Helping Kin!

So for starters, what’s the difference between -kin, -heart/hearted, -link, and -lith?

The basic definitions/explanations of those things:

Otherkin/fictionkin: identifying nonphysically as something other than human/a fictional species or character (respectively), partially or wholly. That can be a spiritual thing, a psychological thing, or something else entirely. Basically, if you consider yourself to be something nonhuman/fictional, you fall into ‘kin. Some people will say it has to be an involuntary thing, but the line between “voluntary identity” and “involuntary identity” is not as smooth as we’d like and personally I really don’t care anymore. The thing you identify as is your kintype (or your fictotype, in the case of fictionkin).

Otherlinker/copinglinker: someone who intentionally chooses to form an identity as something other than human or a fictional species/character, often but not necessarily as an intentional coping mechanism. Hence the above note about ‘kin often being considered exclusively involuntary. Despite the name, “copinglinker” is not specific to coping mechanisms (there’s a history behind why it’s named that, which we won’t go into here). The thing you identify as is your linktype.

Otherhearted: someone who strongly identifies with, but typically not as, a species/character/etc. This can manifest as feeling like [x] is family to you, feeling like you “should be” but aren’t [x], feeling a strong connection to [x], etc. - basically, a connection strong enough to be relevant to how you view/describe yourself, but without the “I actually am this thing” that’s a part of ‘kin. (...Unless you happen to have the same thing as both a kintype and a hearttype, but let’s not go there.) The thing you identify with is your hearttype.

We've been trying to work on some things and we realized that we had missed adding the archetrope and the endel symbols to our Symbols Found In The Alterhuman & Related Communities document. So we've been working on that. However, we're struggling to find the origins of the endel symbol (the strawberry with a white flower) or any of the alternative endel symbols at the moment.

(Some sources - Halligan, P.W., et al. “Three Arms: A Case Study of Supernumerary Phantom Limb After Right Hemisphere Stroke.” J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, Volume 56, Number 2, (1993): pages 159-166, http://jnnp.bmj.com/content/56/2/159.short (accessed October 16 2016).  “Woman with ‘A Phantom Third Arm,’” Metro, April 7 2009, http://metro.co.uk/2009/04/07/woman-with-a-phantom-third-arm-10744/ (accessed December 12 2016). Yoo S.D., Kim DH, Jeong Y.S., Chon J, Bark J., “Atypical Supernumerary Phantom Limb and Phantom Limb Pain in Two Patients with Pontine Hemorrhage.” Journal of Korean Medical Science, Volume 26, Number 6, (2011): pages 844-847. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3102884/ (accessed June 25 2016).[iv] Curt, Armin, et al. “Supernumerary phantom limbs in spinal cord injury,” Spinal Cord,  Volume 49, Number 5 (May 2011): pp 588-595. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21079624 (accessed January 12 2017). ) Also, temporary (supernumerary) phantom limbs can be brought on by illusions such as one called “the rubber hand trick.” Both academic and informal experiments show that people’s brains can be fooled into thinking that a fake arm is part of them or even cause the creation of a phantom limb for a certain period of time. These experiments have started to show how easily phantom limbs can be created without any loss of an actual limb.  (Some sources - “Body Illusions; Rubber Hand Illusion,” New Scientist, March 18 2009, https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16809-body-illusions-rubber-hand-illusion/ (accessed June 25 2016). Cases, D M, D M Casas, G G Gentiletti, & A A Braidot. “Somatic and Movement Inductions Phantom Limb in Non-amputees.” Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Volume 705, Issue 1, (2016): 1-11 http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1742-6596/705/1/012062/meta (accessed June 26 2016). Choi, Charles Q. “Even Non-Amputee Can Feel a Phantom Limb,” Live Science, April 12 2013, http://www.livescience.com/28694-non-amputees-feel-phantom-limb.html (accessed June 25 2016). “Scientists Create Phantom Sensations in Non-amputees.” 2.46. Posted by “karolinskainstitutet,” April 11 2012.http://youtu.be/98JEwfc4pto  "The Phantom in The Mirror: A Modified Rubber-hand Illusion in Amputees and Normals,“ Perception, Vol. 39, No. 1 (2010): pp 103-118. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20301851 (accessed June 25 2016). “The Rubber Hand Illusion - Horizon: Is Seeing Believing? - BBC Two.” BBCTwo, 3:12. Posted by “BBC,” October 15 2010. http://youtu.be/sxwn1w7MJvk) There is also documentation on people who are transgender who experience phantom limbs in the form of genitalia or other physical characterizes associated to their gender. The existence of phantom limbs among some people who are transgender isn’t talked about much, but it is sometimes mentioned in either papers on transgender people or in personal accounts from transgender people. (Some sources - Ramachandran, V.S. and Paul D. McGeoch. “Phantom Penises in Transsexuals: Evidence of an Innate Gender-Specific Body Image in the Brain,” Journal of Consciousness Studies, Volume 15, Number 1, (2008): pages 5-16, http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/imp/jcs/2008/00000015/00000001/art00001 (accessed November 5 2015).  Blakeslee, Sandra. “Gender Identity and Phantom Genitalia,” SFGate, April 13 2008, http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/article/GENDER-IDENTITY-AND-PHANTOM-GENITALIA-3219560.php (accessed June 25 2016).

