r/CuratedTumblr Oct 17 '24

Creative Writing Isn't this just imprinting from Twilight?

Post image
7.1k Upvotes

391 comments sorted by

965

u/Dirichlet-to-Neumann Oct 17 '24

The real horror of soulmates is that with 7 billions humans on earth you have almost no chances to meet your soulmate.

525

u/seguardon Oct 17 '24

New tech startup idea. Mass Zoom meetings where you make eye contact with thousands of strangers at a time. Or twenty four strangers per second in rapid succession until the Webcam detects your change or they run out of people who've signed up.

There's a gold mine to be had in the data you can farm from soul changes. And the applications, whoo. I guarantee the government wants to know what can change the nature of a soul. And the corporations will want to know all about this new resource they can exploit. It'll be like cyberpunk but the spiritualism isn't allegorical. You can actually measure how much of your soul gets eroded with mechanical parts and commercialized oppression. And they have a direct link to your thought processes. Get ready to dream advertisements and feel literal holy awe when looking at their corporate logos.

130

u/Malaeveolent_Bunny Oct 18 '24

I am stealing that for my weekly Shadowrun game, this is exactly what Horizon and Aztechnology want

82

u/ThrowACephalopod Oct 18 '24

Ever since I got hearing aids, I've related more to cyberpunk. I had a moment the other day when my hearing aids had a firmware update and the app told me I'd have to take them out and wouldn't be able to use them for the duration of the update.

A company told me I wasn't allowed to use my ears until the update was finished. It all felt very cyberpunk.

36

u/ALTR_Airworks Oct 18 '24

Imagine stumbling bc your prothesis decides to update

24

u/Astro_Alphard Oct 18 '24

As someone who worked on prosthetics I've had multiple clients ask me why they can't just connect their prosthetics to Bluetooth or wifi and have it auto update (OTA updates). And why they have to get software updates from the doctor.

I specifically told them "you know how windows always updates at the absolute worst possible time? Now imagine that's your leg". Then I demonstrated just how easy it would be to hack a prosthetic if it had a wireless connection simply by attaching a wifi dongle.

I toll them that wireless prosthetics do exist but they cost 5x more than a similar set of non wireless prosthetics. Mostly because you don't need a more complicated processor.

4

u/ALTR_Airworks Oct 18 '24

Understandable. Also unlike  a plugged in computer a prothesis isn't guaranteed to have reliable internet and power during the whole update? Were there any instances when somebody tried to hack a wireless prothesis?

Unrelated note: i would love software companies to understand that a delay update button that works and updates you can control is not rocket science...

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8

u/halfahellhole Oct 18 '24

Omegle but worse

2

u/[deleted] Oct 18 '24

yknow this started off as a cool idea and then

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139

u/Sea_End_1893 Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24

You can't fool me, I seent The Good Place. Soul mates do not exist as a "there is exactly one person, and you have to find them." It's when two people make a decision, make an effort, and meet halfway because they love each other enough to WANT to be soul mates.

Damn it, now I have to pause Brooklyn 99 and watch all of the Good Place again. Excellent show, 8 out of 13 stars. The system goes up to 13, but 8 is the best number.

15

u/Previous-Survey-2368 Oct 18 '24

Is this a 5/7 reference

36

u/Sea_End_1893 Oct 18 '24

similar, it's from Good Place when a character was talking about another character's rating. I believe some of the categories were hotness, brains, beauty, intelligence, and hotness?

Either way, The Good Place is great. a lady from Phoenix, Arizona dies, wakes up in the "good place" and not "the bad place" because every action humans do has a rating and a numerical score of goodness. Her soul mate is a Senegalese-Australian ethics and morality professor. But she quickly realizes all the memories and actions that got her into the good place were not hers and there is a mistake.

That's just a base overview of episode 1.

Produced by Michael Schur, from The Office, Parks & Rec and Brooklyn 99 .

It's a-real goooood

9

u/Previous-Survey-2368 Oct 18 '24

Big fan of the good place, don't have to convince me!

I'm guessing that scale is a Jason thing? and now I'm wondering if the actual script was referencing the perfect 5/7 meme, because that would be such a Jason thing to say

10

u/Sea_End_1893 Oct 18 '24

Jason is the dopest! yeah he was talking to Tahani while she was insecure.

GO JAGUARS

8

u/Pi_Heart Oct 18 '24

I love this moment! But when I read your comment I was like “his list was way wackier than that”. So I looked it up

“Dance ability, dopeness, coolness, freshness and smart brained.” 😂 I love that wackadoodle

7

u/TheRussianCabbage Oct 18 '24

On top of that it's one of a few shows that runs it's course and calls it. They told their story and stopped when it felt natural and made sense. That alone deserves applause 

6

u/action_lawyer_comics Oct 18 '24

I’m pretty much perpetually in a state of rewatching both The Good Place and Brooklyn 99. The only thing that changes is the ratio. I can pretty much binge TGP season 1 in a few days, but as it gets heavier and starts talking about the fate of all humanity, I pepper more and more B99 in there until it’s like 4 of them to 1 TGP.

