any better, and he doesn’t want to risk it. The slightest thing could send her back to her room again, and then this birthday would be as bad as all the rest. Last year, his dad was roaring drunk all throughout his birthday dinner, and spent it yelling at Will. The year before that, Dad spent it yelling at him for being too much of a pussy to kill one, measly rabbit. Jonathan had cried for a week.

This morning, after eating Mom’s pancakes, he and Will went out to the woods to put the finishing touches on Castle Byers. Will painted a sign for it yesterday, and Jonathan helped him tack it to the fort’s outer branches. Then they’d dug some old blankets and pillows out of the linen closet and carried them out there to sit on.

Will hand-drew him a birthday card. It has a picture of the two of them standing proudly beside Castle Byers. Will’s stick figure has a little speech bubble by his head that says “Happy Birthday Jonathan!” in his shaky, little kid handwriting. Jonathan immediately tacked it onto the wall in his bedroom. It’s his favorite birthday gift he’s ever gotten.

xxx

The first time Jonathan held Will, after he’d gotten over his initial fear of dropping him long enough to check him over, he’d looked for Will’s soul mark, and found it just below his left collarbone. It was obvious right away that it was not a match for his own.

It felt crushing even though he knew it shouldn’t have. Jonathan was well aware that he shouldn’t’ve gotten his hopes up. Mom had told him, lots of time, that the chances of it were slim. It’s possible, she’d said, letting him touch her stomach to feel the baby kick, but it’s very unlikely, honey. For the six months prior, ever since she and his dad had sat him down and told him he was going to be a big brother, he’d clung on to the “possible” part and forgotten the rest of it.

Will was so small, cradled in Jonathan’s arms. Small and pink and fragile, so that it was easy to be afraid what might happen to him. But it was all going to be okay, because Will had Jonathan to protect him. He wasn’t ever going to let anything bad happen to him, whether they shared a mark or not.

Mom must’ve noticed he was pouting, though, because she came over then and scooped Will back out of his arms. Will kept his tiny hand wrapped around Jonathan’s finger, even as he was pulled away. It made Jonathan want to cry. “Oh sweetheart,” Mom sighed, watching his face. Jonathan shrugged at her, trying not to look too upset. He could feel tears prickling in the back of his eyes just the same, and was very glad Dad was still at work.

Mom cupped his face in the hand that wasn’t holding Will, and ran her thumb up and down his cheek. “You know how I don’t need to have your soul mark to know how much I love you?” she asked. He did know. Mom had explained it to him a few months before, when he asked her why she didn’t have a mark that looked like his, either. She waited for him to nod before continuing. “Well, brothers are like that, too. I love you, and Will loves you, and you love us back, right? We’re a family, Jonathan. All that mark of yours means is that one day, somebody else will get to see how great you are. And they’ll love you, too.” She touched a finger to the tip of his nose, and beamed down at him. Jonathan tried very hard to beam back.

He at least managed to nod again, to let her know he understood. He really didn’t though, because how could he ever love anyone more than them? Mom told him last time that it wasn’t about more or less, and that it wouldn’t be the same kind of love, but he didn’t quite know what she meant. How many different kinds were there?

He wished he didn’t have the mark on his hipbone. Mostly, he wished Mom would let him hold Will again.

That was the day he decided he didn’t need a soulmate, no matter how great they were or how much they loved him. Mom, and now his little brother—they were more than enough. 

xxx

Jonathan’s old enough now to know Mom was lying to him when she said all that stuff, anyway. She probably didn’t think she was at the time, but she definitely was. His mark doesn’t mean someone else is going to love him. It probably doesn’t mean anything at all.

He wishes Mom would stop crying. She had already retreated back into her room by the time he and Will came back in from outside, and when he knocked, she said she’d be out in a few, but she’s still in there. He can hear her through the door.

His mom has two soul marks, which is really rare.  It’s even rarer that she actually knows who both of them are. The first one matches with a friend she had growing up. That one's on her wrist, which is why she always wears her watch; Mom says they don’t really talk anymore, at least not like they used to. When his dad was still here, he was always yelling at her for bringing it up, even though Mom never did, it was always him.  Jonathan thinks he must be jealous, because Mom has two marks and only of them matches Lonnie’s.

That’s why Jonathan knows the soul marks are stupid. Not just stupid, but a lie. Mom always goes on and on about how much his soulmate is going to love him, but his parents don’t love each other. Lonnie is an asshole. All he ever did was make Mom miserable. Mom and Will. Jonathan is glad he left, and glad he didn’t call to wish him happy birthday, too. They are all better off without him.

He sits there, in the hallway outside his mother’s closed bedroom door, and thinks about that for a long time. Then he goes into the kitchen to finish his abandoned birthday cake. It’s sitting there in the pans, the two halves baked but not stacked together like a cake should be. Jonathan squints at the recipe and started pulling down the ingredients for the frosting. It will make Mom happy if she and Will can sing him happy birthday tonight.  

xxx

A few days later, when Mom is having a good day, Jonathan dares to ask her how Dad could be her soulmate. He doesn’t want to bring Lonnie up when she’s been up and out of her bedroom all afternoon, but he’s dying to know. He hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since he turned twelve.

Mom just tells him it’s complicated.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1980

“Why did you marry Dad if you knew you didn’t have the same soul mark?” Nancy asks. She’s sitting in the kitchen, dangling her feet from one of the stools, watching her mother knead dough.

Mom’s hands freeze. She looks up, startled. “What do you mean?”

“Well, aren’t you curious who your real soulmate is?” This has been her fall project, conducting interviews on the people around her for details about their soul marks. So far, she has listened to Mr. and Mrs. Feldstein, the next door neighbors, tell her, ad nauseum, how the stars aligned the day they met one another, gotten an “ew, that’s disgusting” and a door in the face from Mike for even daring to ask him, and unknowingly reduced Aunt Sarah to tears (it turned out that Aunt Sarah didn’t have a soul mark, but how was Nancy supposed to know it was such a sore spot?)

Mom continues to look at her, a frown on her face. Then after a moment she appears to reach some sort of conclusion, because she goes back to her kneading. “No, I don’t,” she says simply, eyes not leaving the dough, “I have your father.”

Nancy already harassed Dad into showing her his mark a few weeks ago. It was up by his elbow, and he’d reluctantly rolled up his shirt sleeves to show her, though not before remarking, “I haven’t thought about this thing in years.” 

Dad’s mark was completely different from her mom’s. Nancy has always known that her parent’s marks must be different, but it was still odd having the confirmation. She knows she shouldn’t press, and yet—well, she can’t help herself. “But you don’t love him. And the person who shares your mark, well, you might end up loving them more than you do Dad, so—”

“Nancy.” It’s a warning.

“—I just don’t see why’d you’d marry him!”

Mom drops the rolling pin again. It makes a loud thunk on the kitchen island. “I do love your father, thank you very much,” she says curtly. “And the soul marks, as I’ve told you a million times, do not get to determine who you love the most.” Her voice softens a little as she adds, “You choose that for yourself, Nance. Okay?”

“Yeah. Okay.” It’s not really okay. Sometimes it’s like her parents don’t realize their kids can actually see how they behave to one another. Nancy sits through dinner after agonizing dinner of their snippy, short comments back and forth. Barb’s parents aren’t like that. Barb says they hardly ever fight. They like to go on weekend getaways, just the two of them. They’re always holding hands.

Nancy can’t remember her parents ever holding hands. Sometimes they don’t even seem to like one other. The biggest thing they have in common is how infuriatingly blasé the both of them are about their very-much-not-matching soul marks and their very-much-not-present soulmates.

She knows she shouldn’t push it, is the thing. Mom has already turned back to the baking. Still, Nancy can’t help but ask. She’s looking down at the mark on her own ankle again, and thinking that she’d like it to mean something. “But don’t you ever want to look for him?” she asks quietly. She keeps her eyes on her feet, and is surprised when her mom actually answers.

“Nancy, your dad and I—” but she seems to have run out of steam. Nancy risks looking up and sees that she’s stopped her rolling again, and is staring at the countertop with an strange, sad look on her face. It’s enough to make her feel a little bad for asking, but only a little bit. The desire to know wins out, as it always does. “I guess we just both got tired of looking.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1981

When Will first started wondering what his mark meant, it was Jonathan he came to with all his questions. What is it? Why doesn’t it match yours? What if I don’t want a soulmate? Will always had a lot of questions, and Jonathan made sure he always had the answers.

Tonight, though, Jonathan wishes he had never told Will the truth about the soul marks, because his brother is currently standing at his bedroom door, looking just about as miserable and small as Jonathan has ever seen him. Mom just brought him home from Mike’s.

