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bloededhoine · 3 years

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world building cause twn doesn't part 4: elves!

everyone loves elves! they're a fantasy genre mainstay, archery is so sexy, and they have those E A R S. plus, they play a pretty important part in the witcher universe!

series masterpost

colour code cause i fucking love colour codes - already happened/introduced, probably s2, important background info, stuff that might be in the prequel, extras

background

i'd recommend going through the last parts, or at least the tl;dr's first

elves arrived on the continent about 2000 years before humans, and are divided into 5 distinct cultures of varying importance: aen undod, aen elle, aen seidhe, black seidhe, and aen woedde

elves only came to the continent in one group, but not all of that group stayed. the different branches based on where they settled make up the different cultures

the main two languages in the witcher are common speech and elder speech (aka hen llinge), the former used by most humans and the latter used by the elder races

aen undod

the aen undod are the oldest elven culture, having existed years before the conjunction of spheres

their home world faced some huge catastrophe, so the aen undod left in search of new worlds, leaving their descendants to become all the future elven cultures.

the aen undod spoke the oldest dialect of elder speech, laith aen undod, or one speech

aen elle

the aen elle use a language derived from hen llinge called ellylon, in which their name means "of the alders"

they don't actually live on the continent, having abandoned it years ago for their own world.

however, when the aen elle arrived in this new world, it was already populated by humans and unicorns. unfortunately, these elves are notoriously ruthless and both the native species were eradicated.

the capital of the aen elle world is tir ná lia, and is described as stunningly beautiful, featuring open air buildings made of marble, alabaster, and malachite. here it is in the third witcher video game, by djkovrik on nexus. their screenshots are amazing btw.

[ID: screenshot from wild hunt showing tir ná lia. the city is built on cliffs above a sea, there are waterfalls falling from the cliffs and bridges connecting them. there are mountains in the background and the buildings are fairly small and out of focus, they seem to be in the gothic revival style with ornate windows and steeped roofs. end ID]

the ruler of the aen elle was auberon muircetach, king of the alders and aen saevherne (aen saevherne is the honorary title of an elven mage who has extensive knowledge of magic, geneology, history, and many other subjects). auberon was also ciri's 5 times great grandfather. this gwent card pretty much sums up his vibe: scary yet sexy.

[ID: illustration of elven man with long white hair on a brown horse. he has defined cheekbones and facial features and is wearing a gold crown and blue robes with a red sash, gold belt, and leather boots. he is holding a white unicorn head in one hand. the unicorn's horn is cut off, and is bloody around its neck and where its horn was. end ID]

auberon's consort was another aen elle named shiadhal, with whom he had one daughter, lara dorren. lara is so so so important for the witcher, as she is the beginning of the elder blood, or hen ichaer.

hen ichaer is a gene that carries incredibly powerful magic, and those who have it are usually sources. i talk more abt this in part 3.

for better or for worse, lara dorren fell in love with a human sorcerer, cregennan of lod, and left tir ná lia for him. auberon took this as cregennan "stealing" his daughter and therefore the hen ichaer, and developed a pretty hefty vengeance and dedication to "take back" what was his (yikes).

this also set a precedent of people "claiming" the lives of carriers of the hen ichaer

auberon also formed an elven cavalry known as the red riders or wild hunt (dearg ruadhri in ellylon) and he appointed eredin bréacc glas as their commander. the initial purpose of the wild hunt was to travel to different worlds and capture slaves for tir ná lia, although they later became auberon's tool to find and exploit carriers of hen ichaer.

the wild hunt also uses specially trained mages known as navigators to open portals to other worlds, the most notable of these navigators is caranthir ar-feiniel, who doubled as one of eredin's most trusted men.

the aen elle also live a pretty long time, average is around 650 years, so the timelines are kinda hard to keep track of.

notable aen elle include: auberon muircetach, shiadhal, lara dorren, eredin breácc glas, crevan espane aep caomhan macha (aka avallac'h, also an aen saevherne and lara dorren's ex), caranthir ar-feiniel (also avallac'h's foster son), ge'els (the viceroy of tir ná lia), and imlerith (general of the wild hunt)

aen seidhe

put simply, the aen seidhe are the elves that did not leave when the aen elle did

the aen seidhe don't really have a society like the aen elle, they're pretty dispersed across the world. but, there are certain areas the aen seidhe have claimed as their own.

one of these little civilizations is dol blathanna, also known as the valley of flowers. unfortunately, it's not an independent state, as it was conquered by aedirn in the 1150s. however, then-king baldwin thyssen did allow the elves to retain a lot of their cultural identity and live in peace.

dol blathanna includes the village posada and the capital silver towers, which is where filavandrel aén findháil is from. he's that sexy man right there

[ID: photo of white elf man with blonde hair going to his shoulders. he is wearing tattered green robes and is looking slightly to the side with his lips pursed. end ID]

not that anyone cares, but here's him in the hexer. it's not important to the lore or twn it's just fuckin funny

[ID: old man with white frizzy wig. he is wearing a headband that appears to be rocks on a string. he has what looks like a potato sack tied around his shoulders over a green tunic. he is scowling. end ID]

outside of dol blathanna, there aren't really any places where elves can live with minimal human interaction, although the blue mountains are home to a few incredibly powerful elves

side note: dol blathanna is technically part of the blue mountains, but is in the far southern foothills so they're usually treated as separate entities.

the blue mountains are also a natural border dividing the northern kingdoms from the far east, and where filavandrel went to live after he got fed up with dol blathanna.

they're also the home of ida emean aep sivney, who's also an aen saevherne and future member of the lodge of sorceresses.

next season, we're going to meet the beautiful elven sorceress francesca findabair, also known as enid an gleanna (hen llinge for daisy of the valley)

here she is with fringilla vigo (nilfgaardian sorceress) in twn season 2. note that enid is preggers! that's very odd and i will go into detail on it later

[ID: photo of two women walking side by side. the one on the left is black and has black hair in braids going over one shoulder. she is wearing a silver dress with a similarly coloured floor length coat. the one on the right is biracial and has strawberry blonde hair in a braided updo. she is wearing a floor length blue gown with gold embroidery and a metallic brown cloak. she is pregnant. end ID]

enid is crazy interesting and important for the story of the witcher (and confirmed for season two!), so i won't go too in depth about her now

as i mentioned in part 2, nilfgaard tends to favour elves, leading to a lot of militaristic forces allied with nilfgaard. most notably, the scoia'tael, or squirrels. the scoia'tael are an incredibly ruthless and effective nonhuman guerilla force, generally divided into commandos, units that patrol a given area and eliminate the northern (or simply human) threat.

there are a lot of scoia'tael, so i'll just give you the commanders for now: angus bri cri, coinneach dá reo, iorveth, isengrim faoiltiarna, riordain, and toruviel.

you might remember toruviel as this sexy angry lady from twn, and she is possibly going to get a much bigger role later... pay attention to toruviel.

