#I only mentioned therians as people who are animals

[creatureheart]

Made an updated version of this with a bit more info on things and a few tweaks, so go check out that version here!

I've made a few posts talking about things in the nonhuman and alterhuman communities recently, mostly just brief looks into them, so I thought I would share this one.

The info may not be all that much, and could easily be expanded upon, but I did my best for a simple bit of info for certain things.

All pictures have ALT text included, but I shall post the text also here, under a cut, cause it's a bit long, lol

Nonhuman as an identity: To identify as not human either fully or partially. (hate/trolls will be reported and deleted)

Reminder: These are all personal identities and why someone identifies as nonhuman and what term someone decides to use for themself is exclusively their business. In the end it is what makes the most sense to the individual and not up to others. Now, onto some of the communities that are included under the nonhuman identity:

Otherkin: from the term "otherkind" - an identity which typically encompasses being wholly or partially a nonhuman entity. Usually understood to cover those who identify as mythical creatures and other fantastical things. Also covers those that fall outside of beings and creatures.

Examples of non-being or creature based identities: Conceptkin: an identity where one identifies as a concept such as the concept of night or fire. Objectkin: and identity where one identifies as an object. Songkin: an identity where one identifies as a song.

Examples of being and creature based identities: Therianthropy: usually shortened to therian - where one identifies AS a nonhuman animal. Some will say that this term refers to only earthen animals, living or extinct, but it has never only encompassed earthly animals. The community's language came from those who identify as werecreatures. Theriomythic: an alternate identity term for one who identifies in some intrinsic was as a mythical creature. Paleotherian: an identity term for one who identifies as a now extinct earthly animal, like a dinosaur or mammoth.

Cladotherian or Cladokin: an identity term for one who does not identify as a distinct species, but a broader identity encompassing an entire genus or larger grouping. Cladomythic: an identity term for one who identifies as a group (clade) of animalistic mythical creatures.

Fictionkin: an identity term that covers all things fictional. For those who identify as something fictional like characters, animals, species, objects, etc. These can be from books, shows, video games, etc, but not always! Original fictional characters and such are also possible.

There are many other identities that fall under the nonhuman umbrella which is why it's important to do your own research to figure out if a certain term works for you. All these identities share the trait of being involuntary. You cannot choose to be therian, otherkin, or the other mentioned identities.

While the already mentioned identities are involuntary, there are some identities that fall under being voluntary. Otherlink: an identity where one voluntarily identifies as nonhuman. Copinglink: an identity where one voluntarily identifies as nonhuman to copes with things such as trauma, stress, etc.

A lot of people may also say that it is impossible to become a therian, otherkin, etc. While the identity is involuntary, things like trauma and neurodivergence can cause an individual to take on a nonhuman identity when they had not had one previously.

Most will usually see people explain that these identities are spiritual or psychological, but these are only some of the ways that individuals may experience them. Some other experiences of nonhumanity: Symbolic Metaphorical Ancestral Physical (Yes this is an actual reason for some and they are just as much a part of the community as anyone else. Physical and Ancestral nonhumans are part of the community's history and some of its founders.)

For those looking for more information, and community places, here are some places to check out! Werelist Nonhuman National Park Alterhuman Archive The Chimera's Library. The above are forums and archives of information on the community. Most archived information is thanks to who-is-page, liongoatsnake and frameacloud on tumblr.

While this is a brief look into the nonhuman identity that I could share, I do hope it has been helpful in some way. Remember to be true to yourself, and don't let anyone tell you how to feel. Ignore, report, delete and block the haters!

Yeen out~

[sweetspidergirl]

A Tangled Web (Spider HRT Story)

Chapter 1

“This is stupid. Why am I doing this?”

This question echoed in my head as I sat in the sterile waiting room of the doctor's office, accompanied by the sound of the clock ticking away in the background. Besides me and the receptionist behind the counter, there was no one else in the room. That made sense. With it being a few days before Christmas, who would willingly want to spend any amount of that time in such a depressing location?

A twenty-five year old woman dissatisfied with her life and seeking a new one, apparently.

As I sat there waiting for permission to see the doctor, my mind drifted back to how I got here. It was half a year ago where I first vented frustration over my life to my best friend Elisa, and she mentioned how I might be going through species dysphoria. She then sent me some articles and links and suggested I look into humanity removal therapy, or HRT.

I had been vaguely aware of humanity removal therapy, often referred to as therian HRT, for a few months by that point. It functioned mostly like hormone replacement therapy, only it would gradually change the patient into a human/animal hybrid, or therian. It was a recent development, only having been available to the public for a little over five years, and still had quite a bit of controversy associated with it from various political groups. Despite that, based on the testimonials I read and the various pictures I saw, the people who have gone through therian HRT seemed to be happier now than they ever had as humans. Maybe it would be worth it if I gave the whole thing a shot. Maybe being in another body might help me be happy again.

I glanced down at the blank screen of my phone, looking over myself in annoyance. I noted the long, messy brown hair that I barely made look presentable. I noted the pale skin caused by a lack of social interaction and preferring the light of a screen over the sun. I noted the oval-shaped glasses and casual hoodie and sweatpants that hid as much of me as possible. I was another drop of water in the ocean that was humanity. Even my blue eyes, once bright and full of hope, had started to appear dim and non-descript as of late.

“Taylor Thompson?”

I snapped out of my thoughts as the doctor called my name. Turning my head in his direction, I got a good look at the man who would be deciding my future. He was an older gentleman, probably in his 50s or 60s, with a grey receding hairline and mustache. His thick, round glasses made it hard for me to see his eyes. Grabbing my belongings, I quietly followed the doctor as he guided me to his office. The office was what I expected to see: a small, plain white room with a desk, degrees on the wall, and bookshelves full of books that I would be too dumb to properly understand. On the desk was a small nameplate that read “Dr. T. H. Erian, Species Dysphoria Specialist” in large, clean letters. I set my bag beside me and took my seat, my heart beating like a drum in my chest. I swallowed the lump of anxiety that was forming in my throat. There was no turning back now.

“So, Miss Thompson, what brings you here today?” Dr. Erian asked in a stern voice. One sentence in and I was already having flashbacks to my high school principal. The main difference here, however, was that my answers actually mattered for more than avoiding detention.

“I, um, was hoping to be prescribed therian HRT. Specifically spider HRT.” I answered, trying to remain calm and collected.

“I see… and why a spider, if I may ask?” The doctor questioned as he began writing something on a piece of paper in front of him.

“Well, I think spiders are a lot like me. Most people are scared of them, but in reality they’re mostly just nervous, adorable little beans.” I explained with a bit of blush on my face.

“Any preferred species of spiders?”

“I was hoping to be a tarantula. They're cute and fluffy, and I think I'd look just as good as one.”

“May I ask why you wish to undergo humanity removal therapy?”

I took a deep breath and exhaled. “I've been unhappy with myself lately. My diet's been awful, I rarely go outside and interact, and in general I just hate everything about myself. My best friend, Elisa Andrews, thinks I might be going through species dysphoria. She works with therians and otherkin daily, so I assume she's right.” I explained to Dr. Erian. I then handed him a folder that contained the paperwork Elisa told me I'd need before being prescribed therian HRT: a medical examination, two psychological evaluations, written support from her and my father. I even spiced the folder up with doodles of webs and cartoon spiders in hopes that it would help my case.