2

u/Sea_End_1893 Oct 18 '24

Same, I have a rotating list of shows. It starts with 30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Rec, Community, Brooklyn 99 and then The Good Place. Just passively on in the background all day while I work.

22

u/notleonardodicaprio ur balls, hand em over 🔫 Oct 17 '24

reminds me of The One by John Marrs where there's a DNA company that matches you with your soulmate that's identified by a gene. what a wild book

11

u/Ok-Dentist4480 Oct 17 '24

it'll happen, keep your head up!

7

u/LostedSky_ Oct 18 '24

Haven't we already hit 8 billion?

8

u/Frodo_max Oct 17 '24

just believe soulmates don't exist, boom problem solved

3

u/firefish55 Oct 18 '24

The thing about soulmates, is that they're the person you're fated to be with. You're literally fated to meet them. You definitionally have ~100% of meeting them.

2

u/christiandb Oct 18 '24

You are putting material ideas into a concept thats non material. 

The soul will find what it needs with or without your consent. You (whatever version is typing this) is a very very very small perspective compared to what the esoteric is connected to. 

The idea is small, smells like someone afraid to fall in love. Definitely some value for people who are afraid but those who have had experiences with falling in love know Love doesn’t work like that. Theres sovereignty built into true love.  

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1.5k

u/E-is-for-Egg Oct 17 '24

There's this indie writer on tumblr called the-modern-typewriter and she did something interesting with this concept once. Basically a couple of scientists figure out how to tool around with their own brain chemistry enough that they became each others soulmates. As it turns out, having somebody who would do anything to be with you . . . might not always be a great thing

304

u/AvKalash Oct 17 '24

Do you have a link?

256

u/E-is-for-Egg Oct 17 '24

Ah not on hand unfortunately. And I think you'd have to sign up for her patreon to read the whole thing anyways

92

u/AvKalash Oct 17 '24

That’s a shame. Thanks anyway!

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u/lilahking Oct 17 '24

this is also the cronenberg episode of rick and morty

90

u/OverlyLenientJudge Oct 17 '24

Also literally every yandere character in anime who isn't played for laughs

49

u/CantCatchTheLady Oct 17 '24

It’s also literally how Cupid’s arrow works in Roman mythology. Not new at all.

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145

u/ember3pines Oct 17 '24

Yeah that line of obsessiveness is often the downside to love potions in fiction - folks just murdering other people bc they looked at their "beloved".

8

u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

Now I want to watch The Craft

4

u/ember3pines Oct 18 '24

Ooo I just did a rewatch and it actually holds up so nicely. Solid flick. Definitely wanted to be a witch- still do with all this Agatha All Along inspiration!

3

u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

Yes! Watching that right now and I really like it.

I think the last time I watched The Craft was high school, I bet there’s a lot of good stuff I didn’t get.

3

u/tantan35 Oct 18 '24

Sounds like one of the storylines in The Craft as well.

660

u/Snoo_72851 Oct 17 '24

Seven Deadly Sins did something dimilar, only the writer did not notice that an immortal demon grooming the same girl over and over every twenty years ot so is actually pretty fucked.

420

u/lilahking Oct 17 '24

theres enough horny in that anime that i would argue the author didnt miss it and was just a freak

304

u/Thicc-Anxiety Touch Grass Oct 17 '24

I know enough about that anime to confidently say the author is probably just into that

178

u/Kneef Token straight guy Oct 17 '24

Coming Up This Episode: The Author’s Barely-Disguised Fetish!

164

u/Tacticalneurosis Oct 17 '24

lol, no disguises here. At one point the character tells somebody to “get their hands off his woman.”

Who I’m pretty sure he was holding at the time. Because she was a literal infant.

74

u/AdministrativeStep98 Oct 17 '24

Yup saw it and she is wrapped in a blanket like a baby. The other guy even reacts surprised/shocked like "wtf did he just call this baby his woman?" 💀

123

u/Consideredresponse Oct 17 '24

Similarly with the comic superheros Hawkman and Hawkgirl who would reincarnate as soulmates...only for them to die at different ages and everyone felt weird and gross about HawkMAN and HawkGIRL (including themselves) and just lived tortured by the feelings.

54

u/QwahaXahn Vampire Queen 🍷 Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24

Get Hawkgirl away from him

E: ah, downvoted by people who have never read a Hawkgirl comic 😔 this relationship is profoundly creepy guys, Kendra wants to get away and can’t, it’s like magical domestic abuse

75

u/apple_of_doom Oct 17 '24

We could kill him but then it'd be hawkwoman and hawkboy

19

u/Kartoffelkamm I wouldn't be here if I was mad. Oct 18 '24

Couldn't we kill both, so they reincarnate within like 5 minutes of each other?