Jonathan doesn’t need to guess what’s the matter; Will is rubbing at his t-shirt right at his collarbone, where Jonathan knows his mark lies beneath the material. Will and his friends are fifth graders. They’re exactly the age most kids are when they start comparing their marks, hoping theirs matches up with their best friend's, even though they don’t really know what that means.

Jonathan swallows. He ushers Will inside his room and tells him to close the door, even though Mom ran immediately to work after dropping off Will, so they’re the only two at home, anyway. It’s a habit. 

Will perches awkwardly on the edge of his bed, twiddling his thumbs and avoiding eye contact. Jonathan is very familiar with this. It means Will is trying not to cry. “What happened?” he asks as gently as possible. Truthfully, he is a little afraid to know.

What if Will’s mark does match with one of his friends? And what if Will knows exactly what that might mean? Jonathan is not equipped for this. He has thought about it ad nauseum, ever since Lonnie first called Will words Jonathan had to ask his mother the meaning of. He’d thought he’d have a few more years to figure out the right things to say.

But then Will says, “Mike doesn’t have any mark at all,” in a voice so dejected that Jonathan almost feels bad for being so immediately relieved.

“Oh?” he says, hoping it doesn’t show.

The thing is, kids are only ecstatic when their marks match up to one of their friends because they don’t know how it’s going to come back to bite them, later on. But Jonathan will be in high school next year; he knows exactly where it leads. Eventually having a best friend for a soulmate stops being something to envy and starts making you something of a target.

In his grade, it’s Julie Heimberg and Sophie Carhart, who found out they had matching marks in like, the third grade, and then went palling around bragging about it for at least a year afterwards. Then one day, somebody told Julie she had better try kissing Sophie to make sure their marks were platonic after all, and it caught on and on until someone swore they’d actually seen them making out beneath the school bleachers, and both of them were being called lesbians in the school hallways, and neither could be seen together for the next two and half months, until finally Sophie’s family up and moved to another town outside Indianapolis.

It almost makes Jonathan feel lucky to have never made any friends, or been to some sleepover where everyone confesses where their soul mark is once the lights go out. It means there’s no one who could go blabbing about his soul mark one way or another. With no evidence to pair him off with anyone specific, the others at school were forced to keep their accusations more general. By the end of last year, the consensus was that Jonathan didn’t have a soul mark, an accusation they’ve been hurling at him in passing ever since.

Jonathan never bothered to correct them. He might as well not have one, because he doesn’t plan to ever do anything with the one he’s got.

At some point he realizes Will is still sitting there, watching him with wide eyes and waiting for him to say something more, something comforting. Jonathan wracks his brain, trying to come up with words that will fit the bill. “You’re upset about that?” he says stupidly, not really meaning to. Of course Will’s upset, the expression on his face says that much and more.

“Mike’s upset about it,” Will corrects miserably. So he’s not even upset for himself, just Mike. Jonathan should have known—it’s so very Will. “The rest of his family all has them. Even his parents. Even Nancy.” He says her name with a level of disgust Jonathan didn’t think his little brother was capable of.

He raises an eyebrow.

Will throws up both his hands in defense. “Mike’s words not mine. He’s mad because she doesn’t dress up with us anymore. Also, last week she called DnD stupid.” He says the last bit with enough scorn to make calling DnD stupid sound like a capital offense. The corners of Jonathan’s lip quirk up in amusement, but he does his best to flatten them back, to match Will’s morose tone.

Nancy Wheeler is in his grade, and in a lot of the same classes, too. He’s barely spoken to her, except for that one time, ages ago now, when Mom stayed too long talking to Mrs. Wheeler even though they were supposed to just be dropping Will off. Nancy had been reading some book, but at her mother’s very unsubtle hints to come speak to him she’d dutifully marked her page and shuffled over to tell him about it. There was also the time she sat in front of him one year in elementary school. He’s pretty sure he picked up her dropped pencils for her a few times, but their interactions had never gone further.

Nancy is very smart, smarter than him. She raises her hand a lot in class, and asks a lot of questions, except hers are good questions, questions that make even their teachers stop and think, not the stupid questions other kids ask because they were too dumb to pay attention. She’s pretty, too, but Jonathan wouldn’t admit that out loud even if he was questioned on it at knifepoint.

He thinks: of course Nancy Wheeler has a soulmate. But that would be a really stupid thing to say, so Jonathan just says nothing.

Eventually, Will picks up where he left off. “Anyway, it’s not fair. Why do all of them get a soul mark but not Mike? He deserves a soulmate, a really good one. He—”

“Look, Will, you’ve got to stop worrying so much about soul marks, okay?” Jonathan interrupts, shaking his head, “They don’t mean anything. Think of Mom and Dad. Theirs match, and look at how that turned out. And it has nothing to do with who deserves it, because if that were true Lonnie wouldn’t have gotten one, would he?”

“Yeah, I guess. But Lucas’ parents have matching ones, too, and they’re like, super in love.”

Jonathan considers this. “I guess it works out sometimes, for some people,” he concedes. “But Lucas’ parents probably fell for each other for loads of other reasons before having the same mark. Then their marks just happened to line up. But that doesn’t happen for most people, all right? The universe gets it wrong more often as it gets it right.”

He can tell that Will is thinking hard on this. “But…with Mom, Dad isn’t her only mark. Maybe the second one will be better?”

“I doubt it,” Jonathan snorts. Will’s face falls. Shit. “Look, her other mark matches with some loser from high school who doesn’t even talk to her anymore, all right?” Mom has long refused to tell either of them who it is, but Lonnie spent years screaming at her about that bastard Jim Hopper, so Jonathan eventually got the picture. If Mom and the chief had ever been good friends, though, nothing they do now shows it. He doesn’t think the chief has even talked to Mom since he came back to Hawkins. He turns back to Will, who’s still frowning. “Mom’s better off without both of them, anyway. She has us.” He nudges his brother with his elbow until he gets a smile.

It doesn’t quite work, though, because Will still goes on to say, “Since Mike doesn’t have a mark, I wish I didn’t have one, either,” like he might still cry.

If his words aren’t enough, it only means Jonathan’s going to have to resort to the old standard to cheer his brother up. “Will, if you don't like your mark, you never have to do anything about it. I'm not going to do anything with mine, ever." He pauses to let that sink in. "Hey, do you want to listen to music? You can pick out anything you want.”

Will’s face predictably lights up. “Anything? Even the ones with bad words?”

“Absolutely.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1983

Nancy is laying in Steve Harrington’s bed in only her bra and underwear. She is sixteen, and no longer a virgin, which is what she has wanted for months. It doesn’t feel as good as she expected it to.

It has nothing to do with the sex. The sex wasn’t bad, not exactly. Or maybe it was. She doesn’t exactly have anything to compare to it to, does she? It was fine, all things considering. Steve was considerate. He went slow. And now that she’s done it once she’s certain it will be better the next time…or that’s what the other girls say.

She doesn’t know why she feels so bad, is the thing. Well, Barb is mad at her, so that probably isn’t helping. She shakes herself. Here she is, sitting mostly naked in the bed of a boy she’s been crushing on for the last six months, and she’s mostly upset that she can’t go home and call her best friend to tell her how it went.

Tomorrow morning, she decides, she’ll apologize to Barb first thing at their lockers. It was so stupid to drag her to Steve’s party in the first place, of course Barb was going to hate it. But Nancy’s not going to make that mistake a second time. Once they’re friends again, she can start trying to get Barb and Steve to hang out for real, not in the stupid house party kind of way. Then they’ll have to like each other eventually, because they both like her.

That decided, Nancy sits up and looks over at Steve’s head on the pillow beside her. As soon as it was over, he rolled over and feel immediately asleep, at a rate Nancy didn’t know was possible. Her own head’s been churning with endless thoughts ever since, and she can’t imagine sleeping. Also, she was supposed to be home two hours ago, and she is both very aware that she needs to leave and very unwilling to pull her clothes back on and start the trek home.

Barb drove them here, and Barb left hours ago, which means she’s on her own getting back. At the time, she’d just assumed Steve would take her, no problem, but now she’s not so certain. He seems pretty…indisposed. Nancy wonders if he always passes out like this, after he’s been with a girl. She tries very hard not to think about that.

Reluctantly, she pulls herself together enough to sit up all the way, properly, and pull his hoodie over her head. “Steve?” She nudges him a little, but Steve just mumbles something and rolls over. So he definitely won’t be taking her home, then. Nancy sighs. She looks around until she’s found her pants, then pulls those on too. They’re still damp, which is just the perfect way to top off the evening.

She finds her shoes in the hallway, socks bunched into the toes of each one, and stops on the steps to pull them on. Tugging her left sock over her ankle, Nancy’s hand traces, for just a moment, over her soul mark.