Dr. Erian looked through the paperwork I gave him. I was unable to get a good idea of what he was thinking. His flat, emotionless voice was hard to read, and thanks to those glasses I couldn't tell whether he was impressed by work or annoyed at me wasting his time. I was hoping it was the former.

“Miss Thompson, before we continue, I'd like to ask an important question.” Dr. Erian spoke as he set the folder down in front of him on the desk. “How much do you know about therians?”

“How much do I know?” I asked curiously. “I mean, my best friend’s a physical therapist that works with therians, and I'm kinda aware of some of the legislature that's been passed recently-”

“That's not what I am referring to.” Dr. Erian interrupted. “I want to know if you understand what therians go through, what the process of going through humanity removal therapy is like and how you'll have to adapt. You are aware that I recommend patients spend some time living as their desired species before I prescribe them HRT, correct?”

“I-I mean… if it helps I have a few spider plushies.” I said sheepishly. I could already feel my luck running out.

Dr. Erian sighed and gently rubbed at his forehead before speaking again. “Miss Thompson, this is a serious life-changing procedure. Once you start therian HRT, your DNA will be rewritten to match your chosen species. You'll never be human again, even if you stop early into your therapy. I cannot prescribe it to just anyone who steps foot into my office.”

I sunk into my seat slightly, bringing my knees just under my chin as I almost curled up to feel safe and protected. “B-but… I was told you can help people with this kind of stuff.”

“I can, and I do. However, not everyone needs HRT. What you may think is species dysphoria could very well just be depression, and what you may need is something far simpler than a complete genetic rewrite.” The doctor explained.

I sat there in silence, barely listening to the doctor's words. He was saying so much when it all boiled down to one word: “no.” No, I couldn't get humanity removal treatment. No, I couldn't have happiness. No, I was doomed to hate myself for the rest of my miserable life. Tears started to creep their way out of my eyes, stinging slightly as they worked their way down my cheeks.

Just as I was about ready to give up and head home, I glanced up and noticed Dr. Erian looking through my papers once more. I was expecting him to scold me again. I hid my face against my knees and closed my eyes, bracing myself for his harsh words to wound my heart further.

“...are you sure becoming a tarantula will make you happy?”

I slowly brought my eyes up to look at Dr. Erian, not fully emerging from my self-made cocoon as I processed his question. What was making him change his mind? Did he believe that I'm suffering from species dysphoria after all, or was he simply taking pity on me? Regardless of the answer, I couldn't let this opportunity slip by my fingers.

“Y-yes… yes it will, doctor.” I responded, almost forcing myself to do so. A tense silence hung in the air for what felt like hours as Dr. Erian stared at me, almost examining me. I gripped the sides of my legs, waiting anxiously for either him to continue lecturing me or for me to have the courage to speak again.

“Well, if that is your answer, then I will approve you for tarantula HRT.” Dr. Erian said, writing on the piece of paper some more. “Considering it's the holiday season, it's likely your pharmacy won't receive your first dosage until after the new year, though.”

My heart almost skipped a beat at the news. I was… actually going to be a tarantula?! “Wait, really? You're… approving me for the HRT?” I asked, nearly jumping out of my seat. “Oh thank you Doc! Thank you very, very much!”

Dr. Erian sighed, writing some more information down on the paper. “As I explained, transitioning to a different species won't be easy. There will be some side effects to expect as your body changes.” He explained, making sure I had calmed down a bit before he continued. “Not all therians will experience the same side effects. Not all side effects will be present at once. Some will show up at different stages of your transition. At the earliest stages of spider HRT, I would primarily expect to see itchy skin as your hair grows in, as well as weight gain to provide material for your additional body parts to develop. Beyond that, you may experience headaches, nausea, dizziness, fatigue, and possible body pain.”

After making sure I understood the side effects I might encounter during my transition, Dr. Erian started digging through a drawer in his desk, and from there pulled out two items. The first was a pamphlet that had “Welcome to your Humanity Removal Therapy” written on the cover, alongside “Species: Spider” and a minimalist illustration of him. “This pamphlet will help guide you through your transition, Miss Thompson. It provides details on a recommended meal plan, the type of environment you should live in, a rough timeline of what changes you should expect and when you should expect them, a full list of potential side effects, and more.” The doctor explained. “I would make sure to give this a thorough read if I were you. I'll also be sending you a digital copy after our meeting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me and I will provide an answer at the earliest convenience.”

I took the pamphlet in my hands, almost crushing it in excitement. “Of course Doc. I'll definitely give it a read once I get home.”

Just as I was about to get up and leave, Dr. Erian cleared his throat. “There is one other thing I must discuss with you before we conclude here, Miss Thompson.” He said, causing me to sit back down in my seat. “I still disapprove of you not doing any research on therian culture prior to our meeting. So… I'd like for you to interact with other therians while you're taking HRT. It's not mandatory, but I do feel it will not only help you learn about your new lifestyle but also potentially help with your mood.”

As Dr. Erian said that, he handed another item. I took it in my hands and looked it over. Instead of another pamphlet, it was a flyer detailing a therian support group that was close to where I lived. It detailed that it was bi-weekly, and that it was open to those on HRT, regardless of stage, as well as those questioning.

“I'll keep that all in mind. Thank you so much for all of this, Doc.” I said, stuffing the papers in my bag. After discussing insurance and other important information to get my prescription set in stone, I left the office and gave a heavy exhale as soon as I was outside. That was probably the most stressful talk I've ever had, but it was done and over with. While I stood outside and caught my breath, my phone started buzzing. Pulling it out, I saw that I was getting a call from Elisa.

“So, how'd it go?” Elisa asked, sounding exceedingly curious. Looking at the time on my phone, I hadn't realized she had just finished with work by the time I finished my meeting.

“Well, I managed to get the prescription, so that's good. You didn't tell me he was gonna be so scary though.” I answered back with a tiny bit of irritation in my voice.

“Hey I never met the guy personally. Besides, you still got the HRT in the end, so it all worked out.” Elisa answered back. “So how long before you start spinning webs and crawling up walls?”

“Well, my first dosage won't arrive until after the new year. Beyond that, well…” I trailed off a bit, glancing back at my bag and the papers inside of it. “I have some homework to do.”

---

NEXT:

Welcome everyone! This is the start of a (hopefully) long-term project I intend to work on. This is the story of Taylor Thompson, a 25-year-old woman seeking a change in life through humanity removal therapy. In the process of transitioning from human to spider, she'll learn more about the world of therians, as well as learn more about herself and what she wants out of life.

I want to thank @ayviedoesthings, @welldrawnfish, @entroart, @bubbleverseart, @nyxisart, @prettiestplatypus, @deadeyedfae, @kaylasartwork, and anyone else I may have forgotten (there's a lot of people I'm so sorry ><) for creating the world of therian HRT and creating such a community, as well as my fiancé for showing them to me and for inspiring me to give my own version a try. I can't say when the second chapter will be done, so just keep your eyes open, and I hope you all will join me on this long, wild ride.

Thank you so much in advance.

[interstellarsystem]

This isn't at anyone in particular, but it's very disheartening to see that the otherhearted AND otherkith tags are full of.... Posts that are almost completely unrelated to those experiences. Otherlink tags are much the same.

