Showing posts with label alterhuman. Show all posts

I Am Elf

First impressions are important. What first impression do you give someone of your alterhumanity? This is a question I have to ask myself repeatedly, since Alt+H is my job. 'What do you do?' inevitably progresses to 'what's alterhumanity?' and 'so what are you?', but an elevator or a hairdressers appointment is not the time or place to get into exactly which 17 anime characters one identifies as.

Why not?

Well, in my specific case, there's a lot to go into. Not just in terms of diversity of 'species' but in the myriad ways they relate back to me. I'm not just otherkin or just fictionkin or just 'hearted. And even within those identities, I'm prone to atypical experiences, semantic boundary-breaking and weird interdependancies. Basically, it's a big old mess.

A deeply personal mess, at that. The process of my self discovery has taken me... literally upwards of a decade by this point. Ten years of frantic research, midnight existential crises, getting blackout drunk and watching Yu-Gi-Oh! - you know, soul searchy stuff. The quest for self knowledge has lead me to some of my most vulnerable moments and I'm not about to share that with the Tesco delivery guy.

So for a five minute conversation, you don't just have to water down what you are but also why and how. But all of it is important! Especially in my case where, even if i'm never going to see the person again, them thinking of me as human is a major point of dysphoria. it's for both my sake and theirs that i need to figure out what about my alterhumanity is important to convey up front and which word
most serves that.

Elf, so far, is the best compromise I've found.

You know what an elf is, right? Most everyone does, fantasy fan or no. They're pretty ubiquitous in the human collective consciousness, and whether your mind turns to Legolas or Taako or those little Keebler dudes, you're envisaging the core idea that I'm trying to convey. 'Elf' is something which wears a human face, but isn't. 'Elf' is also short enough to fit in a twitter bio.

That's the biggest thing that it conveys for me, the core of my alterhumanity in general: superficially homo sapiens with some fantastical differences. Physically, bodily, I'm just as deeply entrenched in this human existence as anyone else. Mentally, culturally, and spiritually, I'm on the outside, looking in. And elf can be both of these things at once. I prefer it over other dual-nature fantasy archetypes like, say, the lycanthrope, because of this. It's almost paradoxical that trying to express just how far removed from humanity I feel, I've chosen something so almost-similar. In this way, elf is like the uncanny valley of fantasy creatures.

That being said, I have to admit there's an element of respectability to it. 'I feel like an elf inside' is a lot more palatable to the average person than identifying as a "subhuman" animal or an "outlandish" fantasy creature. But it's not that I want to make myself easy to digest - when I have five minutes to make or break the concept of alterhumanity to someone, I'm just trying to get my foot in the door any way I can. Despite what we wish, most people can't have a radical idea front-loaded onto their brain like that. So we take baby steps: as the marketing advisors would call it, elfhood is my loss leader.

And it is very much something I can lead with, on a visual level. For me, presenting as something I specifically identify as has always come secondary to just looking not human. So, I'm the proud owner of some latex ear tips which, while subtle, make a big difference to my profile, and I'm looking at getting some blackout contacts next. Some fangs would be nice, perhaps, and a little bit of contouring goes a long way too. It's all very minor - yet again we find that elfhood takes the familiar sight of a human face and subverts it just enough to inspire something fantastical.

Now, you may be thinking that pointed fangs and abyssal eyes don't sound very elf-like. This is when I say with a wry smile, ah, but I'm a dark elf. A much less familiar concept to the average person but you can probably guess from the name what it means. If someone's curiosity is piqued enough to ask about that subtle detail, that's my window to invite them down the rabbit-hole of further discussions about my alterhumanity.

Because, I confess, just 'elf' doesn't quite cut it either. The public image of an elf is that of purity, serenity, more-than-humanity. That's all well and good, but it's not really me. I'm messy and feral and downright monstrous sometimes. An elf, yes, but... dark. And if elves in this self-metaphor stand for the human perception of the fantastical, then dark elves are the reality: more flawed, less romanticized, more whole.

So that's one of the reasons I prefer to align myself with the elf's more shadowy counterpart. The other big one is that it just feels more correct. Stripping away all the narratives and metaphors and meaningful correspondences, drow and kaldorei and dunmer feel more like family than eladrin and quel'dorei and altmer. All the comparisons in the world don't mean anything if in my heart I don't feel like an elf - which I do, but the dark elves especially are my elves, their culture is my culture, their face is my face.