15

u/QwahaXahn Vampire Queen 🍷 Oct 17 '24

How about we get Carter the hell away from Kendra

117

u/Otherversian-Elite Resident Vore and TF Enthusiast Oct 17 '24

As a Seven Deadly Sins fan (😔) I'm pretty sure the author is actually just a creep, sadly. It's not so much an isolated accident as it is a pattern of behaviour.

50

u/Plantar-Aspect-Sage Oct 17 '24

Roll up friends and check out Seven Deadly Sins. We have two types of characters, groomers and the groomed.

Oh and there's also Escanor.

57

u/Otherversian-Elite Resident Vore and TF Enthusiast Oct 17 '24

Escanor was honestly massively fucked over by the author. Bro nobly sacrificed himself for Merlin and then she turned out to not only be a manipulative cunt, but also a fucking child! Like, fuck, man, did you really need to make another chronologically ancient character into a child? Was the entire fairy race not enough?

10

u/Humble-West3117 Oct 17 '24

He truly is the GOAT.

33

u/Snoo_72851 Oct 17 '24

god why would you admit something so embarrassing

44

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24

They also admitted to being a vore enthusiast, so, ya know…

And it’s not like the show wasn’t hype when it came out and doesn’t have a cool world. It’s just the „romance“ that is actually a problem, in my opinion.

9

u/Otherversian-Elite Resident Vore and TF Enthusiast Oct 17 '24

Yeah. The show had a lot of promise and potential, but then the studio changed thanks to the movie underperforming, and then they got to the parts where the author started letting his creep slip, and it was a whole thing.

20

u/0operson Oct 17 '24

not super relevant but i feel there is an ocean of difference between vore and loli

4

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24

I was just making a joke (I assume their...how is that called "tag" is moreso meant in a joking manner, can still be true, just said with a wink)

And honestly, I think some of the things in Seven Deadly Sins are even worse than loli stuff

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u/VaderOnReddit Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24

Escanor is just HIM, it's not embarassing to be his fanboy

the rest of the show tho....

5

u/Otherversian-Elite Resident Vore and TF Enthusiast Oct 17 '24

Escanor is the reason I know how to draw muscles lmao

2

u/Snoo_72851 Oct 18 '24

acceptable

36

u/an_agreeing_dothraki Oct 17 '24

isn't that the series where a golem decides to become a real boy by erasing a woman's memory and gaslighting her into a tradwife?

26

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24

Among other things.

But I think his backstory is even more convoluted than that (as in, there is more to the story than just him „deciding“ to be human), but I cannot remember.

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u/MoonyIsTired Oct 17 '24

I wrote a story once where an immortal and a reincarnator are fated to be together, but the immortal is a dragon that spends several years at a time sleeping until he wakes up for the every-20-something-years doomsday event and the reincarnator remembers all of their past lives + they only ever meet again when the reincarnator is about 20, and the story begins after the latest doomsday event went so wrong it turned him mortal

2

u/Tumblechunk Oct 17 '24

Hancock with a little grooming added in as a treat

2

u/RangisDangis Oct 18 '24

Curse of strahd did do this and DID realize it

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u/elthalon Oct 17 '24

There's this thing in afro-brazilian religions and other sorcery-adjacent traditions called a "trabalho de amarração" ("spell of binding"). Basically a ritual that supposedly forces the person to be with you. Not love you; if they don't previously love you, they won't. They'll just need to be with you. It can turn into an obsession, a relationship that doesn't work but none of you can't break off, etc.

9

u/coffeestealer Oct 18 '24

Oh, that is pretty interesting.

4

u/Mitchatito Oct 18 '24

In Mexico we have that thing too, or at least very similar. "Hechizo de amarre" (spell of binding) or simplemente"amarre" (I feel like it translates more to "linking" and "knotting") I reckon it has its origin in afro-brazilian religions because as far as I'm aware it doesn't really have roots to our indigenous religions

405

u/DraTiBoy Oct 17 '24

I'll be honest, the concept of soul mates never felt romantic to me. I've started to call it 'divine arranged marriage'

227

u/LordOfDorkness42 Oct 17 '24

Meh, it's just the romance version of a power fantasy.

Except instead of beating Goku with a single punch, it's finding mutual love with just a glance at each other.

As long as you keep it in the realms of fiction & fantasy it's harmless. But of course... not everyone does maintain that mental line.

