#i do have other doodles/designs of this au if anyone is curious to see those

[aroaceleovaldez]

hello i believe you asked to be reminded about petalpressed? that sounds very interesting do explain

Hello yes! okay so rundown of Petalpressed:

In general, Petalpressed is an AU template I created that focuses on flower symbolism. It's like a combo hanahaki and soulmate tattoos au, except only taking the best parts of both. So everybody has a "living" tattoo somewhere on their body of a plant (or plant-adjacent, it's very broad - so fungi, lichens, algae, etc also count). The plant, in some way, represents or symbolizes the individual, usually via flower language, though it's totally a personalized thing so you can get as funky with it as you want. It can be absolutely anywhere on their body (face/head, back, legs, etc), take up a completely random amount of space (tip of finger vs entire torso, etc), and it will change based on the state of the individual.

Okay rest including PJO-ification under the cut cause this got long:

For example, when the person is a baby their tattoo will appear as just a seed or bulb or whatever is applicable for that plant. The plant will also probably be semi-ambiguous at that point or change plant types as babies don't really have a ton of defining traits. By the time they start settling into being an individual they'll get a more clear plant and it will most likely stay that for the rest of their lives, unless they experience a major shift in their identity that would cause it to change. It also is unlikely to change locations on the body unless for the same reason. The plant will also reflect the person's physical or emotional state, such as wilting if they're very sick or upset, blooming if they're extremely happy, etc etc. Some people may also have generalized versus specific tattoos, such as general "roses" rather than "roses of a specific color" in which case their tattoo may change colors to match mood/plant language associated with that specific color of the plant/or just at random, depending on person.

The soulmate/hanahaki thing comes in when the person develops romantic feelings or enters a mutual romantic relationship (specific because i'm aroace so I like including normalization of not having a partner, even QPP - there's still leeway there though with how individuals categorize "romantic" and obviously it's a template so there's freedom to mess with it). If they have a crush they may start coughing up the plant or parts of the plant associated with that person, though it doesn't cause them any physical harm. Does the coughing-up-petals thing go away once the relationship is reciprocated or is it just a thing that Happens When You're In Love Sometimes At Random? Who knows. You decide. If they enter a mutual romantic relationship with someone, their partner's (or partners') plants or a part of their plants will appear beside their own, and will change depending on the state of the relationship or partner's physicality or emotions. If their relationship is going well, the plant may bloom, if it's going poorly it may wilt, etc, and same if the partner(s) are upset/sick/etc. If the relationship breaks off or is no longer reciprocated the secondary plant will disappear, and if it left a particularly strong impact on the individual, residual parts of the partner/partners' plant(s) may be left behind, such as leaves, seeds, or petals. It depends on the person/relationship if those remnants will ever go away or how long it may take.

"Plant compatibility" is totally a horoscope-type thing in this universe alongside stereotypes of types of plants, and that's where the "soulmate" concept comes in. It is up to discretion if it is actual soulmates or just coincidental, but in-universe there is an idea of "If you share an exact plant with somebody, you are soulmates." Again, re: horoscope thing, here it could totally just be a coincidental thing based on "If you share a plant that is meant to symbolize you, chances are you have similar personalities and so will get along." There may be people with the total opposite perspective - "Don't date someone with the same plant" because maybe having similar personalities means you'll totally clash. Those concepts probably co-exist in practicality. Lots of variety. Also totally up to customization if the plants have to be local to where the person's from or be from anywhere or how much you want to stretch the definition of "plant" or etc etc. Lots of fiddling options.

I do have a sideblog for it as a more generalized template - @petal-pressed. Since it's a template, it's meant to be applicable to any fandom and totally free to use, and I occasionally post prompts on that blog. And again, the template intentionally lots of room for fiddling and freedom.

Anyways the PJOification of all of this:

"What ships are this au" Whatever's funniest/most dramatic in the moment. Go wild. Make your own variations or whatever.

Everybody's plants: (subject to change)

Percy & Annabeth - Bluebells (They match) - Annabeth's on arm where she got stabbed, Percy on small of back.

Grover - False goat's beard, placement undecided

Piper - Anemone (plant not animal), placement undecided

Jason - Forget-me-nots, right forearm

Leo - Hydrangea, placement undecided

Hazel - Clover, possibly forearm

Frank - Undecided but Snapdragons maybe, possibly forearm

Reyna - Jonquil, possibly forearm

Nico - Dandelions, wrist

Will - Sunflowers, side of torso/back

Luke - Originally Lilacs on face, changes to Rhododendron and spreads to shoulder/armpit.

Thalia - Eastern White Pine, placement undecided

Calypso - Undecided but Hibiscus or Zinnia maybe, placement undecided

I have some other notes for other characters but theyre all very noncommittal

I made a lot of random moodboards for this au but since they were just for personal use I don't have the credits for the images and so will not post those. If people are interested I might take requests to make new ones though. They're quite fun for me to make.

And random doodles - The first one is an extremely old one that was just me fiddling with random designs + cameo Solangelo to show off how the plant tattoos might look

And then some more recent ones:

I usually do aro/ace Leo for these aus, so here's him pretending to cough up plants as if he had a crush ^

and some silly Jasico ^

Some other misc fun notes I had for random things:

"Is this canon-verse au or non-canon-verse?" you may be asking. The answer is. Depends. You decide. Again this is not a fully fledged singular au it's just me rotating a template in my brain and it happened to be formed around PJO initially.

