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crescairis · 4 years ago

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I was wondering if you had another source that otherlinkers were explicitly excluded from the original definition of otherkind in 1990? The source on AnOtherWiki leads to a 2001 FAQ that doesn't mention anything like that. Also, otherlinkers aren't the same thing as KFF.

(just as a warning, this is going to be a LONG post, but i'd rather not put it under the cut for archival reasons, in the case that for some reason this blog disappears)

firstly, i'd like to apologize for phrasing things as if KFFs and otherlinkers were the same thing; a better phrased way to say things would be for me to say that i think many KFFs would be otherlinkers, were they to acknowledge that their experiences don't fit the definition of otherkin.

something else i'd also like to note that i've been thinking about (while it isn't exactly related to this question) is that perhaps people are misinterpreting the terms "voluntary" and "involuntary".

i feel that many people think "voluntary" simply means the initial decision to willingly take on an identity, which is, in part, true! however, voluntary identities are very likely to become involuntary, simply because it becomes too emotionally/mentally difficult to separate oneself from the identity that they've chosen.

being drawn to something, or someone, enough to take it on as an identity can often be a sign of something deeper! i would see this as a form of awakening in and of itself—like cracking open a geode, or perhaps like putting on training wheels before you experience the real thing.

but back to your first question: the way i initially phrased that post was also rushed, as we were trying very hard to write it during a single lunch break at work.

the term otherlinker is a very recent invention (coined in 2018 on the alt-h discord server, while copinglink was coined in 2015 by who-is-page), as being otherkin has always largely been considered a serious, personal experience. only recently have people NEEDED to specify that it's involuntary, so the only sources i can give you are ones that cite otherkinity as being intended as a serious identity, as well as those that state that otherkinity is not as shallow as a game or roleplay.

also important to note is that many of these pages were made and existed before fictionkin were a largely documented (let alone accepted) presence, thus they are scarcely mentioned, (and typically with skepticism or even scorn,) save for on their own, smaller pages. for our own personal comfort, we will not be listing sources that discredit fictionkinity completely.

firstly, here's a full timeline of otherkin history by orion scribner, to show the scope we're looking at

Otherkin Lexicon by Orion Scribner: "Otherkin are real, non-fictional people who identify as other than human. Otherkin identify as creatures from myth and legend, usually elves, faeries, and dragons. This is a sincere identity, not role-play. Many otherkin identify as other than human for spiritual reasons; that is, they classify their identity as otherkin as a personal spiritual belief. Being otherkin is a very individualistic thing: each otherkin reaches his own explanation for how and why he is an otherkin. Some of their common spiritual explanations include that they are other than human in spirit, or they were other than human in past incarnations.187 Although spiritual belief is often involved, “otherkin” isn’t a religion. As such, each person who identifies as otherkin practices whatever religion he individually wants. It has always been the case that most of the otherkin community practices Neo-Pagan religions, and so that religious perspective shapes the common views and ideas in the otherkin community. Some otherkin don’t use spiritual explanations. Some otherkin believe that they are physically other than human, or that their ancestors were."

A Field Guide to Otherkin by Lupa: "The definition for Otherkin I will be using for this book is: a person who believes that, through either a nonphysical or (much more rarely) physical means, s/he is not entirely human. This means that anyone who relates internally to a nonhuman species either through soul, mind, body, or energetic resonance, or who believes s/he hosts such a being in hir body/mind, is in my own definition of Otherkin. Some people do have more stringent standards. However, for the purposes of this book, I am including a wider range of people.

"This is not a roleplaying game. When a person says s/he is a dragon, or a wolf, or an elf, s/he is not referring to a character that s/he only becomes during a gaming session. That which is Other is a constant part of the person; s/he is the Other at all times. Grey, a wolf therian,says it marvelously: “Perhaps I should say that if a being is a color, or a sound, I am two items merged to form a different color/sound. The two are within each other. Sometimes plain to see, sometimes deeply mixed.”"

A Simple Introduction to Otherkin and Therianthropes by Orion Scribner: "Some real people think of themselves as kinds of creatures from mythology. These people call themselves “otherkin.” An otherkin has the belief that he is a creature from mythology, such as an elf. He says that elf is his true self. It is his identity. This is real to him. It isn’t a pretend person that he plays in a game."

The Otherkin Resource Center: "1 : one who identifies with various mythological archetype as vehicles of spiritual evolution and self-expression, similar to Native totemism only with a stronger level of self-identification.

"2 : someone who believes in reincarnation, and that not all of their reincarnations were as a human."

What are Otherkin? by Tirl Windtree: "By far the most common explanation from those who fit the definition (even if they don't claim this specific label) is that whilst their physical forms may be human, their essence, soul or equivalent term is not.

"Of those, the majority make their claim based on reincarnation - what they have been in a previous incarnation so strongly affects their current incarnation that they still identify with it. Obviously this requires a belief in reincarnation, and in the transmigration of souls. Both are reasonably common in a number of religions and spiritual beliefs across the world."

"The most frequent accusation is that all otherkin are lost in fantasy, they've played one too many D&D games and gone over the edge. Personal study seems to indicate this is actually one of the least frequent explanations. Most roleplayers know they are roleplaying, even if they are also otherkin, and roleplaying can be a very useful tool in self exploration."

The Lostkin Project by Gazer: "Otherkin are the supernatural among us. They are the elves, dragons, nymphs, and trolls that used to live more openly amoung humankind. Some are from other dimensions and other places. You may occasionally see them refered to as Otherkind. Otherkin is the more generally accepted term."

Otherkin Coalition by Kreyas: "What is Otherkin?

In a nutshell, Otherkin are a coalition of people who share in common the belief that some internal part of them is somehow incongruent with the rest of the human race. Beyond that, beliefs vary too widely to classify them into any one group.

Some of the most common beliefs are that the soul is somehow different from human. This may go in hand with a belief in reincarnation and “imprinting” (in which a past life as another species leaves an imprint on the soul which is then carried over into the next life), or the individual may believe that this is his/her first life and they are simply different.

Above all, Otherkin is a spiritual belief.

"Are Otherkin really a bunch of delusional, socially maladaptive kids like I read on that website?

NO. As with any group, not everyone fits the stereotype. Any community is going to have its bad apples which stand out in people’s minds better than the typical members. In my experience, Otherkin are usually levelheaded and able to question their beliefs and function in human society.

"Is it a Roleplaying thing?

NO. While some Otherkin may participate in roleplaying, strictly speaking the beliefs are separate from the roleplay - even if they are roleplaying as their identified “kintype”."

Otherkin FAQ v 4.0.1 by Arhuaine, Miaren Crowsdaughrer, Thistile Kachunk, Golden Syrpent, Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, Jarin Dreamsinger and The Crisses: "The Otherkin are those people who believe themselves to be spiritually and/or physically other than human. While mythological species (elves, satyrs, fairies, dragons, and so on) are widely accepted as being included under the term "Otherkin", many people in the community prefer to include aliens, vampires, furries, extraterrestrial humans, and other nonhuman races. A mythological or literary equivalent is not necessary to be included under "Otherkin"; there are types of otherkin that have not shown up in known legends or fiction (star-dragons, Elenari, etc.)."

What are Otherkin, Anyway? by Adnarel: "Otherkin is a term that is generally used to describe people who, In some way or another, physical bodies aside, do not feel that they are “human” in the conventional sense of the word. We (they) feel as though their spirits are not human, nor have they ever been, despite our physical bodies and outward appearance. Some otherkin have testified that they feel that this is their first time on this plane of existence, a.k.a. Earth. Others feel that they have been here numerous times to teach and to heal people. Maybe once they were here in their “true forms”. Otherkin use the term “true form” to describe what they feel to be the shape and nature of their true selves."

What Are Otherkin? by Arhuaine:

"Put simply, someone who is Otherkin feels that they have a soul (or souls) other than human. Usually this encompasses what are commonly regarded as mythical beings such as elves, dragons, fae, satyrs and so on. A broader view of otherkin might also include therianthropes (were-creatures) and those with animal souls (such people are sometimes known affectionately as "furries"), and also perhaps people who consider their souls are alien (often called star-born). The lines between Otherkin and Furries or Star-born are often blurred.

"Most Otherkin feel for most of their lives as though they don't belong. Human society seems alien and unfamiliar in many ways. They may feel isolated and unhappy, yet unable to explain these feelings at first. Then, perhaps they may begin to remember a life other than their own. Sometimes it is not easy to understand such memories, and sometimes the awakening to Otherkin-ness is a difficult and frightening process, especially if they are going through it alone. It is something not easy to share with others, for fear that they may consider you crazy.

"Being Otherkin is not something to crave, nor is it glamorous. It is a difficult and lonely path to tread, and sometimes it seems to bring only sorrow. Memories of loved ones long lost, a home that can no longer be reached, cause great pain. And yet, the life of the Otherkin is not all sadness. It is a life filled with wonder and magic, and a way of looking at the world that humans can never understand. Because magic is so much a part of an Otherkin's outlook, they may be drawn to Paganism or other New-age philosophies."

Are You 'Kin? by Gazer: "To really find out if you are otherkin takes searching. No, not on the internet, inside. You have to reach inside yourself and really look at yourself. This ,for the most part, is an inner journey. You have the answers, not me or anyone else. If you are otherkin then it is a PART of you, but you may be the only person able to find it.

The best others can do to help you is to provide pointers. Show you ways to search inside yourself, tell you how they found something inside themselves. We can hold a mirror up to you, but you won't see anything unless YOU do the looking, and what we see from our side of the mirror may not be the truth."