[ID: young elf woman with white skin and red hair tied over her shoulder. she has a bloody nose and is wearing a light green top with a dark brown leather studded belt. her belt is also around an olive green coat. she looks quite angry. end ID]

the scoia'tael were very well organized, but also quite dispersed, so when nilfgaard needed more specific tasks done, they would assemble specific military units (usually led by some of our favourite squirrels)

the vrihedd brigade was the most important of these units. they were especially notorious for their cruelty in the second northern war, so i'm sure we'll meet at least a few members next season.

their leader was colonel isengrim faoiltiarna (aka the iron wolf), and his officers coinneach, iorveth, riordain, and angus.

francesca findabair is not directly involved with either the scoia'tael or the vrihedd brigade, but she does work quite closely with them very often.

also important to note that not all scoia'tael are aen seidhe elves, most (including all higher ranking commanders and officers) are, but there are a number of nonhumans including dwarves and halflings.

unfortunately, the aen seidhe are slowly going extinct, both from years of genocide from humans and their slow reproductive cycles (elves live a Long time, but can only have children towards the beginning of their lives)

that's why it's so surprising to me that enid is preggers! we don't exactly know her age, but by my calculations she was over 150 in twn (pretty far past the age elves can have children).

because of this, elves are pretty divided between fighting against human rule and seeking coexistence. there are arguments for both camps, mainly that humans are colonizers and should not be trusted for the former, and that elves are dying out already and need to live with humans to survive for the latter.

the most prominent stand for the fight was in the 1060s when an aen seidhe named aelireen led an uprising against humans. most of the elders told her that it wouldn't end well, but she didn't listen and led hundreds of young elves into battle. it was an utter massacre, and basically all elves who could have children died.

yikes

unfortunately, the movement for coexistence was just as unsuccessful. it was led by our man cregennan of lod, lara dorren's husband. the poor simp just wanted to live in peace with his wife, but a lot of humans thought he was a traitor because he married an elf, and he and lara were murdered in 1137 in redania.

the last real push for independence was with the formation of the scoia'tael in the 1260s. I say 1260s because the very beginnings of the scoia'tael were right around 1262-1236 (the start of ciri's timeline) but they became majorly important around 1267. although, even the scoia'tael realized they needed humans to survive and began working with nilfgaard.

however, some scoia'tael are less keen on being nilfgaard's attack dogs, leading to further division amongst the aen seidhe.

black seidhe

remember the elves i talked about in part 2 as being the ancestors of the albans? this is them!

the black seidhe are native to the south, more particularly the valley around the alba river. they are practically extinct, but the nilfgaardians carry a lot of their cultural identity in the nilfgaardian language, a variation of hen llinge.

aen woedde

the wood elves, or aen woedde, is the elven culture we know the least about, they primarily live in the areas around nilfgaardian forests and speak hen llinge.

the only notable wood elf is aenyeweddien, or iskra, a member of the rats, a gang of semi violent youths in the northern realms. we'll learn more about the rats in future seasons.

tl;dr: elves, especially the aen seidhe and aen elle cultures, make up a large part of witcher lore. they are most notable for their long lifespans, magical and historical knowledge, and militaristic alliances with nilfgaard.

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custom-emojis · 3 years

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regarding your kin card, it's really good and covers a lot of ground and its good to see correct info being spread about kin. i just also wanted to add that your definition of alterhuman is off tho, because alterhumans dont have to identify as nonhuman! plurals are also under the alterhuman umbrella, along with other-hearted people, human fictionkin, etc. it's more about identifying outside of whats considered "normal" for a human to experience, like IDing as human or being 1 person in 1 body.

Systems do not fall under alterhuman, I know that for a fact. Systems are in no way inherently correlated with it. They’re completely different concepts and both communities are frustrated with being compared. I say this as someone who is both a system and kin. That being said, the rest is correct yeah! That’s more or less what I was saying, or trying too, on the carrd! But I am very sleepy so I’ll update it tomorrow to word it a lil better

Edit: unless you mean plurals as. Something else. Like thought form or something?? Even then, that’s not rly alterhuman.

#I even put that systems are non correlated... on the carrd #systems are not inherently alterhuman unless an alter identifies as such personally but #otherwise there is no correlation and there never has been

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theskyeandsea · 4 years

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How We Survive || Erin & Skylar

Timing: May 11th, 2020

Location: Nic and Skylar’s Home

Tagging: @corpse--diem

Description: Erin helps Skylar get her things back from where she left them after the events of this chatzy. Grateful for the help, Skylar shares her secret with the other woman.

TW: Medical Blood

Shutting her laptop, Skylar forced herself to slide out of bed. The second her feet hit the ground, a spasm of pain traveled up her injured calf and she held back a yelp. Biting the inside of her cheek, she took a deep breath before putting pressure on her feet and forcing herself to walk from her room out to the entryway. She could feel fresh blood beginning to seep through the bandages around her leg, but she’d doubled up on the dressing after she’d bled through the initial wrapping the woman on the beach had applied. Walking to the front door, she unlocked the door before making a bee-line to the living room. Dizzy from the effort, Skylar collapsed on the couch and leaned her head against the armchair. A cold sweat had broken on her forehead, but she needed to be here. To make sure that Erin would come in and see her-- not Nic. She didn’t need him to know how poorly she was doing. She didn’t want to bother him with… any of this. When a knock came from the door, she raised her voice as much as she could, “Come in!”

The voice on the other side was one Erin was only just getting familiar with. Sounded like Skylar but it also… didn’t? When she flew into the home in a flurry and saw the young woman on the couch, pale and sweaty, her panic seemed wholly founded. “Jesus, Skylar,” she murmured under her breath, kneeling in front of the couch. She only felt a little awkward, fussing over someone she didn’t really know all too well. Knew enough that she was a good soul who was in a bad way right now. “What happened?” She asked, hesitant to do more than give her a proper glance over and touch her forehead to make sure she wasn’t running a fever. Infections could sneak up quick and that seemed like the last thing they needed to be worrying about on top of all of this.

In one moment, Skylar was alone on the couch. In the next, Erin was next to her, pressing her hand against her forehead. A bit startled, she blinked as the woman began to speak, the words hard to hear. Without her hearing aids, it was difficult for her to hear the higher pitched tones. And, on top of it, her head was spinning as she tried to read the woman’s lips. Doing her best to focus, Skylar swallowed thickly, head lolling slightly. “I… I was at the river. I couldn’t talk. And…” She hesitated for a moment. Nic knew about her secret, but Erin-- she wasn’t a part of this, was she? She didn’t know what Nic did, right? But, she couldn’t think of any way to lie about this, her head was still spinning too much. Slumping against the back of the couch, she shook her head, “A hunter came after me. He wanted my skin. I’m… not, not human.” She said. “But, I need, I need my hearing aids back. I need my car. And… and… everything.”

Fuck. In her panic, Erin had nearly forgotten that Skylar didn’t have her hearing aid. But she sat back, confident she wasn’t fighting a fever at this rate, and listened. A hunter. Skylar wasn’t human. Her eyes grew wide as the questions started to pile up and something Marley said felt like it was screaming on top of all of that. Hunters would kill me without a second though. She didn’t know where to begin and could only nod slowly. Whatever Skylar was, above all, she was kind. And she needed help. “Alright,” she spoke slowly, keeping her own features as soft as possible despite the concern wracking her insides. “We’ll get them back. Don’t worry about that.” She gave her another glance over, trying to remain as level-headed as possible, then met her eyes again. “I can get them later? Is that okay? Or do you need them now?”

Fighting against the urge to close her eyes, Skylar did her best to keep herself alert and awake. The pain in her leg was keeping her awake, the slight jostling of Erin leaning next to her enough to make the wound in her leg yell in protest. “I need them. They’re… my car. They’re in my car with my phone and my, my teeth.” She said, her head hanging low as she avoided Erin’s eyes. She didn’t want her to see the teeth, her horrible, jagged teeth, their tips dulled from when she had tried to file them down as a child. The teeth that had ripped through that man’s arm, shredded it as though it was nothing. Swallowing, she could still taste the coppery, thick blood in her mouth. “I… please. Please don’t tell Nic. I-- I don’t want him to know about this.” She pleaded, looking at Erin with earnest, desperate eyes.

Her teeth? Erin couldn’t help it, and her eyes instantly went to the ones that were definitely in her mouth already. Sharp ones. Oh. Of all the bombs Skylar had been dropping, this one still threw her for a loop. By this point, running in the opposite direction of a nonhuman species wasn’t her MO anymore, thankfully. But she’d definitely have more questions for her when she got back. “I’ll go get them,” she nodded, withdrawing and standing above her, crossing her arms against her stomach. “Where, uh--where did you leave your car? By what river?” She held her hand up, urging Skylar to stay. “I’ll go. You just stay here and rest, okay?”