Case, Laura. K. and Vilayanur S.  Ramachandran. “Alternating Gender Incongruity: A New Neuropsychiatric Syndrome Providing Insight Into The Dynamic Plasticity of Brain-Sex.” Medical Hypotheses, Volume 78, (2012), Page 626–631, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22364652 (accessed January 18 2016).)

Here I am, writing another one of these posts because study? Never heard of it /j

These are technically meant for predatory birds/raptors, but hey, if you resonate with any of these feel free to use them!

Here’s a periodic reminder, since the word’s getting more and more exposure every day:

Alterhumanity involves a subjective identity that is beyond the scope of what is traditionally considered ‘being human’.

You can be nonhuman and alterhuman. Your otherkinity and/or therianthropy fall under the alterhuman umbrella if you want them to.

You can be human and alterhuman. You can be transhuman, or consider yourself ‘human+’ or ‘human, and something else’.

Your alterhuman identity can be voluntary. From copinglinks to fursonas, if it’s meaningful to you, it’s meaningful, full stop.

Your alterhuman identity can be involuntary. Your alterhuman feelings can exist whether you choose them to or not.

You can be alterhuman because the way you relate to humanity is atypical. Whether it’s because you feel like you’ve lived many lives or because you’re one person of many in a single body.

Alter-human/Alternative Humanity Personal Identity “AHPI”

A category of personal identity which encompasses identification that is alternative to the common societal idea of humanity.

For the sake of this categorization, the “common societal idea of humanity” is classified as such:

The common human identity involves:

-Identification with the body in the sense that the body is part of the self, unrelated to a sense of gender or any form of personal expression; at the basest level, a common human identity is an identification with the mechanical human form, bodily function, etc - feeling correct in a human body, the one given to the self at birth, when gender, race, and societal concepts are removed; not feeling that the body is not one’s own. (Simple/Example: A transgender person is not/may not be AHPI because they still consider themselves human, and still consider the body to be theirs - just incorrect. Of course, transgender people may be AHPI, but being trans is not an AHPI identification, unless the gender of said trans person directly correlates to a nonhuman concept of gender.)

-Identification involving a singular persona within a body present from birth and which has not differentiated from the original-born persona which is attached to the body. (Simple/Example: A multiple system would be AHPI due to multiple persons existing in one body. A walk-in (which occurred after birth, or by their own identification this way) is also AHPI as they are not the “original.” A median who experiences their multiplicity as facets of self or other similar but still non-singular sense would be AHPI.)

-Identification as a human with no supernatural personal basis BY SAID PERSON’S OWN DISCRETION. (Simple/Example: A person who identifies as human and as their born persona in this life but who has an identity involving past lives may be considered AHPI if they so decide their experiences dictate as such. A person who believes themselves to be human in this life but spiritually angelic would be considered AHPI, assuming they identify as their angelic spirituality and not as a human. Some religions and spiritualities might include reincarnation but those who follow said spiritualities may not feel they fit in this category.)

