Went to see AFAA today and hooooly shit....... cried multiple times and absolutely sobbed at one particular scene. 10/10 they cooked so hard. I brought my songchord to the theater and wore my Toruk backpack and had a great time, but man it hit hard. I miss my life on Pandora 🙁 I want to go home but I'm stuck in this stupid sky person body. I'm going to start playing AFOP more to see if it'll trigger any memories.
I still think it’s very sweet that two of my dear students identify as therians, shared their several theriotypes with me, and have showed me their quadrobics and vocals before. To keep in mind, my students are 11.
Meanwhile, I’m 23. I don’t do quadrobics, but I do enjoy yoga. I don’t have a mask or any “gear,” really. I’m pretty much just a cat, questioning feline cladotherian. Yet I also identify as a therian, particularly favoring the alterhuman label.
Big or small, young or old, I like the fact that so many of us get to experience this together. Being an alterhuman comes with its joys and hardships, but having a community really does make it all better.
Just wanna say that "go find offline community" in terms of both nonhumanity and other largely-to-semi-online spaces is only helpful in so far as whatever offline community 1) exists in your area 2) you have the means of transporting yourself to wherever meetings are held 3) meetings are accessible or are committed to becoming accessible and 4) whomever runs/frequents the meetings isn't diametrically opposed to your existence or worldview in a way that is alienating or dangerous. If your solution to any of these is "well then you should run offline meetings yourself" then you have to accept that you will be cutting out individuals who are incapable of doing that for any reason, and they will naturally rely on online spaces instead. Offline community is obviously great and should be encouraged, but I see borderline contempt from ppl who think others take the online world "too seriously" as if it isn't the only option for some.
This probably deserves a proper long form essay but I think everyone would have a much easier time of it if we all started seeing nonhumanity (and, I think alterhumanity broadly, though this is less my area) not as some sort of specifically defined hard-edged identity capable of categorization as a platonic ideal and more of just….a mode of meaning making for clusters of experiences and thought processes. Like we get close when we describe feelings of nonhumanity as byproducts of disability, neurodivergence and etc but we should commit. I’m not a therian because “therian” is a neat box that exists metaphysically I can be put into, but because it communicates the way I have made sense of my existence and the way I interact with the world.
I wish therianthropy wasn’t SUCH an online based thing nowadays. I mean socially, it almost has to be since it’s kinda rare to find others irl. But I wish we embraced offline life a bit more, being animals and all. Unplug, get outdoors if even just a little bit; and with the younger therians I feel like there’s this pressure to record and post *everything* and that’s pretty unfortunate (I would know, having been in this mindset in the past). Not every outing has to go online guys, even if you’re in gear, do it for yourself.
I wonder if I’m being harsh with people when they say things that implies alterhuman is only therian. Not even otherkin. Basically, nonhuman animals, and sometimes just the modern, earthly ones.
But I’m very tired.
People need to do basic reading, and researching, even if I understand that proper information is hard to come by. But still searchable.
Alterhuman is alternative to or of human experience. Nonhuman, human, and everything in between and beyond. Concept, stories, fictional or historical, worlds outside, or inside. Many-in-one, or one-in-many. Object or environment. To be as, or not to be, but to connect with in some adjecent ways.
I think we are all very tired of the boxes that’s been put around us like cages and chains all our lives. Please, once again, I beg of you, fellow community member, that this is for all of us. Even if you cannot think of it, just stop a moment and be mindful of your language. Words can and have been used as weapon, stop treating it as not-a-matter. Don’t treat them willy nilly, don’t say “words change”, don’t disregard all the history and culture and implication tied to them to suit your need, don’t ignore the change that did took place and not try to understand the how or why. I’m tired of the excuses people spout as if they’d forgotten. Or are ignorant, and stays willfully so.
Learn. Damnit you come into this identity, you are here to learn about yourself. You are able to have this space to learn about yourself in peace and freedom because of the road paved by others before, others that seems to be forgotten or discarded.
Keep a open mind. You don’t always have to understand, but we are all on this balance beam together trying to fit everyone—no, wove everyone into this truly magnificently gigantic community.