That caveat is particularly important because identities shouldn't have to mean something. A lot of nonhuman folks have the problem of trying to convince people that they really do consider themselves to be so, and it's not an analogy for another part of themselves or a role they take on or whatever. In a perfect world, I'd still probably have the issue of condensing my identity into something suitable for a five minute conversation, sure, but without the added stressor of which word can I say that'll make them take me seriously?

But first impressions are important, and once you've made the right one, you're usually good. So either we meet once, and the taxi driver or delivery guy or friend of a friend of a friend goes about the rest of their life having met an elf that one time, or a relationship progresses to the point where I can elaborate on the rest of the stuff. I'm happy with being an elf, for the most part, and that's the important thing. That finally, I'm introducing myself when I introduce alterhumanity to people. Not an approximation, or a half-truth, or a facade, but myself: an elf.

Monsters vs Metaphors: A Complicated Case of Fantastical Identity

I've been plagued by a specific issue for a while. I run into much more frequently than I ever expected. I find it in my talks with copinglinkers, in essays about the confrontation of transgender with 'transspecies', in panels about monstrosity as a vehicle for queer expression. The thing is, I am a metaphor by nobody's admission but my own. And when I see people applying the word 'monstrous' to movements, identities, concepts, in an analogous sense, I feel betrayed. Used, even. Am I right to feel like this?

Not many people seem to react as strongly as me, but the people I spoke to about this did voice some related frustrations. Literature about nonhuman creatures abounds, but how many stories have you seen about nonhuman-identifying people? The almost-but-not-quite representation is almost as bad as none at all - especially since, as many people described, there's a feeling of guilt in stretching an analogy to fit yourself when it was written about someone else.

Or, in some situations, the exact opposite - "that was my real, actual life," said several people about fictional narratives that are popularly believed to be 'about' something else. It can feel invasive and patronising to have your identity scrutinized and picked apart to "find out" what it "really means".

Source: Amy Phillips

So we end up feeling coerced into specific ways of being or expressing ourselves. I mean this both in the sense of, say, an elf feeling compelled to live up to the stereotype of 'elfness', and in a much more general way. "We know we're human really" and "otherkin are just people who take roleplaying too far" and similar go-to lines for both besmirching and 'defending' the community, they're all products of the idea that monsters only exist in the fictional, allegorical sense. We fall prey to it ourselves, too, and we internalize it. But we do not end with the closing of a book. We can't choose to disengage from what we are.

That being said, there are alterhumans for whom their identity is symbolic. It's perfectly legitimate to call yourself a demon because what 'demon' represents resonates with you on an analogous level. I recognize this, because I have similar feelings myself. I revel in my draconity being a symbol for change as much as I delight in the feeling of simply being a dragon. The power of monsters as symbols should not be devalued, and I think that we'd all be worse off if they were.

But it's kinda hypocritical, isn't it? Monster as metaphor being hailed as empowering while nonhuman-identifying people are ridiculed. I could call myself a monster with regard to my queerness (in a personally reclamatory sense, of course) and be called brave and subversive but gods forbid I take it any further than that. Gods forbid I actually, literally consider myself inhuman.

Source: David Malkoff

I think the most prominent example of this in current culture is the resurgence of tabletop RPGs. I saw a tumblr post claiming "D&D is part of gay culture now" and while I absolutely agree with and support that (gods know I've never made a cishet NPC in my life) I feel like I'm forced to pretend that's the real reason I love to DM and not because elves and dragons and monsters feel like home.
I have a blessed opportunity to create and enact completely nonhuman ways of thinking, acting and believing on a grand cultural scale and just have that be accepted as normal. Of course the orc said that, he's an orc! But he's also a person, unique and multifaceted like every member of his tribe, and best of all, he can be a person without being human.

Is it simply a matter of a lack of nonhuman representation, then? Because if the whole thing weren't so hypocritical, if nonhumans, real nonhumans, were as well regarded as our fictional counterparts, would I still be so bothered? I don't think I can know the answer to that as it stands, because I literally can't fathom what it's like to be widely represented like that - but I have a feeling it would help.

The issues surrounding nonhuman representation, awareness and acceptance are highly contentious even within the community currently, so I think it's safe to say the normalization of nonhuman identities isn't coming any time soon. But in the meantime, what do we do?

I don't think anyone can stop us seeing ourselves in these things, and feeling very strongly about them at that - nor can we really prevent the opposite scenario. I think it's very much possible to uplift and support people who are empowered through monstrous metaphors while advocating that we're equally respected for literally being monsters. And if, in the face of a lack of representation, I can decide the Babadook's gay and that's that, then I want to be able to do the same for my nonhumanity. Sometimes, I just want my monsters to be relatable without being metaphors, and to be people without being human.