Otherkin Phenomena: "Otherkin are people who believe themselves to be something other than a human being on a spiritual, psychological, energetic and some even on a biological level, and choose to identify with that non-human fragment of themselves to the point where they count it as a permanent and ingrained part of their personal mythology and/or identity."

and there's plenty more! i'm just tired

i hope this helped answer your question, and perhaps gives others some insight as well!

#otherkin #alterhuman #asks #long post

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peregriiine · 6 years ago

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🌼younger members🌼

I wanted to make another post directed towards the younger members of our community! If you’re a younger therian and you’re reading this, I just want to let you know that you’ll always be welcome in our community, and we accept you no matter what, don’t worry :”)

•🌼•

however, I can’t say that Tumblr is the best place to start exploring your therianthropy and experiences, due to the rules (or lack of them) here on tumblr. Don’t get me wrong, it can be brilliant, but not for the younger people here. So, I wanted to reccomend some great websites for y’all that I found definatley helped me when I first joined!

•🌼•

Therian Amino

it’s honestly brilliant, there are always other therians and otherkin there that are ready to give you advice and teach you all the stuff you need to know at the beginning. It’s pretty relaxed, but there are relatively strict rules on what’s acceptable - it’s kept “pg 13” so to speak, but it’s definatley sometning for everyone. You can debate there without being yelled at about it, and it’s genuinely a really nice place to be :”0

(thanks to kitchi, who mentioned that amino is 13+! I forgot that for a moment)

•🌼•

Garden Of Therianthropes (amino)

This is made specifically to help and teach younger therians, so that in itself is enough to reccomend it - but, it’s ran by a good friend of mine so I can say for sure it’s a great place to be!

•🌼•

Instagram

this is great if you get in with the right people! It’s great for learning once you’ve got the basics, and there are more and more people to contact. I’d reccomend keeping your account private until you feel more comfortable, but It’s definatley a great sense of community there!

•🌼•

I hope this could help! I don’t want to make anyone feel unwelcomed here, but sometimes I don’t think tumblr is a great place for younger therians/otherkin to be at times. With the amount of physical shift claims and anti kin, it’s not the best introduction into our community. My apologies if anyone takes offence to this, it’s not meant to come off in that way :,)

#otherkin #therian #therians #theriangear #nature #otherkinity #tails #theriantrope #theriantropy #kincringe #kin #youngotherkin #youngtherians

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liongoatsnake · 3 years ago

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I posted 388 times in 2021

61 posts created (16%)

327 posts reblogged (84%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 5.4 posts.

I added 161 tags in 2021

#otherkin - 26 posts

#therianthropy - 22 posts

#therian - 20 posts

#hoc answers asks - 20 posts

#alterhuman - 18 posts

#fictionkin - 14 posts

#syscourse - 14 posts

#hoc website - 10 posts

#otherkin history - 9 posts

#nonhumanity - 8 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#(also we blush and get all embarrassed so much when people talk about us in any positive light. we do not know how to process postive intera

My Top Posts in 2021

Anti-endos/system exclusionists really are just the worst, huh? (And anyone reading this who’s one of those? Too bad. We’re valid, and we’re not going anywhere <3)

It is because people who are rapidly against endogenic systems existing that we, as trauma survivors and suffers of dissociation, no longer feel comfortable in the very support areas for those topics.

Sorry for a rant response anon. We have feelings regarding anti-endos/system exclusionists. We agree anon, we just feel the need to event a little.

VENT: In our personal experience, time and time and time again, yeah, “anti-endos/system exclusionists really are just the worst.” They claim endogenics are harming traumagenic systems, yet ignore the time and time again THEY have harmed traumagenic systems on their quest.

In all the time since this syscourse began, WE have been personally attacked dozens of times by exclusionists mistaking us for an endogenic system... not a single one has ever owned up to the fact they harmed someone they so claim to want to protect.

We’re not even talking argument point. Endogenic systems and systems who are not system exclusionists have NEVER ONCE: 1) send us materials meant to trigger us,

2) tried to poison our trust with our therapists,

3) threatened violence against us,

4) wished our abuse and trauma had been worse,

5) ban us from servers NOT EVEN RELATED to multiplicity because someone misread something and thought we were endogenic,

You know who has done those things to us and more? Yeah, anti-endo people. Not even talking about the arguments about systems existing and how (we could talk about that in another thread: this post, we’re just talking about who aren’t being shitty people). If you have one side being abusive, hateful, toxic, threatening, etc and another side being welcoming, affirming, open to thoughtful discussion - guess who we’re going to side with just on that alone? Endogenic systems and their supporters have ALWAYS been open to us trying to figure out and accept our childhood trauma and have NEVER ONCE belittled it or dismissed it. Anti-endogenics HAVE. Endogenic systems and their supporters have ALWAYS been encouraging when we sought to find a therapist who could help us with our mental heath needs and have NEVER ONCE belittled it or dismissed it. Anti-endogenics HAVE. Endogenic systems and their supporters have ALWAYS left us to just exist and do our thing and be ourselves and have NEVER ONCE come onto our own personal blog to harass and bully us. Anti-endogenics HAVE. Just on community environment ALONE we would be siding with the endogenic systems and their supporters because at least they actually support trauma survivors and suffers of dissociation without judgement and without malice. Anti-endogenics have proven time and time again that they are filled with people who will trample on other systems caused by trauma and have DID on their quest to slay the “Endos” and not bother to even look back at who they leave in their wake of dust as they charge for conquest. - Miushra and Cavern-Risen

82 notes • Posted 2021-05-04 21:50:08 GMT

The Use and Misuse of the Term Transspecies

youtube

We uploaded a version of a recording of our panel from Othercon 2021, The Use and Misuse of the Term Transspecies, onto Youtube. This includes both our slides and chat commentary.

83 notes • Posted 2021-10-23 18:17:48 GMT

A Problem In The Therian Community

The system I am part of been a member of the therian community for many years. Over 15 years in fact. I say this, not to toot my own horn, but to put into context what I’m about to say next: Whatever we call them or whatever they call themselves: weremythic… mythical therian, theriomythic, fictherian, or just plain fictionkin or therian. There are people who are a part of the therian community whose animality takes some pages out of myth or fiction are a part of the community. They are a part of the therian community. Get. Over. It. Don’t like it? Tough.

Animality is messy. It is instincts. It is being something not human and experiencing that in a day to day way that just sings “animal.” What shape this “animal-ness” can take is vast. The animality of an elephant is very different than the animality of a skink. Yet it is still animality.

Many years ago, back when forums were everywhere, I did a little experiment. I joined a forum alone and I was completely and totally honest about my animality in every respect except one: I never gave the name of my theriotype. Oh, I talked of my felinity, being a prehistoric feline, being a social feline very much unlike any modern feline even lions, on and on and on. I was never challenged. Never judged. I could talk about my slow process of trying to find my species and how many names I had stuck from the list over the years. I could talk of my hunting instincts, my social quirks, etc and everything was good. I never had anyone go out of there way to grill me into the ground. And yet, and yet do you know what happened when I came out as fictionkin?

I don’t think I need to describe, in detail, how that went down. How quickly people who had happily moved along as I told the exact same explanations before suddenly turned suspicious with a few changes of words. Suddenly my felinity wasn’t “animalistic” enough. Nothing was enough. Instincts were not enough. They were tagged with something fictional as the best label out there to describe my species. That was all anyone saw.

Crying out against the treatment of some in the community isn’t about being questioned, it is about being unfairly questioned. Certain kintypes/theriotypes are held to near impossible standard and of high scrutiny at every turn. It matters not how long and how much they have mulled over their experiences; nothing is enough for some in the community.

Because to those people the person they see before them only has “an identity” but is not having an “experience.” Because to allow the fact that animality is vast and… messy is to pull them out of a comfortable bubble where therians are in one corner and otherkin are on the other.

Whatever a person whose animality takes a form beyond strictly of an Earthly animal calls themselves (therian, fictionkin, weremythic, theriomythic, fictherian…) their animality is not diminished because of the form their animality takes. It is still animality.

To play a values game based on arbitrary or minor differences, seems quite a human thing to do at the end of the day.

Me, I just want to talk about my instincts to run down prey with other cheetah-like felines and then after eating my fill find a place to lounge for a while. Talk of not understanding human social conventions. I just want to talk about my animality, my felinity.

Any therians who want lay claim to the therian community and say who is and is not a therian based on their own biases, as if it is their territory alone, are in for a rude awakening as I ignore their pathetic piss marks. -Miushra

115 notes • Posted 2021-04-26 01:25:01 GMT

History of the therian community find of the day: a post from February 1998 in which someone uses both the words "species dysphoria" & "trans-specied" (trans-species) while describing what being a were (old term for therianthrope) is like. *1998!*

138 notes • Posted 2021-02-13 03:42:43 GMT

The Feelings Surround and Usage of the Words "Species Dysphoria" & "Transspecies" Survey

The Feelings Surround and Usage of the Words "Species Dysphoria" & "Transspecies" Survey is interested in the rates of species dysphoria within the nonhuman, alterhuman, therian, and similar communities, the level of usage of the term transspecies, and the overall perception of these terms within the communities. This survey is going to be left up for a long period of time in order to gather as much data over as wide a spread of people as possible. You are free to change your answers for as long as the survey remains up. All submissions are entirely anonymous.

The information will be used in an upcoming Othercon convention panel.

https://forms.gle/qhLMUugtA1xv5kis6

172 notes • Posted 2021-04-23 16:50:20 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #Youtube

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daemonappreciator-blog · 7 years ago

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My Experience With The Daemon Forum (The Daemon Page

I feel guilty writing this, because I don't hate this community. But something needed to be said, something needs to change, and if I didn't write this, all these thoughts swirling around in my head were going to consume me. So here it is. A piece on my time spent with The Daemon Forum - be warned, this is going to be long.

