Conflicts with the word "Soulbonds"
A little something LeAnne wrote on her impressions of Soulbonding. It was originally meant as a lighthearted, sarcastic and slightly exaggerated piece aimed at targeting the extremes seen on the internet. Many original impressions have changed since this was written in 2008. It is a very loose Soulbonding guide, not entirely serious. Our Group has "Soulbonds" as well.
I've seen a lot of Soulbond discussions the past couple years. The one thing that's common is people don't seem to be allowed to disagree. Some people don't like the word "Soulbond" anymore, because in the beginning it used to mean something along the lines of "a muse you connect strongly with". That could be a character from a book that you just really relate to and that's about it.
Now that word has become the catch all for anything that isn't labeled "Multiple" but is still considered "weird".
These are some of the related terms I've seen.
Soulbonds, Fictives, guests, non-humans, Furries, Otakukin, Otherkin, Therians, imaginary friends, archetypes, in-sourced, out-sourced, characters, role-playing, muses, and whatever else.
With all those other possible related terms, no wonder it's confusing to someone new trying to understand. And it's ridiculous sitting around listening to everyone claim their definition is the one and only way for this existence.
My personal definition (and our group's definition) of a Soulbond is "a person from a known media source that is self-aware and independent and interacts the same as any other person".
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Here's a few of the Soulbond definitions I've seen out there.
1. A presence (from media of some kind) that a person connects with and may hang around for awhile. This presence never fronts with the body or takes charge of life in any way. They mostly just hang out, probably because the person really had the hots for a character and couldn't help themselves.
2. A role-playing character. A person enjoys using particular characters to interact in storylines with other role-played characters. The role-player gets so into the character that they feel they are putting on another face or becoming this character for a time. This is something else entirely to me. Such as an actor getting into their role, but I included it because I guess it's a fringe definition.
3. A muse or character from an original story (in-sourced) that ended up taking on a life of their own, and wants to tell the author their own story. I know that's not uncommon with writers. I guess a character comes alive and helps give a voice to the story. The only thing about this is it makes me wonder what if that "in-sourced character" was there all along? What if it wasn't the story that created the muse, but it was the muse that created the story? (But then oh noez that would be something delusional like say.....oh being Plural?) :p
4. Any presence that comes around that isn't a human. I know most people would just call this "Otherkin", but I've seen some people lump non-humans under the term "Soulbonds". I mean if someone is a Vampire or from a world other than Earth that doesn't mean they're a Soulbond. It just means they're a different species.
5. A soul mate that you're destined to be with in your life. This one doesn't have anything to do with fictional people. It's just another definition I've seen in spiritual places.
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So then we're left with these different meanings (and others I didn't list) and it's no wonder nobody really agrees on anything.
And then there's the process of "Soulbonding" itself. As if the other definitions weren't varied enough. right? :/
1. An act of collecting favorite characters and having a posse or harem of hot characters that are only there for sexual inspiration to write slash fan fiction. **lolz**
2. One "real person" surrounded by above-mentioned hot characters. The host/real person controls everyone else and pretty much makes them her slaves. They exist only for her amusement and the amusement of others. :/ If she doesn't like them she'll kick them out or kill them. Nice, huh?
3. The host has her collection of characters and accepts them as possibly real people, yet they are never allowed to (or can't) front and take control of the body in any way. They are supposed to know their place and not cross any boundaries into "the real world".
4. A possible single host with known media characters who do in fact interact in the "real world" and take part in life as a fronter. Whether or not this host admits to her Soulbonds fronting is her decision because sometimes that can get you labeled as "not in control of your life". This can also cross over into the bounds of being Multiple and omg we wouldn't want that? Would we? :p
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So there we are. A group of unreal slaves that are at times not even considered to be a real enough person to contribute to life around them. Yeah, I know that's not how everyone views the whole thing, but I've seen this out there. This is why there's so much controversy. Some people consider them real and others consider them puppets to play with. It's also why a lot of people refuse to even use the words Soulbonds and Soulbonding. I think the majority of people who use those words don't believe them to be fully a real person. I've seen "Fictives" used a lot but that also sounds like saying "a fake person". Fiction means fake and I wouldn't want to be called a "faketive". :/
Then what does that leave? Someone could say "a person from the realm of Star Trek". Or they could just say what world they're from. Like "I'm (or he's) from Vulcan". That'd definitely let other people know something. Right? Why not just treat everyone like a person?
