What is Munbonding?

Written by Mel and Lav

Table of Contents

Where it All Began

Around 1998, Amanda Flowers, a member of the Just for Writers mailing list, coined the term SoulBonding (inspired by the game title "SoulBlazer"). At the time, the young writers and roleplayers in the group were experiencing characters—both ones they created themselves and those of their favorite fandoms, particularly Final Fantasy—"coming to life" in their minds. Usually, these characters would appear to tell the writers/roleplayers how their stories should go, but over time, many of these creatives developed relationships with their soulbonds outside of their stories as well, all living together in what they called their "soulscapes" (sort of a mix between immersive daydreamers' paracosms and tulpamancers' wonderlands).

Eventually, the soulbonding community made the jump to LiveJournal, a web diary site popular in the early 2000s. This was when it gained a reputation, both positive and negative, outside of the writing and roleplaying groups it began in. The multiplicity community at the time took notice, and at first, they mocked and dismissed the soulbonders (and vice versa), but gradually, the two communities began sharing ideas and exchanging cultures. As the communities merged, and some people changed how they thought about what they were experiencing, many soulbonders dropped the label. This was partly because the label had gained certain stereotypes—being seen as "too yaoi fannish", "too childish", "too focused on writing", "not focused enough on writing", "too spiritual", "too psychological", "too plural positive", "too anti-plural", and more. By the late 2000s to early 2010s, much of the original soulbonding community had faded away.

In the present day, many people who might've once called themselves soulbonders now usually find themselves in general plurality, [western] tulpamancy, yume/selfshipping, immersive daydreaming, occult/spiritwork circles, or even without any community at all. There are still a few remaining soulbonders left, posting here and there, trying to keep the community alive, but it's mainly seen as a metaphysical experience now. Overall, modern-day soulbonding has become less connected to its original roots in writing, roleplaying, and fandom culture. Which brings us to our next point:

Concerning Modern-Day Soulbonding

As previously mentioned, the modern soulbonding community tends to view it as metaphysical/spiritual in nature. People like us who see it from a psychological point of view have found it challenging to engage in conversations or find others who share our perspective. We've met others who've felt the same way—those who connect with the idea of soulbonding but hesitate to use the label themselves due to its spiritual connotations. Originally, though, soulbonding wasn't spiritual at all, but over time, some people started to interpret it that way and claimed that as the only "correct" way to understand it.

For a while now, we've tried to find soulbonders like us, or at least help more people understand and accept our views. However, it has been…difficult. Some metaphysical soulbonders have suggested our way of seeing things makes our soulbonds less real than their "true soulbonds". Additionally, sharing our experiences sometimes makes others distressed or insecure because our perspective is different from theirs. It's exhausting seeing psychological soulbonders continually excluded, overlooked, and dismissed. We've even felt compelled to present our thoughts with many caveats to avoid upsetting anyone, and when we haven't, we've faced judgment over our ethics, our methods, and our expertise.

We genuinely respect and value the views of metaphysical/spiritual soulbonders—they are our friends and peers, and their perspective matters just as much as ours. But the lack of inclusion and seeing others spread the revised narrative about what soulbonding is can be very frustrating. So after eight years of trying to be recognized, we've decided on a new plan going forward: create our own term and subcommunity.

What Does Munbonding Entail?

A Simplified Definition

Munbonding (pronounced "MOON-bonding"), from the Middle English word "münde" meaning "mind" as well as the slang term "Mun" (pronounced "muhn") used in roleplaying circles.

A psychological phenomenon in which a person (the munbonder) finds they're able to sense and communicate with an autonomous version of a fictional character (the munbond) inside their mind. They then establish a mutual connection, or "bond", with them. This living character—formed and powered by the subconscious mind—and their connection to their munbonder usually develops because the bonder feels deeply for the character, especially after engaging with their source media, writing, roleplaying, or just imagining them. Sometimes this bond happens spontaneously; other times it is deliberately initiated by the munbonder.

Psychological Lens

Munbonding as a framework is based on the idea that a munbond comes from a bonder's own mind and creative energy rather than being a metaphysical channeling or spiritual practice. While it's true that a bond can live "somewhere else" beyond a bonder's conscious headspace—sometimes even having memories or qualities that can surprise their bonder when discovered—they are still powered by the bonder and their understanding of their bond. The term munbond is not meant to be the opposite of soulbond because a munbond is a specific type of soulbond. It's incorrect to call psychological-based entities "munbonds" while calling spiritual/metaphysical entities "soulbonds"; if you'd like to specify origin, the proper term for the latter is "spiribonds". Most munbonders are exclusively psychological, since munbonding makes sense of their unique experience, but it's possible to have both munbonds and spiribonds. The munbonding subcommunity is a dedicated space for people to talk about psychological experiences, allowing them to discuss and share the life they have with their bonds without involving spiritual/metaphysical ideas.

