alterhuman-resources

[alterhuman-resources]

You cannot say “I don’t believe in spiritual explanations” without saying “I believe spiritual kin are wrong about their beliefs.”

You can say “I don’t believe my experiences are spiritual” or “spiritual explanations aren’t right for me” without implying that you think anyone else is wrong in their beliefs.

Saying you don’t believe in spiritual explanations at all directly says that you believe spiritual kin are mistaken, and you should not be surprised when spiritual kin are annoyed about that.

Imagine if I went around saying: “well, I don’t believe in psychological kin explanations but obviously psychological kin can believe what they want.” That would be perceived as extremely condescending and dismissive!

[alterhuman-resources]

Special note: Being otherkin is not the same as being a misanthrope. I’m not an alien fairy because I hate being a human, I’m an alien fairy because this feeling that I’m different, and see and feel things much differently, has been gnawing at me for some time, and I didn’t think much of it at all and just ignored it until now.

It has nothing to do with any hatred for humans, they have nothing to do with this at all, and it would feel very disrespectful to myself, and my experiences, and feelings to say that all of this was just to spite being human. Booo!!!

Listen, you can be spiritual and ethereal and human at the same time. Anyone can be spiritual and ethereal and be of any species. I, on the other hand, do not relate to humans and never have, and my experience is more than just feeling ethereal and spiritual. It’s also this innate feeling. This is just me. This isn’t a coping mechanism. This isn’t anything except being who I am. ✨✨✨🧚🏾‍♀️ 👽 👾 ✨✨✨

[alterhuman-resources]

Person ≠ Human = Person

(For clarity, that title should be read as "Person does not equal Human equals Person".)

I've seen a fair few posts over the years I've been involved in the community where someone gets upset by the use of "people" as an umbrella term, generally also claiming that "person" refers exclusively to humans, and therefore the term excludes non-humans.

That is wrong, and it shows that there is a very important conversation that should be happening but isn't.

First thing's first, [this] is the Wikipedia article on "Personhood". I'm going to recommend reading it in full, but if you don't have time or don't want to, the most relevant parts for this are the opening paragraphs (up to the "Philosophy" header) and the sub-headings "Non-human animals" and "Hypothetical beings", both under the "Debates" heading. Those sections should provide some insight into what I'm going to be talking about here, and give you an idea of that conversation that should be happening.

With that out of the way, let's talk about what it means to be a "person", and why it's wrong to claim that it's synonymous with "human". The state of being a "person" (that is, personhood) is less of a biological classification and more of a social one. A person is someone who is deserving of basic rights and decency, which I would hope we can all agree is not a category exclusive to humans. Exactly where the line between "person" and "non-person" lies has been debated extensively for a very, very long time, but there is at least one solid standard that everyone should be able to agree with:

A person is a sapient, thinking being capable of recognizing itself as being a person.

If you are reading this right now, I'm going to assume that you meet that definition, which makes you a person, and that is a good thing. It means you are a being which deserves basic rights like the ability to engage with society, own property, and exercise your free will. Saying you're not a "person" because you're non-human is saying that you shouldn't get to enjoy those basic rights, and that you should not be included in society and allowed to act as an independent being.

All humans are people, but that does not mean that all people are human. And it's worth noting that declaring categories of humans as not being people has been an important part of excusing the removal of basic rights from them. You see it in the way that slaves were talked about prior to the practice being outlawed, and in the way that fascists talk about the groups that they think should be killed en masse. Declaring those groups as not being "people" dehumanizes them, not because being a person means being human, but because being human means also being a person.

There very clearly needs to be an ongoing conversation in the community about non-human personhood, because it is a topic with a long history, with strong points made in favour of including all manner of non-humans under the umbrella of "person". This ongoing trend of declaring oneself to not be a person because of non-humanity is, put bluntly, foolish at best and actively dangerous at worst. Everyone has personhood. It came free with your being a sapient being, capable of thought and self-reflection.

And bonus conversation topic: The reason that anti-kin and related groups do the whole, "Oh, you're not human? Does that mean I can treat you like an animal?" bit is because they don't see non-humans as having personhood. Consider how it would affect how they approach our communities if they were open to the concept of non-human personhood, and how that could further benefit the community as a whole.

Discuss.

[alterhuman-resources]

Alterhuman definitions

Therian/Therianthrope: Someone who believes they are spiritually or mentally a non-human animal native to this earth.

Otherkin: Someone who discovers through personal experiences and phenomena that they are spiritually or mentally any type of non-human creature. 

Fictionkin: Someone who discovers through personal experiences and phenomena that they are spiritually or mentally any person who appears as a character in fiction, or a member of a fictional species.    

Copinglinker: Someone who takes on the identity/persona of any creature, or fictional character in order to cope with mental illness, trauma or other emotional factors. 

Otherhearted: Someone with a strong emotional or spiritual connection to any type of non-human creature, without believing that they are that creature.

Fictionhearted: Someone with a strong emotional or spiritual connection to any fictional character or fictional species, without believing that they are that character or species.

Synpath: Any creature, or fictional character that a person strongly identifies with or feels an empathic bond with.

Fictive: A headmate who has the whole identity of any person who appears as a character in fiction, or member of a fictional species.

Soulbond: The spirit of a person who appears as a character in fiction who shares the headspace/body of a person on this earth.