What do you think? What media have you encountered that you can relate to your alterhumanity, and what was it 'supposed' to be interpreted as? How do you feel when nonhumans are used a poetic vehicle for other ideas? Leave us a comment and let us know.

To Be or Not to be an Onion: An Alterhuman Review of Shrek

The 2001 animated film Shrek has become so well-known that it barely needs an introduction. This irreverent yet sincere movie about an ogre and his swamp has been delighting audiences of all ages for over 15 years, with its songs and sayings even attaining meme status. Though Shrek is largely loved for its comedic value, and certainly not meant to be taken too seriously; I would like to take a moment to review the movie from an alterhuman perspective, and compare it to a film that I reviewed before, David Cronenberg's rendition of The Fly (tokophobia and body horror cw at the link).

Fiona and Donkey have a heart-to-heart chat

In Shrek as in The Fly, a major character is cursed (by magic or by science) to be a human-nonhuman hybrid being. Both characters (Princess Fiona and Seth Brundle) struggle with their hybrid identity, often rejecting the nonhuman aspect of themselves. However, while in The Fly being a hybrid- and ultimately becoming totally nonhuman - is portrayed as increasingly negative; in Shrek, nonhuman identity is more complex. It does help that Shrek takes place in a fantasy setting, where sapient nonhumans like ogres and talking donkeys exist; however, even in this magical world nonhumans are often marginalized, especially those viewed as unintelligent and dangerous, like ogres.

So, both Seth and Fiona are cursed to become nonhuman, and be outcast from human society as a result of their unacceptable states. Ogres and giant man-flies are both seen as lacking the virtues of humanity- kindness, compassion, intelligence, warmth- and capable only of the viciousness their ugly appearances might suggest. In The Fly, this assumption turns out to be true- Seth, in his transformation, becomes cruel and selfish. In Shrek, however, this is consistently shown as a shallow perspective that does not capture the complex layers of our nonhuman protagonists.

Why the stark contrast? It could be due to a difference in genre- Shrek largely being a comedy and The Fly a horror film. It is better for the shock of horror if something bland and familiar warps into a heinous monstrosity. Yet comedy doesn't always hinge on characters having hidden depths and overcoming others' prejudices. I think that a big reason for the difference in the treatment of hybrid beings in these two films, beyond just genre, is the ways they are willing to portray the nonhuman. Cronenberg's Brundlefly becomes inhuman, and thereby inhumane; while Shrek's outlook seems to be the opposite- that human morality and perspectives are not the only ones worth valuing.

This idea can be seen incarnate in the form of the villain Lord Farquaad. Entirely human himself, he disdainfully seeks to remove any nonhuman fairy tale creatures from his kingdom. He sees them as nonhuman in the sense of The Fly- not just other than human, but less than human as well. When Fiona transforms in front of him, he becomes disgusted; by being even partly nonhuman, she is unworthy of his respect, attention, or love. When Shrek kisses her and breaks the curse, turning her permanently into an ogre, he assures her that she is beautiful the way she is. Even if ogres are ugly from a human perspective, from an ogre's perspective they are not; one need not be human or share their values to feel love and lead a meaningful existence, worthy of respect.

The moral of Shrek, I think, can be summed up in a quote from the ogre himself: "I don't care what everybody likes, ogres are not like cakes." Cakes may be many-layered and well-loved by others, but sweet and popular isn't how Shrek lives his life, or wants to. He is a humble, smelly onion, and I have nothing but earnest praise for this goofy movie with the guts to let Shrek and Fiona stay themselves: complex and monstrous.

Images courtesy of Disney Screencaps.

"Machine Subjectivity:" The Life and Times of Internet Bots

Internet bots are ubiquitous, from algorithm-run Twitter accounts to chat server assistants and web crawlers racking up page-views. We are more or less familiar with what they do- performing basic tasks online. But have we stopped to really consider what they are? Last year, experts gathered at a Data Society workshop to do just that.

Their conclusions? Bots aren't just inert programming carrying out functions; they have a rich societal context, and even a unique umwelt, or way of experiencing and interacting with their world. Given that so much discussion of artificial intelligence seems to focus on how robots measure up to humans, this series of articles was a nice change of pace; trying to understand bots in their own contexts, as non-human actors with "lives" all their own.

How to Think About Bots

This "Botifesto" by multiple authors focuses on the moral and legal implications of bots' semi-autonomous nature.

What is it like to be a bot?