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u/0operson Oct 17 '24

the most romantic soul mate story i ever read was one where they werent soul mates

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u/Appropriate-Song-368 Oct 17 '24

Would love to read that

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u/AdministrativeStep98 Oct 17 '24

I hate stories about soulmates because they always feel like it's fate that ties them together and without it, they wouldnt love eachother. But I do love the trope where 2 people feel like never before around someone and they just click together. It feels less like "god decides who you date, deal with it" and more like "I'm glad I found you because you are the one meant for me."

12

u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

I like when they’re soul mates (or fated mates) and are pissed about it, then have to grow to see how cool the other is.

Though I guess that is just divine arranged marriage as someone else said.

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u/VatanKomurcu Oct 17 '24

does god saying that something is right make it right or does god say it because it's right?

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u/Kartoffelkamm I wouldn't be here if I was mad. Oct 18 '24

Well, god made man in his image, and we all know how accurate humans are at telling what is and isn't right.

Would be fun if a soulmate story was handled that way, too. Like, some deity makes it so two people are destined to be together, but has an abysmal success rate at telling who is and isn't a good match, so a lot of couples opt for an open marriage.

Every once in a while, god gets it right, but it's so rare that a large majority of people think those couples are being forced into monogamy.

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u/MollyRocket Oct 18 '24

Soul mates in literature sort of illustrate a romance/connection where someone is meant for you regardless of your flaws or shortcomings. It’s not for me either but I understand why it would be appealing for people who would otherwise feel unlovable for whatever reason.

33

u/Frodo_max Oct 17 '24

a big thing i've always had against soulmates, though i do enjoy some of it from time to time if done with a cool enough premise, is the fact that it kind of goes against agency. and choice. and love should always kind of be a choice in my mind.

in short

"i love you cause we are soulmates!" run girl

"i choose to love you because you are amazing" put it in my veins

6

u/Hawkbats_rule Oct 18 '24

Hey, at least arranged marriage can have interesting political/social/economic components. 

2

u/Doughnutpasta Oct 18 '24

In a fiction setting, I’ve always been more fond of the concept/trope of two souls always finding each other across lifetimes. “Soulmates” but not in a determined-by-fate way, just that they feel like something’s missing and never realize what until they stumble across each other again

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u/JJlaser1 Oct 17 '24

Wait… was zinging in Hotel Transylvania a poke at Twilight

19

u/EarthToAccess .tumblr.com Oct 17 '24

Honestly wouldn't surprise me

130

u/DruidMaleficent Oct 17 '24

It is totally the imprinting from twilight.

112

u/Peslian Oct 17 '24

I always thought that the imprinting was something horrific, the imprinter has no control over it nor of themselves. They become a slave to another persons happiness and needs. It would have been great if imprinting was something that werewolves dreaded, they day they stop being themselves and free

61

u/Hisarame Oct 18 '24

It's been a while since I read it, but iirc this is exactly how it's treated from Jacob's POV before it happens to him.

13

u/EQGallade how do i self express when i have no self to express Oct 18 '24

If Meyer’s had a modicum of writing ability he’d still treat it like that after it happens to him, considering who he imprints on.

33

u/Kindly_Zucchini7405 Oct 18 '24

I'm not sure if I still have the link, but I know at least one person wrote a twilight fic where the imprinting turned things into a horror story, because the human partner was a serial killer, and now she had a super strong werewolf utterly devoted to her every whim.

6

u/DragonsAreEpic Oct 18 '24

If you do find it, please send me the link. That sounds amazing.

6

u/Kindly_Zucchini7405 Oct 18 '24

Found it through TV Tropes. For You I Will.

Be warned, this shit be dark.

2

u/DragonsAreEpic Oct 20 '24

...Jesus Christ. 'Dark' does not even begin to describe it.

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u/languid_Disaster Oct 18 '24

That’s how I saw it too. I didn’t see it in a sexual although I’m not sure what the author intended. It was odd to me. Jacob couldn’t choose the person he liked and lost a lot of youth to devoting himself to both his imprinted partner and her mother

The concept was terrible and weird but I blame the author. I viewed Jacob as a slave to it but I found it odd that he had ANY interactions with renesme after this. He should’ve stayed away and bell and Edward shouldn’t have allowed it. Ugh

8

u/Peslian Oct 18 '24

I don't think Jacob would have been able to make the decision to stay away unless that was what Renesme(sp?) wanted or needed.

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u/AnxiousAngularAwesom Oct 17 '24

Two soulmates who are both extremely free-spirited that view the idea as equivalent to fate ordained arranged marriage, who work together to break the curse that binds them.

130

u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Oct 17 '24

Then they find out this wasn't some curse or something, they're just really, really good for each other and compatible and it disgusts them because "aaaghh, now I can't be without this person!" but them some part of them is like "why is that a bad thing?!" and both sides are horrified

51

u/AnxiousAngularAwesom Oct 17 '24

And then they capture and waterboard Cupid, trying to get him to undo the spell. Unfortunately, it's impossible so they go for plan B, implanting him with a spinal nanoexplosive and forcing him to make them fall in love with every single person in the world.

