Moth Update ! Theyre Threatening Me

source

Oh, he's itching | source 🐊

fun thing about being a mimic is that whatever i'm into currently is reflected by my mimicry.

got into [puppet story] a few months ago - had a soft plush noodle body for a bit.

i'm watching [robot cartoons] and i expect to see seams in my joints, i'm startled by how soft and pliant my skin is.

i watch my rabbit for a while, and then i have the same twitchy nose and soft ears.

odd. but it's me <3

Cool, clear waters

© gif by riverwindphotography, May 2023

Mayflower Gulch. Leadville, Colorado. Photos by Amber Maitrejean

Puzzle Wood by criss_shady2007

gotto510

re: cat paratype

since i discovered the alterhuman community in 2015, i've known i was cat-hearted. for the same amount of time, i've questioned a cat therio/kintype on and off.

for most of that time, i've dismissed the 'type. i feel none of the instincts or desires of a cat, such as prey drive or territoriality. clearly, i would think, i'm confusing my feelings surrounding my heart-type for kinfeels. since other-heartedness isn't as well-known or talked about as otherkinity, surely it'd be easy to mistake one for the other.

the reasoning made sense, and i'd let the subject go - and yet, this cat-shaped question would return, again and again.

this last year, i discovered my identity as a mimic - a creature whose shape is influenced by its environment, the people and animals it spends time around, and the media it digests. because i was raised by humans, my physical body is human, and my envisaged shape is usually humanoid, i consider myself a human mimic. as in, not a human, but something in a human shape.

so when the cat-shaped question pawed at my door again, i was finally able to put things together: i'm a cat mimic.

it makes so much sense, really. for as long as i can remember, there's been a cat in my family's house. the first cat i bonded with as a child slept with me almost every night. cats were my first favorite animal, the first animal i really studied and sought information about. when i started teaching myself to draw, cats were one of my first subjects. of course i would mimic them!

this explains my lack of feline instincts, and how my shape never truly matches - i'm a mimic in a cat's shape, and not a cat proper.

ahh, it's just so nice to finally figure this out. that cat-shaped question has a collar with a name tag now, and happily curls up in my bed.

unhinged thirty days of otherkin challenge, days 4 and 5: do you like sticks? do you like leaves?

you can do so much with sticks. you can stack sticks into a pile, create art pieces, break them into pieces to hear that satisfying snap, play swords... the possibilities are endless.

you have to admire the variety of shapes, textures, and colors that leaves come in. the canopy up above casts such lovely dappled shadows on the forest floor and allows only the sweetest rays of sunlight through. effervescent.

and if you find a stick with leaves on? pick that thing up and shake it around. the weight and sound of it is delightful.

Alterhuman is an umbrella term, not a synonym!

Nowadays, I see a lot of folks using alterhuman as a catch-all for not being human. While nonhumanity certainly falls within alterhumanity, alterhumanity does not exclusively refer to species nor is it synonymous with nonhuman identities (ex: therianthropy).

Alterhumanity includes but is not limited to:

Fictionfolk: An umbrella term that encompasses all individuals of fictional origin or hold a personal connection to fiction. This includes fictionkind, fictives, fictionhearted individuals, folks with fictional hearthomes, imagithropes, etc.

Otherhumans: Individuals whose species is human but not in context to humanity as we see it in its current state. Some examples include human fictionkind and archaeosapient early humans or neanderthals.

Heartedness: A broad experience in which an individual may not identify as someone or something, but has a deep, personal connection with that person, place, or thing. This includes folk who are otherhearted/otherkith/synpaths, talehearted folk, and folk who have hearthomes (fictional or not).

Archetropy: An identity in which one heavily identifies with or generally experiences an archetype, trope, or pre-established character model in a way that is central to their identity.

Plurality: The state of more than one person within a body. That said, not all who are plural may relate their plurality to alterhumanity.

Dæmonism: The practice of communicating with one's internal dæmon, a thoughtform stemming from one's subconscious. A dæmon is also given a sentient form, typically a nonhuman animal of sorts. Can be considered as a form of plurality but depends on the individual and their relationship to their dæmon(s).

Soulbonding: A practice in which an individual forms a personal bond or connection to a fictional character and communicates with them from their headspace or soulscape. Can be considered as a form of plurality but depends on the individual and their relationship to their soulbond(s).

Furry Lifestylers: A subset of the furry community whose position in the subculture carries into their daily life. Some members have described it as "furry as a way of life", in which being a furry is inseparable and intrinsic to oneself.

I have alterhuman terms of my own to take into account as well:

Archaeosapiens: Individuals whose alterhuman identity is intrinsically rooted in prehistory, antiquity or mythic accounts of history. Although I don’t use it for myself anymore, I can say as the person who coined it that species is not central to archaeosapience; it is the distinct connection to one’s time that’s central. Anyone of any species can be archaeosapient.

Ontoplanarity: In referral to ontoplanar, which describes individuals who originate from planes and realities outside of this Earth. While one could relate this term to alienkind and spacekind, ontoplanar focuses one’s own point of origin rather than one’s species. In that regard, anyone of any species can be ontoplanar.

There’s also human alterhumans who aren’t specifically otherhumans. The idea that humankind as we know it is completely alienated from alterhumanity is a misconception, likely tying into the assumption that “alterhumanity = nonhumanity”.

I originally discussed this in the Alterhuman (Tumblr) Community but I felt as though I should make this information publicly available, especially with how the term has been sifting around lately. I’m not the first to bring this up, far from it even. If anyone who’s learned something from this wants to know more, here’s some posts to check out:

The finalized coining of the term Alterhuman/AHPI (x)

Aster’s discussion on alterhuman as an umbrella, particularly its conflation with otherkin (x)

Rani’s discussion on umbrella terms in the community, addressing erasure in folks’ usage of both alterhuman and fictionfolk (x)

Rani’s explanation on the difference between nonhuman and alterhuman as terms (x)

A thread of terms and experiences that tie into the alterhuman community (x)

I understand being excited to find a community that speaks to you. We’ve all been there!

That said, inclusive language is important. Even more so when the terms we use were already inclusive to begin with.

I think the best example I’ve seen to address this phenomenon is Aster’s example referring to queer and its usage. Queerness is vast. It is not synonymous with one specific experience in the LGBTQ+ community. That much is understood online.

In the same vein, alterhumanity is just as vast. It is not synonymous with nonhumanity, be it therianthropy or otherwise. It can be alienating for your peers to see it centralized as that experience alone. Alterhumanity is an ocean of possibilities and perspectives that should be recognized alongside nonhumanity. I encourage folks to look at it in full, if not use terms that specifically highlight what you experience instead of framing alterhumanity as only that experience.