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The Alterhumans in Relationships Survey is collecting data on alterhumans and queerplatonic, sexual, and romantic relationships. This survey asks questions about your current and past relationships, and how you feel about relationships and alterhumanity. This survey was made for otherkin, therians, fictionkin, systems, and other people who may call themself alterhuman. But even if you don't use any of those terms, you can take still this survey.

This survey is being organized by Who-is-Page, an alterhuman scholar who has been in the community since 2014. The data collected in this survey will be used for research purposes and may be presented at an online convention (OtherCon 2024) later this year. Depending on how much you write in the write-in questions, this survey takes about 15 minutes.

Survey Link

Your physical body must at least 18 years old to participate in this survey. The survey will close on July 6th.

#surveys

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I'm also roughly the same size as my 'type (puma)! Feels good.

Considering I and others post a lot about things that make us species dysphoric, reblog with a random thing that makes you species euphoric! For me, it’s being the same height (length) and weight as a northwestern wolf, and having nearly the same eye colour, and hair colour, when it comes to the tan parts of the fur.

[pumastuffs]

Reminder as I made a separate sideblog for my coyote questioning: your nonhuman identity shouldn’t solely be online, and if you’re questioning like me, taking a break from social media and tracking your experiences in a journal can do wonders. In fact, your identity should be even stronger offline or while taking a break.

[pumastuffs]

Is it just me, seeing all these “how to cope with shifts” “wear a tail to school” etc. videos, thinking that… we can restrain ourselves? I’ve never let out a howl, bark, except subtle canine body behaviour that I do. I’ve never had to distract myself from shifts, or just had to wear gear to school or wherever. It paints alterhumans as beings who can’t control these things and would need some kind of special treatment, while basically all of us, adults at least, seem like your normal human being.

#i've got some thoughts i could add but they'd probably be better served as its own post #but yeah i pretty much agree with all this

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If anyone is interested in the wolf skull necklace that I have that I posted about! It is on the pricier side, but it’s very high quality and has a solid weight to it. The shop also has many more animals available (and a shinier version).

#shopping #ooooh! lots of neat pieces there

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every woodland nonhuman needs this house (Tony Stewart’s Columbus mansion)

#insp

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no, you don’t need to wear your mask/tail to school.

i wish young nonhumans didn’t feel compelled to be ‘out’ at school, especially when it’s a dangerous environment. i keep seeing posts along the lines of “wore my tail/mask to school! people berated/teased/put their hands on me, but it’s ok”.

no, it’s not.

like.. i understand a mask or a tail can be a very validating thing for some people. and i’m not saying NO ONE should wear them at schools. but i just keep watching this mounting trend of young therians insinuating you need some physical accessory or to do quads to be a ‘real’ nonhuman. and then it leads to things like this and it makes me incredibly sad.

i’d known i was alterhuman since late elementary school, actually. it’s a huge part of my life even now, years after graduation. there wasn’t a reason for it to be brought up, so i never did. it was a closely guarded secret to me, but it didn’t feel like a weight i was carrying. i always thought “no one needs to know i’m an animal if it jeopardizes my safety. so, oh well”.

“but, how will people know that i’m an animal?”

they probably will. they probably already do.

i was the designated ‘animal’ person my entire school career despite not ever handling animals in front of anyone. if there were pets, lost wild animals (baby rabbits, birds, lizards), or sometimes even loose livestock that got onto campus, it was always me who had to go tend to them.

everyone wanted me in their group in environmental science. if a project called for animal illustrations, the same thing would happen. it was certainly weird because i was also a ‘weird kid’ and not especially desired to be around outside of that, lol. but i was never harassed for it. it made me feel very validated, actually.

i had fun during gym running and fiercely destroying the opposing team in field hockey. i taught everyone which plants were okay to forage (and we snacked on them when we had to sit on the lower field for practice). every day i was hyperaware of the limbs i had that weren’t quite there. friends noticed my ears twitch and my nose wiggle at certain stimuli. i felt nice walking on two legs. i felt nice because i felt animal and i didn’t have to prove it to anyone.

really like… just do what makes you happy. i admire the bravery it takes to so earnestly wear your identity on your sleeve like that. that’s very impressive. however, there is NO obligation to do anything like that if you understand that there will be a reaction that poses a threat to you.

i want our kids to be safe, too. you don’t have to feel dysphoria over being discreet. sometimes it’s the safest option. and sometimes, that can be really fun, too.

study everything you can about your ‘type. wikipedia and animalia are good resources. ramble about them to anyone who will listen. jokingly refer to yourself as one in friend spaces. wear discreet clothes that remind you of your ‘type. find a nice private place outside where you can run and explore and look at plants and smell the air and feel like yourself. but by no means do you have to prove yourself. you know you.

#text

[pumastuffs]

The purpose of this survey is to collect data about the experiences of people who feel sensations of nonhuman body parts, for example, wings or a tail. Some call these supernumerary phantom limbs, phantom shifts, otherlimbs, or astral limbs, though you may have other preferences for the words you use for your own experiences. If you haven't had those experiences, you can participate in this survey too. This survey was made for people who call themselves otherkin, therianthrope, furry, or any other potentially alterhuman or nonhuman identity. If you don't describe yourself with any of those words, you can participate in this survey too.

The survey will take you about 6 to 15 minutes. Everyone age 18 and up is welcome to fill out the survey at the below link, until it closes on July 6, 2024:

Survey Link

Who is running this survey and why: The person running this survey is Orion Scribner (they/them), an otherkin/therianthrope who has been making projects about these communities since 2005. I will use the results in my panel at an Internet-based convention later this year (OtherCon 2024), and in other future research projects.

