Soulbonding

"If you write enough and you love what you're writing, sometimes the characters will take over and seem both real and very important to you. It's apparently a common thing.  Being a bunch of confused teenagers, we labeled this phenomenon 'soulbonding'" (Raincrystal, 2006 February 22).

This can range from a sense of characters having their own voice, to a person from fiction becoming a fronting system member who engages in daily life.  Soulbonders may cover the full plural/singlet spectrum.

Quick Details

Created By: Amanda Flowers in the JFW mailing list
Time Created: 1996-1999
Location Used: Widespread--Livejournal, tumblr, websites

Circumstances of Creation

According to Riesz of Eclective: "Amanda Flowers, a member of the JFW [Just For Writers mailing list], coined the term 'SoulBonding', and I believe that in one discussion relating to the subject, she said that the inspiration for the term being capitalized like that was the title of the RPG 'SoulBlazer'. Basically, she just thought it looked cool" (2001, December 26). Over time, the mid-word capitalization was dropped.

The exact date the term was coined is unclear.  Musesong says 1996 (2002, March 15), but offers no proper source or citation.  Riesz gives no date at all, but first describes the experience in 1999 (2001, June 26).

Soulbonding as Plural Experience

Citations

Musesong. (2002, March 15). "SoulBonding Stuff" [insanejournal post].  Retrieved 2019/03/17 from http://musesong.insanejournal.com/1968.html

Raincrystal. (2006, February 22). Soulbonding [web page]. http://www.seiryuu.org/~raincrystal/soulbonding/ Internet Archive.  Retrieved 2019/03/15 from https://web.archive.org/web/20060222091626/http://www.seiryuu.org/~raincrystal/soulbonding/

Eclective [Riesz of]. (2001, June 26). inner voices [web page]. http://childofmana.tripod.com/soulbonding.htm Internet Archive.  Retrieved 2019/03/17 from https://web.archive.org/web/20010626050616/http://childofmana.tripod.com:80/soulbonding.htm

Eclective. [Riesz of]. (2001, December 26). soulbonding faq [web page]. http://childofmana.tripod.com/soulbondingfaq.htm Internet Archive.  Retrieved 2019/03/17 from https://web.archive.org/web/20011226155411/http://childofmana.tripod.com/soulbondingfaq.htm