#soulbond

[beingcultureis]

So, you guys know how different disorders and disabilities have creatures? I’m not sure if plurality overall has one but may I propose a hydra?

[interstellarsystem]

Has this been done yet? Probably.

Tried to use language that's inclusive of alterhumans who are still human.

[sawyer-is-eepy]

>be me

>decide to change your name and pronouns

>tell your friends

>they are supportive and try their best

>a week later you suddenly dislike being called that name or the pronouns and the gender doesnt suit you anymore

>"i must be genderfluid!"

>actually, you're plural

>you idiot

>what have you done

[autumnweeen]

It’s tiiiime!!!

Holiday fics are kind of time sensitive, so here I am, promoting my fluffy, 8th year, soul bond Dramione ♥️🎄

Summary: A binding link, a friendship that blossomed from pain, and the magic of Christmas during seven days in December that will finally make them accept they can’t escape the other.

Cover art by @emmilliaart

[geraskierfanficprompts]

Once a year, you can send your soulmate a little note. Anything can be written on the note: advice, loving words, clues to help you find each other.

Geralt had tried to send his soulmate notes in the past, but it never worked. This meant that his soulmate wasn’t alive. Or that he didn’t have a soulmate.

Which sounded about right for his life.

Then, one day, he received his first note.

In the shaky handwriting of a child, it simply read “I love you”

Ahhh this is so cute!

[moonpool-system]

So like shoutout to soulbonds with exotrauma. To soulbonds with traumatic memories, soulbonds who're in a whole new life now and hafta figure out how to deal with that. Soulbonds in bodies with trauma and without. Soulbonds that're scared of people disbelieving our PTSD or other traumabased disorders, being called fake or roleplayers, or our trauma being treated as lesser. Soulbonds who even struggle to treat ourselves as just as important as others that were hurt. Soulbonds whose painful experiences involve fantastical elements that make it hard to talk about in a down to earth way. Soulbonds who're scared they'll "speak over" others with similar bodily trauma. Soulbonds in bodies who only have PTSD at all because of exotrauma.

What happened to us was real because we experienced it and it affects us, and that's so important. We deserve to be treated with respect and we deserve help! It's not fair that we're treated as lesser than bodily trauma. I want every soulbond with exotrauma to know that we CAN find healing one day, and it's gonna be okay. I love you and you'll find others that do too

[mothiepixie]

Something I'm curious about, do you have any head canons about soulbonding? If so, who would Motti have soulbonded with? 💜💙💚💛🧡❤️

Sorry for taking so long to answer! I hope you enjoy! I kinda got carried away ahaha

Soulbonding is an ancient and intimate affair and rarely practiced in modern day, but it is considered the highest form of trust and some would say it transcends usual bonds. Once soul bonded; the individuals can experience a merge of memories, feelings, etc. It can also extend or decrease one’s life to the corresponding partner who initiated the act, thus the individuals can live their life as long as their chosen partners. 

Although soulbonding is a form of strong magic, it can also be broken. However, the individual(s) will experience a sense of intense loss and an emptiness that may never be filled. The reason being is when the soulbond happens it creates an invisible “string" to the respective partners. If the “string” is broken the merge isn’t completely severed, and the missing specs will constantly call out to each other. It’s one of the reasons why it's not a common practice anymore as the few who have broken the bond cannot stand the feeling. 

If a partner were to pass away by unnatural means, the bonded individual(s) would also experience an intense sense of loss and most do not come back from that. Especially for monsters; their hope would drop to practically nothing and eventually the grief would cause them to dust. Most bonded individual(s) will age and pass away alongside each other. 

Soulbonding isn’t reserved for just romantic partners as many platonic individuals can bond. In ancient times it was a great way for members of armies/guilds/party members to better fight alongside each other, and if ever lost in battle the bond acts like a beacon. This was only done with close and trusted parties though. 

But as monsters were cast underground, and times became more modernized it wasn’t really necessary to continue that kind of practice. (Depending on the AU, monsters became pacifists or many lost trust in others to bond). The history behind soulbonding eventually died for humans as well once the monsters were no longer on the surface. 

Who would soulbond:

Boysen: However, this would be many years down the line and the thought of Motti aging and dying without him would definitely have him initiate the bond. (He would actually dust if Motti were to pass away, his HP just couldn’t bear the loss regardless bonded or not.)

Passive Nightmare: Even without soulbonding he is so deeply attached to Motti, and vice versa, that he could not even bear the thought of losing her. He is willing to let Motti initiate the act, but Motti would rather he do it so they could make up for all the tragedies they suffered. (I guess Motti would become immortal if that’s the case)

Farmer: A country man stands by his partner through and through, and given Motti’s life span being shorter than his, he would think about it for a good long while before having the discussion with her. Mainly it would be because he doesn’t want her to feel pressured into something like that and if she ever would want to leave, he’d like her to have that choice. But boy, he would be over the moon when she agrees.

