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The Soulmate Fuck-up Meme

The Soulmate Fuckup Meme
There's a name on your wrist. Maybe you were born with it; maybe it arrived around the time you reached adolescence. It's spelled out, in clear script - the script you learned to read first, your native language. It's the name of your soulmate.

What would a world like this be like?

Fucked-up, that's what.

(Based on this tumblr post.)

PROMPTS:
Choose just one, choose a couple, mix and match. Do what you want.

RELATIONSHIP
1: ORIENTATION CONFUSION. The name on your arm is the wrong gender. Maybe you thought you were straight, but the name is the same gender as yours. Maybe you knew you were gay, but the name is opposite-sex. Maybe you just didn't want anyone to know, and you hide your arm, pretend to be something you aren't. But there it is - the evidence glares at you every time you brush aside your sleeve. The name has to be right. Doesn't it?
2: JUST PLAYING AROUND. You're not soulmates with the person you're with. You're just playing around. Or maybe you're really in love - and no one will believe you. How do you face the complete inability of society to accept you? How do you face the inevitable, fated end of your relationship? How can anything be important, when you know it won't last?
3: ONESOMES, THREESOMES AND MORESOMES. You're soulmates with person A who's soulmates with person B who's soulmates with you. What now? - Or maybe you're meant to be in a polyamorous relationship. Or you're asexual, and the thought of that name fills you with dread.
4: ALONE. Your soulmate died. Your soulmate never showed up. Your soulmate never existed. Or your soulmate refused you.
5: FIRST TIME. You've never dated anyone else before. What would have been the point? And now you're moving in, you're getting married - why wait? You're soulmates, aren't you? What could go wrong?
6: TOGETHER. Yep. Here we are. Here you are, and here I am, and here are our names on each other's arms.
7: OTHER.

STAGE
1: INVESTIGATION. So there's this name, and you've plugged it into Google, and the only match you can find is some asshole's Facebook account. He looks like a real jerk. Or maybe you got nothing, and you hired a private investigation firm that specializes in this kind of thing. Now you have an email address, or phone number, or a home address, and what's next is to pick up the phone, write that letter, knock on that door.
2: REVEAL. A superstar's name is on the wrist of a teenager. The President's name is on the wrist of her opponent. Your name is on the wrist of someone in jail. Turns out that name on your best friend's wrist was yours - only you never knew, not until you found out who your parents were. You've just discovered your soulmate, or just revealed yourself to them. What next?
3: GETTING TOGETHER. You're in the early stages. Dating, maybe. Getting to know each other. Moving in, under the watchful eyes of other friends, happy and soulmated and eager to have their view of the world confirmed in you. But do you even really know this person? What makes you so suited, anyway?
4: TOGETHER FOREVER. Maybe you've been together thirty years, and you still have that same fucking argument about who washes the pans after you cook a steak. Maybe you sit in silence because there's nothing to say, and it's incredibly boring. Maybe you work in harmony, but you wonder: is it because you were supposed to be together all along, or just because you never had another choice?
5: TECHNICALITIES. Society won't let you get married. So what if you just change your name to the name on her wrist, and she changes her name to the name on yours… Or maybe you can't get insurance, because you're not married with a soulmate. Don't have the right to vote. Can't get promoted in your job.
6: A BROKEN SYSTEM. Soulmates might be perfect, but people aren't perfect. The world isn't perfect. And this world has screwed you over, time and time again. But - maybe you still found a way to be happy.
7: OTHER.

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ooc: possibly drama with being married to Jeyne and having someone else on his arm (whoever is tagging him? Or just drama with Jeyne.)

(how does robb - and jeyne, i guess - feel about a female lancelot; bbc merlin edition?)

ooc: sounds good to me, any ideas?

(1 or 2 for the sage. I'm open to anything you might want. I liked your idea about them having each other and him being married to Jeyne. Yet I also had the idea of some form of 3! Like maybe she has both him and Jeyne? Or she has him, Robb has Jeyne, and the npc Jeyne has her. I thought one of those two might be more awkward/headache inducing. Since, if I recall what I was told about the books, only the Targs did multiple spouses - so poor sensible Starks lol)

ooc: multiples totally work. he would feel the worst, but wouldn't be able to abandon her if she had him, like it was his duty to be with her, too. I also like 3 for the stage, so he's already aware.

