your local werewolf

•The Otherkind of Color Alliance, A Safe Place for Alterhumans of Color•

•Greetings! The Otherkind of Color Alliance is a fluxer server meant for alterhumans of color to share their experiences with both humanity and nonhumanity in a safe, non-judgmental space! This is also the off season server for the Sacred Skies online convention. In a predominantly white community, it can be really difficult for alterhumans of color to make connections when we are so fragmented and underrepresented. The purpose of this server is to create a safe space for people of color to speak without fear of racism or discrimination. All people of color are welcome to join this server, regardless of whether they identify as alterhuman or not! We want to foster a safe and accepting environment here!

•FAQ's About This Space•

•Why choose fluxer?

•In light of discord's vile digital ID update and legalized spyware, we have chosen to move to fluxer, which is a privacy based platform that values your privacy. Discord now threatens to send information to ICE and governments that want to constantly watch you, fluxer does not. Discord is no longer a safe platform for anyone. <•>

•Can white people join this space?

•No. Even if you are a genuine ally, this space is only for people of color. It is very rare for us to have a space of our own, and we want to keep this space that way for the comfort of all our members. It is nothing against you by any means. If a bodily white person is caught in our space, they will be banned without question.

<•>

•I am a genuine ally of people of color? Why am I barred from joining?

•There are multiple reasons. I and all the other folks in this community have nothing against genuine allies of people of color, though having our own space where there is not even a sliver of a chance of experiencing racism or white ignorance, unintentional or not, is the goal I aim for.

<•>

•Are mixed race people of color allowed to join?

•Yes! I myself am a mixed race person of color, like I stated before, we welcome all people of color in this server and we do not wish to exclude anyone from this space and its positivity!

<•>

•Can I join if I am non-white, though do not consider myself a person of color?

•Yes! We welcome all non white folks to join this server! You do not have to fall under the label of poc or identify yourself as such! We do not want to exclude any non white folks from joining because they don't feel they fall under the label of poc.

<•>

•Can I join if I am white and 1/12th native?

•No. There are all manner of reasons why claiming yourself as a person of color when you have so little non-white heritage is racist and problematic. It is an attempt to deflect white privilege and take an identity from a distant family member who you would never have the lived experiences of. We do not encourage the ignorance of or attempts to deflect one's white privilege.

<•>

•Can I join if I am a white passing person of color?

•Yes! Like I stated before, we welcome all people of color in this server! We do not want to exclude anyone from this server based on appearance. We just highly recommend that white passing individuals recognize that there is privilege that comes with being white passing. <•> I can't access fluxer in my region, what do I do? •Certain states and countries have blocked access to fluxer because of new laws attacking digital privacy and promoting digital ID (which leads to a police state). Using a VPN to bypass region blocks is the best way to go. ProtonVPN is a free VPN that you can use.

<•>

•Feel free to join our community! We are a friendly bunch and are always looking forward to having new folks pop in to our community to share their views and have conversation! If you have any other questions about this space that were not answered above, feel free to DM my being! ^.=.^

•The Otherkind of Color Alliance, A Safe Place for Alterhumans of Color•

•Greetings! The Otherkind of Color Alliance is a fluxer server meant for alterhumans of color to share their experiences with both humanity and nonhumanity in a safe, non-judgmental space! This is also the off season server for the Sacred Skies online convention. In a predominantly white community, it can be really difficult for alterhumans of color to make connections when we are so fragmented and underrepresented. The purpose of this server is to create a safe space for people of color to speak without fear of racism or discrimination. All people of color are welcome to join this server, regardless of whether they identify as alterhuman or not! We want to foster a safe and accepting environment here!

•FAQ's About This Space•

•Why choose fluxer?

•In light of discord's vile digital ID update and legalized spyware, we have chosen to move to fluxer, which is a privacy based platform that values your privacy. Discord now threatens to send information to ICE and governments that want to constantly watch you, fluxer does not. Discord is no longer a safe platform for anyone. <•>

•Can white people join this space?

•No. Even if you are a genuine ally, this space is only for people of color. It is very rare for us to have a space of our own, and we want to keep this space that way for the comfort of all our members. It is nothing against you by any means. If a bodily white person is caught in our space, they will be banned without question.

<•>

•I am a genuine ally of people of color? Why am I barred from joining?