She saw Steve’s mark for the first time just an hour or so ago. It was on his left thigh, and it unequivocally did not match hers. Nancy hates that she was even thinking about it, in the middle of sex—her first time, no less.

She hates even more that she’d actually said something about it. Paused—in the middle of her very first time having sex—to inform the boy she was having sex with that he was not, in fact, her soulmate. God, it was pathetic. “Our marks don’t match,” she’d said ridiculously, pulling away from his lips. It was almost against her will that she’d said it. She couldn’t stop herself, the words just tumbled out. Totally ruining whatever mood had been set.

Steve stared down her blankly for a few seconds before his face took on that look, the one that meant he thought she’d gone a bit delusional. “So?”

Maybe Nancy had gone a little delusional. Of course Steve hadn’t expected them to be soulmates. Why would he? For heaven’s sake, she hadn’t even really thought they’d be soulmates! And she wasn’t supposed to care one way or another, besides. She'd sworn that off years ago. Nancy doesn’t care.

Her mom had been right about least one thing: the marks don’t mean anything. Nancy figures a hell of a lot of people end up soulless and miserable whether they have one or not. “Nothing, forget it.” Humiliated, she’d tried to go back to kissing him, but it was a bit tarnished after that.

She’s been up thinking about how they aren’t soulmates, ever since. She wonders, miserably, if Steve will even call her after this. She’s bothered less by the idea of not doing this with him again any time soon than by the thought of her being a kind of failure at it. Nancy hates missing the mark. She stands and takes the last few steps two at a time, not bothering to look back to see if Steve is following her. She knows he isn’t.

Does Steve know who his soulmate is? He can’t, not with how dismissive he acted, or if he does, he can’t possibly care much about her. She’s not sure why that doesn’t make her feel any better.

Tommy and Carol are in the living room, pulling on coats. Nancy thinks about asking them for a ride up until Tommy takes one look at her and starts wolf-whistling. She reaches past him for the door.

The Wheeler house is not anywhere near Steve’s, but Nancy has plenty of thoughts to occupy her time on the way there. Besides, she's already late. Her mom’s going to be mad at her regardless of whether she’s home in five minutes or twenty five.

She decides she’ll just walk.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1983

Will goes missing, and it’s like the earth itself freezes on its axis. How could he be gone? It doesn’t make sense, or perhaps it makes too much sense. Didn’t Jonathan know, from the day he first held Will in his arms, that he was a fragile, precious thing? Didn’t all the fragile, precious things get taken away, one way or another?

Afterwards his mom disappears too, in her own horrible, too-familiar way. All as the world holds still—suspended in one stretched out, terrible moment.

Then Barbara Holland goes missing, too, and Nancy Wheeler—with her searching eyes and fierce determination—finds him at a funeral home and starts the whole thing spinning again.

xxx

“I suppose my parents were in love, once,” he tells her out in the woods, as they shoot his father’s bullets at a row of pop cans. “I just wasn’t around for that part.” He’s never talked about his parents with anyone outside of Will, so it feels a bit weird, telling Nancy. Then again, people do weird things at the end of the world.

Nancy tells him about her parents too. How they’ve never loved one another, how they’re only together for the convenience of it. Then she shoots the can clean off the pedestal on her first try.

Later—after arguing and investigating and a truly terrifying few moments where Nancy seems gone for good, too—she asks him about the soul marks. They are lying side by side on her bedsheets with the gun tucked between them, just in case. She is facing away from him, but he still hears her when she whispers, “Do your parents have soul marks?”

“Huh?”

“Earlier. You said your parents were in love, once. But clearly it didn’t work out.”

“Yeah, because my dad’s a raging—”           

“Asshole,” Nancy supplies for him. She shuffles around to look at him. “I remember that, too. I mean, the thing about the bunny.”  Her gaze is strangely penetrating, even through the darkness.

Jonathan blinks. They spent tonight narrowly escaping from some demonic, faceless thing in the woods, and “That’s what you’re thinking about?”

“It’s what I’m thinking about to stop thinking about the other thing. But if you don’t want to tell me—” She begins to turn away from him. All Jonathan knows is that he doesn’t want her to.

“No—sorry,” he says quickly, and Nancy pauses. “Um. Yeah. They have the same mark. Why?”  

The silence and darkness stretch on until finally, she speaks. Her voice is still barely at a whisper. “My parents have different marks,” she admits. Given what she told him earlier, it’s hardly surprising information. Jonathan can tell from the tone of her voice that she’s bothered by it. “They never even tried to find their real soulmates. So I thought…” she peters off.

“Thought what?” He thinks of the mark on his hipbone, jagged and stark against his skin.

“I thought I could be different. If I put in the effort to find the person who matches with me, it would be different for us. But if your parents—Well, apparently that doesn’t mean anything, does it? I could still end up with an asshole, and never get out of this stupid town, and,” She stops, and Jonathan waits. “I don’t want to turn out like them.”

He isn’t sure if she’s talking about his parents or hers. “You won’t”

Nancy snorts, but it sounds more like a half-choked sob. “That’s not what you said earlier. I thought I was just another suburban girl to you.”

“Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind.”

“What, in all of the four hours you’ve spent with me?”

“Yes. But it took the entire time. I’ve only just decided it now.”

He is watching her closely, and spots it when the corners of her mouth quirk into the barest of smiles. It feels like a small victory.    

“Do you have a mark?” she asks softly.

“I don’t believe in the marks like you do.”

“That wasn’t my question.”

It makes him angry for reasons he can't explain. It's makes him, not for the first time, want to burn the mark off of his skin. Jonathan doesn’t want to be talking about this anymore. It’s only Will he should be thinking about right now, not stupid soul marks. “No, I don’t,” he says, more harshly than intended.

For a long time after—even though it’s all but forgotten by morning, when Nancy determinedly tells him her theory on sharks and the soul marks once again become an inconsequential thing in the face of bigger problems—Jonathan wishes he had never said the next part. Still, his mouth acts of its own accord. “I thought Nancy Wheeler would have heard that around school by now.”

Nancy bristles. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. Well, fine. Something. Just that you seem to be really chummy with the people who started that rumor.”

“If you’re talking about Tommy and Carol,” Nancy starts, voice pitched, “Neither one of them are my friends, they’re—”

“Steve’s friends. Yeah, I got it. Isn’t Steve your boyfriend?” he says sarcastically. He wants to tell his mouth to stop talking, but his brain isn’t of much use at the moment.

“I’m not sure what Steve and I are,” Nancy says fiercely. “Not that it’s any of your business. What does it matter to you, anyway?”

“Trust me, it doesn’t.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

Nancy rolls over and doesn’t say another word.       

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The truth is, Jonathan is not at all who she expected he’d be. Everyone at school has always talked about him as if he were of a different species: Jonathan Byers, the weirdo loner freak. She always knew that was a stupid generalization, strictly speaking. Jonathan picked up Will from her house all the time, and he’d always seemed normal enough; polite to her mom, joking around with their brothers’ friends, yelling at Will to button up his coat in the winter. She and him have never really talked before though, not at home and certainly never at school. Not like this. Not until now.

Nancy likes him. Jonathan, she has found, is surprisingly easy to talk to once you’ve convinced him it’s okay to speak back. He’s really smart, and funny in a dry, sarcastic way she didn’t expect. Plus, as evidenced by the fact that he’s currently driving her into town so they can buy additional bullets for his father’s handgun, he’s up for anything if there’s even a small chance of success, no matter how risky it might be. Jonathan’s every bit as determined to find Will as she is to find Barb. So while everything about them suggests they shouldn’t fit—the loner, loser kid with her, Nancy Wheeler—they undeniably click. They make a good team.

After tossing ideas back and forth for two hours, they finally came up with a tentative, tangible plan to test their theory about that creature. The goal isn’t just to find their missing friend and brother but to find the thing that took them and kill it once and for all. Nancy thinks it’s a good plan—attract the monster with blood, lead it into a trap, kill it with flames. It's crazy enough that it just might work.

It can never be that easy, though. Things go south when they’re loading the necessities for the execution of said plan into Jonathan’s trunk. After that, her life dissolves into cat calls aimed at her from the passenger seat of a passing Buick, and sloppy spray paint on the movie theater marquee, and slapping her kind-of boyfriend in the face as his horrible friends looked on and jeered. It somehow manages to get worse when Steve rounds on Jonathan instead, and then suddenly the two of them are brawling in the alley and Jonathan is hitting Steve again and again without letting up.