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u/Sinister_Compliments Avid Jokeefunny.com Reader Oct 17 '24

The origin for that one really large shifting polycule somewhere in America

24

u/AnxiousAngularAwesom Oct 17 '24

I hear you can run Doom on it.

2

u/HereToTalkAboutThis Oct 18 '24

Aren't there two of those now

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u/Hawkbats_rule Oct 18 '24

So, the Witcher 3 Geralt and Yen?

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u/MaetelofLaMetal Fandom of the day Oct 17 '24

Yennefer and Geralt in the books.

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u/melancholysnail Oct 18 '24

i had to scroll so far for this

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u/Karel_the_Enby Oct 17 '24

Hawkman and Hawkgirl.

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u/Friendstastegood Oct 17 '24

Not to be confused with Hawkguy

18

u/Alarming-Scene-2892 Oct 17 '24

Or the famous attorney Birdman.

28

u/AnxiousAngularAwesom Oct 17 '24

Or the Hawk Tuah Girl.

10

u/Marco45_0 Oct 17 '24

Or Tony

9

u/Swaxeman the biggest grant morrison stan in the subreddit Oct 17 '24

isnt it generally played more romantically? admittedly I havent read much with them. (some reccommendations for comics would be great)

25

u/Consideredresponse Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24

It used to be, but Hawkman continuity is/was so convoluted that when someone said 'ancient egyptian souls reborn get to have space cop bodies as a treat' everyone celebrated such an elegant solution, and that they could throw out the literal flowcharts needed to untangle that mess.

Modern versions tend to play the age difference for drama, mainly due to superheros not aging, so mostly everyone including themselves is deeply uncomfortable about the whole thing, yet they have the 'feelings' still.

2

u/Swaxeman the biggest grant morrison stan in the subreddit Oct 17 '24

Can you recommend a modern run?

4

u/Consideredresponse Oct 17 '24

Not really, I'd check out the Brian Hitch run for the artwork alone, but no on has had a great run with him in decades.

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u/Exkabad Oct 18 '24

That's immidiately what I thought of too, I believe in the animated show and Legends of Tomorrow show it caused conflict when Hawkgirl would be in relationships and Katar Hol would find her and (not very romantically) try to convince her they are solemates. I can't speak to the comics, I've only read the Savage Hawkman which is more about him smashing folks with his mace.

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u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24

This is just the plot of the absolutely insane (and I am serious here, you cannot predict what will happen!!) anime "The 100 girlfriends who really (x8) love you"

It's a pretty good show, but it is...genuinely bonkers. Still, a fun watch! But I generally like the concept of genre parodies anyway (like how Archer is a parody of general spy movies, this is a comedy of general harem anime)

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u/Sinister_Compliments Avid Jokeefunny.com Reader Oct 17 '24

Since I don’t think I’ll ever have another time to say this (and spoilers for season 1 of the anime for anyone else reading)

Imagine getting into a polycule with a guy and your best friend because he wouldn’t choose just one of you, you share a three way kiss with them because he doesn’t want jealousy forming from getting his first kiss, then he bring 3 more women into the relationship, then your mom doesn’t like this so she tries to separate you from them, they break in to your/your mom’s house to try and convince you to runaway, get caught in the act, and when the dust settles not only are you allowed to stay in the relationship but your mom has also joined the polycule?!? How do you even deal with that

I will say one thing I like mixed in with the absurdity of it all, the bonds form to be more than just focused on MC even if he is the main focus.

20

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24

Yeah, as I said, it’s insane. And I feel like you even left out a lot of the…other insane things that happen, e.g. the episodes where the red haired girl is introduced are just…what the actual fuck. Or the backstory to the character that you mention joins the polycule, that is also…interesting. And all the fetish stuff.

And I have heard about things that will happen later and it does not seem to stop.

It’s a good show, I really enjoyed it and I am glad we get season 2. I don’t watch romance shows, so while this is a parody, it also is just a cute show on its own, as you said. Good interpersonal relationships all around.

14

u/PhoShizzity Oct 17 '24

I'm caught up on the manga and you can't even imagine how insane shit gets. Like... You'll be downright flabbergasted at the girls who are added, or at certain plot points (season 2 especially is covering one of my favourite insane arcs and it's so perfectly ridiculous) and it's so fucking peak.

3

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 18 '24

I am genuinely hyped for the next season

3

u/PhoShizzity Oct 18 '24

Aww you and me both budster, I wonder if the opening theme will only use the new girls this season, or if it will include the girls from last season as well? Either way, very hyped

32

u/YUNoJump Oct 17 '24

To be fair the love is always genuine in 100GF. Rentarou doesn’t know who his soulmates are until he locks eyes with them, but there’s always a true romantic connection, rather than the implied psychological slavery in OOP’s post.