(And she would be completely 'nope. not putting that on you - on either of you'. stage 3 it is! Do you want to start or shall I?)

ooc: They will butt heads gloriously (and she sounds like Dacey Mormont).

Do you mind?

(Cool! :D I don't know very much about the Mormont women since the show sucked on that. However, I heard they make badass ladies - I know a lot about Lyanna Mormont and how she told Stannis off :D. And sorry was that a you want me to start or a start? Also do you prefer threads or brackets?)

ooc: Mormont women are pretty awesome.

And I meant for you. I prefer brackets though.

(they are! -- oh and if you want something at the bottom changed let me know!)

[It wasn't easy for a woman to travel on her own in the lands of Albion or most of the ones in Westeros. However, Lancelot - or Lottie as the ones who knew that she was a woman tended to call her - had more or less managed it since she was a very small child. She simply pretended to be a boy. Her village had been raided and massacred when she was a young girl. It had left her an orphan. If Lottie had any living family near where she once lived, she didn't know about them. She became the only person she could truly depend on. She made acquaintance, of course. A kind-hearted and stubbornly polite girl, it would be difficult for her not to. However, the necessity of keeping her secret made it an often lonely existence. The reality of how dissolute the nearby villages were made it very hard for them to spare for an extra mouth. This meant she had to find work where she could - cleaning out stalls, working at taverns, and as she grew older, becoming a sword for hire. It meant she had to do many things she wasn't proud of. Nevertheless, it had all been for the common goal of following her dream to become a knight.

If she had been a male, she would have aimed for Camelot. There was a part of her that still wanted it in all of her bones. However, that would mean living a lie. For longer. Constantly. It was bad enough that she was lowborn but a woman. Uther would kill her if he ever discovered. If she had been male, maybe she could have convinced him with her skill. With her loyalty. Lottie would have done any number of menial tasks simply to prove herself. If she had been male. Yet she wasn't. And there was no point on fighting against that. There was much she could do as a woman. The stories of women from Westeros and Essos who protected their lands and people were common. At least more common there than here. In fact, other than the Priestesses of Old or Queen Anis most of the talk in Albion were of the men. The words that came from traders and slavers and pirates that traveled from Westeros talked about Mormont women, Dornish queens, Targaryens on dragons. So much so, Lottie had been sure that maybe ... just maybe. Westeros would be the place for her.

She'd been very wrong. She learned quickly that while those women had existed, their influence had been exaggerated. Warriors they were. Strong and honorable, many of them. Yet not a single knight. Lottie, disheartened, had considered her next step: to spend time re-earning the money she'd spent to get to Westeros, in order to return to Albion OR find a place in Westeros. (There was still the question of Essos but that seemed more prone to paid for higher) And even then it was the question of what to do after that. If she wanted to fight for someone, it would have to be for mercenaries or on her own. OR she could settle down and marry.

The decision what to do next was made for her a year after she set foot on Westerosi soil. A name appeared on her wrist. Robb Stark. She might have been naive in the ways of this land; however, she knew what a Stark was. She knew who the North was and who lived there. She decided to head North, in hopes that perhaps the Mormonts would take her. And Robb. Robb. All right, him too. She had nothing to offer him. Nothing all. She might have been a dreamer, but she was a practical dreamer. Starks were nobles. Honorable nobles. She was ... the daughter of peasants who lied since she was a child and had gotten her hands far too dirty attempting to stay alive. At least, that was how Lottie saw herself. Still. He was her soulmate. Her ambition might have been to be a warrior, to be an excellent fighter, who protected the innocent and made sure that no child under her watch, would lose like she had. However, ... but. The concept of finding Robb made her giddy. Maybe, they would fall in love. Maybe they would form their own home. Maybe she could stay. Maybe.

