Beings use the word “kinning” a lot and it kind of bothers me, and a lot of other otherkin and therians. Kin isn’t something you do, it’s what you are, you can’t choose it. In my opinion, “kinning” should be dropped and you should use these terms instead, as these have been accepted more widely and make much more sense than “kinnie” and other childish, unnecessarily quirky terms. There are three other words that sound much better!
|| SYNPATH || A being that an individual can relate to, but not identify AS. The relation can be for several reasons, such as sharing characteristics with a being or a concept that resonates with you. “My synpath is a wolf” is an example.
|| KITH || ANIMAL - HEARTED || OTHER - HEARTED || A being who has a strong connection with another being, but not quite identifying as it. They may experience shifts with their kithtype. “I am wolf-hearted” is an example.
|| COPINGLINK || A being who CHOOSES to identify AS a non-human being for fun or for a coping mechanism. This can be seen as a hobby or simply liking a different identity. Note it is still different than otherkin and therians as you CHOOSE to have a copinglink. “I have a wolf copinglink” is an example.
Some red flags I’ve seen when reading posts here on Tumblr have been really common. Some posts are rather suspicious. I’m not saying all of these beings are bad or fake, but there’s a higher chance for these types of beings to be kinnies and not actual otherkin. I don’t know someone elses identity and I don’t claim to either. These are just some common misrepresentations I’ve seen flying around everywhere…
1. Kinning, kins, and being a kinnie for fun. Otherkin and therian isn’t a choice. It is not a trend, a fashion style, a fetish, or any of that nonsense. Not petplay, not pet regression… oh hunny no. It’s an identity, not a hobby. It is not a coping mechanism either, same thing as having fun or escaping reality. Otherkin is reality. You might want to look into the “furry fandom” or other fandoms if you think it is for fun.
2. Choosing a kintype / theriotype. This is simply not possible. Just because you think lions are badass or raccoons are cute and quirky, doesn’t mean you get to pick it yourself and pretend to be one. It is an identity, not a choice.
3. Kintype / theriotype appearance and separate beings. There is a difference between “this is my theriotype” and “Oh this pic looks like me.” You don’t get to customize what your theriotype looks like. Sorry, but no, you aren’t a pure white wolf fox cat hybrid with four wings and neon blue eyes with magical powers named Luna. Kintype don’t have names. It is you! You can have a nickname like anyone else, but not your kintype. Your kintype is a general species, not an individual who’s separate from yourself!!
Oh goodness, I’ve gotten carried away ranting but these are some of the biggest things that bother me. There’s many more things that are misrepresentitive, like “kin is just quadrobics” or “I’m an angry animal who wants to kill every human ever” or “kin is just extreme furries” which is all false for many reasons… but that’s for another day. Let me rest before I handle those ones next.
Dysaltered,or dysalt for short, is a term for disabled alterhumans, such as those who feel as though their disability impacts their alterhumanity or vice versa, those who are alterhuman due to disability, or otherwise has disability linked with alterhumanity in a sense. You can also spell it as disaltered or disalt.
Dysaltered people do not need to be any specific kind of alterhuman, nor any specific kind of origin or experience, to be dysaltered. Those who are alterhuman and disabled, but that are not impacted by each other, can still use this if they so choose.
As a concept or community, dysaltered focuses specifically on disabled inclusion, accommodation, and discussion within the alterhuman community. It may also focus on experiences only disabled alterhumans have, such as the impact of mobility aids.
This is an all-inclusive label in which many experiences under both the alterhuman and disabled umbrella may fit, and gatekeeping is strictly not okay. Any disabilities (physical, mental, etc.) are welcome, as are any diagnosis status.
This is NOT synonymous with “[origin] caused alterhumanity.” Any kind of alterhuman, spiritual, psychological, or otherwise, may be disabled, and thus may be dysaltered.
Flag, symbol, and description are by me, whereas the name suggestion was by the lovely @sunshinesolaic. Subterms, alternate flags and alternate symbols are welcome!
If you feel like you want to use this, but have a specific alterhuman identity and don’t feel comfortable simply using “alterhuman,” you’re welcome to use dys- as a prefix, like dyskin, dyshearted, dyslink, dystelic, etc.
Allamorine: A term for alterhumans that love other alterhumans, exclusively or not. Can also be written as Ah4Ah, alt4alt, ahlah, altlalt, etc.
This may be used as a term for those who describe general attraction towards other alterhumans as an alterhuman individual, or it may be for those who prefer dating other alterhumans for safety, comfort, or other reasons. This term may or may not be exclusive, similar to things like sapphic, achillean, t4t, bi4bi, etc.
The symbol comes from two intersected alterhuman symbols, while the flag itself is heavily inspired by this alterhuman flag. “Allamorine” comes from the Greek word άλλα(meaning “other”) and the suffix -morine.