-Identify as human regardless of personal subculture. (Simple/Example: A furry would be human if they consider themselves to be, but a furry who identifies as a furry more than anything else may be AHPI due to identification as a member of said subculture as part of one’s overall personal identity.)

AHPI identities may include, as per personal discretion: -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 disassociation, trauma response, or non-neurotypical mental status

How many philosophers and scientists came up with their ideas by conversing with their headmates?

What of the authors who thought speaking directly to your characters on how their story goes was a universal writing experience?

Did any plural leaders who sought the guidance of their council assume that all the advice given to them was decided upon through an internal meeting of selves, just like how they made decisions?

Were there artists who couldn't find the words to explain their drawings were of their headmates? Storytellers who told tales from their exomemories? Record keepers, secretaries, and scribes who were so good at their jobs because they had practice from having to leave records for themselves?

When and where were the plurals like us?

I see hints of potential plurals of history, sometimes – typically in discussions of the self made by poets or philosophers. And there are a few cases that stand out as evidence that we have always been here. But plurality is so often a personal experience, with any observable behavior often brushed over, shunted away from others' knowledge, or just lost in records muddled by how difficult they are to find, that it's hard to make any theories or guesses about the plurals who might have been. Especially with how we're still barely known to most people; there would have been even fewer opportunities for these plurals of the past to find themselves and words for who they are.

It's... something I think about, when I'm looking at studies or learning about history.

Did plural gentleman living in England during the Victorian era get an unexplained thrill whenever they wrote of themselves in the third person for letters, per proper etiquette? Would they have any idea why referring to themselves in the third person felt right, the same way it can feel right for systems referring to themselves by their bodily name today?

Well. How should I know?

Rather, I think it has a lot more to do with the fact that people who are already othered in some way are more likely to question aspects of themselves and their identities than people who aren't othered.

Autistic people, and really, all neurodivergent people, are already the Other. Whether diagnosed or not, autistic people already feel different and already wonder why they're different. You can say the same about any Othered demographic. A cishet, white, able-bodied person in the US is less likely to question deeply how they feel because being of the normative class, they just assume others feel the exact same way as them (even if it's not the case).

Think about how many seemingly cishet people say things that make us as non-cishet folks tilt our head a bit, when they say things like "everyone is a little bi, doesn't mean you're gay" or "everyone's felt like a different gender, doesn't mean you're trans", because obviously not everyone actually feels that way and maybe these people could benefit from a bit more introspection, but they never considered it because they assumed everyone felt that way because everything else about their identity- whiteness, abledness, income- is considered The Norm.

So, an autistic person who already has felt different and othered their whole life, who has already been constantly questioning themself, is more likely to also question their sexuality and/or gender identity because they don't really have anything to lose and are already questioning anyway. Meanwhile, a neurotypical person with the same unaddressed feelings about their gender and/or sexuality is more likely not to address those feelings because they either think they're unremarkable or because they fear the repercussions of suddenly Not Being The Norm.

Somehow an alarmingly large percentage of you interacting with this post: "So true bestie, I totally agree, autistic people are queer because of how autistic brains work :D"

Calling all fans of chicken art and poetry! COOP Zine #6 is out now!!

Featuring @krordam 's incredible art on the cover, you'll be sure to enjoy this edition!

Read it for free on our archives page:

If you'd like to see your own chicken art or poetry published, you can submit on our website!

Alright so.

Persecutor alters as most probably know are alters that tend to cause harm for the self or the system as a whole. This causes a lot of people to think the best idea is to push them away in order to "protect" themselves.

That's not the way to deal with this.

Most persecutor alters are a stones throw from being protectors and are only harmful due to a distorted way of feeling safe. A lot of them need to be included and lead through learning safety and care by those that can teach them. They feel trapped, they feel scared, they feel excluded.

Some will split off and hold a different alters negative feelings toward themself and in turn act harshly to that alter. Some will act harshly to people outside of the system that the unit interacts with due to only feeling safe with people pushed away.

It's important to hear them out and give them the means to self soothe instead of lashing out.

We know a lot of alters within our system or others that were persecutors or seen as such but ended up as a protector. It takes time, offer it to them.

I keep seeing this conflation and it’s getting to be a huge problem, with some “alterhuman” places being either kin-specific, nonhuman-specific, or even sysmedicalist?? 