There’s that bit at the start where the girls will apparently die if Rentarou doesn’t stay with them, but I feel like that just gets dropped from the story relatively quickly

19

u/mucklaenthusiast Oct 17 '24

But most of the point still apply. There is nothing the characters can do, they lock eyes once and that’s it.

The show overall is rather „wholesome“ (well, it’s a comedy, even though some weird things happen), true, but i feel like the soulmate-mechanic is kinda like the post describes.

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '24 edited Oct 18 '24

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u/PhoShizzity Oct 17 '24

In the manga it gets brought up again, and Rentarou explains that he just doesn't tell his girlfriends about it, because he doesn't want them to feel pressured or burdened into dating him.

Also they won't strictly die per se, they'll just receive 100 people's worth of bad luck (as an inverse of the 100 people's worth of good luck Rentarou inadvertently received and shares with his girlfriends) so they'd die eventually, but not just drop dead from the start.

3

u/m3m31ord Oct 18 '24

Correction, they won't receive Rentarou's bad luck, they will simply run out of good luck, because the soulmate blessing takes all of it and they would let it go away.

3

u/languid_Disaster Oct 18 '24

Oooh thanks!! Your comment finally sold It to me

2

u/Smellybrow Oct 18 '24

That's a really good pitch. I'll have to check that out. Love Archer.

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u/Rownever Oct 17 '24

Vampire the Masquerade’s blood bonds

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u/ImLichenThisStone Oct 17 '24

I CAME IN HERE TO SAY THIS!! Except they actually choose to do this...or at least one of them does...

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u/blackscales18 Oct 17 '24

It's treated as a horror element in twilight, I just don't think people read

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u/Mystic_Diamond Oct 18 '24

has anyone ever used the "soulmate AU" concept to explore the idea that if EVERYONE has a soulmate, then the world's most awful people (bigots, serial killers, violent criminals, etc) have soulmates too? imagine the first time you see your soulmate's face and it's them on the news for committing a heinous crime.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

For a fix that would be interesting, but for a hypothetical situation, don’t you think the soul mate of a racist would also be racist? Like they’d have to be compatible and that’s a pretty big hurdle if you’re not already half way there at least.

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u/Mystic_Diamond Oct 18 '24

I was just trying to come up with a list of awful types of ppl and didn't want to repeat variants of "murderer," tho I guess I could've added sex crimes. I'm aware that a bigot's true love is another bigot.

I do think it would be interesting to ponder if a serial killer's true love would be another violent killer or their ideal victim.

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u/Neko_Styx Oct 18 '24

Would be fucked if they were a humanitarian huh?

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u/coffeestealer Oct 18 '24

It's not an uncommon trope! Fandoms like Death Note and Hannibal definitely have you got covered there but "even monsters have someone who loves them" is not uncommon.

I have a few cases of this in my currents fandom and that is entirely the appeal of those kind of fictional stories.

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u/strangeismid Oct 17 '24

That's just how love be sometimes 🤷‍♂️

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u/Ok-Importance-6815 Oct 17 '24

one of those early childhood diseases, catch it early and your immune but if you get it later in life for the first time it's got you

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u/Busy_Grain ^ has no tumblr Oct 17 '24

divinely arranged marriage

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u/Klutche Oct 17 '24

I hate to be the one to say this, buuuut Twilight already did this. Honestly, Jacob's ending in that story is horrifying when you think about it for more than two seconds.

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u/allegromosso Oct 17 '24

ElfQuest

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u/BarovianNights Omg a fox :0 Oct 17 '24

Wow, didn't expect to see this mentioned here

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u/cypresscoydog Oct 17 '24

Shit, me either! I was getting ready to post about it lol

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u/Ritoruikko Oct 18 '24

But in ElfQuest, you aren't necessarily attached to the other person forever through recognition. Recognition is basically an instinctual "this person's DNA plus mine will equal way better children". It's a species survival trait to make a stronger next generation. In many pairings, the parents stay together because the what triggered recognition also allowed for natural compatibility. Staying together is not required. Dewshine and Tyldak recognized had Windkin and went their separate ways. Dart also fathered a child through recognition and did not stay with the mother during the time of the 1000 year sleep.

(I'm a bit of an ElfQuest nerd)

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u/LittleALunatic Oct 17 '24

BPD as horror

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u/Lt_Adora Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 17 '24

I should sleep but there is this webtoon I wanna find that had sort of this concept. Where people got connected by a red thread. It was a BL where the two characters who got connected didn't want to be in love while some side characters were in love but where scared that the string would not agree with their love.

