#everything otherkin

[interstellarsystem]

I just had a realisation. For clarity, this whole thing is from a lens of within the alterhuman community, excluding outsiders sentiments.

So, you know how fictionfolk often get upset by things posted in fandom spaces about their source, and they're essentially given a "you have to acknowledge it's not about you the person it's about the character so you need to get over it" as a response? And that's the general community sentiment. It's only seen as ok to be upset at all if someone's being an ass to your face directly about you, and if not then you have to separate from your source to "get over it because it's not about you". Sometimes even if someone is being weird about your source to your face, you get mixed responses and people telling you it's "not that deep".

But.. with animalfolk (and otherkin who aren't generally seen as fictionkind). I think from what we've seen it's more normalised if a fox therian sees someone saying foxes are stupid and gets upset. It's more okay for a dragonkin to get pissy when people say all dragons are xyz. And if someone brings animal-based stereotypes to an animalfolk like "dragons are all stuck up" to dragonkin, they're 9.9/10 times going to be backed up fully by the community around them. This is ignoring when animalfolk are making comments like "these animals in these cute videos are being mistreated" and correcting misinformation--because that's a separate thing of them informing and reducing harm as opposed to a personal vent. I'm only talking about the community-wide "valid" responses to criticism of your source and emotions around that.

Fictionfolk who are also animalistic or things like fictherians aren't exempt from the treatment of fictionfolk mentioned above, either, so it feels less about animality (and less about what's "physically real" due to non-animal otherkin/mythkin) and more about the identity being fictional in general.

Now I know animals are "real" (and in the case of dragons/other mythkin who aren't earth animals, well-established in the alterhuman community) and fandom should be allowed to exist as fandom, I'm not advocating for fictionfolk shutting fandom up or anything. This is about the allowance of emotion people feel. I'm not talking about what animalfolk or fictionfolk do in response to these situations, just simply the way others react when they simply express discomfort. Animalfolk from what we've seen aren't told to separate from their identity "just a little more" so they're less upset when people call cats stupid or ugly, they're usually supported. Fictionfolk on the other hand are much less likely to be supported and more likely to be told that for their own health, they should separate from their source. It feels so vastly different in how these things are handled.

And of course, nothing against animals or animalfolk--it's just a longstanding thing that fictionfolk are left behind a fair in the community bit so animalfolk are the baseline of how people should be treated by their community in my opinion.

On a similar vein of thinking, factfolk (including nonhuman factfolk) are often dragged through the mud even moreso than fictionfolk, in very similar ways. You have to be careful with what you say as a factive or someone will accuse you of... Anything under the sun, really. Especially if you talk about your source and your feelings about them. Factfolk are expected to be largely separated from their source in general, not just when they dare to have emotions about it. Which... Isn't great!

Maybe this post is an ice cold take but the "you need to step back from your identity" idea is really normalised and--yeah, in a lot of cases it's healthier to step back, but.. Why is that the response given to people venting? Why do we expect fictionfolk and factfolk to readily sever their close-knit connection to their source whenever others think it's too unhealthy for them? To change who they personally are whenever they vent their frustrations? Why are fictionbased and factbased identities treated as less of an irremovable part of you and something you should bend and remove yourself at least partially from? The more I think about it, the more it feels incredibly unfair that it's so normalised.

And I think it shows that yeah, there's a long way to go for acceptance of fictionfolk and factfolk in our community. These things need to change and have needed to for a damn while. I don't have any solutions, but I have opinions and rambles, so maybe sharing them will spur something on. At the very least I hope some people see this and feel seen, and feel like it's not morally wrong or a personal failing to feel upset when your source is insulted--or anything of the sort, for that matter.

