bizarreaizen . June 4, 2024 . Arhived Link
does anyone else feel like they can't see themselves identifying with the identity they currently identify with in the future? like i can't see myself being an adult therian or an adult who uses neopronouns and not that i want to "change" but it's probably because i was pushed to think that these things are childish stuff and i will grow out of it. /srs

autistic-therian . June 9, 2024
If this helps normalize it as non-childish, I honestly, genuinely can’t wait to be a grizzled old man with neopronouns. I’ll be that dog in the corner store with graying fur around my muzzle, if I walk with a limp I’ll still wag my tail.

I can’t wait to be running experiments and studies after I get my degree, and think of myself as three raccoons in a lab coat.

I’m so excited to be that cool older sibling figure for so many people out there who want to know that it’s not always a phase, that we can grow up and take up space in the world and expect to be taken as seriously as any other adult.

Even if sometimes it feels like play, that’s okay. That’s something nobody should be expected to grow out of.

Friend, you are so cool for leaning into your identity, even if it’s hard due to how you’ve been treated or viewed by others.

Many younger people are leaders when it comes to making their identity known, and I believe it’s because y’all have more guts.

I respect the hell out of you, folks like you make me proud to be in this community and hopeful for the future.

gone-fish-mode . June 10, 2024 . Arhived Link
let me preface this by saying that i am 20. i am, by every sense of the word, a baby. but when it comes to the otherkin / therian community, at least here on tumblr, i tend to run a bit older (although i do now a good few 30+ alter/nonhumans).

but i know adults with neo pronouns. i know therians going into grad school who have jobs. i know really queer college drop outs who use micro labels and wear their flags.

sometimes things feel a bit childish. sometimes its because you're still, in the grand scheme of things, a child. and as you get older, they don't stay childish. they tend to mature with you. to ferment alongside you.

i have always struggled with applying my current labels onto myself in the future. but after dealing with this for, eight, almost nine years, i've realized that i'll never really change. i may talk about things differently or have a different name for something, but it's not because i've "grown out of it," it's because getting older has simply given me a new perspective on things. new ideas and more experiences.

i don't think i'll ever "grow out" of my identity. but ask me in five years to describe the hows and whys and i will have a different answer than i did yesterday. so of course i cant picture myself in the future with the same sense of self i have today.

let time do its thing. go with it. you can understand how you feel tomorrow when you get to tomorrow.

talon-dragonbeast . June 12, 2024 . Arhived Link
i havent seen this experience talked about much in the nonhuman community, so i thought i could share mine.

i wasnt actually dragonkin as a child, or at least i dont think so. its not that i didnt realise it either, or that i didnt know being human wasnt the only option there was; i was completely, 100% human. well, maybe not 100%– i'd say more like 90%. you see, i was human as a child; that i can be sure of. but i think the possibility of becoming nonhuman, the potential for nonhumanity was always there. im not sure if its because of atypical brain structure, autism/neurodivergency, or just personality– nature vs nurture, and all that.

the thing is, i was human. and now im not. so what happened?

well, i... don't know exactly. but i have a theory.

my brain always had that potential nonhumanity, yes, but if child me hadn't loved animals as much as i did, if i hadn't stayed in the library at recess every day, if i hadn't found a book on dragons and absorbed myself in what would become a long-term special interest, if i had more friends in school... the list goes on. basically, if things had been a little different, i might not even be nonhuman today. i would still be me, of course, but a different me. a human me.

so why am i sharing this? i always read about other critters' experiences with their nonhumanity, and ive noticed that a very common experience is being born nonhuman. on the other claw, there are critters that were human before, but then experienced something that made them become nonhuman. this is not to invalidate any of them, of course! but i had never heard of any experience that was between those two. and i realised that if i wanted to read experiences like mine, i had to write mine first! so, please, share yours! id love to read what you write, even if it's just a few sentences.

Dogculture . June 18, 2024 . Arhived Link
The recent wave of being loud and proud about being queer is amazing but alterhumans really gotta be careful about carrying that attitude over. There really are not enough of us in this world to protect each other. Making more people aware of us makes them more able to identify us which puts everyone in more danger. The tips we used to subtly display therianthropy in my youth are now useless because our signals have been displayed all over mainstream social media. I feel so scared for all these kids who pressured to ‘come out’ as a kin or plural, and those who participate in the community in ways they think are low-key until their mother comes across a revealing tiktok.

Keeping your privacy is not lying or cowardly, it is keeping yourself safe. If you’re alterhuman and dependent on people you don’t 100% know will accept that— don’t let them know. Being therian does not require gear, being plural does not require alters to outwardly present as different people. You lived however much of your life did without creating proof of your differences, you can wait out the rest until you’re free. The difference between alterhumanity and queerness is with queer folks (though most of this is still relevant) you’re (still temporarily) losing out on a huge part of life by hiding it. There are few benefits to gain by telling your family/school that can’t be gained by using a less risky label (furry, cosplayer, just really into ___). I’m not saying keep everything a secret from everyone forever, just weigh the risks and know that withholding information about your identity that could harm you isn’t the same as being dishonest. Stay safe!

otherkinpolls . June 26, 2024 . 270 votes . Arhived Link
i. i deeply long to be my hearttype - 5.9%
ii. i feel like i should’ve been my hearttype, but i’m not - 7.4%
iii. i feel like i could’ve been my hearttype, but i’m not- 7.4%
vi. i have a deep admiration for my hearttype - 3.7%
v. i have deep compassion for my hearttype - 2.6%
vi. my hearttype is my ideal self - 3%
vii. i want to be [hearttype]-themed - 1.5%
viii. my hearttype feels like family/i want them to be my family - 18.9%
ix. multiple of these/different answers for different hearttypes/etc. - 26.3%
x. other - 4.1%
xi. see results - 19.3%

poll was inspired by this ask game by user froghearted- check it out too!

otherkinpolls . July 19, 2024 . 191 votes . Arhived Link
i. yes, they are supportive - 27.2%
ii. yes, they are indifferent/neutral - 5.8%
iii. yes, they are not supportive - 1%
iv. yes, other/i don't know their opinion - 2.1%
v. no, but they are supportive of alterhumanity in general - 1.6%
vi. no, but they are indifferent/neutral of alterhumanity in general - 2.1%
vii. no, but they are not supportive of alterhumanity in general - 2.1%
viii. no, other/i don't know their opinion - 9.9%
ix. i have multiple partners and multiple of these apply - 1.6%
x. other - 8.9%
xi. see results - 37.7%

if you currently do not have a partner but have in past or want to also include past partners in your answer feel free

wirsindkrieg . July 23, 2024 . Archived Link
The topic of nonhuman personhood came up in a conversation earlier, which led to me scrolling through the notes on the essay/rant I wrote on the topic at the end of last year [link]. While scrolling through, I saw multiple people express the view that if someone doesn't want to be referred to as a "person", that should be respected.

I would like to kindly but firmly disagree with that view.

Personhood is not a personal identity, and it should not be approached the same way that one approaches identity labels like sexuality, gender, or even species identity. Personhood is a social and legal category, which carries with it significant implications about how (and if) one is treated as a member of society.

Whether it is intended or not, a declaration like "I am not a person" is declaring that one does not see themselves as a being deserving of basic rights and safety. It is saying that they do not see themselves as deserving of dignity and basic respect as a thinking being.

The declaration that an individual (or more often, a specific group) does not have personhood has been used as the justification for all manner of atrocities, up to and including genocide. And I want to be very clear that I am not exaggerating that point. The removal of personhood is a key element of fascist ideology, and is not something to be done casually, even to oneself.

If someone tells me that they use a specific identity label, or set of pronouns, or even choose to not identify as human, I can respect that, and I will do my best to embrace their decision. On the other hand, if someone tells me that they are not a person, I consider that cause for alarm.

The important difference is that personhood is not a personal identity. It is the state of being recognized as worthy of basic dignity, rights, and respect. To deny one's personhood is to deny that you deserve basic rights like freedom from harm, the ability to own property, and the ability to make decisions about your own life and body. I would hope that it's abundantly clear why denying oneself those basic rights is a bad thing.

"Person" is not an identity. It is a fundamental trait that cannot and should not be removed from anyone, even voluntarily. The denial of one's personhood is, at best, incredibly misguided, and at worst incredibly dangerous.

So if you're someone who wants to not be called a "person", I implore you to examine why you feel that way in depth, and consider if the problem isn't being called a person, but the societal assumption that person = human. And if the problem is that societal assumption, the solution isn't to deny your personhood; it's to join the large number of people pushing for society to accept that not every person is human.

monkey-papermoon-deactivated202 . July 29, 2024 . Arhived Link
I'm genuinely happy now that i've accepted that i'm alterhuman/otherkin - but how do I stop feeling "less valid" for being such and not therian. The only thing that can describe what I feel is best described in a fantastical creature, but because it's fantastical, I feel like it's not valid/ i'm "making it up". Any tips to get out of this mindset? It kinda sucks :(

gone-fish-mode . July 29, 2024
there is such a massive group of us who aren't therians. They're the most popular and well known at this point ( to those not in the alter / nonhuman community ) but that doesn't have much of anything to do with validity or the very real emotions tied to otherkin identity.

Alterhuman communities like therian, otherkin, nonhuman, voidpunk, and everything else all spawn from a disconnect from humanity in some way, shape or form. They all follow roughly the same idea, we just use different words to point out the usually small differences between us.

I have no real way to feel "more valid" about being otherkin and not therian, all I can tell you is that respect for us isn't earned by using the coolest label, no one here will think less of you for it. You're here to find as much comfort in your skin as you can, and that means using labels that are comfortable!

I will also add that "theriomythic" is totally a thing. If you haven't heard of it, I would suggest checking it out! I actually consider myself theriomythic, but don't really talk about it much, ha! At it's most basic definition, it's for therians who are mythical creatures ;]

Read about it here: 1 2 3 4 5

(these are all off the first page of google but should be good starting points to get the general vibe)

otherkinpolls . August 1, 2024 . 157 votes . Archived Link
i. yes, it's how i perceive my kintype - 4.5%
ii. i'm somewhat connected with it - 36.3%
iii. i'm neutral on it - 13.4%
iv. i'm somewhat disconnected with it - 10.8%
v. i'm strongly disconnected with it - 12.1%
vi. it fluctuates/nuance/other (explain in rbs) - 14%
vii. see results - 8.9%

submitter said:
-if you have multiple kintypes, choose one
-what you consider how humanity perceives can be as nuanced as you want, but some simple examples include foxes being sly, bunnies cute and gentle

gone-fish-mode . August 8, 2024 . Archived Link
i've spoken a lot about myself as a gillman throughout my life, but not really about my general nonhuman feelings. i haven't always been a gillman, in fact one of my most prominent phantom shifts are wings. I don't talk about them at all, but they're there!

Back when i was much younger, 6-7 i think, i was something of a werewolf (convinced multiple friends I was one) and a dragon, with very strong bird influences. i had this obsession with flying. i still have it for sure, but it just doesn't mean the same as it did back then. i think its interesting, its a relic of a past time!

i am very much of the opinion that types can and will change throughout life, and that they should. i once considered my wings to be very important. they're still there, i still love them, but now i take more comfort in my fins. at one point, being a bird or a dragon or a werewolf felt like freedom to me. but these days, being a gillman is as comfortable as it gets!

i dont know. we change as we grow and we prioritize different things. i think its ok to say that you have moved on from a 'type. i don't think you have to be the same species forever to be nonhuman. i was nonhuman before i thought myself a dragon, and i will be nonhuman after i grow out of my gillman 'type.

its normal! change is good.

saltywatercrocodile . September 17, 2024 . Archived Link
I see a lot of minors in the community who seem very...comfortable, I guess, with sharing personal information and photos on here and other sites, and I just wanted to speak my piece about it.

Something I remembered from another post that I wanna steal because I love the wording: before you share something on the internet, think what could someone who wanted to hurt me do with this information? Not trying to be condescending, I'm an adult and I think that exact sentence in my head before I post/comment/DM anything related to myself.