Because Percy and Annabeth both have bluebells as their flower, when Percy disappears and loses his memory, both he and Annabeth can't tell if they have only their own flowers or the flowers of two people and it totally freaks them out.

Also because they share flowers, when Nico has his crush on Percy and is thus coughing up bluebells, people presume he has a crush on Annabeth because those are her flowers too. He's not having a great time.

One variant of the thoughts my friends and I brainstormed for Jason was that he and Reyna were dating before he disappeared, and when he lost his memory it also made Reyna's flowers disappear from his tattoo completely. It took longer for Jason's flowers to fade from Reyna's tattoo and she just got to watch Jason's flowers change depending on his state wherever he was until they disappeared too.

Nymphs are obviously pretty one-for-one with their plant. If they even have tattoos is up to you. Either way this does mean Lavinia is coughing up poison oak though so she's having a bit of a rough time. She thinks it's totally worth it though. The coughed-up plants don't really hurt you as bad as the actual plant might, if at all, so she's fine in general.

I had other thoughts too but i'm forgetting.

uhh anyways yeah i think that's about it. woo flower au.

#pjo #riordanverse #ask #spaceyaceylesbian #petalpressed #au #my art #ask to tag #yippee. this au is very fun to me #just cause you can mess around with a lot of stuff #i do have other doodles/designs of this au if anyone is curious to see those #but they're general random designs not pjo-specific #again this is basically me looking at both hanahaki and soulmate tattoo aus and going ''im going to take the fun parts of both of these'' #''and just ditch the rest'' #still plenty of angst potential if that's your jam but also way easier to keep it fluffy #also i only half-proofread this so if clarification or further detail is wanted on anything feel free to ask #i am always happy to talk petalpressed i think it's neat

[a-n-conrad]

Flower Drawings (Steve Rogers x Reader)

[Summary: Soulmate au, everything you draw on your skin shows up on your soulmate, too. Your soulmate is feeling especially artistic right before you have to go to a formal event, hosted by your good friend, and professional nosy bastard, Tony Stark.]

It really wasn’t a big deal. I mean, you got drawings from your soulmate all the time. They were all very gorgeous, detailed drawings, and it really wasn’t odd for people to be walking around covered in drawings or notes. Anyone who hadn’t met their soulmate yet was still trying to find them, so they’d constantly be trying to communicate in ways that didn’t seem awkward or forced, and people who have already met their soulmate often leave them little notes or doodles. 

So, obviously, having some drawings from your soulmate shouldn’t be a problem. That is if you weren’t friends with the number one tactless billionaire on the planet. There was no way that Tony Stark would see the half sleeve of intricate flower drawings, spanning all the way from your elbow to your wrist, and not insist on finding out everything he could about your soulmate, whether that meant getting the rest of the avengers involved or not. See, Tony insisted he was a matchmaker, and if he could find even the slightest hint of who your soulmate could be, he’d pounce on that situation before you could even attempt to distract him, because he wanted to be the one to introduce you to your soulmate.

That’s why when you first started getting drawings from your soulmate a few years ago, you did your best to hide them from Tony. It wasn’t hard, he was always busy with work, or with Pepper after they finally figured out that they were soulmates. And of course, that was also around the time that he got swept up with the Avengers, so he wasn’t around as much as he was before, and when he was it was usually pretty easy to wear something that would cover up any of the drawings, hoodies, flannels, and long-sleeved button-ups became a signature style of yours.

Of course, that was until tonight. Tony was hosting a charity ball and he had insisted that you come. Which was why Happy was at your door, begging you to come along, so he wouldn’t have to listen to his boss try to figure out what kind of odd situation was keeping one of his best friends from hanging out with him.

“I don’t know what to tell you, (y/n), he told me I’m not allowed back in the tower until you promise to come to the party tonight,” Happy explained, crossing his arms. You’re honestly not sure if that’s actually something Tony said or if Happy is just sick of dealing with your stubborn refusals. 

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to head home, then. You’ve been meaning to take a day off, haven’t you?”

He made a face at you that you were honestly only used to seeing directed at Tony, “I swear, you’re almost as stubborn as him.”

You gasped dramatically, placing your hand over your heart in fake hurt. It was the sort of dorky theatrics you pick up after being friends with Tony Stark for as long as you have.

“Seriously,” He continued, not buying any of your earlier excuses “Why won’t you go?”

“Happy, come on, do you really think it makes any sense for me to be there? With the Avengers?”

“You’d fit in better than some of our other guests. Thor’s bringing his brother, and he tried to take over the world. Besides, you’ve gone to their movie nights before, they like you. ”

“Yeah, but Loki’s still got powers. He’s just far more interesting than me. And they get along with me. They don’t like me. I’m probably at the same rank as the girl that does coffee runs for Tony to them.”

“Pepper’s going to be there.”

“She’s Tony’s soulmate, and she’ll be far too busy with networking to spend time talking to me.”

“And you’re Tony’s friend. He wants you there.”

