Hi We Need To Bring This Back Immediately Thanks

Fucking animal time

[ID: A set of four symbols, two black and two white. It depicts a small circle with a dot in the middle and two small lines coming off of it. It is surrounded by a diamond. In the top images, a circle surrounds the diamond at the end, while on the bottom, the circle is smaller and links together with the diamond from behind. End ID]

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Nonhuman Symbol

This is my proposal for a nonhuman symbol; for people who identify as nonhuman in any sense. I couldn't personally decide which version I preferred, with the outer circle on the end or linked with the diamond, so I went with both.

The symbol is meant to represent many varieties of nonhumanity, and include different experiences and communities within it:

The outermost circle represents nonhumanity as a whole- the broad nonhuman community in which anyone can be included, and one's personal experiences with nonhumanity.

The inner circle with a dot represents those with psychological experiences of some kind, as it resembles the disability sun. Not just those with psychological origins- it is for anyone with psychological experiences, or something similar.

The two lines protruding out represent external experiences, such as spiritual, metaphysical, or otherwise outside experiences. This, too, represents anyone with these experiences, not just someone's origins.

The diamond represents multiple things: It can represent one's body, whether it be their physical one or otherwise, it can represent one's personhood and sense of nonhuman identity, and it can represent those who feel a desire to have a nonhuman body / nonhuman body parts, those who already have them (such as in headspace), those who have phantom limbs or otherwise, and so on. It is also a vague homage to the term aldernic.

Anybody who considers themself nonhuman, regardless of why they are nonhuman or in what way, may use this symbol for what they'd like. This includes subterms, such as ahuman.

Do not put discourse on this post.

EDIT: I merged the two symbols together, and I got these:

[ID: A set of two symbols, one black and one white. It depicts a small circle with a dot in the middle and two small lines coming off of it. It is surrounded by a diamond. There is a ring behind the diamond, and then another ring at the very edges of the diamond. End ID]

And I really love them. So I'm going to add these as yet another version of the symbol.

happy therianthropy day

With all the species concept discussion today, I have been pondering and I genuinely love the idea of having a species concept separate from scientific species concepts, sort of like how there’s the idea of gender while there’s also sex.

There’s already an idea of “human” separate from the characteristics that define Homo sapiens — to be human is typically associated with compassion and empathy or whatever, and none of that is all that relevant to reproductive compatibility or genetic similarities to other species? So surely it’s possible for other “species” to be separated from their taxonomy? (/genq)

adult therians! survey poll down below :)

this is an 18+ post with NSFW themes (kink), minors keep scrolling!!

my friend was telling me that on the Theriopology discord server it and a few others developed a hypothesis.

“therians with a domestic theriotype are more likely to be into petplay than those with a feral or wild theriotype”

now this is just for funsies!! i may send poll results to my friend to see, but only percents, your users will never be shown

As promised, the final products of how I ended up styling these !! (Wander ear and waist reveal no fucking way guys ((not clickbait :0))

went to a thrift store earlier today and got this super cute collar + vintage rabies vaccination tag

im not super big on wearing collars (hate the feeling of pressure against my neck, also im not domestic lol) so i'll probably use the collar as an accessory for my pants or something, and I think i'll turn the rabies tag into an earring !! 𐂯 ‧₊˚ ⏾

YES I love thinking about humans/humanity like this :3

Like sleeping in warm cozy beds with lots of blankets and pillows? That's a nest dawg. And then having an entire room specifically dedicated to sleeping in your nest that you also fill with all your favorite things so that it feels more homey. Or even sharing your nest with a mate(s) or close friend. That's so fun !!!

Or how in the winter they like to hang pretty colorful lights around their homes and set up decorations literally just because they can, and they build shapes in the snow that look like them so that they can look at it and say "you're like me, you're my friend :)"

Never forget that humans are animals too, pretty incredible ones at that! ^^

🌾 Suggestion: Woobify Humans ✨❄️

-to an extent

No but really, I find myself enjoying my body much more when I comprehend how cute & silly humanity can be

Like yeah!! Humans love going out of their way to help & befriend other creatures for no reason!! Humans like making stuff from special dirt in the ground!! Humans love covering themselves in colorful things & it’s not even for defense or as a warning- it’s literally just because fun!!