Just saw a post where a well-meaning therian minor linked their Youtube channel, which has videos of them irl (wearing a mask, but still) doing quads outside and at an indoor non-chain business with the name/logo of the building clearly visible.

I cannot emphasize how much I was taught to be extremely careful about posting any irl images as a kid/teen, as people can infer your location from very minor details, MUCH LESS VIDEOS OF MY WHOLE BODY IN AN EASILY GOOGLE-ABLE LOCATION. What happens if someone with malicious intent sees that video, which is public on youtube? What will you do when someone attempts to blackmail or doxx you? Not only would this would-be criminal know where you are, they can also see how old you are and exactly what you look like. Terrifying.

(I understand we're in a culture of many people posting videos of themselves online, but (in my opinion) it's just not safe to be uploading public content that's advertising "Hi I'm bodily a child/teenager and this is what I look like and this is close to where I live and I'm also a therian who's probably hiding this account from my parents")

This individual is essentially just trusting that no one on the entirety of Youtube will just google the name of the indoor facility (along with any other location-identifying posts they may make) and either threaten them via doxxing or just straight up threaten their life/safety.

I knew someone in school who got too comfortable in an in-game chat, and was lulled into a false friendship and tricked into mentioning his address. Then he was threatened and told to send them money or they would physically find him. Thankfully he felt safe enough to tell his parents, who knew how to stop the situation. I know a lot of us aren't out to our family, and I dread to think what would have happened if the boy I knew hadn't felt safe enough to explain the situation to his parents.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TLDR; before you post personal info/photos, think of the absolute worst evil that someone could do to you with that information. I know it's a bummer, but doxxing/blackmail happens more than you think, and even if your posts only seem to get low notes/likes/whatever, they can theoretically be seen by ANYONE, including people who want to hurt you.

(also I don't mean to call out or harass anyone, I'm not trying to be mean, I just wanted to use an example bc it's what inspired me to make this post and also I wanted to outline why real behaviours I'm seeing can be dangerous, rather than just making up hypotheticals)

xz0mb1tchx-deactivated20241029 . August 16, 2024 . Archived Link
okay, so someone educate me, if you can, but i’ve identified as a therian for 5 years now, and i still don’t understand how being a physical therian is okay?? like genuinely believing your body is an animal if you are human. i don’t get it??

physical therianopy is stemmed from delusion, from what i can understand. why is it normalized to feed into that? i don’t support irls bc i don’t feed into delusions, so why should it be different from a physical otherkin/therian/alterhuman??/genq

(i am genuinely not trying to be rude it just makes no sense to me as of rn 😭)

abyssalwerewolf . August 16, 2024
[warning: this may contain reality checking and unreality]

Hi! :)

thank you to being open minded and trying to educate yourself on this topic - I can honestly understand why physically identifying nonhumans can be confusing, because it seems so blatantly obvious that we all obviously have human bodies. right?

In advance, let me apologize for the incoming wall of text, but it seems like you might look for a more detailed explanation on this topic, so I'll try to provide just that!

first off, physically identifying nonhumans can be split into three categories (of course there can be overlapping happening, etc, but generally speaking)

1) clinical zoanthropes, aka. those who actually believe they can physically turn into an animal and/or have nonhuman DNA, organs and such. this is caused by delusions.

2) those who use physical nonhumanity for as a comfort for themselves, but are not any less serious about it. this can be due to following the logic of "I am a dog therian and this is my body, therefore it is physically the body of a dog" without literally meaning they have the DNA or such of a dog. from what I've seen, this is more like a... philosophical approach.

3) this category is sort of similar to the second one, but still different. I fall under this category, so let me explain it by using myself as an example: I am a werewolf and physically identify as one. I am aware I can not shift into my werewolf-form and I know that if someone would check my DNA for any reason, there would be no indicator for me to be anything but human. a werewolf in it's human form is not a human tho, it is still a werewolf - making me a physical werewolf. So the approach is more literal and less philosophical than category 2, but does not fall under the term "delusional", because nothing I believe clashes with the shared reality of all people.

edit: I just remembred there is a fourth category, which we also fall under: headmates/alters in a system might physically identify rather as the form they take inside than the body. this is true for all of us - while we at the same time also identify as the body, we all see our inner forms as our physical forms, too. my inner form is my werewolf form btw, which solidifies my physical identity. means, for example Autumn Trees is a friesian horse and physically identifies as a horse, because that's his inner body and... it makes sense to identify as your body, doesn't it? ;)

So, as you can see, by far not all physical nonhumans are experiencing delusions about this and therefore there is absolutely no harm in supporting and accepting them.

but what about the clinical zoanthropes?

for this part, I want to preface it with saying I am not experiencing any delusions myself, nor am I a professional on this topic. all I say is based on what I know from professionals and delusional people alike on how to treat people with delusions. So take this with a grain of salt.

I agree with you, actively feeding into delusions is unhealthy and can do massive harm. but there is a middle ground between feeding into delusions and reality checking (which are both harmful). if someone tells you they physically can shapeshift into an animal, you will be able to see that you can not see it when they're supposedly shifted and no other person can, so you know "ah okay, they are experiencing a delusion". what you should do is focus more on the emotions they experience, than the actual subject of their delusion. are they extremely stressed because they are scared of being hurt by, say, the government or werewolf-hunters or whatever? try to make them feel safe, sit with them through their faer, ask what would help them to make their home feel more secure. this way, you are neither telling them "oh yes, they are out to get you, you are in danger" (= feeding into the delusion) nor making them feel like their emotions are not valid and stupid (= reality checking). do you get the general approach?

aside from the above, delusions are - as you probably know - unshakable beliefs anyway, they are facts to the people experiencing them, so no matter how you approach it, a clinical zoanthrope will 100% believe they can physically shapeshift anyway - depending on how you approach them they might just be more or less stressed about it.

it is completely in your rights to not want to interact with anyone of course, if physical nonhumans of any kind make you uncomfortable, nobody is forcing you to interact with them. but we are part of the alterhuman community and we're not hurting anyone :)

if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask please!

(/info, /npa for the whole text)

vulpenthefox . August 16, 2024
To add on to this: If OP is a therian, I don't really think that we have the right to be exclusionary on this. I am not a physical therian, but I also understand that I am not in a position as an alterhumanto say that "X experience is not valid." That may notr be how you intended your post to come off, and I'm giving OP the benefit of the doubt, but it does read that way.

Also @talks-with-the-void great job summerizing! I feel like I understand it better now too!

Hi I'm a physical nonhuman who falls into the first category. So since we're mentioned I thought I might add how I feel about it. I'm also a therian for context, and have been in the community for about 8 years.

postwave . August 16, 2024
Reality checking, delusion and all that aside. The way I see it is that it's not a matter of whether or not it's "okay." I really think that not wanting to feed into delusion comes from a good place, of genuinely wanting to be an ally to psychotic people and help people, so I'm going to approach this like that's your priority, OP, and try to help you attain it :> I'm gonna break this down into points

1. You cannot stop a delusional person from experiencing their delusion by refusing to feed into it. All that will do is make them feel gaslit or not want to trust you, because yeah, like the first commenter said, it is like a fact to them. I only started experiencing delusions relatively recently and I'm actually not as educated on this as I could be (even through personal experience) so for talk of reality checking I want to @lycaotic because she knows a lot about the psychological side of this

2. I can double bookkeep very well more often than I can't. Not everybody can do this. Most people who experience delusions actually probably can't. It's one of the hallmark traits of a delusion. Not everybody even considers it a delusion in the first place. Some people just are, and the response to them should be the same as the response to people who publicly claim psychosis, if the only difference is the diagnosis. These people are fully alienated by a community that "doesn't support" their existence because it might be harmful.

3. It is not about whether it's real, whether it's OK, whether it can be proven, whether it's real; this is our experience of the world, this is our reality. We can't change that easily and most of us can't change that at all, even if we get put on medications, which a lot of us don't want to. It's othering to claim we don't deserve access to the alterhuman community (or that we only do if we pretend to be non-physical therians, which isn't fair to us!) because of a disability we may or may not have. We're already a demographic of people unlikely to have in-person connections and support and it is more dangerous to gatekeep us from online spaces out of worry of hurting us by feeding delusion than it is to simply tolerate sharing them. They're our spaces too. We're not even a fad. We've always been here. It's good that alterhuman spaces are becoming more aware and accepting of psychotic people so that we feel safe discussing this and seeking resources.

4. Here's the most important thing though. It's not about whether it's OK because to an outsider, none of this is. If you've ever wanted a society that's chill with alterhumans (I have to assume everybody has at least at some point??) then in-fighting is not the way. A lot of regular therians might disagree with you that they "are human" at all you know, even if they don't see it as a physical thing. If two people say they are animals but one says they're a non-physical past life therian and the other says they have nonhuman DNA... that is the same picture to someone who hates us. Less focus on who's better optics for ableists and fascists please. More focus on how we can support each other and be a stronger community for it.

Anyway. Thank you for actually taking the time to ask sincerely and seek responses and not just lash out.

paracosmic-gt . August 16, 2024
Not to OP but:

Just...be nice to people. Even if you don't understand someone's identity, even if you're scared of their identity because of what has been taught to you, even if you think "oh they are clearly XYZ" just be nice to them. Don't exclude them, don't call them fucking dangerous. Why does the community make it our business to need to "support" or I guess "deny" or "DNI" people based on their (usually harmless) subjective experience of life.

Delusion is not inherently dangerous!! We had to unlearn that. This is what every ounce of media, movies, and now tiktok, will try and tell you. Don't believe it.

aestherians . June 22, 2023 . Archived Link
Word count: ~1450
Estimated reading time: 10-12 minutes

1. Introduction
Language is a funny thing, huh?

In June 2018 I erroneously coined the word “cameotype” — English is my 2nd language and I’ve picked up a lot of words by just noting in which contexts they’re used and then never looking them up in the dictionary. Usually this works, sometimes it doesn’t. I thought a cameo meant an addition, something secondary, or something along those lines. When people discussed cameo-shifts, I knew they were discussing brief, temporary shifts, but it was only after coming up with this word that I realized what “cameo” actually means: A minor role.

That’s absolutely not the meaning I was going for when I made up the word “cameotype,” and I backtracked as soon as I realized my mistake. But I still needed a word to cover that concept I’d originally intended for “cameotype” to cover — to quote my original post: “You know those characters, animals, and so on that make you feel all shifty but aren’t technically kintypes or [hearttypes], yet are still important enough to your therian/’kin experience that you feel like mentioning them somehow?”

In March 2019 I finally shared a follow-up post where I suggested a few alternatives: Paratype (from para-/beside), fratertype/fratype (from frater-/sibling), and sintype (from sin-/together), all of which better describe the concept I was going for. My Anglophonic readers helpfully pointed out that the latter two words sound weird in English, and “paratype” ended up being the most popular word.

And then I never made another follow-up post.

2. An Ill-Defined Definition
I’m not sure why I never wrote a concise definition but in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t. It allowed for 4 years of input and discussion of the term and its scope. Originally, I wanted it to be very broad, covering “anything that doesn’t fit neatly into the established [alterhuman] categories but is still important to your nonhuman identity,” and I thank the gods that that didn’t become the go-to definition. It’s too poorly defined to be useful, and the broadness I was going for is already covered by synpath and vaguetype.

It did, however, end up with a not-much-better definition in Kiera’s Alterhuman Dictionary: “A character, animal, or mythical creature that is not a kin/therio/fictotype or a hearttype, but somehow feels important to your established identity. Some examples of how it may manifest include: inducing shifts of one or more of your established ‘types, showing up as a cameo shift that somehow feels related to your established ‘type, or feeling similar to a hearttype because they remind you of your kintype in some significant way.”

I never got around to asking Kiera to change that definition.

3. Covering all bases
Like I said, I’m glad I ended up waiting so long to write this essay, even if it wasn’t intentional. It allowed me to see a lot of perspectives that I wouldn’t even have considered on my own.