By the time Lottie, reached Robb Stark. There was a war going on. And he wasn't just a nobleman's son. He was king. A very married king, who loved his wife. Who - as word would have it - was his soulmate. The unfairness of that and the frustration of the discovery was one that stung Lottie deeply. Yet as she did with most disappointments, however unhealthy, was grit her teeth and swallow it.

If Lancelot, had her way, she wouldn't have said anything. She had wrapped a cloth around her wrist, set out for her plan to find the Mormonts (the eldest women of the family working for Robb), and did her best to ignore fate. Jeyne was a good woman. And better suited to Robb anyway. Lottie considered that maybe their bond was never meant to be romantic. Her and Robbs. There was a deep connection between a king and those who served him. It was likely all the name meant. After all, for a time that was all she wanted. A home and to protect it.

Secrets, however, had a way of coming out she knew. Except this time instead of slipping away - whether within an inch of her skin or with hefty pockets - as she was wont to do when people found out a secret of hers, she found herself very much stuck in a camp. Because her blasted soulmate was the singular most headstrong person she'd ever met. She had been with him -- No! Not with him! She'd been in camp for over a forthnight now. He still didn't understand that she didn't want his pity.]

Your Grace [She stood up abruptly. She had been sharpening her sword. Now standing, Lottie bent into makeshift, "good-enough" curtsy when she saw him approaching her. Lottie's eyes darted quickly behind him, in hopes that she could find someone who could be her momentary escape. The Goddess save her from Starks] Good morning. [Her eyes flickered to the direwolf who followed him everywhere, and she couldn't help but favor it with a smile. Nervous though her smile was]

Edited 2014-06-20 20:06 (UTC)

[Perhaps as a boy he idolized the name on his wrist. But he is no longer a boy, but a man, a king. He promised himself to a Frey for a bridge despite the name written across his wrist. He needed to do so for his family, but he was still a Lord then, bent on saving his father. All of that has passed now.

And when fate had Robb and Jeyne cross paths, he could not help but try and find more in her. Word reached him of his brother's death and the sacking of his home. All seemed lost, and all he had was the girl who he was meant to help. He fell weak to urges, and bed her that night.

But did he love her? He often struggles with that question. He cares for her surely. She is a good woman, a strong woman, and Stark men have penchants for falling for strong women. But the decision to marry her came from his duty to marry her. For he had made her unmarriable. She is a good wife, and far more capable at being at his side during war when he expected. Mayhaps he will come to love her, but for now there are more pressing matters like the war.

He is no longer shocked by women in armor, though the Umbers surely have something to say on it. Still he will not turn away an able bodied person who is seeking him out. She seems strong, independent, and on more than one occasion he has already met with her before he found out the true reason she was there. He speaks to Jeyne nightly on it, and they both have decided that they will welcome her, have her be a part of their family. He is not sure what else he can promise her since he is wed and his honor prevents him from even taking her as a mistress. But his duty also tells him that he cannot turn her away. It is a confusing situation, but he must do what feels right.

It is early the next morning, after speaking with his wife, that he finds her tent. Entering it with grey wind at his side, he has on his lighter furs and a great sword by his side. When she stands, he nods.]

Good morning. I hope I did not bother you, but I wished to speak with you-- alone.

No bother at all, Your Grace [-- but I don't think I want to hear anything you'll have to say. Lottie passed her tongue slightly over her bottom lip. She wasn't able to think of a way of saying that without coming overly rude. So she gave a quick nod, instead.] Of course. Perhaps a walk?

Sounds fine. [He can tell enough by her actions that she isn't looking forward to it. But she agrees enough, so he backs up to give her room, opening the tarp to the tent so she can walk ahead of him. He won't discuss it here, already there are whispers in the camp.]

[She frowned slightly at him. However, she went through the flap without complaint.] Thank you. [She stated politely. Even though she was of the mind that the most polite thing to do was for him to lead, as he was a king. And quite frankly she was so used to pretending to be a young/teenage boy that such actions of good manners filled her with some unease. She waited for him to go through and they walked a few moments in silence.]

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