#exolien

colour palette: navy, greys, muted purples and greens please avoid neons!

I've tried to make my own but they've never turned out right :c -@otherworldly-orbi

Exolien

[PT: Exolien]

An alterhuman label describing one who feels inherently alienated from humanness; one whose human experience feels more like an imitation or practiced act rather than a natural part of themselves. It may also describe one who feels they are a nonhuman piloting a human vessel.

Subject: Small talk

Observation: Humans initiate vocal exchanges about atmospheric conditions (“the weather”) despite how no new data is exchanged. Example: “It is cold today.” Confirmed. It is cold.

This ritual appears to function as a social comfort procedure rather than information transfer. If I respond with a brief meteorological analysis, humans perceive me as non-hostile. In other words, it is like announcing "I am not a threat".

I've noticed there's a lot of emphasis on aesthetics (don't get me wrong, I love aesthetics!!) which might make people feel more limited in expressing themselves. Part of why I don't identify as alienkin is because of the focus on the alien/space aesthetic which doesn't feel authentic to my identity. You do not have to follow one aesthetic or make sense to anyone but you! You don’t need to wear neon green or follow the stereotypes in the media of what an alien is ‘supposed’ to look like. Plenty of things on Earth already look alien!

Bugs experience the world very differently from humans. Their compound eyes, many legs, and antennae are very alienlike because they do not resemble humanoid beings. Humans often find them repulsive or unwanted because of this unfamilliarity. 

You might be inspired by bugs to express your alterhuman / exolien identity! Here are some ideas I had for expressing this:

 iridescent nail polish 

Antenna headband

Translucent layering like sheer sleeves to mimic wings

Patches at the knee or elbow to mimic exoskeletal joints

Keychains and charms that make noise as you walk like a cicada’s clicking

Arm and leg warmers to mimic the segmented limbs of insects

Butterfly/moth inspired eye makeup

Exolien fits under the alterhuman umbrella, alongside therians, otherkin and similar identities, but as its own distinct group.

Alienkin is identifying as an alien/extraterrestrial species. Otherkin is identifying as a non-human creature/concept. Exolien is feeling alienated from humanness and identifying as nonhuman.

Exoliens may call themselves 'aliens', enjoy space aesthetics, etc but this doesn’t make them alienkin. Some exoliens may not relate to space or aliens at all!

Subject: Decoding Questions

Observation: Humans sometimes formulate requests or demands as questions, despite no actual request for information. Example: “can you close the window?” appears to be a question, but functionally encodes an instruction.

In these cases, the expected response is not informational content (“Yes, I can”) but immediate execution of the implied action (closing the window).