aestherians
Just your friendly neighborhood bison
☀️ What's up! My name's Poppy :D Certified otherkind since the Hell Year (2016) and fictionkind since the Plague Year (2019)☀️☀️ bison therian ☀️ gnollkind ☀️☀️ben 10 fictionkind ☀️ unicornhearted ☀️☀️ spiderhearted ☀️ tarzanhearted☀️☀️website☀️☀️carrd☀️☀️ rae pronouns are preferred, he and she pronouns are accepted with open arms☀️
7557 posts
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Last Seen Blogs
greysistersbeforemisters-blog
moved to likexaxriver
materacapitale
michelangelo
ecchi-sukecchi-wantacchi
meow.
94ishlove
F I N I
skuaclan
SkuaClan
Text
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.
454 notes
·
View notes
Text
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.
162 notes
·
View notes
Text
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.
723 notes
·
View notes
Text
My biggest, first, most important piece of advice for therians who awakened roughly a year ago? You are still NOT immune to the "I'm pretty sure I know everything by now" phase of being, relatively, extremely new to a community; which is to say, the education blog you have the urge to start is not necessary and can wait. You are in the learning and figuring yourself out phase.
155 notes
·
View notes
Text
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.
466 notes
·
View notes
Text
I think it should be a trend for alterhumans to fight each other with their theriotypes/kintypes like pokemon cards
419 notes
·
View notes
Text
Prompt: What are your feelings on (neomata)?
+ an aside on shifts and shifting
Neomata to me, after looking up what it meant, is definitely the most important thing to me for my identities. Without them I don't think I'd find any point or purpose in even saying I feel these identities or have any real connection to these concepts. For the most part, there's a few things that don't fall under that but like 80%? Yeah, without neomata I'd have no reason or feeling to think it's important or worth acknowledging.
I can easily see other people not having the same feeling towards them; even finding no real importance to them but for me I can't really say I have any strong feelings towards my identities without the inherent knowledge I have around them and what I unlock over time.
Mostly I think the importance lies solely in the fact I don't experience 'shifts' or phantom experiences. Because of that, I don't have anything that directly links any connections between me and these identities, beyond this knowledge that I feel inherently is knowledge of my experiences or life or inherently just being.
I never feel like I am suddenly more one in 'the mind' of one identity than another. I can sure feel more one kintype than another, or closer to a heartype than another; but it's not as shifting is described. It's more like similar to the mood of wanting to play one video game over another. Finding yourself really up to writing after a long time of being disinterested. There's no real mindset change just 'oh I think I'm more up for that right now'.
It's something I feel like people outside of me can look at and go 'yeah that's shifting' but I never once related to or connected to anything on shifting I read. The definitions themselves directly don't sound like what I'm experiencing.
Instead it's more to me like, as I find these bits of my identity, I'm always them. There's no change in that. It's just sometimes I'm more 'in the mood' to acknowledge that aspect of myself more. Like someone wanting to invest more time in their writing some days, and other days maybe wanting to be more into their drawing, or maybe this is the day they want to work out instead. Those are all hobbies the person has but they don't always put effort towards them at any time? No idea how good of an analogy that is.
Basically since I never feel like I'm looking through the word through a specific identities eyes, I can easily start to push them away from myself as maybe being too into an oc, or maybe having an imagination; but when that neoamata hits and reminds me of how much it feels like knowledge of apart of me; I can't just push that away. That feels like removing apart of myself not just some oc. Just then it turns into that oc is a way for me to interact with apart of myself but a bit separately. Or the imagination is me reliving or trying to even learn more about myself I haven't found yet. Like trying to fill in the pieces.
no idea if anything there makes sense from an outside perspective but I damn well tried.
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
hi otherkins im curious. how do you see yourself in terms of being non/alterhuman?
113 notes
·
View notes
Text
In case you need it today:
You are under no obligation to publicly perform your identity.
You are a therian without a mask or a tail or shoes or fun snacks or 'good' vocals. You are a therian without a wolf shirt or a paw pendant or a theta-delta pin. You are a therian without quadrobics or other athletic activities.
You are a therian even if you participate in human society. If you want to blend in with people. If you don't 'dress like a therian'. If you don't want to wear your heart on your sleeve.
You are a therian even if you never want to show anyone that you are.
