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astral-actias · 5 hours

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Annoyed at alterhumans who write things like "only humans do politics" or "only humans make up these stupid social rules", you know, shit like that.

Not every alterhuman is a feral animal. There are aliens, elves, faeries and many, many other kinds that actually have civilisations and cultures, that, newsflash, come with politics and social norms and similar things. And even among feral animals, many of them are social animals, with complex rules and structures and roles, and yes, politics too, sometimes. This take that only humans have these things is just plain wrong.

#'only humans do politics' buddy you should see what my IRL cats get up to.#EVERYTHING does politics. literally everything. is it alive? politics. is it inanimate? quite possibly still doing politics

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astral-actias · 11 hours

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I think we need to normalize using "people" as a species neutral word.

Like idk in my brain the word people just doesn't automatically = human. To me it's just a way to signify intelligence and individuality, and to emphasize the need for respect towards another creature, not specific to any one species.

Dogs can be people, mice can be people, dragons can be people, humans can be people, birds can be people, elves can be people, robots can be people, and so on.

It's also (in my opinion) just much easier than always saying "beings" or "individuals" when referring to varying assortments of creatures.

#this #call me a person. PLEASE do not fucking call me a 'being' or an 'entity' or whatever #all those alternatives feel like you're talking about some kind of woo energy ghost version of me #and I do not like them at all #I'm just a person! it's fine!#also like the irony that personhood already doesn't have to mean humanity lol #considering there's cases being made for extending it to animals and potential forms of actual AI? yeah #it's already normalized that way. can we stop UN-normalizing it?

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astral-actias · 1 day

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(Not therian, just mythical + fictional both) I've thought about having a separate blog for it just because the vibes are very different and I've already got this blog named and themed and, you know, recognizable. But then I would have a new blog with no followers and no posts, and that's annoying to deal with...but then every time I look at my blog and it doesn't really match what I feel the most like right now, I get kind of annoyed all over again.

I’m seeing a strange amount of alterhumans who are both therians and fictionkin but having two separate blogs for each identity (myself included) and I wanted to see why that is

The reason I dropped all fictionkin mentions on this blog was because in the past, I wasn’t really seen as the character I was, on the same level as the animal species I was. But this whole thing was my experience and I wanted to ask for the stories of others to see if this is a reoccurring thing or not?

Those who don’t mention their fictionkinity at all, what’s your reason?

And those who do share all of their identity on their ‘main’ blog, what has the response been?

And anything else in between, give me your answers!

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astral-actias · 3 days

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spiritual alterhumans

(i fucked up and needed to remake this poll, sorry) (also i again fucked up it should be walk in soul but alright...)

#honestly at this point my answer is 'it's some part spiritual but I don't care exactly how nor do I think it's explainable'#like even the spiritual aspect alone when I was just fae my answer was still just like #'idk my physical body is human and my astral body (not soul) is fae and that's just how it is'#I don't think my soul has a species it's just a soul and that's different than an animal or creature

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astral-actias · 8 days

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Not intending to coin a term or anything, just something that I've toyed with calling myself: human+ (or human-plus out loud, it's read how it looks). Like, I'm nonhuman, I'm also human, I'm human AND I'm other things, and it's an instantly understandable way to express that in a way that's specifically additive and it's no big deal if the total is more than 100. Fully human, plus other.

I call my gender male+ sometimes and it's the same. I'm male, I'm also ex-female which is a different thing, I'm trans which is a different thing too, I'm also some degree meh who cares, I'm some percentage robotgender, these can add up to more than 100% and that's cool. Having other facets to my gender doesn't subtract from being male. That's absolutely integral to my understanding of what my gender is, and it's the same with my nonhumanity. I'm not less human because I'm also a reploid and a faery! I'm still full-on a human, AND I'm those things too, and they're not less due to also being human, either.

Anyway that's what I was thinking about just now. Might go ahead and throw that in my blog header info because it feels comfy right now.

#otherkin #nonhuman #fictionkin #kin #alterhuman

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astral-actias · 9 days

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If you want to call that nonhuman, you're entirely within your rights to do so. That is definitely something that could be included under the heading of 'not exclusively human in some way,' if you want it to be included, and that part is important.

That's the thing about labels: they're opt-in. You do have to decide for yourself if that's the label you want to apply to those experiences. Just as nobody else has any standing to tell you that you can't call yourself nonhuman, nobody else can tell you that you have to, or even should. There's not a wrong or right way to label yourself, as long as the label feels like it fits and does whatever you need it to.

The thing about labels also is that they're a way for you to understand what you're experiencing and explain it to yourself and others. I've known humans who identify fully as human who've had experiences that I would think of as nonhuman, but they don't frame it that way because it doesn't explain anything to them in a way that's helpful for them. I've known nonhumans who have experiences I'd have thought of as fully human, but those experiences feel essentially nonhuman to them and they choose that word for them, because it explains them in a way that they find helpful. So the question really is, would it be helpful or useful to you to call yourself a nonhuman, or to categorize your experiences as nonhuman?

And you're allowed to try the label on for a test drive to see if it fits. Since there's no right or wrong answer and nobody gatekeeping to check your work, you don't have to fear that you messed up somehow if you try calling yourself nonhuman and later decide you don't like it, or that it doesn't fit you. That's a success, actually! You tried something new, and you learned valuable information about yourself from it. That's not a mistake. That's a measurable net gain.

None of that is a definitive explanation for what you are, because nobody can give that except for you (if you even decide that it's important in the end; personally I can name but I don't even try to explain most of what I am at this point and it's more comfy for me that way, but I think I might be an outlier there). As far as a definitive, tl;dr answer for the question of whether nonhuman can encompass that: yes, nonhuman can encompass damn near anything, as long as it contains any aspect at all of other-than-human, in any proportion.

I feel like now is a good time to remind everyone that...

Nonhuman is an umbrella term, but it is also a standalone label.

You do not need to also be otherkin, otherlinker, otherhearted, therian, fictionkin, alterhuman (which itself may be 100% human and nothing else) or anything else to call yourself nonhuman. You can, if you want to, just use it by itself. No qualifiers, no further explanation required, no definition beyond 'not exclusively human in some way.'

You don't need to identify physically as not-human. Plenty of nonhumans do, and plenty more don't.

You don't need to identify entirely as not-human. There are lots of nonhumans that are also human, plus whatever else they are. There are similarly nonhumans who are in no way human. The term encompasses both without contradiction.

You do not need to specify any amount of voluntary/involuntary adoption of your identity. You can in fact choose to just be nonhuman because you want to do that, or you can come to it after a long time searching and conclude it's the only explanation, or you can fall anywhere in between.

You do not need to be any specific thing other than some degree of not-human. You can be an animal, plant, object, concept, song, creature, shapeshifter, character, device, AI, color, emotion, or anything else that exists or doesn't, or any kind of mixture of those things.

You do not need any specific reason to call yourself nonhuman. It can be a psychological thing, a spiritual thing, a physical thing, a coping thing, a reclamation thing, even just a 'because it's fun and makes you happy' thing.

You do not need anybody's permission or approval to be nonhuman. There are no gatekeepers who have any say over what a nonhuman is or is not, aside from the definition of the word itself, which is incredibly broad and open to interpretation. This is by design. Anybody who tries to stop you has no right to do so.

Please don't forget that when defining 'nonhuman.' It is not just a big tarp to be thrown over other labels. It is also its own full identity with its own merits and concepts, even if it is a very broad and inclusive identity.

#also sorry I am like. so wordy on this topic

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astral-actias · 10 days