Erin had seen her teeth, of course she had. Skylar grimaced, this time not out of pain, but of regret. This wasn’t how she wanted to tell her about this. In fact, she had honestly hoped not to tell Erin about it ever. But, she was here, helping her. Swallowing, Skylar gestured to the key ring by the door where her spare set of car keys were. “It’s parked out by the Whye River. Off the road, not far from the university. I… My things should all be there.” At the woman’s urging her to stay, she wanted to protest. But, just the effort of pulling herself out of bed to unlock the door had left her dizzy. “Okay. Sounds good.” She said with a nod. As she spoke, Dundee padded across the floor, jumping up onto the couch to curl up next to her. While she still didn’t like the dog, at least she’d have company until Erin came back.

Erin nodded, her instructions pretty clear. “And don’t worry--I won’t tell Nic,” she blurted out after she grabbed the spare keys. Remembered just now that Skylar had pleaded with her about that. Didn’t feel great, but when Skylar looked at her like that, entrusting her with something as big as this? She couldn’t turn her back on that trust. It didn’t take her too long to find Skylar’s car when she finally got there. The car would have to stay for now--it didn’t look like Skylar was in a state to drive anywhere just yet--but she bundled all of Skylar’s belongings into a bag, quickly and quietly. Doubted that the hunter was still around, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious anyway. In and out in less than a half hour, Erin was pulling back into the their driveway. “It’s me!” She called out loudly as she entered the house.. So far, no Nic. “Still doing okay?” She asked as she found Skylar still on the couch, the little dog saddled up against her. She couldn’t help but smile as she passed off her belongings, taking a seat across from her on the coffee table.

Skylar hardly noticed when Erin left, she was already falling back asleep. The pain, it was searing and awful when she moved. But, when she was still, she was able to ignore it just enough to fall asleep. Dundee, for his part, didn’t bother her much. He was happy to just wedge himself next to her and the couch cushion, curled up in a little ball. In her dreams, Skylar could still see flashes of the man, staring at her. The gun, trained on her, pressed against her. And the blood. All of the blood. She wasn’t entirely sure what woke her, the dreams or the feeling of the door slamming shut behind Erin, sending a slight shockwave of movement through the otherwise still house. Staring blearily at her, Skylar blinked, not sure what Erin had said. But, it didn’t really matter. Her phone, the cases with her hearing aids and veneers, they were on the table. Leaning forward, she grabbed her hearing aids and immediately slipped them on. Sound. She could hear Dundee snuffling in his sleep, could hear the hollow sound of her case hitting the table. A sense of relief, the first in weeks, washed over her. “Thank you. I… I don’t know what I would have done if I didn’t get my things back.” She said swallowing. “I’m sorry. For bothering you. For making you go to the trouble.”

“It’s no problem, really,” Erin insisted, offering a small smile at the very visible relief washing over Skylar at the moment. Those questions she had were still sitting at the tip of her tongue, but bombarding the injured girl with them right off the bat didn’t seem like the best move. So she watched her, a little more anxious than she was conveying. “Can I get you anything else? Water? Are you hungry? I can make something?” Her eyes moved to the area Skylar was nursing the most, no doubt where she’d been shot. Erin lifted the tote bag she’d brought over originally as well. “I brought some more bandages too, in case you need it. Just--say the word. Whatever you need. I’m here to help.”

A bit disoriented from the sudden return of sound, it took Skylar a little to process all the words that Erin was saying. Instead of immediately answering, she sat up and looked at her phone-- it had died, but at least she had it back. Her ID and credit card was still tucked into the pack of the case, which was another relief. She didn’t bother cracking open her case with her veneers, she wasn’t going to put those in right now. Looking at the tote bag, Skylar looked at her a little apprehensively. “I’m not hungry, but thank you. I… Do you--” Pausing, she mulled over her words, not sure how to ask this. She didn’t want to look at her leg. She didn’t want to see it again. But, she needed to change the bandages. And if Erin was offering them, she wouldn’t say no. “Thank you. I’ve… I’ve been running out. I,” She swallowed, very aware of her mouth full of sharp teeth. “I’m a selkie and, apparently we have a lot of blood. So… I’ve had trouble with the bandages.” Skylar said, not wanting to go into the details of her situation. Even if Erin worked at the mortuary, she didn’t want to share all that.

“You should still eat,” Erin added on without thinking. Human, selkie, whatever--when you were bleeding like this, you needed to stay nourished. Obviously she didn’t know much about what Skylar was, but as a general rule for most life forms, that statement would hold true. “One sec,” she said and disappeared into the bathroom. Grabbed the first aid kit she bought Nic for his birthday, hoping he hadn’t used it up already. There was plenty to utilize still, but she couldn’t help but notice that he’d already dipped into it. Not shocking. She returned with warm washrags, just in case and gestured towards Skylar’s leg for permission. Knelt down near her again, glancing up at her warily for just a moment, then focused back on preparing the bandages. “So,” she cleared her throat, trying not to look at her teeth. Just the gauze and tape. “What’s a selkie?”

“It’s okay. I’ll eat later.” As kind as it was for Erin to offer, Skylar really didn’t want food. Not only was she not hungry, she didn’t want to deal with the awkwardness of explaining that she couldn’t eat anything that wasn’t meat. And she didn’t want to eat and show her teeth. She knew that they were awful to look at, she hated looking at them just as much other people probably did. But, she wasn’t about to put her veneers in after they’d been sitting in her car for days. When Erin returned with a familiar looking first aid kit, Skylar grimaced but nodded all the same. Sliding her leg off the couch, she showed Erin the bandages around her calf. They were dyed dark brown, with fresh spots of red bleeding through as well. She’d only just changed them this morning. “Um. So. They’re people who can turn into seals. Not like… werewolves do, but when they want to.” She said, not super willing to go into detail about her skin. She liked Erin and she was doing her a big favor by helping her out. But… she still didn’t like talking about the specifics of her situation.

Seals? Had Erin heard that right? She didn’t mean to be surprised by that, but of all the creatures she could’ve chosen to be able to morph into, seals didn’t even touch the list. From the way Skylar seemed to withdraw with each question. “Sorry,” she grimaced, getting to work with the bandages. She wasn’t squeamish, but Skylar hadn’t been kidding about the sheer amount of blood. “We don’t have to talk about it, if you don’t want to,” she assured the younger woman. “I’ve just--literally never heard of that. Of selkies.” It sounded like something that could’ve lived in folklore. Selkies. Bugbears. Hunters. Maras. Zombies. That was her world though, wasn’t it? Her’s as much Skylar’s. She suddenly felt very little at the thought. “But that’s why this guy came after you? Just because of--that?”

Glancing down at her leg, Skylar averted her eyes as Erin helped her with the bandages. She might not want to talk about… her selkie situation, but it was better than looking at her leg. Shifting slightly, she winced as the movement aggravated the wound. “Thanks. And, I get that… before I moved here, neither had I.” She said with a glum expression on her face. Just a year ago, she was still living with her parents. She was still in school, she was still talking to her family. And now… she had been stabbed, hunted, shot, was best friends with an actual zombie and was living with pretty much Batman. Her life was nothing like she thought it would be. Swallowing, she nodded. “He wanted something of mine. And when I didn’t… didn’t let him take it, he shot me.” Skylar said, a lump forming in the back of her throat. The hunter had meant to kill her. Even if she was still alive, she couldn’t shake the fact that he wanted her to die. If she hadn’t bit him, if she hadn’t fought back, she would probably… be dead. Biting the inside of her cheek, she looked at Erin again. “There are people out there who hunt people like me. I’d only ever met good ones before, but… he,” Skylar stared out into space, lost in the memory of him signing at her, “He was evil.” She said numbly.