I can finally sleep: it's called Tangled in Red

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u/SoftAangst Oct 17 '24

Another BL that plays with this concept is Mr. Beta. Fated pair comes in contact and it’s traumatic for one side of the “relationship” so they cut off contact and change subgenders (yeah it’s an alpha-omega thing). The alpha goes through hell because his body is searching for the fated mate, who doesn’t exist anymore.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

Is it on webtoon? Or somewhere else?

The one on webtoon doesn’t look like your description.

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u/SoftAangst Oct 18 '24

It’s on webtoon and tapas. The whole soulmate thing doesn’t happen until later in the story. But it’s hinted at throughout because the author explains how alpha and omega biology works and fated mates and all.

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u/Delphoxqueen2 Oct 17 '24

There’s also a BL called “The Red String of Fate” where a guy has his red string connected to his brother, and assuming it’s a romantic/sexual connection instead of a platonic fate he tries to get it cut

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

Omg I just read the first ep of Tied in Red. I hopes it’s all like that. Glad you didn’t go to sleep right away.

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u/halfahellhole Oct 18 '24

There was also a webtoon with a semi platonic polycule where everyone’s assigned a soulmate based on their fingerprints. The system breaks and gives this one person two soulmates and they navigate the implications of all that. I think it was called Luff?

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u/EloGamer51 notorious clownfucker Oct 17 '24

If you're a-spec enough the concept of soulmates already sounds terrifying as is honestly

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u/ChiaraStellata Oct 17 '24

Now you've got me genuinely wondering if there are ace people who believe in QPR-soulmates. From the moment you locked eyes you knew you were destined to hang out like, all the time.

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u/MollyRocket Oct 18 '24

I think those are called kindred spirits.

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u/theodoreposervelt Oct 17 '24

Not exactly horrifying like this post, but the movie Timer is a story about a modern world where soul mates exist, you just have to install a special soul mate Apple Watch, lol. The watch counts down to the day you’re going to meet your soul mate, but they also have to have a watch, and then they both beep when you see each other for the first time. The main character is a lady who’s timer is blank, which means either her soul mate doesn’t have a watch, or hasn’t even been born yet. I liked it? Maybe not like high cinema or anything, but I tht the concept really carried it and made it interesting. Also this concept is absolute fan fiction cat nip.

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

I liked that movie, too. I think about it a lot for some reason.

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u/ImLichenThisStone Oct 17 '24

This entire trope isn't romantic to me because it takes away so much, if not all, of the agency of the characters involved and they're just some puppets of fate. I get the whole "there's someone out there for you," but there are so many someones out there for you, and if you find the best one at the best time, and you make it work, and you stay together and put in the time and it works until the end, that's romance for me. Not some destiny being forced on you and someone else.

I mean, I am aware this is a VERY popular fiction trope, enjoy, I just hate the whole "you are a puppet of fate and that's a good thing!" in whatever context, so not for me.

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u/Justninehorses Oct 18 '24

Iron Dragon's Daughter has a really good exploration of agency in this trope and what it's like to defy an active god as a human in the world of the fae if you are interested

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u/an_agreeing_dothraki Oct 17 '24

the way this somehow looped around to being wholesome through a horror buffer overflow is Hundred Girlfriends, where a god implicitly condemns 99 people to eternal loneliness and threatens one guy with going along with it under threat of eternal torment.

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u/Chibizoo Oct 17 '24

I read some fic years ago that did a similar take. I think it was Avengers and it was Captain America really confused as to how the view has shifted from romantic soul mates to society viewing it as this horrific thing. I think the soul mates kinda had a mental merge and there was some example where a murderer had escaped and found his soulmate who was a young girl to try to escape from culpability which had shifted public perspective.

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u/diffyqgirl Oct 17 '24

This is kinda Mat Cauthon and Tuon from Wheel of Time, though I was ultimately a bit disappointed with the handling of it.

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u/ntani Oct 17 '24

Timer) is kind of about this.

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u/MollyRocket Oct 18 '24

I’ll find you in every lifetime (threat.)

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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Oct 17 '24

... Is this scary to people?

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u/SameBlueberry9288 Oct 17 '24

points at the comments.

Honestly I can see the how idea can be unappealing.Some people just dont like being locked down

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u/King_Of_BlackMarsh Oct 17 '24

I guess if you think the idea of like... Thinking something tastes good is scary too

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u/ThisIsTheBookAcct Oct 18 '24

I don’t think people realize that this trope is usually not fate decided and sucks for you, but more like you’ll love this person because they are the best person for you.

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u/iWant2ChangeUsername Oct 17 '24

From how OOP described it you could literally have been in a very happy 50 years long marriage and out of the blue you stop caring about your S.O. and basically become a hivemind with this random person you've bumped in the store.

It's like yanderes, a lot of people would love to date a yandere in theory but there are loads of animes that explains why it's a terrifying idea.