Humans are CUTE. Humans love to DANCE!!! THEY LOVE TO PLAY!!!

Its!! So!! Silly!!

And it’s amazing!

——

Also I just see a lot of alterhumanity hold great distain for humans. It’s understandable given that so many of us are treated unkindly by humans who try so hard to be whatever they consider “normal” or “acceptable”. But I find my body much more bearable and fun when I comprehend how silly & wonderful humanity can be

Maybe I can’t run as fast or fly- but I can do a fun silly dance with my partners & thats a lot ^^

There’s a lot I can do as a creature now, because I’m in a human body. I mean fuck- thumbs are really helpful for getting into my favorite drinks & snacks. Even raccoon hands can’t easily pop open a soda

Granted there’s tons I cant do- but I think I really like looking at my funky nonhumanity as a cool little gift! A trinket for a new experience ✨

being fictionkin and proship at the same time gotta be the single biggest contradiction ever

Anglocentrism in alterhuman communities: ramblings of a Spanish-speaking dragon and a cat

[original in spanish here, though i have no doubt that this version will be disseminated more widely] • [original en español aquí, aunque tengo la certeza de que esta versión se difundirá más ampliamente]

this post was originally written as part of The Sol System's Alterhuman Writing Challenge. written by @talon-dragonbeast, with the help of my sibling @watcherwingedcat. we hope you like it!

word count: 2422

This writing, which is more of a rant with myself than a proper essay, is one I've been meaning to write for a long time; ever since I first joined an online community, to be more precise. Anglocentrism, according to Wikipedia (and yes, the irony of the article not being available in Spanish is not lost to me), is "the practice of viewing the world primarily through the lens of English or Anglo-American culture, language, and values, often marginalizing or disparaging non-English-speaking or non-Anglo perspectives."

If you are monolingual and your native language is English, chances are you have never stopped to think about the advantage this gives you over those of us who are not so fortunate as to be born with the lingua franca on our lips. Yes, you may have had to study some Spanish in school, but let's be honest, very few people remember what they learn in elementary school. As an English speaker, the whole world is built for you, and it's the rest of us who have to fit your mold. Culture, scientific articles, movies, books, video games, the internet, online communities, technical language, educational videos: even in the most international spaces, everything revolves around English. Which brings me to the subject of this writing: The Alterhuman community.

My name (as I am known on the internet, at least) is Talon. I've been a member of the alterhuman community, and more specifically, the otherkin community, for a little over a year now. Otherkin (a word that comes from other, in Spanish otros; and kin, shortened form of kind, in Spanish tipo) are people who identify as nonhuman in some way. For example, I identify as a dragon (among other things), and that's what I am, even if I look human on the outside and am perceived as such. There are many reasons why someone might believe they are not human, but I'm not here to discuss that, so let's get back to the topic at hand.

Since I've been in this community, I haven't written a single post in Spanish. And not for lack of desire, nor because I am intimidated to share something as personal as my mother tongue. No, the reason is simple: The community does not exist in any language other than English. By this I don't mean that there are no non-humans outside of England or the United States, because of course there are (even if they are on other platforms like TikTok or Instagram), and I'll talk about those later. But simply put, the reason you don't see many alterhuman communities in other languages is because all the resources, the introductions, the chronologies of the (English) alterhuman community, the definitions of the terms, the terms themselves, everything is in English.

I have always been bilingual. Well, trilingual actually, although my third language is not too relevant in my day to day life and I only use it in classes or when someone starts a conversation in the language. It's hard to explain how your brain works when you speak multiple languages fluently, but basically it's like running two parallel systems at the same time, but with thoughts. I don't usually think with words, but when I do it usually happens that some of my thoughts are in Spanish, and others in English, roughly in a 50/50 ratio. Or it can also happen that I start the thought in one language, but finish it in another. Or I may try to use a specific word in English that does not have an exact translation into Spanish, so that when translated literally the sentence does not make sense. Basically, everything I write or say out loud I have to run it through several filters first, one to remove the words from the other language, one to find the words to replace them with, and one to make the sentence make sense. Sounds exhausting, doesn't it? It is. Now imagine if in order to express yourself as you really are, in order to participate in a community with beings who understand and accept you like no other, you had to basically suppress half of who you are, all the time.

