Analysing

With the concept of settling - the eventual discovery of the animal form that best represents your personality - being a fairly foundational part of daemonism, it's no real surprise that it is also a big part of the community. Analyses, reverse analyses, and other methods of assisting in finding the form are immensely popular. And for a good reason as well, as they make sound guides in what can sometimes be a rather stressful journey. (Not that I can really talk about stressful on account of being irritatingly lucky with my form-finding.) With so much of it being rather vague, any reassurance of being on the right track is welcome.

Yet I worry that the community slowly comes to rely on these methods of assistance too much and strays away from the true function of the settled form. The function of a daemon crosses into many different areas, but the function of a settled form is to allow a person to better understand themselves. It's introspection, plain and simple. It's not always going to be a sudden epiphany, or a situation where the daemon apparently known instinctively just what form to take.

So trawling through analyses to find one that fits, or asking people what they think about the suitability of every form the daemon frequents, or posting RA after RA...seems like it only makes everything more stressful. These methods start shifting from a helpful asset to a crutch, and the idea of exploring yourself in order to find the form starts creeping out the window. The process gets swapped, and while it might work for some, I'm sure it can't be good for others.

I imagine this makes me sound like a cranky old fogey grumbling about the rise of taxes. And it's not really as though it's some new phenomenan. I just like to fret.

With a Little Flourish

Me: You're lucky, man. I was totally going to have you put your hands on your hips and huff about the lack of soup like an old woman.
Alex: ...I would never do that.
Me: Well they don't know that.

The restart of the roleplay Alex was originally created for always seems to bring us a little closer together, if only so he can make attempts on my life should I be straying wildly off character.

Definitive

According to the old-fashioned, traditionalist definition of soulbonding, I apparently have soulbonds out the wahzoo. This...amuses me immensely. But honestly, for me to relate strongly to a character is very frequent, particularly if they are one of my own. Considering how much time I spend trying to get inside their minds I'd be a little disappointed if I didn't succeed in some way.

Nonetheless, there doesn't seem to be any real point in listing and labelling what I tended to refer to as 'flickers' - a flicker of thought, emotion, existence - given that Alex himself is an unreliable source of interest.

Blinders

Me: -Unhooking bra to get ready for shower- So Alex, do-
Alex: NO DON'T TALK TO ME RIGHT NOW.

It seems communication enhances his perception of the 'outside world' as it were, and this is not always so desired. That perhaps explains why he tends to be even more reclusive during my menstruation cycle, and flat-out refused to respond when I had food-poisoning.

Famous

Killy's taken to moonlighting as an American kestrel on occasion.

Why?

Because one of its many nicknames is the 'killy hawk'.

It seemed appropriate.