I've been a member of The Daemon Forum for over five years now. I've accumulated quite a few posts, and I like to think I've helped out the community a few times. However, I've had several problems with it, and more and more have become apparent the more I'm around it.

But I'll start with the positives. I love the concept of daemonism. Having a daemon has helped me through some truly rough times. Finding my form through personality typing has been a really fun journey. I love surfing the analysis index, it's one of my favorite parts of the place. Having other people around to compare notes which is particularly nice, especially since it's exceptionally difficult to find experienced daemians outside the forum. I've also made several great friends on there; there are lots of friendly people around.

However, if it was all fun and games, I wouldn't feel the need to write this, and unfortunately, the majority of my time spent there was a negative experience. It should come as no surprise that I'm not going to say my account name on TDF, as I would rather not be banned; especially when all I want to do is point out problems that could be solved. I am in no trying to harm the community or drive people away from it; I'm merely sharing my honest opinion of the place - but know it is only my opinion and observations. Other people may have had none of these problems. But they were prominent enough for me to come away with an anxiety attack after every time I posted there, a couple years into it. Anxiety being something I recovered fully from before then, so it's been very unhealthy for me. As it happens, I'm extremely nervous while writing this, because I wouldn't be surprised if there was a major backlash from the community in response to this. But as I said, I have to get this out of my head, and out into the open, or it will never stop bothering me.

So I suppose that's the topic I'll start with. Potential backlash. I've noticed over the years that the staff tends to be quite sensitive to constructive criticism, and it's been punished whenever it's about something other than forum layout or glitches. Someone once posted anonymously about feeling afraid to come out as plural, because the forum treats headmates very differently than a multiple community would, and that they didn't want to be seen as "less than" all the other members just for being a headmate. They seemed scared to me, genuinely worried about this. They weren't accusatory or nasty about it. But the only reply they got was a moderator reprimanding them for 'passive aggression', and they were told they had broken several forum rules (I'm not staff, but I didn't understand what was done wrong, even with the explanation), and were essentially told they wouldn't be warned again. As someone who ran several forums myself, I would immediately get rid of that moderator. If that member was so scared they felt they had to post anonymously, that is not the correct response; especially when there's no provable way to know this is a member who has caused problems in the past. The members of the community are humans with feelings, not robots used to expand your website. I tried treating my members that way once. Didn't work out too well. Anyway, I don't know if that member ever came back after that, though I don't have any way to know who it was. I wouldn't blame them if they left after that, after exposing themself like that, being that vulnerable and being treated so for it. It must have felt awful.

Speaking of plural systems, there was one that joined for a brief stint and then left after posting a thread about real vampirism. It was a poll, asking if anyone on there had psychic vampirism. The post body was used explaining what vampirism was and wasn't, and giving educational resources on the topic. The poll got several votes, but no replies, until a moderator (or it may have been a member acting as a moderator) posted that this would not be discussed because they were 'encouraging members to drink blood' - at no point did they say so. Vampirism being a very real condition with real problems, and not something that occurs by choice; it's essentially a physiological disorder that people are born with. They are the type of people who absolutely need education and experienced peer support to remain healthy, and as the poll proved, there were several vampires on the forum, who were unable to discuss those issues with each other. It's clear the problem wasn't because it was off-topic - the thread was in a section that allows those discussions, and there are several threads for LGBTQA folk there, along with therians and otherkin, not to mention religious discussions, political talks, and so on. Again, it was a very inappropriate response, though it was a different moderator/member this time.

Then there was an incident where a novelist joined up to learn about daemonism. The members were plenty friendly to them, but the moderators met the idea with skepticism and caution. Which I suppose is understandable, since there was no way to know where this person would post their findings, though they said it was just for inspiration for a fiction novel, and that the ideas wouldn't end up being exactly like daemonsim (that already being in The Golden Compass and all). This writer made a thread asking what people think of spiritual daemonsim, and asked that only people who have experience with the topic reply. They were reprimanded for 'tailoring' the responses - however, if you look on just about any thread relating to spiritual daemonism around there, you'll find the majority of the posts by people who do not believe in such things posting about their opinion, and that landside of skepticism seems to really scare off the people who do believe in that - I know those people are around, but it seems they often end up being too nervous to post an unpopular opinion, especially when some people state their opinion as fact and imply ridiculing people who think otherwise. There's a definite worry about looking crazy or not fitting in, at the very least on that topic, because of that atmosphere. So when a mod posted on the author's thread, expressing not only that but also distrust for this person, that kept anyone else from replying. I wanted to, honestly, being someone who sees a spiritual aspect to daemonism. But no one stepped up to the plate after that, and for me personally, it was out of concern that I would be punished for giving them information, and I would imagine others felt similarly. There was a lot of posting about how the members don't know who this person is, and that the questions are 'suspicious' - I don't get that. Any member can see every other thread on these things. That writer could see far, far more incriminating things about the forum than whatever could have been shared there. It's a public forum. There's no huge secrets. That kind of response, is, again, completely inappropriate and in this case, very off-putting and suspicious itself. It implies that for some reason, the forum does not want to discuss spirituality, though to any long-time member, that concept isn't much of a surprise. Whether it's true or not, there is an air of expectation to see daemons as constructs only, and nothing else - including on The Daemon Page, where daemons are explained solely as constructs, psychological; no other view or opinion is even mentioned, and this makes the people who think otherwise feel ashamed - at least, I do. It feels like, while everyone else can talk about how their daemon came to be and their nature and all that, those of us who have differing views have to sit in a dark, quiet corner and listen to everyone else and not speak up, and it makes you feel embarrassed about having your daemon. That is not a feeling I want to have in any community, especially not one about embracing your individuality.

And now I'll move onto that topic. There is an interesting... duality, you could say, to this place. Which is ironic, given that part of the idea of daemonism is to have duality. So on one side, you've got this incredible concept of having a form that perfectly fits you, that is uniquely you, that means something intrinsically 'you'. This is what I love about the forum. It's some deep soul-searching, and self-analysis. On The Daemon Page, it's said that there's a form to fit your personality perfectly, and also a form that you prefer to take when projecting your daemon, and only you can determine both. So, when I joined, what I expected was to see a million different forms, because people are hugely varied and unique. But then you see the other side of this coin. Now, I don't take a problem with this first part - it's entirely up to someone what form fits them. There are a lot of canines. So many canines. And humans are social creatures, that makes sense. If someone feels a coyote is what fits them, then that's good, that's beautiful, and it's good that they aren't ashamed of that even if there are a lots of people with the same form. After all, one form can mean something to every individual. However, it's this next part that sits wrong with me. I have seen, so many times, people try to 'correct' each other about their forms. Say someone says their fitting form is a tiger - it would be no surprise to see someone come around and say 'you're too social for that'. I get it in the Reverse Analysis section - that's where you go on asking people to find forms that fit you, based on what you say about yourself. I mean when this happens in random threads. I've even seen people talking behind the backs of others about this, including but not limited to mocking people for their choice of form, saying people are naive or 'trying to be cool' with their choice, and therefore lying to themselves, and even one case where someone said "*eyeroll*" about someone previously on the forum, and their choice of form.

So there's a feeling of being judged. To add to that, it seems like no matter what your form is, you are expected to act like you have a canine form, even though that just isn't you. For instance, there was someone with a king cobra form, who was rather cold and distant. I saw people criticize him for being himself (he was not breaking forum rules) - and I just think it's weird that they were surprised he acted like he had a king cobra personality, when a big part of the point of daemonism is to celebrate and embrace your personality, and to truly accept your whole self. I also remember him saying he actually didn't want a king cobra form, he would prefer an octopus. But he was the type to only project what fit him best, so he wouldn't deny himself. (I had a couple discussions with him - he thought it was too fitting that people misunderstood him, when the king cobra itself is so misunderstood.) He left not long after he joined, and told me he just didn't feel welcome, despite doing his best to be friendly - he was never nasty, that I saw. On a side note, his cousin, who is also a member, made a video archive thread for reference of different animal movements and sounds, but has since disappeared off the forum. On the thread, before he vanished, a moderator offered to update the post for him if he didn't have time, but it doesn't look like anyone's done anything about it. Which is disappointing, because I was really hoping for a big library of videos. I guess I just wonder if the mods are going to get back to that at some point.

Then there's the whole debate on mixed-breed forms, extinct forms, mythical creature forms, and - the most taboo of them all - human forms. Very often, you'll see people, moderators included, saying these forms can't be 'viable'; the reason being that you can't study these creatures to find out their behavior, and that humans are too varied and individual to use. And while it's been said that you don't have to agree with the works on the analysis index, there's a distinct feeling of an unspoken rule that you do have to agree with them. Because if you take a form for reasons that don't quite match an analysis on the forum, you will have people pointing it out to you left and right - I certainly did, even though I chose my forms based on a combination of analysis and my own opinions of the animals, and to be frank, it is no one's business who chooses what form. On the previous topic, I always found it silly that people think they can determine the personality of someone (this is not including RAs) through scattered posts on an internet forum. I'm sorry, but you cannot know someone better than they know themself, no matter how close you are to them - certainly not as a stranger on the internet, and no one is in the position to tell someone else better about their form, yet as I said, I saw plenty of that. Then, back to my current subject. I recall a couple people who used dragons as forms, someone with a gryphon, and someone with a wyvern. I was really interested in that concept, and I thought it was cool they embraced what they felt fit them. So I looked up their posts, to see if they talked about what it's like to have a mythical form. I couldn't really find much. They would typically talk most about it in their introduction, quickly find out they were expected to choose animal forms, and after that they generally seemed to be cautious about talking about it. One of them stubbornly continued to talk about his daemon like she was just like any other, but his posts would largely go ignored, and it made me feel... awful. The others would typically be ignored, too, whenever they tried to talk about theirs. As an example, if you post in The Daemon Boiling pot, no matter what you post, you'll typically get around ten or so replies. It's a good place to talk about random daemon-y stuff, as a lot of people frequent it. But I hardly ever saw a reply to them on there. It would be odd to see even one. I can only imagine they felt like they were being silently judged, brushed off in the hopes they would change to fit in, and that's no way for a community to be. That's the vibe I got. I always wanted to reply to them, but I was worried that looking associated with them would earn me the same treatment, and I am very ashamed of that.