Why do certain people have to be grouped into a label? Because if everyone who's from a media source is tucked into the soulbond box then it's going to be assumed all of the above different meanings behind who they are. "Do they control your life?" What kind of question is that? :/
Well, I won't bring in the whole Multiple/Plural side of this too much because I think most Soulbonders do consider themselves completely separate from Multiples. Either because they only have Soulbonds around them or they're afraid of being called nutjob Multiples. "I talk to people in my head, but, yeah, I'm not like those crazy Multiples." **more lolz**
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Then again, the term "Soulbonder" is another one. isn't it? :/
Just who is the Soulbonder?
1. The real person or host in the center of the collection of characters. I won't stereotype and say she's always female, but it does seem like there are more female than male Soulbonders. Not sure why. Usually she's a teenager or college-something with an intense obsession with anime and must collect all the hottest bishies to her throne as pretty little minions. (Okay so I had fun with this one) :p
2. Is there any other type of Soulbonder than #1? :/ Seriously.
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Now what do these Soulbonding Soulbonders do with their Soulbonds? Do you really wanna know? :/ Besides being reigned in and written about in perverse situations, sometimes the Soulbonds are told to interact with other Soulbonds in chat or in other online ways. They will have romances amongst each other (with the Soulbonding host sitting by and watching everything) and create drama together.
How many times have you seen the clash of all the different Clouds or Buffys? "I'm the real one!" omg!! **lulzlolz** Or if Cloud meets a Sephiroth and says "I HATEZ YOU!" Even tho that Sephiroth might be a gardener and a nice guy. All sorts of accusations get tossed around before they even get to know one another. It's like meeting triplets and assuming every single thing about them are the same. Right down to their temperaments.
There is one thing that I've noticed personally about Soulbonds (among other things). That it seems a lot of the males are very brightly gay. Yeah, maybe I'm creating a stereotype and I know everyone isn't the same as their source or canon. But to me, it just seems like it's a common thing. It's like anime or video game soulbonds hate females and will jump on any male booty they come across. Why is that? :p
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speaking of "canon". Canon is basically the realm or story a Soulbond originated from. That is another no-no word to ever bring up. Here's why.
1. Some people believe that all Soulbonds must stick to their canon source and can not ever deviate from the history that was written for them. So heavens forbid Luke Skywalker married Callista instead of Mara **OMG!!** "That's not how it happened!" I'm not sure what the stigma is if a Soulbond talks about things that "didn't really happen". But I think it makes other Soulbonders look on them with suspicion or be labeled a "role player". (Do you see why all this amuses me so much?)
2. The only apparent acceptable deviations from canon seem to be that it's okay to change sexual preference from straight to either gay or bi. In fact, I think if a male Soulbond doesn't admit to being gay in some way then there is even more suspicion.
3. (I have a lot to say on this one. Be warned) "My brother died yesterday on the show I'm from, and now I'm having memories of his death". I have actually seen this! The Soulbonder watches/reads a new episode of a Soulbond's history and learns something new about the Soulbond's story. As a result, the poor Soulbond (even if he was fine yesterday) suddenly has a crisis today because a book told him something about himself he never knew. "My girlfriend is dead!" WTF!? What is that?
What worries me about this is that a Soulbond is so connected to their canon that any new developments that happen are dumped into their brain and affects their memories in the present. So if a new issue of a manga said a particular character died does that mean a Soulbond could be in chat one minute and then keel over and die in the next minute? o.O What the crap? Seriously, what the crap! :/
4. "I died in my canon so I'm dead now." Then how in world are you talking? o.O I've seen this more times than I can say. Does that mean there's all these Soulbond spirits out there. (Then again, if the Soulbonders are channeling spirits maybe they're really mediums. Anyway.) I do understand a person dying and then appearing somewhere after they die (that's happened here a lot.) It just seems odd to me to hear someone say "I'm dead". That's probably just me, personally. I know some Vampires consider themselves dead too. And well Zombies ARE dead. So. :/
5. A Soulbond arrives to a Soulbonder before their canon story is finished and their memories and history change from that point forward. They're going to have different experiences once they're away from their source realm so if the story says they killed someone it doesn't mean they are still going to do that :p
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Yeah it's as complicated as all of this. Anyone realizing now why all the drama and arguments happen all the time? I just wanted to get some of that out. See ya ♥
by LeAnne
Sep 11, 2008
I've seen a lot of Soulbond discussions the past couple years. The one thing that's common is people don't seem to be allowed to disagree. Some people don't like the word "Soulbond" anymore, because in the beginning it used to mean something along the lines of "a muse you connect strongly with". That could be a character from a book that you just really relate to and that's about it.