I encourage everyone to read this, especially if you are white. I made this post long enough to talk about the points in decent detail, but short enough to be digestible. It is about the different ways the nonhuman communities make people of color feel unwelcome and why.
My askbox is open usually all the time, so I'm also open to answering questions about this. I want people to read. I want people to ask questions when they don't understand. I even want people to do research on their own time to learn more (and I mean actually researching and not asking ChatGPT to think for you).
Where To Begin
"Wow, this is a really long post on the police dog discourse", except this isn't a post on the police dog discourse. That topic is more of a springboard for me to segue into where exactly things go wrong and how it causes people of color to feel unsafe participating in the communities (which can suck, because nonhumanity can be very isolating with no one to talk to about it!). So if you feel as if this has been done to death and are thinking "oh boy, this again", I encourage you to continue to read the post all the way to the end. With that, this leads us to...
The Dilution of Topics
It's important to understand that when something like this comes up, POC are chiming in to explain the situation and how it affects them. It is not the time to bring in unrelated things in an attempt to use that as credentials for weighing in. I'll use the K-9/police dog example again because it's honestly such a good discourse to dissect for this. The main focus of the conversation was between black and brown people (not exclusively, because other POC included, but mainly) and those who identify as police/military dogs (therians, otherkin, whathaveyou). Not anyone else.
"As someone with a problematic (or villain) kintype--"
This isn't about you.
"I'm police or military creature from another world--"
This isn't about you.
"I acknowledge it but don't glorify it--"
This isn't about you.
What these comments do is not only watering down what our actual concerns are, but it speeds up the "internet telephone" until the conversation morphs into something different entirely. This happens all the time when people of color try to bring to light something that bothers us. Everyone wants to make it about themselves but it's not about everyone. The topic of "Glorification of these institutions that actively harm isn't good" is not the same as "What kintypes/theriotypes/etc. should people be allowed to have?", but it was turned into that very quickly because way too many people failed to realize and understand what isn't about them. Many, with a quickness, found a way to victimize themselves.
All that is without even getting into people adding exclusions that were not originally there. "This discourse is US-centric and doesn't apply to other countries" is not only incorrect but you need to educate yourself on how police brutality (and police brutality that utilizes attack animals) exists outside of the United States. This isn't even just for the dog thing. This also extends to racism in general because people love to talk about how not racist their country is (when in fact it often is).
White Privilege and Nonhuman Superiority
This section is probably going to ruffle some feathers, but if it does ruffle your feathers then it might be time to start deconstructing why exactly that is. White privilege in particular is important to point out here because it is common to assume that privilege is a "balance scale". Privilege doesn't cancel out from marginalization. You can be queer, or disabled, or neurodivergent, etc. and still benefit from white privilege. I point all of that out because the nonhuman communities have a large portion that are in one or many of these marginalized groups, and the assumption that it "cancels out" white privilege may be part of the driving force behind what's covered in this post.
An easy starting example of white people underestimating exactly how deep things can go is the entire gatekeeping discourse about defining therianthropy as "wears gear and does quadrobics". How this whole thing started with people insisting therianthropy required these performative aspects, I'm not even gonna pretend to know. What I do know is that it is a form of gatekeeping popular on photo and video-based social media websites like Instagram and TikTok that then subsequently bleeds over into other places like Tumblr and Discord group chats.
"Real therians wear gear and run around outside on all fours" makes me desperately hope for young POC to be careful. Black people especially have a disproportionately higher chance of being arrested or shot. I never want anyone to be pressured to do dangerous things from these imaginary guidelines on what makes nonhumanity "valid". It's exclusionary from both a "therianthropy doesn't require any of this" standpoint and a "you are overestimating how safe this activity is to do" standpoint. This isn't fearmongering, I'm not saying that this is never safe. I'm saying that those who are unable to safely do it may subsequently feel like that disqualifies them from identifying as a therian. Similar things can be said for other minorities other than racial ones, but that's a different topic (and I encourage anyone wanting to talk about that to make their own posts about it, rather than using this one).