It stopped being about Steve after the first punch. Nancy can see it in his eyes afterwards, when they’re sitting at the police station and Nancy is pressing a bag of ice from the station's receptionist against Jonathan’s busted eye. He’s somehow managed to curl up into someone small even while wearing handcuffs. There is tension in his shoulders, hunched in on himself, and something like shame in his eyes. It’s a far cry from the fury on his face as he’d pulled back his fist, like all the anger he had built up over many years had culminated in those seconds rolling around on the concrete with Steve Harrington.  

Nancy holds the bag of ice to his face and studies him like she’s going to be quizzed later on the notch in his nose and the crease around his eyes. She wishes they’d been able to test their theory before one of them got arrested.

Steve, and what he’s done, comes mostly an afterthought. She doesn’t think about him at all until they’ve told everything to Chief Hopper and Jonathan’s mom, and witnessed the military surrounding her house, and are being driven back to the Byers’ in the back of the police van to try reaching Mike via walkie. They hadn’t even driven past the movie theater on their route out of town, but still, even with a million much more pressing issues to worry her, including what her little brother has gotten himself into this time, Nancy’s mind drifts back to Steve’s addition to the marquee: Nancy “the slut” Wheeler.

Was that really what he thinks of her?

She’s knows she’s been distant lately. And she gets why that probably looks bad, from his perspective, to sleep with him and then go AWOL. He doesn’t know about their plan to kill a monster, or even that there are monsters in need of killing. But before she can feel too sorry for him, Nancy corrects herself; Steve does know about Barb. And he hasn’t exactly been supportive.

The day after the party at his house, they’d had a big fight at school. First he’d confronted her about acting strangely all day; “Look you’re not still upset about our soul marks not matching or whatever, are you Nance? Because, I’ll be honest, that’s completely stupid if you are. I thought you didn’t care about shit like that.”

Nancy was furious. The nerve, to think she was acting strange because of those stupid marks! She’d gone through with it, hadn’t she? She’d given him exactly what he was asking for and now he was being a complete and total tool about it.

She wanted to tell him that wasn’t it at all. She wanted to snap at him that she didn’t exactly appreciate being left to beg a ride off Tommy H., or how he’d barely said anything at all when his asshole friends were replicating her moaning in the middle of the cafeteria.

She’d told him about Barb, and Steve hadn’t cared about anything except his dad figuring out he’d thrown a stupid party and drank an underage beer. And now he was parading around town with his friends, branding her a slut. And what he’d said to Jonathan, the sneer on his face when he’d brought up Will and Joyce….

“Are you all right?”

Nancy startles. Jonathan has leaned across the backseat to whisper to her. He must have seen her, face red with rage and unshed tears, determinedly staring out the window trying to get him not to see her. Up front Joyce and Hopper, debating what to do once they find the kids, don’t appear to notice.

Normally this is when Nancy would lie. Yes, I’m fine, is already on the edge of her lips, where it comes, as ever, so easily to her. But something about Jonathan and his quiet, reassuring presence makes her want to tell the truth. “No,” she admits softly back.

“Me neither.” He slumps back over to his seat, then shoots her a small, companionable smile.

She does her best to return it.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

For a while it seems like they won’t have the chance to execute their plan. But then she's sitting at the side of a kiddie pool watching a child in her old pink dress with the peter pan collar tell them things that can't be seen. Then, Barb is dead, and Will is still alive. Then, Jonathan’s mom and Chief Jim Hopper are going into that otherworld to try and find him. And suddenly it’s the only thing left to do.

So they do it, no hesitation.

They slice into their palms with their fingers just barely touching. The blood comes to the surface so easily, and Nancy doesn’t watch her own blood as it flows over her pale palm, but Jonathan’s. Deep red, welling up from the jagged mark he just carved into his skin. She’s horrified, mesmerized. Transfixed.

He comes to his senses before she does. “Do you have the bandages?”

His fingers are incredibly gentle as he maneuvers the gauze to cover her wound. Once he’s finished, he traces his forefinger down the bandage in the line of the cut and says, “It’s going to scar.” He says this apologetically, like it’s his own fault she took the knife to her skin and pressed down. Jonathan says a lot of things like they’re his fault.

Nancy grabs the roll of gauze and his wrist, tugging his own bloody palm towards her. He doesn’t even flinch when she dabs antiseptic over it, clearing away the blood. “We’ll match,” she answers without thinking. Then she smiles a little at the implications of that. “It’ll be like we’re monster-fighting soulmates. With the marks to prove it.”

Only after she’s said it does she realize how it might sound. Like she’s coming onto him. Flirting. Is she flirting? The thought of them having matching soul marks doesn’t bother her at all, even though it probably should. Even though they’re strictly a monster hunting team. She half-wonders if that will change once this is all over, if maybe they can turn being partners into being friends. She would like that very much, she thinks.

Right. Over. They have to end this thing still, and certainly before she can think about completely ridiculously things like whether or not she wants to be flirting with Jonathan Byers. Reluctantly, she lets go of his hand. The monster could be here at any moment.

He looks at her and nods, resolute. “Let’s do this.”

[blorbocedes]

8, 11, 12 for starters, but i kinda wanna know all of them. i adore you

8. Do you listen to music while you write? If so, share a song that’s been inspiring you lately.

I don't listen while writing but I usually have a song that's on repeat when I have to brainstorm that's very related to the fic I'm writing. For example, for galex wedding fic, American Wedding by Frank Ocean~ in fact if you read the fic/have the lyrics for this song up you'll see the very obvious and direct inspiration. Same with the carlando mafia au -- smooth operator by sade. For the maxiel WR I had Drake's better find your love helped me get in Daniel POV ('I'm more than just an option, refuse to be forgotten')

rn I have humble by kendrick on repeat as I think of lewis and a brocede idea~ it's a Very lewis song. i could do a whole breakdown but I'll refrain

11. If you could only write angst, fluff, or smut for the rest of your life, which would it be?

i guess smut? cause that can be angsty AND/OR fluffy. can't imagine myself as a purely fluff writer tbh I'm too cynical for it

12. Is there a trope you haven’t written yet but really want to?

yes! so many!!! outsider pov, dual pov, so many aus, space au, soulmate au, can't rmbr if I've written intercrural sex but need to, maaaaaybe omegaverse? 🤭 that's appropriate for main. do I dare try body horror? I've never written horror hm

I think the only thing I can't attempt is fantasy au.

[zyastrox]

Hi I bring you new whiterose AU, where Ruby is Death and Weiss is unfortunately, immortal Oh and they’re both soulmates :D

[remnants-of-rwby]

It’s been awhile since i’ve shared anything rwby, and my friend kira was a big inspiration for this as the main author. I was happy to co-write with them <3 it was a lot of fun to make this SoulMate AU. 

Happy whiterose week gang <3 

[wangxianficrecs]

Follower Rec

~*~

Really cool in progress soulmate au wip on ao3 "Storm Song" by Arka WR (arka_r). The song inspiring the title is also pretty cool. Lz doesn't know wwx, and meets yllz when he mysteriously intervenes on their behalf midbattle during sunshot. Zhiyin can happen between cultivators with a strong enough core, like a vibrating melody between them, that only they can hear.

~*~

Storm Song

by Arka WR (arka_r) (M, 11k, wangxian, WIP)

Summary:  Lan Wangji remembered when he was little, sitting in his mother’s lap; listening to her talk about zhiyin, about soulmates, the ones who knew each other’s melody of their heart. He remembered it now, as he stared at the mysterious figure in black and red before him.

His soulmate. His zhiyin.

That it happened to be the dreaded Yiling Patriarch was another matter entirely.

--

Basically Yiling Laozu WWX mashed with soulmate AU because I've been brainrotting about this for DAYS.

~*~

(Please REBLOG as a signal boost for this hard-working author if you like – or think others might like – this story.)

[fbfh]

fangirl’s paradise - leo x reader

genre/vibe: romance, adventure, slice of life

word count: 2.8k

pronouns/perspective: first person present, no pronouns (I think), gn reader

au: soulmate kind of?? also traveling to other dimensions/multiverse

pairing: Leo x fic writer!reader

requested: nah

warnings: you think someone broke into your house for a minute, you feel like you’re going crazy for a minute, questionable pop culture/internet references, you get really embarrased about stuff you’ve written, you say fuck a lot, tiddy as an explative

summary: all you wanted to do was write some leo one shots for your blog, but finding out he’s your soulmate is good too

reccomended songs: havana - camila cabello, where do we go from here - amelie obc

a/n: got really meta and self indulgent with this bad boy, probs gonna do a part 2 at some point, cause this got really long and I started to get tired lol. For clarity, you’re from the riordanverse, but ended up in a world where it’s fictional. also some memories were erased. 

requests r open xo

All I wanted to do was dance embarrassingly and sing along to the same playlist I’d been listening to for the past three days in terrible accents while I wait for my ramen to finish cooking. That’s it. I really don’t think that’s too much to ask for. Plus, I’ve been home alone all day, so it’s really not too much to ask for. I flip over the waistband of my sweatpants while shimmying my way to the kitchen. 