A man wanted something, didn’t get his way, and reacted violently. Something tensed in Erin at the explanation. Not because of Skylar, of course. Anyone who could react that way to someone as kind as her was nothing short of a monster, human or not. “And you didn’t get a name? Could you describe him?” She asked, wiping some of the dried blood that had caked around her wound. It wasn’t as bad as she had been picturing, but it wasn’t great either. “You should tell Nic,” she added after a long pause, biting her lip. He deserved to know, and he could be more of a help than anyone in catching the bastard. Placed a fresh gauze pad down and glanced back up at her. “And if you can’t tell him, I have a friend who could probably help track him down too.”

Noticing the way that Erin reacted, the way her shoulders seemed to tighten, Skylar blinked. She didn’t expect that sort of reaction. But, before she could answer her question, the edge of the wound twinged and she let out a quiet hiss of pain. “Ah.. No. It was dark. I couldn’t get a good look at him.” She lied, looking at her hands in her lap. As much as she hated the man, as much as she hated how much pain and fear he’d caused her… she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. If he was a Hunter, raised like Rio, like Nic… She couldn’t blame him for giving in. For becoming the murderer his family wanted him to be. Not everyone could be brave enough, or strong enough, to escape the circumstances of their family. At the mention of Nic, Skylar shook her head. “I don’t want him to worry about me. He’s got enough going on. And I… It’s okay. I don’t, I don’t want anything to do with the man who did this.” She said. As Erin applied the new bandages, Skylar focused on keeping her breathing even and smooth, even though her heart felt like it was going a mile a minute. “Thank you, though. For the offer.”

Erin tried to be as gentle as possible as she finished up. It wasn’t a deep wound, a graze more than anything, but it didn’t mean it wasn’t going to hurt still. In her defense, most of the wounds she patched up weren’t on live people. She had to remind herself to work with a little more finesse. “He’s going to find out either way,” Erin raised a brow at Skylar’s argument. They lived together. And it had taken everything Skylar had just to get close to the door to greet her earlier. Had she told anyone about what happened? Had Erin finding this all out just been a matter of circumstance and luck? She shook her head, gently resting her leg back onto the couch and moved to the far end to give her space. “If there’s someone out there who’s just going to go around shooting people, someone’s got to put a stop to it.” Erin insisted again, finding Skylar’s eyes Didn’t feel right dropping it like this. “What if he does this to someone else? Because he will. If he could do it to you, he could do it to anyone. Don’t you want to stop that before it happens?”

As the bandages were wrapped back in place, Skylar felt the stress ease from her shoulders. She hadn’t even realized she’d been so tense. “Nic already knows that I got shot, I just… I don’t want him to go and do something that would put himself in danger. The man who did this, I didn’t know who he was. I’ve never even seen him before.” She said, shaking her head. She was sure Nic was more than competent at his job. But, she didn’t want him to put himself in danger because of her. As Erin slipped away, Dundee raised his head sleepily from next to her. With a small sigh, Skylar rested her hand tentatively on the dog’s head. The chihuahua let out a small yawn before going back to sleep, unaware of what was happening around him. “I don’t-- that’s not… I just…” She sucked in a deep breath, not sure how to explain her feelings. Who was she kidding? She didn’t even understand why she felt this way. The man had shot her, hurt her. She should hate him. She should want him dead. But… “I don’t want anyone else to get hurt. And I don’t want anyone to die. Not even him.”

“I’m not saying we go run off after him with pitchforks, but Skylar--he tried to kill you.” Erin scoffed, baffled she had to actually say the words. “Someone’s already hurt, and I don’t care if this is what he does for a living--it doesn’t make it okay. There should be consequences.” Maybe Skylar was too kind to see it that way. And even if she did, and she was fighting it, it was too late for Erin to bottle those emotions back up. Not when she was sitting here after redressing her wound, watching her lay quietly on the couch. When the effort of doing anything else was too much for the young woman to bear. “Let me ask around, at least. Maybe see what I can find out. I know you can’t remember what he looked like, but someone’s out there telling a story about almost catching a selkie.” Right? Probably.

“I know.” Skylar said, her voice firmer than she felt. And, the reality of the statement, it terrified her. But, the taste of the blood in her mouth, the way it had felt when her jaws clamped down around the man’s arm… that was even scarier to her. She had attacked him. She had bit him. And it had brought her right back to when she was a child, shocked and scared and so, so angry. And she didn’t want to be that way. She couldn’t be that way. Going after him, after he’d come after her? She wouldn’t do it. “I…” She said, but the words didn’t come. How could she possibly explain this to Erin? How could she explain any of this? Leaning back into the couch, Skylar looked at her with tired eyes. “What will you do when you find him? He shot me, like this. He doesn’t care if people look human.” Or if they desperately want to be.

What would Erin do? That was a good question. If she could get Skylar to see some reason here, and speak to the police, they could get him put away. If Erin had her way, she’d sick Marley on him. Make the man cry from his own fears. She shook her head, glancing down at her lap, knowing either of those answers were unlikely to happen. “I don’t know. But I sure as hell don’t like that he’s out there.” She rubbed the side of her face before letting her head rest in her palm, elbow on the back of the couch. “I can’t make you do anything, but I think you should. That’s all I’m saying,” she watched her, a pang of guilt piercing her chest at Skylar’s exhausted features. “And… if or when you want to do anything, I’m here. Don’t forget that.”

“I don’t like it either. I just don’t… want anyone to die. Not even him.” Skylar said. When she’d stared at the man, when she’d seen him, really seen him-- she’d said the first words in nearly a week. That she forgave him. Not for what he’d done, not really, but for who he was. Who he had become. She forgave him for the mistakes he’d made. Mulling over the woman’s words, Skylar let out a sigh. “What do you think I should do?” She asked. She genuinely wanted to know what Erin thought. Because, in her eyes, there wasn’t anything she could do other than hide and look around every corner, trying to protect herself from an attack that could come from any direction. If she went to the police, they’d ask why she hadn’t told them sooner. They’d ask why she didn’t go to the hospital. And then she’d be subject to a whole host of questions that she didn’t even want to think about, much less answer.

Erin mulled over her question for a long moment. There were plenty of things she’d do that Skylar likely wouldn’t agree to. Going to the police, for one, was at the top of the list. Going after this fucker with everything she had was also battling for first place. But that wasn’t realistic for Skylar she realized. “I think you should rest. And heal,” she nodded, leaning forward, wringing her hands together. Gave her a brief smile. “I know what I would do, but I don’t think you and I want the same things.” She stood again, crossing her arms over her chest, letting out a long sigh. “I’m hoping maybe you’ll change your mind once you’re feeling better but if you don’t, that’s okay too.”

Rest sounded good. Healing… The wound would heal, she knew it would. But the rest of it? Skylar wasn’t so sure how easily that would come. But, it was nice of Erin to say that, even if it wasn’t what she would do. “I think I’ll do those things. Or at least,” Skylar swallowed, thinking back to the images that haunted her every time she closed her eyes. “I think I’ll try.” She said with a weak smile. At Erin’s last words, her smile faltered. Even if she didn’t change her mind, it’d be okay? Blinking, Skylar looked at her hands. She couldn’t remember the last time someone had said that to her. That it was okay. For her to stay the same, that she didn’t need to change. “Thank you.” She nodded, not meeting Erin’s gaze. “For, um, for everything.”

Erin watched Skylar’s eyes dip, clearly avoiding her. She understood. She’d probably do the same if the roles were reversed. Accepting help wasn’t easy. “Hey, thanks for letting me help,” she smiled softly, watching Dundee move just enough to curl against Skylar a little more snugly. “Can I do anything else?” She asked, that empty feeling where direction action against that motherfucker should be shouting at her. “Are you sure I can’t make you anything to eat?” She raised her eyebrows hopefully. “Maybe watch a movie or something, if you want the company?”

