this was fun ^_^
i made myself in this picrew! any... thing wanna start a chain? ^w^
Inspired by a post by @/wilczak I’ve been thinking a lot about my own desire to have a pet snake.
For nearly all my life I’ve wanted to keep snakes. I had garter snakes for several years before rehoming them when I went to high school and became busier. I’ve always felt a kinship with them. Even before I knew what I was, I knew snakes were my kind.
It took me a long time to realize I was a snake. I knew I was a changeling since I was very young, however the realization that I was a snake took longer to come. I couldn’t see beyond the veil for a long time and only sensed fragments of my true form. Once I realized I was a snake, my attachment to them made so much more sense.
We’re not a social species by any means, however I’ve always wanted to keep snakes because we’re the same. We understand each other in a fundamental way. Largely we’re uninterested in each other, but there’s a sense of camaraderie in shared species-ship.
I love learning about my kind, and the idea of taking care of another sounds very rewarding to me. We are brethren.
Personally I call it the veil or glamour, but I like visage/aspect as well!
Little off topic but glamour has special significance to me since it describes the magic of the fae. Fairies are often described as “wearing” a glamour to hide their true form. For me this means I am charmed to look like a human being even though I am not one.
Offering a term to fellow physical nonhumans* for more natural sounding language/ease of explanation:
The/a visage OR aspect.
What you might see or others see of you even if it isn't actually what's really there.
These are preexisting words that are practically synonymous - visage is defined as being synonymous to aspect which literally means the "appearance to the eye or mind."
So I can say I am physically nonhuman, but my aspect or visage is human - humans see me as a fellow human because they simply are not calibrated to perceive otherwise. My aspect/visage isn't actually me.
*I guess you could use this as a non-physical nonhuman but if you acknowledge your physical humanity I'm not sure where it would fit? Oh well, I don't gatekeep the English language, LOL.
people don’t talk about vocal stimming enough, in my opinion. haha like vocal stimming is the best. i always have to do it alone cause it usually annoys my family, but still i just love to just go and “aaaaaaaaAAAAaaAaAaaAaa” it’s somehow so refreshing
There’s something about the games ability to just let you be feral that delights me. I am nowhere near a wolf and yet, I can experience the wild in this game in a way which just makes me happy in spite of the species difference. Revel in wildness not matter the form.
you ever just *goes to make sandwhich* *gets distracted and writes a hyperfixation related essay for four hours* *goes to do a simple chore* *ends up painting a furby that’s been sitting in the closet for three months*
the cool thing about working with animals is that I have one singular neurotypical colleague (as far as I know). and it’s become super obvious to me that the way autistic people relate to animals is fundamentally different to how allistics relate to animals. and the way people with ADHD relate to animals is fundamentally different to those without.
(only one of my colleagues has Tourette’s and only two of us have OCD, so I don’t think that’s enough to make any grand sweeping statements).
anyway. a real interaction between two of my colleagues today.
ADHD: Maggie won’t stop barking at me. I think she’s upset.
autistic: let me go talk to her. I can fix this.
and that’s not uncommon? my autistic colleagues and I seem to talk to the animals to a much greater extent than anyone else. my ADHD colleagues and I seem to be the best at associating the correct name and breed and dietary requirements to the correct dog, which is weird, because I can’t do the same when it comes to humans.
I know that most people communicate with their animals but… it’s different in a way I can’t quite explain. the communication and connection seems so much deeper… I don’t know, it’s just wonderful. also, the fact that so many ND people work with me… that alone… indicates something.
geez the heart attack this hawk just gave me. all it did was fly overhead, but all my muscles tensed for impact…
me: i want like a mentally stable friend. a friend who i can just rant to, like tell them everything im feeling and it won’t trigger or even really upset them. they could just listen and make affirmative noises, and then id just leave and that would be our whole relationship. ugh, i wish that were actually a real thing.
me: ohhhhhhhh, therapy. therapist. i want a therapist.