“Half of my heart is in havana oh nana,” I sing along off key, in a pseudo growly voice that makes me giggle. I’m going to turn the corner, make myself some ramen, then finish the episode of love island I’ve been watching. Except that’s not what happens.

“He got tha-” I cut myself off with a scream, seeing a stranger in the hall way. He looks up. I scream more, way more, and choke out, “JFK’s left fucking tiddy!”, because this dude is either the best freaking cosplayer ever, or those tiktok reality shifting tutorials actually worked at some point. 

He looks too natural, too organic. The level of detail and strategic imperfection is beyond conscious choice. There’s no way he’s a cosplayer that broke into my house. Also, that would be a super weird crime. 

Either way, I’m standing in front of a dude who looks exactly like Leo Valdez. 

It feels… fake.

I didn’t really notice I’m covering my mouth with my hand to stop my hysterical scream laughs, but I’m able to get it under control after a second. 

He’s looking at me, eyes wide, examining me, probably wondering why I’m acting so erratically. Or why I just spat out such strange bullshit. In my defense, I’ve been watching chaotic tiktok compilations inbetween updating my blog for like, two days straight. Three other people round the corner. I don’t know what I expected, and it shouldn’t have been a surprise at this point, but I’m sure I’m looking no other than at Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Piper Mclean. 

“Jesus fucking christ, fuck me with a chainsaw!” I spit, retreating into the kitchen, reminding myself that while they are my favorite characters - and again, somehow real and in front of me? - they’re still technically intruders. I grab the nearest kitchen implement, a pair of red kitchen scissors I’d used to hack open the ramen packet, and point it at them. 

“Woah,” Piper says, “it’s okay, we’re not going to hurt you.” I count to four and breathe in, setting the scissors back down within arms reach. Hold for seven, exhale for eight. I repeated the process again, watching Annabeth whispering to Leo.

I can feel the initial freak out subsiding. I’m starting to calm down a little.

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Piper repeats. Well duh, they’re the good guys. A spike of pure what the fuck shoots through me, as I realize I’m already adapting to the fact that fictional fucking characters are standing in my kitchen. Leo’s ignoring Annabeth, and still staring at me, searching my eyes for... something.

Piper’s brow furrows. I call past Piper to Annabeth.

“Yeah, hi op, what the fuck?” They all have a silent conversation for a minute, and I continue, “Anyone want to tell my why the fuck fic-”

“We can tell you what’s going on, but it’s going to sound crazy.” Piper starts.

“After the past five minutes, probably not.” I glance past her shoulder, Leo’s still examining me. I look away, overwhelmed almost immediately. About 30% of my brain is just an endless loop of ‘ohmygodohmygodohmygod he’s real??? Like,,,, r e a l real????? Aj;dlfkajskdla ohmygod he’s looking at me what the fuck richard’, 20% was still trying to calm down from freaking out so much earlier, so I was at about half brain power for the conversation ahead. 

“Okay, wait. Let me get this straight.” they stare at me in silence. We’re standing in the hallway outside the kitchen, and I feel like a complete disaster trying to process what they’re telling me and not look like a total idiot.

“So, Calypso went missing, and Leo got Aphrodite to activate his soulmate link so he can find her and it led you here?” I’m already smiling. There’s no chance, I can’t get my hopes up. 

Piper continues, “Which means it might not be Calypso.”

“Unless you’re wearing a really good disguise or something,” Leo says. I’m pretty sure that’s the first time he’s spoken to me. I let out a breathy laugh and look away from him. If I try to look at him my brain goes haywire. Scenes from stuff I’ve written about him on my tumblr flash in my mind, and it makes me feel like I’m about to explode. 

“Yeah, the reason we know is-”

“The gods are real, monsters are after you, et cetera et cetera. Yeah.” They seem a little surprised that I’m more concerned with the soulmate part than the mythology part, but I’ve been reading these books since middle school. We been knew.

Piper keeps looking between Leo and me with a weird look on her face. God, Piper, don’t get my hopes up. A knowing look passes over her face and she looks around the room again.

“Gods, where did he go…” She gets up and leaves the room. No one says anything. Between right then and when she gets back should have been in a ‘top ten most devastating anime uncomfortable silences’ compilation. She enters again a few seconds later, a tall hot guy behind her. He has red flowers in his hair and isn’t wearing a shirt for some reason. He looks between me and Leo.

“I see… interesting.” he turns to me and says, “Can you tell me anything… personal about him?” My face flushes. I turn to Piper.

“Sorry, but who the fuck?”

“I mean the only noncanon stuff I know is what I came up with for like, writing and stuff but that doesn’t count-” I sputter.

“Eros.” she replies, “My mom sent him along to help find the right person.”

“Normally I’d be able to tell instantly, but my powers don’t seem to work here very well.” his voice is like honey, and it seems like he’s heavily implying something no matter what he says. 

“Yeah, go on hermosa,” Leo says, smirking, “take a whack at it.” His voice sounds so much more… real than I could have imagined. If I could verbally keysmash, I would have then and there. 

“Hmm… why don’t you try anyway. What kind of lover is he?” the room erupts into protests. They don’t want to hear personal stuff about their friend, I don’t want to talk about cripplingly embarrassing smut headcanons in front of the character they’re about, and he probably doesn’t want me taking a wild guess at his bedroom habits. Eros turns to Percy, Annabeth, and Piper.

“You two, out. You, leave but stay close.” They leave the room hastily.

“Since I’m the god of sexual desire, I know what gets people going. I’ll be able to tell if you’re right or not. ” Eros says. I risk a glance at Leo, who I have a feeling has been staring at me a lot. He leans forward, playful intrigue all over him. How is he not dying inside?? 

“Ah ah,” Eros says to Leo, “you too.” Leo obliges, and heads up the stairs.

“H- okay, uh… he acts like a top, but he’s really kind of a bottom,” I choke out, trying to remember details from past posts, and Eros nods in approval, encouraging me to keep going, “he’s really-” my voice falters, and I hide my head in my hands, “he’s really vocal, like really vocal… uh…” 

“Oh yes, I can tell.” Eros says, and I laugh slightly. “What else?” 

“More? God okay… uh… he really likes hickeys, and-” I choke on my words, still unsure of how I got in this situation. 

“He holds hands a lot in… the bedroom? God…” I trail off.

“The next morning, he kind of… he just sort of stares at you while you get dressed and stuff. I don’t know anyone else who does that.”

Eros studies me for a second. My heart is beating so hard. How long does it take to say yes or no? I’m uncomfortably aware of the distracting adrenaline in my arms and chest and head. 

“Interesting,” he says, then stands up and leaves the room.

What the fuck, is he not going to tell me anything?

I’m listening as closely as I can, and I’m pretty sure I hear Eros say five out of five. I got everything right or everything wrong. Nailed it or failed it. 

Piper speeds past me a second later and races up the stairs. After a few seconds she comes back down. She nods toward the staircase.

“You should go talk to him.” a knowing smile is playing at the corner of her mouth, and I can’t stop one from starting on mine. I run up the stairs, and see him, kneeling on my bed, reading what’s on my laptop. 

Oh god, no. 

He stands up. He’s staring at me so intensely, I look away immediately. I start sputtering out a panicked apology and sit down on my bed, moving to shut the lid of my laptop.

“Uh… I just listen to a song or something that makes me think of you,” my voice gets really tiny at that last part, “and stuff starts to pop into my head. I just keep replaying it, and uncovering more details so I can wr- wait,” I start to look up at him, but can’t bring myself to meet his eyes. I stare intensely at the pattern on my quilt instead. “Did you say remember?” He lets out a breathy laugh, and I can hear the smile in his voice. 

“-of course I never thought you were going to read any of that, or…” His hand is on top of mine, my hand and voice freezing at the same time.

“How… did you remember all this?” my fears are being squashed. He doesn’t sound mad, or grossed out, or judgemental. He sounds… impressed.

“Yeah, I mean, I’m only starting to get back bits and pieces, but you remember… everything.” 

“Wait wait…” I mutter, completely dazed, “so it wasn’t… it was all real?” I feel him nodding behind me, and he makes a noise of agreement. 

“It was genius, really… as soon as I felt like I was remembering something, I’d forget it.” His other hand rests on my shoulder, palm flat against my back. “Only you would think to write it like that…” 

“So… it all happened?” I breathe, my face heating up as I think of the titles marked with a little asterisk. 

“Yeah,” I bite my lip, feeling his breath over my skin. It’s quiet for a second. The mattress shifts and I can feel him leaning closer to me, feel the heat coming off his body. His lips are dangerously close to my ear.