Blue: This monster loves long and hard. He would not think twice about approaching the subject and offering it to Motti. There will be a discussion of who will initiate the act, but Blue would 100% be okay with either decision. 

Who would be apprehensive:

 Sans: While he would never let anyone know or show it, he is scared by the prospect that if he bonded with Motti and something were to happen to her; he knows he will dust instantaneously. He most likely will never approach the subject to her and would hope that no one ever mentions to Motti about it. 

Dream: He already has commitment issues and is already overwhelmed with his powers of empathy. It makes sense that soulbonding may even be a more exhausting and stressful experience. It took him years to accept that Motti’s feelings were genuine and not a by-product of his powers, so the thought of bonding to a degree could be more harmful to his psyche than good. 

Horror: He actually leans into being apprehensive to not even consider it, but he would be lying if he said the thought never occurred to him. Especially when he is in a good head space, he does fantasize what a nice domestic life would be like with Motti, but he would eventually convince himself that’s just a pipe dream. Although if Motti showed genuine interest/want, he just may be persuaded. 

Who would not:

Big Red: That’s far too intimate and scary, he already cannot handle his emotions as is and his trauma would make him scared to bond with Motti. He may just dust on the spot if something ever happened to her. 

Killer: It’s already hard for Motti to discern if his affection comes from a genuine place to begin with and even for Killer that may be a step he has never considered. 

Dust: He has experienced far too much trauma and his brother haunting him does not help in the slightest. He already knows what it is like to have someone’s feelings and influence hanging over his head and he would never want to subject Motti to his warped mind and soul. 

Ink: He doesn’t have a soul to bond with, but he may play with the idea by using physical strings if Motti were to bring it up. He doesn’t really understand the idea or appeal, but he likes the thought of crafting an idea. 

Nightmare: He doesn’t really have much of a soul to begin with, but even so Motti would not entertain the idea if she knows she’ll feel what he feels. (Him embodying all negative emotions and enjoying it is not a good time in Motti’s eyes)

[uniquely-plural]

As a part of the new tumblr beta feature Communities, we've been approved for one of our very own - And I would love your help building this Fully Inclusive Plural Community with me! 💜

The infrastructure is still being developed, so there's some bugs and built in restrictions - We can only invite about 20 more people in right now, only main blogs, no sideblogs, sorry. This also means I'll be posting there from my main @afaintcloudyhaze :)

If you're interested in joining, please let me know in a reply to this post from your main blog. The only requirement is that you feel a connection to plurality and you want to contribute to the conversation about it.

[webdrivertorzo]

DEAR NETIZENS OF TUMBLR

I am working on my iceberg of queer-and-other-vaguely-related-topics! please give me some more ideas! any fringe beliefs that either YOU believe in or that you have witnessed personally online. Any related events are also accepted, as well as communities, discourse, apps, and media. please help i want to make this ridiculously long

[the-soulbonded-teaparty]

The soulbonding carrd!

Ahhh I finished it! Also, the history bit is just a quick summary, but since history is my passion- and the profession we're probably going into, I'll write an essay on it eventually.

[bornofhumanhate]

Shout out to self-shippers who don’t share their F/Os!

Whether it’s because you’re jealous, possessive, you’ve developed a deep attachment to them, you view them as you real partner, they are a fictive headmate and you're soulbond with them, or any other reason, you’re not a bad person.

Your F/O is very precious to you and you love them so deeply. It’s okay to set up boundaries! Just like you wouldn't share you real partner, why would you share your fictional one?

[malk1ns]

december 7 vs avalanche, 6-2 loss.

previous soulbond installments: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Everything is going well. Zhenya has Sid in his bed more often than he doesn’t, and every new thing they try together is like a dream, like they were meant to be doing this and nothing else. Zhenya got told off in video review the other day after he drifted off thinking about getting on his knees and sucking Sid off the night before; his first blowjob, and it got him hotter than he thought possible.

Sid knew what he was thinking about, of course, and he spent the rest of that practice tormenting Zhenya, feeding him images of Zhenya on his knees, flashbacks to how good it felt.

It wasn’t Zhenya’s best practice. He can’t bring himself to care that much.

The team is winning too, more often than they’re losing, and while Zhenya doesn’t think they’re anywhere near a true playoff team, there’s a spark in the distance, a glimmer of hope that this game won’t be the dreadful, unending slog of losing and disappointment it looked like it might be barely two weeks ago.