•There are multiple reasons. I and all the other folks in this community have nothing against genuine allies of people of color, though having our own space where there is not even a sliver of a chance of experiencing racism or white ignorance, unintentional or not, is the goal I aim for.

<•>

•Are mixed race people of color allowed to join?

•Yes! I myself am a mixed race person of color, like I stated before, we welcome all people of color in this server and we do not wish to exclude anyone from this space and its positivity!

<•>

•Can I join if I am non-white, though do not consider myself a person of color?

•Yes! We welcome all non white folks to join this server! You do not have to fall under the label of poc or identify yourself as such! We do not want to exclude any non white folks from joining because they don't feel they fall under the label of poc.

<•>

•Can I join if I am white and 1/12th native?

•No. There are all manner of reasons why claiming yourself as a person of color when you have so little non-white heritage is racist and problematic. It is an attempt to deflect white privilege and take an identity from a distant family member who you would never have the lived experiences of. We do not encourage the ignorance of or attempts to deflect one's white privilege.

<•>

•Can I join if I am a white passing person of color?

•Yes! Like I stated before, we welcome all people of color in this server! We do not want to exclude anyone from this server based on appearance. We just highly recommend that white passing individuals recognize that there is privilege that comes with being white passing. <•> I can't access fluxer in my region, what do I do? •Certain states and countries have blocked access to fluxer because of new laws attacking digital privacy and promoting digital ID (which leads to a police state). Using a VPN to bypass region blocks is the best way to go. ProtonVPN is a free VPN that you can use.

<•>

•Feel free to join our community! We are a friendly bunch and are always looking forward to having new folks pop in to our community to share their views and have conversation! If you have any other questions about this space that were not answered above, feel free to DM my being! ^.=.^

Being alterhuman does not mean you have some ~special ability~ to interact with wild animals.

DO NOT go touching/chasing/ generally messing with wildlife. You aren't special and you could harm those animals, or be harmed by them. Even small things like bugs can kill you. You aren't immune to rabies.

If you scare wild animals by chasing them for species euphoria or whatever, you can genuinly kill them. Birders have a term for when it happens to birds, its called a Dread Flight. When you unnecessarily scare a wild animal, you are causing it to waste energy it needs to survive. Wildlife can't afford to waste energy. You're enjoyment is NEVER worth disturbing wildlife.

You do not have the training to rescue wild animals just because you're alterhuman. If you don't have the actual training to resue wildlife and you genuinely find an animal in need of help, CALL A FUCKING WILDLIFE REHABILITATION CENTER!!!! It isn't that hard to find the number for your local center and they'll tell you what to do, if anything, and help you if necessary.

I am a horse. I’ve ridden other horses before, albeit as a guest at a ranch within my area. For the times I’ve visited my kind and interacted with them, I’ve done so under clear instruction from those who regularly take care of them, train them and work with them.

At no point have I ever gone out of my way to interact with my kind under the assumption that I’m engaging with them from one species member to another. Nor have I engaged with them under the assumption that— because I too am a horse— I know what I’m doing. This is because I understand mindfulness is of utmost importance. Riding is a privilege, not a right. So is engaging with your local wildlife. Your behavior makes all the difference, and those consequences are often irreversible. Besides, OP already listed some pretty good reasons on why this matters.

I know folks like to get up close and personal with animals. Usually, it’s to pet them, take pictures or act out to get a reaction out of them if they feel emboldened enough. In my case, they won’t hesitate to do so without the animals, the trail boss or any other staff who work with these animals in mind, knowing damn well they don’t know these animals or their behaviors. Sometimes, these folks turn out okay but get a scolding. Sometimes, they go into full Karen Mode because the staff did their job by addressing their guests’ behavior. I’ve seen group members get kicked out because they had the bright idea of trying to sneak inside in the stables nearby. These are individual cases from the ranch near me and the trail rides I’ve been on.

Back when I went on trail rides, I didn’t make any sudden or overly touchy movements while being paired up with a horse. I’d also watch my volume once I was in proximity with my riding companion. Yes, I’m an animal like them but I’m still responsible for my own behavior. Inappropriate behavior could bring immense distress or harm the horse and even myself. The chances of an accident happening is never a guaranteed zero. Moreover, other horses aren’t going to assume I’m socializing with them as another horse. They’re going to assume I’m posing some kind of a threat to them or refusing to back off and act accordingly, which is something that many folks— in AND outside of this community— need to keep in mind. Entitlement to an animal’s space or existence is an issue that a lot of folks have, even if that’s not your intention! To you, it may not come off as entitlement because you’re doing something that brings you some kind of euphoria. Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that you’re using another animal’s existence as an excuse to gratify yourself. That’s not okay.