“Want something else to write about?”

Oh my fucking god.

I nod before I finish registering what he said. His free hand moves to my cheek, tilting my face towards him, and my skin explodes with sparks where he touches me. 

Our lips brush.

We both freeze.

Flood gates open. Countless vivid images and feelings and scenarios flash across my mind. It was like watching a movie connecting every fic I’ve written. I gasp-laugh a little, and he does the same. It seems like the visions or whatever that he’s seeing are a lot more intense than mine. His eyes flutter open and he looks at me stronger, more intensely, more passionately than he had before. He lets out a soft, breathy laugh, and presses his lips to mine. Everywhere he touches feels carbonated, and I’m trying not to smile too much. I don’t think I’ve ever been more in the moment than right this second. He pulls me closer, tilting his head and deepening the kiss. I didn’t know a kiss could be deeper than it had been a few seconds ago. His mouth moves feverishly against mine. My arms move up on instinct, one hand playing with his hair, the other tracing the collar of his shirt. He shifts his weight, and one hand on my waist, lowers me back onto my bed. His left hand intertwines with my right, and I smile, remembering what I had told Eros earlier. 

“Estrella,” He groans into my mouth, our teeth scraping as we smile in spite of ourselves, and I get the sense the nickname was an ‘as you wish’ type of thing, from the Princess Bride. It feels like he’s saying I love you. My heart speeds up as he nuzzles into my neck, pressing kisses and little bites into my skin. I think about the nickname I always thought would suit him, the one I kept writing down over and over. Now or never.

“Sparky…” I smile, hiding my face in his hair. He freezes for a second, then lets out that breathy laugh again, his face in my neck. His lips graze my collarbone, and he starts to say something, but the door opens suddenly, and we jump apart. It doesn’t help much though, because he’s still hovering over me on all fours and we both look very flushed. And I’m pretty sure the start of a hickey is forming on my neck. 

“Right,” she replies, “we gotta get going, the door is closing soon, so come down stairs as soon as you’re… free.” 

“Sorry!” Annabeth yells, averting her eyes. Leo and I stumble over each other’s flustered responses.

“-looks bad but nothing… happened… we d- we didn’t like, do anything...” I trail off. 

The door closes.

“I’m coming with you guys?” I breathe. He looks over at me, that unflappable sense of playfulness present as ever. 

Leo sits back, scratching the back of his neck.

“Yeah, we should get back soon. Everyone else will be worried once they remember.” My heart plummets. I didn’t know you could go from feeling so incredibly euphoric to beyond miserable in about five seconds. I open my mouth to choke out a response, but before I can, he stands up and stretches a little.

“Do you wanna change before we go?” The question has such a normal tone to it, it’s a little bizarre after all the unusual things that have happened today. The bad feeling and tears at the corners of my eyes start to recede. 

“Of course you are. If you think I’m losing you again this soon you’re crazier than I am.” I let out a relieved laugh, and stand up. I look down at my monster foot slippers and sweatpants. 

“You know where to find me,” he winks before closing the door on his way out.

“Yeah, I should probably change.” He pulls me close to him, one hand comes up to the back of my neck, the other on my hip. He starts swaying us back and forth, dancing around my room.

“Well, if you need any help…” I laugh, and shove him away playfully.

I take a second to catch my breath. Oh my god. Thoughts are still racing in the back of my mind, but I don’t pay attention. I don’t have time to worry about what’s real and what’s not, I need to find the perfect demigod adventure outfit. I throw open my closet, start shuffling through dresser drawers, digging through my shoes. I don’t remember having one or two of the pieces, but after a minute, I find exactly what I’m looking for. It’s the exact outfit I’d always imagined myself in if I ever went to camp half blood. I search through my accessories, grab a bag, and hastily fill it with anything I think I’ll probably need. I turn back to my laptop, and change my blog description to on hiatus. I check my hair, flattening out the back from before, and determine I’m ready to go. 

I walk down the stairs, and everyone’s watching me. I feel like it’s prom or something, which sounds silly since I’ve got on ripped jeans and a backpack instead of a dress and clutch. Leo’s watching me with that look, the one that makes his eyes all sparkly, and he meets me at the bottom of the stairs. He puts his arm around my shoulder.

“Ready to go home, Estrella?”

I have never been more ready for anything.

[randomfandomimagine]

Busy (Cloud x Reader)

Character: Cloud Strife

Fandom: Final Fantasy VII (Advent Children)

Categories: Gender Neutral Reader (they/them pronouns), Soulmate AU

Word Count: 2.5 k words

Requested by anon: Could you do an imagine for Cloud Strife for a Soulmate!AU whenever someone draws something on their skin, it shows up on their soulmate’s skin too? So reader is constantly busy and always has to wr­ite notes on their body. So of course the notes show up on Cloud’s skin too. Then they meet and Cloud for the first time and somehow, it ends up with Cloud doing a small favour for them and reader writes something along the lines of ‘the hot blond guy’s name is Cloud and we need to meet next week’

Notes: It took me literally months to write this (insert ‘it’s been 82 years gif’) because I had no inspiration but it’s finished!! I don’t even know if the person that requested it will see it, but I hope they enjoy it if they do and that the rest of you lovelies do as well :)

Links: AO3

REMEMBER THAT IMAGINES/ONESHOTS REQUESTS ARE CLOSED!

Cloud lied down on his bed, thoughtful. His blue eyes were focused in the ceiling above him even if he wasn’t really watching it. His mind was far away from the room, as he couldn’t stop thinking about his soulmate.

Almost like they had been thinking about him too, the blond felt a soft tingle in his arm and he quickly looked down to it. The round but messy handwriting of his soulmate was etched there once more. This time, just like the others, it read something that he couldn’t quite understand. ‘Baker 23’.

Most of the time, when he read what his soulmate wrote, he didn’t get it. Sometimes it was a combination of random words and number just like that one, other times it was phrases like ‘the usual, 2 big, J’ and Cloud wished it could tell him something about them. He had tried replying, writing something in his other arm so it hopefully appeared on the soulmate’s skin too. He never got any replies.

Hurriedly sitting up on the bed and picking up the marker that he kept on the bedside table, Cloud scribbled something in his left arm. The marker hovered over his skin for a moment as he thought what to write in case they saw it this time. He decided for something simple and wrote down the word ‘hello’.

Patiently waiting, Cloud thought about the situation. Did his soulmate not see his notes? Did they see them but were unable to reply? Were they afraid to reply? If only they knew how their particular bond worked, they would manage to communicate with each other.

The blond took a quick look at his arm again, but the words in his skin hadn’t changed. With a resigned sigh, Cloud lied back down and fantasized about meeting his mysterious soulmate.

-

Y/N grunted in frustration, being overwhelmed at how crowded the shop was once again. Sharing delicious food with people sure was great, and it was amazing that everyone loved the dishes so much, but it was incredibly stressful running such a busy business. Hopefully their new plan would work and someone would show up to help once for all.

With speed and efficiency, Y/N put the food in different containers and closed them, delivering it to the people waiting and loudly reclaiming their food. Apparently everyone was in a hurry, or rather they were just really impatient.

Crossing out names and dishes, Y/N then proceeded to take a little break. It was then when the improvised delivery guy appeared. He was just one of Y/N’s friends, who helped by getting the food delivered when they had the brilliant idea of not only serving food at the store, but also at the clients’ homes as long as they paid a little extra money. The only problem was that the ‘delivery guy’ didn’t have a vehicle and had to go everywhere by foot, which took too much time.

“No news from the ad?” He asked Y/N, who sighed and plopped down on a chair.

“Not yet” The aforesaid replied, noticing the establishment was finally empty after hours of serving. “Hopefully someone will show up soon”

“What if they don’t?”

“Then we’re screwed…”

Y/N looked down to the notepad, which everybody said it was ‘just your arm’, but it was better than actual notepads. Those you could lose or misplace and it ended up being a mess. It was easier to just write on one’s arm, even if with messy and hurried handwriting.

As they were about to scribble the word ‘AD’ to try and remember to check on any possible volunteers to be the delivery person as it was asked on the advert, something appeared on the other arm. The word ‘hello’ had appeared, making their heart race. Y/N’s soulmate had been trying to communicate, leaving little messages like those. But the diner was far too busy to stop and take the time to respond. If only they could meet, they could find out the true meaning behind the term ‘soulmate’.

-

Completely forgetting about that mysterious person who wouldn’t reply, or at least trying to, Cloud went outside on his motorbike. The skin on his arm seemed to mildly tingle still, and his blue eyes briefly fell on it. Two letters showed up on his wrist, ‘AD’. As usual, he had no idea what they meant.