#surveys

[pumastuffs]

One of the most annoying things online, but especially on tumblr, I've seen a rise of during the past few years, is people seeing a specific label that simply isn't for them, being like "I'm mad this doesn't include me, so I'm going to twist its meaning until it does" over and over again and it makes those who those terms were created by & for have nothing to describe their specific experience again. Sometimes shit just isn't about you. And sometimes "gatekeeping" is good.

#yup

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#early 2010s tumblr #someone made some kind of joke post mentioning otherkin #ended up looking at the tag and going oh! #polls

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“Coffee tigers” coffee and pencil 25x25 cm

#rad art

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My new painting “Dysis” oil on canvas 100x80 cm https://www.singulart.com/en/artworks/oleksii-gnievyshev-dysis-530981 Dysis is one of the Horae. Horae are the goddesses in Greek mythology who oversee regular life. Dysis is the patron goddess of the hour of the sunset. She is a daughter of the supreme Olympic god Zeus and the Themis. In the Greek and Roman twelve hours counted from sunrise (Augē, first light), it is the penultimate hour after Hesperis (evening) and before Arktos (last light).

#rad art

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“Tea cougar” This Drawing from now in privat collection! Prints https://www.saatchiart.com/print/Drawing-Tea-cougar/933426/7012423/view

#rad art

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My new painting “Artemis"oil on canvas 100x80 cm

#rad art

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My new painting “Leopard”

oil on canvas 160x90 cm 

#rad art

[pumastuffs]

Therianthropy & The Autism Spectrum - A Dissection

This is a topic that gets thrown around a lot but is usually dismissed because of the hordes of people who stumble into therianthropy and immediately go “this is absurd, you’re all just autistic”, usually meaning it as an insult (joke’s on them, autistic people are awesome). The fact of the matter, however, is that therianthropy and the autism spectrum can look pretty similar on the surface so I’m gonna straighten some things out and maybe people will finally stop confusing the two.

There are a plethora of behaviors common with both therianthropy and autism, but though they manifest in the same way the distinction is the motivation for those behaviors. Let’s look at some examples:

Sally likes to make cat sounds and may meow at random times, either voluntarily or involuntarily, because doing so comforts her. She will sometimes meow at people instead of speaking because it is easier for her to express herself that way. Sally may have grown up with cats and learned to meow by mimicking them. Sally is autistic.

Sam has the urge to growl when she feels angry or threatened. She does not feel the need to growl at other times, and the physical sensation of growling is not her motivation for doing it. Sam growls because of instinct and did not learn to do it by watching dogs. Sam is a therian.

Jeremy likes to sit in strange positions. He does this because it puts pressure on certain parts of his body in ways that feel good and sitting this way helps him stay calm and focused. Jeremy is autistic.

George likes to sit in strange positions. He does this because it feels more natural to him to act as though he has four legs and sitting this way reduces the dysphoria he usually experiences when sitting normally. George is a therian.

Amy likes to sit in small, enclosed spaces. She does this because she is easily overwhelmed and having sensory input come from only one entrance is much easier for her to manage. Amy is autistic.

April likes to sit in small, enclosed spaces. She does this because she has the instinct to build a den and sitting in a den-like space feels “right”. April is a therian.

Henry has difficulty socializing. This is because he is unable to subconsciously learn the “rules” of social interaction, such as when and how loud to speak. Henry is autistic.

Harold has difficulty socializing. This is because he subconsciously expects people to follow a set of social “rules” for a different species. Harold is a therian.

Karen has an urge to eat grass. This is because she imagines the sensation of biting and chewing it will be very pleasant. Karen is autistic.

Carol has an urge to eat grass. This is because she has a grazing instinct and her subconscious tells her that grass is food. Carol is a therian.

Isaac feels like he was born on the wrong planet. This is because the way people interact with one another and the expectations of society feel completely foreign to him. Isaac is autistic.

Leroy feels as though he was born as the wrong species. This is because he often does not feel comfortable having a human body or living a human life. Leroy is a therian.

There are also plenty of behaviors that clearly fit into only one category or the other which makes it pretty easy to separate people on the spectrum from therians. For example:

Sally often does things like rock back and forth or bounce her leg when she is sitting. These are stims she uses to regulate herself.

Sam often has a strong urge to chase small animals. This is because she has predatory instincts.

Jeremy has difficulty starting and stopping tasks. This is because of executive dysfunction.

George sometimes feels like he has a tail. His tail is a phantom/astral limb.

Another important distinction is that autism is a constant, while therianthropy is generally inconsistent (because of shifting). People who are autistic have the same needs/traits/etc at all times, while a therian may feel completely human one day and dysfunctionally nonhuman the next.

The most important difference, however, is pretty obvious: therians identify as a nonhuman animal. An autistic person may identify with an animal but not as one. I wrote a detailed post about that difference a while back.

There is, of course, a glaring exception: a lot of people are both therians and on the autism spectrum! In fact, the number of people who identify themselves as on the spectrum is much higher among therians than in the rest of society. That doesn’t necessarily mean that therians are more likely to be autistic, however. My theory is that it’s simply easier to realize and accept that you’re not exactly human when you’re not wired to conform to society. A disproportionate number of people in the trans community are autistic for the same reason.

Discussion is very welcome, and as always please let me know if I need to correct anything!

#longpost #can't remember if i've reblogged this before but it's a good post

[pumastuffs]

hey guess what! its okay to play pretend. if you wanna act like a certain animal, but you dont identify as it or with it, you can still act like that animal.

youre allowed to have fun and to play and to use your imagination. dont shun those urges because they dont fit your identity; let yourself play pretend.