756 notes
·
View notes
Text
New window for staff applications
Volunteer staff positions will now be open April 15th-30th (no forms will be accepted May 1st). This time there will also be a new role for staff that are solely dedicated to recording panels and will do no moderation work. The regular moderation staff usually record panels already, but it is always a huge help to have other recordings in case someone is unavailable, a file gets corrupted, etc.
"Village Beacon" (Anniversary Zine) Announcement
The anniversary zine has gotten a slight rebrand to "Village Beacon", to avoid confusion about the zine being about Othercon. The title represents the alterhuman community as a whole, a way to find others with similar experiences in a vast world where you might've felt alone.
Village Beacon celebrates the community, camaraderie, and supporting others. This theme is intentionally broad, since these can manifest in different ways. More details will be available on a seperate post when submission forms open on May 1st.
This post is meant to be more of a quick update to the recent delays going on. All other platforms (Bluesky and mailing list) will get proper notifications on the dates mentioned above.
24 notes
·
View notes
Text
#one of those digital magazines/blogs talking about weird phenomena#they ran an article about wolfie blackheart in 2011 and i instantly knew i was an animal like wolfie#it took another 5 years until i figured out *what* animal i am. but 2011 is where it began.
330 notes
·
View notes
Text
Anyone else believe in reincarnation without direction or purpose? Your energy kinda...goes where it goes. The great jeweled net reflects on.
47 notes
·
View notes
Text
the monster dwells at the gates of difference
106 notes
·
View notes
Text
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: Inky Paws #3
Inky Paws is a nonhuman anthology zine for original fiction writings by nonhumans and alterhumans about nonhumanity, alterhumanity, and similar, related themes.
This zine is primarily literature focused, but will also be open to more illustrative methods of story-telling such as comics. The zine���s focus is on fictional pieces that are centered around nonhumanity, alterhumanity, therianthropy, and similar (see Submission Guidelines section for more details).
You are welcome to submit:
Short stories
Microfiction
Satire
Poetry
Song lyrics
Experimental fiction (fake newspapers, fake recipes, fake blogs, fake posters, etc.)
Mixed media
Comics
And more! If you're unsure, just ask! Seriously, please just ask. I promise I would 10000% love to hear about your idea even if you're unsure about submitting it, there is no such thing as a bad idea and I cannot stress this enough.
How to participate:
You can submit your pieces in this Google Form!
OR
Email invisibleotherkin(@)gmail(.)com with your submission, and please title the email "Inky Paws Zine #3 Submission". With your submission, please include:
The piece's title or name,
A name or pen name to attribute the piece to,
Any content warnings that you feel are necessary for the piece,
Any social media handle or personal website you’d like to be published alongside your name with the piece (optional), and
Any relevant author notes or author biographical information (optional).
Anonymous pieces are also welcome.
Once submissions have been collected and the deadline has passed, these submissions will be put into the zine and it will be posted online as a free PDF. Submissions are due by April 30th, 2024.
Please see the Submission Guidelines, and Submission FAQ, below cut.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Each individual may contribute up to 3 accepted submissions to be published in Inky Paws; individuals within systems may each submit 3 pieces, that is to say 3 pieces per systemmate/headmate/preferred term.
Comics and similar multi-part pieces count as one submission altogether: if you submit a single story that has been divided into two sub-stories for dramatic emphasis, or if you submit 10 pages of a single-story comic, or if you submit a written piece of fiction and an accompanying image that you drew or otherwise created to go along with it, that would still only count as one piece.
Submissions must fit the thematic criteria of:
Being explicitly about or based on nonhumans, otherkin, therianthropes, fictionkin, alterhumans, or similar groups, or;
Having strong themes or describing experiences strongly reminiscent of or related to nonhumans, otherkin, therianthropes, fictionkin, alterhumans, or similar such as (but not limited to):
Characters experiencing nonhumanity or alterhumanity as being a part of themselves/their identity,
Characters experiencing anything similar to a shift (including physical shifting),
Characters struggling with (emotionally, socially, or otherwise) being both human and nonhuman or alterhuman in some way,
Characters having a past-life as something nonhuman or alterhuman that strongly still impacts their current life, or
Characters desiring to be nonhuman or have nonhuman attributes.
TL;DR - Your submissions have to relate to or be about alterhumans or nonhumans in some way, shape, or form.
Written submissions must not exceed 7500 words, and must also use a reader-friendly font with a text size of or exceeding 16 pt.
For stories that use multiple different fonts, such as pieces meant to imitate newspapers and similar, every effort will be made to preserve the general "feel" of your piece but fonts may not be transferred over 1:1 due to potential conflicts with font copyright, readability, and overarching zine style.
