Oh boy, here I go complainin about about something insignificant again! :D Would anybody mind telling me what exactly is the appeal of Soulmate AU fanfics? Any story where two characters are bound by DESTINY to fall in love, sometimes through special markings that identify one’s soulmate. These sort of pre-destined romance stories utterly dominate the landscape of fanfiction, which sucks because I do not care for them. >:C At allll No shade if you love Soulmate stories, this is just my opinion, not objective fact. But I just don’t get the draw. Why so popular? To me, the appeal of a romance story is that two people- sometimes, two very different people- somehow, despite all odds, fall in love. Out of all the people in the world, they CHOOSE to be with each other. Whether in fiction or in real life, I think that’s really beautiful. But Soulmate AUs destroy that choice and remove the characters’ autonomy. How can you “choose” your partner if fate has already selected them for you?