Samantha Shorey considers the enchantment of human actions, and the worldview of bots.

On Paying Attention: How to Think about Bots as Social Actors

When is a speed bump like a bot? When they both affect social behavior, m.c. elish suggests.

Our friends, the bots?

Bot-creator Alexis Lloyd encourages us to think about the uniqueness of "machine subjectivity."

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Where Are All The Postfurries?

Postfurry: a word just as nebulous as 'alterhuman' and just as intentionally so. First spotted in the early 2000s in the form of a circle of content creators, it was a 'micro-movement' that deigned to challenge, expand and play with the definition of 'furry'. The few public facing resources are barely organized but some phrases catch the eye:

"using postfurry to interrogate the boundaries of "human" behavior and how real/necessary they really are"

"mental, narrative, and ritual transformation as a lifestyle, with animal people as the preferred front-end"

"opening up a category of "socially non-human""

Sounds familiar, right? Sounds cool, right?!

A typical example of a 'postfursona':
a lava lamp vixen by Egypt Urnash

When I discovered the concept, I was ecstatic. I wanted to consume as much information about it as possible, but there was... nothing. I applied for a mailing list that didn't have enough public information for me to tell if it was actually active or not and got nothing. I looked for forums or IRC chats. None!

An entire empire had lived and died before I even learned its name, and now I stood, a wistful archaeologist, trying to fit enough scattered pieces together to tell the world what greats had come before it. Yeah, I'm majorly romanticizing this, but I was sincerely devastated to find something that combined all of my interests only to basically find out it doesn't exist any more.

Or so I thought. I found an essay on it dated January of this year earlier in the week that re-sparked my interest. Evidently, people were still interested in the concept. I revisited the old wiki and found, gasp, a Discord link. Hello! I said, I never thought I'd see a postfurry community in this day and age, but here I've found you! An admin responded thusly:

"i don't think any of us realised we were lost"

So what's up with that?

There are reasons the postfurry community might be so obscure, not least that its ideas are... pretty inaccessible to the average person. It is deeply philosophical, absurdist and abstract. And most people don't want to have to take a crash course in postmodernism just to understand how to play with imaginary animals. That's understandable! The appeal of the furry fandom for a lot of people is in its low barrier for entry, and postfurry kind of turns that on its head. It's not elitism - they're just playing with some inherently complex ideas.

Becoming Oneself by Grey White

That being said, there is an intentional reclusiveness I've noticed. Whether it's because a strong sense of community and deep interpersonal relationships are important to the ethos or they're just looking to shield themselves from ridicule I don't know, but it's enough to keep a significant amount of genuinely interested persons out, if my own experience is anything to go by.

But I sympathize, because it's easy to draw parallels here between postfurry and alterhumanity here. They're both about interrogating the model of humanity. And that's a scary thing to do, because it necessitates the questioning a lot of really fundamental social norms. It requires an active and ongoing effort to internalize contextuality and intersection and gray areas. You need a rudimentary understanding of ontology and semantics. Then you have to put that all together and figure out how that applies to one of the most deeply rooted categories of all time: humanity. This is not easy stuff to teach.

Nevertheless, we should try. The postfurry community has something important to bring to the alterhuman community. It has something important to bring to the people, like me, who think similarly on their own and don't realize there's a group to share their ideas with, and it has something important to bring to the people who have never considered such ideas before, even if, and maybe especially if, they're not alterhuman themselves.

What do you think? Have you come across postfurry before, maybe even found some good resources that I haven't? Do you think that a postfurry identity is an inherently alterhuman one, or that postfurry is worth mentioning when talking about alterhumanity in general? Lets us know in your comments.

If you're looking for more info on the subculture, check out the Postfurry Wiki.

I Am Not Human

This is something I have been meaning to write for a good long time, but have struggled to find motivation and clarity to write it before now.

I am not human.

And I don’t mean this just in the sense of my spirit is not human, or my mind works in ways that feel inhuman, I mean that I am nonhuman in my whole being. Unapologetically.

In almost every refutation of misinformation from anti-kin, one will find “we all know we’re human!” in infinite variation. Even to the degree of “those who physically identify as nonhuman are not otherkin.” I understand where the sentiment comes from, considering we constantly struggle to keep p-shifters out and refute ideas that clinical lycanthropy is the same as what we experience. But there comes a point where I have to wonder if we've internalized this in a way that means we don’t take being nonhuman seriously. And I propose that perhaps viewing yourself as "physically nonhuman" doesn't mean the same thing as "I am not Homo sapiens."

