Tossing out food for thought: What's a soulbond?

[sethrenn.livejournal.com]

Looking at the two threads started earlier today, it's occurred to me that there may be a problem with people using different definitions of the same word. Understand that I'm not trying to fan the flames or incite argument here; I'm bringing this up because it's a personal curiosity of mine, and because I think that misunderstanding is often the result of people making assumptions about others' experiences and assuming that others define certain words/concepts in the same way as them. (I'll answer this myself, eventually-- I just want to see first what others have to say about it.)

1) What do you consider a soulbond to be? Do you base this definition on your personal experiences, on what you've heard from others, or a combination thereof?

2) Do you believe the word 'soulbond' is useful and/or accurate, or that it's necessary to make a distinction between soulbonds and anyone else in the system? Do you think it's important or helpful to assign different terms to people who were created or arrived via different ways, or do you think it's unneccessarily divisive and creates the appearance of difference when little difference exists?

Comments

M

[withfangs.livejournal.com]

Allow me to explain, and I shall use my girl's journal, to avoid confusion as to our connection.

I am a twin of my girl. We use the term to realise the fact that we had been born together, in such this state. I merely happened to fall into a latent slumber between the ages of eight and ten. During the time that I had fallen to hiding, I not only forgot about my own voice, but was inadvertantly causing emotional disruption within my own system.

It is not pleasing to think about. In order to regain a more feasible manner of communication, my Rinna provided me with a voice and identity, which I comfortably fell into and began voicing my emotions once more. For a brief time, it made the entirety of my system even more disruptive, because, as my girl says, I was "making up for lost time", and speaking without control or restraint.

I have, in stepping away from the fictional persona, managed to find both control, and restraint, and I have also come to realise that I am nothing close to the character to whom I have become bonded. It is my own belief as to what soulbonding is, a soul with no voice finding one through another identity that has been pre-created.

In this sense, while I believed that I was fictional, I was embraced by my system as a voiced soul, moreso than when I did not have a manner to speak. I also felt that my uncontrollable behaviour both did my girls a disservice, and caused a deal of trouble when I decided to shed the identity all together.