lycanthropyreturned - Tumblr blog

[lycanthropyreturned]

About this wolf

I'm guessing I should probably do a small introduction to myself for this blog, now that I've decided to use tumblr. I'm Chase. I'm an alterhuman educator and someone who is nonhuman myself. I use the labels therian and non-medical lycanthropy, however I am just nonhuman in my own eyes. I am inherently wolf always, even when I have a different species' shift.

In the therian community, I am a polytherian and suntherian. This means, one, that I have several nonhuman identities. Two, I am in a constant state of shift. I am never fully human and never have been. I awakened in 2014, but I have always known I was nonhuman. I have been apart of the therian and alterhuman community on and off since then. I have watched it changed heavily and I have found my place in it as someone who wants to educate.

Now, to get more personal- as you know I'm Chase. I will go by the name Lycan time to time as well (testing that one out on the tracks, I suppose). I'm about to turn twenty-one this October. I'm an artist- I work with many different medias and I enjoy it immensely. I'm majoring in zoology and hope to either work at an accredited zoo or to be a traveling zoologist. I'm transgender FTM and on October fourth it will be two years since I have started testosterone. I hope to get top surgery soon as well. I use he/him pronouns and only those at the moment. I am very proud and open about my transgender identity, especially being in the southern US. I collect vulture-culture items and have a fascination with anything to do with death. I am also a big horror fan, but moreso psychological horror. Take that how you will.

I am very loud and proud about being nonhuman. I do not skirt over questions (they are actually my favorite thing), and I will talk about alterhumanity for far too long. As said, I've been awakened since 2014. I view myself as vaguely wolf-like, always. Imagine seeing a creature on the tree-line. It looks like a wolf but you can't exactly tell what it is. It almost has an uncanny vibe to it. That's how I view myself.

It may be obvious but my main identity is wolf- specifically the Iberian wolf. After that comes domestic dog and African wild dog. I have lesser identities as well, such as lioness, Sumatran tiger, and dragon. I do not experience these identities as much as my canine identities however. I am a psychological therian/nonhuman, besides for my Sumatran tiger identity, which is spiritual.

This blog is for me and for me alone. To talk about whatever alterhuman education, happenings, and more. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I don't bite unless provoked.

[lycanthropyreturned]

How labels impacted and continue to impact my alterhumanity/therianthropy.

The first thing one may notice in the alterhuman community is that here are a lot- and I mean a lot- of labels. Therian, Otherkin, Fictionkin, otherhearted, otherlink, just to name a few. These can be overwhelming at first, especially when someone is just learning.

In the modern therian community I have noticed that there's a backlash against those who are learning. If someone gets a term incorrect, or misunderstands something, they are shunned, and called fake. This just pushes that person away from the community and its inherent hostility. Especially with so many labels inside a community, I think people need to learn to be more lenient, and to point folks towards resources that can help them learn and understand. How else is one supposed to learn otherwise?

With this, people can find labels to be restricting, and that's valid. Others can find labels endearing and comforting, and that's also extremely valid. Each person has their own preference, and as long as they aren't hurting anyone, there's no harm inherently from it.

I have been comfortable with the term therian for almost ten years now. I have watched the community grow and change, and watched myself grow and change. And with growth and change comes shifts in identity. It is and entirely normal part of life.

When I saw the overall context and community of therianthropy change, it at first startled me. Sadly, nowadays, when someone says therian, it is far from the textbook definition that they think of. People will think of children doing quadrobics, or homemade masks and frankly- tiktok. It frustrates me that in the present this is how therianthropy is perceived. I myself do not fit the modern "frame" of therianthropy (masks, quadrobics, etc), and I don't want to.

Now if you express yourself this way it is entirely valid. However it is also true that this is how the public sees therianthropy due to social media algorithms. It's also true that not everyone aligns with this kind of self-expression with their therianthropy.

So that made me stop and think. While I don't identify with the modern version of therianthropy, I am still a therian. I still identify as nonhuman, on a non-physical level, involuntarily. That makes me a therian. But do I need to call myself that? No, no I don't. Plenty of people who would fall under the therianthropy term do not identify with the term itself. After all, it is just a word, and what is language to an animal except nonsense?

I decided to explore more labels for myself. I had always contained myself strictly to the label therian. I had not given thought or any exploration to anything else. This was in part due to the backlash I knew I would get online, and in part a personal boundary. I had to overcome both of those to get to where I am now.

Through this search I realized I didn't necessarily need a label for myself. Sure, I may find comfort in it, and sure it makes it easier for other people to understand, but did I really need a specific label for my identity? My identity that only I truly know and experience?

