if youd like to, then interact with this post if youre an alterhuman (therian, extranth, copinglink, otherhearted, otherkin, etc etc) and youre also over the age of 21 !! i see a lot of people saying that we are mostly kids but i find that hard to believe. plus, i want more mutuals !!
Hello! I have a question that you might be able to answer. I am a nonhuman alter in my system, is it still OK for me to describe my experience as a nonhuman with otherkin terms?/genq
I believe it's okay, yes. Though, the term extranthrope specifies this experience.
Note: For a lot of these, I’ve linked to tumblr pages, but it should always be remembered that otherkinity as a community began in the 1970s, and is definitely not a “tumblr fad”. (There would, of course, have been people before the 70s who were otherkind, but wouldn’t have had the words to describe their identity.)
Though extensive, this is not a complete list of alterhuman terms. There are a lot of terms out there, and I have described only a few. There are a lot of resource pages and FAQs around as well, but a good resource page to start with is here.
Therianthropy
“An identity categorized by a deep integral or personal belief that an individual is in some way and to some degree, a non-human animal.” See more info here.
A therian is a person who experiences therianthropy. The animal identity they have is called a theriotype. If their theriotype is a mythical, earthly creature, they are called a theriomythic. If their theriotype is prehistoric, they are called a paleotherian.
Otherkin(d)
An identity where a person is, in some way, other-than-human. It’s an umbrella term, and covers therianthropy, otherhearted-ness, fictionkin, and, to some extent, copinglinking.
The difference between therianthropy and otherkinity is that therianthropy is centred on nonhuman, earthly animals. Otherkinity can be nonhuman extraterrestrials, mythical creatures, earthly nonhuman nonanimals such as plants or spirits, and so on.
Psychological Otherkin(d)
An otherkin who attributes their otherkinity to psychology and/or neurology. See more info here.
Spiritual Otherkin(d)
An otherkin who attributes their otherkinity to spirituality. See more info here.
Fictionkin(d)
An identity where a person identifies as a fictional character to some degree. See more info here.
Fictionkin also covers fictional species, such as the ikran from James Cameron’s Avatar.
Fictionflicker
“Not quite plurality, not quite soulbonding, not quite fictionkin; a sort of nebulous experience of shifting identity through various fictional characters, of briefly (or extendedly) "becoming" fictional people and the shift in identity and perception this may involve, with or without the experience of memories or past-life leanings (or any belief that such a phenomenon is necessarily spiritual or otherworldly in nature).” See more info here and here.
A person experiencing fictionflickering is a fictionflicker and has flickers or flicktypes.
Otherhearted
Describes someone who identifies with or feels a very strong connection to an animal [or other identity]. The difference between a ‘hearted person and an otherkind person is that otherkinity describes identifying as, not with.
A person who is other/animalhearted has a heartedtype, or hearttype.
Synpath
“A tidy name for something you identify with on several levels, which could be a concept that resonates really strongly with you, an animal or mythological creature you feel you act like, or a person or character you share a lot of common behaviors with, among other things.” See more info here.
Depending on the individual’s preferences, a synpath can be a synonym for a heartedtype or an other/animalhearted person. Some people separate the two by using when referring to species, objects or concepts and synpath when referring to specific characters.
Copinglink
“A) A non-human identity (or in some cases, relation) which is consciously created. The creator is able to change and pick who/what they identify as/with as need dictates. This identity can be created by anyone, and thus, is not dictated by one’s mental health; B) A consciously created coping mechanism which centers around knowingly, willingly, and actively identifying as (or in some cases, with) the user’s choice of a non-human entity; C) (2017) A (fictitious) human identity which is taken on as consciously created coping mechanism.” See more info here.
Copinglinker (or ‘linker) is someone who takes on a copinglink. The identity (whether fictional, mythical, terrestrial, etc.) is called a linktype or o’link.
Transspecies
“Crossing the cultural boundaries of species. Some nonhuman-identifying folk use this label, often to denote that they have, will, or generally desire to modify their bodies to be more nonhuman/less human looking, and are often motivated by species dysphoria. Others may use it to describe a feeling of “being [x species] trapped in a human body”. Many who use the term do so because they are transgender and their species identity parallels this experience.” See more info here.
Involuntary Identity
Identifying as something, whether as a therian, fictionkin, or any other term, involuntarily; without choice. Most otherkind experience their otherkinity this way.
Voluntary Identity
Identifying as something, usually as a coping mechanism, voluntarily; choosing nonhumanity. Just because a voluntary choice was made doesn’t make their identity any less valid.
Quoiluntary Identity
The grey area between involuntary and voluntary identities. “Coined lightly [...] by someone who felt left out by the strict voluntary/involuntary binary in otherkin discourse regarding identities…” See more info here.
The prefix quoi- was coined by tumblr user epochryphal, to be used when something, whether gender, sexuality, or other identity, as a personal application, is “inaccessible, inapplicable, nonsensical, etc.”
Extranthropy
The experience of being “a nonhuman member in a multiple system. Coined with those in mind who are nonhuman but don’t identify as otherkin and want to be more specific in the origin of their nonhumanity; compare to fictive and factive.” See more info here and a personal piece on being an extranth here.
Used as a noun: a person can be a extranth, an extranthrope, an extranthropic [identity], etc.
Alterhuman
“A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity.” See more info here.
A word to describe methods of alternate humanity, or nonhumanity. It’s a large umbrella, and includes:
“Therian, phytanthrope, otherkin, and fictionkin identities; multiple, plural, median, and walk-in identities; spiritual self-identities which may still include degrees of humanity such as angelics, celestials, starseeds, god shards, reincarnated gods, vampires, etc.; identities involving shared self-identification with nonhuman or other alternative human entities/concepts such as animal-hearted, godspouse, soulbond, and spiritual medium identities; identities of alternative humanity through dissociation, trauma response, or non-neurotypical mental status.”
It can also include the following not-quite-nonhuman but not-quite-human identities:
“Transhuman, posthuman, or otherwise h+; human fictionkin, fictives and fableings; other human system members; literally any identity where you still consider humanity important to you, like there are a lot of otherkin and therians who consider themselves ‘human and nonhuman’; daemians; otherhearted people; soulbonders; channelers and spirit mediums; walk-in spirits and starseed.”
Voidpunk
A rejection of humanity, and an embrace of dehumanisation and forced nonhumanity. See more info here: 1, 2, 3, 4.
Postfurry
A large umbrella term for a movement that grew out of the furry community. See more info here.
i wish i had more hyena mutuals !! interact with this post if youre a hyena therian, extranth, otherkin, copinglink, etc... !! whoooooop !! calling all spotted hyenas, striped hyenas, brown hyenas, cave/ice age hyenas, extinct hyena species, fantasy hyena species, gnolls...!!!1!1 all hyenas :o3
sometimes i get very catlike urges. i like to knead my paws and purr when im happy !! youd think this was unusual for a hyena, but we're feliforms. we descended from cats! acting like a cat makes me feel more connected to extinct hyena species, who could have possibly acted more like cats than modern hyena species
to me the difference between therian, otherkin, and other similar terms such as extranth or alterhuman.. is like the difference between bisexual, pansexual, and omnisexual. many prefer different labels for different reasons, and gatekeeping anyone out of it only serves to exclude individuals from their own community
