Special Episode 29: Tropefest: Soulmate AU
In the revival of the ever-popular Tropefest series of special episodes, Elizabeth and Flourish dig into the soulmate AU: the broad conceptual umbrella, the specific iterations it takes in fandom right now, and why the trope does or doesn’t work for each of them. (Guess which one is which!!) Topics discussed include emotional kinks, how the set-up both speeds and slows down the romantic narrative, connections to multiverse stories like WandaVision and Everything Everywhere All At Once, and yes, the Soulmate Goose of Enforcement.
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Show Notes
[00:00:00] As always, our intro music is “Awel” by stefsax, used under a CC BY 3.0 license.
[00:00:44] This is our EIGHTH Tropefest episode. The previous installments are:
[00:03:52] The all-time greatest soulmate AU POV video on TikTok—watch til the very end.
[00:05:02]
[00:07:10] The Lord Peter Wimsey fic is “Gentle Antidote” by x_los, and the Pride and Prejudice fic is “An Ever-Fixed Mark” by AMarguerite. Elizabeth somehow cannot find the X-Men fic with the languages changing…if anyone remembers who wrote this one, please let us know!
[00:12:00] In Xena fandom, there was a specific term for the reincarnation/descendants trope: Uber. (Note that this also includes putting them into different settings—like how we mostly use (non-canon-divergent) “AU” now.)
[00:12:40]
[00:27:38] What they didn’t show in the film was both of them being really bitchy about their friends and acquaintances two minutes before this bit.
[00:30:54] FACT CHECK: there are zero swords in the Chinese lesbian soulmate AU lipstick commercial, just a lot of tender applications of makeup and tea drinking.
[00:39:04] Yes, that’s right: the Soulmate Goose of Enforcement.
[00:42:27]
[00:44:20] The fic Elizabeth is talking about is “It Might Have Been” by Unforgotten.
[00:50:37]
[00:55:11] Writer and director Lilah Vandenburgh was our guest on Episode 56: “Ships and Showrunners.”
[00:58:14] Our outro music is “And so then” by Lee Rosevere, also used under a CC BY 3.0 license.