A few in there are geared toward all alterhumans in general, that's fine, but... Posts specifically only about therians, otherkin or fully nonhuman identities without so much as a mention of heartedness don't belong in the otherhearted tags. Therian/otherkin specific posts don't belong in the otherlinking tags either. It's so hard to find anything related to being otherhearted or otherlinking because it's almost all content that only explicitly relates to therians or otherkin. It really looks like they sometimes just slap the smaller tags on there for reach.

It doesn't get your therian posts reach though, because as far as I'm aware, hearted people and otherlinkers follow the tags for posts relating to those specific experiences. Sure, people can be more than one thing and there are definitely therians and otherkin following those tags, that's fine, but it's not why those people follow them. Flooding the hearted and otherlink tags with otherkin posts really only makes it impossible to see anything from other individuals who are otherhearted or otherlinkers. The people who want to see your posts will be following the otherkin or therian tags.

You don't need to tag in different community tags for reach, this is tumblr where tags do actually matter because they're the primary way of finding posts. There's no algorithm at all if you don't use the "for you" page. And when you're putting therian and otherkin only posts in tags that are for much, much smaller communities like otherhearted people and otherlinkers.... It becomes impossible to keep those communities present here.

I don't know if there's separate tags that otherhearted people and otherlinkers use that aren't flodded with otherkin-only posts but if there is I haven't been able to find it because the only post we can even find recently in the hearted tags thats actually about heartedness is one we made today.

We've went on about how the term "alterhuman" isn't just for otherkin content before. We're sad the tag for it has less variety than the community really encompasses. Yes, otherkin are alterhuman and have the right to post there--no one is saying they don't--but a lot of the times people post "alterhumanity is about being an animal and no one knows" or something when it's definitely not always the case. Alterhuman isn't the same as nonhuman. I want to see more diversity and acknowledgement that there can be other alterhuman identities aside from identifying as an animal. As an umbrella term, alterhuman encompasses a lot more than nonhumanity and I don't like that even the hearted tags are covered in unrelated material.

I really think that non-kin and human+ or just plainly still human identities that fall under the alterhuman umbrella need to be acknowledged and respected enough to not be flodded out of their own tags.

[yellow-computer-mouse]

🪽Welcome, traveler, to my lair🪽

[plain text: 🪽Welcome, traveler, to my lair🪽]

Hello, and welcome to my blog. I hope you stay a while 🩶

Please go look at my carrd, it has most of the important stuff. In the meantime...

[plain text: carrd]

You may refer to me with these pronouns:

He/Him

It/Its

Star/Stars

Ey/Em

Dust/Dusty

Please do not use they/them for me.

You may call me:

Yellow

Oscar

Snowfall (Snowy if we're close, feel free to ask if you can)

Winter

Tsunami

Dust

Reaper

Aeolus

Pillbug/Bug/Buggy/Bugheart

Fresh

Most of these names come from my many kins. Please feel free to ask about them! I promise I (usually) don't bite 🩶

🩶Userboxes by @kthecritter, @selfshippy-bun, @moose-driving, and myself! Blinkies by @spectral-stuff & @dragonpride17, header by @mewos-laptop, & dividers by @sister-lucifer 🩶

[plain text: @/kthecritter, @/selfshippy-bun, @/moose-driving, @/spectral-stuff, @/dragonpride17, @/mewos-laptop, @/sister-lucifer]

(you can ignore the "SFW interactions only" on this blog, don't worry!)

I use tone tags. You do not have to use them for me, but it's appreciated, especially when I'm feeling anxious. Please feel free to ask what a tone tag means if you don't recognize it.

I sometimes do get quite anxious, and may seem unusually shy or awkward. I just need a little extra reassurance. I'll be alright 🩶

I would consider myself quite friendly! The tone of this post may be a little foreboding, but I promise, I'm very silly and personable! 🩶

Here are some tidbits about me.

My favorite animal is the isopod. (aka rollie pollie, pillbug, potato bug, woodlouse, etc) I may post images of them. I tag all of these with #i love isopod <3, and usually #bugs

My favorite color is yellow 💛 I don't appreciate mockery of the color, it makes me quite sad

I have a cat (Azzy), a dog (Homer), and a leopard gecko (Honeydew)

My time zone is EST

I am autistic, ADHD, and have social anxiety

My birthday is July 28th

I don't have an extensive DNI, but there are still some things I'd like to keep out of my blog. Please don't interact if you fit this criteria. I'll block you if you do 🩶

Proshippers/Comshippers/Neutrals

Zionists

Radqueers

Anti-furries (from people who believe all furries are zoophiles to people who just think it's weird)

TERFs/SWERFs

Basic DNI criteria (homophobes, transphobes, right-wingers/centrists, racists, etc.)

Anti-agere/those who believe all agere is NSFW

NSFW accounts. It's fine if you post it occasionally /gen, but I am a minor.

Here are some who I welcome to my blog.

Alterhumans/Nonhumans! (therians, fictionkin, otherkin, otherhearted, etc!)

Selfshippers (As long as it's not pro/comship, go right ahead!)

Systems

Those with commonly stigmatized disorders

People who are "cringe"

Kin doubles

Sourcemates (UTMV/WoF/Epic/Warriors)

In general, anyone who isn't on my DNI!

A quick BYF (before you follow), as well :)

Please refrain from interacting if you commonly post about shipping Fresh, or if you are going to make a comment about shipping Fresh on one of my posts. I won't be mad if you didn't know, but as a Fresh kin who was very repulsed, it makes me uncomfortable.

In a similar note to the above, please do not mention X-Gaster around me. I don't mind at all if you post about him, but please don't tag me in posts about him or talk about him in one of my posts. Again, for kin reasons.

I draw Winter x Turtle a lot. Please do not make jokes about "Oh, they don't love each other" or bring up canon interactions about this. One, it's rude, and two, I was in a relationship with Turtle (and am very happy to have found him again 💚🩵)

I may be very excitable, or very quiet. I promise that I'm not upset at all. If you are worried or I make you uncomfortable, you can ask me.

I will not be mad if you disagree with me respectfully on a point, or if you cross these boundaries (BYF, not DNI. If you violate my DNI, I will block you) without realizing. As long as you interact in good faith, I do not mind :)

I am a part of many fandoms, but here are some that you will find on this blog. Those with a heart are my main fandoms.

Will Wood

Bears in Trees

UTMV 🩶

WoF 🩶

Portal

Slime Rancher

The Owl House

Epic: the Musical

Mouthwashing 🩶

I have a Mouthwashing sideblog! Go check out @number1daisukefan :)

[plain text: @/number1daisukefan]

I have lots of side blogs and ask blogs. The three you need to know about are @pastel-yellow-dreaming, my agere blog, @buggy-is-a-warrior, my alterhuman blog, @sorry-im-a-boykisser, my selfship blog, and @number1daisukefan, my Mouthwashing blog. Go drop a follow if you want! Or don't. I really don't mind either way /gen 🩶

[plain text: @/pastel-yellow-dreaming, @/buggy-is-a-warrior, @/sorry-im-a-boykisser, @/number1daisukefan]

I am taking commissions for Palestine. More info on that in the post below, or DM me.

Also, if you are a Palestinian with a GoFundMe, feel free to send an ask or DM me for support! I can't donate, but I will promote your campaign however I can.

