Alterhumanity is the state of identifying as something not "normally" considered human in some way, including both nonhumanity and being "abnormally" human. This covers otherkin, otherheartedness, otherlinkers, systems, furry lifestylers, flickers, archetropes, vampires and much more. Anyone who feels they fit the label is included--nonhuman, 100% human, a mix of both, or even outside of the binary of human/nonhuman.

As mentioned, there are many subsections of alterhumanity and not everyone's experiences with it will be the same. Because alterhumanity is such a broad category, asking an alterhuman about their experiences, if they're willing to share, is usually the best way to go about learning.

For some ideas about what could be included though, and the original idea behind the term, you can check out the coining post here!

There are more symbols for subtypes of alterhumanity, and you can see those on their respective FAQ pages.

It's normally a very personal process! Because alterhumanity is so broad, dissecting every which way you could possibly be alterhuman and how to tell would take up 99% of this page and take forever to write. So, as a general tip--learn about others experiences with alterhumanity. Look into personal websites, personal blogs, artworks, info pages, chatrooms, forums... Anything where there's alterhumans! Learn what you relate to, what you don't, and see where you end up. Keeping a journal of your experiences can be really helpful both in remembering your experiences and helpful for looking back on them years in the future when maybe something's changed.

Oftentimes, a symptom of being a thing is wondering if you are one. This isn't always the case, but if you're having thoughts and feelings about the concept, definitely try looking around to see if any shoe fits.

Essentially, you can't, really! Unless someone tells you (either verbally or by maybe wearing overtly alterhuman symbols), there's no inherent way to distinguish an alterhuman from anyone else around you. This might mean a friend or family member is alterhuman, or maybe that cashier at a store you go to, or someone you passed on the street last week. We live lives the same sorts of ways other people tend to!

Some alterhumans choose to wear symbols such as the alt-key, otherkin star, theta-delta or plural rings to subtly show alterhuman pride, in an "if you know, you know" sort of way. Someone wearing things like animal ears, a tail, an animal mask, or a fursuit could mean they're alterhuman, and a lot of alterhumans do these things! However, those things aren't always alterhumanity related and they're definitely not alterhuman exclusive, so try not to assume everyone wearing any animal stuff is a part of the community.

Because alterhumans tend to look like any other person, it's actually hard to tell if there are any in your area. Which can be isolating if you happen to be alterhuman yourself--but odds are, there's someone who has alterhuman experiences close enough by! It's nice for some to try and take joy from doubt to feel more connected to their community--you never know who could be a wolf, dragon, elf, multiple people in a body or something else entirely!

Because alterhumanity is such a broad subject, it's hard to answer a question like this. Generally, alterhumans of all kinds live life just like most non-alterhumans do--go to work/school, hang out with family and friends, go shopping, socialise, eat foods they like and watch tv at home, etc. We're all here in various human societies, and regardless of whether some of us are human ourselves or not, we're not all that different from everyone else here. Largely, life takes the same sort of paths with alterhumans as it does regular humans! There might be a few adaptations we make here and there--nonhumans might wear species-affirming clothing, systems might wear different things depending on who fronts and go by different names, but largely? We're just people going about life.

Being alterhuman in a more personal, "how does it feel" sense, is also going to vary widely depending on who you ask. For most, though? It would be assumed to feel similar to being anything else. Could you describe how it feels to be human? Could you describe how it feels to not be plural? Could you describe how it feels to not be otherhearted? It's a tricky question if you haven't had experience in both worlds! The best way to put it, is it just feels the same way any other personal identity would--something likely important to you, something you care about, and something you want others to respect.

A good way to learn more about specific alterhuman experiences is to ask around. Read up on experiences archived in the Alterhuman Archive, too--it's a good place to learn about more in-depth experiences without asking someone personally.

You sure can! There's a few ways you can voluntarily become alterhuman. You can otherlink, which is voluntarily choosing to identify as soemthing else. You can become plural, multiple people in one body, through various means. You can become otherhearted--have a very strong deep connection with something--voluntarily too!

It's generally recommended that you learn a fair bit about what you want to become before you decide to try and be alterhuman in any way--some things (such as creating a system) are often life-long commitments that you'll need to live with, while others (such as otherlinking) can be temporary but still affect you in longer term. Take some time to look into various subjects and decide what could benefit you, what would be right for you, and what you'd enjoy!

Not all alterhumans identify as nonhuman, or even have any nonhuman aspect to thier identity at all. Some may identify as partially-human, while others could identify as human plus something else, or they could just plainly identify as wholly entirely human. Alterhumanity is about your relation to the societal "norm" of humanity, not just being nonhuman in and of itself.

Systems (multiple people in a body), for example, can call themselves alterhuman purely based on the fact that plurality is not considered a normative experience by society at large--they don't need to have nonhuman system members or any kintypes to use the label. Otherhearted (strongly identifying with an animal, character, place, etc) people also don't have to have a nonhuman aspect to their identity to call themselves alterhuman--being otherhearted is simply enough. Some furries consider themselves alterhuman on the basis of being furries and it being tied into their lifestyle, despite identifying wholly as human.

So in short, nonhuman = identifying as something that isn't human. Alterhuman = having an identity that isn't usually considered the human societal norm.

Short answer: no, not really! They're separate communities and experiences, in their origin at least.

Long answer: Alterhumanity isn't inherently queer, and not all alterhumans are queer either. However, sometimes it's related and to some folks, they're inseparable! Our main example would be those with xenogenders related to their alterhumanity, as well as medusans--fairly common ways ones' alterhumanity can be or intersect with being queer. A persons orientation and gender identity can definitely be impacted by their alterhumanity in a multitude of ways even in the absence of xenogenders or being medusan, which is another way queerness could be considered alterhumanity if the person in question chooses it to be. Sometimes, despite separate definitions and separate origins, queerness and alterhumanity can be the same thing to some folks. And that's okay! Alterhumanity is an opt-in label, a broad one at that--and you could use it for a number of experiences, including things related to your queer identity.

Shifting is the experience of becoming closer to your alterhuman identity (kintype, hearttype, linktype etc) in some way. There's a lot of types of shifting, including phantom, mental and dream shifts, which are explained bwlow. Shifts can happen involuntarily, or can happen voluntarily. Sometimes it's a mix, or hard to tell.

Not every alterhuman experiences shifts, and they're by no means required to be alterhuman. However, they're very common especially among otherkin.

Some common types of shifts include:

• Phantom Shift - A shift in which an alterhuman starts being able to feel the sensation of having extra parts. This could be a tail, ears, claws, a beak, scales, fur, and anything else your body doesn't normally have.
• Mental Shift - A shift in which an alterhuman mentally becomes more like their identity. This can include gaining stronger animal instincts, or adopting thought proccesses that your identity would normally have.
• Dream Shift - A shift in which an alterhuman is or becomes their identity within a dream.