The problem is not only not being able to use my native language to express myself. As I have demonstrated in the last year and a half that I have been in this community, I am fluent enough in English not only to be understood when I speak, but also to express such complicated concepts as the self, human nature, the psychology of being, and all that comes with existing as nonhuman. The real problem comes when I try to express relatively common alterhuman concepts in my native language. I'm not just talking about labels like otherkin or therianthrope, which can be adapted to Spanish with relative ease. It's the little things, the simplest things.

For example, the term shift. The word itself is already difficult to translate; during my searches, I found a glossary of terms on the Otherkin Hispano website in which they call them "desplazamientos", which... is an accurate translation, I guess, but impossible to use comfortably in everyday life. There are also terms whose definitions use expressions that simply cannot be translated into other languages. For example, otherkin and otherhearted. In English, the difference between these two terms is that otherkin means "[to] identify as" while otherhearted is "[to] identify with". But this is a purely English expression. In other languages, the distinction does not exist, or it makes no sense to use it; therefore, these terms are totally inaccessible to any international user. Or compound words like "catkin", which are difficult to express in other languages. According to Otherkin Hispano, in Spanish it would be said as is without translation, Soy catkin. But that... is not grammatically correct, since it would be mixing two languages in the same sentence. The most appropriate would be to say Soy gatokin, which sounds wrong and doesn't make sense anyway, because kin is still an English word. Or "hearttype", which in Spanish could be roughly translated as "tipo del corazón" (kind of [the] heart). When saying that you have a specific hearttype, for example "corvidhearted", one way of expressing it could be a simple Soy corvidhearted, which carries the same problems as catkin. Or you could, as Wikipedia advises, say Soy corazón de córvido ("I am heart of corvid"). I don't dislike it, to be honest, but some might find it too metaphorical or poetic.

Finally, and before reaching the conclusion, I want to dedicate a few paragraphs to talk about the alterhuman community that exists in other languages. I mentioned before these communities; that although they do exist, they are very scattered through platforms such as TikTok or Instagram, with which I am not so familiar. But since I can't talk about Anglocentrism without at least talking about the Spanish-speaking alterhuman community, I asked my sibling Watcher @watcherwingedcat what it thought about the topic. This is what they wrote:

Hi guys, I'm Watcher, and I'm here to talk a bit about the Spanish-speaking therian community, which I think is the pristine example of the hate we receive both from people outside the community and from those inside, both Spanish and South American. While this post focused more on the language barriers, I want to focus on the real consequences of this barrier, how it divides us in the way we interact with each other: The social part of this whole thing (as I already said some other time or another and some of my followers know, I am studying Social Education, so from my point of view the social part is very relevant for everything we do). As my sister already said (hi Talon!), the English community is the majority in alterhuman spaces, but, what is the Spanish-speaking community really like?

Not very large, is the answer. The term itself is not very widespread, and the community is quite small. However, after a while of searching, I found it in a little corner of the internet. When I found a community in my own language, I was excited, but my curiosity and joy were soon extinguished... When I saw the reactions to their videos and posts on tiktok mainly. They were packed with hate messages. Packed. If you think hate in the English community is bad, you are not prepared for the hate received in other communities, especially the Spanish one. This is more a matter of culture, a little bit also due to the closed mindedness in countries like Spain, Argentina, or Colombia.

In general, the non-humans of the Spanish-speaking community mostly post about quadrobics and masks. At least, I haven't seen much beyond that, and the community is mostly in tiktok. And the reception of their expression of way of being? Disgusting. To give an example of how bad the hate is, in one of the videos I found (I think it was a therian making a mask or something), humans and non-humans were insulting the therian posting the video, discussions about how we are crazy and sick in the head and should be in mental institutions... It was horrible. The worst were the death threats, even, wishing the therian to die, or hang themselves, or worse (I've even seen rape threats). Comments that said things like, "If my sister told me she was a dog I would take her clothes off and force her to sleep outside and eat animal food, if she wants to be a dog I will treat her like one." Threats of abuse, both physical and sexual... Absolutely disgusting. And the worst thing is that the tiktok platform did not remove these hate accounts, the copy and paste messages of insults, the threats....