I see it a lot in the idea that ‘species dysphoria’ is a transphobic way to describe the discomfort and distress of your body not matching your perceived species and body map, and in refutations that it exists at all. I see it in every “all otherkin know they’re really human” and especially in “being human is part of being otherkin.” I see it in forced human positivity posts, urging people to “accept that you’re human now and learn to love what your human body can do!” and in “Whatever you once were, you’re a human now, and you can’t let being kin become your life.”

And don’t get me wrong. I understand where all of these things come from. I understand that there’s variety of experience. But I also see this being pushed on others as the respectable way to be otherkin. The way where it isn't a huge part of your life, doesn't overlap with gender or orientation or any other part of your identity, doesn't cause you distress when called human, doesn't lead you to present in a genuinely nonhuman way, and especially doesn't lead you to call your body not human.

But here I am. I've been almost a decade in this community. I've held the perspectives in the past that have come to leave me out and make me consider how people really view our experiences. And they've changed. I’m not a ‘respectable’ nonhuman. I call my body nonhuman because my experience of self and world is nonhuman. Because I am not human, and this being my body, neither is it. I compare it to my trans experience in that way--the linguistic dysphoria is the same. I know what my body looks like, but what I call it is going to reflect how I view and experience it, not how you or anyone else does. And that deserves to be respected as much as anything else.

In fact, my nonhumanity is part of my transness, and the dysphoria I experience from both things can and has been linked. How does a thing that is not human experience and relate to a uniquely human idea of gender? Awkwardly. Or not at all. Or it refuses. I use “it” pronouns for about the same reason, and as part of combating that linguistic dysphoria. (But remember, no otherkin uses pronouns based on their kintype, right?)

Perhaps more drastically, in my case, is the desire for species modification. I have begun to and will continue to take steps to present myself as more physically nonhuman-looking. I plan very seriously on having my ears pointed. I will build digitigrade stilts to make up for the lack of paw-feet that I feel need to be there more than anything else. I may yet have dental work done. And above all, I continue to look for more ways to become comfortably less-human as part of my androgyny--to make people ask “what the hell is it?” on more than one level.

Im not human because “human” means so much more than just being a member of the species Homo sapiens sapiens. How can something be “subhuman” or “more than human” if that’s the case? How can we “dehumanize” someone, and what does that mean? Why does being “human” equal being compassionate, kind, relatable, and “inhuman” equal monstrous, evil, sadistic. If we spend so much time wondering “what does it mean to be human,” why can I not spend just as much time wondering what it means not to be? When I feel entirely alienated from the cultures, histories, values, experiences, or ideas of humans--even of groups of humans I should technically belong to--why should I be forced to call myself one of them and return to feeling alone and entirely unwelcome?

I may be Homo sapiens, but I will never be human.

Vinny Ohh Is The Genderless Alien We All Wish We Could Be

Source: Vinny Ohh, Instagram

Makeup artist Vinny Ohh has been getting a lot of media attention after a series of interviews where they detailed their extensive plans for surgery to become sexless. "The overall image I want to do is an alien ... I do kind of look like a Martian. I have a really big head, no eyebrows and I've just been connecting with that," they told the Daily Mail. Reactions have been mixed, but we here at Alt+H are in love.

Vinny has already undergone surgery to shape their face into something much more extraterrestrial. They also frequently wear sclera contacts, fake talons and vibrant makeup to further accentuate their alien look. It's a sign of hope for many alterhumans who feel that their outsides don't match their insides - there are things you can do to look less human, and there are people who will help and support you in doing it.

The revolution won't be coming any time soon. The subject of species dysphoria is still a controversial one within the alterhuman community, to say nothing of its reputation outside of it. But people like Vinny Ohh are making it their mission to normalize all kinds of expression of self.

"I do it to inspire the world in a certain way," they said, "I want people to stop labelling others or putting them in boxes."

Marcela Anglesias, producer of Plastics of Hollywood added, "We have all these people, the freaks, the weirdos, and we want to make society understand them."

While it's certainly not a small step for Vinny, it could also end up being a giant leap for alterhuman kind.

You can learn more about Vinny Ohh in this Elite Daily report, this ITV interview, or their Instagram.

Source: Puzzler4879 on Flickr

Spring has sprung, and so has another monthly question! This March, the community wants to know:

How does your alterhumanity interact with other parts of your identity?

How does it intersect with (for example) your gender, your spirituality, your nationality?

And if you're, say, both therian and fictionkin - how do those relate to each other?

(Alright, that might be paraphrasing the actual voted-on question a little, but we wanted to make sure that people who don't have multiple different types of alterhuman identity were able to answer too.)