Remember to do your daily clicks for Palestine! 🩶

Icon Masterpost

Furry Species (Aebe) Masterpost

UTMV/WoF Playlist Masterpost

Blog Masterpost

Identity Masterpost

[plain text: Icon Masterpost, Furry Species (Aebe) Masterpost, UTMV/WoF Playlist Masterpost, Blog Masterpost, Identity Masterpost]

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy your stay! 🩶

[taxidermycanine]

DEAR DISABLED THERIANS.

a short positivity post to remind you all that you are loved, important and valued in not only the therian / alterhuman community, but in life. take care of yourselves.

to the therians who use canes and wheelchairs, you are no less of a mobile creature for needing an aid. whether your theriotype is a fish, a domestic cat or a wild canid — mobility aids are found in most, if not all, species out there due to the help from humans. if you had been born in the right body, you would be given the same sort of aid. i promise. it isn't shameful.

you have carpal tunnel and feel left out because you're a wolf who was born to run and hunt elk? that's great!! i bet you'd be great friends with this guy :0}

to the blind and / or deaf therians who are told that their theriotype simply wouldn't survive due to their blindness — this simply isn't true. there have been many cases of blind or deaf animals surviving, look at this wolf as an example! and bare in mind MOST cases of blindness are partial, but this old gal is pretty much FULLY blind, and she's doing fine. why wouldn't you?

to the therians who have some sort of learning disability, it does NOT make you an idiot. i tend to see a lot of critters with stereotypically intelligent animals (think elephants, border collies, etc) as their theriotypes and feel worried due to their disability. you aren't dumb, you aren't "mentally not there", you aren't any of the mean things you've been called throughout your life. there ARE animals with learning disabilities, you would not die in the wild for having one just the same as you would not die in a domestic household for having one (or many)

and to those who have any other disabilities that i didn't mention in this short post, you are enough. you don't have to prove your therianthropy to anyone. if someone ever insists that you can't possibly be your theriotype because you are disabled? ignore them, they're lying and just trying to make you feel terrible about yourself. it's hard being disabled, it's hard waking up in pain and never not being NOT in pain, it's hard knowing that there are folks out there that'd demean you just for being disabled, it's hard needing mobility aids and not being able to afford them, it's hard when people think that you're stupid or less deserving of respect because they don't deem you "all there".

i love you all, those hardships are something that you shouldn't ever have to experience.

take good care of yourself if you can, and if you can't? get yourself that sweet treat you've been wanting, eat your favorite candy before a savory meal, give yourself a well deserved hug and watch your favorite show.

[moth-yea]

Ookay abt the animal packers drama (TW FOR ABLEISM/ABLEIST LANGUAGE, ANTI THERIAN, PHYSICAL THERIAN, AND HOLOTHERE LANGUAGE. TW FOR MENTIONS OF ZOOPHILIA/DISCOURSE AROUND ZOOPHILIA. THE TOPICS WILL BE SEEN IN THE SCREENSHOTS IM SHOWING.)

Here's some screenshots of comments on a yt community post from a popular creator telling people to dni if you support the person who makes the animal packers (image id in alt text)

I'm speechless right now. Genuinely. It's all making my mind spin. For now I'm just going to say a few things, might add more in rbs later.

1: Minors can have packers (imo). They're for dysphoria, there's really nothing wrong with them. Maybe it's sort of iffy, which is understandable and I completely respect beings who think that minors shouldnt be allowed to have packers, but honestly I think teenagers are allowed to have packers if it helps them so much.

2: This isn't zoophilia. In any sense. This being was making and selling these purely as species affirming gear. It wasn't advertised as anything related to zoophilia/beastiality. They (from my knowledge) weren't even hyper-realistic.

3: The last person targeting physical therians and therians who experience delusions is using logic. I just can't fathom. Being a physical therian and/or having delusions as a therian doesn't make you a bad being.

4: I obviously respect you if you personally think this (animal packers) is a bit of a strange thing to do, I obviously respect you if you personally don't want to have an animal packer. That's fine, and that's just your opinions and feelings. The only thing I would criticize someone for is if they are calling something that makes another being feeling better about their body disgusting, vile, zoophilic when it isn't, "too far", the reason why therians get so much hate along with physical therians/ therians that expirience delusions/holotheres, or pornographic.

That's all we have to say for now, we'd appreciate it if you add your thoughts/insight in rbs/comments (not forcing of course, you're free to do what you wish with this post).

[that-dreaming-dragon]

Knowledge and Information

I'd always witness confusion amongst newbie or old members rejoining community alike, or folks that don't interact with the larger, or just different community having these sort of confusion. Whether it's about the availability of a concept, the legitimacy of one's aspect of identity, the misunderstanding with terms due to lack of introduction towards the community or general misinformation floating around, or even sillier stuff about demographic of the alterhuman community.

I always encourage people to interact with the larger community, and if having the capacity, to attempt to interact with the community of different platforms and spaces. Because I understand that it's not always possible. Hell, you couldn't make me go on tiktok even if you threaten my draconity (I knew that thing was bad before it got popular in the west, now it's a literal wild west of alterhuman community).

That's why central hub communities are important. At least in my opinion.

(CW: Below cut will be mention of discourse topics, and the writings get a bit more on the negativity side of things)

I will always recommend folks to try out Othercon, and subsequently try to join Otherconnect just so they have a place where they can find more people and places. But more importantly, so that they can be closer to knowledge and information that are shared to and with a larger community.

Keeping communication is important. I try to bring whatever information I can into the smaller servers I'm in, to be a bridge between places in a way, fulfilling my archetrope being the Bond Thread Weaver. It does get hard and overwhelming at times. In fact, I'm constantly at a level of slightly overwhelmed and distracted, it sort of amplify my chaotic tendencies. I wish I can keep up my own activity, wishing I have my hearttype's Multiple Shadow Clone technique, drinking in as much knowledge as I can, or know the best and fastest way to acquire the answer any inquiry that I can help answer.

It is not a one person job. It isn't a job. But we are a community so I and many others do what we can, directing people to more people whom they can talk to or exchange experience with. Sharing what knowledge we have gathered, helping preserve these knowledge.

Sometimes I do wish they can do it themselves. But the next moment, I realize that a lot of problem stem from outside misinformation. Our stuff, the alterhuman knowledge, is truly all over the place sometimes. We are still fighting the folks who treat kin as not a identity but silly roleplay aesthetic. We are still arguing against those that think therian is only the existing animal currently on earth (also, human are animals too, did these people know that?). We are still dealing with so much, ah, what's the word, "missing stair" cases. There is also stuff like the confined idea of what dragons are. The constant idea that everything is nonhuman or otherkin only. We even still deal with those that disagree with plural folks who don't "abide" by some guideline made by folks that observe it from outside perspective. I could go on and on and on.

Do people remember that spiritual, singular kintype/theriotype, everything has to be involuntary, used to be a thing? A default setting? Do people know? I like the Chinese version better of this idiom, but the sentiment is better translate this way, how the tables had turned.

It's hard to get everyone in the same place and talk. Even if we band together, we are still just a pocket of community. There will be those that refuse to, or simply couldn't interact with elsewhere than their one space. I had at times think of those that are less than nice while holing up in their own little club, with ideology that screams invalidating and hurtful towards others (like for example, treating fictionfolk as KFF) as "frogs at the bottom of the well", a Chinese idiom that refers to people who has narrow perspective and unaware of the limitation of their own experience.

