Soulbond

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A soulbond is, broadly, a member of a system or a presence in someone's mind that is based on a character or real individual.

It is commonly used to refer to a walk-in from another world that existed independently from them before arriving, or holds the metaphysical belief that they did. It may also be used to refer to a fictive that takes a separate sentience, especially among writers. It can also be a connection one feels to a fictional character to the intensity that they appear in their headspace or as an internal voice.

Soulbonds may not front at all; rather, they often exist exclusively in the mind of the soulbonder without ever taking executive control.

History
Originally, soulbonders were a separate community, but they converged with other plural spaces over time, starting on sites like LiveJournal. The line between "an individual who talks to their characters" and "a person with DID who has a few alters based on fictional characters" blurred over time. Before the addition of soulbonders to the plural umbrella in the early 2000s, many saw the existence of fictional introjects (fictives) & factual introjects (factives) in systems as taboo. There was some infighting between multiples/plurals/systems & soulbonders, including widespread mockery of the latter practice, but the divide seems to be healing.

Related Terms
Soulbonder is what a host with soulbonds is referred to.

Fictive was used by soulbonders beginning around 2005 and is a much broader used term for a fictional entity in the system.

Factive is someone in a system who is based on a preexisting person, and some soulbonders may have factives.

Walk-in is a system member who came in from a different place, and can be used to describe many soulbond experiences.