1998, "Arikyas, Leader of the Dark Ones" (quoting "The Cypher"), Re: Atma's confession... (on newsgroup alt.games.final-fantasy)
LearethGFS: Heehee... he's my soulbond.... he runs the place occasionally.
2009, "Fledgling Raquiri", Re: On Obsession and Living in Fantasy (on newsgroup alt.fan.dragons)
Whenever I'm reading a book or watching a movie, I'm there in my imagination, usually as a small (6-ish feet long) dragon talking to the characters, urging them to do what I want, flaming or growling at their enemies, etc. Reminds me of the role my spirit guide/daemon/soulbond/imaginary friend/whatever-the-hell-he-is, Phantos, plays in my life. Except that I directly talk to Phantos, whereas the characters never really notice me.
Noun: "(fandom slang) a deep, lasting emotional or spiritual connection between two characters, typically of a physic or magical nature"edit
6 fans (11%) did not like to specify a genre but offered an alternative view of “common tropes” in fan fiction, such as: “The tropier, the better! Werewolves or A/B/O or soulbonds or time travel or coffeeshop AUs. […]
2017, Marianne Gunderson, "What is an omega? Rewriting sex and gender in omegaverse fanfiction", thesis submitted to the University of Oslo, page 97:
This is amplified by the common use in a/b/o of the soulmate and soulbond tropes, where two characters are written as destined for each other on a biological level, resulting in near-irresistible mutual attraction and a special connection.
In the fan fiction adaptation, Someone_aka_me uses the same lines to forge a connection between Alec and Magnus, both figuratively (putting both characters in the same scene and having them react to and impact each other) and literally (this particular piece of fan fiction introduces an alternative plotline in which Magnus’s words activate a soulbond between them, as they match a pre-existing soulmark imprinted on Alec’s skin).
2018, Francesca Coppa, "Slash/Drag: Appropriation and Visibility in the Age of Hamilton", in A Companion to Media Fandom and Fan Studies (ed. Paul Booth), page 191:
And that's not even getting into some of slash's more science-fictional tropes: soulbonds and telepathy, interspecies relationships; male pregnancy.