[bizarreaizen]

the whole debate on why alterhumans are not valid is so odd so i'm gonna debunk their "points"

"you're just mentally ill!" [or something that mentions mental illness] someone's identity can be caused by a mental illness but is that affecting you in any way? is that hurting you? no it isn't so mind your own business

"it doesn't make any sense! it's confusing! i don't understand it!" then learn, google is free

"they're still human!" to you, they're "human" but physically, spiritually, psychologically or any other reason, they're not human and humans are technically a species of animals, especially if you believe in evolution

"this is all just a phase!" so? what would happen if it was a phase? is that gonna change anything? it doesn't matter if it's a phase or not, let people be who they are, we're living on a floating rock

"you can't identify as nonhuman!" says who? is that a crime? are they hurting anyone? are they hurting YOU?

"if they're gonna identify as an animal then i'll treat them like an animal" by your logic, they can also act like an animal towards you, catkins can scratch you, caninekins can bite you, bearkins can maul you, etc.

"but they're putting litter boxes in schools for nonhumans !!" those are for service animals.

"a therian bit me." no they didn't and if they did, it's probably for a good reason

"therians are attracted to animals!" no we're not, that's called a zoophile and don't generalize a group of individuals like what you do with furries.

"this is all just new gen stuff" no it's not, there's a lot of older alterhumans

"isn't that just being a furry?" no, furries dress up in fursuits, draw anthropomorphic creatures, and/or have fursonas, yes, there's alterhumans who are also furries [i'm one of them] but they're completely different

our identities are personal so it doesn't affect anyone badly at all, sure, you may think it's "weird" but there's really nothing wrong with it :D /gen

[interstellarsystem]

Sometimes using an approximation of something to get you closer to feeling more animal is better than having nothing. And sometimes, finding comfort in a tame version of your true, wild self, is more fitting due to the circimstances you find yourself in within this life, timeline or body.

Dear wild canine alterhumans, you’re allowed to use and enjoy domesticated canine esc gear. Collars and chew toys and dog beds. You’re still wild.

[interstellarsystem]

Do you ever feel like an animal that's been held in close contact with humans for too long? Like you'd never be able to be released into the wild again due to how accustomed you are to living within human society? You wouldn't survive out there anymore, you're too used to being fed. You haven't been amongst the trees or within the waves or in the skies for so long, they've started to feel foreign.

Do you ever feel like you're stuck between being domesticated and being wild, in some sort of limbo where both extremes somehow feel wrong at the same time?

[bizarreaizen]

every time i stutter when i'm talking that means i'm glitching and every time i get confused that means i can't process it or there's an error in my code [typing this as i'm currently charging :3] /gen

[interstellarsystem]

Nonhumans are here, even if you do not see us. We always will be. We are often hard to spot, but can be found doing all the things a human might.

A cat went to work at an event stall for a mental health service.

A massive sea serpent wanted to go to science class because it enjoyed it more than the rest of those living in its shared form.

The void sat down, huddled up in a blanket, to watch a tv show with its partners. It had to stop watching after a bit, but enjoyed spending time with those close to it anyway.

A wolf went to a psychologist appointment and gratefully drank the hot chocolate they were offered in the waiting room.

A shapeshifting being of pure darkness spoke publicly about trans rights in front of politicians and then went to the pride festival he helped fight to keep alive.

A dragon went to school so the others sharing his human body could have a break.

A manifestation of the fear of madness itself sat in the food court at the mall eating mochi and drinking tea while waiting for its friends to get back from shopping.

A witch drew a picture of his cardinal bird and shared the work he was so proud of with his friends.

A cockatoo borrowed the next book in his favourite series from the school library and almost couldn't wait the whole day to go home and read it.

An alien went camping and watched the birds outside and the way the wind made waves and patterns on the water.

A fallen angel went shopping for sunglasses to shield his eyes from how bright the sun was.

A harpy went shopping for new plants to look after. He named a few because he loved them so much, and sent pictures to all of his friends.

An anthropomorphic hedgehog traded Pokemon cards with his peers at school. He was happy with his collection.

You may not see us, and you may feel alone, but you are not. We are just hidden. We are in more places than you'd think, and in the places you'd least expect. We are complex, we are valued, and we are here.