At Erin’s words, Skylar offered a small, tight lipped smile. She didn’t want to flash her teeth at her, she knew how it looked. But, it felt… nice, in a way. To be taken care of. To know that, for the moment, she was safe and looked after. Even if it was coming from someone she hardly knew. “No, thanks. But… Company would be really nice actually.” She said. As much as she liked living here, she still wasn’t used to how large it was, how empty it felt with only her and Nic and the little dog in the house. Particularly now, when Nic wasn’t around. Reaching out to grab the remote from the table, Skylar handed it to Erin. “You can go ahead and pick, I don’t mind what we watch.” She said. Having someone else here, to help her feel less alone, less afraid, that was what really mattered.

“You got it,” Erin smiled over at her, grabbing the remote from her. Gave Dundee a little pat on the head before taking a seat at the far end of the couch again. This was a little weird, they could both probably feel that, especially given the shiny, new information Skylar had tossed her way with this one visit. Weird how that worked out, too. Erin helped the living grieve. She was good at that. Knew what to say before someone could even whip out the tissues. Comforting someone like this? That was still taking some getting used to. But she was here now, so she would stay and do what she could.

#p: hws #p: erin nichols #wickedswriting #medical blood tw

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shadowfae · 5 years

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Hi im pretty sure I'm kin but I have doubts and shit because I have multiple kintypes. How do you know you're kin?

Okay, I’m home, time to jump right in. So, we’re gonna do this in two parts like we did the first guide I did on this. Part one: What Is Otherkinity, What’s Related To It: A Crash Course To Terminology. This is gonna be so we’re clear from the getgo on things. Part two: A Few Methods That May or May Not Work To Figuring Shit Out. This is some of the ways I know - but your experience will be deeply personal and unique, so don’t worry if you don’t stick to any one method, and it’s not about following the method so much as it is finding the answers and being satisfied with what you know.

This guide, however, will not go over most community things, like history and culture. That requires [groaning noises] sourcing things, and I hate doing homework. That you can hunt down from folks who have been here much longer than me. It also isn’t a comprehensive guide on experiences, because trying to mention everything would quite possibly kill me and requires a lot more teamwork and surveys and interviews and chasing down books that are no longer in print. So yeah, don’t expect everything.

I could just link the first guide I made, but it’s good to make a new one a few years later. Under the readmore, but let’s go!

Part One: Otherkinity, Related Experiences, and A Quick Guide To Terminology.

Side note - this is not a comprehensive guide of the terminology, there’s far too many terms and I am literally writing this entirely off the top of my head. If I forget stuff, don’t @ me unless it’s a glaring issue. :p

Otherkinity: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Every one of those words is important. It is not necessarily spiritual or psychological, though it can be. You ID as the thing, not with it. It is you. You are the thing. It can be nonhuman or fictional or both, but not neither because that just leaves humanity. Some identify partially, and some identify wholly as nunhuman/fictional. I don’t ID entirely as nonhuman, but I do identify wholly as fictional, for example. (I’ll get into that later). It’s nonphysical, you can’t physically shapeshift, obviously. It’s involuntary, you don’t choose it. This isn’t a roleplay, this is identity at its base. It can be changed, but not easily, and not really voluntarily. It is also profound. It is a part of you, it’s never going away, you aren’t exactly who you are without it.

Therianthrope: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a nonhuman, physically real Earth-based animal, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Otherkin, but for Earth animals, like dogs or dinosaurs or bugs.

Fictionkin(d):An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Often considered the other side of the Venn diagram to therianthropy. This is where you’re a fictional character or entity or member of a fictional species. Harry Potter or a Pikachu, it’s all fictionkin.

Fictionkind is a bit of an older term, and there has been a push to use it more as ‘fictionkin’ has seen more use amongst those who think it’s a form of roleplay, trading cards, or who have figured out that they can misuse community terms into their purity cults in order to control others. As well, otherkind was one of our first terms, but you’ll rarely see it used. They both share an ending of -kin, which is not from ‘kin as in your blood family’ but -kind, as in mankind, elvenkind, so thus otherkind, fictionkind. It’s not a relating to, it’s a being of.

Theriomythic:An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a mythical nonhuman animal, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. This is for those of us who are unicorns, griffons, dragons, etc, all the nonhuman animals that do not physically exist but are not necessarily under what’s considered fiction. It’s one of the prettiest words we have, in my opinion.

Phytanthrope: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially as a plant-based lifeform, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Otherkin, but you’re a plant. I’m including it here because it’s a very pretty-sounding word, and although not as common, certainly real and not something you might recognize. It’s completely interchangeable with ‘plantkin’, but it sounds cool, so.

Otherhearted: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially with a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical, involuntary, and profound level. Like otherkin, but you are not the thing, you ID with the thing. It is close to you, it is what you’d be if you weren’t what you are. The difference, to put it in layman’s terms, otherkin is #me and otherhearted is #god i wish that were me. But like, way more profound. Are you the thing, or is it just incredibly close to you? Both are a part of your identity, just slightly different.

Synpath: Like otherhearted, and was made by someone who didn’t know the word for otherhearted. It caught on and the difference is mostly accepted as linguistic: if it’s a general noun it’s a hearttype, if it’s a proper noun and thus is a name or requires a capital, it’s a synpath. Tl;dr: you can be unicornhearted, but you’re a Harry Potter synpath.

Otherlink: An ontological experience in which a person identifies wholly or partially with a nonhuman or fictional entity, on a nonphysical and voluntary level. This one’s a little more recent. It is like a kintype, but it is voluntary, you can choose it, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be a Big Thing like otherkinity. You will also see ‘copinglink’, which actually came first - that one’s an otherlink made to cope with something. (Both terms were made by @/who-is-page, aka a person you Need to be following if you’re gonna be on the tumblr community with us.) Otherlink and copinglink are incredibly handy terms, and when you need ‘em, you’re glad they’re there.

Shifting: An experience in which something ‘shifts’ in the mental or emotional shape to a different state of being, related to otherkinity and/or any related experiences. This one is such a common term, and hard to properly define without going into nuances. Mental shifts are when your mental state shifts to align better with a kintype, aura shifts are when your aura does that, shadow shifts are some sort of astral projection, astral shifts involve the astral realm, berserk shifts are extreme mental shifts that typically involve violence or loss of reason, etc, etc. Most of the time, if someone says they’re in an X shift, they mean mental shift.

Multiplicity: An ontological experience in which a person is not alone in their body. Before someone @s me, I know it’s badly worded here. This is DID, OSDD-1, and endogenic systems, alongside a few other things. A kintype is you, a multiple is not you but also in your body. I won’t be going over this much as I am not multiple, but it’s good to know about. It’s not otherkinity, nor really related, but if you’re gonna learn about otherkinity, it helps to know about multiplicity. Also see soulbonding and tulpamancy.

Alterhumanity: An overarching community term for all those who do not feel completely, 100% human; or rather those who feel an altered version of humanity. Basically, someone got really tired of saying ‘otherkin, otherhearted, otherlinks, OSDD-1 and DID, endogenic systems, etc etc’ and made a term for everyone. It’s controversial on just who it defines as it also includes transhumanists (those who wish to physically become nonhuman, even if they ID as human) and many other things in a gray area, but as someone who’s gonna be typing otherkin, otherhearted, otherlinks, systems, etc etc a whole lot in this post? It’s handy.

Phantom Limbs: An experience in which a brain maps out limbs that do not physically exist. This is originally a medical term, but it’s also incredibly useful. It refers to all limbs that don’t exist but you’re still pretty sure are there. Amputees experience this, and you know the rubber hand experiment where they hide your arm and trick your brain into thinking a plastic arm is your arm, and then hit the plastic arm and you feel pain? Yeah, phantom limbs. There’s also supernumerary phantom limbs, which is the Extra Bits like fangs and wings and horns and tails. Astral limbs, however, refer to the astral realm, and that’s a magic and spirit work thing, not an otherkin thing.