“Fuck,” you muttered, starting to feel a bit guilty about putting off spending time with Tony over your anxiety. You already didn’t get to see him as much as you used to without you selfishly trying to worm your way out of any event he’d be at, “Fine.”

“Wait, really? I had like another half hour of arguments.”

“Yeah, as long as I can find something fitting to wear. You know I don’t have a ton of nice clothes.”

“He knew you’d be worried about that.”

“Oh god, please tell me he didn’t buy me something stupidly expensive just for this.”

“You know he did.”

~ ~ ~ ~

Staring in the mirror wasn’t helping. You knew that someday you’d have to deal with your friend’s dramatic, drunk attempts at helping you find your soulmate, but you still weren’t sure that you were ready for that tonight. What would everyone else think of the host of the party loudly drawing the attention of the party to your soulmate markings? What would the Avengers think? They probably already think that you’re just an awkward nerd, who helps Tony with his tech on occasion.

Of course, the (f/c) dress that Tony had Happy bring you was beautiful, it had a gorgeous flowing skirt, and honestly seemed like it was designed to be exactly the dress of your dreams except for one thing. You couldn’t help but resent the dress’s lack of long sleeves. You had been stood in front of your mirror for almost twenty minutes after fixing up your hair and doing your makeup, just trying to figure out if there was any way for you to cover up your arms that wouldn’t look awkward, and after running through every option of jacket you had, you figured out that the answer was a firm no. You’d just have to go as you were and you were spending all of the extra time until Happy picked you up trying to give yourself a pep talk.

As if on cue, you hear a knock on the door to your apartment. With a resigned sigh, you made your way out to the living room. You paused at the door to give yourself another second, before opening the door to greet Happy.

“I do have to admit that Tony has pretty good taste in fashion. You look great, (y/n).”

You sigh and cross your arms uncomfortably in front of you, “Thanks, Happy.”

His eyes quickly dart to your arms, obviously drawn to the bright colors of the different flowers drawn across your skin, before a look of understanding slowly makes its way onto his face.

“That’s why you didn’t want to go, huh? You’re really that worried about him getting nosy?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Happy.”

He rolls his eyes and nods, “Sure.”

It doesn’t take long before you make your way to the party, and it takes an even shorter amount of time to get in past the guards checking for invitations, despite the line about a block and a half down. They learned to recognize you a while ago, and always let you skip the line, whether you want to or not.

The room was already pretty full, not by the standards of a Stark party, but by your standards. Part of you was telling you to turn on heel and run, but you knew there was no way Happy would let that happen as he started guiding you through the crowd over to an even thicker crowd of people near the bar.

“Alright, Tony, here’s your delivery,” He said, as he pulled you into the center of the crowd, people moving out of the way once they realised what he was there for.

“(n/n)! I’m so glad you decided to come,” the familiar voice is already dripping with a slight amount of intoxication, which makes you immediately hide your arms behind your back.

“Decided is an interesting choice of words for that, Anthony, but sure. I guess I’m happy to be here.”

He rolled his eyes a little at your sarcasm, but still shot you a lopsided grin, before looking you up and down, “I honestly have to say I’m impressed. I did pick out a very nice dress for you, didn’t I?”

“It is very nice. I’m just curious how much of it was you and how much was Pepper.”

“Pepper helped with the color. I did the rest. You really think I don’t understand what kind of clothes you like by now?”

“I guess you’re right. If you didn’t know what to buy me by now I’d be a little disappointed,” You grin, “Anyway, where’s the rest of your crew? I thought they were supposed to be the main event.”

He laughs a little, “Not really, the media just went a little insane with advertising that they’d be here. Clint’s at some event with his daughter, Natasha’s out networking with Pepper, Thor and Loki haven’t gotten here yet, and Steve and Bucky are upstairs yet. Everyone else, aside from Peter, is around here somewhere.”

You blush a little at the mention of Captain America. You’d been crushing on him since the Avengers first got together. When Loki attacked New York, you were in the tower, since you were worried about Tony. You honestly would have died had a certain Captain not come to your rescue. At that point, you couldn’t help but be swept up in those gorgeous blue eyes. Though, you were sure he barely remembered it.

“Hey, Tony, sorry we’re late,” You hear a voice boom as a pair of men make their way over to the two of you, “I had to drag Steve out of his room.”

Steve shoots you and Tony a nervous smile as his companion says that, quickly going to fidget with his suit. You were so drawn in by the way his tie seemed to perfectly match the shade of blue of his eyes as you turned around that you almost didn’t notice Bucky as he walked over to join the two of you at your place at the bar.

“Hey, earth to (y/n),” You hear Tony break through your daydream.

Your head snaps around to look at him as he raises his eyebrows at you and pretends to wipe drool from his chin. You roll your eyes at him, and, failing to think of a way to subtly flip him off at a formal event, you opt to stick your tongue out at him like a child in an argument with their sibling.

Bucky chuckles a little at your interaction as he takes a seat near you at the bar and waves Steve over to join you, “So, doll, what’ve you been up to?”

You sigh, “Oh, honestly not a lot. I’m sure normal job things aren’t all that interesting to you guys.”

