Written by Gavin Reed-Machina on March 4th, 2026.
Time for that stream-of-consciousness enthusiastic rambling! Woo!
(This post contains spoilers for Iron Lung (2026), do with that what you will.)
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Written by Gavin Reed-Machina on January 30th, 2026.
See, the problem with fronting, being embodied, being the person who’s talking and thinking and feeling in the main self-space of our skull, is that - honestly? Genuinely? I don’t want to be honest with people!
Well, obviously that’s a simplification. I’m a pretty honest person when it comes to everything besides me. I’ve written a couple of essays about my humanity and personhood and an earlier post venting about in-system caregiver burnout. All of those have real, sincere opinions I’ve held.
( Read more... )Frequently asked questions about how to talk to us!
Based on a list by Hungry Ghosts.
( Read more... )Written by Machina on July 17th, 2025.
So there's a very useful word that was coined earlier this year - March 30th, 2025 - by Sunchild (mechanical-sunchild) on Tumblr: theriform. The definition from the coining post goes as follows:
( Read more... )Written by Machina on May 13th, 2025.
This post was written in response to a question by Sora/leo9ish (@through-lines) on Tumblr:
Actually, I’m curious—do individuals who are both nonhuman and human consider their human identity orthohuman (i.e. Not Alterhuman)?
I technically am also human and nonhuman, but my human identity is firmly rooted in my fictionkinity. Most folk I see talk about being human in relation to their “current” self or body or what have you—not a ‘type, like mine is.
So while my humanity is unambiguously alterhuman (
depending on who you ask), the same doesn’t clearly hold up for others.But does being nonhuman affect your humanity? Do you consider your humanity a part of your alterhuman identity?
We wrote a detailed enough answer that it gets its own spot in the writing archive.
( Read more... )Written by Gavin Reed-Machina on August 25, 2024.
As a nonhuman, do you ever think about why there's so many stories and myths and legends about humans being turned into animals? You ever wonder why it's usually a punishment or a curse, or why the characters try to do whatever it takes to become human again? You ever think, "I don't understand, I would love to be an animal and get rid of my human body, what's the problem?"
As a human myself, one whose system has been in the alterhuman community for years, I hope I can help bridge the gap of understanding here.
The way many humans see being turned into an animal as a curse, the way they'd be incredibly distressed about becoming nonhuman?
That is species dysphoria.
( Read more... )Written by Gavin Reed-Machina on June 27, 2024.
Hey, I'm Gavin, and despite hanging out in various alterhuman spaces, I'm 100% a human person. I live in a system with two headmates who are also human, but identify as other species as well - Max as a velociraptor therian, Jude as a dog archetrope and an android. In contrast, I specifically, completely identify as human.
What's so special about that, being human? Statistically, it's nothing remarkable - most people on Earth identify as human after all. I think what's really interesting is that, over the past year, I've been connected to communities that all contain people (or non-people, as the case may be) who partially or fully identify as nonhuman - otherkin, therians, a solid number of fictionfolk and some alterhumans. Therefore, I feel like I can compare and contrast my species identity to the experiences of others, in a way that most people who philosophize on what humanity is don't get the chance to.
( Read more... )Written by Machina on March 10th, 2024.
Musings on our names and our relationships with them, particularly around transitioning, OC fictive experiences, established character fictive experiences, and our reluctance to create a system name (despite doing so in the end, in an unconventional way).
( Read more... )Written by Gavin Reed-Machina on March 8th, 2024.
Hey, my name's Gavin, he/him, and I'm writing out my fucking identity crisis on main, because what else do we have a journal for?
Content Warning: I get existentially fucked up about my personhood and purpose in life, mention having a sex life, and use a few reclaimed slurs as identity labels for myself. This ends on a pretty hopeful note, all things considered.
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