I'm always looking to make new connections, meet new faces, and just talk. Feel free to send me an ask about anything that's been on your mind lately, things you want to know about me, or anything else. My DMs are also open if asks are too intimidating.
About Me
I joined the tumblr community around two years ago, as a way to find people like me and build connections. For most of my life, I never knew there was anyone else that felt or behaved the way I do.
Some background on me: I'm an adult, I love ecology, I have an ongoing paint practice that I'll sometimes promote here, and i'm chronically ill. As an alterhuman, I tend to use the label of psychological otherkin. A lot of the time I just use alterhuman though.
A depiction of what it feels to be in-between shapes, and where I like to imagine myself in this awkward form.
Most days I feel like a weird amalgamation of body parts that don't fit into the body I have. An ever changing mass of limbs, shifting and distorting, trying to shape itself into something it physically cannot. I overcompensate for my movements, lowering my posture as if ready to drop on all fours, I duck my head an extra depth to fit my ears below an obstacle, adjust the way I sit to make space for my tail or walk on my toes to acclimate to the feeling of paws.
Some days my phantom sensations are so strong that I feel it in my entire body. It is so physically distressing to viewing a body does not match the sensation or move in the way that it should. It can be emotionally difficult to move my body and sometimes | feel stuck, unable to move at all. It is an uncomfortable disconnection between mind and body.
Lately l've found drawing the physical sensations of my phantom shifts to be quite therapeutic and healing - especially in those moments I feel stuck. I feel as though this is a big jump in my digital art capability too, I'm very proud of this one! 🐾
Summer is almost here, which means it's nearly time to get back out in the woods. Also thinking about the topic of a very long essay I have coming up. Likely going to be about monsters again, since there's evidently an interest in the topic from my academic superiors. Maybe someday I share that essay here, maybe not. I'll let that one get decided by future me.
Below is a list of 55 prompts for Writing Wednesday in the Alterhuman Community TC. Writing Wednesday was something us moderators ran from October 2024 to January 2025, where we posted questions/prompts/challenges to inspire others to write.
Prompts are organized by post date, with links. Duplicate prompts that were posted across multiple days have been removed so that they're only shown once.
10/16
Have you had any new experiences or reflections about your alterhumanity lately?
What's your favorite part about being alterhuman? What's your least favorite?
If you've been recently questioning or confirming any alterhuman identities-- how is that going or how did that go for you? What was (or is) your questioning process, and have you had any "eureka!" moments?
Do you have any thoughts about the alterhuman community at large or subgroups and specific aspects of it?
What terminology do you find especially resonates with you-- and what terminology doesn't?
10/23
Are these any specific seasons, biomes, times of day, or types of weather which leave you feeling especially connected to your alterhuman identity and experiences?
Do you have any plans this Halloween to go out to events or wear anything related to your alterhuman identity and experiences?
What's a piece of writing, art, video, game, event, or group that you've found really resonated with you due to your alterhumanity?
If you're familiar with creative works by other alterhumans, do you have any favorites or pieces that you felt deeply impacted you in some way? Do you have any topics that you wish there were more writings/art/games/groups/events focused on, or that you would really like to see?
FICTION: Write a short story about a were-creature and the full moon.
CHALLENGE: Write 350 words or more on any WIP draft you have! If you feel comfortable, post an excerpt here!
10/30
What noema or noemata do you have, if any?
Some alterhumans have explanations or hypotheses around why they're alterhuman-- if you do, what's your theory of origin?
In your opinion, what's the most mundane or everyday part of your alterhumanity? What's the most unique or unexpected part of it?
Some alterhumans find the voluntary or involuntary nature of their alterhumanity to be an important defining factor of it. Do you? Why or why not?
FICTION: Write a short spooky story about an alterhuman and Halloween.
11/7
Are there any kinds of drinks or types of food which trigger shifts or which you otherwise tie strongly to your alterhuman identity?
Some alterhumans experience euphoria or dysphoria directly related to their identity. Do you? What are ways you've found to mitigate or cope with dysphoria? What are things that make you euphoric?
Do you have any body modifications or wearable items (also sometimes called gear) related to your alterhumanity? What is it, and what is its significance?
What are some ways that your alterhumanity comes up in your every day, offline life? This can be something as simple as food preferences and what you're liable to keep in the fridge, or something as complex as the ways your alterhumanity has shaped your choice of career path or living location.
FICTION: Write a newspaper article, advice column, or advertisement from a world where magic and shapeshifting is completely normal.
11/13
What are your plans for Therianthropy Day this week, if you plan to celebrate?
Do you have any strong feelings about the moon or other celestial bodies?
Have you ever gone to a Howl or Gather? If not, do you plan to? How do you feel about offline community spaces?
FICTION: Write about a camping trip between several alterhumans.
