Satellotype
This text was taken mostly verbatim from my tumblr post here. The "Further Discussions" section and noted lines are the only changes from it's original post, and are originally from my dreamwidth here.
“Middle French, from Latin satellit-, satelles attendant”
“ a celestial body orbiting another of larger size; a manufactured object or vehicle intended to orbit the earth, the moon, or another celestial body”
potentially “satelle” for short.
Satellotype: A term to describe a nonhuman identity that revolves around, enhances, describes, acts as an accessory to, is only expressed through, or otherwise is secondary to a primary 'type, 'link, and/or alterhuman or nonhuman identity or identities.
An identity that may be otherwise inaccessible unless though interaction with another identity.*
A kintype for your kintype, a sense of nonhumanity that impacts how one may experience or describe a specific 'type. A way to articulate an underlying sense of understanding towards a nonhuman identity.
A satellotype may not be literal. A wolf therian may have a cryptid satellotype attached to their wolf identity, but that does not make the wolf itself a cryptid. They may feel that their understanding of their 'type, their expression of their 'type, or their experience with this 'type is reminiscent of a cryptid.
This may be used those who wish to describe the way multiple 'types or 'kins interact with each other. Sattelotypes may come and go, be permanent, or there may be multiple types active at once, but they always act secondary to a "primary" 'type.
A satellotype, despite being secondary, is no less important or impactful than the 'type it revolves around.
Examples and usage:
"I am a wolf therian with a cryptid satellotype. My experience as a wolf has made me feel as if I am some sort of cryptid to those around me."
"I'm a angelkin, but i've got this dragon satellotype that makes me more reptilian that some of the other angels."
"My ghost 'type has become a satellotype to my werewolf type recently, so I've become this weird spectral wolf man."
"I've got an alien 'type deep down in me, but I feel like I'm only ever able to express it by engaging with my gillman 'type" (this one is specific for me ;] lol)
Permissions:
The satellotype label is for alterhuman/nonhuman use only, and is not connected to radqueer identities. This label is inherently harmless and was made to better articulate a pre-existing phenomena within a specific community.
My personal reasons for coining this term:
This may already exist, but I'm really yet to see anyone talk about it and I haven't come across anything similar before. So I did something about it.
I am a gillman otherkin, but I have an alien kintype that is much less potent. I do not get any shifts from it at all, it's simply a very bone-deep feeling.
The only way that I feel I can express my alien 'type is through the lens of or in association with my gillman type. I am not a gillman who is also an alien, but a gillman who feels like an alien. I've considered calling it a hearttype, but it's not! It's very much an otherkin type that is attached to being a gillman.
I made this term for me, specifically, but others who feel similarly to me are of course free to use it. You also don't have to fit perfectly within the standards to use the term, there is for sure some wiggle room.
Further Discussion
I've been questioned about satellotypes similarity to paratype by two or three users, and usually others speak about the two labels in the same breath. I do think that they are similar. A satellotype can be a paratype, there is overlap. They are not the same to me, though, as I made satellotype to help me describe how I can only be an alien by being a gillman. I am an alien, just as much as I am a gillman. But I can not be an alien alone. Only by indulging in my gillmanhood, grumbling, lurking, eating fish, swimming, etc., can I feel like the alien I am.
When trying to think about how to create a term to articulate that, I decided to make the satelle not necessarily a full identity because I could see the label being bent and wanted to allow for elasticity. For instance, a wolf who may feel like a domestic dog. But they only ever feel like a domestic dog when interacting directly with their wolf-ness. They are not necessarily a domestic dog, may not connect to domestic dogs, but experience something akin to domestic dog-ness when being a wolf in certain situations. Given that the exitance of my alienness "underneath" my gillmanhood results in an alien-like gillman, the idea of other underlying non-identities that impact another 'type didn't seem like much of a stretch.
I think that elasticity is what caused for the confusion and overlap with paratype. Was it a mistake to emphasize both aspects equally? Maybe, I don't know. I had never made a label before satellotype, so I'm not surprised that there are some things I did wrong. It's also important to note that I made this label for myself, and I posted it so that I could have a definition to point to when someone asked what in the world a "satellotype" was. My understanding of the label has grown significantly since I first wrote it down, and I'd like to sit down and rehash some parts of it at some point. The definition here is the original, with one line added in, noted by the asterisk. The discussion here is also different, as I wanted to address it's similarity to paratype directly.