“Of course we’re interested in what you’re up to, (y/n),” Steve chimes in, in a tone of voice you’ve never heard him use before, only for him to quickly backtrack, “All we see all day is action, something normal is nice.”

This earns him an elbow in the ribs from Bucky, “What he means to say is we’d love to hear what you’ve been up to,” he attempts to save his friend.

You can’t help the awkward laugh as you start to awkwardly recount your recent activities. After a few nervous jokes between you, Bucky, and Tony, you slowly start to get more comfortable. Eventually all of you, including Steve, and joking around and laughing.

As you start to joke around, you make your way over to the seat next to Bucky and sit down, noticing that you’re starting to get a bit thirsty. The mistake you make is deciding to flag down the bartender to get a drink. Or, more specifically, flagging her down with the arm that is now almost entirely covered in flowers.

“Woah, woah, woah,” Tony cuts into the conversation, interrupting a story Bucky was telling about a fight Steve got into back in the old days, “What’s up with your arm?”

“Shit,” you mutter ask the three turn to look at you, quickly hiding your arm as best you can.

“Let me see,” Tony requests, somewhere between demanding and begging.

“Really, Tony, it’s fine,” You start, “Please, don’t do anything stupid. I really don’t need you to make a big deal about this.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Steve asks, giving you a look reminiscent of a confused puppy.

“(y/n) has a full sleeve of soulmate marks and she’s refusing to show me,” Tony whines, pouting at you like a child trying to convince his mother to buy him sweets.

Bucky raises his eyebrows a bit and glances over at Steve, who shakes his head slightly. The kind of silent conversation that tells you that they definitely know something.

“You know,” Bucky starts with a smirk, “If you don’t show him, he’s just going to make an even bigger deal about it.”

Tony is quick to agree with Bucky, which is honestly a first, and it leads you to consider what he’s saying. Honestly, knowing Tony, he’s probably right. If you don’t just give in, odds are Tony will make some sort of dramatic scene and you’ll end up having to show him anyway.

“Fine,” you sigh, holding your arm out for the three of them to see.

The three of them stare down at the intricate, colorful flowers, the bright colors standing out against your skin. You nervously glace at the three of them to see their reactions.

“Flowers?” Tony seems intrigued as he grabs your arm to examine the artwork closer, “I guess they’re pretty good at drawing them, though.”

As Tony inspects each individual flower, you notice another silent conversation between the other pair. Bucky sends a look in Steve’s direction that you can’t quite decipher, and Steve looks down at your arm with a look that makes you a bit concerned that he might be sick. 

The color drains from Steve’s face as he glances between the artwork on your arm and his best friend’s face. His eyes dart between the two a few times, before he tries to say something, only to choke slightly on his own words. He quickly clears his throat.

“Um, I’ll,” He starts to stutter out, “I’ll be right back.”

Before you can say anything, he runs off towards the elevator. By the time you start to process what just happens, he’s already on his way upstairs.

“Is,” You start, confused, “he ok?”

Bucky can’t seem to hide his disappointment, “I’m sure he’ll be fine. I doubt he wants to talk to me right now, though.”

“What the hell happened, Tin man?” Tony asks, finally letting go of your arm.

“Look, Stark, Steve’s not really great at these kinds of things, you have to give him a bit. He just got overwhelmed.”

“You mean he’s not good with parties?” you ask, a bit confused at the concept of The Captain America being overwhelmed by a crowd.

“Uh, sure, doll,” Bucky responds.

“Well, go get him. Thor should be here any second and I need all of you losers here for my speech,” Tony says, a bit frustrated at the new turn of events.

“I told you, he probably doesn’t want to see me right now. I’m sure I’m locked out of his room.”

“I can check on him, if that’d help,” You chime in, earning a look of surprise from Bucky, “I know a thing or two about getting overwhelmed.”

You see Bucky think about it for a second, before some sort of idea crosses his mind.

“You know what, I think that’d be a good idea.”

You nod and make your way over to the elevator, hitting the up button.

“Good evening, Ms. (y/n). How can I help you?” FRIDAY asks as the doors close behind you.

“Take me to the Avengers floor, please, FRIDAY.”

The elevator buzzes to life and starts to move quickly to the floor. The height of the building always made you nervous when you were there for movie night, especially when you thought about your “almost-fall” from the top floor during Loki’s attack, but right now you were far more focused on making sure Steve was alright.

Youwere still caught up in your worry when the doors to the elevator opened, and you were only brought back to reality when FRIDAY asked if you were alright.

“Yes, thank you, FRIDAY,” You respond, taking steps out of the elevator, “Where is Steve’s room, by the way?”

You start to walk as FRIDAY gives you directions, trying your best not to space out with worrying again. Soon enough, you’re standing in front of Steve’s door.

It takes you a little while to work up the nerve to knock. What if he didn’t want to see you? What if you were just annoying him? Weren’t you just being ridiculous to think you could help him? Captain America?

“Go away, Buck,” You hear his voice from inside the room. It sounds shaky, and almost a little sad.

“Are you alright in there, Steve?” You ask, trying not to ask too softly.

“(y/n)?”

“Can I come in?”

There was a pause, that while it felt like it lasted hours, honestly only lasted a few seconds, before you heard the bed creak and steps coming towards the door. You take a step back and soon enough the door opens.