He accelerated on his bike, trying to shove aside the obsessive thought of his mysterious soulmate. Cloud sighed in frustration. At least the familiar feeling of riding his motorbike made him feel free. The wind in his hair, the adrenaline running through his veins, the impact of the speed on his body.

But suddenly, Cloud had to bring his bike to a halt. He gasped when he saw a big poster that seemed familiar to him. He had seen those posters all over town, but paid no attention to them. Until the pieces seemed to click in his mind. It wasn’t A.D. as in letters or initials. It was ‘ad’ as in advertisement.

The blond quickly stood from his motorbike and swiftly ripped the poster off the wall. His blue eyes traveled through the words, assimilating them as fast as he could. A hunch told him it was important, that such poster could very well lead him to his soulmate. Once and for all.

“Help needed” He read again, silently mouthing the words he had almost memorized by now. “Delivery person for hire at our shop, access to personal vehicle required”

Folding it neatly like it was a treasure map, Cloud saved the poster in his pocket. He looked over his shoulder to his bike and walked back to it. When he started the engine once more, he knew he wasn’t wandering anymore. He now had a destination.

Even as the city was a blur around him, his bike didn’t seem to move fast enough. To compensate for this, Cloud’s heart was wildly racing inside his chest. His mind was running free, imagining the many scenarios in which he could met his soulmate. Finally. How they would smile at him when they were hit with realization. How their eyes would light up. The way they would immediately know one another as soon as they were face to face. Like they had known each other all life. Because they were destined to be together.

When Cloud finally made it to the address specified in the poster, his heart was still beating fast. He paused at the door, taking a good look at the place. He imagined a big restaurant, classy and expensive. He was almost relieved to see it was simple and humble. It was only a small establishment, still filled to the brims.

He walked in with determination, not letting that nervous feeling in his stomach to take over. A little bell rang over his head when he opened the door, gathering the attention from the people behind the counter.

His eyes wandered around, examining each person trying to determine who could be the one he was looking for. He felt himself shaking slightly as he advanced towards the counter.

“Hello” A person greeted him from behind it. “I’ll be with you in a moment”

“Alright” Cloud muttered, watching them in curiosity.

They wrote something on their arm and absently put the pen on their ear for safekeeping. Cloud’s heart skipped a beat when he noticed their arm was actually scribbled all over, words written with dark ink staining their skin. However, he told himself to calm down since that didn’t mean they were his soulmate.

He closely watched them as they hurriedly walked up and down, frantically taking orders and serving dishes. Cloud thought to himself that, if that were the one, it all made sense. They were probably too busy to reciprocate. But that could change. He was there now.

When they were finally ready, they approached Cloud again.

“Okay” They said, nearly breathless from all the movement. “How can I help you?”

“I was here for the… ad?” As he held the poster up, Cloud couldn’t help but to glance down to their arm, searching for that very word. It was useless trying to look for it in the sea of letters written on it.

“Really? Oh, that’s great!” Someone dinged a bell, earning their attention. They took a step away, already heading to their new customer. “You’re hired!”

“But…” Cloud uttered in astonishment, seeing as they were already leaving.

“Right now I’m swamped, but come back tomorrow, first thing in the morning!” They exclaimed over the pandemonium of voices. “Name’s Y/N, by the way!”

The blond gawked at them, rendered helpless as they were already gone. He still lingered there, watching in fascination how they attended the customers.

Resigned, Cloud sighed and took a step back. Maybe that wasn’t it. It definitely wasn’t how he had pictured it anyway.

As he was heading back for the exit, he tensed up with a familiar feeling. His skin was tingling like it had done many times, and soon enough something was appearing on his bare forearm. He immediately whipped his head back, just in time to see Y/N writing something down on their arm.

Cloud couldn’t help but to smile a little when he read the words ‘meeting the hot blond guy tomorrow morning’ as they showed up on his skin. The spark of hope had ignited inside his chest once more.

-

Y/N’s mind burned with thoughts. As they made it to their store, they yawned and shook their head. The remnants of slumber were still trying to claim them back. Or maybe it was the exhaustion of lack of sleep and working too much.

“Morning” A deep voice said, causing Y/N to look up in surprise.

The blond guy from the day before was already there. He was leaning down on his motorbike, parked right next to the shop. Honestly, they had supposed he wouldn’t be showing up until much later. Y/N didn’t expect him for hours, it was barely dawn.

“Good morning” They replied, heading for the door. “Let’s talk business”

“Actually…” He began, leaning away from his motorbike.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch your name” Y/N interrupted, already jittery for the day ahead.

“Uh, Cloud...” He frowned, looking down to his crossed arms.

“Well, Cloud, we got a lot to do” They went to open the big metallic door, which the blond helped to slide up with ease. “We already have a few deliveries to make”

“You’re not open yet” He replied, puzzled by their statement.

“Tell me about it” Y/N huffed in exhaustion.

“I was… actually hoping to talk to you”

“What about?”

“Well, I…”

“Look” Y/N shook their head, noticing his hesitance. “If it’s not work related, I don’t have the time for it”

“But…”

“I’m sorry, but I’m way too busy to think of anything else”

Cloud gawked at them and watched them get to work. Y/N was already inside, moving some boxes and opening others. They heard an annoyed sigh behind them and before they could turn around to Cloud, he had grabbed their arm and tugged at it.

“It’s important” Cloud urged them, bearing a grave expression.

“Okay…” Wary about whatever he had to say, Y/N faced him completely. “But please make it quick”

They couldn’t really think what was so important. Cloud was basically a stranger, a person that showed up in their lives not long ago. They had only met a day ago and exchanged very few words. What could he have to say with such urgency?

To their bewilderment, Cloud showed them his forearm. Y/N stared, baffled, at his bare skin. There was nothing worth noticing in it.

“Your arm?” They blinked repeatedly. “What about it?”

“It erased already…” Cloud clicked his tongue, now holding his hand up. “Can I have your pen?”

Y/N frowned, carefully taking the pen they always carried in its place tucked over their ear and handing it to him. Cloud’s brows furrowed in concentration as he started writing something down on his own arm.

Startled, Y/N jolted up when they felt something tingling. Butterflies flew in their stomach when they realized it was the exact same spot Cloud was writing in, although he wasn’t touching Y/N’s arm.

Feeling too shocked to utter any words, all they managed to do was look down at their own arm. Y/N then read the words Cloud had written in his, but replicated on their own. They read ‘I think we’re soulmates’.

Y/N shoved a hand against their mouth, staring at Cloud in awe. The both then locked eyes with them, but remained silent. Y/N wondered if he was experiencing the same as them. The racing heart, the shaking knees, the stomach in knots, the urge to smile.

Blindly reaching out, Y/N pulled out a chair without looking away from him and plopped down on it. They took a deep breath when the pressure was lifted from them to remain standing. It felt like too much at the moment.

Moving carefully as to not startle or upset them, Cloud did the same. He sat down on his own chair, right by their side. The silence lingered for several more seconds.

“I… I don’t know what to say…” Y/N finally uttered with a weak voice.

Cloud didn’t reply. Instead, he looked down and wrote down on his arms, right below the words he had previously scribbled and that were starting to erase already.

‘You don’t have to say anything’ He wrote with messy handwriting.

Y/N felt guilty when they recognized the calligraphy. They had seen it before, but had never tried responding to it. They had been scared to commit to their soulmate, but also too busy to focus on other thing that wasn’t work.

They took a deep breath and grabbed a spare pen from their pocket. Their hands were trembling as they began writing a response.

‘I’m sorry that I never spoke to you before but…’ Y/N paused, not knowing how to express themselves. ‘I’m glad I got to meet you’

They smiled, and with the corner of the eye noticed him smiling as well.

‘Me too’ Cloud wrote, not daring to glance up from his arm.

Even if the person he had been waiting for was finally sitting next to him. Even if they were so close that they could touch, but he didn’t reach out. Surprisingly, the moment was mildly awkward taking in consideration they were actual soulmates.

‘I can help you’ Cloud continued, still writing. It felt easier than speaking up. ‘That way you won’t have to be so busy’

‘I would like that’ Y/N replied on their arms. The silence returned, this time calmer. Simpler. More comfortable.

Y/N timidly scooted closer to him. Their sides were brushing now, but even if Cloud slightly tensed up at their sudden closeness, he didn’t move away. Y/N smiled and placed a hesitant hand over his. Cloud didn’t react for several seconds, but then rotated his hand so it was enveloping Y/N’s. When they dared to lean their head on Cloud’s shoulder it felt… perfect. For the first time in they didn’t know how long, Y/N didn’t feel frantic. They could breathe, they could take a break and relax. Now Cloud was there for them, like they would be for him. And they felt safe there with him now.