First of all, how do you know if something’s a paratype or something else? After all, it’s possible to have two kintypes that are extremely similar, like two species from the same genus, or two characters who fit the same archetype. If they feel obviously connected, how do you determine if one of them is a paratype or something else?
The annoying answer is that you don’t — not really. Alterhumanity isn’t a hard science, we can’t run calculations to determine which identity facets fit into which categories. All our jargon should be opt-in, not something you feel forced to use because you fit a dictionary definition.
If your kintype is a labradoodle and you later learn that goldendoodles exist, and you feel like you’re a goldendoodle concurrently with your labradoodle kintype, you can choose to call the goldendoodle a paratype, a kintype, both, or neither.
“Paratype” is an opt-in category (no one is forced to use it) and it’s not an exclusive category (if something’s a paratype that doesn’t mean it can’t simultaneously be another kind of ‘type too).

The only requirement for something to be a paratype is that it has an associated identity. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s always an offshoot of something else. I was a bit wishy-washy about this at first since I was more attached to the “it feels like a hearttype/kintype/something else, but it’s not” part of the concept than the “it feels that way because it’s connected to your preestablished identity” part. But no, no matter how a paratype presents itself, or what the experience of it is, it’s defined by its origin: If your paratype-like feelings don’t exist because of another identity facet, it’s not a paratype.

Paratypes are not defined by their origins in the same way that some folks try to define kintypes - whether a paratype is psychological, spiritual, or something else is irrelevant. A paratype can be a quirk of the brain just as well as it can be a past life. As long as the paratype/your connection to the paratype is an offshoot/extension of a preestablished identity, it counts.

The example I’ve used most often to get the idea across is that I am a bison, and because I’m a bison it’s only natural that I feel a connection to domestic bulls. This connection does feel like a hearttype. Unrelated, I am also unicornhearted. The difference comes down to whether I can separate my otherhearted feelings from other parts of my identity. If I can (like with unicorns), I call it a hearttype. If I can’t (like with bulls) it’s a paratype. It’s definitely splitting hairs, but the distinction is valuable to me.

I did get a question once, asking if a paratype had to be an offshoot of an alterhuman identity, or if it could be connected to a gender identity or a disability. I had not considered that possibility, but I gave it a tentative yes. Especially in light of Mord’s “Alterhumanity is Queer” essay, queerness and alterhumanity is not something I want to split hairs about. If you feel connected to dogs because of your gender, or cats because of your disability, and you want to refer to those connections as paratypes, I’m not gonna stop you. More power to you!

It's also worth noting that throughout this essay I have been using animals as examples, but “paratype” is by no means limited to therianthropic/animalhearted identities. Plantfolk, fictionfolk, objectkin, conceptkin, and factualkin can all use it if they want, and the term can be used for any identity category, from kintypes and hearttypes to headmates and past lives to constels and linktypes. It can even be used for paratypes - in theory, a paratype can have a paratype can have a paratype, ad infinitum. Personally, I’m spiderhearted and as a result I feel strongly connected to other arachnids, including ticks, and as I feel connected to ticks, I feel connected to other ectoparasites, like mosquitoes and lice.

A paratype can have any kind of connection to your preestablished ‘type. I use the bison <-> bull example often because it’s an easy way to explain the concept, but other examples may include a lion therian whose paratype is gazelles, a reptile with a sun paratype, a rabbit with a hawk paratype, a robot with a glitch paratype, a mushroom with a tree paratype, a werewolf with a silver paratype, and I could go on. Even something like a lost love from another life or an entire universe could be categorized as a paratype if you wish to do so.

You can also get noemata from a paratype, or only have one specific version of a species/object/character be your paratype. A paratype can be as vague as it can be specific - it can be every single type of dragon ever, or it can be a specific interpretation of a specific dragon species from a specific book. Essentially, you can have any kind of alterhuman experience be classified as a “paratype” as long as it meets the “offshoot/extension of a preestablished identity” criterion - which led to the excellent essay “How a hearttype gave birth to a parallel life of a paratype - a view on the connection between spiritual and psychological roots for otherkinity” which I implore you to read - but not before you’ve finished the final section:

4. A definition - finally!
paratype, plural paratypes (noun)
From para- (prefix): beside, alongside, related to; and type (noun): a particular kind, class, or group

1. (biology) a specimen of a type series other than the holotype
2. (biology) the environmental component of a phenotype
3. (alterhuman community slang) an identity facet that only exists in relation to a preestablished identity

Anonymous Ask . October 20, 2024 . Archived Link
on this post: https://www.tumblr.com/a-dragons-journal/764325609818161152/not-everyone-experiencing-a-delusion-recognizes

i before have truly believed i am physically an animal, or can transform into one. I’m not diagnosed or anything, but I’m 99% sure that experience was a delusion. I did not know that at the time.

I can guarantee if i had been told ‘no, you aren’t’ I would have become extremely upset, and believed myself even more. i never told anyone, so it’s fine.

but if i had posted it online, would that have made me a p-shifter? i would not have said I am having a delusion because i fully believed it.

is the issue with p-shifters their predatory behaviour or the fact they claim to be able to physically shift (I apologise if you’ve already answered this, my brain can’t read well atm /gen)

a-dragons-journal . October 20, 2024
It's kind of both. The predatory behavior is the biggest issue, but the "making physical claims they refuse to provide evidence for" plays directly into that both in the typical "this is a cult" sense that we usually think of with p-shifters and in the "you are posting extremely triggering content for people who experience delusions and refusing to tag it with unreality (because, of course, to do so would be to acknowledge that it's not objective, shared Reality, but instead your personal reality)" sense that babydog talked about more extensively on this earlier post.

But again: if you make physical claims about capital-R shared Reality, you have to be able to provide evidence for those claims; otherwise anyone can say anything and nobody can ever ask for proof. I'm not trying to demand that you (general you) "admit it's not real," because I know it is real for you, regardless of whether it's tangible to me. Acknowledging that it's not shared Reality is not saying your experiences aren't real. I know a lot of people treat it that way, and that's not fair to people experiencing delusions - but the answer is not "insist that it is objective, shared Reality actually and then get mad when people get prickly about that." It can't be. That sounds great in theory, but doesn't work in practice.

It's complicated, it's messy, sometimes it's gray. I'm probably going to care a hell of a lot more about a p-shifter who's actively trying to set up a "pack" or claiming they can teach people to p-shift than I am about one who seems to be minding their own business. But even when they seem to be minding their own business, "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" holds true when you're making claims that should be verifiable.

And if you're choosing to use the word p-shifter, you're choosing to associate yourself with that history regardless of why you're using the word, so yeah, I'm going to bare my fangs at you first and ask questions later, sorry.

talon-dragonbeast . October 19, 2024 . Archived Link
today i want to talk about my hearthome, the coniferous forest, and how i lived there as a dragon. ill be using the words "memory", "remember", and the past tense a lot as an aid, despite me not having a past life. this is because they are noemata, things that never really happened but which i know to be true and are as important as any past life memory. this gets pretty long, so lets begin already.

[a gif of a setting sun peaking through a snowy coniferous forest]

i dont know how or when I found my forest. i was not born there, and although i know there mustve been other dragons somewhere, none ever visited my forest. if i had to guess, im pretty sure i was born among other dragons, but left them once i reached adulthood. im a pretty solitary dragon, as ive talked about before on this blog, and i have a pretty strong protective instinct. so once i left my fellow dragons, its no wonder i would choose a territory of my own that i could defend from others. and ive always preferred colder climates, so the coniferous forest was perfect for me.

my forest was not huge, but not too small either. it took several hours to walk from one corner to another, so i spent all my day patrolling it. my den was located right in the center, in a cave with a hidden entrance where i had my nest made of moss and my hoard of found objects and shiny things. the cave was tall but small, not uncomfortably so (i could stretch out comfortably without ever touching the walls), but just enough so that it made me feel cooped up and safe. right outside my den was a river that led to the mountains surrounding the forest, and marked the end of my territory. the mountains were a vantage point from which I could see any approaching enemies, so they greatly aided in my territory's defense.

[a gif of light rain falling into a puddle or stream near the forest floor]

the weather was not great, but for me it was just perfect. a dense fog in the morning that blocked the first rays of sunshine, the air always humid and heavy on the tongue, so cold it stinged the back of your mouth and made breathing difficult. light rain fell almost constantly from the gray skies, turning to snow in winter and thunderstorm in spring. the ground was always slightly damp, covered with brown pine needles and green moss, the soil underneath so dark it was almost black. the trees were tall and intimidating, all coniferous with a rich mix of pine, larch, spruce and fir, silent guardians much as I was. sometimes, the rain would stop and turn the forest into a nearly dreamlike place, with the sky a blue so intense it hurt the eyes, the sun shining with a strange energy that seemed to cool instead of warm. on those days, the air seemed to stand still, everything becoming so quiet you could almost hear the silence, as if the whole forest was holding its breath.

[a gif of birds flying over foggy forest treetops]

there were animals in my forest, of course. deer and fish and mice and elk and, most importantly, crows. i held a close relationship with the local murder that was similar to the symbiotic relationship between wolves and crows in the wild. they helped me locate prey, informed me of intruders and accompanied me on my patrols, and in return i gave them part of the kill, protected their nests and helped them with any trouble they might get into (you wouldnt believe the kinds of shenanigans the little buggers would manage to find themselves in!). i was at the top of the food chain, and was in charge of maintaining the balance of the ecosystem. i helped the forest, and the forest helped me.

[a gif of two crows sitting on a branch]

there isnt really a conclusion to this. today im feeling a bit nostalgic, probably because the weather is getting colder and colder and it reminds me of home. my forest, the home of my heart, to which i can never return. writing this has made me feel a bit better, but the pain is still there. the truth is, i still miss it terribly. i miss my den, how safe it made me feel. i miss the crows, my murder, my only companions. i miss feeling the ground beneath my claws, the crunching of pine needles and the soft cold dirt underneath. i miss the emotion of the hunt, the long naps under the sun, the stargazing of an infinite night sky.

but what i miss the most i think, is the feeling of belonging. of being part of the ecosystem, not detached from but actively participating in it. in this human life, its too easy to forget i am an animal too; humans seem so keen to separate themselves from the natural world that they have forgotten that they are part of it like any other living being. i guess what i really miss is simply being able to leave my mark somewhere. feeling that i am doing something. feeling important, needed. but again, dont we all?

gazing-at-my-stage . October 22, 2024 . Archived Link
Do other/copinglinkers experience shifts to their linktypes? Do y'all make your own shifts happen voluntarily or is it involuntary like many kin shifts are?

gone-fish-mode . October 22, 2024
Yes and no, for me.

Originally, before I was 'kin, I would force shifts. I was pretty young, young enough to regularly play pretend and no one care about it, which is how I really developed shifts and phantom sensations.

Eventually, these just became second nature and my body would go into "fish mode" (hence my URL) automatically when I was bored or restless or stressed or content or sensory seeking or any other myriad of emotions. I forced shifts so much to cope and for comfort that I did them without thinking.

I lived with these for years before actively deciding to use the term otherkin to describe myself and my relationship with this part of myself.

I don't consider myself an otherlinker/copinglinker these day for reasons that aren't relevant here, but the origins are roughly the same-actively choosing to identify or be something parallel to human (even if I didn't do it with the intent on being 'kin of any kind), so I feel OK answering this question :p

tl;dr, yes. In my experience, you can voluntarily make shifts and phantom limbs happen, and they can also become involuntary.

who-is-page . November 6, 2024 . Archived Link
Author: Page
Type: Essay
Words: 1,229
Summary: Page's personal experience as an adult canine psychopomp, and how it applies to the dearth of older otherkin in general alterhuman community spaces. Answering the question of: where are all the older otherkin? And why do people always seem to eventually leave?
Author's Note: The term "greymuzzle" is used within the scope of this essay's title to reference older otherkin who have been active in alterhuman spaces for extended periods of time (a nod to the word's original definition within furry spaces), and is not referring to greymuzzle's most frequent definition in alterhuman groups as a community-given term denoting an individual with noteworthy activity and contribution.