The man standing in front of you, still in his suit, but now with the jacket off, looked a lot more nervous than the man you had just been joking around with only moments ago. Something about his face looked a little bit defeated and you had to use all of your will power to fight the part of you that just wanted to reach out and pull him into a hug.

“Hey.”

“Can I come in?”

He looks like he’s about to say no, but after a second, he takes a step to the side, inviting you into his room.

As you take a few steps in you start to glance around, noticing the very well done portraits hanging around the wall of the room. Along with the portraits of people you’ve never seen before, you notice a few familiar faces, including those of the Avengers. You can’t help but smile as you look at the amazing drawings of Tony and all of his friends. People you can’t even hope would consider you a friend as well.

“You’re a very good artist, Steve,” You say, absentmindedly making your way towards the bed to sit down. 

“Uh, thanks,” He replies awkwardly, “I’ve had a while to practice.”

As you make it to the bed, about to sit down, you notice a spread of markers laid out across the bedspread. You look down at them in confusion, before looking back up at Steve, to find him awkwardly rubbing his arm, where you just now notice his now rolled up sleeves and the half-done drawings of flowers, added on to a strikingly familiar sleeve of flowers.

“I draw flowers when I’m nervous,” he explains, quietly.

“That’s why you ran?”

“Yes.”

“It’s that bad to be my soulmate?” You take a step back from him as he starts to walk towards you.

“What, no!”

You fight back tears as you try to duck past him towards the door, “No, it’s alright. You deserve better.”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” You attempt to keep walking away.

He curses under his breath, and grabs your arm, “No, (y/n), let me explain!”

“No, Steve, I get it. You’re Captain America, and I’m just some boring civilian. You could probably get just about any girl you want, so why would you settle for me?”

“Fuck, (y/n), I just don’t know anything about women, ok?”

You jump a little as he shouts, surprised by his sudden outburst of emotion. He quickly drops your arm when he notices what he just did.

“See?”

You notice his eyes drop to the floor and his shoulders sag. At that moment, every part of your brain screams at you to comfort him, but you’re too confused to actually do anything. 

“Steve, what are you talking about?”

He looks up at you, obviously surprised you haven’t left yet, “I’ve been in love with you for years and every time I try to talk to you I can’t seem to act cool. Or even normal. I’m sure I blew my shot with you so long ago.”

“You absolute idiot,” You laugh a little as you say it, but Steve still looks entirely confused and a little bit hurt, so you continue to explain, “I’ve been in love with you since you saved me. Everything about you is just so… perfect. And not just in the Captain America way. You’re so sweet, and your awkward comments are honestly really cute. I just thought there was no way you’d ever care about someone like me. I’m probably the least interesting person you’ve ever met!”

“Wait, really?”

“Of course,” you respond, pulling him into a hug, knowing full well it would take a little bit yet before Steve was comfortable with anything else.

“So,” He starts to stutter out, “Would you like to go out to dinner with me sometime?”

You laugh a bit at his still awkward proposal, “Of course, love.”

“We should probably get back to the party, huh?”

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Thanks for reading! If you liked this, please check out my Ko-fi at https://ko-fi.com/anconrad and follow if you’d like to read more. Make sure to send me any questions you have!

#marvel #fanfic #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #x reader fanfic #soulmate au #steve rogers soulmate au

[alkhale]

Hm... That’s like, five, so I’ll stop there for now lest I make you wanna murder me. Sorry this got so long! Anyways, take care of yourself, and make sure to eat or sleep or drink some water when you need to! Also, I really loved the recent chapter!!! Thatch was great, I hope he lives. Also also, what’s the letter she left Ace??? I wanna know geeez. (Vira, 8/8)

Lovely Vira has actually left a handful of great and amazing AUs for Memos, I’m just hopelessly slow at getting through asks and I feel like when I go on an answering spree I just spam you guys, answering this one might not make sense, but it’s because the last line of ask (7/8) is about a soulmark AU!

I’d like to expand and write a blurb for it (I’ve been contemplating making a separate story for all the AUs/Side Bits to the story called Drabbles or Doodles of a Suicidal Pirate, but lmk how y’all feel about that) but I’ll just give you guys bits and pieces of what it’d be like

Soulmark AU (with a twist) 

In this world, people are born with a small splotch of color on a specific part of their skin, when they turn 12, their marks appear fully. Marks range from designs, images, splatters of color or monochrome, and sometimes words. In this world, however, some choose to believe marks are meant to be signs of a significant other or “soulmate” and many romanticize and publicize these marks to be of romantic nature--however, the general consensus is actually that one’s mark is meant to represent a person who will make a significant, soul changing experience to the life of the person who has the mark. A person’s mark represents someone who will come into their life and make an impact, a change--a person who by some unknown force is meant to come into their life because they are connected down to the core of their souls.

A group of people can have different marks that in actuality, represent one single person who will influence each respective person’s life.

It could be said that their souls have been marked by this person.

People can also be born, by chance, without a mark.