Paratype: An identity that is related to one’s alterhumanity but does not precisely adhere to any known definition. This was made by @/aestherians as a ‘fuck it you’re related and I don’t really know how but you’re worth mentioning’. It’s a ‘misc’ term, when you’re not sure if it’s a hearttype or something else but is important to your identity. It doesn’t always mean you’re questioning it, but it’s there. It’s new and does need to catch on, but it’s pretty handy.

ID: Short for ‘identity’ or ‘identify’. Occasionally used as shorthand. Be wary of someone who insists that an ID is ‘more you’ than a kintype. A kintype is an ID. So is a hearttype, or a linktype, or anything else. ‘ID’ is just an umbrella term that has been occasionally misused.

Kintype / Theriotype / Fictotype / Hearttype / Linktype: The noun versions of being otherkin, therianthrope, fictionkin, otherhearted, and otherlink/copinglink respectively. You are otherkin, you have a kintype, you are fictionkin, you have a fictotype, etc. If I catch you using ‘kins’ after this I will eat you.

Awakening / Questioning / Kinfirmation: A few terms to describe one’s journey through understanding their alterhumanity / otherkinity. Awakening is generally the moment you start feeling alterhuman or otherkin. For some of us, we’ve always been like this, for others, we just suddenly notice it. Questioning is whole journey from awakening to understanding and being sure of things. You’re never really done questioning, but when you’re happy with it, technically you’re done. Kinfirmation is a controversial term, sure. It’s otherkin + confirmation. Basically it means the opposite of awakening - the moment you’re sure, you’re done questioning, you’ve confirmed that this is a kintype. Awakening is how you start questioning, kinfirmation is how you finish. It’s controversial because it sounds stupid. But I like puns, so I’m keeping it. (You can slap ‘kin’ into any word and make it hilarious. That’s why I use a ‘kinformation’ tag. :p )

Banned / False Terms: kinning, kins, kinnies, etc - just don’t. Please, just don’t. This is how you make sure nobody takes you seriously and you get dismissed as a troll. ‘Kinning’ as a verb implies that otherkinity is a choice, which is prevalent and dangerous misinformation, and most of the community says burn it with fire - and for good reason. ‘Kins’ is just what people say when they don’t know the word ‘kintypes’, and implies you know very little about this. ‘Kinnies’ is a term made by antikin that’s quite controversial. On one hand, it’s hilarious to use to spit back at them, on the other hand it’s rude, on one foot like ‘kins’ it makes you look stupid, and on the other foot for a fair amount of folks it looks too much like ‘tr*nnies’ to give anything but a gut reaction of horror. (‘Kinnie’ is not a slur and does not hold the same societal weight, but as a gut reaction if you’ve had ‘tr*nny’ thrown at you, ‘kinnie’ isn’t going to make you feel all that great either.)

Part Two: A Few Methods That May or May Not Work To Questioning Kintypes and Related Alterhumanity.

So we’ve learned terms, and now there should be little confusion in what we’re talking about here. If you were expecting a step-by-step list, you will absolutely never get one, not from me or from anyone else.

Your journey through awakening, questioning, and ‘kinfirmation will be your own. It will be unique. You will never start in the same place as someone else, you will never finish in exactly the same way. The questions you ask will not be the questions I will ask. You do not need to justify it to me. You only need justify it to yourself. A second opinion always helps, sure, in case you missed something, but it’s not my job to tell you what you are. That’s yours.

So let’s take a look. At this point, one should hope you’ve awakened. It has occurred to you that you’re not quite human, you’re not quite what you physically are. You are aware that this is not a common experience. There are lots of things that could draw you to this. Homesickness is the big one. Memories, sometimes. Habits you shouldn’t have. Methods of thinking that don’t have a reason that makes sense. A feeling of belonging, of hiraeth. Your identity is not entirely your experiences in this life, this moment. Shifts are also a pretty big indicator. And so, so much more that I can’t possibly put a name to.

You know you’ve got Stuff going on here, but you don’t know what, it may be multiple things, it may be one thing. You said it may be multiple things, and fuck, it sure might be. It is for me, and lemme tell you, when those things like combining that makes it harder to sort them out. But you kind of have to, if you’re here and asking these questions.

You’re done questioning when you’re happy. You don’t need to know everything, and tbh you never will know everything. That’s okay. You just need to be happy with what you’re sure of.

So you’re not entirely human, or you think you might be fictional. Shit happens. But you’ve got to figure out what you are, if you’re not that. For some of us, it’s obvious. For some, not so much. I’m the sort of ‘stare it in the face and not recognize it’ person, because I’m stupid, but that’s a way to do it.

Your first step, of course, should be to take every sign you’ve got of this, every indicator that makes you think the craziest thing of all, ‘oh shit I’m not human’ / ‘oh shit I’m fictional’. Because kid, this isn’t a conclusion you immediately come to. Think about it, for a moment. If you’re actually here, with this conclusion in mind, there’s a reason you think that this is it. So gather all the reasons you’ve got, notice a few more and grab those too, and stick them in a box. Or write them down. Just put them somewhere and take a look at what you’ve got.

Now figure out if X habit here is related to Y homesickness of Z aesthetic, if that’s a Normal Human Thing or a Odd Alterhuman Thing. The lines will blur. You will have something that’s a Normal Human Thing, but in context is possibly an Odd Alterhuman Thing. Note that it’s both depending on perspective, and continue.

Try not to define stuff too much. Before you say you’ve got wings as supernumerary limbs - do you have wings, or just a weight on your back? Because those ‘wings’ might be wires, or a saddle, or gods know what else. Note that it’s a weight, check to see if it’s not a normal human thing medical issue, that you think it’s wings, what it feels like other than a weight, if it’s just there like clothes or if you can feel through it like your hands, and whatever else you’ve got.

You should probably figure out what you’re working with before you start putting it together. If you’re sorting by colour or by shape, essentially. Question things. Do you know it’s this because that’s just your first reaction, or do you know because that’s what it is and you’re not arguing the sky is blue?

Do not, and I repeat, do not overkill it. Keep questioning to a quiet thing, if you must sit down and dedicate time, do not do more than an hour or two. Brains do confirmation bias. You’ll see shit that isn’t there, or make things up to fit the puzzle you think you just solved. When you do sit down to question, write down exactly how you got from point A to point D. Take some time away after, and revisit it, see if point C still holds up on its own.

Try not to question too little and assume things, try not to question too much and make yourself full of doubt. Some things just are, okay? You don’t have to convince yourself it’s not That, that you aren’t sure, that it can’t possibly be. Sometimes it’s just like That, and that’s okay. It’s all right to accept the impossible. If it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be here. If it wasn’t, you’d be dismissing me. Don’t take things at face value, but sometimes, what they are inside is exactly what it says on the tin.

This is going to be long, and great at times, and sucky at times, and downright confusing. If you turn to divination like tarot and pendulums, ensure they work before using them on this, and like all things, take with a grain of salt. Tarot that someone else does on you? Yeah, okay, it’ll work. Asking someone on the internet to use a pendulum for you? No. Do not. That is not going to give you a good answer on anything.

If you can do it for a different part of your identity, you can do it for this - as a decent rule of thumb.

You may want to ask why you’re like this, if it’s spiritual or psychological or how it happened. Key word may. A lot of us do ask why, and sometimes find answers, but if you’re “Idk, I’m just an elf, don’t ask me,” then that is also completely fine! So long as you’re happy with that answer.

Multiple kintypes can make questioning an utter nightmare. Tackle them one at a time, use elimination methods, check if X is a symptom of Y kintype or Z hearttype or gods know what else. Don’t be afraid to admit you don’t effin’ know, and deal with it later. You won’t get this overnight. You’ll be questioning for at least a month. Anything less and ehhh, you sure, buddy? You might be right, but under a month and you might’ve missed something critical - it just isn’t enough time to be absolutely sure. Like marrying someone, this takes time to understand and learn. Bad example, but it works.