Multi-part image submissions must not exceed 10 pages in length, and must also use a reader-friendly font with a text size of or exceeding 16 pt if they include text. Images larger than 8.5 x 11in. will be scaled down to an appropriate size; please take that into account when creating and submitting your images. It is also recommended that images be vertical or square in their orientation.
Written submissions should be submitted as a .docx file. Images and mixed media pieces should be submitted as either .jpg or .png files.
All submitted pieces should be your own work. Individuals caught plagiarizing or using AI within their submissions will be barred from participating in Inky Paws, including in any potential future volumes.
SUBMISSION FAQ:
Q: Where will this zine be hosted?
A: The zine will be hosted for free download on Itch.io, where issues 1 and 2 of the zine are already hosted.
Q: What is the cap on submissions?
A: At this time, we are not looking to accept more than roughly 25 submissions at most, in order to keep numbers and expectations manageable.
Q: Can I update my application after submitting?
A: Yes, so long as the updates are submitted before the submission deadline!
Q: What is your policy on content moderation and content warnings?
A: If you feel your piece needs content warnings, please include them in the submission, as we are hoping to include relevant content warnings and maturity ratings alongside all pieces. We are at this time accepting pieces of all tones and ratings.
With that said, It should be noted that any items submitted with soapboxing intent and anti-nonhuman, anti-alterhuman, anti-fictionkin, or similar leans are largely not welcome, as this is a zine geared towards all aforementioned groups and then some.
Q: Can I submit an in-progress draft or sketch? Can I claim a spot in the zine before sending in my submission?
A: We are not currently accepting WIP pieces for submission at this time, though feel free to send us your WIP if you have questions related to its future submission. We also cannot reserve or guarantee a spot in the zine pre-submission, regardless of any existing drafts or WIPs.
Q: Can I submit a piece of fanfiction?
A: While we've now accepted pieces of fanfiction in the past, we tend to prefer to leave them out for legal reasons. If you submit a piece of obvious fanfiction, please know that it may be significantly more likely to be rejected from the zine and that, if the piece is accepted, the piece may be removed without warning from the zine later on if DMCA or legal issues arise. We strongly advise that individuals who wish to write something inspired by fiction make it non-obvious to the outside reader where the inspiration is being taken from.
Q: Can I submit something I've created in the past?
A: You can submit something you've created in the past, but please try to avoid submitting anything that you've published previously and is currently publicly accessible. For example, if the story you want to submit has already been featured in a different anthology, please don't submit it to Inky Paws! We want to encourage people to create new pieces, or to put the spotlight on pieces that haven't previously had the opportunity to be published.
Q: Do I have to write something based on the provided prompts?
A: Nope! The prompts are there by popular request to help give people a jumping off point for creating, but are not required to be incorporated into your piece and will not have any effect on if your submission gets accepted or not.
Q: What is the projected timeline for this project?
A: Submissions will close by April 30th of 2024. The publish date of the zine depends on submission amount and size of submissions; in an ideal world, we hope to have the zine published by December, before year's end.
Q: Can I rescind my submission?
A: As long as you request to rescind your submission before the submission deadline, yes. After the deadline passes and the formatting and work towards publishing begins, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to remove your work from the zine due to time constraints and potential formatting issues. Please take this into account before submitting.
Q: Will there be any physical copies of this zine?
A: Due to cost restraints and a lack of printing experience on the part of the zine organizers, we have no physical copies of this zine planned for print. You are, however, welcome to download and print copies of the zine for personal use.
Q: Who are the organizers of this zine? Where can I reach out to ask further questions?
A: Who-is-Page and Noel Sol of the Sol System are organizing this zine. Feel free to send us any questions, comments, or concerns to invisibleotherkin(@)gmail(.)com, or you can always message us on Tumblr at Who-is-Page.
297 notes
·
View notes
Text
I know I needed to hear this when I was younger and here on therian social media so let me be the one to tell you:
Feeling pain and suffering from an identity does not make it more "real". It is not noble, it is not something anyone should strive for, and if someone feels it regardless of their motives it is in their best interest to ask for help medically and/or through therapy. It does not make them any less of their identity to do so.
I am biting your arses and telling you to strive for happiness because the world can be beautiful.
223 notes
·
View notes
Text
do any other otherkins ever feel like they’re undercover in a way? like omg my coworkers don’t even know they’re working with an angel………
1K notes
·
View notes