probably I'm bugged too much by such worldbuilding questions

[ratcreature]

I'm still not reliably back online, because the eye issues are still ongoing... but since I can do screen reading right now, and just came across another story with the trope "soulmates reveal their names to each other in body writing", I just have to ask: Are there any of these stories that actually have any explanation for how that is supposed to work?

I mean, I love soulmate tropes, and I can put aside the general, inherent practical problems of just two people being fated to match each other and be compatible, but -- It's one thing to handwave a premise of "humans recognize their soulmate when they see them by some magical or biological impulse" but in these particular universes how did the name thing even start? The stories never seem to say whether these name marks just started to show up (by some magical? means presumably) once a group already had developed writing (and if so, do not all humans have them, but only literate societies?), or whether humans in these universes developed writing based on the odd marks that showed on their skin (and if so, do all societies have the same writing?).

Also if the marks precede the writing, how did humans even find out these symbols referred to their soulmates' names? If every human was born (or developed) a mark rather than both soulmates showing the same symbol or something, you'd think the natural assumption would be that this was their own mark/symbol.

Are there any stories that offer any explanation for the mechanism?

Comments

[ratcreature]

I don't think I've seen the name change due to marriage. I suspect the Spanish kind of patrilineal last name system or something like that would be adopted quite a bit more in a world like this, both because you have two parts so more identification points and because people's names stay.

But if names adjust to their current state and there was a family name system that opens interesting possibilities, like say a couple has their first kid out of wedlock, so first it gets the mother's maiden name, and if their soulmate is born and shows it they get that. But then the couple marries and the kid gets a different family name...

Also the depressing scenario when your soulmate's name changes to a religious name because they became a monk or a nun. Though maybe they wouldn't do celibacy in that kind of universe. Actually I don't think I've ever seen a soulmate fic address that, i.e. whether in that universe say the Catholic church demands its priests to be with their soulmate only platonically.