Then the mixed-breed forms were generally seen as 'trying too hard to be cool', and would be ridiculed - this was said around the forum, even with mixed-breed people present, even if not aimed directly at them. I don't understand how that isn't breaking the rules. But some people are literally a mixed breed. My best friend is half one race, and half another - two that don't get along - and not being able to fit in with either has been a huge deal in her life, and nearly led her to suicide, because she didn't belong anywhere, and she always felt ostracized. Her daemon is a half-dog, half-wolf because of that. And I think it's extremely tone-deaf and insensitive to make fun of people for having a form that means something to them, no matter what their reason may be.

And then there's the human forms. There are members who nearly only project their daemons as humans. Interestingly, they list theirs forms as animals on their profiles - as do most of the mythical forms - probably out of forum expectation, but continue to only use human forms in daily life. These people seem to be ignored similarly to the mythical ones, but receive more than that. I've seen, again, mocking behind their backs, and in these cases, I've seen people question them rudely, act uneasy about them using a human form, make lewd implications, and send insults directly at them for having a human form. I don't understand. I will never understand what the problem is with someone using a form that works for them. I also don't understand the automatic assumption that the daemian and daemon must be having sex in that scenario - first of all, why do people have to intrude on others like that - and second, that's their business. Even if they are doing it, I can't imagine something being wrong with that. As far as I understand, most people have sexual fantasies, not to mention many people feel incredible shame and self-consciousness about sexuality, and if anything, I should think this would help them accept themselves, and boost their self-confidence for dating. But I'm getting off-topic. My point is, what other people do in their own mind has zero affect on others, and no one has the right to nose into it.

Typically, it seems like when someone joins and says their daemon has a human or humanoid form, they are immediately linked to the archive to pick an animal form. Sometimes it's clearly just members being polite, at other times, it seems like it isn't a suggestion. Very often, sadly, I've seen them be patronized, like trying to correct a five-year-old too gently. I've also seen someone say, 'well maybe that's the way they've understood the concept without really knowing it', implying that the way TDF does daemonism, is in some way, 'the one true way', and that people come to be enlightened, as you do often see people having very similar practices throughout their lives, and then change how they do things upon joining the forum, even if what they've done since childhood has worked perfectly well for them.

Which brings me to the subtle rules of the place. The unspoken rules, that you will use an animal form, that you will fit the analysis of said animal, that you will act like a canine form despite your fitting form, and so one. In my search for other daemon communities (I could find none which were active, only essays), I went to Tumblr. This was the only place I could find people posting about the topic. Some of these people are from TDF. I visited every single daemon-related blog, and found, interestingly, that the only one to have any kind of rules is TDF's Tumblr page. While on the other blogs, you find people coming to share their experiences and find out what daemonism is, on the TDF blog, you'll find people asking what they can and can't do. There is a definite 'you can only have an animal form' rule there. While the others say, 'daemons generally appear as animals, but you should use whatever fits you for personal reasons', one even said that you shouldn't use the analysis archive, because it tries too hard to force people into categories that strangers created, and that those animals may mean something different to you. Another said to outright avoid TDF for similar reasons; that the community is too controlling on who can have what form.

There is more than just that, but those unspoken, unclaimed rules are a little too close to an unofficial religion for my comfort. I tried to follow those rules for a long time, and tried to make my friends follow them, too, because that was the kind of precedent the forum set. I was a huge jerk doing that, and I regret it more than I can say. Their questions of "But why do things have to be that way? Why does it matter at all?" is what first got me questioning this. Maybe TDF is just trying to maintain order, but as they've admitted time and time again, the way they do things is absolutely nothing like in HDM anymore, and so rules seem arbitrary and unneeded to me. It seems better to let people do what they want, and to be willing to talk about all those different things.

And this leads me to discussion. It seems to be nearly impossible to get a discussion started on something that is not a popular opinion. Spiritual daemonism, as I said earlier. The ties between your religion and your daemon. Non-animal forms. And many, many more topics. Oddly, a deep, philosophical discussion is particularly hard to get going. I understand people just want to have fluffy fun, and that's great (the fun threads are the ones that by far get the most posts, after all), but when you want to delve seriously into something, despite the sheer size of the community, it seems like it's a rare day that someone steps forward and participates. Maybe it's just me, but I'm the type to really want to figure out topics like this, and while this community should be the place to go for all things daemon, I just can't get anyone to humor me.

It feels like anyone that is different from the unspoken rules is treated as weird. As I said, differing forms, non-psychological views, having more than one daemon, and so on. It's a very gloomy atmosphere to those who fall under those labels.

Now onto miscellaneous problems. There's no way I will be able to cover everything, but I'll put a few out here. Putting a trigger warning on spiders and snakes. That is not what a trigger warning is for, and that light use of the term is offensive and insensitive. This is a forum about animals - censoring some types of animals is incredibly fishy. Some animals are more equal than others, it would seem. At least one of the founders/administrators of the forum left years ago, saying none of it was ever real, and that they 'outgrew' it. That's not a very hopeful light for following members. That particular admin also set a tone of being rude and sharp to the members, if I remember correctly. Come to think of it, I haven't seen an actual admin on there for quite some time, and it makes me wonder who is really running the place - not knowing who is in charge makes me, and several others, feel very uneasy, especially given how odd some of the moderators tend to act.

I also know the vast majority of the members are young to mid teenagers - I was there once, too, I understand, but it seems like they shouldn't be the ones running the place, and it often feels like they are, as some of the moderators are a bit on the younger, inexperienced side, as well. Or maybe I'm just old and judging youth too harshly.

That is another oddity around there. I keep seeing people 'move on' from daemonism, stop talking to or projecting their daemon and leave altogether in their adulthood; thirties or so. It seems I'm one of the few older members left - though I'm not sure I'll come back ever, after this. It isn't like I've done anything other than lurk for a long time, anyway.

When I would post a daemon-related topic of interest to me, something that wasn't the usual "it's my CIEday", "here's a cute picture", "I've changed forms" and so on, I would seldom get replies. It just didn't feel like a community. It felt like there wasn't a real, deep interest in the topic. It felt like I was trying to talk through a one-way mirror, and would just get overlooked constantly, and it made me wonder why. Is it me? Did I say something wrong? Because the silent treatment is something this forum does all the time, it seems. But I wasn't the only one to post more thoughtful threads, and most of them didn't get much conversation on them, either. So maybe it was a general lack of wanting to think deeply. Maybe that's just not the forum's thing. Either way, it disappoints me, because you would think a community claiming to be a resource and encompassing things on this topic would be willing to get all up in it. But maybe it's that atmosphere, again, of feeling afraid to speak up, because you might not fit in, and then people will ignore your posts, too. I know I'm not the only one who's felt that.

And in the vein of people trying to tell others better about themselves, I've seen way too much of that geared toward plural systems. Trying to tell people what their headmates are and aren't. It was, at least at one point, to the point of prejudice.

And while some people feel as though they can't post their opinions (an administrator at least once corrected someone's 'wrong opinion', I wish I was joking), others use the fact it's their opinion to flame and hate. Again, I see too much of that. I will never get why the moderators jump on what they do and ignore those posts. It seems like they have no direction, and no one in charge to determine what needs help and what does not.

For a length of time, this forum made me hate daemonism, and I stopped interacting with my daemon for nearly a year. I've fortunately gotten past that now, and realized that it's up to me to do what I want, even if I can't have anyone to talk to about it. If anyone knows of another active community, that's more open-minded, I would love to join it.

When I started talking to my daemon again, they told me, "That community is like poison, you don't see it at first, and most people don't. But over time it slowly seeps in and makes you sicker and sicker, until you break. Unlike a toxic community, it isn't immediately obvious. But it's still there."

Unfortunately I have to agree with that. I've had quite a bit of anxiety just writing this, and just thinking about the forum makes me break into a cold sweat - again, I wish I was joking. I just want this all over with and behind me forever. And doing this was a necessary part of that. I'm sure the forum will have major backlash to this, and there will be a lot of arguing. But at this point, I don't care. I'm going to stand up and say what's been going on, and no threat of getting a slap on the wrist will stop me.

I hope it was all clear. Of course, if you want to join there, you should, and form your own opinion based on your experiences. This is just what I saw, and what happened to me. Good luck with your daemonism, and don't let anyone make you give up. I just hope the forum also doesn't give up, and makes some necessary changes to make it a healthy community. If it does, I just might come back to talk again.