The answer was no- but there was a hang-back. I personally find comfort and joy in the term therian. I am a therian and that will not change. And of course there was still a social stigma to have some sort of "label" for myself so others would know.

So I returned to my roots. Lycanthropy. I am inherently canine. I have always been and will always be canine- most strongly wolf. Some folks will retaliate this that wolf is the most common theriotype/kintype, but that's another story for another day. I have been obsessed and entranced with wolves and their mythos- especially the werewolf.

I don't use the term werewolf for myself. I don't view myself as werewolfkin. I am not the changing creature from mythology. I am a wolf, trapped in a human's skin. I am but just one wolf. I am no monster from mythology, however intimidating I wish I was- I am just a dog. Just a wolf.

Lycanthropy is the more "professional" term for a werewolf. However, lycanthropy has another meaning too. It is a form of delusion where one believes so strongly that they are one hundred percent physically an animal. Medical lycanthropy.

But I know I am human. I know my privilege as a human and I know, even on those full-moon nights, I will remain this way. But that's a simple fix. Thankfully the human language is vast and has many conjunctives. So all I did was put a non in there. Non-medical lycanthropy. I know I am human physically, but the person here is wolf.

So yes, while I use labels for myself, they are most definitely not something required, and I have experimented with that. Only you know your true self, and that's what matters. As long as you know your true self, what else is there to do? There is no need to explain to others if not desired, so why?

Afterall, they are just words, and what are words but nonsense to the animal mind. So be kind to your fellow animal. Help them along with their journey of education into this new world. If their views and experiences differ from you, respect that.

[lycanthropyreturned]

My experiences with alterhumanity and therianthropy, and why I'm here now.

I have always been nonhuman, and I have always known that. However as time goes on, so does my identity. When I was a child, I simply didn't discuss or worry about it. I knew who I was and that's all that mattered. In around 2014 I "awakened" into the therian and alterhuman community. Back then, the therian community was rather small, and focused on things such as aesthetics or care guides. Truly simpler times.

As I went through school, I distanced myself from the therian community, more focused on excelling in school and personal life struggles. When things finally died down I was left to have time to rediscover myself. I reentered the therian community around 2020, created a tiktok- and saw how much things had changed.

Therianthropy was now all about presentation, labels, quadrobics, views and likes. Now there's nothing wrong with that, every community evolves over time. My issue personally was the amount of misinformation. At first, I merely interacted with the surface of therianthropy and its social aspects, doing the occasional post, etc.

As my life and identity continued to evolve, I continued to delve into not just the therian community- but the alterhuman community as a whole. I strived to learn more about myself and my identities, and I wanted others to learn too. Back in 2022, I started spreading alterhuman and therian education. To this day, it's something I deeply enjoy doing. Nowadays, it's rare to find someone spreading education on the topic, especially accurate information. I wanted to be that person. However, I realized that in my pursuit to help and teach others, social media had overtaken my identity.

Therianthropy and alterhumanity is inherently rooted deep in nature. The identities themselves that so many people identify as are naturalistic. Even so, we find that the community is mostly online, and with that, comes drama and discourse.

For a term so broad in nature, it's astonishing how split the community can be. Drama, discourse, infighting, name-calling, shaming, and more is rampant. I began to realize that more and more as I became a semi-popular creator on tiktok. I was being pulled into the "trends" and not truly listening to my inner self.

Alterhumanity is best experienced offline. With your true self, and not for the self you put up for others. I believe that a lot of people need to hear that and learn from it. With an identity so rooted in nature, depriving oneself from it can be a pain.

And as I learned this, I distanced myself. I had a few run-ins with some nasty folks, and that taught me that I don't want to turn into that.

So I spent time to myself. Reevaluating my identity and what it really meant to me. I spent time offline and outside, with the people I love and doing the things I loved. And in this time I realized that I didn't need the approval of others on my identity. As long as I knew who I was, that's all that mattered to me.

After being offline in the therian and alterhuman community, I began to realize that if I did return, I could do it how I wanted to. Post whatever I wanted, when I wanted to, and not worry about other people.

I could be myself, and that's all that mattered. So now I'm here. While I still use the term therian for myself, I have changed and grown with it. I now use more broad terms for myself, and have begun to not worry about mirco-managing my identity. Some people find comfort in labels, and that is entirely valid! But some folks can find them restrictive as well, and that's also a valid opinion and experience.

That is one thing I value so much about therianthropy and alterhumanity. The terms are both so broad that you may not meet a single other nonhuman who has the same experience. I love and cherish the diversity of this community, and I think that people need to realize that a bit more.

So this blog here is for me. For me to journal about my experiences, to occasionally post education- whatever I want. I made this blog for myself, and that's how it most likely is going to stay. I hope you enjoy the future for this blog, and join me on this journey.