[Part of the Sol System’s Alterhuman Writing Project for 2024. If you don’t want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedclaws]

When I was a young otherkin, bright-eyed and bushy tailed, I found it difficult to conceptualize why there was such a dearth of older community members, especially those 30 and above. I could understand the theoretics behind the disparity, of course— social media platforms, as we all know, tend to skew towards younger audiences due to generational differences in technological proficiency/preference. Established adults with working lives and families don’t necessarily have the same amount of free-time that young adults or teenagers do, either. But even with all that taken into account, it seemed like the number of otherkin aged 13-21 in comparison to the number of otherkin aged 30+ was less a gradual decline and more an unfathomable chasm of difference. The community had been around for decades at that point, with plenty of ghost town groups and abandoned forums to demonstrate that fact… and unless the Veil was secretly age-restricted, those people hadn’t up and disappeared into thin air. So where were people going? And, more importantly, why?

It was a question I’d never been able to answer in a way that felt satisfactory as a teenager and later as a young adult. But now, feeling the call of the void myself, I finally do have an answer and an understanding that I never could have achieved five or ten years ago: why the fuck would I be online when I could be playing video games or having sex with my hot partners instead?

It’s a crude and simplistic way to put it, but just hear me out. As an established adult, I have access to funds, stability, and freedom that I never had as a teenager or even as a young adult who still felt at the mercy of an uncaring universe’s slightest whims. My support systems in high school and college suffered from the same sort of financial and social precariousness that come with the territory of navigating the world as a young adult, but my support systems now are made up of other established adults; while I’ll never say that everything is always perfect for all of us, it’s much easier to get on your feet and stay on your feet when your arms are linked with people who are more firmly rooted in one way or another. I have access to a type of freedom that I could never have imagined as a teenager, because it was literally outside of the range of what was possible for me and my peers.

And more than just that freedom is the fact that I, as an adult, have a family! “Having a family” has, in my experience, some shitty, heteronormative connotations. As a teen, I always took it at face value as juggling bills, kids, white picket fence, other boring responsibilities that eat up your time, etc. But as an adult, now I know that having a family can be anything you make of it, and I make it extremely, obnoxiously queer. In my case, it’s living with people who understand me on a deep, foundational level, and who love me not in spite of who I am but because of who (and what) I am. It’s not passively being around those people; it’s actively, enthusiastically spending time with them because it’s fun and because I love them too and because they’re my people and I picked them and they picked me. As a kid, I’d never consciously recognized the difference between people you’re passively around because you have to be versus people you intentionally choose to be around and who intentionally choose you right back. In part, this is because as a kid you often don’t get the option to make that choice, while as an adult you have more control over your environment. Too often online environments feel like the former, rather than the latter, even if being within them is, technically, a choice. But here, now, I have people in my household who will go out of their way to intersect their daily lives with mine and ask, “You wanna walk to the park?” “You wanna grab a coffee?” or “You HAVE to see this YouTube essay I’m watching and no I don’t care that it’s 4 hours long on a topic you know nothing about, just trust me!!!!!” and that’s such a radically different and wonderful experience.

As an adult, I live with a group of people who make being alive more fun than I could have ever imagined. I have the ability to make my own fun in ways I couldn’t as a kid, for a variety of reasons. I don’t have to feel like an anxious purse chihuahua 24/7, agonizing over my existence and every possible thing that is liable to go wrong if I frivolously spend money on so much of the thought of a hot coffee. And I finally, finally understand why older otherkin disappear off the face of the Earth. It’s because being an adult nonhuman-identifying person is amazing in a way almost no one ever talks about: the euphoric experience of being known and loved, and of knowing and loving yourself.

There are so many exciting and wonderful things I could be doing in the meatspace with people I have actively chosen to spend my life with, and who fully accept and understand me as someone who’s queer, plural, and nonhuman. There’s so many enriching ways I could be engaging with my hobbies, the environment around me, and my local community. With this all in mind, why the fuck would I ever be in public online spaces where people try to argue with me about whether or not I exist, or if my experiences are real, or if I’m using the right and latest lingo to describe my experiences? Why would I subject myself to that when I could just roll my eyes, close the laptop, and go be a beloved canine psychopomp in the comfort of my werehouse instead?

That’s the crux of it. As adults with families and support networks, we have the option to not subject ourselves to the morifying ordeal of being known by asshole strangers online if we don’t want to. We can stick to just our families and our friend groups, and we will still have people around us who understand and who acknowledge and interact with our alterhumanity. The alterhuman community isn’t the only or even most important place for being our authentic selves; rather, it takes a backseat in the day-to-day life. It’s still something that’s fulfilling and worthwhile to engage with, but only on our own terms (terms that are quickly becoming incompatible with the ways Internet culture is evolving). But more often than not, there’s just more fun things to do.

In some ways, it’s kind of a relief to have had this epiphany. People haven’t vanished from alterhuman community spaces because they collectively ‘grew out of it’ like some anti-otherkin insist, or because the various generations of otherkin are so extraordinarily different from one another as to be oil-and-water. People vanish from online alterhuman spaces because offline life as an adult alterhuman is awesome. As an archivist it’s frustrating, but as a nonhuman, I find it a specific type of happiness that’s worth celebrating in its existence and prevalence. It’s an assurance that life only gets better as you get older: isn’t that grand?

integral-canine . September 17, 2024 . Archived Link Not Finished
I've been interested in the "why" of non-human identity for years and years. It's something that's bugged me because I'm a skeptic. I decidedly don't believe in spirits and the like, and I wasn't satisfied with leaving it as just an identity either.

There had to be a reason why I see myself as an animal. So, I've been picking it apart for a while. I haven't just left it as an identity. I've looked at what I remember happening when I started identifying as animal. I've looked at when I "feel" like an animal and what's going on when that's happening. It's taken me a while, but I've come to a pretty solid conclusion. It's not a particularly fun thing to think about, but it stands up to the most scrutiny.

My nonhuman identity is fundamentally a product of my imagination. It's pretend. There is no physical part of my body, no fully involuntary thought process that makes this happen. I am imagining it. My shifts, when I do experience them, are not actual dog's thoughts, but my human brain's approximation of what those might be. (Maybe the same can be said about werewolves? They're not real in the first place, so that might not really matter.)

It's something I've integrated into my personality and my self-image I think because I've used my imaginary animal self for too long. It went from something I did when I played as a little kid, to something that I used to make sense of why I felt so isolated from other kids in middle school. I wasn't a teenage girl because I was secretly an animal. I found community in people who were also secretly animals.

As I found friends in-person and got to a place where I could pick apart my animal identity, I realized, or I am realizing that it's kept a similar function. Now, those "animalistic feelings" are something I retreat into when I'm too stressed or too depressed for one reason or another. It's a coping mechanism. I'm not sure if it has a fully positive or fully negative effect on me, but that's absolutely what it is.

I imagine myself as a dog or as a werewolf to protect myself mentally from my depression and my social isolation. I've done this to the point that it's part of who I am and how I see myself now. That's why. That's why I identify as a therian/otherkin, and I think that's worth thinking about. As much as it's part of who I am, it's worth picking apart and seeing what the whole dog and werewolf thing is all about.

Anonymous ask . December 8, 2024 . Archived Link Not Finished
Regarding the whole idea of the use of "therian" for those who aren't an earthen animal, a lot are saying this is because the word was originally defined to include more species than that, but language isn't stagnant, especially when it comes to social words in modern day. Words change meaning as the general collective uses them differently, such as the word "gay" changing from meaning "happy" to meaning "homosexual". Why are alterhuman terms not allowed to change, especially when recently, and even now on other platforms, a lot of the community seems to agree on the earthen animal definition and both created new labels specifically for those displaced as well as new umbrella terms for everyone?

a-dragons-journal . December 8, 2024
In principle I agree with the fact that language shifts over time and that is, to some degree, normal and to be expected and embraced - but we also have to be careful about "language changes" being used to excuse the language being changed to exclude people who used to be included. Language does shift, but that doesn't mean we can't criticize those shifts when they're doing harm. When language is starting to shift in such a way that people who've been using a term for years are now being told that they're not allowed to anymore, I think that's a bad shift that we should discourage, personally.

(And that's exactly what's happening - for a while, the community consensus was to define therian that way (I did it myself for a few years); now it's shifting back.)

There's also the fact of why the shift to exclude non-earthen-animal therians happened: namely, the therian community has a history of trying to push out mythical and fictional animals specifically because they're often seen as "less valid" or harder to defend against antikin, or because the earthen-animal therians doing the pushing themselves don't think it's possible to be a mythical creature and don't want to be associated with "those fakers". That's a pretty shitty reason to be changing the meaning of a word to exclude people who historically have always been included.

So yes, language does shift, you are correct. But when it's words for a group of people, that shift carries more weight than most other types of word. It's not about alterhuman terms never being allowed to change ever so much as it's about asking why that shift is happening, who it's actually helping (if anyone), and who it might be harming - and thus whether it should be encouraged or discouraged.

But that's just my two cents' worth, so. (More details on this can be found in Dispelling the Earthen Animal Myth, though if you're bringing this debate into my inbox I'm guessing you're probably familiar with that essay - I'll link it anyway just in case you haven't seen it, since it's a good resource.)

wewillbeseen-butnotheard . December 8, 2024 . Archived link not finished
i think this is a weird thing to say. but i’m more that just curious and it’s something else that i want to get out.

how do you (we?) tell that it isn’t just some “fetish”? maybe it’s not something everyone would have to think about, and i’m obviously afraid of going to far into that subject

genuinely and actually. how? i see a little talk about this sort of thing but what i’m talking about feels totally different somehow. (i’m not necessarily talking about “being treated like an animal“) i don’t get it and i’m sorry that this is a very strange inquisition. that’s all

court-kossai . December 8, 2024
well , think maybe more important thing to ask would be :

why is anything " just fetish " to start with ? fetish can be just as much means of expression and identity as anything else , even if live right now in world that try to shame and discourage this , treat sexuality as just meaningless sin .

certainly not to say that there is nothing about fetishes or expressions of fetishes to criticise , or that all expression is appropriate in all circumstances , but sometimes these do intertwine with identity . nothing is actually inherently wrong about that , whether pleasure bring identity or identity bring pleasure .

of course , know is not just that easy to really shake off expectations and cruelties of others . but people who dismiss identity of others as " just fetish " never have best interests at heart anyway . think about how many trans people hear those accusations , and how many bigots use that to try and shutter away from world .

and yes , some of those trans people probably did explore gender through kink and sexuality first . but is that reason to invalidate and disrespect , to treat as sex pests even when expression is family friendly , squeaky clean and clear ?

( of course not to say hate for nonhuman identities is equally systemic and violent , but there is some parallel in perception of bigots . both might as well be equally impossible , things to regard with disgust and shutter away . )

sometimes nonhumanity start as fetish exploration , but bloom into identity which go beyond sexuality .
sometimes identity did not start with sexual aspects , but gradually evolve , especially as one grow into experience .
sometimes so twine together , there is no point in ask where each start and end .
and sometimes there just never was any sexuality to start with , but feel need to question and prove against society - society which might not accept anyways , unfortunately .

and none of these is bad , really . know did not really answer original question , but , hope maybe this could help in some way - and sorry if not .

talon-dragonbeast . December 11, 2024 . 254 votes . Archived link not finished
i was thinking, now that we have at least a couple of beings interested in posting about their alterhuman experience in their own languages, how about we create a label for it? something like "#international alterhuman" or something like that. of course, english speaking creatures could also use the tag if they feel they dont fit the anglo-american standard. what do you guys think?
i. im interested in a tag like this, and would like to post in it (awesome!!) - 24.8%
ii. im interested in a tag like this, but i would not post in it (also awesome) - 57.1%
iii. i dont really care, it wouldnt affect me - 11.8%
iv. nah, i dont think a tag like this should exist (why?) - 0.8%
vi. see results (coward /j) - 5.5%

audhd-catboy . December 11, 2024 . results . Archived link not finished

This is for 2025, but. I have no patience. So.
[inactive link]
Basically just a survey for anyone under the alter/nonhuman umbrella. Also for otherhearteds, I'm unsure whether they're considered alter/nonhuman. In fact, that's one of my questions in the survey!
So yeah. Uh. Take it if you want. I'll post the results in November or December next year depending on the number of responses.