#daemonism daemons thedaemonforum thedaemonpage daemians TheGoldenCompass HisDarkMaterials MyExperienceWithTheDaemonForum

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cowboywizard · 8 years ago

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THERIAN FAQ !

hey hey hey! welcome to my post where i try to explain therianthropy to the best of my ability for the ill-informed, uninformed, and maybe even the well informed to inform them of my personal experiences, definitions, and answers to the burning questions i see in the tag and on kin help blogs.

first of all, what even is a therian?

by my own definition, a therian is someone who believes that they were an animal, mammal, reptile, amphibious or whatever in a past life. it comes with the belief of reincarnation. it is identifying as, not with. it is not someone who believes they were a demon, ghost, celestial being, star, mythical creature, or anything other than an animal, living or extinct. those are called otherkin.

how does Google define therian?

the only Google related search i could find was UrbanDictionary which defines it as,

“Short for therianthrope a therian is somebody who feels a connection with an animal.”

this was taken out of a very large paragraph, keep in mind.

this is very close to my own personal definition, though the original source states,

“Not necessarily an animal from this plane either, although most therians tend to be animals such as wolves or big cats there are some who believe themselves to be unicorns or other mythical creatures.”

by my own definition and what i have seen in the tag, this is not the case with therianthropy. they mixed in the term otherkin with therian.

while they are closely related, they are not the same as previously explained.

while i cannot tell you myself if you are a therian, but there are methods.

these are the few i strongly discourage you from doing:

1. Having someone work a pendulum for you.

NEVER have someone do a pendulum test online or for you! even if you are in the room, this is not reliable. while pendulum tests are very good to have, do them yourself if possible!

i have personally never used a pendulum, but the website crystal tiger says to never let someone else use your pendulum, and to never use someone else’s. pendulum tests use your own energy, and if someone else uses it, their energy makes it go all screwy.

2. Saying you are one without research.

When i say research, i mean research. really dig in there.

When was the term “therian” coined? Who was the first therian? There are so many more things you need to research. Research does several things.

1. It helps you find out if you truly believe you are a therian.

2. Keeps you well informed if you do join the community.

And many more.

3. Choosing your theriantype.

This is a very big one.

You can not pick your theriantype/theriotype.

If you decide it yourself, you are not a therian.

So how do you find out if you’re a therian?

1. Meditation.

This is what i personally did. There are guides online, but this is how I did it myself.

The first time you meditate, sit upright. Look up celestial white noise in youtube, put in headphones, and sit with your legs uncrossed if that’s uncomfortable. Now, for a few minutes, breathe in and say 1 mentally. breathe out, and say 2 mentally. continue this pattern until you get to 240. you may have felt tingling or saw flashes of light, but don’t worry about this. this is normal.

you are allowed to think, but do not interact with these thoughts. you can watch/listen, but do not think further on them. if a question pops up, do not answer it. if something happens, do not comment on it.

if you lose count, open your eyes and start over.

it may take a few tries, but once you hit 240, you should be good to ask for yourself to show up. then, you will have a bonding experience, whether that be shaking hands, hugging, or just having them poke you. there has been a case of a wolf therian being eaten by himself and then becoming the wolf. it is different for everyone.

i, being river otter and sea otter kin, have had to meditate upwards of twenty times. river otter was harder to figure out, and sea otter just took about six tries.

my experiences were hard to tell if they were enough to be bonding experiences. the river otter was long periods of eye contact each time, and the sea otter just held my hands down on my chest with its paws.

2. Doing a pendulum test on yourself.

While you can’t use someone else’s pendulum, you can use your own pendulum if you own one, or plan to buy one. Once again, I am unaware how these work, but good luck if you choose this method.

3. LONG periods of self-questioning.

I don’t exactly suggest this as a stand alone method. Use this along with the pendulum test or meditation. Because, while meditation and pendulums are probably your best bet, only you can decide if you truly want to go along with what your sessions reveal.

well, you’re diddly darn wrong!

many people felt nonhuman before, such as myself, but didn’t realize they weren’t broken until they went on tumblr and found a term for it, and a way to figure out what they were.

they may have identified as an animal way before they went on tumblr, but didn’t find out what to call themselves until they went on this stinkin’ website.

as a member of both the therian and furry communities, i can confirm that they are similar. however, they are also vastly different.

Furries use animals to represent themselves. They identify with.

Therians are the animals spiritually. They identify as.

Short and sweet!

as stated earlier,

they don’t!

humans have created a list of cool animals. animals themselves, have not.

while wolves and foxes are very common, that is simply their true self. they can not help that, and many are even uncomfortable after finding out themselves. so, next time you use this an argument, remember next time that therians do not choose their theriotype, nor do we have a hierarchy of the best/most attractive animals.

first of all, what is p-shifting?

p-shifting is defined as shape-shifting, as it is short for physical shifting.

it is the act, or the belief of the act, of becoming the true form of yourself, instead of being a wolf soul in a human body you would be a wolf soul in a wolf body.

the closest people will ever get to shapeshifting is using the behaviours of a theriotype, so, in turn, p-shifting is not real, and is something straight out of a sci-fi novella.

Alright, I need to close this up.

This post may be continued another day, but as of now, these are my base definitions and knowledge on the subject of therianthropy and otherkinning.

Thank you, if you took the time to read this, and I hope you at least learned something.

#therian #therianthropy #theriotype #theriantype #therian faq #faq #otherkin #lycanthropy #mental #headspace #therian community #kin

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alynna-menagerie · 7 years ago

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@theriannation

1) Alynna, and its my primary name. (not given, or true name)

2) Polytherian.

3) Primarily fox, secondarily rabbit. I have aspects or “other parts of myself” which are unicorn and dragonness, however I do not consider those to be therian types, but kintypes, though unicorn is pretty close to being a horse when it comes to what you feel. Being fae is part of ALL of the previously mentioned types.

4) For fox, yes, most of them. Rabbits usually live in silence. The other two, well unicorns don’t usually talk like horses and dragons just talk like dragons.

5) Both. I believe ones spiritual history have a direct effect on the type of mind you will develop during life, because the spirit influences the mind constantly. My belief primarily stems from the experience from how my own mind has developed.

6) My spirit is primarily one of a fae-fox. I noted at a very early age that my mind worked very different from others, and from the ages 7-16 I didn’t even have any internet so I kinda believed I was alone with that.

7) I can trace my first awakening event to when I was 7 but won’t describe it in detail on a public Tumblr. So about 33 years now. Once I got internet access at around 17 it still took me a year to find the therian and otherkin communities, and that was about 24 years ago now.

8) All of those, but as I understand cameo, thats like temporarily shifting into something else.. I do feel that some aspects of myself allow for some measure of shapeshifting, but I suppose most of them, I don’t try to trigger on my own. I don’t know all the new terms well.

9) I didn’t even know what therianthropy was until I got on the internet and even then it wasn’t defined as therianthropy, it was more an extension of being a “were-creature”. The word “therianthropy” didn’t come till later. There used to be some documents out there that described therian experiences like superliminal limbs and atypical urges (wont get into detail here) and many of my experiences mirrored what was documented.

Discovering specifically what I am was more about learning about animals and comparing their traits to my own, and having alot of feline and canine traits, combined with the color patterns I saw in meditations and introspections drew me to the conclusion that I am more foxlike than anything. Before introspection I didn’t really have the context of what a fox is, and went between animals that had some of the traits I felt and experienced.

I knew early on that I had multiple tails, which was confusing to me at first until someone told me about kitsune (I did not know and back in 1997 or so it was not a common creature to know about), and most of the other things I had discovered about myself fell into place. The primary theriotype I identify as now, is the same one I have identified as for the last 20 years.

10) What it primarily means to me is that I am a fox (primarily), I feel fox things, I have fox instincts and sensations, and.. I’m not sure what else its supposed to mean to me. To me it’s always been what it is.

11) One time I was caught rolling around in my back yard, rubbing my head against the ground and that kind of stuff. That’s kind of mild but it will work.

12) I do things but I don’t know that I have a hobby.

Therian Questionnaire

This is the questionnaire mentioned in the Therian Nation video “Therianthropy is Not a Competition”. https://youtu.be/nAuIOC7bN6U

It is also mentioned in our previous post which was a transcript of the video. https://theriannation.tumblr.com/post/174279639847/therianthropy-is-not-a-competition

These questions are a great way to learn more about yourself, and you should probably answer them again every few months to a year to see how your experiences have changed or stayed the same. This is also a good way to introduce yourself to the community. So of course feel free to copy and use them wherever you’d like to.

1) What is your Screen Name/Therian Name?

2) Are you a Standard Therian (one therioside) or Polytherian (multiple theriosides)?

3) What species is your Therioside/Kintype? List multiple if you have more than one.

4) Are you able to make the vocalizations of your Therioside/Kintype?

5) Are you a Spiritual Therian or Psychological Therian or Both?

6) What is the origin/cause of your Therianthropy? (ex: soul is an animal)

7) How long have you been awakened?

8) What shifts (if any) have you experienced? Mental Phantom Dream Sensory Astral/Spirit/Aura Cameo None (Feel nonhuman in other ways) None (Contherian-always shifted)

9) How did you discover/conclude that you were a Therianthrope? It’s okay to say you are still learning/questioning.

10) What does Therianthropy/being a Therian mean to you?

11) If you choose to, share one embarrassing moment due to being a Therian.

12) What hobbies do you enjoy?

This is also available:

Google Docs – https://docs.google.com/document/d/1d6r1mhxQUOfnzqAORSRfB9V5_gO1nlW2dC8z8jwPsLI/edit?usp=sharing

Amino: http://aminoapps.com/p/qp3461

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/notes/therian-nation/therian-questionnaire/616700465377313/

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/p/BjQJeRoBinb/

Tweets – https://twitter.com/TherianNation/status/1000447557254889472 and https://twitter.com/TherianNation/status/1000465837789237248

Also available for reading on Wattpad – https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/149661659-therianthropy-is-not-a-competition

#therian #theriannation

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pumastuffs · 8 years ago

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The 30 Day Non-Human Challenge (but all at once and slightly modified)

1. What is your species? I am a puma!

2. Have you told anyone? Who? I've briefly brought it up with my younger sister, and I've also told my husband.

3. How old were you when you realized you were not human? What made you realize it? My "official" awakening was a couple years back, sometime around 2012 or 2013. I've always felt like a cat, and that was when I finally learned a word to briefly summarize my identity.

