gillman: (Default)
 Originally posted on tumblr on Sep. 28, 2025. 

Been getting a hog tail for a bit now and it's so fun. Tails are so rare for me, especially the more common types like canine/feline. And although I get fins, I am not merfolk so I don't really get any fun fishy appendages. 
 
Went to go look at it to figure out how long it was and.... it wasn't there. But it goes down to about my knee when straight. Curves in a loop right at the end when relaxed, not up against my body like a lot of pigs have. It also feels more prehensile? I have a lot of really specific control over it. 
 
I'm 99% sure this came from a Pathfinder character I play, Pan. I get cameos for my cow minotaur, Io, when I play her as well. They're one of the reasons why I keep debating over minotaurs and if there is any connection with me to them. It didn't start with Io, it started with reading Circe in 2019. The chapters with the minotaur always did me in. There is Something About Them that really resonates with me and I'm not sure what it is. Anyway it's no surprise that they trigger cameo shifts.
 
Both of them fall into my jersey devil pencorpus, which is always really interesting. My jersey devil is always changing, always shifting. It's a ton of fun. I've been having these very basic red dragon wings with it, but I'll often get bird or angel or (more accurate) bat wings. It's great it's wonderful. Hooves are so much fun. 
 
I simply really enjoy my pencorpus and I'm very excited to finally have a word for it that feels right and that lets me talk about it properly. I've noted "plenanima" before on tumblr, and I'd like to explore it more when I have the time/energy. But it's really the opposite of pencorpus. My plenanima consists of being a gillman otherkin and alien satelle and all my mermaid/selkie/siren paratypes, and a few other things. That all sort of form this "gillman (expanded) experience". My gillman plenanima isn't just being a gillman otherkin, it's also every other identity that I feel Deep In My Bones. When I say I'm a gillman, I am including all of these other tangential feelings and experiences that may not always be gillman specific, but rather very important to my sense of self and overall nonhumanity. 
 
Whereas pencorpus is the same gathering of identities and experiences that I may enjoy and love, but aren't necessarily crucial to how I as an individual feel or experience the world. 
 
The name of the pencorpus or plenanima (jersey devil or gillman, respectively) aren't necessarily literal, but just the best interpretation of the picture both of these are making. I'm tracing the shadows of these identities out in chalk and looking for pictures in them the same way I look for pictures in clouds but like. A little deeper than that. If this makes any sense at all. 
gillman: (Default)
 I have created a few terms for myself to better articulate the way all my different experiences interact with each other. I've decided to post them here.

The original tumblr post can be found here.

Satellotype

“Middle French, from Latin satellit-, satelles attendant”
“a celestial body orbiting another of larger size;  a manufactured object or vehicle intended to orbit the earth, the moon, or another celestial body”
Potentially “satelle” for short.

A term to describe a nonhuman identity that revolves around, enhances, describes, acts as an accessory to, is only expressed through, or otherwise is secondary to a primary 'type, 'link, and/or alterhuman or nonhuman identity or identities.

An identity that may be otherwise inaccessible unless though interaction with another identity.*

A kintype for your kintype, a sense of nonhumanity that impacts how one may experience or describe a specific 'type. A way to articulate an underlying sense of understanding towards a nonhuman identity.

A satellotype may not be literal. A wolf therian may have a cryptid satelle attached to their wolf identity, but that does not make the wolf itself a cryptid. They may feel that their understanding of their 'type, their expression of their 'type, or their experience with this 'type is reminiscent of a cryptid.

This may be used those who wish to describe the way multiple 'types or 'kins interact with each other. Sattelotypes may come and go, be permanent, or there may be multiple types active at once, but they always act secondary to a "primary" 'type. A satellotype, despite being secondary, is no less important or impactful than the 'type it revolves around.

Further Discussion

I've been questioned about satellotypes similarity to paratype by two or three users, and usually others speak about the two labels in the same breath. I do think that they are similar. A satellotype can be a paratype, there is overlap. They are not the same to me, though, as I made satellotype to help me describe how I can only be an alien by being a gillman. I am an alien, just as much as I am a gillman. But I can not be an alien alone. Only by indulging in my gillmanhood, grumbling, lurking, eating fish, swimming, etc., can I feel like the alien I am. 

When trying to think about how to create a term to articulate that, I decided to make the satelle not necessarily a full identity because I could see the label being bent and wanted to allow for elasticity. For instance, a wolf who may feel like a domestic dog. But they only ever feel like a domestic dog when interacting directly with their wolf-ness. They are not necessarily a domestic dog, may not connect to domestic dogs, but experience something akin to domestic dog-ness when being a wolf in certain situations. Given that the exitance of my alienness "underneath" my gillmanhood results in an alien-like gillman, the idea of other underlying non-identities that impact another 'type didn't seem like much of a stretch. 

I think that elasticity is what caused for the confusion and overlap with paratype. Was it a mistake to emphasize both aspects equally? Maybe, I don't know. I had never made a label before satellotype, so I'm not surprised that there are some things I did wrong. It's also important to note that I made this label for myself, and I posted it so that I could have a definition to point to when someone asked what in the world a "satellotype" was. My understanding of the label has grown significantly since I first wrote it down, and I'd like to sit down and rehash some parts of it at some point. The definition here is the original, with one line added in, noted by the asterisk. The discussion here is also different, as I wanted to address it's similarity to paratype directly. I will likely reblog the original post with my thoughts later today. Or whenever I get the chance. 

godbwye

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