I understand wanting to express your animality. I understand wanting to be recognized among your kind or among other animals in general. I get it, but you cannot jeopardize the wellbeing of your local wildlife and any other animals for your validation.

you aren't gonna get any extra brownie points from the humans. they will judge you whether your nonhumanity is physical, psychological, spiritual, etc. they aren't gonna think you are cool for shitting on clinical lycanthropes/zoanthropes either.

excluding comrades from the community just cause YOU don't understand their experiences is pathetic.

mind your own business and if it bothers you so much, the block button is right there.

physical therianopy is stemmed from delusion, from what i can understand. why is it normalized to feed into that? i don’t support irls bc i don’t feed into delusions, so why should it be different from a physical otherkin/therian/alterhuman??/genq

Hi! :)

thank you to being open minded and trying to educate yourself on this topic - I can honestly understand why physically identifying nonhumans can be confusing, because it seems so blatantly obvious that we all obviously have human bodies. right?

In advance, let me apologize for the incoming wall of text, but it seems like you might look for a more detailed explanation on this topic, so I'll try to provide just that!

first off, physically identifying nonhumans can be split into three categories (of course there can be overlapping happening, etc, but generally speaking)

1) clinical zoanthropes, aka. those who actually believe they can physically turn into an animal and/or have nonhuman DNA, organs and such. this is caused by delusions.

2) those who use physical nonhumanity for as a comfort for themselves, but are not any less serious about it. this can be due to following the logic of "I am a dog therian and this is my body, therefore it is physically the body of a dog" without literally meaning they have the DNA or such of a dog. from what I've seen, this is more like a... philosophical approach.

3) this category is sort of similar to the second one, but still different. I fall under this category, so let me explain it by using myself as an example: I am a werewolf and physically identify as one. I am aware I can not shift into my werewolf-form and I know that if someone would check my DNA for any reason, there would be no indicator for me to be anything but human. a werewolf in it's human form is not a human tho, it is still a werewolf - making me a physical werewolf. So the approach is more literal and less philosophical than category 2, but does not fall under the term "delusional", because nothing I believe clashes with the shared reality of all people.

edit: I just remembred there is a fourth category, which we also fall under: headmates/alters in a system might physically identify rather as the form they take inside than the body. this is true for all of us - while we at the same time also identify as the body, we all see our inner forms as our physical forms, too. my inner form is my werewolf form btw, which solidifies my physical identity. means, for example Autumn Trees is a friesian horse and physically identifies as a horse, because that's his inner body and... it makes sense to identify as your body, doesn't it? ;)

So, as you can see, by far not all physical nonhumans are experiencing delusions about this and therefore there is absolutely no harm in supporting and accepting them.

but what about the clinical zoanthropes?

for this part, I want to preface it with saying I am not experiencing any delusions myself, nor am I a professional on this topic. all I say is based on what I know from professionals and delusional people alike on how to treat people with delusions. So take this with a grain of salt.

I agree with you, actively feeding into delusions is unhealthy and can do massive harm. but there is a middle ground between feeding into delusions and reality checking (which are both harmful). if someone tells you they physically can shapeshift into an animal, you will be able to see that you can not see it when they're supposedly shifted and no other person can, so you know "ah okay, they are experiencing a delusion". what you should do is focus more on the emotions they experience, than the actual subject of their delusion. are they extremely stressed because they are scared of being hurt by, say, the government or werewolf-hunters or whatever? try to make them feel safe, sit with them through their faer, ask what would help them to make their home feel more secure. this way, you are neither telling them "oh yes, they are out to get you, you are in danger" (= feeding into the delusion) nor making them feel like their emotions are not valid and stupid (= reality checking). do you get the general approach?

aside from the above, delusions are - as you probably know - unshakable beliefs anyway, they are facts to the people experiencing them, so no matter how you approach it, a clinical zoanthrope will 100% believe they can physically shapeshift anyway - depending on how you approach them they might just be more or less stressed about it.

it is completely in your rights to not want to interact with anyone of course, if physical nonhumans of any kind make you uncomfortable, nobody is forcing you to interact with them. but we are part of the alterhuman community and we're not hurting anyone :)

if you still have questions, don't hesitate to ask please!