- The people of Artopoki are funny about soulmarks, as coming of age marks are usually placed somewhere on the body as well, their marks are often mistaken for one of their many tattoos

- Hoku notes the information of soulmarks dully, they don’t really seem important to her and she doesn’t pay much attention to it since she’s busy trying to figure out how to kill herself

- Mahina’s soulmark is of black fire that lines her collarbones, sparks coming out like a forge and fire-- “A black sword is being made, maka.” Manu’s is cherry blossoms that stretch over his shoulders.

- The Fall of Artopoki occurs and while Hoku is traveling with Mihawk, she asks him about his because she’s curious and she can’t see it anywhere visibly. It isn’t until one day where he’s wearing his overcoat but not his dress shirt that she sees it--falling feathers covering his back.

- Hoku starts to grow fond of drawing soulmarks, it’s a bit taboo for her to do so, but she usually rips it up after, just keeping the drawings of the people close to her

- Hoku hopes she never meets the person her soulmark is meant to match with, she prays for their better fortune.

- And then there’s Luffy.

- Luffy doesn’t talk much or care much for soulmarks, Hoku is relieved

- and then there is Shanks and for once, Hoku considers the idea of a soulmark and how beautiful it can be and how she’s never wanted to see anyone’s more than she wanted to see his

- They go about those days in a blur and then time passes and people come and go and when its down to the soft three of them, no longer four--

- Ace’s mark comes in a blur, fissures and cracks across his chest as though someone had shattered glass, trickles of hot red shining through.

- And then Hoku turns 12 and her mark never comes. They wait, they wait and Luffy’s mark comes in the form of the sun on the front of his chest, spreading light every which way--and still, Hoku’s mark never comes.

- Hoku has no soulmark, she is markless.

- She’s perfectly, utterly, and completely content with that.

- “I was never supposed to make an impact on anyone’s life anyway.”

- When Hoku and Kid meet, his mark is prominent and showy--it’s violent and angry--splatters of dark red along his biceps with claw marks slashing through and down. He demands to see hers, becomes furious when she won’t show him, and is left staring when she reveals she has none and will never have none.

- (For some reason, that doesn’t sit right with Kid. He doesn’t know why but he feels it in his gut, that something belongs on the light tan of her skin and he knows it. He does.)

- It isn’t hard to figure out why the Straw Hats are brought together, in a flurry of dazzling, bright, shining marks--it’s painfully clear to see who has touched their lives and marked each of their souls, shining his rays of sun on their skin

- Law’s mark is hidden and private, a swatch of black dragged across his right hip like a paintbrush dipped in ink, splattered with tiny stars.

- He can’t get the meaning of Hoku’s name out of his head or the bright white star that stands out against the black of her cloak, he can’t get a lot of things out his head lately, including the fact that her wrists are blank and her neck is blank and every inch of her skin is only colored by the ink she placed there herself

- (He can’t get the idea that her soul, the core of her being, even for a person like Law who only believes in bone and flesh and blood--isn’t touched by something in this world, isn’t grasped or splattered or colored by anything else and--)

- “What does it take to color a soul?”

- (How can he color a soul--)

- Hoku is happy she doesn’t have a mark, she really is, it makes things easier.

- (But perhaps some marks just can’t be put into ink, into words or pictures because some souls are so colored, so marked and blinded by so many people in their lives that--)

- i think it would go something like that hahahaha

#Memos #Hoku #Straw Hat pirates #soulmark au #memos au #Luffy #Mihawk #Eustass Captain Kid #trafalgar law #Ace #Shanks

[the-sweetest-dragon]

Souls Uniting

Part Two: Time Flies

Pairing: Peter Parker x Phoenix Graves

Reminder: Soulmate AU

Word Count: 2.5k

AN: I really like writing this series and I have a lot of plans for it (It’s already like 20 pages...) so I’m hoping it picks up a little more.  I love the character and I want to explore her a little more.  The next one will probably be from Peter’s POV because... well you’ll see.

Tags: @audder17 my favorite Spider-Man nerd

Character Sheet     Part One

______________________________________________________

“I want to be your soulmate, even if I don’t believe in them.” – Colleen Hoover

10:37 A.M., Thursday, June 20th, 2019

I groan as my curtains are pulled open, sunshine bearing down on me.

“Rise and shine sleepyhead!  Today’s the day!”  I groan again.  Mom was super excited for this farmer’s market that she had heard about a few days after we had moved in.  She was dragging me along with her, something about exploring the city, even though we had to make a half hour drive OUTSIDE of the city just to get to this market.  

I cover my head with my blanket.  Maybe if she can’t see me, then she’ll leave me be.  Ha, that’s a funny joke Phee.  You should know better than that.  I peek outside my blanket cover to see Mom standing at my desk, my sketchbook in her hands.  I sigh and throw the blanket off me.  

“You do realize that sometimes my sketchbooks are private, right?”  Mom gives me a guilty smile and I shake my head at her.  

“I was just looking at your designs for the kitchen.”  She sets the sketch book down.  “You had bought a lot of blue paint and I was curious.”

“Well, you know what they say.”  I sit up in bed and stretch.  “Curiosity killed the cat.”  I smile and get up out of bed, disturbing both Salem and Sabrina.  They both stare at me with unnerving yellow eyes.  “Sorry kids.”

