If you were in any fandom spaces in the 2000s-2010s, you’d know how prevalent soulmate AUs (alternate universes) were. I could probably write a whole thesis on why that happened, but that’s a rant for another blog. For those of you who don’t know, these soulmate AUs were writing or art prompts based around a piece of media and typically a specific ship (couple) from that fandom. Each soulmate AU was different, and I want to talk about some of my favorites, as well as some I despise. This will not even scrape the surface of all of them. I’m sure there are videos on youtube doing deep dives into this if you’re interested in learning more. I’ve been thinking about different fanfic tropes recently and I wanted to rate some of the ones I enjoy and diss the ones I don’t like. I’ll be doing multiple parts to this series, so stay tuned.
1. Soulmate Initials AU
The premise of this AU is pretty self explanatory. Characters in this universe are born with the initials of their soulmate somewhere on their body, typically their wrist. Sometimes it’s not something they’re born with; rather, they receive the initials on their 18th birthday or some other special day. This AU is pretty solid and leads to a lot of really funny miscommunication tropes where a character thinks their soulmate is one person who’s initials match their wrist, while in reality it’s someone entirely different (ie, character A thinks their soulmate is Jane Smith, when actually it’s their sworn enemy, John Smitty).
At the same time, if you have a character with a really unique name, it’s hard to create any of those miscommunication plot lines. It’s something hard to misunderstand and it makes finding one’s soulmate generally easy. I’m a sucker for a pining slow burn, so this trope isn’t always my favorite. However, I am also partial to the “finding out your soulmate is your enemy” trope, and this AU is perfect for that. In the end, I give this AU a solid 7/10.
2. Soulmate Writing Transfer AU
This AU can differentiate depending on the author, but the general premise is as follows. Characters in this universe will be able to write, draw, or doodle on their skin in any form of ink and said writing will appear on the skin of their soulmate. Some authors include tattoos into this, while others write that tattoos stay only on the one getting the tattoo willingly, rather than both the character and their soulmate. Besides the ambiguous state of tattoos in this trope, the writing on your soulmate’s skin will eventually wash off as it washes off your own skin. However, you and your soulmate would not be able to wash off something drawn by the other person.
This AU is easily one of my favorites. I love the trope of an artistic character drawing on their hands all day while their soulmate is someone who has never even colored in a coloring book. There is an obvious caveat to this AU, which is that you could easily write sentences on your skin and quickly find out who your soulmate is. I think that takes the fun out of this AU, but it is still undeniably a possibility. I love this trope because I think that mindless doodles are sometimes the best way to get to know someone on a deeper level. Like, yeah, there is a reason I like to doodle cats on every blank piece of paper I see. Anyways, this AU is a 9/10 for me.
3. Color Blind Soulmate AU
This AU is difficult to explain because it ranges in complexity, but I’ll do my best to explain the general idea. In this universe, characters are born with the inability to see color, and won’t be able to see color until they meet their soulmate. It’s typically a gradual process of them gaining the ability to see color, but it’s generally obvious who/what caused the color to appear. In other versions of this AU, characters aren’t able to see a specific color, until they meet their soulmate. Often, this AU has a moment where character A looks into character B’s (their soulmate) eyes and suddenly they can see the color of their eyes after never being able to.
I forgot how much I loved this AU. If you’re a Homestuck like me, you’re probably familiar with this trope. There was a specific human character in Homestuck who had red eyes, which he hid with sunglasses, and this spurred a lot of fanfics with this AU. I think it’s a really sweet idea and I love how it plays on the concepts of color being brought back into someone’s life, metaphorically and literally. My only note is that this AU isn’t sad enough. I know that’s a weird issue to have, but I think a good AU has conflict built in, and this AU is pretty plain on that front. It’s something you’d see in a K-Drama, which isn’t bad by any means, but it is definitely a level of soft, fluffy romance that I’m not personally interested in. I give this AU a soft 8/10.
4. First/Last Words Soulmate AU
This AU is once again, pretty self explanatory. Characters in this universe are born with the first (or last) words that their soulmate will ever say to them. Typically, this is found on their wrist. Similar to the Soulmate Initials AU, there are versions of this AU where the words won’t appear till a certain age. This makes for a pretty cut and dry storyline. Often, stories with this AU will follow a character who is either desperate to find their soulmate and thus trying to manipulate conversations to lead into the quote on their wrist, or the exact opposite and the main character barely talks to anyone because they don’t want to meet their soulmate.
Finally an AU I absolutely hate. There is so much of this AU that I want to nit pick. What if my soulmate likes to talk and their first words to me span over the entirety of my forearm? What if their first word is something lame like “Hey” and I meet twenty other people whose first word to me is also “Hey”- How do I tell which is my soulmate? To be fair, some authors will work around this and write that the words on the character’s wrist will disappear/fade after they meet their soulmate. The only aspect of this AU that I’m interested in is the concept of knowing your soulmate’s late words to you. This easily leads to some of the most gut-wrenching angst you’ve ever read. One thing about me, I love some angst (if it isn’t obvious). However, this AU leans too far into the territory of those POV Tik Toks where the main character knows how long they have left to live. I don’t like those, I don’t wanna know when I’m gonna die, LAME. Only story that’s ever done that AU well is “They Both Die at the End” by Adam Silvera, and that’s strictly because of how well the universe around the characters is developed. Anyways, I hate this trope but it has the capability to be good so 4/10.
5. Soulmate First Touch AU
This AU is very much a dealer’s choice situation. The main version of this AU centers around a universe where characters will have some sort of marking on their body which indicates the point where their soulmate will first touch them. Sometimes these markings are distinct birthmarks, moles, or freckles. Other times the markings will be less natural, like inky blobs or a clear imprint of a hand. This is not the only version of this AU though. Sometimes the first touch of a soulmate will lead into other AUs. For example, a character unable to see color might be touched by their soulmate and suddenly they can see color. Or a character may get visions of their future with their soulmate when they first touch. There are a lot of ways to play around with the other versions of this AU.
The base of this AU is something I enjoy quite a bit. I’ve always loved the idea of freckles being “angel kisses” and I find it even sweeter if those freckles/moles/birthmarks were given to you from a soulmate. This AU also leads to a lot of really silly, stupid moments in stories, like jokes about where a character’s soulmate mark is located. Like, what do you mean you have a giant birthmark on your neck? Is your soulmate going to choke you out the first time you meet??? As for the other versions of this AU, I’m not sure how I feel. It feels like an afterthought that ties this AU into other, previously existing AUs. I think this AU works well on its own and I really love the implications of it. I especially love an AU that goes hand in hand with this one; a universe where your birthmark(s) is where you suffered a fatal injury in another life OR your birthmark(s) show where you will suffer a fatal injury in the future. Once again, this spurs so many questions and interesting plot points. Anyways, solid AU and as someone with a lot of moles and freckles, I hold this AU dear to me. 10/10
I was such a sucker for these soulmate tropes when I was younger. I remember hating the colorblind trope, and I’m not even sure why! Maybe because I have a genuine fear and/or hatred of being colorblind… I also remember loving the initials trope so much.
OMG I remember all the fanfics I used to read with these tropes circa 2020-2021. They were always horrible, but I remember eating them up like I was in the library of Alexandria.
I didn’t know this many AU’s existed and now I want to read all of them.
I remember when I was younger adoring these tropes