My sticker grab pack from @delysiumzine !!! Oh my lord I lvoe them all so much AAAA

we love mel

Mel: Lav is the one who's been interacting with the proselfship community so far, but she asked me to come in and give my perspective on this!

There are two main definitions of soulbonding. Some see soulbonding as a spiritual practice, acting as a medium channeling or hosting the spirits of fictional characters the way one might channel or host the spirits of the dead. The definition we use on this blog is that soulbonding is what happens when a person has such a strong emotional connection with a character that said character comes to life in your head as a self-aware autonomous thoughtform. This character can be insourced (of your own creation) or outsourced (from an existing work). They can be permanent residents (headmates), daytrippers ("commuting" from their world to your head and back), or simply share a phone connection (they stay in their world but can still communicate with you). Both the connection itself and the character are called a soulbond; the act of forming this connection is called soulbonding, and the person who has a soulbond is called the soulbonder.

There are a few things I would say sets soulbonding apart from other thoughtforms or fictives. One is that it's commonly a spontaneous occurrence with hardly any effort from bond or bonder. Another is the intrinsic emotional connection that can lead to a significant level of intimacy in a relatively short amount of time. And another is that munbonds are much less likely to want to share in "meatspace" life than other plurans.

As for how it usually works, the way I think is most common is discovering or creating a character that deeply resonates with you and suddenly having them show up in your head and start giving their opinions on things (whether or not you asked for them, lol). But it's also possible to intentionally reach out to a character (this can be a little tricky but well worth the effort). Sometimes you both get to choose whether to form the soulbond connection, and sometimes the soulbond connection is too strong and chooses for you before you can even process what's happening. :P Either way, soulbonds can be a wonderful addition to someone's internal life, and I am forever grateful for the gift that is my own.

I realize this got pretty dense, lol, but I hope it gave you some insight. Feel free to ask us any follow-up questions you may have!

Lav: I'm sorry it took me a hot minute to reply, I really wanted to make this post about Soulbonding is Not just Spiritual/Metaphysical first, especially since your ask included the misconception that it was a purely spiritual experience when there are other interpretations too.

While Mel already addressed most of your ask, I want to specifically speak on your last question.

"Reverse Soulbonding", as far as I can tell, seems to stem from the FromFiction blogger that I mentioned in the above link post. I harbor a strong dislike for their general position, which includes the term "Reverse Soulbonding" to describe that experience.

All that soulbonding means and has always meant is a "deep empathic/telepathic link connection, usually after forming a intense emotional attachment, with an autonomous living character." "Reverse Soulbonding", as described, is when you visit inside the mind/body of the character rather than them being inside yours, seeing and interacting with their world through their perspective. However, as Mel explained earlier, a soulbond is the connection to the character, not how you interact with them.

Mel&: Hello! I, Mel&, and Lav are gonna answer this together, first me and then him.

My first munbonds started out as immersive daydreaming paras. I used to spend hours pacing back and forth in the dining room of my childhood home, neuronarrating out loud to myself and going on countless adventurers with my beloved (queerplatonic) best friend, Rune, and our father figure, Logan, along with a hodgepodge of my favorite characters. Around age 14 or so, I started interacting with them outside of their stories and imagining them alongside me in day-to-day life. At this stage, I called them Inklings after a book idea about a world of living characters which I have yet to put to good use.

Mel, full 'legal' name being "Melody of the Lamp", is one of my older OCs!

Some weird mixture of 'genie in a lamp', 'djinn', and 'fae' inspirations, her mother made a wish for the perfect daughter. Needless to say, a chaotic, disaster-prone, four-armed toddler isn't what the cold woman bargained for.

Melody has the power to grant a single wish to any one person, with some restrictions, of course! Not that she'd tell you that, though -- the wishes often have unforeseen consequences.

More Mel below the cut! (From an old art challenge I did!)