A Brief Alterhuman History
Here is a quick recap of the history of the alterhuman community, from 1972 onwards.
Communities of beings who believed themselves to be elves began to appear in the 70s. In 1990, the word âOtherkindâ/âotherkinâ is used for the first time in Elfinkind Digest, coined to include non-elf âothersâ.
Alt Horror Werewolves (AHWW) newsgroup is created to discuss werewolves; it became a place people felt safe to discuss identifying as an animal. Those in this group referred to themselves as âweresâ and âlycanthropesâ. The original users of this group became known as âgreymuzzlesâ. Later, âtherianthropeâ would be coined as a more general version of lycanthrope. In 1999, âphenotypesâ was used to discuss what âtypeâ of therianthrope someone was.
In 1994, the first âhowlâ, was organized by a were in Ohio for members of the AHWW community to get to know one another. After this, several âhowlsâ would be held multiple times a year, both by the AHWW community and other therian communities.
For otherkin, gatherings (or âgathersâ) would be held by a variety of âtypes including elves, dragons, and unicorns.
The seven-pointed star (septegram) was used as a symbol to represent otherkin. Later, the theta-delta was created to represent therians.
Fictionkin was first used in 2004 on LiveJournal. However, for many years after this, âotakukinâ and âmediakinâ were the primary terms. âFictionkinâ was not the primary term until the 2010s.
The subreddit r/Otherkin is created. In 2011, the otherkin community blossomed on Tumblr. The community was reportedly focused on activism and validation and the term ânon-humanâ was in use at this time. âOtherheartedâ is coined on The Daemon Forum in 2011.
âAlterhumanâ was coined by phasmovore on Tumblr to describe those who âdiffer from the common societal use of humanityâ; it is now seen as an âumbrella term for otherkin, therians, fictionkin, dragons, vampires, plurals/systems, copinglinkers, and otherhearted individualsâ.
Copinglink was coined by who-is-page on Tumblr in 2016, who defined it as âa nonhuman identity which is consciously createdâ.
In 2017, âOtherkinâ was added to the Oxford dictionary.
The now widely used alterhuman flag was created in 2020 by Quiznoscoyote on Twitter and consists of green, white, and purple stripes with the theta-delta and septagram symbols interlocked.
In 2024, âholothereâ was coined by Defrostedvertebrae on Tumblr to describe physical nonhumans.
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Our history is in the making, where it goes is up to us. Keep in mind that some day, someone will look back at the community now and call us part of their history.
The House of Chimeras, Addendums to Scribnerâs The Otherkin Timeline (November 2021). www.houseofchimeras.weebly.com
O. Scriber, The Otherkin Timeline (September 2012). www.orion.kitsunet.net/nonfic.html
The Otherkin Wiki. Alterhuman. www.otherkin.wiki/alterhuman
The Otherkin Wiki. Otherhearted. www.otherkin.wiki/otherhearted
The Otherkin Wik. Copinglink. www.otherkin.wiki/copinglink
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