[interstellarsystem]

It's so funny when posts break containment. On a meme we posted on a sideblog once we got a comment that said "op having a Possessed!Hunter icon makes this even better" like just you wait until you learn who actually posted that.

I think this post is escaping containment 😭😭😭

Your so right one did make that post

[bizarreaizen]

it's so bizarre seeing people say that a fictional character is so them but when someone says that they're that fictional character suddenly it's so wrong.

like when people say they "kin" a character but when we are talking about otherKIN suddenly it's weird T^T /gen

[fennthetalkingdog]

This is a neopronoun/xenopronoun positivity post! If you see this, tell me what your neos are!! >:3

I mostly just go by he/they but I also go by xe/xem/xyr and other canine-themed neos!

[werevyote]

It's a little fascinating to think about your own life when you've known you're nonhuman for a long while now. I guess looking back knowing you lived and experienced life so differently from so many folks around you is both a wonderful experience and a lonely experience; that until you find your own circles but regardless

School, gatherings, events, simple life as a child to a teen to an adult, everything you experienced as an animal, machine, creature,,, as not human. What an experience

[interstellarsystem]

If we could shapeshift, we'd be able to have our actual headspace bodies while fronting (where the surroundings are reasonably accommodating to us) and that would be amazing. Oops, we switched on the street and we're physically a cat now. Going to go climb up a tree now, bye.

"If you could have any superpower, what w-"

Shapeshifting. Shapeshifting shapeshifting shapeshifting. I'm a transgender therian, what the fuck did you think I would pick.

[talon-dragonbeast]

going into the alterhuman tag and looking at other beings' profiles be like:

why are you sharing that

why is your dni like that (who hurt you)

you are SO young WHY ARE YOU ON TUMBLR

that was the most incomprehensible string of words ive ever read. blocked

who let this ACTUAL BABY in here

what possessed you to write like that. blocked

annoying opinion. blocked

oh i wont block you but you are on incredibly thin ice

you didnt share your age but you are Clearly 13 Years Old

i beg you to go outside i promise you will feel better if you talk with an actual person please go outside for a bit PLEASE

[aroace-coyote]

species dysphoria actually is so fucked up cause. a lot of the time when people have dysphoria there's at least the comfort of the fact you can change things so you look like a different person. my problem is that i look like a person at all. im not saying it's worse just that its really messed up bro...

i hate having a human body i actually hate it and i don't want to be told "oh but think of the good things", the "good things" are the exact same things i absolutely hate and you cannot change my mind about it. i hate looking like this. i could have looked like anything yet i look like a fucking human and i hate it so so so much.

it just randomly got really bad sorry i had to talk about it

[interstellarsystem]

Some of us are more vocal than others.

Little purrs and trills are more common noises for us to make than those of aggression. From cat "mrrp" noises to bird beeping, there's a lot of little ones we make that tend to be subtle enough to be fine.

Some of us hiss when startled, others growl or huff when threatened. For some, when angry enough, our voice becomes rough and low--close enough to a growl for us anyway.

A few of us whimper when upset, or end up making a half-hearted grumble-growl noise.

Overall I think a lot of our human ways are influenced by animal vocalisations and we probably seem weird to humans who see us act a bit strange.

Animals of Tumblr!!

How vocal do you tend to be?

Do you unintentionally hiss or growl? Do you get the urge to howl and bark, to croak and roar?

I'm asking cause I tend to vocalize a lot, and I wanna see how many other critters do the same

[interstellarsystem]

Honestly therian masks are a cool idea regardless of your opinion on tiktok or the tiktok therian community. More undeniably "animal" gear than a tail or ears (since with just those people can assume something along the lines of "catboy"), gives facial shape the correctness it needs for species euphoria, conceals your identity at the same time so that people are forced to recognise you by your mask while keeping your body safe and private online? Sounds like a win to us. We'd like one, one day.

[bizarreaizen]

i have some very good news !! i came out to my friends as a therian and they accepted me !! my friend even patted my head and called me a " little therian " it was pretty funny >w< /gen