The insistence that nonhumanity should have "racial colorblindness" and "be above politics/apolitical" are also very privileged takes. Identifying as nonhuman doesn't erase the fact that most of us still live in and are affected by human society (whether some want to be or not) and people of color especially do not have the freedom to completely divorce ourselves from the world because our very existence has been made political. Not only that, but culture is still important to a lot of people as well. We are not all the same just because we identify as nonhuman. We are not a monoculture. We are different and there needs to be room to celebrate that.
The aspect of "everything is for everyone" that often comes with white privilege appears in even blatant ways. I've witnessed people in the community saying that closed cultures are silly. Although slightly less common today (and by slightly I mean very slightly), at one point it was common for people to constantly appropriate North/South American indigenous cultures because their understanding of it was as shallow and stereotypical as "Pocahontas Colors of the Wind". I've even had someone say "well it's not our fault black people are so trendy" directly in a conversation about how black people regularly have our culture taken from us when we're barely even allowed to have it ourselves without being looked down on. It's gross and insensitive, and the very reason so many people of color leave these nonhuman communities. "Do whatever you want forever" exists within reason.
Identifying as nonhuman isn't an excuse to look down on humans either, especially in the misanthropic sense. Being anti-human and blaming humanity as a whole for the results of colonization (species extinction, habitat loss, climate change, etc.) goes against the marginalized people that have been harmed historically and currently and lumps them into the same category as their oppressors simply by existing.
It is Always That Deep
The last point that I'll use to close this whole post is that I can't stress enough how often us POC are told again and again and again that what we are seeing is either not real or irrational, or "just drama".
I remember the reaction to "maybe don't say you're an entity from a closed culture if you're not from that culture".
I remember the reaction to "don't use monkey/ape as a derogatory term for humans".
I remember the reaction to "don't glorify institutions that actively harm and kill us".
I remember the reaction to "please don't say dehumanization is good actually".
People will fight tooth and nail to speak over and ignore POC voices almost as a knee-jerk reaction. Then maybe if we're lucky, after they're done arguing, they'll do some research and come back later with an "oops my bad". I'm glad they learn in those cases, but that's not acceptable. Listening first is important, ask questions (respectfully) if you have to, but it should not be a fight-or-flight situation.
Has anyone else had the experience of feeling more human as they simultaneously embrace their nonhumanity?
When I was younger, I probably would have fit into the "holothere" label. I didn't feel very human at all, I despised my human body and felt desperately out of place within human society. But, after I discovered what therianthropy was and was given the language to express myself and communicate what I was feeling, my relationship with humanity actually started to improve. When I wasn't being forced into a species binary, and was instead allowed to just exist, I started feeling overall more human because I was able to fully embrace the aspects of humanity that naturally resonated with me and discard the rest. I still have a decent bit of species dysphoria, and still feel more nonhuman than human overall, but I genuinely enjoy living a human life and feel much more at peace with who I am now. Has anyone else had this experience?
I experience this! And this is actually kind of a reason i coined my own term (un)human. the label kinda gives me the freedom to feel however human or not human i wish without worrying about 'loosing' my alterhumanity as an identity. It's a very all encompassing term and like you said, just simply exist as I am without getting to caught up in questioning or changing labels even when my identity shifts.
it's my 21st birthday today, and I'm thrilled to share my songchord with you all! half of the beads and charms were from my own collection of trinkets, the other half I bought online. so it's handmade but also grounded with certain stone meanings (like the peridot for my birth).
I couldn't be prouder of myself; both for making it to 21, and finally having this physical proof of my na'vi identity!! 💙💙
I GOT THIS BACKPACK TODAY AND IT'S ACTUALLY SO GORGEOUS. I cannot wait to wear it to the Valley of Mo'ara later in the year! I also plan to make my songcord next month YAAAAAAAA
Facebook marketplace if I'm honest HAHA. this loungefly was I think an exclusive only sold for a time when AtWoW first came out, and now resold on ebay for like $250 :/
the original blue ikran loungefly is still sold both online and in Disney itself though, but I preferred the Toruk design because of the vibrancy!
and there's a chance maybe loungefly will make a nightwraith bag once FaA comes out!
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