I don't know how we can overcome this. Sometimes people need to sit back, and just check back, read around, do some research. There are others like us, there are more folks other than us. We are all unique, but it doesn't mean we live in isolation, certainly not amongst our fellow alterhuman community members.

[wolftsune-of-the-woods]

Wolftsune HRT #9: 6 Months

First / Previous

“Hello again, Erian.”

“What?! But how- I never gave you a prescription!”

“Let's just say… you're not the only one who knows how to make this stuff.”

My tails swished around behind me, finally at their full length and very fluffy. I had to be careful to not accidentally make fox-fire. As awful as Erian is, he doesn't deserve to have his clinic burnt down.

“You monsters…” he continued, “Can't you just listen when I try to tell you something is a bad idea?! Running off and getting these shady DIYs, and you wonder why I have such strict requirements–”

“LISTEN UP, OLD MAN.

You claim to be an expert on therians, but you don't even know us! You don't know what it's like to be trapped in the wrong body, desperate to fix it in any way possible. I'd burn your whole clinic down, but I'm wise enough to know that won't teach you anything except for reaffirming your belief that we're all insane monsters. So instead, I'll use a lovely, less lethal, trick.”

Before Erian could respond, I whipped up an illusion that would make him look like a woman - and change her nameplate and door sign.

“Bye, Thalia Hannah Erian!”

“Wait!” she cried, “What have you done?! Undo it this instant!”

It would wear off in 24 hours. But hopefully, this would teach Erian a much-needed lesson. In the meantime…

I think instead of working with Erian, I'll start my own clinic. “Dr. Wilde’s Humanity Removal Therapy”. It sounds nice, although it's not as good of a pun as T. H. Erian. But having a good pun name doesn't matter, what matters is that I must always put my patients first.

And now, for my final update.

My wings are big enough for me to fly, and it feels amazing. My arms got a bit longer, the structure of my legs fully changed, and they're much stronger: I can run and walk on all fours or on two legs, and both options feel natural and perfect. And my powers are fully developed and natural to use - I shapeshifted into a human form to visit my parents, and at home when no one was around, I practiced shapeshifting by having my headmates change the body to match how they look internally. I stopped having to buy lighters because I can use my fox-fire instead.

And the most important thing is that I'm so happy. I'm finally me. It's such a miracle that this treatment is something that's possible, and I can't wait to grant this joy to even more people in the future.

(and with that, the main story of Wolftsune HRT is done! I originally wanted to extend it to 12 months, and this would've been month 12, but it just didn't work out. I might make some bonus bits, and I or my headmates may make future stories where Wolftsune!Ash can make cameos, but this is the end of the main story. Thank you to anyone who's read this far, and here's some shout-outs to other awesome creators that I didn't get opportunities to feature in the story:

@mecknavorz Hydra HRT

@ashen-vulture A Vulture In Therapy

@tigergirltail Tiger HRT

@squiretilde Elf HRT

@vy-canis-melodis Bird HRT / Changeling HRT

@transpandaart ??? HRT

@tigerwing-animal-hrt Cat HRT

I'm so glad I got to be part of this community, and I wish everyone, not just the people I've mentioned, but everyone in the AHRT community, the best of luck with continuing their stories!)

[vegantinatalist]

May i ask why youre anti furry/therian? Im not either of those things, just curious lol

Glad you asked, i have a lot to say about it, skip to the end for a tldr Viewing animals as concepts and visuals that you can make a persona out of contributes to the perception of animals (and others in general) being commodities. It derealizes animals and anthropomorphizes them, it is not a way to respect or portray animals, its the opposite.

I dislike therians for the same reasons and also because its a delusion like any other, and no different from religion, gender ideology, or trans race believers. Its furry taken even further into full blown delusion. They both also often buy leather and real fur and shit for their stupid costumes, especially if they go to ren fairs. i hate that theres more art of anthropomorphized endangered species than there are members of those endangered species. i hate that cows are sexually exploited while people are making "strawberry milk cowsonas uwu" with giant boobs and straw hats and shirts that say "milk!" Need i even mention all the zoophilia coded art. Ive worked as a freelance artist for over a decade, the massive number of furries that request zoophilia porn (art of getting penetrated by or raping animals), sometimes of their real pets which they would send me (normal) images of, made me no longer care that supposedly most furries "only like sfw furry art" (i call absolute bullshit and even if true idc) or "only like anthro furry porn" (thats still zoophilia in my eyes, no im not sorry, it literally is, especially if you cant get off without the animal imagery or you prefer it over human imagery). everytime someone requested a "sfw full body nude ref" they never gave their character human genitals. Always animal genitals. like bruh you literally want animal penis/vagina, you just (supposedly) wouldnt touch a real animal on principle. Buuuut youll also totally kill and eat animals daily, and youre fine with sticking instruments up their cervixes to force impregnate them and shocking their anuses to collect their semen? and you really think everyone is just like "yeah rape for profit is a-okay but raping them for pleasure is unthinkable"? you really think no people ever are like "yeah raping them for pleasure is fine too"? as an animal rescuer let me tell you- youre dead fucking wrong. animal prostitution and bestiality is a real issue, an estimate 2 percent of the population (and thats just whats reported, we all know animals cannot communicate their abuse) are offenders. from cases i myself have seen personally, the offenders were young men, autistic, and guess what else...ding ding ding. again this is of course not the majority of furries but my point is that i dont trust anybodies morals when it comes to the perception and treatment of others, especially those weaker and unable to speak. i have known a shocking amount of "normal" men who admitted to attempting or successfully raping an animal as a teen.

The sfw art often is extremely self indulgent and very objectifying of animals, drawing them like toys and little fairies that exist solely to bring them joy. i just never liked that kind of thing. i dont like that so many companies even get away with turning that shit into full on dopamine farm gambling addictions for kids. think like, webkins.

My parents used to give me animals like they were toys when i was young. They did not care what happened to them. All the media i was surrounded with as a kid reinforced this idea that animals are toys, toys that exist for self indulgent dopamine farming, even if i never would have said that, even if i would have gotten mad at anyone who outright said it. even if i thought this media made me an animal lover. it did not. and as a result, i saw many animals terribly die. yes, huge blame on my parents of course, but we dont live in a world that respects or cares about animals as it is and this type of content just doesnt help like people think it does. it doesnt teach you respect for animals. it teaches you to love animals the way you love candy. something you play with, and consume. its bad.

