Glossary
Munbonding/Soulbonding Terms
Munbonding (pronounced "MOON-bonding") (see also: soulbonding, thoughtform)
↳ Coined by us in 2024. A mutually agreed upon relationship between a person and an autonomous (living) fictional character who is powered by the person's subconscious mind. Usually begins after the person develops a deep emotional investment in said character.
Munbonder
↳ A person who has munbonded with a living character.
Munbond
↳ A living character who has a munbond relationship with a munbonder.
Soulbonding (see also: munbonding, thoughtform)
↳ Coined by Amanda Flowers in the Just for Writers Mailing List in 1998. When a person, usually after developing a deep emotional connection to a fictional character, finds they "come to life" or take up residence in their soulbonder's mind. Nowadays seen as a metaphysical or spiritual practice/experience.
Permanent Resident (similar forms: roommate, live-in)
↳ A bond who stays with the bonder permanently in their mind as another consciousness. They may be unwilling or unable to return to their home universe.
Daytripper
↳ A bond who travels back and forth between their bonder and their own universe.
Telephone Bond (similar forms: caller, long distance)
↳ A bond who stays in their world but can still communicate with the bonder as a mindvoice. It's like communicating with a bond through an internal phone line or walkie-talkie.
Overnighter
↳ Coined by us in 2024. A bond who temporarily becomes a live-in/permanent resident based on the needs of their bonder, only to revert back to being a daytripper once those needs no longer require their constant presence.
Insourced
↳ Coined by Laura G. A term for a bond who comes from an internal source (such as the bonder's original stories).
Outsourced
↳ Coined by Laura G. A term to describe a bond that comes from an external source (not made by the bonder).
Living Character (see also: visitor)
↳ A bonding term inspired by the Living Character Phenomenon. Any sentient, autonomous fictional character that a bonder doesn't have a direct bond link with, but the bonder can still interact with or be aware of in some way.
Living Character Phenomenon
↳ When a writer experiences one of their characters "coming to life" in the course of writing a story. This character may either start directing the story themselves or events involving them may start unfolding without the author's conscious input.
RIMCs
↳ Discovered in the sb database, originated in the Soulbonding community in 2002. Stands for "Reality Independent Mental Companions".
Bondspace (similar forms: soulscape; see also: headspace)
↳ Coined by us in 2017. The realm or plane of existence a bond or living character occupies.
Intuiting (see also: developing)
↳ Coined by us in 2024 The process of discovering or revealing details about a munbond or living character through creative means based on what "feels right".
Traveling (similar forms: reverse soulbonding)
↳ An experience where a bonder goes to a bond's world and interacts with them there, either fronting within the bond's body or in their own in-universe body.
Tulbond
↳ Coined by us in 2023. 1) A bond who has qualities of or requires methodologies from both bonding and tulpamancy. 2) A living character who starts their existence with a bond connection or is formed with the intent to become a bond.
Visitor (see also: living character)
↳ Coined by us in c. 2019 on the r/soulbonding subreddit.A living character who is not bonded to the bonder who may travel to the bonder from their world like a daytripper to interact. May only do so once or twice, or often.
Plural Terms
Blending
↳ A state where the boundaries between headmates is blurred and it can be hard to distinguish between them or even know who is present.
Endogenic
↳ Coined by The Lunatus Collective in 2014. An umbrella term for all types of non-traumagenic plurality, from the prefix "endo-" meaning "internal/within" and the suffix "-genic" meaning "produced or caused by".
Extranthrope
↳ A nonhuman member of a system/collective who doesn't identify as otherkin/therian.
Fronting (similar forms: channeling, eclipsing, body using;)
↳ A state where a headmate takes control of the body (usually the entire body but not always) to be able to interact with outerworld.
Headmate (similar forms: pluran)
↳ A term originating from the soulbonding community. A member in a plural system/collective.
Headspace (similar forms: innerworld, wonderland, mindspace, mindscape; see also: bondspace)
↳ The space wherein members of a system/collective reside and interact with one another internally within the body's mind.
Host
↳ The headmate that fronts the most in a system or is most responsible for the day-to-day functions of the body's life.
Median (similar forms: midcontinuum)
↳ Coined by Blackbirds on Pavilion Hall in 2002. A system whose members are not as distinct from each other or feel blurred together, oftentimes dependent on one individual member.
Paragenic
↳ A system/collective or headmate that started because of or derived from daydreaming.
Parogenic (see also: willo(w)genic, tulpamancy, thoughtform)
↳ Coined by the Wanderheart Collective in 2019. A system/collective or headmate that started through thought-based or metaphysical means, usually intentionally but not always. Often used as an alternative to tulpamancy.
Previself (see also: parame, paragenic)
↳ Coined by The Starfall Collective. A self-insert of an immersive daydreamer who has become sentient.
Proxying
↳ 1) When a headmate talks on Discord via the use of bots like PluralKit or 2) A headmate relaying a message to someone else in innerworld or outerworld from another headmate.