Now that word has become the catch all for anything that isn't labeled "Multiple" but is still considered "weird".
These are some of the related terms I've seen.
Soulbonds, Fictives, guests, non-humans, Furries, Otakukin, Otherkin, Therians, imaginary friends, archetypes, in-sourced, out-sourced, characters, role-playing, muses, and whatever else.
With all those other possible related terms, no wonder it's confusing to someone new trying to understand. And it's ridiculous sitting around listening to everyone claim their definition is the one and only way for this existence.
My personal definition (and our group's definition) of a Soulbond is "a person from a known media source that is self-aware and independent and interacts the same as any other person".
--------
Here's a few of the Soulbond definitions I've seen out there.
1. A presence (from media of some kind) that a person connects with and may hang around for awhile. This presence never fronts with the body or takes charge of life in any way. They mostly just hang out, probably because the person really had the hots for a character and couldn't help themselves.
2. A role-playing character. A person enjoys using particular characters to interact in storylines with other role-played characters. The role-player gets so into the character that they feel they are putting on another face or becoming this character for a time. This is something else entirely to me. Such as an actor getting into their role, but I included it because I guess it's a fringe definition.
3. A muse or character from an original story (in-sourced) that ended up taking on a life of their own, and wants to tell the author their own story. I know that's not uncommon with writers. I guess a character comes alive and helps give a voice to the story. The only thing about this is it makes me wonder what if that "in-sourced character" was there all along? What if it wasn't the story that created the muse, but it was the muse that created the story? (But then oh noez that would be something delusional like say.....oh being Plural?) :p
4. Any presence that comes around that isn't a human. I know most people would just call this "Otherkin", but I've seen some people lump non-humans under the term "Soulbonds". I mean if someone is a Vampire or from a world other than Earth that doesn't mean they're a Soulbond. It just means they're a different species.
5. A soul mate that you're destined to be with in your life. This one doesn't have anything to do with fictional people. It's just another definition I've seen in spiritual places.
------
So then we're left with these different meanings (and others I didn't list) and it's no wonder nobody really agrees on anything.
And then there's the process of "Soulbonding" itself. As if the other definitions weren't varied enough. right? :/
1. An act of collecting favorite characters and having a posse or harem of hot characters that are only there for sexual inspiration to write slash fan fiction. **lolz**
2. One "real person" surrounded by above-mentioned hot characters. The host/real person controls everyone else and pretty much makes them her slaves. They exist only for her amusement and the amusement of others. :/ If she doesn't like them she'll kick them out or kill them. Nice, huh?
3. The host has her collection of characters and accepts them as possibly real people, yet they are never allowed to (or can't) front and take control of the body in any way. They are supposed to know their place and not cross any boundaries into "the real world".
4. A possible single host with known media characters who do in fact interact in the "real world" and take part in life as a fronter. Whether or not this host admits to her Soulbonds fronting is her decision because sometimes that can get you labeled as "not in control of your life". This can also cross over into the bounds of being Multiple and omg we wouldn't want that? Would we? :p
-----
So there we are. A group of unreal slaves that are at times not even considered to be a real enough person to contribute to life around them. Yeah, I know that's not how everyone views the whole thing, but I've seen this out there. This is why there's so much controversy. Some people consider them real and others consider them puppets to play with. It's also why a lot of people refuse to even use the words Soulbonds and Soulbonding. I think the majority of people who use those words don't believe them to be fully a real person. I've seen "Fictives" used a lot but that also sounds like saying "a fake person". Fiction means fake and I wouldn't want to be called a "faketive". :/
Then what does that leave? Someone could say "a person from the realm of Star Trek". Or they could just say what world they're from. Like "I'm (or he's) from Vulcan". That'd definitely let other people know something. Right? Why not just treat everyone like a person?