You can answer via tumblr or twitter; you can link us to your writing on your own site; and you can join us for the round-table discussion on our Discord server on March 10th, 5pm Eastern Time (see it in your local time here).

And just like last time, at the end of the month, we'll round up our favourite thoughts and show them off here. If your answer is particularly thoughtful, entertaining, or inspiring, that could be you!

We're looking forward to seeing what you bring to the table this month!

Pssst, if you already have an idea for next month's question, let us hear it!

It’s Official: Otherkin DO Real

According to an Otherkin News tweet on February 25th, the word ‘otherkin’ was added to the Oxford Dictionary, possibly earlier this month. The definition can be read here: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/otherkin

What does this development mean for otherkin and alterhuman communities? On the one hand, it is a powerful sort of validation that knowledge of one’s identity has become widespread enough to warrant inclusion in a dictionary, one of our society’s official arbiters of language. It makes a statement: This is not just some ‘made-up word,’ it has a dictionary definition. Pedantic naysayers can be redirected to highly-regarded source: Read ‘em and weep.

On the other hand, I don’t need the Oxford Dictionary’s approval to know that I exist, and that my feelings are real and meaningful. Otherkin have defined themselves as such since the 1990s, and were just as solidly extant then as we are now that we are officially defined. Further, definitions can be limiting, especially socially official ones such as dictionaries dole out: Do we have to conform exactly to this definition to be ‘valid,’ or is there still room for flux and change?

What you think? Share your opinions with us about ‘otherkin’ being added to the Oxford Dictionary!

Painting a Thousand Words: Is a symbol useful for the alterhuman community?

People use labels like ‘alterhuman’ to seek out people with similar experiences for the sake of community and learning. So I think it’s pretty well-established that folks find the word alterhuman useful - but what about a symbol representing it? This has been on my mind the past couple of days.

First of all, what benefit does a symbol have over a word?

For me, it adds a little bit of symbolic complexity to a word. Because a picture can be interpreted in a whole bunch of ways that a word can’t, it evokes emotions and associations much more readily, and can capture a much more robust idea of a concept than a word can if you do it right. That’s art! And that’s beautiful.

Plus, it’s just nice to look at. If you’re like me and you like your clothes/accessories/bathroom towels to represent your inner self, a symbol lends itself much more nicely to a t-shirt design than a word. It’s accessorizable.

Because of this, it can be a great way to broadcast to just the right people who you are. That neat badge on your messenger bag looks like just a cool design to a layperson, but if another alterhuman sees that, then hey! Suddenly you both know you’re not alone in this place.

Of course, this can be a double edged sword. A symbol can be misinterpreted and appropriated and commodified by someone who isn’t aware of its consensus meaning and just thinks it looks pretty. To ascribe meaning to a symbol like this is to sanctify it, and that means it can be desecrated too. Is that worth it for us?

Otherkin have the elven star and therians the theta-delta. Should alterhumanity have one too? I don’t know if the benefits outweigh the drawbacks here: that’s up to you, and I really want to hear your thoughts on it.

Do you want an alterhuman symbol? If yes, what do you think it could be?

Tweet, reblog, comment, email, and let us know.

To Live and Die Well Together- A Review of Staying with the Trouble by Donna Haraway

Staying with the Trouble: Making Kin in the Chthulucene is Donna Haraway’s latest book, and a great read for humans and non-humans alike. Accessible and interesting, it revolves around the inter-relatedness of everything on Earth, and our “response-ability”- ability to respond to and be responsible for- as part of the ongoing story of life on this planet. Using the metaphor of string-figure games that intertwine many individuals, linking them and their actions together; as well as other “SF” words like Science Fiction and Speculative Fabulation (a type of fantasy writing, often feminist), Haraway deftly exposes human exceptionalism, colonialist oppression, and environmental exploitation as different but related burdens upon the earth and its panoply of critters.

A word on ‘critters.’ Haraway uses this word to include “microbes, plants, animals, humans and nonhumans, and sometimes even to machines.” (p. 169) In mixing humans in with all non-human nature, Haraway immediately calls ideas of human exceptionalism into question, leveling the field of existence so that all earthlings can begin to play well together.

Multispecies Cat’s Cradle, by Nasser Mufti- an illustration from the book

So, how can all critters live, play, and die well together on an increasingly damaged Earth? Haraway proposes ‘sympoesis’- which means “becoming with.” Humans- and alterhumans- must learn from “ongoing pasts” to work and become with other critters in “thick presents and still possible futures” (p. 133).