Source
↳ Whatever material a headmate originally comes from.
System (see also: collective)
↳ A term to collectively describe a group of headmates.
Walk-in (similar forms: accidental tulpa, accidental bond)
↳ A term for a bond, gateway headmate, or thoughtform that has spontaneously "walked in" to headspace fully formed.
Willo(w)genic (see also: parogenic)
↳ A system/collective or thoughtform that has been intentionally created or willed into existence with no connection to tulpamancy.
Other Relevant Terms
Canon (see also: source)
↳ The official or established material of a fictional work. This includes characters, plot elements, and background.
Collective (similar forms: crew, household, constellation; see also: system)
↳ An alternative to "system" for those who either do not feel system is accurate for their experience or want to avoid using it for its medical associations.
Daemonism (see also: thoughtform)
↳ From the book series His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman. The experience of having a thoughtform that represents one's subconscious, inner thoughts, or soul as a sentient headmate, most commonly in animal form.
Developing (similar forms: forcing; see also: intuiting)
↳ Any act relating to a tulpamancer focusing on, conversing, or interacting with a tulpa.
Deviation
↳ An umbrella term for changes, growth, and transformation. The variations and alterations that occur to a thoughtform's personality and form during and after creation, seemingly against or independent of the host's conscious will.
Exomemory
↳ A catch-all term for any memory, usually of a headmate or alterhuman, that did not occur in in their lived experience or outerworld.
Immersive Daydreaming/IDD (see also: neuronarrating)
↳ Coined by Dr. Eli Somer in 2002. A type of detailed and complex fantasizing of worlds and stories in the mind that is not seen as disruptive to one's life.
Neuronarrating (see also: immersive daydreaming)
↳ Coined by autisticworlds on Tumblr in 2016. A type of detailed and complex fantasizing specifically by those who are neurodivergent that is not considered maladaptive or disruptive to one's life.
Outerworld (similar forms: meatspace, real world, IRL, external world)
↳ A term for the shared reality of all corporeal people.
Para
↳ Any character in a Daydreamer's daydream.
Paracosm
↳ Coined by Ben V. A detailed, complex imaginary world created by a Daydreamer where their paras also live.
Parame
↳ The point-of-view character of a Daydreamer in their paracosms, commonly an alternate version of the Daydreamer themself but not always.
Thoughtform (see also: tulpamancy, daemonism, soulbonding, munbonding)
↳ Popularized by LivingPlural on Tumblr. A term for any intentionally created headmate such as a daemon, tulpa, or bond. Has origins in Chaos Magic.
Tulpamancy (see also: parogenic, thoughtform)
↳ The technique of intentionally creating headmates/thoughtforms partially or entirely from scratch.
Alterhuman Terms
Alterhuman
↳ Coined by phasmovore on Tumblr in 2014. A term for individuals who have identities or experiences that are beyond what is traditionally considered being "human". An alterhuman can identify as nonhuman, or they can identify as being human in ways alternate to what is societally common. Can be used as an umbrella term for various identities.
Archetropy
↳ Coined by the Dragonheart Collective in 2021. An identity based on an archetype, trope, or other common character model (e.g. pirate, clown, ranger, royalty, etc.) A purposefully vague term that can be used to describe a broad range of identity experiences.
Otherhearted
↳ Coined on The Daemon Forum in 2011. An individual who has a strong, fundamental connection to a species or character that impacts their core sense of self.
Otherkin
↳ Originated in the 1970s. A subculture of people who identify as nonhuman, usually mythical creatures such as elves, dragons, and fae.
Otherlink
↳ Originated in 2015. A voluntarily nonhuman or fictional identity that's intentionally adopted or fostered for any number of reasons.
Shifting
↳ The experience of nonphysically "becoming" more like one's kin, therian, or alterhuman identity. Phantom shifts and mental shifts are common types of shifts to occur.
Therian
↳ Originated in the 1990s An individual who identifies fully or partially as an animal species.
Even More Relevant Terms
Kemonomimi
↳ 1) A person who possess animal-like features, commonly ears and a tail. 2) A fashion trend subculture that arose in the 2010s.
Miscelife
↳ Coined originally as "miscecanis" by Pack-the-Pack on Tumblr in 2020. A lifestyle, identity, or experience inspired by omegaverse or Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics, a shared universe that originated in fandom spaces.
Aega
↳ A bidynamic identity of being both an alpha and an omega.
Alta
↳ A bidynamic identity of being both an alpha and a beta.
Sigma
↳ An omega dynamic identity where one behaves more like an alpha.
POSIC
↳ Coined by build-a-buddy and awkwardlycan on Tumblr in 2021. An acronym that stands for Perception of Object Sentience, Individuality, and Consciousness.
Objectum
↳ Coined by Eija-Riitt AEklöf in the 1970s. Attraction to inanimate objects.
Last Updated:3/16/2025