“Ah, but satisfaction brought it back.”  Mom smiles and gives both cats a quick pet.  “Get dressed.  We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”  I groan but listen to her, knowing that’ll be the best for me if I just do as she says.  I pull on the first outfit I find, which happens to be a paint splattered, black tank top and a pair of shorts.  Parting my hair into two little space buns on the top of my head, I pause to brush my teeth quickly before hurrying to the kitchen.  

I notice the new doodle before my mom does this time.  A smile comes across my face; whoever this was had to be very into memes, because on my arm was a surprised Pikachu face.  I couldn’t help but laugh softly.  I just had to get stuck with a nerd huh?

“Whatcha laughing at Phee?”  I turn to find Mom smiling behind me, a to-go coffee mug in her hands.  I sigh and show her, making her laugh as well.  “Well, whoever it is, sure isn’t an artist.”  She pats my arm and gathers up her purse, double checking that her keys are in them before opening our door.  “Ready for an adventure?”

Laughing, I head out the door, not realizing that at that very moment, I would run into someone.  I run head first into a guy that I had seen only in passing; he lived up a floor with his aunt.  Didn’t know much about him other than there wasn’t anyone else living with them.  He was around my age, if not a year older, and fairly cute.  

I ran into him, making both of us trip over each other’s feet.  He recovers before me and holds onto my biceps to steady me.  I notice how gently he holds my arms, like he may break them.  A spark travels through my body, like he shocked me or something.  I regain my balance and shake myself out of his hold.  I don’t need anyone holding me up.  

“You good?”  I nod, making an ‘ok’ gesture with my hands.  He smiles, knocking me off guard a little.  “I’m Peter.”  He sticks out his hand for me to shake.  I narrow my eyes at his hand but shake it anyways, feeling that shock again.  I’m not big on shaking hands; it’s almost too formal but a hug is too familiar so I’m stuck with a handshake.

“Phoenix.”  I try to smile, I really do, but I’ve noticed his face and I can’t seem to look away.  He’s got these big brown doe eyes that make you want to spill all your secrets.  It’s quite frustrating actually.  I shake myself out of it.  Get a grip Phee.  “Nice to meet you Peter.  I’ve got to get going.”

I wave awkwardly goodbye and head downstairs to wait for Mom.  God, could I get anymore awkward?  I sigh and turn my head up to the ceiling, praying to any god that would listen to just let me die.  Apparently, I could not be trusted around cute boys anymore.  I rub the Pikachu face absentmindedly, wishing I hadn’t of knocked into the kid.  It couldn’t get anymore embarrassing.  

12:13 P.M., Thursday, June 20th, 2019

As it turns out, I could always get more embarrassed by Mom.  She had this power, that only parents could possibly have.  Mom can make an awkward, one time situation, into a full length discussion.  On the car ride to the farmer’s market, we talked about how that Peter guy could have been my soulmate, did you look at his arms, was he cute, do you want to invite him for dinner one night.  The more questions she asked, the farther I sunk into my seat.  Being stuck in the car certainly didn’t help matters; Mom is not a good navigator, so after an hour of searching for this mysterious farmer’s market we headed home.  Which took even longer than before because we had managed to get lost.  Story of our lives.

Back home, Mom ordered some lunch and I worked on my design for the kitchen.  What I really wanted to do was make a beach scene that started over the sink in the kitchen and carried out into the living room.  I start sketching the idea out more thoroughly, making it less detailed than the final product.  The painting process would take me a lot longer than I had originally anticipated but I was up to the challenge and had the entire summer to work on it.  

I sit back in my chair, thinking again about the art on my arms.  Should I draw something on them just to see?  Mom would say yes, of course I should.  I nibble on a hangnail, thinking about my options.  I could do it, figure out right away if that Peter guy was my soulmate, and be somewhat freaked out over how easy it was.  Or I could relax and enjoy this time without a soulmate.  I, being the selfish being that I am, decide to not do anything.  If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be.  

“How’s the sketch coming honey?”  I sigh and get up from my chair in the living room to find Mom in the kitchen taping off counters and cabinets in preparation for tomorrow.  She shoots me a smile when I walk in.

“It’s coming okay.  I’m not entirely happy with how it’s looking but by the time I paint it, it should be pretty good.”  Mom nods and turns back to the walls.  I study her for a moment, thinking I may do some portraits for her birthday next month.  I’m sure she would love them but faces are hard to master, especially the eyes.  I sigh and go back to my chair in the living room.  

A buzz is heard throughout the apartment.  The food must be here.  I hop up and grab some money from my purse to pay before opening the door.  The delivery boy smiles and my heart does a little skip.  He’s really good looking; vibrant auburn hair and green eyes.  Kinda crooked nose and a thin mouth.  I check his arm subconsciously, knowing without seeing that there’s no doodles on his arms, but wanting to make sure.  I hand him the money and he hands us our food.  Closing the door, I sigh, somewhat disappointed.  As much as I hate the idea of having a soulmate, it bugs me that I don’t know who it is.  

“Food is here!”  I can hear Mom laugh and a soft thud as she drops down onto the floor.  I set the food containers on our small wooden table, which is covered in paintings of flowers and other small things.  I did those when I was first learning to paint and this table has traveled with us for many years.  