Lmk if the link doesn't work. If any of this is offensive in any way, please tell me! It's not supposed to be!

courtkossai . December 12, 2024 . Archived link not finished
this is something which have on mind for some time . as court full of faeries - suppose extranthropes if need to get specific - words like shift do not really make sense of feelings . everything which members of kossai say , feel , think , and do is already entirely faerie - there is no shift to be more faerie .

still , not always appear in same ways - and that is because of human filter .
not all faerie thoughts , feelings , and actions appropriate for human world , human society , and general human interaction . to live with humans , need to adopt some kind of human filter .

but this filter can also stifle . have to filter out urges to steal people away , filter out urges to even voice these thoughts . have to filter out references of wings , of otherworlds , of very identity .
constant self monitor and filter will crush anyone - and , without any breaks from filter at all ? filter can catastrophically fail when need most .

so , break time is very important - this break time might use trance or other mind alteration to trigger . how this break time will look , will depend on specifics of nonhumanity .
for kossai as faeries , this include :

less use of language
more " broken " language
higher emotional expression overall
more indulgence of urges that do not impact others , but still need to filter out among humans - such as urge to dance randomly or make nonsensical music
more honesty about faerie feelings , thoughts , and existence - even if still inappropriate to act on
to get to point , would like to suggest some phrases .

high human filter - actively hide alterhuman or nonhuman identity and traits , to take part in human society and interaction .
average human filter - not actively hide , but still work to filter out less human-appropriate thoughts , feelings , and urges .
low human filter - much more honesty and indulgence in nonhumanity . likely still understand human-appropriate behaviour , but pick and choose what to use .
no human filter - purely act on instincts of nonhumanity , little to no recognition of human-appropriate behaviour . generally , most free but also worst state to be in .
not really own these words or ideas , of course , so feel free to word this kind of discussion in any way that feel comfortable .
maybe high human filter is chrysalis , or human up .
maybe low human filter is fae out .
maybe use door metaphors .
or reference glamour and banality from changeling the dreaming .
or metaphor of shift gears .
anything that help to make sense from this !

just ask to please remember that this specific post come from sapient extranthrope perspective - might not apply to all . :)

dogs-have-fallen . December 14, 2024 . Archived link not finished
i really wish tumblr would come out with a short form video content section like how insta has a tab for reels ,, especially with the upcoming tiktok ban in the US .

i feel like all of the other video platforms with a therian population has been watered down to people genuinely considering therianthropy as a hobby or something you just ‘connect with’ . sure , be otherhearted , that’s great . but don’t get it confused .

i’d just love to see some of the content we post here as video content since most other platforms people basically equivalent to quadropics and if you ‘actually identify as an animal you’re crazy/a lycanthrope/not a therian” as if that’s not essentially what it means .

ESPECIALLY for otherkin content ! i want to see vids on otherkin thats not just people cross tagging and it just being quads . genuinely that is why i avoided therian tiktok like the plague because i’m getting to a point that i simply have quad content because thats what people have boiled down therianthropy to . yeah i walk around on all fours around my house occasionally but im not a therian BECAUSE i do that . it is a method of transportation .

gone-fish-mode . December 14, 2024
Honestly I'd have to disagree. Short-form content really messes with addiction and attention span, and that'd influence the content that people prefer to watch and engage with.

One of the reasons I love tumblr is because it puts us all on even ground- I don't need to make cute cool aesthetic videos in order to grab folks attention. I'm none of those things, and I can never fit anything I have to say into those tiny videos. I don't like to make videos, and I know a lot of folks on tumblr fall into this same boat. It'd exclude a lot of us.

I understand what the problem your seeing is. If less aesthetic nonhumans / otherkin made videos like tiktok did, then alterhumanity would be understood as more than quads and all of that. And I fully agree- I'd love for a way to make meaningful change with younger nonhumans, but turning tumblr into short form content ( or even allowing it on the site ) would get rid of why we stand out in the first place.

eventually it'd allow little room for nuance and videos would exist to grab and keep attention, the like. We already have tiktok and reels and YT shorts, we should not turn one of the last popular text-based, nuance allowing social medias into another platform for short-form content. We don't need more.

I honestly think that if this is something folks care about, they should start making the content they want to see on other platforms.

dogs-have-fallen . December 14, 2024
i love your response so much . you’re very right :0

about the very last part: there are a few who do make that content on other platforms , myself and friends included , and it’s INSANE the backlash we get . maybe that’s just tiktok , but it’s weird going from a place like tumblr where talk of animalistic urges and such are usually widely discussed to a place where people say you’re a lycanthrope for it T-T

a-dragons-journal . December 16, 2024 . Archived link not finished
Alterhuman does not mean everyone who identifies as nonhuman on some level (oh and maybe otherhearted people too). Please for the love of all that is good and holy stop saying that. It means anyone whose identity falls outside of society’s idea of “normal human” - anyone with an identity alternative to humanity or that’s an alternative form of humanity. It includes nonhumanity, yes, but also otherheartedness, hearthomes, archetropy, plurality, daemonism, furry lifestylers, othervague folks, constelics, and so much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

Fictionfolk does not mean anyone who identifies as a fictional character. It means anyone with an alterhuman connection to fiction of any kind. It includes fictionkin and fictives and such, yes, but also fictional hearthomes, fictionheartedness, soulbonders, fictional vaguetypes, fictional constelics, and much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

To collapse these words down to basically be synonymous with otherkin and fictionkin is to utterly defeat their purpose. Please stop defining us out of our own communities. Please stop erasing the existence of everyone outside of “identifies as nonhuman and/or fictional”.

20l-lux-capt0r . December 16, 2024 . Archived link not finished
chat who want2 two te2t my alterhuman 2urvey pl2 pl2 thank u

All Anon Only

[survey link]

[Note: I am NOT legally allowed to require to medical information so this is not limited to DID only systems. Take it up with research medical laws, not my ass.]

voxel-s-deactivated20250510 . December 16, 2024

20l-lux-capt0r . December 16, 2024

voxel-s-deactivated20250510 . December 16, 2024

20l-lux-capt0r . December 16, 2024

louisirl . December 21, 2021 . Archived link not finished
I’m not as vocal in the community as I once was, but I feel compelled to share this. If you identify as alterhuman, it’s equally important to embrace both the aspects of the experience that align with societal norms and those that might seem strange or unconventional.

The ongoing debates about what is considered “normal” in human society—and using that as a standard to gatekeep alterhuman experiences—baffles me.

This is your own community that you’re undermining—a minority group of those who already somewhat exist outside the boundaries of human norms, yet you, as a fellow alterhuman, are filtering their experiences through a rigidly human perspective.

If you’re alterhuman but unwilling or uncomfortable to explore or express its full complexity, that’s your choice. However, it’s unfair to project that choice onto others who are open and willing to engage with every facet of their identity.

It takes deep introspection and courage to reflect on these things, come to terms with them, and actively share them with others. Without this process, our community wouldn’t be what it is today.

Pushing your insecurities onto others and shaming them for embracing the difficult parts of themselves that you’ve chosen to avoid is deeply harmful to the community. It’s 2024; we should be progressing, not regressing.

If someone is being genuine about their truth and isn’t causing harm to themselves or others, they shouldn’t be shamed for their alterhuman experiences. Life isn’t a flawless, polished narrative—it’s messy, chaotic, and sometimes uncomfortable. But that’s what makes it so profoundly and beautifully complex.

16-puppies . December 22, 2024 Archived link not finished
TW: mentions of animal death. Nothing super graphic but I thought I would make it as obvious as I can.

I wish there were more discussion about therianthropic origins that are outside of the spiritual/psychological/physical … like there are so many ways to be a therian or become one that I don’t see discussed at all. I also don’t know if there’s any discussion being had on how pet death may affect therianthropy, which is most of what I want to talk about here.

For example, my scenthound dog theriotype is specifically of emotional origin. I had never heard of anyone describing their experience this way , and I started using this term for myself nearly a year ago because calling my dog type just “psychological” didn’t feel right. I also think there may be a past life connected to this type as well, but I feel less focused on that part

This theriotype specifically came from my childhood dog and her death. She was a boxer beagle mix. Her death is integral to my identity because it happened right around the time I was questioning being a Vizsla dog, and it changed my perception of that theriotype forever. I was no longer a Vizsla but rather a mixed/uncertain breed of scenthound dog, and how I view myself as this theriotype has permanently changed to look more like my childhood dog. Dark masking, occasionally white markings, black claws against tan paws… quite the opposite of the uniform color of the Vizsla, who is a golden rust from nose to claw.

While I still do feel connected to Vizslas, especially the general short haired dog with floppy ears look and their behaviors, they just aren’t quite *me* anymore because of this.

I feel like pet death, or even just death in general is overlooked as a source of therianthropy or certain theriotypes… I think ultimately it comes from a place of deep empathy, which is why I felt “emotional kin” was more accurate to my experience than “psychological kin”. Thinking about this really makes me wonder how many experiences and awakenings aren’t talked about that include death in some way. Are there bovine therians who awakened as such after seeing one die on a farm? Are there deer therians who saw one of their own being hunted and realized then that they were one? Are there therians who found their kintype after being exposed to taxidermy of them? And, are there others like me who witnessed the death of their beloved nonhuman family member and watched their identity shift right before their eyes? What about therians with family and close friends who are therians? When they die, will they feel the sudden pull to “adopt” the theriotypes of their loved ones, so that a part of them is always there? So many questions, and I fear not enough research or discussion to answer them. It’s interesting to think about, at the very least.

courtkossai . December 24, 2024 Archive link not finished
when kossai talk about physical faeriehood , certain type of concern trolls tend to assume things like :

that kossai can and will attempt to leap off buildings for flight ,
that kossai can and will eat inedible substances under guise of faerie foods ,
that kossai feel immune to dangers and will rush ahead anywhere without safety precautions ,
that kossai claim to fully understand and speak with theriform animals ,
and whatever else these people associate with lack of health .
but kossai never actually claim these things anywhere , and do not work to encourage these thoughts in others - if anything , try very best to spread awareness of discernment . all which say is that , by religious means , kossai is physically faerie .

neither do kossai have some intent on " convert " anyone to physical nonhumanity - there is nothing which kossai can teach , can only talk about personal experiences . kossai do not care about how many identify as physically nonhuman , so long as each one feel comfort and safety in label .

but there is another secret to this . which is that , even if someone sincerely hold those claims in start of post ? refusal of autonomy and respect will not erase these .

if anything , that treatment is likely to make worse - outcast and isolation is nightmare for anyone , and people who already struggle with grip will struggle even more if people do not give true kindness , if people treat as some poor woobie little thing which need help , or else some dangerous predator who only want to steal away and somehow convert others in .

kossai understand kneejerk reaction to want for folks to not get hurt , absolutely , entirely , forever . but shame and isolation will never fix delusions , eating disorders , self harm , anything .

yes , as much as understand desire to say to someone that flight is impossible , and glass is very much inedible ... maybe , unless this become immediate danger and have no choice but to restrain for safety , hold tongue on that .

