Oh this is so neat. I have VERY complicated feelings about soulmate AUs (I find most of them horrifying but like, in an interesting way, there's so much I want to talk about re soulmate aus there's so much interesting about the various concepts that people ignore) so I never know whether or not I'll like a soulmate au going in but I trusted you!
I love this idea of soulmates encompassing a wide range of different types of love, and needing to be mutually chosen and fostered to maintain a bond beyond the initial potential connection, and that people can have multiple soulmates, and those bonds can fade or change over time, it's never just one and done. The little details about the red company are such a tease! So curious which bond is which person, who the three potential but unlit bonds were, who could use magic and who couldn't, etc etc. And by contrast, Kip who has never had a soulmate and believed he never could!!
I love the dreamscapes and characterization here, how Kip comes across to PT era Fitzroy (perfect, competent, the most amazing, full pov besotted) while also clearly having his own insecurities just below the surface. And Fitzroy struggling with how much to let himself want (the moment where he reasons "the bond couldnt form if it wasnt mutual, so he must want this, right?" chefs kiss) and their banter as they test this new intimacy. Ugh and Kip consistently rescuing him, and holding him while he has a panic attack, my heart.
I'm so obsessed with imagining where this AU could go from here! (I have this mental image of Kip continuing to lend Fitzroy his strength all while he deals with his own trials at littleridge, and Fitzroy worries that he's taking too much and leaving Kip with too little, and Kip just says "a fire isn't diminished for being shared 😉") Littleridge in general must be so hard for kip in this au, how can he set the emperor up as the symbol binding the peace together when he's already committed to freeing fitzroy? I think they'd both agree that's worth it for world peace but oof. It was already a bit of a moral compromise for kip in canon without that layer. But mostly I'm just feral imagining what the next centuries will look like with this bond and the ability for them both to lean on and comfort each other so much more! Like, what happens when Kip is the one having crazy fall nightmares? Or what about all the times Kip travels for work, how does the time difference feel across the bond? So many questions!
Such an interesting AU, thank you for writing <3<3<3
Thanks for giving this one a shot despite soulmate AUs not normally being your thing!! I’m definitely most interested in them myself when they’re being interrogated a bit or challenged, and I honestly meant to do that more explicitly in this fic except every time I tried to poke Kip to be like ‘hey do you want to talk to HR about why you’re ambivalent about soulmates as a concept’ he was just like ‘no :)’. I don’t know why I expected any differently, honestly. Thanks for the lovely comment, I’m so glad you enjoyed!!
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notanotherpseudonym Mon 25 Nov 2024 08:53PM UTC
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ariex09 Sat 30 Nov 2024 09:57PM UTC
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