I want people to create sonas without using animal body parts as a way to convey tropes and archetypes that harmfully or just incorrectly skew peoples perception of real animals. i want to see animal characters that are neither anthro nor "feral" (toony animal body but anthro behaviors and thoughts) but are instead just written and portrayed like real animals and respected. i am not opposed to anime because while most of it is creepy, depicting toddler faced girls on childrens sexualized bodies, this disturbing objectification element isnt inherent to the style or subject matter and there are plenty of anime that depict people more normally. furry on the other hand is inherently objectifying and i wish drawing furry art was not so socially acceptable. its not like i think everyone should only draw animals exactly the way they look in reality, but you can stylize them in countless ways that arent anthropomorphizing.

i also hate fiction where theres a race of animal people and still a subclass of non anthro animals that are being exploited. it just furthers this idea that real animals dont matter, you can even pretend to be them while you kill and eat them if you want. i just really hate all of it. ive never seen any piece of furry media that doesnt disrespect animals and i think it inherently cannot be respectful to them.

mythical animal characters are a bit of a gray area. if they are depicted like real animals, just different (like a dragon that is clearly cat coded) that doesnt bother me really. the ones that are human coded with no animal parts based on real animals are usually fine too. its the grody and often sexualized blending of human and nonhuman animal that i dont like.

this is a very long and rambly rant but tldr:

-sexual furry art is zoophilia

-sfw furry art is still gratification based in objectification of others (and sfw art still can arouse people which is why its important to be mindful of subject matter no matter how youre drawing it)

-therians are the same + delusion (and i oppose all delusions)

-i want to see respectful art/stories that portrays nonhuman animals as the complicated individuals they are, not as a humans costume, sidekick/toy, or human allegory -im sick of artists having 0 accountability in general and im sick of their actually braindead apologist fans (looking at you made in abyss season 2 enjoyers) and i have 0 tolerance for iffy material anymore, we need to start opposing fictional content with more intensity, the world of art has become like 50 percent soft cp and soft zoophilia and i for one hate that

[us-the-voices-and-more-voices-2]

Us-the-voices intro card!

this is a work in progress but currently it will house the tags we use, our DNI, and alter intros and a couple other fun things!

Link to resource page, filled with many resources. LINK

-------- DC text post series ----------------

superfam being confusing and half clones:

part 1 luthor and Conner reconciliation arc

batfamily stuff: (note this is not in order this is parts of a series each part contains more than 10 posts)

part 1 introducing the batfam along with funny stuff

Part 2 actual batfam serious stuff

part 3 red hood oneshots about various things and how he reacted

part 4 Thomas Wayne being himself, a collection of previous posts

part 5

firestorm being 3 guys:

part 1 the origin + the first couple episodes.

random head cannons important to the series:

part 1 part 2 part 3 part 3 part 4

——————⭐️🦀SIDE BLOGS🦀⭐️————

@us-the-voices-xenogender-blog

A blog for all things blinkies, xenogenders and pixel art

@the-bad-advice-blog-3

you want awful. awful advice? send it in here!

@us-the-batfam-blog

Finally a blog dedicated to just Batman stuff

——————🛑‼️WARNING‼️🛑—————

THIS BLOG CONTAINS BLINKING, FLASHING, EYESTRAIN AND OTHER PHOTOSENSITIVE THINGS! PLEASE BE SAFE, WE WILL TRY TO TAG AS MUCH AS WE CAN BUT IT WILL SLIP THROUGH. PLEASE ONLY LOOK AT TEXT POST FROM US, IF YOU HAVE EPILEPSY BECAUSE I CANNOT GUARANTEE THIS BLOG IS SAFE

this blog talks about mature topics! Such as Sexual abuse, death, trauma, child abuse, ableism, sexism, racism, police brutality, some really depressing environmental issues, homophobia, transphobia, queerphobia, gore, capitalism, and MORE!

so please consider this your warning!

———————⚠️ DNI ⚠️—————————

Terfs/radfems, transphobes/queerphobes, (I have had enough of you. Why do you have to be so awful Jesus, it’s not like awful people don’t come in all shapes, sizes, races, and genders. I ain’t defending awful people. But trans people just exist and I believe in judging people on a person to person basis. I don’t think you are bad I just want you to shut up about it, I’ll always be loudly supportive of trans people and loudly a feminist too. So deal with it! Also I don’t hate men, why would i??? So shush)

ableists/sanists (like the people who discriminate against mentally ill people),

Tankies/marxist-lennists/maoists/north-korean socialist supporters (please fuck off I hate facists, and you are the types to argue that disabled people should all die for the glorious revolution but again fuck you we are 15% of the fucking world’s population and guess what I wanna live)

animal abusers/people who spread misinformation about animals and animal care, (I hope you stub your toes)

syscourse (yeah I don’t ever want to engage in it idc shut up this blog is about literally everything else BUT that.),

bad faith gender/other Identities (E.G BLM gender, transabled, ect.)

racists/xenophobes/antisemites, misogynists.

non-binary exclusionists.

pro-censorship people.

anti-therians/otherkin, (if you are it’s not a deal breaker lol, it’s just some of us are therian/otherkin due to plurality)

only NSFW blogs (like if you occasionally post NSFW your okay, if it’s less than 50% nsfw your fine on this blog lol),

MAP’s AND PEDO’s and people who like l*licon/sh**tacon (fuck off and stay off) (sorry I am actually anti censorship but following our most recent ban I’m being more “careful” when mentioning these topics so sorry)

Dream Stans (yeah I fucking hate that guy, I like MCYT but dream and co can stay off of here REAL) (I have always hated him and I will continue to, fuck off dream Stan’s),

anti-good faith xenogenders (yeah so what if the term xeno-identities is more the “right” term idgaf! I literally have no qualms nor problems with xenogenders, in my mind it makes sense because gender is a social construct and so why not have fun with it?)

And more to be added :)

WE ALSO BELIEVE PEOPLE CAN CHANGE AND GROW, AND HATE IS LEARNED SO IF YOU WERE ONE OF THESE THINGS IN THE PAST AND HAVE NOW REFORMED I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT YOU!

——————————- ALTER INTROS —————————————

Now expanded in our tumblr page!

Pop (hi I’m pop, I’m usually the one on here when it’s not everyone else. If you see me more than usual it means LIFE happened. I’m technically host? But me, Lena, And poppie kinda share that role. They/them he/him)

poppie (cat girl, you see her a lot on here. She’s SUPER into the veganism scene and animal rights and is a cat-therian lol we all love her she’s the best. She/her any cat neopronouns actually.)

Lena (demon, yeah she’s a demon! She’s nonsense hardworking and in the demonkin/otherkin scene. She/her)

belle (psychology nerd, actually knows how to write ANYTHING is honestly the best. She/her)

————————————. Tags ————————————————-

#Anticapitalism stuff (a tag that argues against capitalism, and trashing multinational corporations and a bit of environmental stuff.)

#anarchism stuff (a tag for all things anarchism)

#art stuff (a tag for stuff related to the ethics, discussion, or making of art.)

#music stuff (for all things music and music theory!)

#tv and movie stuff (the tag for film and television, kinda fun kinda sad! It’s good tho)

#anti-censorship stuff (a tag for anti-censorship stuff, and why it’s important!)

#trans stuff (a tag for all things trans! Includes dark topics, mostly happy stuff tho.)

#queer stuff (a tag for all things LGBTQIA+, mostly happy but with triggering and dark topics.)

#mental health stuff (A tag for all things mental health, let it be help or just memes or darker topics.)

#mental illness stuff (a tag for specifically mental illnesses, like anxiety or depression or whatever usually REALLY dark but sometimes happy usually dark tho.)

#veganism stuff (a tag for all things vegan, not recipes just ethics and whatever. I [pop] don’t usually add to it but poppie does ALL THE TIME.)

#disability (for all things disability, let it be activism stuff, vents, information, or just funny stuff! It’s a tag I tend to use for myself because fun fact I [pop] am not okay! Health wise lol.)

#punk stuff (A tag for all things punk, let it be C-punk, madpunk, neuropunk or whatever! It’s a tag for all things punk! Including art, crafts, sewing and punk beliefs and politics I love punks I am not really one due to a whole lotta reasons but I love them so much <3 )

#environmentalism stuff (Climate change, mass extinctions, greedy corporations and politicians, animal rights, and more stuff. Mostly climate/animal related but intersects with disability stuff, anarchism stuff, activism stuff, and veganism and punk stuff. Fun fact these types of things are extremely intersectional but are never presented as such due to infighting!)