Honoring Soulbonding's Roots

Based on the surviving articles Lav has read from the early days of soulbonding, the word was first used to describe an experience many writers have been having for centuries called "the living character phenomenon", or, as one study put it, "The Illusion of Indepedent Agency". The original definition offered no theory as to how soulbonding worked, but some had regrets that it came across as so spiritual-sounding. Over time, the focus shifted away from storytelling, roleplaying, and creative expression towards more metaphysical understandings (as explained earlier in this article). Munbonding as a term and subcommunity aims to bring back the creative aspect of soulbonding, giving those of us who follow that tradition a place to belong once more.

Stories, Imagination, and Fiction

The connection to a munbond becomes stronger through engaging with their fictional reality. The common ways to do this are by writing, daydreaming, and roleplaying, but primarily it'll be by intuiting (we'll write an essay on this eventually!). These actions help a bonder discover more about their munbond's life, personality, likes and dislikes, and other details that go beyond what they arrived with or what can be learned by directly talking with them. Since munbonds are powered by the creative subconscious, they thrive when they are interacted with in this way—either actively or passively—allowing them to become even more vivid and fully themselves, independent of their bonder.

Additionally, the world(s) where bonds live can generally be influenced by the bonder and possibly the bond themself in a collaborative way. The world can be exactly like the one from their source, a mix of several sources, or something entirely new; it depends on what kind of world feels right for the bond and what everyone involved agrees on. This world is a living world, just like bonds are living characters, and the bonder and their bonds can explore and discover it together.

Deep Emotional Investment

Being a bonder requires caring about or having interest in a character in some way, shape, or form. You may find them fascinating or relatable; want them as a partner, friend, or family; hate them or find them annoying (like a "beloathed" or "kismesis"); or feel something else. Regardless, it's hard to connect with a person—especially one within your mind—if you don't feel anything for them at all. When you feel a strong pull toward a fictional character, we like to call that "bond feels". While not the only sign of a good match, the experience of "bond feels" is a great kindling to light a possible connection on fire.

When a bond and a bonder first meet, whether spontaneously or intentionally, this feeling of connection (which is often mutual) may be surprising, as it can create a sense of closeness greater than would be expected before forming a bond connection. This is perfectly normal to experience; just be mindful of boundaries and how comfortable everyone is with these feelings.

An Active Relationship and Connection

While a person who munbonds is called a "munbonder" and the being they bond with is called a "munbond", munbonding isn't an identity or state of being, but rather an active relationship. It involves communication, understanding, negotiation, spending time together, resolving conflicts, mutual support and encouragement, and more. A living character has to agree to be your munbond for them to be one. Sometimes, if the bond forms spontaneously, that agreement might be implied without a full conversation, but no living character is forced to be your munbond just because you can interact with them. It's even possible to know and interact with living characters you are not bonded with on a regular basis.

Agreeing to be munbonded should be taken seriously. Munbonds should never be discarded or ignored. It's fine to go long periods of time without direct contact—bonds will often have their own lives or in-world relationships—but forgetting them altogether isn't what munbonding is about.

Many Roads

There's a few places munbonds can come from, such as…

  • Your own original story (This would be called an in-sourced munbond)
  • Roleplaying a character
  • Movies (a munbond from a piece of media is called an out-sourced munbond)
  • Shows
  • Books
  • Video Games
  • Podcasts/Audio Dramas
  • Art
  • Music
  • Immersive Daydreaming
  • A dream you had in your sleep

And probably others we're forgetting to mention! There's no wrong or ridiculous source a munbond can come from; what matters is the connection the bonder feels for them and the bond responding back. Also, as mentioned, some can show up spontaneously, while others you may seek out a connection with.

How does Munbonding Work? (Theory)

So finally, the important question: how does munbonding, as a psychological phenomenon, actually work? Here's how Lav has come to explain it:
You know how sometimes you get to know a friend so well that you can just predict how they'll react to something or whether they’ll love or hate a particular item? And then when you show it to them later, they respond exactly how you expected? Well, it’s kind of the same deal with munbonding. When you really know a character—their backstory, their quirks, what they enjoy or can't stand, all those little things that define them—you might find yourself thinking, "This character probably went through this at some point" or "This character would totally be into this!" Or you might read a post and then go "Ohmygoodness, that fits this character perfectly, I just know it!" That's the basic foundation behind munbonding: The Knowing. If you keep exercising The Knowing, eventually, you can change it to a question and give space for the bond to answer instead. When you know them inside and out, your subconscious mind can just supply the answers automatically, making it a fast, effortless process without you needing to think about it. It is them, fully them, not you-in-a-different-voice, because it has the essence of who they are at the root. Talk to them, and they will let you know that they are themselves—usually with strong vehemence, in my experience. 😅

In Conclusion

We hope this has helped you understand what munbonding is all about and what we expect the subcommunity's experiences to include! Feel free to ask questions or share your thoughts in the comments below, and we'll do our best to answer them directly or in future essays.

Last Updated:06/23/2025

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