Soulbonding first
I was ten or eleven years old the first time I deliberately reached out to someone to invite the creation of a soulbond connection between us. The character was Cable (Marvel), specifically the version of him in the X-men/Spider-Man “Time’s Arrow” trilogy.
It happened that I had just read the trilogy (which utilizes the multiverse as a significant portion of the plot), and I was so upset about how much bullshit had happened to Cable that I just wanted to be able to help him in some way.
I reasoned that since I had an internal world which was connected to the multiverse, and Cable was able to coherently travel the multiverse, that there should be some way for me to issue an invitation if he wanted to turn up.
And lo and behold he did turn up, and stayed for a few years. Mostly in the back. He’s not a social man and we weren’t very good at deliberately switching or sharing the front back in those days.
He departed quietly after a few years. I never really had the chance to specifically say goodbye to him, but it was never really needed. I wanted to give him a place to rest before he returned to his business and that’s what I did. I hope he’s well, and I’m sure he knows that the invitation is always open to return. And for me, his arrival happily heralded the beginning of a long, and occasionally very noise era of soulbond connections.