Tag list: @overpowered-insanity / @xionroxas / @dancewaterdance02 / @little-faerie-artist / @x-joie-x / @goodmorningawfulbye  // If you want to be added or taken off the tag list for these fandoms or characters, let me know!! // Reblogs and comments are appreciated!

[azzther]

Y'all want some soulmate WR au food?😔😔💕

[lightsaroundyourvanity]

Do you have any bumbleby fic recs you wouldn’t mind sharing? Thanks!

yeah totally!!

a classic place to start (if you haven’t already!!) is the oeuvres of @twelveclara and @pugoata, who are both extremely talented, prolific fic writers. margaret’s current project is a western called gunslinger that i’m catching up on rn and it’s so immersive and cool. sheriff yang “i never miss” xiao long is so fckn cool. and i still think about erin’s rock star au (if it’s not living if it’s not with you) with bonus schneekos!!) all the flippin’ time lol.

some more stuff i like:

skewed by lakes and seas by @thecousinsdangereux (26.2k, T. post v6 atlas fic and my personal GOLD STANDARD for all things found family in rwby. the arcade date the bees go on is the stuff of legend…… )

can’t steal the love that we’re born to find by @qualiteablogger (101.3k, M. childhood friends blake and yang are pulled apart by trauma and then brought back together during the trial of adam taurus. i read this fic over a series of plane and train rides this fall and it fucking destroyed me. incredible imagery, so much emotion.)

lucky number (come and take my hand) by @neurolingual (52.2k, M. tinder au!! blake and yang meet on tinder and slowburn their way into each other’s hearts. so, so much lovely metaphor and pining; one of my fave au yangs to date. note: completion is potentially on hold.)

at least it was here by usoverlooked (69.3k, T. a good old fashioned college au with a lot of fun group moments and wr/arkos povs. i sort of think of this as like the perfect rwby starter fic. it was the first one i ever read!!)

much sweeter than it ought to be by @perpetuallyfive (168.3k, M. a dishonoured au!! i have not actually played this game, but p5 worldbuilds with such grace and care that it really never matters. and yes, lots of good bee stuff but the sister bond between ruby & yang and some stellar qrow & yang povs really push me over the edge with this one. WIP.)

the weight of memory by @blakebellafuckingdonna (53.8k, M. hhhhh this fic. impossibly sexy and romantic. makes me believe in soulmates (or at least soulmates aus). their first kiss……….. god, please just read it!)

different than we used to be by  @empressofedge (2.1k, G. v7c5 missing scene. blake and yang talk about how they are so much more than teammates. perfect longing, great characterization.)

we are falling but not alone by @fiddleabout (42.3k, T. this is a series of oneshots that makes up one big leverage au – which if you haven’t seen the show (u should see the show) is about con artists taking on capitalism and becoming a family. witty, spot on, dynamic writing. potentially ongoing but can be read as is~)

i’m in love, i’m alive, oh i’m burning by bloodflood (6.3k, N/R. a moodier blake than i am used to reading but a great one!! more importantly this is a softball au – which i have a real weakness for akgdhfg. they’re in love at first sight and so am i with this fic. WIP.)

before something breaks (that cannot be fixed) by @patchodraws (1.8k, G. poetic, angsty piece where blake notices the physical toll yang’s semblance takes on her. really pretty oneshot – i’m so soft for blake’s concern in this piece

i also wrote a short rec list here a few months ago that has some more stuff to check out!! happy reading, b (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[bugheadchemistry]

Fic rec time - part II

A list of some of my favorite Soulmate AUs.

if i told you who i am (can i call you baby?) (Mature) by smudge:

Gasping, Jughead Jones sits up in his bed, blindly reaching for his phone, trying to silence the blaring alarm that had jolted him out of his dream. Frustrated and running a hand through his hair, he turns off his alarm, flopping back on his bed with his arms behind his head as he stares at the ceiling and exhaling slowly.

He knew the possibility of the dreams would start after he turned eighteen but he’d never thought they’d be starting on the morning of his birthday.

Great, he thinks, gritting his teeth, I already hate my birthday and now I’m getting prophetic dreams about my soulmate, a girl I’ve never met and may never find.

Or, in other words, Jughead knows he's got a soulmate and he's going to do whatever it takes to find her and win her heart.

Written on My Arm (General Audiences) by makingitwork:

The first words his soulmate are ever going to say have been scrawled on his arm since the moment he was born.

He's had practically his entire life to prepare.

And he's still blown out of the water.

What does Shakespeare know? (General Audiences) by makingitwork:

Bughead AU where you can hear the songs your soulmate listens to.

save that heart for me (you're my destiny) (General Audiences) by loonyBibliophile:

But Betty’s mark is small, black and white on her wrist, just over the thin skin where her pulse thrums. It looks like an old, circular typewriter key, and the letter in the middle is a lowercase ‘j’. She isn’t actually sure how she feels about soulmates, but she’s pretty fond of the mark. She imagines it probably belongs to someone bookish, someone who will understand her.

Actually, she knows exactly who she thinks it belongs to, but it doesn’t matter.

(Bughead Soulmate AU with a twist)

What a Catch (Not Rated) by Buggghead: 

Veronica pushes Betty to put herself out there, so when a cute stranger spills coffee on her, she agrees to a date. Little did she know, that fateful decision would change the course of her life.

(Soulmate AU )

simmer down and pucker up (Teen & Up Audiences by santiagone:

“Betty,” Jughead interrupts. His voice is lower now, and the resignations n might even be scarier than the yelling. “We’re not soulmates. We can't.”

And therein lies the crux of the problem.

The Exception Not the Rule (General Audiences) by pressdbtwnpages:

Betty Cooper doesn't believe in soulmates.

[sp4c3-0ddity]

hello and welcome to my and @hailqiqi‘s “round robin” plance soulmate AU!! (it was all her idea, btw.)

So the way this is gonna work is that we’ll take turns writing short scenes in different PoVs (and since i took Pidge for this first one she’ll have Lance). The objective is to keep the scenes short, and we’ll see how long we can keep it up and develop a fully fledged fic between us ;)

for future parts we’ll also link back to previous installments, so if you miss one you’ll be able to keep up

But without further ado, here is the first ~500 word scene. enjoy!! <3

Logically it couldn’t happen, not so dramatically, but in that moment time slowed. 

Her mouth functioned faster than her brain, quick to harangue Commander Iverson, to call him out on his lies. Later she might consider that it was stupidity more than fury that made her bold, if her mind wasn’t so preoccupied by what happened after.

Lance slipped a hand over her mouth and tugged her towards him, and Pidge thought nothing of it, not even bothering to fight against his hold.

Too livid to make note of the heat on her face as anything more than an angry flush, too distracted to notice the tingle in her skin.

Pidge glared at Iverson over Lance’s hand, and when his attention was finally diverted he let her go.

Before Iverson even dismissed them, Lance spun around to stare at her and demand, “What is wr--” His eyes widened, and he pointed to her chin, an odd strangled sound escaping his lips.

“What?” Pidge touched her chin, and when she caught sight of Hunk gaping at her she pressed, “Is there something on my face?”

Lance looked from her face to the upturned palm of his hand - right where his soulmark was - but before Pidge caught a glimpse he curled his fingers into a fist and held it behind his back. “It’s, uh, it’s your...soulmark,” Lance muttered.

“What?” Pidge reached up to her face again, as if she could feel the seamless black outline of a hand encircling her lips. “What about it?”

Before Lance or Hunk could reply, a fellow cadet let out a low whistle. “Congratulations, guys! Looks like Ladies’ Man Lance caught a lad instead.”

The cadet caught a few snickers, but Lance rolled his eyes and retorted, “At least he’s smarter than your soulmate!”

For an instant Lance’s defense surprised her, until she processed what was happening.

(Later, when she looks in the mirror, her lips will be outlined in vibrant colors with the shape of a long-fingered hand. And later, she’ll have to come to turns that Lance has a matching mark on his palm.)

Pidge scowled, but her mind reeled too fast for her to formulate a proper response of her own, not when her face was now flushed under the attention of all her classmates, and not when Commander Iverson’s gaze snapped away from the team in the simulator and onto them.

All activity stilled, the last chuckles fading while Hunk tugged Lance away from the cadet that insulted him.

Pidge couldn’t feel too sympathetic, not when she’d heard worse directed at her.

Iverson glanced at Pidge, one of his eyebrows quirking up in mild surprise while he said, “That’s...unexpected.”

It was his one and only comment, but Pidge couldn’t bring herself to express any gratitude, not when tension lay thickly over her team.

She’d never let Lance get close, not as long as she’d known him, but though only Hunk stood between them, a gap as wide as Valles Marineris still kept them apart.

Continue to Part Two