#alterhuman rant

[tabbytrout]

“If you wanna act like an animal, I'll treat you like one. "

You have. For years, I am different than the other kids on the playground, I like to read and draw, I probably barked or meowed once or twice as a kid, I may have even hissed at you when you upset me. Why did I do all of those things? Because, I was a little neurodivergent kid who hadn't learned how to act in public when I was little. Middle school hits, and I have only slightly changed, I won't hiss at you anymore but I am still weird, I'm too much for most people, I start to trail behind people like a lost dog, I start to get rewarded when I do something they like but yelled at when something I do upsets them, And even then I would take the blame even if it was their fault. It's high school now. I'm loud. I'm mean, I'm different than the others, I'm neurodivergent and I'm alternative and I don't take shit from most people,

So I became the animal that bites.

But while you were watching me become the mean dog, I was already there. I told my entire family that I was a cat. I had family who treated me like a cat! I had a cousin who would pet me, not in a weird way, she never did anything bad. But I would get cradled and I was given different foods that resembled cat food or dog food, take those Scooby cracker things for example! I loved those, while you were bullying me I was imagining what it would be like to run around in the woods as a wolf, Or what it would be like if I was a little cat, and sometimes when you would startle me I would hiss at you, lost in thought and terrified of human interaction. I had my grandmother ask if I was still gonna do this when I was older, an what would my husband think? Well... I'm dating another alterhuman now. Which is what I told her I'd do anyway, so! Here I am!

My point is, no matter how hard I've tried I've never felt human. So much so that as a kid I recognized, "I'm not like these people." my alterhumanity stems from Neurodivergence, My trauma, My not fitting in with people, and honestly I love being able to slap this label on. I loved knowing there were people like me! I wish I would've learned about it sooner. I remember seeing the "on all levels except physical, I am a wolf" vine and Being like. That's SO COOL!!?

And I will always chuckle at the "Well! .. You don't have to become an animal because of that stuff!" like no fuck off you're so anti fun and coping and you're just boring!!! The community has its flaws, but It certainly has its perks. I wouldn't have met some really amazing people if I hadn't learned about it!

I love being an animal and expressing myself

[viipertoxin]

reminder to not invalidate other alterhumans' experiences simply because they dont adhere or conform to the standard or stereotypical form of alterhumanity <3.

everyone's experience is different, no matter how small that difference may be, and they're all just as valid. you are still an alterhuman if you do not experience shifts. you are still an alterhuman if you do not wear or have gear. you are still an alterhuman if you cannot practice neither quadrobics nor vocals. you are also still an alterhuman if you find that a certain identity doesnt feel quite right, even if you were so certain before.

my theriotypes and kintypes have come and gone, and while a lot from when i first awakened have stayed, i realize im allowed to explore my identity even if it may end up looking even just a little inconsistent to an outside perspective. sometimes feelings and interpersonal identities change; for some, its just part of the process of self discovery.

i feel like a majority of tiktok alterhuman (mostly therian) community spaces are guilty of enforcing certain things that shouldnt be a required thing to do or experience within the community, and ive also noticed quite a bit of misinformation especially when it comes to gear, which is upsetting to say the least, but then again i guess thats kind of typical of children...?

anyway, make sure to stay cool <3.

(i got annoyed lmao.)

[puppyhaspaws]

I just wanted to share this random experience and my thoughts :3

Recently, I joined this random alterhuman server. It was pretty chill, no shade to them. They even had a giantkin in the server, which was fire. But to get into the server, you had to give a definition of what a therian was. That was fine, and I gave a pretty solid definition. But they kinda nitpicked at my response, not in a rude way at all, but they were still kinda doing much because I didn't word it the way *they* wanted. And I couldn't help but think, why do labels and / or identities have to be so strict.

It's like you could be talking about a subcategory in the alterhuman community, and if you don't say the "right thing," some people will be on your tail about it. It doesn't really make people want to share their experiences, but instead, walk on eggshells around everyone in fear of if they don't have these certain experiences, connections, or identities, they are invalid.