It is well enough to be “with,” but what must we “become?” Instead of being humans, lofty and above all the rest of nature, Homo sapiens must become chthonic, earthly. Instead of humans, we must be humus. This is not to say that humans must all die and decompose for the Earth to heal, to become literal compost. No, to become humus, or compost, is to become richly intermixed with all of life, to perform sympoesis and “become-with” the other critters living, taking, giving, and dying together on Earth. To enrich the earth, and Earth, again, compost we must.

These are the deeply interwoven thoughts that Haraway encourages us to think our thoughts with; and stories of sympoesis are what should inspire other stories. It matters what inspires us, what informs our worldviews, where our ideas and thoughts come from. And think we must! It is no secret that our planet is imperiled by uncritical exploitation by humans- of other humans, of other critters, of resources and habitats. To heal, we must heal together; becoming whole again with our fellow critters on Earth.

Haraway ends her book with some speculative fabulation of her own, a tale of a possible future in which humans come together as humus in Communities of Compost, working to voluntarily reduce human numbers to a sustainable number though lowered birth rates, and to further make “humusity” response-able to the world by making some of their children “symbionts” with imperiled critters.

With stories and thoughts like these, humans and alterhumans can fill our bags with tools for creating and becoming-with a present and future that is habitable for all critters. Instead of the old tale of exploitation, extraction, and inevitable ‘progress,’ we must tell a new story of symbiosis, sympoesis, and multi-species string figures. It matters how we approach change, and change we must.

Jewelry for Aliens Made by Nadja Buttendorf

Image Source

Do cyborgs dream of silicone ears? Do aliens yearn for human fingers? In a way both playful and insightful, jewelry artist Nadja Buttendorf questions the givens of the human body and its relationship with technology. Says Buttendorf:

“[High tech cybernetic implants are] just a very tiny part of talking about cyborgs. There has always been technology shaping the understanding of the human body and the perception of the environment.”

With such cyborg jewelry as EARrings, FINGERrings, and magnetic nail ‘explants,’ Buttendorf blurs the boundary between the human and its creations, and invites speculation into a future where cyborgs might want to try on the human body from time to time, just as much as some humans want to add cybernetic technology to themselves.

Though it superficially seems silly, Buttendorf’s art is more than just whimsy; it is a dialog with alterity, a making strange of the givens of humanity, a welcoming of perspectives other than the normatively human.

*Light body horror/uncanny valley content warning for all links*

Heart is Where the Home is

Among alterhumans, a common feeling seems to be that certain places, imagery, objects, and music evoke a sensation not unlike heartedness. As with heartedness, these places and items feel familiar and integral, but are not things one identifies as. They may not even feel like places that one is from.

Nevertheless, such imagery resonates with such familiarity that it can be considered an aspect of one’s identity. @vagabondwyrm suggested the term ‘hearthome’ for this phenomenon in the Alt + H Discord server; the term was broadly agreed upon as a good descriptor.

The feeling of hearthome can vary widely. For some, it is a fictional universe that reminds one of home, but which one has never lived in. For others, real places may evoke a similar feeling; something about them resonates with one’s sense of self.

For a personal example, I feel a strong connection with Skyrim of the Elder Scrolls series. It feels like somewhere I could be from, but to my knowledge I have no kin- or hearttypes from that universe. Nevertheless, it is somewhere that feels like home. I therefore consider it a hearthome.

As we learn more about others’ experiences with feelings of hearthomes, our understanding will likely evolve, and a more solid definition be given. If you have any questions, clarifications, or experiences of your own that you’d like to share, please reach out to us!

The Philosophy of Panpsychism

Where do we draw the line between what is conscious and what is not? While many people no longer assume that only humans have minds, how far are we willing to push out that line in the sand between the conscious and the inanimate? Many believe that plants have consciousness, a mind that can exist without a brain. Some believe that the Earth could be considered alive, as well as stars and galaxies.

But what about rocks? Could anything be considered to have its own consciousness, its own mind? The idea is not as wild as it may first sound. Panpsychism, the idea that all matter is endowed with consciousness, suggests that having a brain is not the only way to have a mind.

With the controversy that surrounds identities such as conceptkin and objectkin, perhaps it time we asked ourselves: What do we define as having consciousness, a soul, or a mind? And, perhaps more importantly, why?

Follow the link below for a brief philosophy article on panpsychism and the secret lives of rocks.