#healthcare stuff (The weird tag related to health and healthcare, not a disability tag, not a environmentalism tag literally health and healthcare which is weird. Mostly PSA’s)

#animal care stuff (For all things animal care, I disagree with veganism’s doctrine here. Keeping Some animals and keeping animals can be done well and awesomely and help petstore and wild animals, but people who do animal care just absolutely trash just don’t deserve anything or anyone. It’s a fine line, but I genuinely believe if you take good care of your animals and give them an amazing quality of life I genuinely don’t see a problem with keeping animals.)

#animal abuse stuff (Goes hand in hand with animal care stuff, it’s pretty bad at times, it is what it says on the tin. Mostly also animal care stuff.)

#child abuse stuff (For stories, children’s rights, or experiences. It’s pretty dark.)

#youth liberation (for youth liberation stuff, it’s important honestly.)

#children's rights (A tag for all things children’s rights it’s super cool!)

#homelessness stuff (a tag related to homelessness and just all the things that come with it, it’s a dark tag. Sometimes happy.)

#uhoused stuff (Same same but different, more related to cost of living crisis’s and capitalism then disenfranchisement and outright just the sad reality that is being mentally ill and homeless or a substance abuser and homeless or trans/queer and homeless or any other absolutely insane and awful reason people are homeless.)

#communism stuff (For all things communist, I don’t believe it will fix anything and it is kinda extremely hard to get rid of monetary currency. But communism, socialism, anarchism, and punk theory are all connected in ways and have some BASED ideas and principles. So yeah that’s why it’s tagged on here!

Edit: I do not agree with communism; well Marxist Leninist, or Stalinist, or any variation of fucking facist dictators like North Korean communism/socialism or soviet communism and Maoist communism. Why? Because do I really have to spell it out they were facist DICTATORS, I do not believe a cult of personality is good nor that people instead of being solely valued on their money they are solely valued by their ableness which I think is harmful as shit. A lot of communists are literally tankies and for the death penalty and many other things I’m against including “making prisons torture chambers” “state mandated murder of people against communism” “leaving disabled and mentally ill people to rot because they can’t contribute to the work force and such are useless to the communist state” “stealing shit from people because it now belongs to the state” “forcing people into mandatory labor jobs with no way out of it unless they become disabled or die” and many many more! Communism can be interesting and helpful but in a lot of ways people drunk the “facists aren’t bad they are communists they are for the people!” Drink. And like I don’t believe in that shit, go fucking deconstruct your biases please because otherwise I’m blocking you, talkies fuck off)

#socialism stuff (I actually do believe socialism can work, it’s definitely not the end all be all of ways to govern/live life but I think it’s a good stepping stone to all different wonderful things that can change the world for the better, usually the CIA/FBI/US government appears a lot in this tag due to reasons that will become apparent. But it’s a fun one!)

#fat stuff (A tag about fatphobia, diet culture, ableism and just annoying stuff about being fat lol. Mostly medical negligence and malpractice because holy shit fuck is it bad in this tag. Also Eating disorders are talked about in every post in one way or another, it’s a big problem. Dark tag.)

#religion stuff (A thing for all things religion, it’s basically every criticism and deep cut anyone and everyone has on every single religion, which yk obviously no one literally agrees with anything. It’s mostly everyone going “QUEER/TRANS/DISABLED/WOMEN/“SINNERS” DONT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT IT MAKES NO SENSE!” Other religions “NO THEY DO” and it’s actually very well written and argued for. Also atheism is talked about a lot too, it’s mostly like a deep philosophical and ethical debate that has spanned literally everything and everywhere where it’s all boiled down to “yeah some fuckers deserve prison, but the average normal guy kinda just exists we guess??? Religious or not???? And there’s kinda nothing wrong with it but we would rather them be religious in some way????” And that is still the shittyist summary ever too. But it’s the gist of this tag. Also memes!)

(and where I put all stuff related to religion it’s very much a mixed bag i’m not making fun of anyone actually it’s that there is genuinely too much variety in this tag to accurately tell you what’s in there. It’s everything related to religion all religions!)

#autism stuff (Specifically for autistic stuff, it’s used from time to time.)

#activism stuff (a tag for all things ally posting, and human/animal/land/just everything rights. It’s fun!)

#food stuff (A tag about all things food related, sometimes recipes sometimes diet culture and why it’s bad. Sometimes it’s just cultural things related to food. Food is a big topic LOL)

#comics and book stuff (a tag about all things comics, books, and written works.)

#tv and movie stuff or #film and tv (a tag about all things TV and film, let it be discussion, gifs, or videos or fun facts.)

#neurodivergent stuff (For all things neurodivergent! Fun stuff, kinda happy kinda dark. Intersects with mental health stuff and mental illness stuff and disability tags. Because like why wouldn’t it???)

#animals (yes just for animals, nice calm usually no triggering animal stuff. It’s just cuteness usually! Unless I put something dark in there then sorry.)

#too queue for school (A tag for all queued stuff I remember to tag! Usually wholesome most times not. But it’s just a fun “today’s thing queued!” Thing if I’m not online.)

—————————————- Our post tags —————————————

#us-the-voices Cooks (a tag for recipes, food we make, and random cooking tips???)

#us-the-voices reviews (a tag for all things reviews! Let it be movies, shows, games, art, books, fanfics, whatever!)

#us-the-voices talks (A tag for like personal affairs? Or just “haha update stuff went DOWN in our personal lives” or just general chatting with mutuals who knows I haven’t decided yet.)

#us-the-voices recommends (weird tag for all weird recommendations of shows/books/tv/fanfic/movies it’s there it’s weird and if your bored and want something to do maybe you’ll like it lol.)

#us-the-voices rants (a tag for rants, don’t take them seriously it’s usually momentarily sad/existential/angry/fed up/annoyed/trauma dump RANTS. suggest you just block the tag lol, I will probably make half of these while I’m unwell and sick or just stressed and under all sorts of stress. So honestly it’s just a tag so you guys don’t have to deal with it because I will eventually be stupid on the internet and I’d rather you understand these are nonsense rants that are just a release of information that’s been annoying us.)

#the voices talk (A tag for talking about alters or specific things some alters want to talk about but not all.)

#poppie weblogs (poppies tag for her stuff, it literally has everything in it.)

and more to come!

——— User boxes ———————————

————————————————————————————————-

BLINKIESSSSS

below the cut because they strobe!!!!!

[alpimerealmsystem]

Furries, Therians, And Lycanthropes (DIFFERENCES)

So I'm insanely tired (functioning on caffeine and a couple hours of sleep) so I ain't gonna go into controversial topics or deeper topics right now but this is still something that should be mentioned, so let's get into it. (Also, this is an idea from someone, I don't know who, if this was your idea go ahead and credit yourself!)

First, what are furries? Furries are people who are fans of anthropomorphic animals, animals with human-like traits such as walking on two legs, talking, wearing clothes, etc. A furry doesn't need a fur suit to be a furry, in face a huge portion of furries don't have a fur suit, they're simply fans of anthropomorphic animals. Furries do not believe they are animals, they simply like the fandom.

