Linguistical

Lately I've been having a number of gripes with terminology across both the daemonism and soulbonding spheres, and it's beginning to get rather frustrating. It is difficult to talk about concepts so founded in abstract if you aren't certain of the words, or the meaning they'll have to people.

Daemonism isn't so much of a problem for the most part. There is an accepted set of terms shared by the community, which is helped along by the fact that there is really only one main community. Some words are used far less than others, but the core terms remain a constant. Unfortunately, I have come to quibble with the specific definition of one of the most fundamental terms - 'settled'. At some point I once decided that there were two parts that made up settledness: a personality stable enough that it is likely to be much the same decades from now, and an animal form that accurately represents that personality. I have the latter...but am reluctant to claim the former. But at the same time, if I can apply a form, a form that has fit me for some time now and seems to only continue doing so, am I being overcautious? I am not settled form unknown, I do not wish to call myself settled, and yet I am not unsettled. It's come to the point where I've essentially dropped the term entirely when it comes to talking about myself, which can be difficult in certain conversations.

In contrast, soulbonding - and I use even that word uncertainly - provides a great deal more strife as it is a veritable minefield of words and phrases that are completely inconsistent. Unlike daemonism, there is no central community, and thus no set terminology. The word 'soulbonding' means different things depending on which group or, hell, which individual you talk to. The same goes for 'headmate', 'flickerbond', 'muse', and a dozen other terms. 'Fronting' has been referred to as 'channelling' and at least once 'roleplaying'. A 'headspace' could just as easily be a 'headscape' or a 'soulscape'. And this is without attempting to delve into the myriad of personal terms people develop, possibly as a result of others to turn to.

I (mostly) know what happens within my mind, but it becomes increasingly harder to know how to explain it to others. Naturally, I could work out my own set of terms - and, in some ways, have already begun to out of sheer necessity, considering how often I reference 'flickers' - but I can't help but think this only compounds the problem.

Unfortunately, it's not as though I can rally the soulbonding communities and demand set terms. There are too many different beliefs and experiences squashed under that one umbrella.