I don't know, I guess I wish some people would hop off their rule books and just let people live their lives. 💜🐾

^_^

[foxatfullmoon]

Maladaptive Daydreaming, Autism and Alterhumanity - a rant about my experience

unlike some alterhumans, i feel that i cannot understand my alterhumanity, or at least that it will take a lot of time and self-reflection to truly do so. i would not have embraced the fact that i am alterhuman if it weren't for the alterhuman community, though i feel that my experience is all too complicated to understand

i feel this is largely because of my maladaptive daydreaming disorder and autism. i also believe i have ADHD, though it is not as significant in the way it affects my experience of alterhumanity as MaDD and autism. this post is purely about trying to gather the way that i experience alterhumanity.

from as young as i can remember, i have daydreamed. one of my only early memories is imagining myself as a character from a childhood tv show whilst shopping with my parents in the store. it's a really odd core memory, but it's literally the only early one i have, and it tells me that i have always daydreamed. in my elaborate daydreams, i am always a character, and 9/10 times the character is an animal. i have never known what to call the character that i daydream as, but i've just referred to them as the Hyperfixation Character for ease. i have been through so many pieces of media since i was young, and with most i picked up a character who i adored for whatever reason. as i said, almost always an animal. i don't wish to disclose too many of these characters as my maladaptive daydreaming feels very personal, but these characters became part of me. as an undiagnosed autistic child who had no idea who i was, the characters helped me in some way, and it felt natural that they were animals. animals understood me better, i would say. i used to dream of “escaping the human world” into the woods with my animal character's friends and family. or i would just dream of the character's experiences in a world that was unlike my own, one that didn't have so much pressure, that felt a little easier to manage than the one i was actually in

now, the way maladaptive daydreaming has affected me is a whole nother essay, but what i want to get to is how being someone else who doesn't have the pressures of human society was what i daydreamed about. mostly, i didn't care what thing/creature/being i was, so long as i wasn't a human with human expectations. granted, i did still have human hyperfixation characters, but only those who didn't have the pressure of the average human's life, such as superheroes etc. no matter what i was, i wasn't really a normal human. even as a child, i clearly couldn't handle human life; even though i had very little responsibilities, i apparently knew that the way of human life wasn't for me. it wasn't how i wanted to live, and it didn't feel right. i wasn't ungrateful for my life and the things i had, i just felt... wrong. it was something i couldn't put my finger on, and perhaps because i was too scared to even face that reality, just daydreaming away instead

i never really daydreamed myself as one particular animal either. wolves were always an important animal to me, and i would daydream as one a lot, but they weren't the only animal. i imagined myself as pretty much any animal; when i first found the alterhuman community, this led me to believe that i wasn't an alterhuman because i felt a part of myself in most animals. turns out, i'm something of a shapeshifter or polymorph, who just wants to experience any sort of life except the human one. human life is fine, and i wouldn't give it up, hell no, but i feel that i am supposed to live multiple lives in some sense. as a polymorph, i'm supposed to disappear from human life every once in a while and be a wolf, then be an orca, then be a deer, then be a horse, and so so so many others. my disconnection from reality at such a young age has sometimes made me feel that i'm not meant to be a human at all, but i don't really believe that to be true. it is very tough for me and i don't feel that i belong here, but i do, i just belong here and other places that i am not able to reach. i feel the need to be like a were-creature who ONLY shows up on the full moon to say hi to my friends and family. i feel that i am supposed to run through moonlit fields and howl and yip and play with my pack. i feel that i am supposed to have the experience of so many different animals. it's so intense and it's an urge i can't ignore, and never have been able to, so i hide it away in my daydreams

i know that autism has always affected my ability to understand myself. i don't understand my gender, i don't understand romance and sexuality, i don't even understand my daily thoughts and feelings. so i find it extremely difficult to truly reflect on my alterhumanity, but i know it is there. i try to grasp what i can from daily experiences, but maybe i never really will understand, i'm just like this. and it may bother me, but that's okay. perhaps i actually have understood it just through my daydreaming, because that's how it presents for me. i'm not the sort of creature to do quads or wear much gear or do vocals often, i just know what i want. i know that i am not entirely human and perhaps that's all i really need to explain. i'm not an alterhuman because i daydream, i don't daydream because i'm an alterhuman, but they're still interlinked. autism does affect being an alterhuman for me, but i still would be one regardless, if that makes sense. MaDD and autism are both a part of my alterhumanity, but aren't the causation. i just am what i am.