This term is inclusive of allalterhumans, regardless of the label(s) they use. It may be an “umbrella” for more specific terms, like kin-loving-kin or constel-loving-constel. “Alterhuman” can be replaced with something like alterbeing if you’d like.
think i’m gonna start using a “-like” suffix for ourselves to refer to when we’re… well. likesomething. it could probably sorta fit into hearted or synpath or something, maybe(?), but they just don’t seem to fit….. -like however i think does.
not sure how the heck i could describe it, besides just… when you are like something. maybe when you have similar mannerisms, traits, behaviors, etc. on an integral level, or something? idk. doesn’t matter much to me. it’s when you’re like something.
okay so this is my “"coining”“, but again it’s not really. official. not yet anyways. just something i wanna link to if i ever put it on my carrd or something. kinda like a draft maybe…? feedback is fine. this thing is a mess.
likeness refers to being, well, like something. the term "share a likeness with x” is very common, so it goes off of that mentality. it ignores the general idea of identifying with or as, because i feel it sort of treads between the two. it is intrinsic, but not necessarily by birth; you can become what you share a likeness with, sometimes. it’s usually something that just kinda happens without intent, but in some situations that could be different. typically/generally involuntary, but wiggle room exists.
i feel as though i am similar to what i share a likeness with. this may refer to one’s inner soul, or their being, for others it may be psychological or based on how one thinks, or it can be based on something else, like instinctual feelings, behaviors, mannerisms, and the like. as an example, someone who is dragonlike may feel that their soul shares a likeness with dragons, or is dragonlike. they may feel that they think similar to a dragon, or act similar to a dragon.
some things i’ve experienced:
i feel very symbolically tied to what i share a likeness with. i feel like it could representme.
i feel instinctsandurges tied to what i share a likeness with.
i feel as though i understand what i share a likeness with much better than most people.
i would enjoy having physical qualities of what i share a likeness with, though not necessarily fully. for instance, i don’t typically see myself as, or necessarily want to be, a wolf, but i would greatly enjoy having wolflike characteristics, such as their teeth, claws, and eyes. this is very subjective and other people could experience it much differently.
i feel as though, on some level, i could be categorized in a similar place to where what i share a likeness with is. this could be spiritual (similar souls), psychological (similar thinking), genetic (similar species), etc…
terminology wise, “likeness” is used like:
“sharing a likeness of/with x”
“likeness between the two”
“bearing the likeness of x”
“have a likeness of x”
“my likeness (of) x”
or similar.
furthermore,-like may be used as a suffix. you may also use -liken for further clarification, and -liken may be used to designate possession ie. “my liken.”
i am wolflike.
i am sharklike.
i am birdlike.
i am wolfliken.
i am sharkliken.
i am birdliken.
in terms of having a “full,” alterhuman term, i think i’d go with either ostalike(n) or otherlike(n). you can shorten it to just “liken.” i like ostalike because it doesn’t look too similar to otherlink, which i’m worried about with otherlike. “osta” comes from “ostalo,” which means “other” in bosnian. (wanted to pick a unique language; everyone picks latin, okay? )
i am well aware that it’s possible something like kin, therian, hearted, or god knows what else could potentially cover it. nothing feels right for me though. so i’m gonna be using this for my likeness.
I know there’s a lot of stuff regarding KFF, and the like. It’s an offensive term, but there’s a lot of well meaning people who are using those terms. So I kinda took a second to make one myself, and see how it comes out.
Lith
A lith is a person who takes large interest in, and/or relates to a object, animal, character, deity, etc. Liths tend to take a creative approach with this bond they have and make art, names, pronouns/genders, and more regarding this interest. It’s not super serious, you can do it for coping or for fun.
Here these flags, can’t decide on which one to use so have fun
And here’s a symbol
Idk if this is a good term idea or anything so this might not work but if it does then uh yay.
A subculture to describe those who have a chosen identity, often relating to something people tend to say can’t be chosen, such as gender identity, alterhumanity, or otherwise.
Examples Include:
CINN: Chosen-in-nature. Gender that were partly or wholly chosen.
Otherlink: One form of chosen alterhumanity.
Erstian: In which someone chooses their alterhumanity at first (such as a link or constel), and it later becomes unchosen.
Willogenic: Chosen plurality, in which someone creates, or “wills” their headmates into existence. Other terms include parogenic or thoughtform.
The flag and symbol:
The colors are meant to be reminiscent of the original, however it is updated and meant to give off a homey, “comfortable” feeling. The symbol represents the inner identity (outer circle), and choices that stretch out from it, represented from the arrows.
The stripes have no definitive meanings. However, the symbol (and questions about this identity) may be found below the cut.
I have edited this because the term “choicekin” is quite misleading for what it was supposed to mean, but it turns out someone has made an actual thought out, good alternative to the experience that is not disrespectful.
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