The Liondrake(s)

Essayist, Poet, and Storyteller

he/him, xe/xem, sun/sunself, mage/magiself, lore/loreself

Biography:

I am a transmasculine, genderqueer shapeshifter with a background in cultural anthropology, folklore, and English literature. I'm also plural, specifically median/mid-continuum. On April 25, 2022, I awakened as Otherkin and Fictionkin. On December 26, 2023, I awakened as Therian as well. Although I only use the fictionkin label nowadays, I remain active within the alterhuman community through my writings. As of 2024, I created this website to archive all of my projects.

The following werecard is structured after classic werecards from early were, therianthrope and otherkin communities online. You can access the original template here. I recommend giving the archived werecards a look too!

Please note that I did omit some sections from the original template for internet safety purposes. Be sure to do the same if you intend on making a werecard of your own with the original template.

Werecard:

  • Earthen Name: Solomon. It is the name I chose upon transitioning. This name also doubles as a kin name, given my fictomere within the Nasuverse.
  • Other Name(s): Sayo, Lion, Sage, and Sivaasonikaan (or Sivaan for short).
  • Species: I am a fictional shapeshifter. This is my overall species, and within it are my "forms". These forms are fully integrated into me, meaning I'm never just a fictional shapeshifter. I am a fictional shapeshifter and whatever I am currently shapeshifted as. My forms are not a matter of presentation. I am thoroughly who/whatever I am in that moment, most of which being connected through fiction. Although I try not to refer to my experiences as "forms" (to me, it feels impersonal), I use it as a layman's term for everyone/thing that I am as I shapeshift. For the specificity of my other 'types, I recommend reading my kinlist.
  • Shifting Ability: I am permashifted, or permanently shifted, into a fictional shapeshifter. This means I am always this species, no matter what other shifts I may be experiencing at a given time. I mostly experience full body phantom shifts; instead of only feeling specific appendages from one of my altertypes, I experience having a fully integrated phantom body alongside the physical human body I occupy. I also experience cameo shifts, which are shifts where I experience being someone or something that I'm not. I'm not as comfortable with cameo shifts as I am with my other shifts because they seriously disrupt my sense of self. Although I'm able to take the form of anything as a shapeshifter, my experience with shapeshifting is quite particular. There are certain things I cannot see myself as, therefore do not identify as, and do not associate with myself whatsoever. Cameo-shifting into those things triggers my species dysphoria.
  • Dream Territory: A castle, fortress, or tower, similar to the kind one would see in folkloric or fantastical stories. I've always loved old ruins and architecture. Naturally, it had to be somewhere where I could store my hoard of books and fly as freely as I wanted too. Candlekeep is a prime example of the sort of place I'd like to live in.
  • Hobbies/Interests: Creative writing, making zines, reading, playing video games, playing tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs), collecting dice, listening to podcasts (especially on anthropology, archaeology, mythology and folklore), watching nature documentaries, and visiting museums
  • Favorite Source Quote: "Without love, it cannot be seen."
  • Personal Alterhumanity: Although I usually don't look back for "signs" in my childhood, I always figured that my relationship with fiction wasn't "normal". "Normalcy" is a false concept as far as I'm concerned. If the people in my community can unaminously expect everyone to believe one intangible man (God) created everything and is still around, then I expect my identity to be respected. If there's anything I've learned from embracing my alterhumanity, it's that seeing is NOT believing.

    • Having grown up in a secular household, my family didn't exactly "live by the book" as it were. Although my extended families and local community consisted of heavily devout Christians, neither of my parents saw any purpose in introducing me to that side of our environment. At most, I was baptized as an infant. Other than that, they weren't fond of church communities based on their respective upbringings. I never questioned it as a child, but it did lead me to question the faith itself. I spent a lot of my time reading biblical stories at home, and as I familiarized myself with "the word of God", my interests shifted. I no longer read those stories because I wanted to get closer to God or Jesus. I read them because I became fascinated with tales of unfathomable powers and divine beings. Once I branched out and read books for children my age, I realized the source of my interest lied within speculative fiction. Fantasy media captured my interest the most. I took the concept of "entering new worlds through reading" quite literally. Above all else, I wanted to experience what it was like to live in a world where fantastical creatures, perilous quests, and magic existed. This isn't unusual for young children, but I never seemed to "grow out" of these feelings. For example: I recall how attached I was to the show American Dragon: Jake Long. It was my favorite show as a kid. I loved watching his adventures as he shifted in and out of the human world, protected mythical beings great and small, and did it all with the bonus of being a shapeshifting dragon. I admired him a lot. One could say I even envied him. How cool would it be for a secret fantasy world to exist in the Deep South, where I could regularly interact and protect mythical beings within my home? Worlds of magic and adventure abound were all I wanted! On one hand, this helped spark my interest in creative writing. On the other hand, these days of my childhood reflected the kind of life I yearned to live. Little did I know, I could have that life. I didn't realize that until much later, though.