CHALLENGE: Participate in a word sprint that lasts at least 15 minutes.
11/27
How does food play into your alterhumanity? Do you have any instincts or shifts around food? Do you have specific types of food that feel especially important to you or relevant to you because of your alterhumanity?
FICTION: Write about a holiday feast gone terribly wrong.
CHALLENGE: Write a poem at least three lines long.
12/05
Do you have any alterhuman-related holiday plans?
In your alterhumanity, does temperature play a role in any part of your identity or experiences?
When/where/how did you first learn about alterhumanity? Is there anything you know now about it that you wish you could have told yourself then?
What's your most memorable alterhuman experience?
FICTION: Write or draw a holiday ad geared towards alterhumans, nonhumans, or similar.
CHALLENGE: Write a short story in exactly 500 words.
12/11
What's your favorite part of the greater alterhuman community? What are your favorite groups or spaces that you've found within it?
What would be your ideal alterhuman creative project or community resource that you'd like to see or someday make yourself? What are some of your favorite alterhuman projects or resources?
Are there any songs or music that relate to your alterhumanity, or that you connect to it in some way? How so? What are they?
Are there any hobbies that you've picked up because of your alterhumanity? How are they connected to your alterhumanity/what about your alterhumanity inspired you to pick them up?
FICTION: Write a story about a therianthrope who identifies as your favorite nonhuman animal.
CHALLENGE: Create a mini-zine or draw a comic.
12/18 (by Orion)
Describe a way that you connect with or express your alterhumanity without buying or owning something.
How has your alterhumanity been part of how you chose your path in your education, professional training, career, or work? (If it hasn't, can you think of a way that it could?)
What advice would you give to your younger self about your alterhumanity?
If you are a member of a marginalized group, how does this interact with your alterhumanity? What do you wish others understood about that?
How can alterhumans foster solidarity with other groups and identities, especially those who are marginalized? How can we stand up for and stand together with those who are different to us?
FICTION: Write an alterhuman retelling of a classic horror story. What updated and unique spin would you put on Frankenstein, The Island of Doctor Moreau, Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, or The Picture of Dorian Grey?
CHALLENGE: Come up with a New Year's resolution that has something to do with your alterhumanity, and write about what plans and goals can you make that would nurture this part of you.
12/26 (by Orion)
If you have a headspace, inner world, or wonderland, what does it look like? What are the rules that it tends to work by? How is it helpful to you and a part of your life?
About your home and living space, how do these spaces have an effect on your alterhumanity? How do you adapt these spaces to better suit your alterhumanity? How could you?
1/1 (by Orion)
Think about yourself five years from now. In the best version of it that you think is realistic for you to reach, what might your life look like at that time? What can you do so that things might turn out so well? What role might your alterhumanity have in your life at that time?
Brainstorm about what you can do this year to make things better for alterhumans, or how as an alterhuman you can demonstrate solidarity with other people who are different. At the end, you can ask what others think of your plans, check how interested others would be in them, or find folks who want to work on them together with you.
FICTION: One hundred and fifty years in the future, some alterhumans reading historical documents learn about how there used to be alterhumans in our era too. Are they surprised to learn this? Or did they grow up knowing about it? What happened for alterhumans in the century in between? How did things get better or worse for them?
FICTION: Two hundred years in the future, a business company claims to be developing some form of magic or technology to give alterhumans the bodies-- or number of bodies-- that they want. What do they offer? What if that company isn't what it seems to be? Is that really what they're developing? Is that their real purpose?
CHALLENGE: Come up with a New Year's resolution that has something to do with your alterhumanity. Write some concrete plans and goals you can make that would nurture this part of you. As part of this, research how to do anything relevant that you wonder how to do. Figure out some milestones and dates to reach them by.
After a very long, stressful few weeks I finally made it out to a field to stand under the full moon. Apparently it was a blood moon, although the "blood" part wasn't visible from where I was. Still. After mostly settling for just watching the sunset from inside the woods, actually standing beneath the moon on the night was nice. I was having a real crummy day, but something about the moonlight was soothing. Hypnotic. It felt profoundly right. A deeper and more instinctive logic than whatever craziness I'm usually getting up to in the modern 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.
It's absolutely a challenge to find other alterhumans in person, but it can be done. It starts with being a little more open with your identity. With your existing social circle. It's easiest in queer/kink/pagan spaces. Out of the thirty some odd members of my pagan church, ten are some flavor of alterhuman, seven are otherkin, and five are therians. My greater social circle (including only people I see in person at least occasionally) includes several more.
no dude it's so cool how attached you are to that character who is singled out and ostracized due to the external monstrousness that clashes with their internal spark of humanity. and i love how drawn you are to themes of horror and love, nature versus nurture, otherness, isolation, and the abject. i bet you have normal feelings about your own personhood