The Private Lives of Rocks by Jon David

The Birth of the ‘kin is the Death of the Author

Source: US National Library of Medicine Digital Collection

...Or is it? Fictionkin find themselves in a unique situation here. Hell, some would hold that our very existence is a copyright violation. Maybe it’s not quite that extreme, but the dignity of the artist and the dignity of the fictionkin are often pitted against each other. Do we have inherently conflicting needs? What can we do if that’s the case? Let’s take a moment to examine this.

Keep Reading »

An Open Letter To My Fellow Godshard

Godly in spirit, mortal in body. Flesh so soft I wonder how it could hold me in. Some days (most days) I wish I could swallow nebulas and turn the universe inside out. I want to scream and break shit and demand that people listen to me. But I don’t. Why? Don’t I deserve it?

Well, no. The me that is writing this post is not the me who is up in the clouds making the sun rise. The you that is reading this post is not the you who sleeps in the earth and makes the trees grow. And when people pray for rain they’re not praying to Michael from Dublin. They’re praying to, y’know, the gods.

But we’re one and the same! To an extent, of course we are. But in whatever way, by whatever means, we are separate from our godhood in this moment. If we weren’t, there wouldn’t be any reason to call ourselves alterhuman, right? There exists a schism between the awareness of Jacadrach, Lord of Change and Jac who writes Alt+H posts for a living. This division of ego must be acknowledged if we’re to live good lives.

Because it doesn’t matter how holy holy holy we are or were or will be. We’re just as ensorcelled in flesh and feelings as everyone else is right now. Our memories are just as reliable, our bodies just as capable, our beliefs just as provable. That is to say: not very! And to think of ourselves any more highly than that isn’t a problem because it’s potentially wrong, but because it’s potentially dangerous.

This is how the bad guys get their foot in the door. Claiming divine authority has lead to wars, abuse, and plenty of tumblr discourse. We are in a unique position, as supposed gods in human bodies, where we’re equally at risk of being victims or perpetrators of harm because of our beliefs. We are in a unique position where we have to take extra responsibility to stop either of those things from happening.

All it takes is a little mindfulness about your actions. Think about who you’re extending the olive branch to when you’re looking for angels who remember you, for people to worship you, for diviners to advise you. Think too, of the implications of spreading warnings of astral wars, issuing commandments, or condemning mortals. Having an omnipotent ID is no excuse for eschewing research and verification.

In all of these spiritual interactions and relationships, there is a power balance which you have to carefully manage. Keep your ego in check and make sure you don’t end up under someone else’s thumb - or they under yours - and use your unique perspective of divinity and mortality to make people’s lives better instead of worse.

Because with great power comes great responsibility, right?

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I Am Elf

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Adult Fiction: Fifteen Dogs

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Where Are All The Postfurries?

"using postfurry to interrogate the boundaries of "human" behavior and how real/necessary they really are"

"mental, narrative, and ritual transformation as a lifestyle, with animal people as the preferred front-end"

"opening up a category of "socially non-human""

"i don't think any of us realised we were lost"

I Am Not Human

Recommended Reads - Spring Edition

Fiction: Shifting Hearts

Nonfiction: Staying with the Trouble

Webcomic: Skin Deep

How do you outwardly express your alterhumanity?
If you're an artist, does it come through in your art?

Vinny Ohh Is The Genderless Alien We All Wish We Could Be

How does your alterhumanity interact with other parts of your identity?

It’s Official: Otherkin DO Real

Painting a Thousand Words: Is a symbol useful for the alterhuman community?

To Live and Die Well Together- A Review of Staying with the Trouble by Donna Haraway

Jewelry for Aliens Made by Nadja Buttendorf

Heart is Where the Home is

The Philosophy of Panpsychism

The Birth of the ‘kin is the Death of the Author

An Open Letter To My Fellow Godshard

"Connection to Others"

Young Adult Fiction: Unnatural Creatures

Nonfiction: The Universe of Things

Adult Fiction: Fifteen Dogs

Ultimate 30 Day Alterhuman Challenge!

"using postfurry to interrogate the boundaries of "human" behavior and how real/necessary they really are"

"mental, narrative, and ritual transformation as a lifestyle, with animal people as the preferred front-end"

"opening up a category of "socially non-human""

"i don't think any of us realised we were lost"

Fiction: Shifting Hearts

Nonfiction: Staying with the Trouble

Webcomic: Skin Deep

How do you outwardly express your alterhumanity? If you're an artist, does it come through in your art?

How does your alterhumanity interact with other parts of your identity?

"Connection to Others"

How do you outwardly express your alterhumanity?
If you're an artist, does it come through in your art?