But then the bond specialists get involved.

Zhenya’s not sure what triggered their reappearance—some exchange with Sid on the bench, something they did on the ice to celebrate a goal?—but the day after they send the Leafs packing, he and Sid are both called into an early-morning meeting, and when they arrive they’re confronted by an array of stern-looking strangers, all clutching binders.

The next hour is bewildering. Zhenya takes comfort that even Sid and Sully, two native English speakers, look as confused as he feels about what’s going on.

The gist of it, he gathers after the unfriendly people have left and he’s had a chance to look at the paperwork and run it through the translation app on his phone, is that the specialists think he and Sid are too close, that the bond is weaving them together in a way that will adversely impact their future if it’s not held in check.

They can’t control what Sid and Zhenya do in their free time, they’d acknowledged. At work, though, there are boundaries they can, apparently, enforce.

What it means is he and Sid are never to be on the ice at the same time, including the power play. The theory is that the less time they spend using their bond to work towards a common purpose that has the amount of significance as team success does to them, the less tightly the bond will pull. A loose bond, they’d explained, allows for more freedom, more flexibility. The ability to leave.

Zhenya doesn’t know how many times he has to prove with both word and deed that he never wants to be separated from Sid.

Sully’s pissed, Quinner is pissed, and the rest of the power play personnel are pissed too, when everyone troops out onto the ice to find the units are completely scrambled.

Zhenya has a bad feeling about how it’s going to go in the next game.

—

He’s proven right through the shambles that is the Avalanche game. Despite the score, Zhenya knows they didn’t play that badly, but the forced separation from Sid is distracting them both. Sid keeps forgetting to shoot, turns the puck over with alarming frequency, and Zhenya keeps catching himself skating off-cadence, like he’s got a band wrapped around his waist pulling him back.

The boos of the crowd aren’t entirely unexpected, but Sid’s reaction is; he shatters his stick after the empty-netter that gave Rantanen a hat trick, and he’s short with the reporters in the locker room, vocally upset by the fanbase’s reaction for maybe the first time in his entire career.

Zhenya keeps quiet. Sid’s a churning mess of emotions underneath his lightly disappointed exterior, and Zhenya spends their post-game cooldown and the drive back to Sid’s focused on trying to soothe him, to calm the waters and bring him back to neutral so they both get some sleep.

It mostly works. Sid isn’t vibrating with anger when they get back, but he’s still far more irritated than a loss would usually get him, even a bad one.

“Hey,” Zhenya says finally, reaching out and grabbing Sid’s arm from his spot on the couch, bringing Sid’s pacing to a halt. “What’s wrong? We’re lose, so what, not such big deal.”

“They’re wrong,” Sid says, and for a minute Zhenya thinks he’s talking about the crowd, but then an image of the table of specialist superimposes itself over his vision. “They’re wrong. We don’t need to be separated. We don’t need to keep things loose. We’re not…” He sucks in a huge breath. “I’m better when I’m with you. I want to be with you all the time. That hasn’t changed for twenty years, why would it change now, or ever? What do we need to be leaving flexibility for?” He looks imploringly down at Zhenya.

Zhenya can read what he’s thinking, as clear as if he’d said it out loud. It isn’t just me, right? Did I miss something?

“You right,” he says firmly, tugging at Sid’s arm until Sid gives and plants himself in Zhenya’s lap. “Always you’re right. We don’t need space. It’s good we’re together most, good for team and good for us.”

Sid relaxes a little at that, melting into Zhenya’s embrace and dropping his forehead to Zhenya’s shoulder. “I don’t think us telling them that we want to spend 24/7 together forever will make them change their mind,” he mumbles, and Zhenya laughs, winding his arms around Sid’s waist to pull him even closer.

“No,” Zhenya admits. “Sully can’t go against either, I think.” He shrugs. “We figure everything else out. So they’re stupid, okay, it’s fine, we know best. We work around.”

Sid’s mind is quiet for a while, finally letting go of the anger he’d been building all game, but in its place Zhenya can feel arousal, triggered by all the places their bodies are touching, the way Sid loves how Zhenya smells, Zhenya’s hands big and warm on his back.

“I think we should try a few other ways of being together,” is the line Sid feeds him, complete with a big wink and a cheesy smile, and Zhenya laughs at him all the way up to their bedroom.

[itsokimnotrealeither]

It's also worth noting that like...there's nothing saying you have to figure out exactly what term applies or doesn't apply in your situation. Sometimes it's just "there's a guy in my head that I really appreciate" and further detail is irrelevant. If you find yourself spinning your wheels over nitty-gritty terminology, just remember that the Guy In Head police aren't going to come for you for taking a step back and not defining your experiences in terms of other people's words.