4. Do you identify as a part of the otherkin or therian community? What communities do you identify with? When I first discovered the communities, I lurked mainly in the otherkin tags and used 'kin terminology. With the recent influx of fictionkin in the otherkin community and tags, I've shifted more towards therian spaces. Nothing against 'em, I just feel more comfortable with the therian crowd.

5. Tell the story of the first person you told. I think the first person I told was my little sister. I don't remember it all that well, but I think it started as me talking about the concept and then admitting that yeah, I am one. We're close and she's cool, so it went well. Basically a "yeah, that makes sense," kind of thing.

6. Have you faced any abuse because of identifying as nonhuman? Nope! I'm not very vocal about it irl or on my main blog, and I don't tag my personal posts here with the relevant tags, so I have no audience that could turn on me, haha.

7. Do you have a favorite nonhuman character? Judy Hopps! When the movie came out, I was the same age as her, and I just really loved her personality. She's a very relatable character and I love her. I have a lot of "favorite" characters, but she's the first one who came to mind, and also the most recent.

8. Do you believe there should be nonhuman pride? What do you imagine it being like? It'd be nice to be able to be a bit more open about it in public without fear of being made fun of, but I don't think "pride" is appropriate. More just general acceptance.

9. What does being nonhuman mean to you? It means experiencing the world as an animal and a human. It's kind of a best of both worlds situation. I'm a feline at my core, but I get to do all these fun things that are inherently human experiences.

10. What have other people said about your nonhuman nature? Nothing, really. The two people I've told have been supportive, but it's not a thing that we actively talk about because it doesn't *need* to be talked about.

11. Nope.

12. Your favorite nonhuman Tumblr site. Kinfood is probably still my favorite, even if they are inactive. Lots of good recipes, and it was one of the first kin blogs I followed.

13. Your favorite nonhuman website. Buddy, I have no idea. I know it's a faux pas, but 99% of my online consumption of therian stuff is tumblr.

14. Tell us about a time you met another nonhuman, whether in real life or online. I don't really actively socialize with other people in the community aside from the occasional reply, and I've not met anyone irl, so I don't think I can really say I've met someone. Encountered, yes; met, no.

15. Your favorite nonhuman celebrity/person. I've forgotten how to spell it, but I did enjoy watching Kaniishta Njaiuk's videos. Doggrin was also a favorite. I loved those little rambling videos while they cooked. Genuineferalswagger was another blog that I enjoyed going through, although they've since deactivated. I hope all of 'em are doing well.

16. Your favorite nonhuman book (as in, nonhuman characters are the main focus). Anything with cats as the lead, haha. Redwall is a classic series. Watership Down is a good one. I recently remembered The Grand Escape, but I haven't read that since elementary school.

17. Your favorite nonhuman movie. The Lion King is up there. Zootopia and Brother Bear are also candidates. I'm really bad at picking favorites.

18. Tell us a funny joke about being nonhuman. Otherkin don’t real. A classic joke.

19. Is being nonhuman spiritual for you? A complicated question! I believe that I'm a purposefully misplaced soul that was nurtured by my close relationship with my childhood cat and dogs. So basically a mix of spiritual and psychological stuff (the latter being some kind of imprinting). However you spin it, I believe my nonhuman identity was intentional on behalf of a higher power to help me get through life. It sounds super cheesy, but it's the easiest way to describe it.

20. Tell us a few thoughts about what it's like being your species. Being feline is so innate that it's sometimes hard to pick out feline behavior from normal human traits. It's comfy, though. The worst part is being weirdly territorial on some things; I don't like people touching my things, and I get this weird, uncomfortable feeling when people come over for the first little bit, like they shouldn't be there.

21. Your favorite nonhuman quote. I can't think of any off the top of my head, sorry!

22. What do you believe causes nonhuman identity? It depends on the person, honestly. For some it's spiritual, for others it's psychological, and it can even be a mixture of both! All I know is my vague, wishy-washy views based on my own experience.

23. What is your favorite nonhuman pride image? Uh, the theta-delta? It's a nice little symbol, and it's a little more subtle than shouting "HEY I'M A CAT" from the rooftops, lol.

24. Write something or post a picture about nonhumans that upsets you. I'm a little bothered by the Tumblrkin(tm) taking over and warping the terms and everything. I'm also weirded out by how fast it went from a small community on this site to literally everyone on tumblr is fictionkin. I'm not losing sleep over anything, but like, how did this happen?

25. What is the worst argument you've heard against being nonhuman? They're all a little tired at this point, but the "your body is human" is an obvious one. Like, yeah, of course. You sure showed me, buddy.

26. Who is your biggest ally? I'm gonna be cheesy and say my husband. He's not a spiritual person at all, but he accepts my views and gives me scritches and pets and calls me a cat sometimes. It's nice.

27. What is your favorite type(s) of cake? Ice cream cake is my jam. Red Velvet is good, too, followed by confetti cake.

28. What is your favorite type of pie? (Alternately, is pie an acceptable replacement for cake?) Pumpkin pie and buttermilk pie are both so good. I used to think French silk was amazing back in the day, but it's probably a little too rich for me now. Pie is definitely an acceptable replacement for cake.

29. Where did you first learn about being nonhuman? Here on good ol' tumblr. I first saw the word on a post someone made about otherkin going into their ask box to complain about their interpretation of a character. That lead me to looking in the tags to see what it was about, delving into the blogs (of which Tsu's was one of the first), and deciding "hey, this fits." All of this was shortly before Tsu went off the deep end.

30. Tell us anything about being nonhuman that you want to end with. I did this all in one go so my mind is pretty tapped for comments or good advice or whatever.

#about #filled questionnaire #i don't even remember what i wrote because i did two of these at once and my eyes are getting all blurry from the blinding white of the comp #*computer screen #and like i said in one of the answers and the original reblog of the unfilled post:#swanblood ended up being kinda gross but i'm not letting that stop me from having a good time filling out long questionnaires #edited the questions again to rephrase as told bc the original phrasing made me uncomfortable

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who-is-page · 3 years ago

Text

I posted 12,743 times in 2021

217 posts created (2%)

12526 posts reblogged (98%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 57.7 posts.

I added 927 tags in 2021

#video - 301 posts

#vine - 295 posts

#personal - 66 posts

#otherkin - 58 posts

#alterhuman - 58 posts

#therian - 38 posts

#page's partners - 35 posts

#inkedpaws - 27 posts

#page's bae - 27 posts

#noel tag - 22 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#ran in. so that's also a bit of inspiration for this comic because it actually was a good jumping-off question even if it wasnt meant to be)

My Top Posts in 2021

The responsibilities, the expectations, and the day-to-day life of humans can be wonderful and fulfilling for some, I'm sure. We just can't seem to relate.

{Comic by Noel}

♠️ Tapas - Shenani-kins Website - Art Twitter - Ko-Fi ♠️

Transcript under cut.

Panel 1.

Sometimes it’s tiring...

[An anthropomorphic green dragon is standing in a kitchen squinting at a large piece of paper titled “BILLS”. They are wearing a loose purple button-down.]

Panel 2.

[The dragon, now dressed in a suit, is sitting hunched in front of a desktop computer in a cubicle. Various papers are taped to the cubicle’s walls, and a stack of papers sits next to the computer monitor. A mug with the theta delta symbol on it can be seen next to the stack of papers.]

Panel 3.

...being an animal in a human world.

Out-of-frame individual: [Symbols for love, marriage, and children and a question mark]

Dragon: [large red X and exclaimation mark]

[The dragon has their hands up in front of them in a “stop” gesture. Their mouth is open in a disgusted and frustrated snarl. They are wearing a loose red button-down.]

Panel 4.

[The dragon is in a dark bedroom, laying down on their bed and sighing heavily. A dim streak of light is going across their face and pillow.]

Panel 5.

[A close up of the dragon’s face as they doze off to sleep.]

Panel 6.

[A snippet of the side of a feral dragon can be seen, showing some of their wings and forelimbs. The colors and markings match the anthropomorphic dragon character’s colors and markings.]

Panel 7.

[A cave filled to the brim with piles of neatly stacked golden, copper, bronze, silver, and platinum coins. A skull and iron helmet is lying at the foot of one of the piles.]

Panel 8.

[A nest made of leaves, sticks and bones filled with light-blue speckled eggs can be seen, still in the cave. Various bits of treasure are scattered about, and more neatly stacked coins can be seen in the near background.]

Panel 9.

[The anthropomorphic dragon snaps awake in surprise and shock.]

Panel 10.

[The dragon is sitting up on the bed, crying into their hands. A dim stream of light is going across their empty pillow and down the side of their mattress. Their bedroom walls are covered in a variety of pictures, and an asexual pride flag is hung up.]

Panel 11.

Sometimes I wonder

See the full post

201 notes • Posted 2021-01-22 17:56:51 GMT

My dumb animal brain: hold the people you love gently. With your teeth.

Me: What in the fuck my good sir

213 notes • Posted 2021-08-11 17:09:54 GMT

The Nonhumanity & Body Modification/Decoration Survey

The Nonhumanity & Body Modification/Decoration Survey is interested in rates of body modification and decoration within the various nonhuman communities, the connection these have to the expression of nonhuman identities, and of current perspectives regarding such. While this survey is largely geared towards those who are legally able to modify or decorate their body without needing outside permission or consent, all nonhumans are welcome and encouraged to take this survey!

>>> SURVEY LINK <<<

This survey is going to be left up for a long period of time in order to gather as much data over as wide a spread of people as possible, and you're free to change your answers to questions for as long as the survey remains up. Data collected from the survey will be published once the survey is complete, and all submissions are entirely anonymous!