You may be questioning for years. Happens to the best of us. My friend Gryph spent five years asking ‘is this a hearttype or a kintype’ and was only sure after I used the ‘#god i wish that were me versus #me’ comparison and it made enough sense that they figured it out on the spot. That was like, three years ago. It was actually kind of funny considering Gryph was like, twice my age at the time.

Point is, this takes time, sometimes you just know, sometimes you really don’t. It’s weird, it’s unique, it’s personal, it’s an adventure and if you’re here you’ll probably be glad to go through it. Some of us are actually not happy with being otherkin, and would trade it away if they could. This is also normal. Not as well-spoken about, for obvious reasons, but it happens.

The key is introspection. It’s not divination, it’s not what someone else says - though that can help. It’s introspection. It’s about you, it’s what you are. It’s what’s right, what is true to your story. It’s a truth of the world, something you understand a split second before it defines itself, something that really just doesn’t give itself easily over to words.

There’s no step by step guide to otherkinity, to alterhumanity. Nobody could make one. But if you’re sure that this rings true, that this is the key to a part of you, then to you I say only two things.

Welcome to our subculture. I hope you find what you’re looking for.

Luteia 💚

#otherkin #fictionkin #alterhuman #luteia laments #kinformation #idk what other tags i need?#lmk if i forgot something important lmao #i wrote this in two hours in one go #Anonymous

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thelightfluxtastic · 5 years

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Mages, Magicians, and Kin Identity

Below the cut, a long (almost 2000 word) essay exploring the differences between the historical therian/otherkin communities and the “tumblrkin”/”kinnie” community and subculture, through an extended metaphor about magic. At full disclosure, I am personally very much an “old school” therian. Nevertheless, the essay, to the best of my efforts, is not an attack and does not take sides, instead hoping for honest discussion. I know there are other communities I might not know about or be active in, I welcome people to share this there (with proper credit).

Say you have a Mage (think Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, and similar). In their experience, magic is an inextricable from their life: it affects how they perceive the world around them, how they interpret and understand things, and it can manifest effects (spells) through them, either voluntarily or reflexively. The visible, tangible acts of “magic” are a direct expression and consequence of the natural state “being a mage”. They don’t “do magic”, they “are a mage”, and magic happens as a result. A mage remains inherently a mage, even when they are asleep or having breakfast or otherwise not doing anything obviously magical.

Then, say you have a magician (Harry Houdini, David Copperfield, etc.). For them, “magic” is a thing you do. Some people may have more talent than others, and people may have different reasons for doing it (some make it a career, some put on performances, some just do it on their own out of personal interest or fun), but at the end of the day it’s an activity, a practice.

Then, say, these two completely different people meet, and start discussing “magic”. Here, a sudden conflict arises.

It would be very tempting for the mage, seeing the magician using scarves and cards and coins, to say “What I’m doing is real magic, what you’re doing is fake”. The mage might remember really struggling to understand and control their magic- early accidents and mishaps, unintended reflexive spells- and think “This is something I live with, good or bad. Something that, in certain situations, I have to work to manage, and it’s all just a game to you.” If the mage runs into someone who is only familiar with magicians, who, upon seeing them cast fireball, says “oh, neat trick with the flash paper!” the mage might get frustrated, angry, defensive. Insisting that no, they’re doing something very different. The mage might try to draw the line between identity an action, or even try to insist on differentiating terms (“I’m doing magic because that’s what magic means, you’re doing legerdemain”).

But the magician might argue back that the magic he does is what magic means to him, what it has meant for as long as he’s known it, and what it means to his community. There’s no deception, trickery, or malicious intent involved. When he meets with other magicians, they’re all discussing magic as a practice, their tools and skills, not pretending or claiming to be supernatural. And even the audience to magic performances ultimately understands and expects that it’s all illusion and a demonstration of clever talent. It’s just as ‘real’ in that sense. Furthermore, the magician might argue that, just because magic is an activity, that doesn’t mean it’s shallow or meaningless. There are magicians that take their craft very seriously, and for whom it’s a really significant part of their life. Furthermore, it’s not so easy to distinguish action from identity: nobody is born a “writer” or an “artist”, but these can be as much core identities for a person as their inborn traits. Some magicians might accept ‘legerdemain’ as a term, but it would be very difficult to convince all magicians to suddenly stop using the term “magic”, especially if that is coming as an external pressure and not a natural linguistic shift within their own community.

If the magician assumes that the mage is using stage magic whenever they make grass grow or call down a lightning bolt, then the mage will seem to be too authoritarian- why are they so angry? Why are they so insistent on using different terminology? Why do they pop up with “No, that’s not how it works” every time someone mentions doing magic for fun? How rude! The magician would see that mages see magic as an identity- which, yes, some magicians do- but might think “why can’t they accept that that’s not how everyone does magic?”.

What the magician fails to see, in this case, is that this is not a shared identity with different perspectives, but a fundamentally different experience. The magician sees their difference in the use of the term “Magic” as a difference in connotation and interpretation. Really, what’s happening is more like a homograph: two words with different meanings and origins that look or sound the same (e.g. “dove” the bird vs. “dove”, past tense of “dive”). And in discussion, mixing up “lead” as in the metal and “lead” as in “leader”, or using them interchangeably, isn’t an alternate definition or linguistic drift, it’s misinformation and misunderstanding.

The above extended metaphor is the closest I have come to explaining the difference between the “old school” therian/otherkin community, and the subculture commonly referred to as “tumblrkin” (which I use as a point of reference here, not derogatorily). For the sake of clarity, I will be referring to these as “mage kin” and “magician kin” from this point forward. My observations and direct experience in this come from Therian Guide, Werelist, Youtube, Therian Wilderness, a few therian Telegram groups, and, yes, Tumblr. As you can see there will still be gaps in my knowledge (especially as I am far less familiar with non-therian, otherkin communities).

Mage kin see therianthropy/otherkinity as an inherent identity. Language reflects that- one has a kintype or is __kin/a ___ therian, and might be discouraged from saying “my wolf” or “my dragon”. A lot of emphasis is placed on distinguishing kintypes from ‘external’ forces, whether personality traits, likes/dislikes or distinct spiritual entities. A kintype in this community is (almost) always discovered, not created and definitely not chosen. It is found the same way a new continent is found- it was always there, and simply needed to be mapped. Mage kin communities are, broadly speaking, older and more interconnected. The various forums tend to share some members, and this is usually where you will find the community elders that have been around since the Elf Queen’s Daughters and alt.horror.werewolves. While terminology has shifted slightly with time (from elvenkind and weres to otherkin and therians), and broadened to include things like fictionkin, this has been natural drift, and mage kin have a shared definition/understanding of kin identity, whether on Tumblr or TG: an inherent, internal, nonhuman identity. A mage kin is always kin, whatever their shifts or self-expression.

In magician kin communities, “kinning” is a verb. It is a thing someone does. “X kins Y” or “I’m kinning ___” are common statements. This is how it was expressed by someone who identified as kin, and was earnest as far as I could tell (not trolling)- that people can “kin” for various reasons, including mental health or for fun. Because of this action aspect in the general understanding, the magician kin community is much more open to the idea of choosing a kintype- both in picking what to “kin”, and in being able to say things like “don’t kin outside of your race/culture”. It also broadens the umbrella of what a kintype can be, with people further subdividing into things like “ID’s”. The magician community is more insular- as far as I can tell it is fairly localized to tumblr (and personal discords/aminos) but has little to no overlap with other therian/otherkin websites and forums. This leads to a lack of exposure to terminology and history (I’ve had someone ask me, in earnest, that wasn’t fictionkin different from otherkin?). And much like on islands in biology/ecology, being insulated in that way leads to very sharp, extreme differentiation. Magicians rarely meet mages (and when they do, often assume them to just be belligerent magicians) and have branched off to the point of being nigh-unrecognizable from the mage perspective.