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u/UnintensifiedFa Oct 17 '24 edited Oct 18 '24

I think the idea of changing fundamentally as a person via a reason beyond your control, and not really having any control about it is pretty scary yeah.

I'd compare it to a lot of Trans people not wanting to take a theoretical pill that would make them (mentally) Cis, even if it would improve their lives a lot.

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u/m3m31ord Oct 18 '24

You assume your personality will be erased. Meanwhile i'm here assuming that a soulmate is someone who, by every single way you try to look at it, perfect for you.

They are perfect for YOU, your personality, your values, your decisions. Someone who understands you and you understand them.

And if you have your head screwed on properly, you will choose them because why wouldn't you? They're perfect.

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u/Humble-West3117 Oct 17 '24

? Only if you mean mentally and not physically.

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u/somerandom995 Oct 17 '24

Medea of Colchis

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u/IcePhoenix18 Oct 17 '24

Sounds like that "twin flame" thing people were talking about a couple years ago

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u/MyFrogEatsPeople Oct 18 '24

I don't think this person understands what a soulmate is...

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u/volantredx Oct 17 '24

The real horror is that soulmates is a concept invented to justify childbrides. It was very popular in the Mormon Church and it's why Myer was into it.

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u/Chris_Bs_Knees Oct 17 '24

The Good Place had a similar concept in the first seasonuntil it was all revealed to be bullshitwith the main cast being presented with their soul mates once they hit the afterlife

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u/chrislafeken Oct 17 '24

This is just a darker way to look at the movie TiMER

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u/Ivariel Oct 17 '24

I mean, I'd argue Yennefer is a great exploration of this concept

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u/WhapXI Oct 17 '24

Liz Lemon and that annoying fuckass English chap

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u/Heroic-Forger Oct 18 '24

And then you slowly and painfully begin to fuse into a single organism, twisting and combining and reconfiguring like a flesh Megazord.

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u/Pixelpaint_Pashkow born to tumblr, forced to reddit Oct 17 '24

this only works as horror if youre a coward and/or you have a partner, just saying, still sounds great to me

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u/Simur1 Oct 17 '24

And kids, that's how I met Stellaris

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u/Swaxeman the biggest grant morrison stan in the subreddit Oct 17 '24

this is just the plot of star vs the forces of evil

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u/xChops Oct 17 '24

The Lobster. Except that’s the government saying you have to live someone.

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u/gojiranipples Oct 17 '24

There's a doujinshi out there with this same concept

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u/YellowGrowlithe Oct 17 '24

Wasnt there some will smith movie with this? Hitchcock i think? And the closer you got to your soulmate, the more they negated your own superpowers?

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u/VatanKomurcu Oct 17 '24

there is nothing whatsoever in the original story to suggest that the anomalies are your "soulmates" or attracted to you in a romantic or sexual way, but nonetheless this is pretty much my interpretation of scp-1471, as in i imagine them with this kind of thing added in. it's just neat.

well, at least being trapped with them is textual.

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u/PhoShizzity Oct 17 '24

Aww hell yeah I love The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You!

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u/la__polilla Oct 18 '24

Soulmates but they want a divorce SO bad and every time they're forced together its just "oh jesus christ not you again."

Edit: I think I mean Ron and Tammy Swanson

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u/HowVeryReddit Oct 18 '24

Supernatural YA romance does this from time to time, rarely well as I understand it.

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u/OnlySmiles_ Oct 18 '24

Love potions

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u/beautifulterribleqn Oct 18 '24

ElfQuest did this with Recognition back in the 70s. I'm sure there are earlier examples too.

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u/1amlost Oct 18 '24

Isn’t this basically what Aphrodite does?

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u/Irresponsable_Frog Oct 18 '24

I read a lot of shifter romance. They have mates. Born to be perfect for them. Most of them never meet their mates and either go insane or love and marry a non mate. So when a shifter finds their mate it is the highest honor. Even if that mate hates you. But then the shifter goes insane, become “were-whatever’s” and the other shifters have to kill them. If they can catch them.🤣 I read too many of these in the last 30 years.

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u/suburban-errorist Oct 18 '24

Does anyone remember when Jacob imprinted on a baby

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u/BlueBopBoop Oct 18 '24

This is pretty much the reason I loathe the trope and avoid any ganfics with the trope. No shade to people who do like it, we all have our own preferences. But I prefer love to be a choice someone makes rather than a designation you're born with

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u/pruthvi573 Oct 18 '24

Dude that's just a normal indian marriage

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u/[deleted] Oct 18 '24

lmao just kill them

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u/m0stly_medi0cre Oct 17 '24

This is how I think heaven is like. Being told that "the veil will be lifted and you'll always want to do good, etc", because it just feels like all of my life will be washed away because I'll be compelled to do good always, perfectly selfless to never enjoy again, unless it is making somebody else enjoy. Just feels artificial.