Reality checking, delusion and all that aside. The way I see it is that it's not a matter of whether or not it's "okay." I really think that not wanting to feed into delusion comes from a good place, of genuinely wanting to be an ally to psychotic people and help people, so I'm going to approach this like that's your priority, OP, and try to help you attain it :> I'm gonna break this down into points

You cannot stop a delusional person from experiencing their delusion by refusing to feed into it. All that will do is make them feel gaslit or not want to trust you, because yeah, like the first commenter said, it is like a fact to them. I only started experiencing delusions relatively recently and I'm actually not as educated on this as I could be (even through personal experience) so for talk of reality checking I want to @lycaotic because she knows a lot about the psychological side of this

I can double bookkeep very well more often than I can't. Not everybody can do this. Most people who experience delusions actually probably can't. It's one of the hallmark traits of a delusion. Not everybody even considers it a delusion in the first place. Some people just are, and the response to them should be the same as the response to people who publicly claim psychosis, if the only difference is the diagnosis. These people are fully alienated by a community that "doesn't support" their existence because it might be harmful.

It is not about whether it's real, whether it's OK, whether it can be proven, whether it's real; this is our experience of the world, this is our reality. We can't change that easily and most of us can't change that at all, even if we get put on medications, which a lot of us don't want to. It's othering to claim we don't deserve access to the alterhuman community (or that we only do if we pretend to be non-physical therians, which isn't fair to us!) because of a disability we may or may not have. We're already a demographic of people unlikely to have in-person connections and support and it is more dangerous to gatekeep us from online spaces out of worry of hurting us by feeding delusion than it is to simply tolerate sharing them. They're our spaces too. We're not even a fad. We've always been here. It's good that alterhuman spaces are becoming more aware and accepting of psychotic people so that we feel safe discussing this and seeking resources.

Here's the most important thing though. It's not about whether it's OK because to an outsider, none of this is. If you've ever wanted a society that's chill with alterhumans (I have to assume everybody has at least at some point??) then in-fighting is not the way. A lot of regular therians might disagree with you that they "are human" at all you know, even if they don't see it as a physical thing. If two people say they are animals but one says they're a non-physical past life therian and the other says they have nonhuman DNA... that is the same picture to someone who hates us. Less focus on who's better optics for ableists and fascists please. More focus on how we can support each other and be a stronger community for it.

Just...be nice to people. Even if you don't understand someone's identity, even if you're scared of their identity because of what has been taught to you, even if you think "oh they are clearly XYZ" just be nice to them. Don't exclude them, don't call them fucking dangerous. Why does the community make it our business to need to "support" or I guess "deny" or "DNI" people based on their (usually harmless) subjective experience of life.

What is a physical alterhuman?

// pt: what is a physical alterhuman? //

[ DISCLAIMER: please do not take our words as the definitive fact. We are aware we could be wrong in some areas and appreciate corrections as long as they are in a civil tone. ]

Well, for starters; a physical alterhuman is someone who identfies as an alterhuman on a physical level, much like the name entails.

This can be experienced in many forms, and includes (but is not limited to!): being able to transform into an alterhuman being, the body being alterhuman, the "human" appearance being a veil or glamour, an alter in a collective who views the body as them when in front, etc.

A common misconception is that ALL physical alterhumans stem from delusions. This is not the case! However, those who are physically alterhuman due to delusions are still 100% valid and do not deserve to be ridiculed, hated, shunned, or any other harmful thing.

Physical alterhuman experiences are not all the same, it's always going to be a spectrum. Personally, for our collective, we are physically an anthropomorphic bat. This stems from many childhood traumas as well as things like our mental disabilities such as autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The "human" everyone sees from us is a glamour, or a veil, that we cannot remove, but that does not make us any less of an anthropomorphic bat.

I don't like how this has to be constantly said but; no, someone being physically alterhuman does not give you the right to shun them out of the community, to try to police their identity, or come to harmful conclusions. It isn't anyone's right to meddle into another being's business, especially when you are a stranger on the internet. As much as some of you may come from good intent, you're not really doing a nice thing by telling others to get help or trying to "reality check" them for who they are. We personally find it ridiculous that this statement has to be said.