Otherkin are constantly upset over the preservation of the definition of otherkin, but I have seen none of that concern extended to the definition of alterhuman, which was coined …. because otherkin were concerned about becoming an umbrella term and losing the definition of otherkin. 

You see the problem here? 

Alterhuman is an umbrella. It’s a wide, wide umbrella that’s very comparable to “queer” in how it’s inclusive and open. It includes ‘kin, sure, but it also includes post/furries, voidpunkers, other-hearted people and people with heart-homes, plurans of ALL kinds, singlet walk-ins, copinglinkers, and pretty much anyone with non-typical experiences of species identity, embodiment, narrative identity and personal mythology.  You know what other identities I’ve seen that don’t fit in those nice labels? People who identify as archetypal tropes, or “wild men,” or early hominids, or even having absolutely no species identity and being “aspecies.” I know someone who feels deeply like they should have been a twin and feels that in an alterhuman way. I’m close to someone who is literally undead – not Cotard’s delusional undead (though those people are here, too!), but literally was pronounced legally dead and resuscitated. That’s pretty fucking alterhuman. And there’s plenty more I know I’m either forgetting or leaving out for brevity.

This review regarding non-disordered plurality was just published September 12, 2023 - and better still, it focuses on the voices of those with lived multiplicity experiences, not just professionals' opinions & observations! (AND it's free access!)

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/cpp.2910?fbclid=PAAaYA2EcZAxCD7cDTUWhV93l1pCsh9ovJMddm5oZ8_V1-PQ7pjum3K4AxhEo

Some highlights:

...DID is characterized as having ‘two or more distinct personality states’, in addition to gaps in memory recall, which cause significant distress to the individual (Reinders & Veltman, 2021, p. 1). Comparably, multiplicity describes the experience of being more than one self and is not a diagnosis. Multiplicity is associated with a lack of distress, and impairment in functioning, and often does not involve amnesia between selves; however, some people who experience multiplicity have received a diagnosis such as DID or OSDD (Young Voices Study, 2021). Due to the heterogeneity of dissociative experiences, multiplicity can encompass various presentations as described in this review.

...prevalence rates of multiplicity-spectrum conditions are difficult to extrapolate due to limited reporting and identification, although suspected to be between 4.6% and 46% (Loewenstein, 2018). Indeed, Ross et al. (2002) acknowledged many individuals do not meet clinical criteria as a result of a lack of negative impairment; however, they do align with other descriptors of dissociative experiences. Thus, there is a need to understand the wide spectrum of experiences multiplicity encompasses to consider how an awareness of multiplicity can exist outside of an illness model, reducing stigma and thus stigma related distress surrounding multiplicity (Eve & Parry, 2021; Parry et al., 2017).

...there remains a paucity of understanding surrounding multiplicity-spectrum experiences, especially for people who identify as multiple but for whom multiple selves do not cause functional difficulties in day-to-day life. For people who experience the presence of inner multiplicity but do not suffer distressing consequences from their multiplicity experience, they can feel misaligned, misinterpreted and overlooked by the medicalization of their inner world.

The findings of this review support the notion that multiplicity experiences are complex and varied, existing across a continuum inclusive of multiplicity, DID and derealization–depersonalization (Sar, 2011).

sing. it doesn't matter if you can't carry a tune to save your life. you can hum. you can mumble along to your favorite songs in the shower. you can sing Phantom of the Opera or Nirvana or Miley Cyrus. it doesn't matter. just sing.

experience nature. this can mean going for a walk, or it can mean just watering the cactus sitting on your windowsill. it can even mean watching a nature program on tv or looking at the stars through a telescope.

be in touch with the cycle of the moon. it doesn't have to be spiritual (but it can be if you want it to be!). take some time to just experience the moonlight. say a prayer. sing a song. memorize the names of each full moon.

reach out to your fellow wolves. wolves are social creatures. they need family, friends. if you have no one in "real life" to talk to, there are countless wolves online.

present yourself in a way that honors your wolf heritage. that could mean wearing earth tones. it could mean crystal necklaces. it could mean black nail polish or color contacts. you'll feel better. i promise.