I open one box and am met with the delicious scent of fried rice and sweet chicken.  Mom hands me our chopsticks while she tries to find clean plates.  I continue to open boxes as she looks.  She comes back in with plates and we both dig into our respective dishes; sweet and sour chicken for me and teriyaki chicken for her.

“You know, when I was growing up, your grandmother refused to let us eat Chinese food.  Said it wasn’t real Chinese food and then proceeded to make some of the most disgusting food I’ve ever eaten.”  Mom shakes her head with a smile.  “She wasn’t much of a cook but when she put her mind to something, nothing would stop her.”  She smiles softly at me.  “You remind me of her.  She would have loved you.”  I bite my lip and nod.  

My grandmother was deported when I was just a few months old.  Grandfather had passed away a year before that, and since she wasn’t an American citizen, she was sent back to China.  She passed away a few months after that, brokenhearted and alone.  Mom never forgave herself for allowing it to happen but there hadn’t been anything she could do.  Now, all Mom had were memories of her kind mother and a legacy to protect.  

We finished our meal is comfortable silence.  I got back to work on my project, finally finishing and setting it aside for tomorrow.

11:22 P.M., Thursday, June 20th 2019

I really loved my room but had no ideas for how to paint it.  Mom had suggested cherry blossoms but I’m not really the flowery type anymore.  My sketchbook is filled to the brim with ideas but I’m not a hundred percent on any of them.  Absentmindedly, I turn my pens to my arm, drawing out constellations and small dragons that float through clouds.  Too late, I realize I didn’t want to draw on my arm but something was pushing me to do so.  I huff, irritated with whatever gods that were pushing me to try and find my soulmate.  Throwing my pens to my desk, I set my sketchbook down on the floor.  Maybe some yoga will help me relax and find some new ideas.

I have access to the fire escape, where I’ve set up my yoga mat and a few plants on the windowsill.  Before going out, I make sure to lock my door; Mom had told me that the fire escape was off limits but I couldn’t help myself.  It was quiet out there, and I could almost make out the stars.  

Changing into some comfortable clothes, I quickly make my way out onto the fire escape only to find someone else already there.  A man, or what I assume is a man, in a red and blue spandex suit is perched on the railing of my fire escape.  I clear my throat and watch as he nearly slips off the rails.  He quickly rights himself and turns towards me and my heart stops in my chest.  A soft gasp escapes my mouth and the eyes on his suit widen in shock.  

“Holy shit.”  I hear softly from the man.  He must feel it too, this feeling of not being able to breathe.  I back up into my plants and my heart screams at me to go towards him, not away, but my mind wants me out of there and quickly.  He holds his hands out, trying to get me to stop moving but I just freak out a little more.  I trip over a potted plant and my whole world tips. 

In a blur, his fingers are clasped around my wrist and a small spark travels through my body.  The eyes of his mask are trained on my arm and I pull my wrist out of his grasp, quickly pulling down my sleeves to cover my doodles.  

“Why are you on my fire escape?”  I narrow my eyes at him.  Of course I know why he’s on my fire escape but I want to hear it from him.  Having an Avenger sitting on my fire escape was something I’d have to paint, I decide.  I make a mental note of how the street lights reflect off the eyes in his mask and the spider design on his suit curves over the muscles in his arms.  I allow myself to admire his form for a few moments before shaking myself out of it and crossing my arms over my chest.  I raise myself to my full height, a whopping five feet and three inches, hoping to intimidate him into telling me the truth.  

“I was uh… resting?”  I can hear the lie in his voice and narrow my eyes at him.  He sighs, which sounds odd when someone’s mouth is mostly covered.  Spider-Man pulls up the bottom part of his mask to reveal his mouth.  My mind instantly goes to what the rest of his face may look like and I have to forcibly tell myself to not freak out over this man’s mouth.  He could be a gross old man for Christ’s sake!  

“I was watching out for something exciting to happen,” he admits.  I can’t help but laugh; a hero waiting for something bad to happen?  Especially in New York?  That was rich.  Spider-Man’s mouth frowns slightly.  “What’s so funny?”

“You-” a snort interrupts my sentence and I have to pause to compose myself.  “You’re a hero in New York.  There’s crime everywhere to be stopped.”  He sighs and plops down onto the solid part of the fire escape.  I join him, slipping my legs in between the bars of the railings.  

I take a closer look at the part of his face I can see and decide that he’s not bad looking.  His mouth is thin but he has a strong jawline and a bit of a butt chin.  My fingers itch to draw this as well.  There’s just something about him that is drawing me in, almost like a magnet.  We sit in silence for what could be minutes or hours, the time passing by like water in a stream.  Before I realize it, my arm is being held in his hands again, the material of his suit causing goosebumps to appear on my skin.  

“Did you draw these?” he asks.  I take my arm back from him, somewhat upset that he’d even ask such a question.  But I can tell his eyes are focusing on the faded Pikachu and he’s suddenly standing up.  “Sorry, I gotta head out!  There's a, uh, robbery happening!”  He points down the street and I cock my head to the side, confused.  “Have a good night!”  And with that he swings into the night, leaving an empty feeling in my chest and many questions.  

#peter parker #souls uniting #spiderman #marvel #peter parker x oc #phoenix graves #avengers #i love them already #part two #soulmate au