[alterhuman-resources]

how do you feel about using kins to cope with things like depression and an awful self esteem? i've been trying it out lately and it feels really good and has been working for me but i hope i'm not treading where i shouldn't?

First of all, I have to address this, because it’s a pet peeve of mine. 

There is no such thing as “kins”. The plural of kin is kin. As in, one otherkin, two otherkin. Otherkin do not have “kins”, they have “kintypes”. One kintype, two kintypes. 

A kintype is the thing that which you are. It’s a deeply held, integral, species identity. 

To be otherkin is to hold this identity. 

Otherkin do not choose their kintype any more than they choose their physical species (human). 

So, what you’re asking me, is whether it’s okay to take a deeply held belief, a part of people’s core identity, something people have invested months, if not years, of serious introspection to put into words, and claim it as your own because it helps with your depression. 

Imagining yourself as something else as a way to deal with depression and low self esteem can be a part of cognitive behavioral therapy for such conditions, and that’s fine, but it is not the same thing as being otherkin, and what you imagine yourself as is not a kintype. 

A coping mechanism is something you do. Otherkin, and kintypes, is something you are. 

[alterhuman-resources]

Regular reminder that alterhumanity does not only include nonhuman identities. It can mean "alternative to human" and "alternatively human". The alterhuman community has humans and nonhumans alike.

[alterhuman-resources]

You can believe in magic, but watch out.

[alterhuman-resources]

Sometimes I wish I wasn't so cringe, that I wasn't so vocal, that we weren't part of so many different minorities, that our digital footprint wasn't so taken over by this all.

We're always still somewhat respectable in the most progressive circles until we start defending nonhuman rights and nonhuman identity, I feel like that's the final frontier, the one thing no human is ever willing to accept hearing about

we achieved nonhuman rights and acceptance in our system, but outside of it it's a different story

[alterhuman-resources]

Official Carrd dropped! 🥳

[alterhuman-resources]

«☼» Masc Sapphillean Elfkin «☼»

(pt: Masc Sapphillean Elfkin /end pt)

↳ A flag for Masc Sapphillean Elfkin!

☼ Requested by anon

-

[Flag ID: A seven striped flag. The middle stripe is very thick, and the two stripes around it are very thin. From top to bottom the stripes are cornflower blue, desaturated sky blue, sky blue, off white, muted olive, dark teal, and dark teal-ish blue. In the center there is the the Sapphillean symbol. The flower is cornflower blue, the leaves are dark tealish blue, and the rose petals are muted olive. /end ID]

[alterhuman-resources]

«☼» Femme Sapphillean Elfkin «☼»

(pt: Femme Sapphillean Elfkin /end pt)

↳ A flag for Femme Sapphillean Elfkin!

☼ Requested by @ithriel

-

[Flag ID: A seven striped flag. The middle stripe is very thick, and the two stripes around it are very thin. From top to bottom the stripes are teal, lighter teal, pastel teal, off white, light pink, pastel pink, and bright pink. In the center there is the the Sapphillean symbol in teal and pink./end ID]

[alterhuman-resources]

Happy Therianthropy Day! Enjoy your full moon.

[alterhuman-resources]

Happy Therianthropy Day!

I will be going through my inbox today to do as many art requests as I can! If you don't have any submitted, feel free to do so!

Because I'm a little backed up however, I won't be doing full pieces for now. Just send an ask with your species and optionally a color or two

Also, don't worry if you haven't been added to my trello yet, I haven't updated it in a while. My pinned post is also a little out of date now

[alterhuman-resources]

Hello there! @alterhuman-resources mod here!

I've seen your new post answering about therianthropy to an anon, and had some more questions, if that's ok with you! Don't feel pressured to answer at all! /gen srs pos

Could you elaborate on how animalhearted and therian differ? I'm otherkin myself but I can't speak from experience as I'm not personally in the therian community or identify as otherhearted. We have some mods that are therian or animalkin but not animalhearted, and they don't know the difference either.

What are quadrobicists? If the term is relevant to what we do we'd like to include it in our library of terms, but none of us has heard the term before so we know nothing about it.

Have a good day/night! /gen

Yep! Ofc i can elaborate on these ^_^

> Therianthropy is identifying nonphysically as an animal, whether past life or psychological or other, this animal *is* you. Animalhearted is identifying closely with an animal. You are still close with this animal, however you aren't identifying *as* it.

> quadrobics / "quads" as theyre commonly called, is a sport where one practices the actions and movements of animals (mostly canid, as their form is much easier to replicate) on hands and feet. Running, jumping, trotting, and walking on all fours is the most common forms. (however sliding on grass, ice, or a puddle is also popular as well as sideways jumps, balancing on poles, and dances.)

Hope this is helpful, anon!!

And if anyone has anything to add as usual, please do so :D

[alterhuman-resources]

"bUt tHeYlL kNoW yOuR aGaB/hUmAn FrOm YoUr BoNeS"

you know what? fuck you *has both my gravestone and my bones engraved with "this dog was a very good boy"* so there >:P

[alterhuman-resources]

animalistic angels. angels with talons. angels with long, sharp horns. angels with gleaming eyes who's heads swivel like an owl in curiosity. angels with thrashing tails. carnivorous angels. angels who hunt. angels who talk in growls and purrs. animalistic angels <3