---

very out-of-the-blue rant, but i have never seen anyone else talk about this and i feel generally isolated in the way i experience MaDD and alterhumanity respectively as well as together, so i thought i'd share my experience. i'd be very happy to talk to others about this ^^

[im-not-just-physical]

‼️ important ‼️

I usually prefer keeping my blogs lighthearted and unserious but this is starting to bother me. The therian community has become so mean and toxic recently thats its becoming an actually issue. Personally the community has done wonders for me, i have been bullied for as long as i can remember because of my canine traits and identification. Finding therianthropy and others like me has been so refreshing and has helped my confidence and so many others as well. Its supposed to be a place to escape and find those who relate to you in the way you think, act, feel, ect. But recently it has become so toxic and label based that i feel it has lost its whole meaning. We are all in the same boat here, as sad as it is society hates us all; why are we starting to hate each other? From people leaving the community to hate on it and make fun of those still apart of it, to those still in the community making fun of those of us who are physical and identity as an animal (since thats literally what therianthropy is). It has become so watered down from TikTok that even my friends who claimed to be therians at first are not only retracting their statement but becoming embarrassed because i still proudly wear my tail. What has happened to us as a community? We criticize, make fun of, and ostracize those in our own space. I dont understand why, if those who are doing this are trying to relate or appease to “normies” and humans. But if you identify as a therian and hate on lycanthropy, physical therians, those who have more intense shifts, or those may have “unconventional gear” (crates, dogs/cat bowls, ect), and those who IDENTIFY as an animal. You either arent actually a therian and are claiming the watered down term (just wearing masks and doing quads) or you dont really stand for the community that accepts you while the rest of the world wont. Do better

[skacoyote]

why do people want to separate humans from animals so bad. "you cant identify as an animal!!" news flash buddy, you're an animal too

[babyprincettt]

OH MY GOD. PHYSICAL THERIANS ARE VALID. this shouldn't be discourse. if you are a physical anything, you are valid. I'm so sick and tired of the mainstream resources available saying it's all nonphysical or it's only okay if you "recognize your human body"

my body has never fucking been human and it never ever will be. for some, they do have a human body or partially do!!! and many of us don't as well!!!!

I am physically and biologically a ringtail and have never ever been human in literally any way. sure my sapience is higher but does that mean anything? NO I'm so frustrated and upset

thank you for reading my rant

[socte-blue]

Do other therians have those times where ur just like. Today is feeling DOG

[the-nugget-squad]

It's so incredibly refreshing to come from tiktok where people are only talking about drama or purely doing quads to finding Tumblr where people are actually talking about their alterhumanity and how it affects them and how it makes them feel.

I know tiktok is mostly for gaining a following but it is still so nice especially when you can see something new in each post instead of just quads quads quads, talks about therianthropy, quads quads quads. I feel like I can connect to others experiences more on here and find out more about myself through more alterhuman talk.

[kassowary11]

im so tired of trying to fit into the little tiktok therian boxes like fym therians know their humans and just are spiritually animals… nope. not me loud loud LOUUD incorrect buzzer! i am a holothere/ambitherian i identify as a dog on all levels INCLUDING physical!!! yep kay thats it just needed to rant

[souperstition]

tumblr therians who hate tiktok !!!!!

i dislike tiktok . it's weird and i think any platform with short form content is bound to piss people off

however, i personally would like to say a few things !!!!! no that u have to hear me out lol

ALSO PSA THIS IS MOSTLY ABOUT YOUNGER THERIANS (like under 16)

anyway plsss keep in mind :

therians on tiktok are 80% children (from like 8-14) (have you ever seen a child talk about something important to them? they scramble their words and make it very self centric!! they do not quite understand social media, information gathering, communities and safe spaces like us older people do) (my foster sister is 11 year old is a therian and she's still figuring out how to work with it) (also their whole lives have been spent living as human, unlike some of us older creatures who have had therianthropy under our belt for years)

i've also deleted tiktok! but instead, i literally watch those silly therian tiktok compilation videos on youtube. they're usually hand picked and recent! avoid the drama and watch fun little videos online !!!