( which , is also very unlikely to be responsibility and position as stranger online . )

let others have space to talk about experiences , and do not make assumptions about how this identity and this experience manifest . even in those who struggle massively , this basic respect and kindness can hold off some of worst effects and spirals .

and overall , give others more credit . just because personally experience physical nonhumanity as torturous delusion , this will not guarantee true for everyone else .

not all folk with delusions experience this as something which destroy all semblance of awareness and cognition . some folk with delusions even have sign off of doctors to embrace identity , just perhaps with some extra mindfulness .

and not all folk with physical identity , or physical aspects in identity , actually experience as delusion to start with . some things , even weird things , can be just ... religion , spirituality , or dare say even quirk . delusion is not just something weird and hard to understand .

but again , even if experience as worst of worst delusion : give respect and kindness . do not shame . do not say " get help and leave this community " . and if this is personally impossible , for whatever reason that might be , then just block , ignore , and move on .

talon-dragonbeast . December 26, 2024 . Archived link not finished
do you ever think about theories of origin? i do. sometimes i like to look into all the different explanations for alterhumanity that ive seen in the past, just for fun. of course, all my identities are still psychological, so i dont even need to think about this on the first place... but shower thoughts are shower thoughts, and pondering things for fun is a hobby of mine. my favourite theory of origin is, undoubtedly, the soul misplacement theory. the notion that, before you were born, a soul was placed inside your body, one that didnt match the one that was "supposed" to inhabit the body... so, for example, if im a dragon, the theory says that the soul of a dragon was mistakenly put in this human body, and that this soul was supposed to go somewhere else (maybe a parallel world, a different dimension/plane of existence, or just a different planet very far away from here) but is now trapped here. i dont know, i just find it very sweet. if you think about it, this theory requires the belief that somehow, somewhere, there is a world where dragons exist (and also, it requires you to assume that your human soul, the displaced one, is now in a dragons body in this other world, which i find hilarious). this theory is in itself very comforting to those who uphold it, because it makes you able to believe that, no matter how bad this life is, theres a world out there where you could live or have lived the life of your dreams. maybe you are able to remember what this life is or was like (through noemata or past life regression), maybe not; but you know that it could be out there, and that is enough. it also lays out some very interesting questions: if this was a mistake, how is that possible? who puts souls inside bodies in the first place? is it a god? some other higher being? if it is a god or something similar, does this mean that gods are capable of making mistakes? is this theory compatible with other religious beliefs, or is it a religious belief on its own? what even is a soul? what will happen to my dragon soul when i die; will it go to a dragon body like how it was supposed to in the first place, or will it remain trapped in this plane of existence forever? do all dragonkin come from the same "dragon world", or are they different ones? and if they indeed are different ones, does that mean that dragons are common enough in the universe that there are not one, but multiple worlds with dragons out there? are dragons the crabs of the universe? this and other questions i yell into the void, because i know that by their very nature they wont have one single answer, and because everyone is different every being will have different theories for their own existence. other theory which i find fascinating is the parallel life theory. not because of the theory itself, but because of the implications of it. if your soul, your mind, your counciousness or whatever, was really able to exist in two different realities at once, what would this mean for psychology, for science? are only some brains especially wired to jump from one world to another, or is everyone capable of doing so with the right training? in these other lifes, would you retain the knowledge from this one, or would you lose it every time you switch between worlds? and also (and forgive me if this may sound insensitive, this is a rhetorical question and not meant to have an answer), which one of these worlds would be considered "the most important one", or even "the real one"? is it the first? is it the one you discover later in life? is it the most "mundane" one? the one you like the most? i think this theory leaves more questions than it answers, and while that may work for some people it does make me somewhat uneasy, as if there is more to learn about it. but thats just my personal opinion. and finally, the Everyones Otherkin theory. this is of course the funniest one and the one i would most wish to be true, mainly because i wholeheartedly believe that it would make a better world this way. it would also explain some things like the "spirit animal" phenomenon from a decade or so ago, or the fact that almost all humans unconsciously align themselves with animals/mythical creatures/objects/colors, in some way (via archetypes or symbolism) throughout their lives. its true that sometimes i like to assign kintypes to the people i know, but i only do it for my own strange amusement and would never take it more seriously than i should. so yeah, while none of these theories apply to me, i still like to think about them from time to time because i believe theyre interesting. so, just out of curiosity: whats your theory of origin? whats your favorite one (regardless of if you believe in it or not)? and finally, whats the weirdest theory that youve come across over your time in the community?

feral-animal . December 26, 2024 . Archived link not finished
Don't bash me in for saying this..but I don't consider anyone 14 or under who especially has tiktok to really be a therian.

They're more than likley gonna grow out of it. I'm not hating them for saying they are a therian but most people that young don't even know the meaning and seriousness of the identity.

cesarorka . December 26, 2024
I'm going to be honest, even tho I discovered therianthropy and started to identify with it as a 11yo, I agree with this take. When u are so young u usually don't have a full understanding of urself and the world, especially regarding a complex identity like alterhumanity. Ofc there will always be cases of some 5yo showing "signs" of being alterhuman, but those are really really rare. With the amount of misinformation about therianthropy circulating rn, no teenager has the capacity to fully understand what it is and to actually identify with something so deep.

paleodeer-deactivated20250810 . December 26, 2024
These are interesting takes to me, because to me saying something like this sounds similar to "Anyone under 14 cannot be transgender or gay"

I understand that being a therian is a serious identity, and that kids usually don't understand the depth of it, but that applies to almost any identity label. And I feel like if we want these things (not only alterhuman identities but queer identities as well) to be more accepted in society, maybe we should stop caring about what other people (yes, even kids) identify as.

Listen, I'm not bashing you for saying this, and I also try to avoid arguments as much as I can - this is just something I need to point out because the way you two talk reminds me of how transmedicalist folks talk about trans stuff, just change the alterhuman terminology into gender and sex related terminology. The idea that an identity is "rare" and cannot be valid until you are an adult, or that an identity isn't valid if you grow out of it, doesn't really make sense to me. A lot of folks forget that identities are fluid; for some they are always there, for some they come and go. I think a lot of alterhumans can look back on their childhood and find "signs" of the identity being there. And for some ex-alterhumans, the identity really did exist and it was valid even if it did eventually fade. Now, can we not see the same happen with experiences such as gender and sexuality?

Also, certain identities just aren't as intense for some, while it is for others, and their identities are still valid. We all experience life differently! If we start talking about how "rare" and "serious" and "deep" alterhumanity is, we will start throwing each other under the bus sooner or later.

Since there's so little research around alterhumanity, how do we really know if it's as rare as we think? Yes, we're a relatively small community, but maybe it's because most people around the world don't have the words for how they feel yet.

The kids are helping in building the community. Even if the way kids express their identity is different, people around them will notice, and if there are any sort of alterhuman-adjacent individuals around the kids, finally finding the words to explain how they feel can be life saving.

gone-fish-mode . December 26, 2024
Going to add onto this in defense of young therian teens. I tried to put it in the tags, but the editor keeps crashing on me. So direct reply it is.

I would have been a tiktok therian at 14. So fast. I considered myself nonhuman at age 8. Eight! And I discovered therians at 13. At the time, the website I was on had no large therian community, I only knew a singular individual who used a definition that most of the community now would consider to be incorrect. And so I never identified with the label because it was inaccessible to me. But had it been in a place like tiktok? With a large, diverse, active community?

Hell-fucking-yeah, dude.

And sure, maybe they'll grow out of it. So what? This isn't some lifelong condition that people have, for a lot of us its a means to an end. A way to cope, an outlet, a way to deal with dysphoria, a spiritual belief. It's not something that has ever needed to be set in stone eternally to be valid, and honestly I think the belief that it somehow does need to be a permanent fixture overlooks the experiences of so many older teens and adults in the community who would otherwise be "valid" by OPs terms. So what if they grow out of it. To quote that old tumblr post, "show me a permanent state of the self."

And even if you think someone isn't alterhuman, I want you to look me in my fish eyes and tell me that a community based around animals, researching wildlife, activities, and crafts isn't a good thing for a kid to be into. In a world of anti-intellectualism and AI and environmental distress, anything that gets a young brain thinking and learning and making art and going outside is an awesome thing and should not be shamed.

Now, want to talk about the way some members of the community throw physical nonhumans and lycanthropy (and its variations) under the bus? How prioritizing aesthetics drowns out sharing experiences and ideas? Yes, lets talk about it. Lets figure out ways to protect our community. Lets help communicate and educate, but lets not shame kids for doing things that encourage self-exploration and healthy, community-building activities.

And this last bit is a bit to the left, since it's about tiktok therians, but still relevant to the whole "kids in therian spaces" conversation, so I'm adding it.

All the issues with young therians is not in fact from their age (for the most part). Its from the RAMPANT anti-intellectualism that is going around right now. Lower reading scores and puritan ideals are keeping new ideas out of young brains. Plus the emphasis on the social media algorithm keeps them hooked on material that is largely inoffensive (so that it can reach the most people and make the most ad revenue possible), so they don't challenge their own beliefs often. That bleeds into communities and spaces (like ours) that were built upon and rely on sharing new experiences and self reflection that can sometimes be gross or weird or ugly or taboo.

Anyway, all this to say. I think there should be more 14 year old therians. I think it's good for them, even if they grow out of it. And I think we should embrace them and try to help them learn.

wewillbeseen-butnotheard . December 31, 2024 . Archive link not finished
i think i want to try summarise my own feelings properly (mainly for myself, if anything). i almost exclusively post about these feelings, so sorry if it’s the same as everything else i’ve posted at any point this might not make much sense when put together, but this is my best attempt at describing it.

under ↓

i have a strong desire to become something other than human. it’s probably been something that i have had my entire life, though i wasn’t able to identify it as that until ~the beginning of 2024. since then it’s only became more intense.

even up until a few months ago, i used to assume it was “purely sexual” and that was that. but i realise that if that was the case, i wouldn’t have been so constantly drawn to it when i was much younger in the way i was.

it would always materialise, in one way or another, especially since ~late 2020 when i started to mature. the whole thing is very important to my sense of self. my identity feels centred around it, almost.

at the beginning of this year i “started” being a furry (please stay with me for this part) though it’s much less of a “hobby” and much more of an identity. it definitely stems from the prospect of sharing a name with those creatures. i would call myself a furry because the anthropomorphic creatures are commonly referred to as “furries” as well and i was more or less calling myself one because if i couldn’t physically BE one, i could at least refer to myself as one internally, even if i didn’t share it with those around me.

it didn’t feel like i woke up and chose it one day. (this is why the label “furry” is slipping off of me now). it took from october-january to accept it, and it was something that was always there. i don’t fit in to furry spaces as much i thought i would, because this isn’t an “interest” to me, this is a very significant part of myself, and i can’t even “just drop it” seeing as i’ve “quit” several times in the past (even recently) and it’s just too intertwined with my sense of self for me to ever imagine being able to throw it away.

to me, it doesn’t mean “being interested in anthropomorphic animals” it means “i would go so excruciatingly far to become one of those animals or anything remotely similar, and i would give it all away in a second to achieve that”. if not “furry”, then what is it?

only recently have i discovered that this isn’t really what most furries are in those spaces for. honestly being a furry for me was very involuntary, and i’m not going to try lie to myself because others will say “that doesn’t make sense!” because that is LITERALLY how it was, and how it still is.

ever since maybe ~june, when i found out about “phantom limbs” tails, etc. i felt a little bitter towards those who claimed they could feel that. considering how much it means to me personally.

at some point i researched into it, and slowly began to learn what a “therian” was. (honestly it kind of bothered me.) i can not stress enough how significant the concept of “becoming something else” is to my sense of self, and seeing something like this felt somewhat insulting at the time

i think my mind perceives it as a “threat” of some kind. for a while i’ve been told/i’ve KNEW it wasn’t possible to be something else. i had to swallow that pill when i was very young and it felt/still feels weird seeing others get genuine joy out of the idea.

a lot of envy, a lot of projection, and a lot of hypocrisy adds up to me lashing out onto others due to it all. i couldn’t count how many times i’ve done it at this point and i can’t guarantee i won’t do it again. (though i hope i won’t)

especially from september-november i struggled a lot with “species dysphoria” but now it’s a lot less straightforward and it’s really a mix of that + confusion and “disbelief” that keeps me down.

since i started this account, i’ve had a lot of supportive messages/asks/etc. (i’m very grateful for that). each time i try lashing out against “this community” i’m met with very underwhelming amounts of hate back at me (yet i have SO MANY kind and supportive words in my inbox). i still don’t think i deserve that, but i appreciate it

i find it hard to approach the prospect of “being a fox”, though i want it and desire that concept (even non physically.) it’s a lens that i can put on my own experiences that makes everything make SENSE. it could serve as the answer for why i have felt the way i have in the past/+ other things. am i? i don’t know. i honestly hope so. its just that the genuinely real concept of it is painful and feels good at the same time.

i often am told “don’t worry, you don’t have to label yourself if you don’t want to” but honestly, these labels are LITERALLY “for me”. i’ve thought that since i heard about it. that isn’t necessarily me saying i’m one. even if i’m not, i still feel that way.

i don’t have “involuntary experiences” other than my own intense yearning to become an animal of some kind and the feelings surrounding that. i don’t find myself doing “animal things”(depending on what you’d define that as) i just LIKE myself much better as a fox and not being one gives way to a lot of negative emotions, especially lately.

i have noticed what almost feels like a growing disconnect from my own physical self since i started thinking about it. my face isn’t my own until i look in the mirror, and even though i don’t “perceive myself” as an animal, i am beginning to feel a lot less like the person that reflects me in the mirror. often times i force myself to glance into it as i pass by.

this was a lot longer than i expected. i don’t know how coherent it is, and i don’t think that’s all of it. but if anyone read all that, i appreciate it. sorry for acting the way i have been recently. i am trying to get better around these topics.

skeletons-and-spiders . January 1, 2025 Archived link not finished
Hello there. First, I would like to preface this with the fact that I, 19F, know very little about Therian's or the terminology, so do forgive me if I accidentally offend anyone.