Why do certain people have to be grouped into a label? Because if everyone who's from a media source is tucked into the soulbond box then it's going to be assumed all of the above different meanings behind who they are. "Do they control your life?" What kind of question is that? :/
Well, I won't bring in the whole Multiple/Plural side of this too much because I think most Soulbonders do consider themselves completely separate from Multiples. Either because they only have Soulbonds around them or they're afraid of being called nutjob Multiples. "I talk to people in my head, but, yeah, I'm not like those crazy Multiples." **more lolz**
------
Then again, the term "Soulbonder" is another one. isn't it? :/
Just who is the Soulbonder?
1. The real person or host in the center of the collection of characters. I won't stereotype and say she's always female, but it does seem like there are more female than male Soulbonders. Not sure why. Usually she's a teenager or college-something with an intense obsession with anime and must collect all the hottest bishies to her throne as pretty little minions. (Okay so I had fun with this one) :p
2. Is there any other type of Soulbonder than #1? :/ Seriously.
------
Now what do these Soulbonding Soulbonders do with their Soulbonds? Do you really wanna know? :/ Besides being reigned in and written about in perverse situations, sometimes the Soulbonds are told to interact with other Soulbonds in chat or in other online ways. They will have romances amongst each other (with the Soulbonding host sitting by and watching everything) and create drama together.
How many times have you seen the clash of all the different Clouds or Buffys? "I'm the real one!" omg!! **lulzlolz** Or if Cloud meets a Sephiroth and says "I HATEZ YOU!" Even tho that Sephiroth might be a gardener and a nice guy. All sorts of accusations get tossed around before they even get to know one another. It's like meeting triplets and assuming every single thing about them are the same. Right down to their temperaments.
There is one thing that I've noticed personally about Soulbonds (among other things). That it seems a lot of the males are very brightly gay. Yeah, maybe I'm creating a stereotype and I know everyone isn't the same as their source or canon. But to me, it just seems like it's a common thing. It's like anime or video game soulbonds hate females and will jump on any male booty they come across. Why is that? :p
-----
speaking of "canon". Canon is basically the realm or story a Soulbond originated from. That is another no-no word to ever bring up. Here's why.
1. Some people believe that all Soulbonds must stick to their canon source and can not ever deviate from the history that was written for them. So heavens forbid Luke Skywalker married Callista instead of Mara **OMG!!** "That's not how it happened!" I'm not sure what the stigma is if a Soulbond talks about things that "didn't really happen". But I think it makes other Soulbonders look on them with suspicion or be labeled a "role player". (Do you see why all this amuses me so much?)
2. The only apparent acceptable deviations from canon seem to be that it's okay to change sexual preference from straight to either gay or bi. In fact, I think if a male Soulbond doesn't admit to being gay in some way then there is even more suspicion.
3. (I have a lot to say on this one. Be warned) "My brother died yesterday on the show I'm from, and now I'm having memories of his death". I have actually seen this! The Soulbonder watches/reads a new episode of a Soulbond's history and learns something new about the Soulbond's story. As a result, the poor Soulbond (even if he was fine yesterday) suddenly has a crisis today because a book told him something about himself he never knew. "My girlfriend is dead!" WTF!? What is that?
What worries me about this is that a Soulbond is so connected to their canon that any new developments that happen are dumped into their brain and affects their memories in the present. So if a new issue of a manga said a particular character died does that mean a Soulbond could be in chat one minute and then keel over and die in the next minute? o.O What the crap? Seriously, what the crap! :/
4. "I died in my canon so I'm dead now." Then how in world are you talking? o.O I've seen this more times than I can say. Does that mean there's all these Soulbond spirits out there. (Then again, if the Soulbonders are channeling spirits maybe they're really mediums. Anyway.) I do understand a person dying and then appearing somewhere after they die (that's happened here a lot.) It just seems odd to me to hear someone say "I'm dead". That's probably just me, personally. I know some Vampires consider themselves dead too. And well Zombies ARE dead. So. :/
5. A Soulbond arrives to a Soulbonder before their canon story is finished and their memories and history change from that point forward. They're going to have different experiences once they're away from their source realm so if the story says they killed someone it doesn't mean they are still going to do that :p
------
Yeah it's as complicated as all of this. Anyone realizing now why all the drama and arguments happen all the time? I just wanted to get some of that out. See ya ♥
by LeAnne
Sep 11, 2008
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