256 notes • Posted 2021-02-11 22:14:59 GMT

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Inky Paws

Inky Paws is a nonhuman zine for original fiction writings by nonhumans and alterhumans about nonhumanity, alterhumanity, and similar, related themes. This zine is primarily literature focused, but will also be open to more illustrative methods of story-telling such as comics. The zine’s focus is on fictional pieces that are centered around nonhumanity, alterhumanity, therianthropy, and similar (see Submission Guidelines section for more details).

You are welcome to submit:

Short stories

Microfiction

Satire

Poetry

Song lyrics

Experimental fiction (fake newspapers, fake recipes, fake blogs, etc.)

Mixed media

Comics

How to participate:

Email invisibleotherkin(@)gmail(.)com with your submission. With your submission, please include:

A name or pen name to attribute the piece to,

Any social media handle or personal website you'd like to be published alongside your piece (optional), and

Any relevant author's notes or author biographical information (optional).

Anonymous pieces are also welcome.

Once submissions have been collected and the deadline has passed, these submissions will be put into the zine and it will be posted online as a free PDF. Submissions are due by August 15th, 2021.

Please see the Submission Guidelines, and Submission FAQ, below cut.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Each individual or individual system may contribute up to 3 accepted submissions to be published in Inky Paws. Comics and similar multi-part pieces count as one submission.

Submissions must fit the thematic criteria of

Being explicitly about or based on nonhumans, otherkin, therianthropes, fictionkin, alterhumans, or similar groups, or;

Having strong themes or describing experiences strongly reminiscent of or related to nonhumans, otherkin, therianthropes, fictionkin, alterhumans, or similar such as (but not limited to):

Experiencing nonhumanity or alterhumanity as being a part of themselves/their identity,

Experiencing anything similar to a shift (including physical shifting),

Struggling with (emotionally, socially, or otherwise) being both human and nonhuman or alterhuman in some way,

Having a past-life as something nonhuman or alterhuman that strongly still impacts their current life, or

Desiring to be nonhuman or have nonhuman attributes.

Written submissions must not exceed 15 pages, and if they are being submitted in a multi-font or multi-size format due to specifics unique to the piece or type of writing (experimental pieces trying to imitate a style such as a newspaper or blog, certain types of poetry, etc.), they must have the main body of text submitted in a legible 14 to 16 pt. font. Multi-part image submissions must not exceed 5 pages in length, and must also use a reader-friendly font with a text size of or exceeding 14 pt. Images larger than 8.5 x 11in. will be scaled down to an appropriate size; please take that into account when creating and submitting your images. It is also recommended that images be vertical or square in their orientation.

See the full post

282 notes • Posted 2021-05-12 18:53:15 GMT

The Nonhuman National Park is a new forum moderated by myself and @liongoatsnake aimed towards nonhumans, alterhumans, and plural systems. While most forums pride themselves on building fences, this forum focuses on building gates: participating here is not contingent on whether you're nonhuman, alterhuman, or plural in some way, but on wanting to discuss and interact with nonhuman, alterhuman, and plural people and discussions. This forum is open to everyone, regardless of where you come from or what you identify as, because we want to make information and conversation surrounding nonhuman, alterhuman, and plural existences accessible and inclusive for everyone. The Park is hoping to establish itself as a community hub and resource center focused on strengthening bridges between various communities and individuals, helping tear down faction-based mindsets, and promoting new growth and ideas. If this sounds like something that appeals to you, become a member on the forums today at https://nonhumannationalpark.boards.net/!

461 notes • Posted 2021-05-12 04:50:06 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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who-is-page · 3 years ago

Text

Digitalized Natural Selection: The Importance of the Internet, Literature, and Art in Alterhuman Communities

Author: Page

Type: Essay

Words: 1,164

Summary: The roles the Internet, literature (or rather, discourse), and art play in the alterhuman communities.

Author's Note: Writing this was like pulling teeth, but I just kept reminding myself that it's a first draft and I can edit it in December to make it more coherent and flow better. No one look at me, though, it's hideous.

[Part of the Sol System's Alterhuman Writing Project for NaNoWriMo 2021. If you don't want to see these posts, block the tag #inkedpaws]

The alterhuman communities are largely digital in their current iterations. They rely heavily on content created, cultivated, and curated through the Internet: from essays, to comics, to personal websites, to digital Howls (in spaces like Second Life, VRChat, Discord, etc.), most of the foundation for creation and communication within these communities relies on this unique feature.

But it’s no surprise that the alterhuman communities are so reliant on the Internet for keeping in contact with one another: in-person meetings that don’t coincide with other large-scale groups congregating, like at furry conventions, are fairly uncommon or even downright rare, both because of how scattered we tend to be, and how we tend to not be geographically-focused in where our communities are divided, instead being more mindful towards the interpretation or details of experience and identity. Even when there may be a high concentration of alterhumans in a single area, they may not intermingle due to difference in identity or experience—such as therians not welcoming fictionkin at their gatherings, or otherkin not welcoming copinglinkers.

Internet netiquette has also just evolved to become a large part of our spaces and how we orient ourselves with one another: We tend to not go barging into one another’s spaces with the intent of causing havoc or wrecking house, even when those spaces are wholly digital, in the form of Discords, Skypes, or even tags. While anonymous hate mail and harassment campaigns aren’t nonexistent, it certainly feels like more often people will back up commentary or arguments because of differences with others with their community face and history. We also “talk with our feet” insofar as we tend to show our support of positions and politics within spaces through follows, reblogs, and likes primarily, and with re-writing and publishing our own perspectives and how we agree or disagree with the most popular or extreme opinions on the matter. It’s a balancing give-and-take act, with members constantly shifting and changing the playing field through their own contributions.

It’s easy to wonder if the alterhuman communities would look anywhere near the same if they have stayed in or migrated to largely physical spaces, and to that question I believe the answer would solidly be no. Because of the way the Internet forces the alterhuman communities to evolve through discussion and debate, we’ve evolved into ways that prioritize individuals who can best convey their ideas in understandable, easily dissected ways: doublespeak and pseudointellectualism isn’t well-received, and the regular use of it usually relegates someone into being pushed out of many alterhuman circles due to an inability to clearly communicate and the tendency that such language has to start fights. (For a real-life example of such, it’s easy to see the ways in which even a long-standing and once-popular forum, Therian Guide, has been relegated to the darker corners of alterhuman community space and memory due to its leadership’s tendency towards ambiguous and obscure language alongside its poor moderation.)

Partially through this prioritization of language, we see individuals who can eloquently explain their thoughts, feelings, and experiences particularly respected within nonhuman and alterhuman spaces: but these specific types of creators and debaters aren’t justprized for their abilities on these fronts. Their works of art and the records of their discussion serve important primary purposes in the community regarding representation and memory.

Because of the nonphysicality and constant changing of online spaces, it can be difficult to pinpoint and track aspects of the alterhuman community’s history. Websites are constantly in flux, and what one person may have taken for granted as a necessary community resource or classic community experience may be all but forgotten ten years later, with little to no trace of it findable in any way beyond word-of-mouth. This ability for our community to almost lose time in a way, where important, pivotal moments may be entirely loss to the abyss of Internet 404 pages, is something that has functioned almost in the same way that a predator affects a prey animal in specific environments: it forces it to adapt or die out. “Survival of the fittest,” or more accurately survival of that which is most adapted and continues to grow and change further.

I propose that the alterhuman communities especially appreciate and respect their creators and discoursers because, in part of, a form of digitalized natural selection: online communities which survive over the course of several decades and which don’t have some form of unifying, existing foundation that exists physically outside of these spaces—such as fandoms and religions do—rely wholly on not only online creations and discussions, but also on how well such is tracked and recorded. Without a form of community memory, you either end up with the group dissipating entirely or it getting continuously resurrected and subsequentially dying off over and over again in different iterations that end up recycling the same beginning dialogues and topics. A dead community or zombie community isn’t a successful community, by almost all standards.

Contributions and creators on the artistic front, especially, also function as important representation within alterhuman communities, for alterhumans. While some popularized fiction may have themes which are reminiscent of these identities—especially fiction surrounding were-creatures and other transformation-based works—there’s just the fact that if someone wants to see their experiences and aspects of their life accurately portrayed, no one is going to do them right outside of other individuals within the alterhuman communities. Otherwise you end up with mockumentaries like I Think I’m an Animal! where alterhumans are meant to be the butt of the joke, or films like Wolf, that center around species dysphoria and portray it in an incredibly questionable light.

The art of the community also serves a secondary purpose in forming something of a community mythology. From the community memory you have connections and pinpoints of facts, but from the art and emotional economies you can trace and experience yourself that is interlaced in the tapestry of this history, you get legends, stories, and cherished art pieces. It’s where the Theri Theres are carried on from generation to generation, where legends of “this one otherkin, who…” get shared around the bonfires of Howls. It’s where the rising theta delta meets the falling elven star in a night sky of a hundred different comics, podcasts, short stories, plays, microfictions, poems, novels, games, and zines.

While it’s easy to reduce the communities to their bare-bones quantitative components, these emotional aspects are just as important. It’s the spark of life that makes alterhumanity and the communities centered around it so engaging to interact with and vibrant overall. Without the combination of the effects of a primarily digital atmosphere, and a community which survives through such a harsh environment by recording where it’s been and what it’s doing or otherwise leaving their mark, there’s a well chance that the alterhuman communities would exist in an entirely unrecognizable form without these factors.

#inkedpaws #alterhuman #otherkin #queue is page #first draft squad

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alynna-menagerie · 7 years ago

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I bet this guy thinks he’s so cool.

I bet you this guy thinks he’s just done a good deed today.

I bet this guy is super proud of his post. Like his tags say, “for our own good”.

There’s soo many trolls under the bridge now, that they ARE the bridge.

Dear Otherkin, (now a rant)

So let me get this straight.