also please remember some therians can be more connected to their humanity than you could be ! sure, they shouldn't claim every therian "is human", but if they're a child, children seem to apply "if this is my experience, then it's everyone's experience duhhh". if they're older with a bunch of experience in the community then go ahead n sick'em i condone that LOL

OKAY RANT OVER

sorry no one is gonna read this lol

i think we need to teach our tiny creatures before being like "RAWR U DONT EVEN KNOW HOW IT WORKS !!!!" they r little puppies guys

[interstellarsystem]

We're obviously pro-endo and have a lot of headmates who are endogenic, but we do have DID and a lot of trauma worked its way into our formation of our system. Which leaves us in a pretty weird spot in syscourse!

But one of the weirdest things we've noticed is... A lot of the anti endo mindset is completely anti recovery for CDD systems entirely, while claiming to protect them. Often there's the sort of ableist rhetoric that's all about "if you're not suffering, you're not disordered and therefore mocking us or fake".. Which is ridiculous to say the least!

We've seen claims of:

Systems are fake if they're happy they're a system, because if you're happy you're a system then you can't have been traumatised enough to get there.

Systems are fake if they love their headmates in any way, because plurality is a disorder.

Systems are fake if they post "too much" about being happy online, because being plural is a disorder and therefore suffering.

Systems are fake if they never show signs of suffering online.

Systems are fake if they're open about being a system IRL or sometimes at all, because it's a deeply shameful thing.

Systems are fake if they have less amnesia than full-on blackout amnesia, because it's in the DSM.

Systems are fake if they don't dissociate much, because it's in the name of the disorder and the DSM.

And we're here to say that's all plainly incorrect at best. It's also incredibly ableist, anti-recovery and downright harmful to CDD systems who learn they have this disorder, go online for support, and just see discourse and people getting fakeclaimed if they don't show of how much they're suffering online.

Systems can be happy that they're plural. Even if it came from trauma. Why? Well you can be happy that you're any way you are, regardless of how you got there, obviously. But there's also a crucial point here that CDDs and headmates often develop to protect people from trauma. Of course some systems would be glad that they're plural, in a lot of cases it's what literally saved their lives. This goes for the "systems can't love their headmates" thing too--plenty of systems are full of love for their headmates! Not only because they were there for them when it was needed, but because these are--depending on your view--entire people you live with, or parts of yourself. Why are you implying you have to hate that so viscerally to be real?

It's also a pretty well known thing that people tend to post their happier moments online, leading to this perception that they don't suffer. One, because that's how a lot of people work--their personal pages are public after all, and they don't want to be seen as constistently struggling. Two, it's downright dangerous to post in so much detail about your triggers, your trauma and abuse you're currently facing on the internet--even ignoring the fact that you need to be wary of your digital footprint, people can read these posts and use information against you. It's a choice many people make to not hand random people ammo on a silver plate.

Claiming that systems are fake if they're open about being plural in any space is simply ablesim. We've seen this take quite a few times, actually, and it never fails to be some of the most ridiculous ableism we've seen--it comes with a puritan "sweep it under the rug" mindset and the expectation that systems are ashamed of their plurality by default, or that it's simply too dangerous to share. While for a lot of people it is very dangerous to talk about their system so they simply keep that information to themselves, claiming every system should hide it for their entire lives and not expect to be received with kindness, compassion or accommodation is horrible.

As for the amnesia and dissociation... Therapy can help with these! You can actively go to therapy and get strategies to deal with the symptoms that come with a CDD without even going down the final fusion route! You can get it to a point where you have communication with your headmates, where you can switch on command, where you don't dissociate much at all.... You can work toward these goals with the right tools! Why does a system like us who's worked through years of therapy and years of working with ourselves within our own system suddenly get called fake once we start healing?

CDD systems should not have to fit what YOU think a true system should look like. They shouldn't have to suffer on show for you to believe them. They shouldn't have to hide all of themselves away in shame and never have their true selves known. They shouldn't have to pretend they're not recovering to be treated as real. They shouldn't have to feel like they'll be persecuted for simply being happy with who they are as people, or happy with how far they've come.

"Being a system isn't all fun and games" and I'm sure it's not for plenty of people. But do you think it's ok when a CDD system says they love themselves and think their system is fun? Or do you group them in with the endogenics who are "mocking [your] trauma"? Do you really care about people with CDDs at all in that case?