I am proud of the Hispanic community for being so open about their identity, don't get me wrong, but there are times when it is safer to just not share that part of who we are with others, especially if you are a minor and vulnerable. That's another issue that concerns me, as I've seen people coming out to parents, siblings, friends, and them just belittling them. That, coupled with misinformation, is a recipe for disaster.

I couldn't help but notice the deep root of misinformation in the non-human community itself. They confuse definitions, the different terms, which leads them to spread even more misinformation. This I don't think is entirely their fault, or that they are so young for the most part, as I have not seen Hispanic therians over the age of 18. I think this is largely due (as Talon already mentioned) to the language difference, and the lack of translation of certain terms. In general, when talking to friends with whom I am open about my non-humanity, I use English terms. It is a little weird to use those words in English while speaking in Spanish, but I am bilingual and for now there is no solution to that. I think the Spanish community would benefit from spreading correct information, and having a platform to express themselves with their own, like tumblr is for the English community. Something my sister expands on in dreir post. As for me here I finish my little comment, I'll leave you with Talon now. Watcher out.

As a conclusion, I would like to talk about the consequences that Anglocentrism might have on non-English speaking alterhumans, and then propose some ideas on how we might begin to address (or at least mitigate) it as a community.

First of all it is the obvious; the vast majority of non-English speaking alterhumans simply never realize that they are alterhumans in the first place, on account of the language barrier. All of the resources for beings who are questioning their humanity or lack thereof are in English, so they are not accessible to people who don't understand the language; therefore, a non-English speaker would have a much harder time accessing them. Another consequence is not being able to express your alterhumanity fully, both internally and externally. Remember when I mentioned that my thoughts are evenly distributed between English and Spanish, always keeping a 50/50 ratio? Well, recently, I have noticed that when reflecting on my identity as a dragon, all my thoughts are automatically generated in English. I find this deeply shocking, as I feel that a fundamental part of my identity is being eroded. It is devastating to feel that you can only express half of who you are, suppressing what could otherwise be a complex and multifaceted identity. Not being able to express myself in my other language limits my ability to explore that part of myself.

Anglocentrism is a cycle that never ends; since all the resources are in English, no members in other languages can join, and since there are no members in other languages, all the resources that are created are in English. And while I wish I could say that I have a solution to end this Anglocentrism once and for all, unfortunately, I do not. I am only one person (dragon), and this is a problem that I alone cannot solve. True, there have been some commendable attempts by the international community (translations of writings, alterhuman blogs in languages other than English, the Eurokin server on Discord are some examples); however, these initiatives often don't often get very far because of the very nature of the community. As I have already said, most of the alterhumans are North American or English, therefore any attempt to globalize the community would be restricted by the fact that there are not many members who would be interested in this in the first place. So what can we do to change this? The answer lies in you, reader. If you have a second language, encourage yourself to create writings in it from time to time. If you come from a culture other than the mainstream, talk about how that affects your identity. If you have traditions specific to your country that you believe are alterhuman in nature, share them. And if you are part of the English-speaking majority, I invite you to contribute in a positive way through simple actions, such as listening to us when we express ourselves in other languages, recognizing that we do not all share the same culture, and keeping an open mind when discussing topics that may be unfamiliar to you. Our strength as a community lies in the diversity of our members; let's embrace it.

I wish ppl talked more often abt how therianthropy/non-humanity can potentially impact your entire life. I dont just mean having to deal with smaller scale things like daily shifts or species dysphoria (although those can also definitely have long term impacts), I mean like how it can very literally change the trajectory of your life.

Because of my wildebeest theriotype, I have an extremely strong desire to live a nomadic lifestyle, and I 1000% plan to do so as soon as I know how to do it safely/get the money. I will likely never be fully content staying in any one place for a long period of time, I will always seek out drastic and extended types of traveling, which is gonna really impact me down the line given the current structure of human society.