We were talking about thoughtforms in The Otherconnect Discord Server and I wanted to share this (with permission!)

[sssssaarn]

Characters through Stories

Why I don't call myself 'plural' -- despite 'fitting' the experiences.

A sort of reflection on when I thought I was a system/plural.

All the way back in (around) 2022 to 2023, I referred to myself as a system. I had been questioning for a long time before that, but eventually came to that conclusion after talking to numerous other systems about their experiences.

Nowadays though, I do not call myself a system, or even plural at all. Why is that? The short answer is this: it simply doesn't fit.

The long answer is this: my experiences with being 'plural' mostly came down to characters and, specifically, their stories. When I get particularly attached to a character, and especially for a long time (think, 1-2 years at minimum) I would then feel like I could 'know' those characters thoughts. I labeled these experiences as 'alters' in 2022 -- because that was the closest thing I could use to describe them.

But, this was forgetting another key aspect of myself: I love writing, and I especially love writing characters. I could only 'know' these characters' thoughts after extensively writing about them. I could not just think, and they would be there. There had to be some element of narrative or story to them. Otherwise, they wouldn't come across as strongly. This might be a normal experience for some systems, as there have been weirder ways that systems had to get alters to front. But I still feel like I diverge heavily from the typical 'fronting' examples. The characters never took over my body or mind, I would only act as a sort of 'vessel' for them.

Take, for example, two characters I thought had been 'alters' of mine: the SCPs 049 and 035. These 'alters' had come up after I had read a ton of tales focused around Alagadda (which serves as a sort of backstory for both of them) as well as after I had already spent years writing fan-fiction about them (around two years straight, of fan-fiction focused solely on them). After that point where they 'cropped up' (labeled myself as a system, labeled them as alters), I could only 'front' as them when I was writing as them. I could not act in real life, if I had not been writing as them (think of it as roleplaying, or maybe even more accurately: larping).

This is where experiences of most typical plurals and my 'plural' experience diverged heavily. I did not realize that I could only 'front'/'access' these 'alters' through writing/'roleplaying', because I was trying to force a system that just did not work with me and my brain. (Not to say that the plural framework was or is useless, it just doesn't work for me.) These characters were me; or maybe it would be more accurate to say they were extensions of me. They were extensions of my writing and stories, two things that have become a central point in my life.

Writing and stories have always been there for me, and it's also the best method I have to connect with 'myself'. I started this blog specifically because writing about my experiences, thoughts, and feelings was a great way for me to understand myself more! In short: I have a way of making myself feel less lonely, of understanding myself better, but I labeled this way incorrectly, and repressed for a long time after I realized it was wrong (because no one else understood, or thought it had been labeled correctly the first time).

Recently, I've begun having this same experience with two different characters. This time however, I'm not going to force myself to act plural or like a system, or to make these two characters 'front' like alters in a system. Because they aren't, and that simply won't work for me.

I'm writing this specifically because I don't see experiences like this written about a lot. Some beings aren't and will never be plural, but will have experiences and stories like this (that they still will not want to label as plural), and so I think it's something important to talk about!

The mind is an interesting and varied thing, and I think trying to lump any and every experience under a specific label (no matter how broad its definition) will inevitably drive beings away from that community; not towards it. This is a problem I've come across repeatedly; a lot of folks are just jumping at the gun to label every person they come across as 'plural' or 'nonhuman' -- which I can understand, after all, I would love to know more plural and nonhuman beings as well! But trying to force someone to identify as something, or use a system that simply… Doesn't work for that person? It's a pitfall I think (unfortunately) a lot of alterhuman beings fall into.

There's also the fact that someone can use a label or term for a very long time -- but then after a while, discover that it just doesn't work anymore. And that's perfectly fine as well! Change is a normal part of being, and it should be normalized more in alterhuman and adjacent communities!

If I had to give a label to my experiences now, I'd probably use something more like non-plural soulbonding, or perhaps it's something connected to my daemon. But again: minds are confusing and varied, and I'm not even sure if I'll ever have a clear label or answer on 'what' I am in this regard. And you know what? That's just fine with me.

[haveyouplayedthisttrpg]

Have you played SOULBOND : Dark Industrial Fantasy ?

By Andi Lynn Licht

Soulbound is a tabletop roleplaying game about wielding randomly-generated, arcane weapons which are bound to one’s spirit. These soulbound weapons, or bonds, are tied to their wielder, and once a person is bestowed such a thing their destiny is changed irreversibly. They provide otherworldly power, but with this comes a life that is haunted by bloodshed and misfortune.