You can say "anti endos aren't ableist because endogenic plurality isn't a disorder" all you like--you're wrong about endogenics not being able to have CDDs by the way, but that's another post--but when you display so much ableist rhetoric toward your fellow CDD systems, I don't know how anyone can see you as "protecting" those with the disorders at all. You can't hide your hatred behind the guise of "protection" when you're harming your own community. You're not protecting us from anyone, you're trying to make us fit into a box full of spikes. It was never about protecting trauma survivors, it was about your personal hatred for others. We shouldn't have to suffer for you.

[archiethepuppyboy]

Ok kinda lil vent/rant thingy here ig but (slight curse warning at the end)

I honestly hate being the age I am in the alterhuman community. I’m a young teen, 12-15, and I feel really bad sometimes because alterhumans my age typically don’t actually seem to know what therianthropy/alterhumanity means and they’re typically the ones watering down definitions, or they’re stereotyped to be anyway, so:

1: it’s hard af to make alterhuman friends/moots that aren’t just 11 year olds who think animal masks r cool

2: older alterhumans stereotype me as some sort of trender just because I’m younger and I feel unwelcome in some generally actually accepting alterhuman spaces like tumblr just because people assume I’m not a “real” therian just cause I’m younger

3: I can’t really buy affirming gear, even tho I can afford it, because most people in my life can barely tolerate “typical” therians or TikTok therians, so if people can only barely stand masks and foxtails how would they feel about collars, or snout/muzzle masks, or fake fangs, or species affirming hairstyles, or fake wings, or faun legs, mermaid tails moth antennae contact lenses, the list goes on

4: since I can’t find many informed alterhuman friends irl and since obvs my *barely tolerating* friends would find it weird to listen, I don’t really have a good outlet to talk about or figure out parts of my alterhumanity other than social media, and then I just feel like some chronically online bish because I start to feel more comfortable talking about things that personal with internet strangers than my own friends

Idk it gets really frustrating honestly, wish I could just exist as a creature in peace without all this shit in my head, pisses me off >:[

But anyway rant/vent over, thanks for reading if u did lol

[that-dreaming-dragon]

At some point, I grew almost avoidant to talk about my otherkinity/nonhumanity.

Not for whatever the usual suspect is, like, I don’t know, shame or want to hide it or nothing to talk about or writer’s block etc etc.

No. I grew avoidant because how much people make nonhuman equate to alterhuman. Nonhuman is alterhuman, but alterhuman is NOT nonhuman.

Maybe it’s spite, maybe it’s anger, maybe it’s “nonhumanity is overrated” in a way in terms of community topic—that’s a joke, it’s always fascinating to talk about.

But alterhumanity is so much more, and a big, inclusive umbrella. And I’m tired of my other identities being a footnote, or forgotten. I’m tired of my friends or fellow community members feeling like they don’t have a space, that they don’t belong, or aren’t welcome inside a space that is theirs and ours and for all of us.

I’m still going to talk about my nonhumanity, it’s part of me, I’m going to make noise about it. I’m just going to put forth extra effort with all my other identypes—hearttype, linktype, vaguetype, kardiatype, paratype, hearthome, archetrope, and more. As a stern reminder that yes, all these identities are part of the alterhuman community, that once again, alterhumanity is so, so much more than just identifying-as-animalistic-nonhuman.

[cherryishappy]

Being an alterhuman in an openly anti-alterhuman family kinda sucks. I have to use words like "people" and "human" when referring to myself and my nonhuman friends, or else my folks would start asking questions I don't want to answer. Sadge. :(

[boycreature12]

who cares if physical nonhumans are delusional? their mental health isnt your responsibility. its also not your responsibility to reality check them without their consent. not to mention the majority of delusional physical nonhumans i see arent negatively impacted by their identity. and if they are? still not your responsibility. leave people alone.

[edit: this post wasnt intended to take away discussion from people who do want to discuss and receive help from beings online about their experiences with delusion and how it negatively impacts them. thats my bad, i was centered on how i feel about my experience as someone who doesnt like that and i failed to consider other experiences. sorry for the miscommunication everyone.]