So I first came across the term Therian roughly around late June of 2024. I will admit I was confused about it and first believed it was typical kids going through the whole pretending to be animals while playing phase. But then I started to get recommended videos of Therian TikTok compilations. I decided to watch one just out of curiosity, and I was rather taken aback with how deep it really is. I forgot about it for a while until November. Since then I have done some more research, and now comes my question as to whether I may be a Therian myself.

I saw most videos said to find what your animal is, is that the right term, before anything else, so I first focused on that. I think I may be a wolf. They have always been one of my favourite animals, and as a kid, I used to imagine a world where I was able to transform into a white wolf with a blue streak. I still do sometimes. Also, as a really young kid, like 5 to 7, I used to pretend to be a cat a lot, where I would meow and crawl on the ground. Plus, I am queer, and my gender is a demigirl, something that falls under the nonbinary umbrella, so I've always had a weird relationship with my body in a way. Plus, I am kind of chubby, and I've always been insecure about that.

Now come the reasons I am not sure if I am a Therian.

To start with, I am perfectly fine with being seen as a human, and I still feel like a human and feel fine with that.I also refer to myself as a human and sometimes forget that I think I'm a wolf. I bring this up as all the videos I have watched all mention feeling fully like their animal and hating being seen as human and not feeling human at all. The second thing is I am not sure if a wolf really is my animal. I've seen a lot of people saying they knew that they'd found what animal they were by having dreams or shifts or other things. I have none of those. I've never had memories of past lives or shifts or anything really. Another is how I chose my animal rather quickly. I was In the stockroom of the bookshop I work at, a volunteering job, I was running through different animals by mumbling to myself to see what felt right, like "I'm a cat," "I'm a possum," etc., and when I said, "I'm a wolf," it kind of felt different. But I'm not sure if that's because I am a wolf inside or because I have a lot of verbal stims, and certain words just feel nice to say.

I do, however, relate to the parts of videos that say most Therians have always felt different. I have, but that may just be due to how I'm autistic and was bullied a lot as a kid until I was like 17. And I am able to imagine myself with wolf ears and a tail, but they aren't like phantom limbs like I've seen other Therians refer to them as due to me not being able to feel any weight or feel them get in my way like, again, I have seen other Therians mention and complain about.

I have seen mentions of otherkin and alterhuman, but I must admit I find those a tad complicated and am far more unfamiliar with them than Therians.

So yeah. I really would appreciate any advice or tips or anything really to help me figure this out. Has anyone else felt this way before everything "clicked" for them? Am I a therian, or am I just weird and faking it? I'd be more than happy to mention anything else that may help or anything I've forgotten to mention at this current time.

gone-fish-mode . January 1, 2025
Howdy! I think this is going to be a long reply, so I'm adding a "read more."

Otherkin and alterhuman are roughly the same as therian, which one you use is mostly up to preference. Therian is often used by "earthy animals," but there are also "theriomythics" who have mythical creature theriotypes. "Paleotherians" are a thing, too! And they, of course, have theriotypes of extinct or prehistoric animals.

Otherkin are often more fantastical or moster-focused, such as vampires, cryptids, zombies, elves, and the like. That being said, plenty of otherkin have 'types that would be more commonly seen in therian spaces, such as dogs, cats, or horses.

Alterhuman has a few uses. The first is as an umbrella to describe therians, otherkin, and every other label that is based around not being fully human. The second is for those who feel like "otherkin" or "therian" doesn't fully describe them.

While there is nuance between all of these terms, there is great overlap and it is usually just down to preference. Most users tag their posts with multiple terms. Personally, I tag my posts as alterhuman, therian, and otherkin, because I feel that my experience applies to all three groups.

Personally, I'm otherkin. Just because I wanna be. I could call myself a therian and it'd still be accurate. I just wanted to clarify that, because of how massive the overlap between us all is. I'll be calling myself otherkin and I'll refer to you as therian, but they mean pretty much the same thing in this context.

There is no wrong or right way to be a therian. You can not "fake" being a therian. Unless you are actively trying to trick or deceive other people, then there is no such thing as a "fake therian." If you enjoy calling yourself a therian, if you feel it describes your identity and/or brings you comfort, then you're a therian. That's it.

Tiktok is not the best place to learn about what makes you a therian or how. There simply isn't enough space within the videos to really get into the nuance of it all. It's totally fine if you don't relate to them! I don't relate to them much, myself.

Therianthropy is not always spiritual. It totally can be, but it's not necessary. You don't need to discover you're type via past lives or dreams. You don't need to believe in past lives or anything like that.

I picked my 'type because I think gillmen are cool. I like them a lot and it just feels right to me. I look at one, and I feel like I'm looking at the ideal version of myself. It's almost how you described it, something just Feels Right when I say "I am a gillman." So I would say that, yeah, you can totally be a wolf just because it Feels Right.

And what's neat about it is that you can have multiple 'types. You can change 'types. If you feel like wolf doesn't fit you anymore, if you think you're more of a big cat, you can do that. Hell- if you one day wake up and decide you don't feel like a therian anymore, you can drop the label. You can explore and be wrong and change your mind with all of this. The vast majority of us in the community have been exactly where you are, we get it.

And a lot of us love being human. You don't need to hate being a human! Somedays I don't feel like my 'type at all, sometimes I'm just a human. And that's ok. Some people struggle with being human more than others, it doesn't make anyone "more" or "less" of a therian.

When it comes to phantom limbs, you don't need those either. Most of us have them, I will not lie, but again it's not necessary. My phantom limbs have a complicated and long history that I wont explain here, but I've been on every side of that phantom limb spectrum. I have some that are completely voluntary, I have others that bother me and that I can't control.

One of my kintypes is an alien. I don't have an idea of what I'd look like as an alien, I actively chose to call myself an alien, and I don't experience any phantom sensations or "shifts" as an alien. Yet it is just as real and valid as my gillman 'type, which has a lot of phantom sensations and shifts.

This is a very very very long winded way to say that Yes, you can be a therian if you want. You and your experiences are welcome here! If the therian label (or any other label, such as copinglink or otherhearted) makes you happy, then that's what you are.

Sorry this is so long, I love to yap ;] Hope this helped a bit!

a-minke-whales-tale . January 1, 2025 . Ask . Archived link not finished
Ahoj Kossai,

You mentioned in a post once being frustrated of how cultural narratives can cone to define species, especially mythical ones in a very narrow band which may not even be related to the actual creature. You had brought this up as well in regard to y'alls own experience as faerie. I can see there is a difference between Dutch concepts of fairy and elf to American concepts of fairy and elf and offshoots like fantasy. I am not part of that commubity but when bits trickle in I can see how stark those differences are of various elfkind (which I really only have vague knowledge of) which really only share a name and humanoid body concept to something like Efteling elves which are the makn depiction I see herr).

I wanted to hear though what is faerie to y'all. How do you percieve yourselves as faerie and your connection to the world around you, both the physical world, but also the various humans, and non-human cultures within it. What does it mean to be faerie for you? And how do you wish they were depicted, and for us to interact with you?

Kindly,

Kala

courtkossai . January 1, 2025
preface : this become multi hour , multi fronter ramble . really appreciate questions , in other words ! :D

so have sort of different thoughts for different applications , of course .

from perspective of folklore study and records :

to start , kossai is not academic folklorist - but understand that there is level of cultural crossover and similarities between many folklores . especially when different peoples tell similar stories of similar creatures , with similar outcomes and similar lessons , understand why one might choose to define these under one word .

some people can reach way too far with this , though . for example kossai have this relic from ancient year of 2002 ( ha ha ) which identify everything from irish aos sí and welsh tylwyth teg , to certain catholic saints and various african cultures' deities , as faeries .

faerie is this label that is approachable , yet somewhat more exotic and mystical than spirit , while also less concrete than god . faerie obscure origins and significance in these cases , especially where similarity is only incidental . not that all people even try to justify appropriation of other cultures , but this is not uncommon one , sadly .

as for what faerie should mean academically , that would be pretty big discussion , with almost certainly no single conclusion . not all beings of any given folklore ( even within celtic isles , let alone broader europe and especially other continents ) will fit potential definitions of faerie , unless stretch faerie so thin as to mean nothing at all . sometimes god , spirit , or otherwise would fit better . sometimes , there is great ambiguity , and any category is equally good fit . and sometimes , really only good category is one which come from language of origin , with no english equivalency even possible .

from perspective of kossai experiences and religion :

well , as kossai see things , world is not just one " human " realm , but actually many more , almost something of cake . cakes have layers of confection , and also layers of frosting - so in this case , " human realm " is one confection layer , " faerie realm " is another , while frosting sit between as veil to obscure .

number and exact definition of realms is more complex than this , and sometimes barriers can be hard if even possible to define . but what kossai have most experience with is faerie realm with inhabitants that seem to derive largely from celtic ancestries , and celtic otherworlds - so again , think irish aos sí and welsh tylwyth teg , as well as many who lose names or never have any to start with .

this can get slightly circular , though - not all beings which live in any given realm will always originally be from there . as well , there is tendency for those in long term company of faeries to become faeries - transformation of energy , put simply . so faerie can also simply be , one who feel comfort and kinship with faeriehood , or one who undergo this transformation , regardless of origins . whether one is born deep within otherworlds , or up on earth , can also change ideas of what faeriehood means .

kossai in specific :

faeries of kossai happen to be mostly earth born also , and with this can come connections to earthly features . this in self was worthy of whole post over on dreamwidth - but to put really really short , some faeries here have connections to elements , weather , or seasons , or else embody some kind of specific plant or animal , and may act as something of guardian .

not necessary part of faeriehood for all , but greatly inform how kossai feel about certain things , both individually and collectively . hard to hate puffball mushrooms if live with one with bright bubbly smile , see ? :P

wishes for interaction … definitely hardest part to answer . different standards on what is socially acceptable and not . again , this is subject of discussions on human filter , where kossai try to hit comfortable medium of faerie expression without break all social rules and decencies - low filter tend to stay more private , for several reasons .

just really ask that others try to respect and not make attempts to categorise kossai - whether that be insistence of religion as delusion , assumptions about why kossai write differently , questions about sex/AGAB , or otherwise . faeries tend to proudly defy boxes , or else bend and break until fit .