Hence, conflict. Notice how often discourse boils down to whether kin is a noun or a verb. Mages see magicians as disconnected from the community history and terminology, and thus misinformed- and put time, effort and energy into ‘educating’ and ‘correcting’ (whether politely or angrily). They blame magicians for muddying the water of what ‘magic’ means, causing confusion, and for making a mockery (in their perspective) of magic- making a game of what was often serious and sometimes even painful for them. Magicians have their fellow magicians and are perfectly happy with their magic, and don’t see why some other ‘magicians’ feel they have any authority to barge in and tell them they aren’t doing real magic and should start using words like “legerdemain”. From a complete outsider’s perspective, it’s all chaos. Because the two groups aren’t using neatly distinct terms like mage and magician, they are all just using “magic” and arguing with each other (and of course, the worst extremes will always be the most visible). And, as tempting as it is to think so, magicians aren’t responsible for trolls and aggressors attacking the ‘magic’ community as a whole; and strictly enforcing only mage terms wouldn’t stop willful misunderstanding and attacks. People that want to be jerks and bullies would be jerks and bullies, even to the most respectable.

So…what do we do? I’m solidly in the mage kin camp. I found the tumblr kin community first, and felt alienated and out of place in it. Finding fellow mages is where I have found community and shared understanding that matches my experiences. And, like many of my peers, I’ve spent time and energy being angry at tumblrkin, and aggressively defensive of terminology. But here’s the thing- that’s wasted effort. However the linguistic divergence came about, it happened. There’s no point closing the barn door after the cows get out. Contranyms (words that are their own opposite) are a known linguistic fact. In some cases, it’s a matter of a specific word broadening until it contains its own opposite. In other cases (which I think are closest to what’s happening with “otherkin”), a word with a broad meaning splits into more specific sub-definitions, which relate to the original meaning but develop separately in parallel until they ultimately contradict one another. And, well, as to how that will end in the long term: how well is the fight to get people to stop using “literally” figuratively going? Does “sanction” mean to permit or penalize?

I don’t know what the answer is. As someone who likes labels, terminology, and clarity, I’m tempted to hope that labels (maybe even ‘magician’ and ‘mage’) can help clean up the overlap between these two very different camps. But I’m doubtful adding more words into the mix will really help this terminological clusterfuck. From the perspective of mental and emotional health, I’m tempted to let the island be an island, and just stick with the community that I’ve found, that fits my needs and experiences, and clarify on an individual level if someone asks me about my identity and what it means to me. It matters for people just starting to question their identity- there is a lot of contradictory information they would be blasted with. And I know there is a fear among mage kin that fellow ‘true mages’ would get lost in the weeds. But I found my way, and I’m going to continue presenting as the kind of therian I am, so I can act as that example to others. I don’t know what else can be done.

So I guess my final thoughts would be: To any magicians reading this- please try to understand and respect that there really is a fundamental difference in experience here, not just a parallel perspective. To my fellow mages- is it really worthwhile to mount a crusade, or more important to lead by example and be a beacon?

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Requested edit: Reminder that all of the above is an extended metaphor. I am talking about otherkin/therians using the idea of “magic” to illustrate my perspective. Which, again, is my own and based on my own experiences, with the intent of being fair, but is neither universal nor perfect.

#otherkin #therian #mine #essay #kin

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larksinging · 5 years

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now that you’ve been playing her for awhile longer are there any particular dynamics you want to expand on or just explore to begin with with margot? or just plot stuff you’ve thought of since the last ask

hmmm

ill start with the obvious, her stuff with the other hannibal cast is stuff im looking forward to doing more with.

starting with alana, just... getting the chance to develop their dynamic on screen but also developing their dynamic from such a different context is really interesting? honestly i feel like you dont often get the chance to do this sort of taking character from an earlier canonpoint but going in a similar direction and seeing.... how that works out. and aslo just exploring a ship that starts with some casual but overt attraction to start with, and playing with that. but okay on a more specific level, i always enjoy getting to the point of “characters tell each other the gritty details of canon the other doesn’t know” and doing those reactions, and with this especially some of those details are. pretty intense! sorry margot is just going to be so surprise pikachu if she ever finds out alana was seeing hannibal. where was i going with this. but yeah uhhh building up trust is always fun. and, with until dawn plot and/or murder mystery plot and/or something else?? i think itd be fun to give them some kind of excuse to have to team up to do something serious. because cmon

ill put both of tony’s potentials in one section, so starting with will. will is another character who id be really interested to see how their dynamic develops on denny? their relationship in canon is both so nothing AND really intense simultaneously. and the chance for them to actually deal with that and have a dynamic in a less dire circumstance could be interesting, because i feel like they really could be friends? idk something about their interactions made me feel like margot genuinely got along with will underneath everything, or as much as she does with anyone. yeah. okay and then FREDDIE, wow, thats a wildcard, like theyve never met in canon but clearly would’ve known of each other. i should talk to tony about planning things, since there’s a lot like -- margot might be one of the only people on the cast that doesn’t immediately have a reason to dislike freddie. which lends them an... interesting dynamic, whether its margot being slightly more friendly, or developing something more antagonistic like the others, but. i feel like i dont need to say much since freddie is just such a bombshell of a wild card that she encourages plots anyways

as for other potential castmates.... it really depends. i know josh was thinking of picking up hannibal again, and that’d be really interesting, since... margot doesn’t have as much of a stake in hannibal as the others, but she has enough and she’s involved enough that she can’t help but care. i guess SHE gets to be the wildcard in the situation like that. anyway it’d depend on which canonpoint hannibal and what he was planning to do

okay for a more GENERAL idea. it would be fun to get her involved in something more high-powered, but there’s no easy parallel to “inheriting the family estate and reworking the business to be more humane”. getting involved with the nonhumans might be a good way to kinda do that, though that might be a bit more slowburn since nonhuman stuff is usually more lowkey. hmmm. who knows, maybe like.... after a few tenser moments she might even get more involved with the mld, like maybe in a pr position? i feel like margot would be good at pr, shes the right mix of chilly and charming. there aren’t too many organizations rn that she really has the qualifications for and would get involved in. hmmmm, i don’t know....

she’ll probably be involved in murderplot SOMEHOW, though ill save that for the other ask. i don’t think she’d be a victim, but maybe a close brush at worse...

in the meantime ill pick out a few characters i also think she could get along with. there’s camille, since they both kind got along before and have the same hat of a terrible pig-oriented history. though it’d be best if they didn’t talk about siblings, whoops. and also felix, because oh my god finally i have a character whose interaction with the mld wouldn’t be negative. especially when she gets closer to alana, having a sort of “you’re the coworker(/boss???) of my friend” dynamic would be interesting? well. “friend”. anyway. oh and villanelle, if shes getting dragged into hannibal drama i really want the (confused math lady) moment of that. and i think... she might be pretty sympathetic towards someone like harry

i don’t think she’d really take anyone in, since her relationship with children is uh. very complicated and emotionally raw. maybe, maybe in the right condition. but maybe it’d be fun for her to have her talk to some of the other characters who do, like cordelia. idk i have a soft spot for the idea of people with shitty relatives getting to meet people who are much kinder. hmnn. though again shes prone to be nicer to the nonhumans, so thats probably where he more supportive and kinder instincts go. margot can’t help but coo over firepaw,

mostly though let her be happy, i don’t wanna put her through TOO many traumatic moments because she’s had plenty of that in her life. otherwise i think theres just a general lot of interesting emotional things to do with someone in her position, whos very suddenly given a lot of freedom and how she chooses to deal with that

#denny is a cursed place #thanks meeks!!#i decided to try her on a whim and now im like 'i love her'#rorykillmore

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