So are otherkin the ones that can be anything with a soul, like a wolf or a fairy? Or is that Therians that are the ones that can be robots or anything that either has a soul or doesn’t have a soul?

So what exactly makes you realize you are an Otherkin or a Therian? Did you watch twilight and decide:

“Oh my god, Jessica, that is me. Like I belong with Jacob in that wolf pack. Like, I would so bite the head of a bird for fun.”

And what’s up with you wolf people are wolfkin or whatever wearing collars. Real wolves don’t wear collars, so wouldn’t it be more accurate to call yourself a dog?

And tails, REALLY?!

And if you truly believe you are actually an animal, what happens if you date a human?Like, you are not half animal or anything, you are full on an animal?that’s technically beastiality and or zoophilia.

What happens if you’re ‘human form’ is vegan or vegetarian and then your ‘otherkin form’ wants to eat that dead rat you found on the side of the road? Do you just blame it on your ‘otherkin’ and go on with your day, like:

“Tifanny did you seriously just eat a dead rat? Aren’t you on a vegan diet?”

“Krystal it wasn’t me, it was my inner wolf.”

So like if you are a lizard kin and meet an owl kin, does the owl actually have to kill you? If so, can you just tell the police it was your otherkin’s fault?

“Ms. Amber, you are under arrest for the murder of Luna.”

“But officer I didn’t mean to do it, she was a lizard and my owl just couldn’t help it.”

Feel free to blow up my inbox because I will surely prove to you that I make a valid point in all my questions.

Edit: So I just found out about the phantom limb theory. So you are telling me that a nonexistent physical feature is making you an otherkin.

So if you are having back pain, and you believe you are angel kin, do you blame it on your fake wings or do you blame it on the fact you are slouching in your desk chair while typing thing on tumblr like

I miss the smell of nature, I miss when I could feel my fur blowing in the wind. I miss when I was in my normal form.

Also, you can not have a genetic mutation that makes you an animal or a fairy or whatever you think you are. The only thing wrong with you is that you can’t get it through your thick skull that you are human and nothing else

Edit 2: yeah yeah, whatever. I want you to know, everybody has canine teeth, so you aren’t a wolf. if you have hot breath, it doesn’t mean you are a dragon or a phoenix, it just means you are breathing really heavily.

I think you guys need to grow up a bit more, you can not be an animal, even if you spiritually think so. Just because you have a dream about a fox, doesn’t mean you truly are a fox, it just means your mind doesn’t want to or isn’t ready to deal with the real world and can’t comprehend the idea you are only human.

______________________________________________________________

If you can walk on two legs naturally, you are a homosapien, a bipedal creature, a human being, a creature who can think. Because of this, your mind is making you believe you are something beyond what you truly are, because it is trying to protect you from the real world, the true fact that some day you will die, or that you are merely a human being who can’t protect themself naturally against nature, and you just want to believe you are something more and that you aren’t just a regular human.

At this point I have done a lot of research. For you otherkin who believe you are a creature that is either extinct or doesn’t exist, that is your mind being over-active, creating something that makes you think you are different. We know that Unicorns and Dragons don’t exist, so we have no clear vision of what they could actaully look like. For dragons, we only have mythology from Europe and China, again mythology. A myth, which literally means it is fake, just a story, not real. Same thing with fairies and goblins, they are merely just things we made up to either give us an idea of how the world came to be or so our kids didn’t do stupid things.

And for you who are people who believe that you are a real animal like a dog or a snake or an owl, here we go.

Like I hinted to before, the human brain is an amazing thing. It can withhold information to protect us, and even provide us with false information for our well-being. Even better, it can recongize things based off of smells or pictures and colors. It truly is an amazing tool that makes us humans truly amazing.

It is also extremely dangerous because of this, it can make us believe false things, like us being an animal like a wolf, fox, etc, etc. It does this to protect us from the harsh reality of the world. We are nothing but humans, but if we truly try hard enough our brain can be trained to make us believe we are something more.

This is what we call subliminal messages. Yes, you may know them as those videos on youtube with the fun sounds that are said to make you into a vampire or get you a book that grants wishes, these are only partially true. The ones that change physical feature like bust and butt size, or even eye color can and do work, but the ones that promise to give you beautiful white fangs or stuff like that are merely just messages that make your brain only believe that’s what you are or want to be. It’s not really changing you, you can’t actually change into a dog by listening to a video for 10 minutes.

And it doesn’t have to be a video. If you tell yourself enough times, eventually your mind will start to believe it, making you feel those things you believe is your angel wings or your fox tail, and by it’s name (phantom limbs) it is not there and never will be.

Now to the bad part. Like I said, the human brain is amazing, but once you get it to believe something, then it’s proven wrong, it goes into meltdown mode. It will do all it can to prove that it is right, whether it be amking up false facts or just continuosly telling you that you are something you are not. This can eventually lead to a mental shutdown, which can leave the person traumatized. This can lead to depression, anxiety, and many other things. Then the brain will try its hardest to protect you even more, which only makes things worse.

Otherkin community, this is not just to tel you that you are being an idiot, this is to help you’re mental health. If you keep believing you are somethingyou are not, eventualy you will become nothing but a shell. You will live the rest of your life scared and afraid of the real world, and possibly have a very early death.

#faekin #for his own good #just another troll #otherkin #troll

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who-is-page · 4 months ago

Note

Seconding a lot of what was already said!

If conventions pique your interest, I run the Centaurus Festival convention ( @centaurus-festival ). It's a free virtual convention to celebrate mythic and folkloric identities, but anyone is welcome to participate! It happens during the first weekend of March. You can find its website here, which should be updated by the end of this week for the upcoming year's schedule.

@ruffledgryphon is starting up HowlCon next year, a free virtual alterhuman and nonhuman convention scheduled for sometime in 2025, dates still to be decided on. It's got a really cool camping theme-- check out its website here!

And there's also Shining Hearth, another free digital convention dedicated to elfae and similar folks, with a focus on magic. It's held on the fourth weekend of March and it's only for folks who are 18 or older. You can find out more about it on its website here.

If you're more interested in social media, I strongly recommend Dreamwidth and its alterhuman groups. While it's not the busiest platform, its activity is steady. Because of its layout, it tends to favor writing over images, which is also reflected in the groups on there: The Fictionkind Dreamwidth, which is a group dedicated to writings by fictionfolk and regularly posts prompts for members to use as a jumping-off point; The Archetroper's Guild, which is a group dedicated to writings by archetropes and about archetypal identities; Otherkin News, which is a collaborative, volunteer-run group for posting about and discussing current events ongoing in or related to the community; and then some older groups that only have posts once in a blue moon, such as Animal Quills, Therians and Otherkin of Dreamwidth, and Otherkin Haven.

Here on Tumblr, there's also the Alterhuman Community group, which is public and open to new members.

A significant amount of alterhumans can also be found on the Bluesky platform from what I've heard too, although I'm not a user of the site myself. So YMMV.

With cohost closing, do you have any ideas of where alterhumans (particularly adults frankly) even meet up/find each other? or is it just discord servers and accidentally finding someone is althu in passing. Sucks that it's so hard to find community.

Alterhumans are everywhere, you just have to be willing to put yourself out there! It's so easy to miss each other when we can't recognize each other.

I will deeply, dearly miss cohost. It was unique and beautiful for how safe and easy it was to be openly alterhuman. But it was never my main platform for meeting people.

You mentioned discord servers, and yes, those are really really good for socializing! You will naturally be limited on who you can find but it's fantastic for forming bonds with whoever you do find. (May I plug Alterdirect for finding servers?)

Here on Tumblr, there are active tags you can follow to find a lot more of us. #alterhuman is a good place to start, of course. I recommend following the tags for any identity you want to meet people with. For example, I currently follow #alterhuman #otherkin #therian #fictionkin #fictionfolk and quite a few more specific ones.

If you're fictionfolk and looking for sourcemates, another thing you can do here on Tumblr is submit a canoncall to any relevant blog that accepts them. There are a lot of general canoncall blogs and some sources have "kin help" blogs that do source-specific canoncalls and some other things. Results definitely vary with canoncalls; if someone has made a discord server for fictionfolk from your source that's usually a bit better, but since not everyone is on discord you can always do both.

Something that's really started taking off in the last few years is online conventions! Tons of alterhumans that are otherwise quiet and hard to find will show up to these. @otherconvention is the biggest one and the one I personally recommend the most, but it is no longer the only option so look around! If you have trouble finding other conventions, they often advertise in the off season server for Othercon.

There is also tons of alterhuman activity outside of big centralized platforms. Older ways of connecting never really fell out of favor with the community and there's also been a big resurgence due to The Everything. Forums are a really good alternative to discord if you're good with the slower pace and lack of a dedicated app. The biggest alterhuman forum I'm familiar with is Nonhuman National Park and smaller forums advertise there so it's definitely where I recommend starting. There are also many, many personal websites, and even more going up post-cohost. A good place to start finding those is the Alterhuman Summoning Circle webring.

The larger alterhuman community is evasive and tries to stay off the radar, for obvious reasons. But once you've gotten into it, it's surprisingly well interconnected. We really like being able to find each other!

I also have a dedicated resource I'm working on to help those who aren't as enmeshed (and even those who are!) find the living alterhuman communities where they can actually meet each other. I'm not as good about keeping it up to date as I'd like to be but you can find it here: The Alterhuman Web

Thank you for reaching out to me about this, it's one of my favorite topics! It's not right for us to feel alone when there are really so many of us. We are stronger together!

I'm also going to loop in @who-is-page and @a-dragons-journal in case they have anything they want to add that I forgot about! Lemme know if you don't wanna be tagged in stuff like this. Also, anyone else who wants to can add their thoughts too, obviously.

#there's more I could add but I'm at work on mobile sorry alshfskcbekcbdj

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