    Entering middle school became a huge turn in life for my identity. I became more familiar with what it meant to be a queer person. Later along the line, I learned that I am transgender and that I am a lesbian on the asexual spectrum. My discovery of alterhumanity was not as ideal, unfortunately. I had the mannerisms of a chuunibyou, except I kept most if not all of my fantasies to myself. My way of channeling and letting out those fantasies came in the form of writing short stories. I would create characters to fill in the places where I would be, that way I could cover up the inherent self-insertion in the adventures I'd envision. Those who knew of my writing occasionally complimented me for how detailed and imaginative I was, but if they knew the truth, it would spell bad news for me. Around this time, I learned about the otherkin community through total coincidence. I discovered the term when I opened Vine one day. On my feed, an account posted a clip of Naia Ōkami out of context. If that name doesn't ring a bell for you, Naia is the woman who's known for the line: "On all levels except physical, I am a wolf." She's hit a pretty big nosedive in the community, but that's besides the point. Regarding my discovery, you can imagine how disrespectful people were to Naia's identity within the replies. I was curious about the concept if anything. I dug through the replies for more information on why Naia felt this way, and noticed that the word "Otherkin" kept being mentioned in passing. I decided to look into it this myself. I was familiar with "kinning" from my experiences in fandom spaces, but unbeknowst to me, what I knew was a misusage of kin terminology and ripped from the fictionkin community. Once I looked in the otherkin community, I was surprised to learn that there were individuals out there like me. This introduced my young mind to a whole new world, full of the possibilities I dreamed of when I was little. The otherkin community would linger in the back of my mind for a while. At this point in my life, I had a special interest in lycanthropy— mainly the history of it, folklore featuring it and fiction inspired by it. I also thought of my admiration and jealousy towards Jake Long. My love for the fantasy genre wasn't far behind in this either. Last but not least, I remembered my desire to be in the worlds where all of it was possible. Could I have been Otherkin all along?

    I tossed and turned with the thought for a while. It wasn't any uncertainty that perturbed me, but the visibility of it. I felt like this experience was something that deeply resonated with me, but I feared how I would be perceived because of it. I know for sure that telling my immediate family was out of the question. Telling my friends was a hard maybe. Identifying as Otherkin with what little of an online presence I had was even more of a gamble. I distinctly remember how on one night, I had made an awakening post of sorts on my multifandom blog. I made it to announce that I was Otherkin and steadily piecing together my identity. After an hour of posting, I deleted it. I had never spoken on otherkinity, or any kind of alterhumanity or nonhumanity for that matter, again because my fears steadily consumed me. My adolescent years were surrounded by fakeclaiming, cringe compilations, and cringe culture in general. I watched as social media grew increasingly hypervigilant if I wasn't careful about how I presented myself. The last thing I wanted was to share this part of myself, only to be excessively bullied for it. Besides, I was already experiencing a deeply sensitive time in my life due to events I've chosen to omit out of my own comfort. I decided to leave these thoughts alone, to lock them away and never acknowledge them again.

    ... That is, until, I started undergrad. Around the years of 2021 and 2022, I met a lot of new people in my life. One of which is a good friend of mine, Lysander. I met Lysander through a shared mutual on Twitter. We became fast friends because of our connection with xenic identities, gender hoarding and our expressions of transmasculinity. At the time, I had identified as genderfluid and not genderqueer, which is something that we connected with as well. One key thing about Lysander is that it is otherkin. Otherkinity is a huge part of Lysander's identity as an individual, so much so that it is a major part of its queerness as well. In the midst of making flags on Twitter, I made a flag in connection to angels. It was around this time that through a lot of information shared by Lysander on otherkinity, and its own pride in being otherkin, that I had a heart-to-heart with myself.

    Lysander's only a couple years younger than you, yet nothing is stopping it from embracing itself. Not even the worst anti-kin, "cringe"-claiming assholes online stop it from being open about its identity. Why can't you do the same?

    I wound up DM'ing Lysander about it, specifically about questioning if I was otherkin again. I had expressed that I was likely an angel based on my connection to the gender I made or a werewolf based on my special interest in lycanthropy. After our discussion, I decided to come out as both online. Telling Lysander, my partner and my friends about my identity was the first step of my journey. I had no intention of telling my immediate family and I still don't. It's not safe, unlike the others. I am thankful for the people who respect and accept me for who I am, though. April 25, 2022 marks the day I embraced my alterhumanity. In other words, I awakened. Since then, I've had a rollercoaster of questionings regarding my alterhumanity. Regardless, I'm proud that I took a chance and explored my identity in this way. I went on to commune with others like me, such as Cain, who's by far the coolest coyote shifter I know.

    As of lately, I prefer to use alterhuman over otherkin and therian to describe my identity. The broadness of this label suits me better. I am still fictionkin, but that is the only kin-based label I use; fictionhood is a major part of my experiences, so I feel no need to use the general otherkin label. Other labels I've come to prefer are fictionfolk (the general alterfictional label), transspecies (transfictional), and imagithrope. Not everyone will share the same experience as I do, as mine is only one out of thousands. In fact, nothing makes me happier than to dig through archives and read about all the different awakening experiences of weres / therians, otherkind, fictionkind, transspecies folk, and many more in the years before my own awakening. I love learning from them, their stories, their joys, and their sorrows. I learn about them as I learn about myself. I can't articulate the feeling that it invokes within me, but I can say this: I wouldn't trade this experience for anything else in the world. I've met a wonderful, diverse array of people, and I hope to meet more as time goes on. Most importantly, my friends Lysander and Cain are always an inspiration to me as I further explore my place within this community. I don't think I'd be where I am now as an alterhuman without them.

    Even now, just sharing my story with you is enough to bring me peace. Who knows, maybe sharing it here will give someone the same push I needed back in 2022. If that's the case, then don't be afraid to be yourself. I know that for some folks, it's safer to embrace your truth in secret. That's perfectly fine. I know for others, the idea is entirely too harrowing to consider but I promise you this: that moment of fear is fleeting. Whether out loud or in secret, the joy and self-love that awaits you will always be worth it over a lifetime of denial. All you need to do is unclip those wings and set yourself free.