( oh , and not cute harmless little flower fairies like cicely mary barker art - flowerfolk here tend to bite . but that art is very cute . :3 )

aestherians . December 28, 2024 . Archived link not finished
I wonder if there are otherkin communities like ours throughout Asia and Africa. I'm a firm believer that otherkinity is a global phenomenon, but what kind of communities do Chinese or Nigerian or Pakistani or Tanzanian or Thai otherkin have? There's so little crossover between our various corners of the web, it's actually stressing me out. What search terms would I even use to find the Japanese otherkin community? How similar would the Lebanese otherkin community be to the Anglocentric otherkin community? We barely have crossover with the Russian otherkin community, and that's considered a partially "western" country.

aestherians . December 29, 2024
[A screenshot of a tumblr comment interaction that provides the two links below]

Thanks for digging this up!! Here are the links, for anyone else who wants to peruse:

https://note.com/azusakurodori

https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q13306063523

If this wolfdog (黒執 梓 / Kuroshitsu(?) Azusa) is anything to go by, the Japanese therian community seems to be in the same boat as most non-English communities I know of - a tiny handful of animals struggling to find others to connect to. Here's what they have to say:

【セリアン/Therian】という言葉や概念を初めて聞く方も多いかと存じます。それもそのはずで、今まであまり世間やネットで広く認知されていませんでした。日本語圏に至っては、ほぼほぼ無名と言えたでしょう。
　そもそも【セリアン/Therian】としての悩みを抱える人の数はとても少なく、自分からこの言葉を見つけ、積極的に検索しなければセリアンのコミュニティには辿り着けませんでした。かく言う私も、幼少の頃からこの悩みを抱えていたものの、その概念や海外のセリアンのコミュニティを知ることが出来たのはつい数年前のことでした。
　母国語ではない英語での交流でしたが、自分と同じ悩みを持つ皆と出会えたことで、ずいぶん救われたと思います。そこは個人が運営するウェブサイトだったので、大手SNSと比較にならないほど規模の小さいコミュニティでしたが、しかしそれ故に【セリアン/Therian】についての知識をダイレクトに学ぶことが出来ました。自分たちが抱える悩みや問題について皆が真剣に議論して解決策を模索し、協力し合い、そして人生を前向きに考えられるようになる交流の場が育まれていたのです。「もう独りではない」という感覚は、本当に何にも換えられないものでした。 　

Google Translation:

I think many people are hearing the word and concept of Therian for the first time. This is because it has not been widely recognized in the public or on the Internet until now. In the Japanese-speaking world, it is almost unknown.
The number of people who have problems as Therian is very small, and you cannot reach the Therian community unless you find the word yourself and actively search for it. I myself have had this problem since I was a child, but it was only a few years ago that I learned about the concept and the overseas Therian community.
Although we communicated in English, which is not my native language, I think it was a great relief to meet people who had the same problem as me. Since it was a website run by an individual, the community was much smaller than major SNS, but because of this, I was able to learn about Therian directly. It was a place of exchange where people could seriously discuss the problems and issues they had, seek solutions, cooperate with each other, and think positively about life. The feeling of "not being alone anymore" was truly priceless.

It sounds like they've been embedded in the Anglocentric therian community for a while, considering they discuss things like teen wolves, Theri There, copinglinking, vacillant shifting, werecards, and AHWw, and have a lot animosity towards "tiktok therians" (which are apparently the most prominent/active therians on the Japanese web, if this blog is anything to go by).

I also LOVE their description of kitsunekind/kitsune therians. It's so cool to get a different cultural perspective on it:

【キツネ/Kitsune】
[関連性：高]
[セリアン用語]
　日本ではごく自然に「狐は化けるもの」と考えられ受け容れられているが、これは日本独自の民俗学的風習に基づくもので、海外にはこの認識がない。そのため「日本の化ける狐」は海外では「Kitsune」と表現され、「化けない動物のFox」と明確に区別されている。【セリアン/Therian】や【アザーキン/Otherkin】のコミュニティに於いて、この差は日本人が思っているより遥かに大きい。
　Foxは【セリアン/Therian】であり、Kitsuneは【アザーキン/Otherkin】に属するためである。そのため【セリアン/Therian】用語の【Kitune】を正しく「日本語訳」するならば、おそらく「妖狐」が適切な訳語になると考えられる。 　非常に似た例として狼の【セリアン/Therian】と人狼の【アザーキン/Otherkin】の関係がある。こちらも「人間に変身できるかどうか」で【セリアン/Therian】か【アザーキン/Otherkin】かが分かれるため、明確に区別される。

[Kitsune]
[Relevance: High]
[Therian term]
In Japan, it is quite natural to think of foxes as beings that transform, but this is based on a unique Japanese folk custom, and is not recognized overseas. Therefore, the "Japanese transforming fox" is expressed as "Kitsune" overseas, and is clearly distinguished from the "non-transforming animal fox". In the [Therian] and [Otherkin] communities, this difference is much larger than Japanese people think.
This is because Fox is [Therian], and Kitsune belongs to [Otherkin]. Therefore, if the [Therian] term [Kitune] is to be correctly "translated" into "Japanese," it is probably appropriate to say "Yōko" (fox spirit). A very similar example is the relationship between the wolves [Therian] and the werewolves [Otherkin]. Here too, there is a clear distinction between Therian and Otherkin, as they are determined by whether or not they can transform into humans.

Does anyone know them?? Their blog was last updated a week ago, so they're definitely active. But I can't figure out if they're directly involved with any Anglo communities or if they're just a lurker. Their blog is FULL of personal essays - every post with a yellow/brown banner is a personal essay. There's a lot to dig through for our community archivists!

bloodcoloredglasses . January 2, 2025 Archived link not finished
When i use kin as a verb i use it in the same way i use introject as a verb and it's just weird and upsetting when ppl insist kin can never be both an action and an identity. I can say I introjected Valentino and nobody says shit but then I say I kin Valentino and suddenly it's a big problem of language misuse and implying that kin is not an identity?? Is my fictive identity somehow not real if it has an element of action to it? It happened in the back of my brain while I wasn't looking, but it was nevertheless an action, and we experience our kin identities in the same way. Why the hell do people accept system experiences so easily but then purity test the exact same experience if framed as kin

a-dragons-journal . January 2, 2025 Archived link not finished
You know, I think this is the first argument I've heard in favor of using/accepting the use of "kin" as a verb in the seven years or so I've been active in this community that has actually made me seriously reconsider my opinion on it, and I really hope you don't mind if I sit here and dissect my own thoughts on this for a second.

I think a big part of it is standard overcorrection that's really common in this community when it comes to things that came from (or at least have strong association with) "kinning for fun," that is, people who use "kinning" something to mean they really like it, relate to it, etc. etc. and specifically do not actually identify as it. Which, the use of "kin" as a verb is strongly associated with and often cited as being part of the cause of - the logic being if you imply that "kinning" is something you do and not something you are, outsiders are a lot more likely to misunderstand it and then start using the word incorrectly, leading to the KFF problem we have today where KFF are trying to push us out of our own words and insist that they're the ones who coined them despite us having literal hard evidence that's not the case.

I do think, if I'm honest, that the use of "kinning" as a verb did contribute to the rise of that phenomenon. (There were a lot of other factors, of course, but I do think that was one of them.) I also think, if I'm honest, that the cat's kind of out of the bag at this point on that one, and realistically she ain't goin' back in no matter how stringently we police the language now.

There's also two other distinctions that I can make between the two:

Introjection is kind of generally assumed to be An Event That Happened. The default assumption in this community tends to be that there was never An Event That Made A Kintype Happen - that it's always been there, in one form or another, and you only became aware of it later in life. Therefore, to say you "kinned" a thing doesn't make any sense, because... it's always been there. This is obviously fallacious - for many of us, kintypes did show up later in life. For some of us, it was even a conscious choice we made. (I'll come back to this in a second.) To say you kinned Sans Undertale in the same sense that you might have introjected Sans Undertale makes perfect sense in that context, even if it's a little unorthodox. (Obviously this also isn't going to be the case for every introject, but as far as I know it's the general assumption that an introject formed/transferred in/etc. later in life and hasn't secretly been there all along since birth.)

Introjection is, again, typically An Event That Happened - it may be a short process or a long one, but it's one that has an end point. Kinning, or being otherkin, is typically a permanent, ongoing state of existence. This is the big impetus behind the statement that to say you kin something implies that it's an ongoing action you are taking, which has in turn been taken to imply that it's a thing you're doing, not a thing you are. It also does mean there's kind of an inherent difference between your two example words. But even despite that... there's a flaw there, too, isn't there, now that we're starting to soften that divide between otherkinity and otherlinking that we've fought so hard to keep sharp in the past? Which is to say, I at least became convinced a good long while ago at this point that voluntary identity shouldn't be excluded from otherkinity - that while the word otherlink is useful (I use it myself), if someone feels that the word otherkin works better for them, they should be allowed to use it, because it doesn't really make much sense to excise this one specific cause of nonhumanity when all other causes are allowed, and realistically, the primary reason we did so is because we were, as a community, conflating voluntary identity with the aforementioned KFF problem. (After all, a lot of the people using the word "copingkin," which prompted the coining of the word copinglink which then led to otherlink, were what we would today call KFF! But a fair number were probably genuinely identifying as their kintypes also - otherwise we wouldn't have the 'linking community today.)

All of which to say: you make a really good fucking point, actually.

(And also I'm fucking ecstatic to learn we can actually find new things to say about these years-old arguments we've had over and over and over again on loop.)

If I'm honest, I don't know if I can unhook the association between kin-as-a-verb language and KFF in my brain. There's a reason it's there, after all - someone who says "I kin Sonic" is a lot more likely to be KFF than someone who says "my kintype is Sonic", and there's legitimate and fair reasons for the defensiveness so many of us have built up against KFF that causes us to look for red flags for it in the first place.

However. I have always been of the opinion that one red flag does not a diagnosis make, and that it's not fair to decide someone is KFF based on one red flag, including this one. Plenty of genuine 'kin use kin-as-a-verb language, as you obviously well know, OP. And plenty of people overreact to that association in wildly unfair ways, as you seem to have experienced. I do think it's a good reminder of that. And, separate of that association, I think it's worth reexamining whether it should be considered an even technically incorrect use of the word in the first place. (How much that actually helps, considering the fact that I don't think that will help shake the association that primarily causes people to react that way, I don't honestly know. But you've convinced at least one dragon to rethink its very set opinions on this, so maybe there's something there.)

Anyway. That's just my thoughts; sorry for dropping an essay in your notes, OP. o7 Also sorry if it's a little disorganized; the hour is late but I didn't want to lose the post in the tag.

sundragon . December 28, 2024 . Archived link not finished
That post about "you can't be a therian if you're under 14" is obviously silly, I'm not gonna give them any more attention because they seem like the types who just want that.

The biggest flaw here is that the journey is the point. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for all the exploration my younger self did. I got a lot of things wrong about my identity when I was a kid... and I got a lot wrong when I was in my 20s. You don't suddenly become wise once you hit a certain age, that's not how this works. I know it's unpopular to mention the prefrontal cortex anymore but like it or not, it plays a large part in how you regulate internally, and even THAT is not some magical key to knowing thyself or whatever. I've met 15 year olds who are a hell of a lot more grown than I was at their age.

You can't just write off someone's experiences prior to a certain age. Everything up to that point matters, even if they move away from those conclusions later.

I'm almost certain that I wouldn't experience my lionhood the way I do if it wasn't something that developed when I was a child. It was that exact combination of factors in that developmental period that resulted in me being a grown man who is also Simba, lol. Maybe I'd just be a lion in a different way if that hadn't happened, but that's not the point. I was a therianthrope when I was 10, before I ever saw that word, and I'm a therianthrope now. And there are therians as we speak who are younger than that, and 14, and 18, and 48+, and they're all still figuring themselves out because it never stops.

That's the second point, equally important. It never stops. If one day as an adult you decide you have it all figured out and have nothing more to do because you passed some milestone in your mind, you've lost the game. Woe, paradigm shifts be upon ye, because it'll happen when you least expect it. That's just how it is.

fenmere . December 28, 2024
Conversely, and in support of this:

We are older than the word "therian". We are part of the generation that defined it.

We are nearly 50 years old now, and we figured out we were dragons when we were 9. Our concept of how and why were were dragons then hasn't changed. It has only been confirmed time and time again. It has been more consistent and stable than our body's sex.

Kids can know.