Now, what is a therian? A therian is someone who identifies as an animal on a NON-PHYSICAL level. They recognize physically they are not animals. For some therians they may have a spirtual connection such as believing their soul is an animal or they had a past life as one, for others it's a psychological thing where they may believe they have the mind of an animal, and stuff along those lines. Neither one is non-valid, both are real therians, it's not a mental illness.

I'ma mention lycanthropy for the sake of this post, clinical lycanthropes do believe they're physically an animal. Clinical lycanthropy is a misidentification syndrome and a delusion that someone is physically a wolf, transforming into a wolf, or has transformed into a wolf. While it is most often a product of mental illness, it is not considered a mental illness itself, but I don't wanna go into that because I'm too fucking tired to talk about that right now. But the reason I wanted to bring it up is out of the three I'm talking about, they're the only ones who physically identify as an animal.

Now, what are the differences? Furries do not believe in any way, shape or form they're an animal. They choose to dress up for fun. This means they're not therians, they don't have the identity as an animal either. For some furries it can be for cosplay reasons to! Therians identity as an animal unlike furries. Therians can be furries for fun or to connect with their theriotypes more, this doesn't make them not a therian. They're simply a fan of the fandom and dressing up does not mean they think they're an animal on a physical level. Like I said, lycanthropes are the ones who believe they're an animal on a physical level. And lycanthropes can be furries to!

Conclusion, therians and lycanthropes can be furries but furries are NOT therians or lycanthropes. My qualifications for talking about this topic: I'm a therian and voidkin and I have done extensive research about all of these topics :>

[aestherians]

Defining Paratypes - Once and For All

Word count: ~1450 Estimated reading time: 10-12 minutes

1. Introduction

Language is a funny thing, huh?

In June 2018 I erroneously coined the word “cameotype” — English is my 2nd language and I’ve picked up a lot of words by just noting in which contexts they’re used and then never looking them up in the dictionary. Usually this works, sometimes it doesn’t. I thought a cameo meant an addition, something secondary, or something along those lines. When people discussed cameo-shifts, I knew they were discussing brief, temporary shifts, but it was only after coming up with this word that I realized what “cameo” actually means: A minor role.

That’s absolutely not the meaning I was going for when I made up the word “cameotype,” and I backtracked as soon as I realized my mistake. But I still needed a word to cover that concept I’d originally intended for “cameotype” to cover — to quote my original post: “You know those characters, animals, and so on that make you feel all shifty but aren’t technically kintypes or [hearttypes], yet are still important enough to your therian/’kin experience that you feel like mentioning them somehow?”

In March 2019 I finally shared a follow-up post where I suggested a few alternatives: Paratype (from para-/beside), fratertype/fratype (from frater-/sibling), and sintype (from sin-/together), all of which better describe the concept I was going for. My Anglophonic readers helpfully pointed out that the latter two words sound weird in English, and “paratype” ended up being the most popular word.

And then I never made another follow-up post.

2. An Ill-Defined Definition

I’m not sure why I never wrote a concise definition but in hindsight I’m glad I didn’t. It allowed for 4 years of input and discussion of the term and its scope. Originally, I wanted it to be very broad, covering “anything that doesn’t fit neatly into the established [alterhuman] categories but is still important to your nonhuman identity,” and I thank the gods that that didn’t become the go-to definition. It’s too poorly defined to be useful, and the broadness I was going for is already covered by synpath and vaguetype.

It did, however, end up with a not-much-better definition in Kiera’s Alterhuman Dictionary: “A character, animal, or mythical creature that is not a kin/therio/fictotype or a hearttype, but somehow feels important to your established identity. Some examples of how it may manifest include: inducing shifts of one or more of your established ‘types, showing up as a cameo shift that somehow feels related to your established ‘type, or feeling similar to a hearttype because they remind you of your kintype in some significant way.”

I never got around to asking Kiera to change that definition.

3. Covering all bases

Like I said, I’m glad I ended up waiting so long to write this essay, even if it wasn’t intentional. It allowed me to see a lot of perspectives that I wouldn’t even have considered on my own.

First of all, how do you know if something’s a paratype or something else? After all, it’s possible to have two kintypes that are extremely similar, like two species from the same genus, or two characters who fit the same archetype. If they feel obviously connected, how do you determine if one of them is a paratype or something else? The annoying answer is that you don’t — not really. Alterhumanity isn’t a hard science, we can’t run calculations to determine which identity facets fit into which categories. All our jargon should be opt-in, not something you feel forced to use because you fit a dictionary definition. If your kintype is a labradoodle and you later learn that goldendoodles exist, and you feel like you’re a goldendoodle concurrently with your labradoodle kintype, you can choose to call the goldendoodle a paratype, a kintype, both, or neither. “Paratype” is an opt-in category (no one is forced to use it) and it’s not an exclusive category (if something’s a paratype that doesn’t mean it can’t simultaneously be another kind of ‘type too).

The only requirement for something to be a paratype is that it has an associated identity. It doesn’t exist in a vacuum, it’s always an offshoot of something else. I was a bit wishy-washy about this at first since I was more attached to the “it feels like a hearttype/kintype/something else, but it’s not” part of the concept than the “it feels that way because it’s connected to your preestablished identity” part. But no, no matter how a paratype presents itself, or what the experience of it is, it’s defined by its origin: If your paratype-like feelings don’t exist because of another identity facet, it’s not a paratype.

Paratypes are not defined by their origins in the same way that some folks try to define kintypes - whether a paratype is psychological, spiritual, or something else is irrelevant. A paratype can be a quirk of the brain just as well as it can be a past life. As long as the paratype/your connection to the paratype is an offshoot/extension of a preestablished identity, it counts.

The example I’ve used most often to get the idea across is that I am a bison, and because I’m a bison it’s only natural that I feel a connection to domestic bulls. This connection does feel like a hearttype. Unrelated, I am also unicornhearted. The difference comes down to whether I can separate my otherhearted feelings from other parts of my identity. If I can (like with unicorns), I call it a hearttype. If I can’t (like with bulls) it’s a paratype. It’s definitely splitting hairs, but the distinction is valuable to me.

I did get a question once, asking if a paratype had to be an offshoot of an alterhuman identity, or if it could be connected to a gender identity or a disability. I had not considered that possibility, but I gave it a tentative yes. Especially in light of Mord’s “Alterhumanity is Queer” essay, queerness and alterhumanity is not something I want to split hairs about. If you feel connected to dogs because of your gender, or cats because of your disability, and you want to refer to those connections as paratypes, I’m not gonna stop you. More power to you!

It's also worth noting that throughout this essay I have been using animals as examples, but “paratype” is by no means limited to therianthropic/animalhearted identities. Plantfolk, fictionfolk, objectkin, conceptkin, and factualkin can all use it if they want, and the term can be used for any identity category, from kintypes and hearttypes to headmates and past lives to constels and linktypes. It can even be used for paratypes - in theory, a paratype can have a paratype can have a paratype, ad infinitum. Personally, I’m spiderhearted and as a result I feel strongly connected to other arachnids, including ticks, and as I feel connected to ticks, I feel connected to other ectoparasites, like mosquitoes and lice.

A paratype can have any kind of connection to your preestablished ‘type. I use the bison <-> bull example often because it’s an easy way to explain the concept, but other examples may include a lion therian whose paratype is gazelles, a reptile with a sun paratype, a rabbit with a hawk paratype, a robot with a glitch paratype, a mushroom with a tree paratype, a werewolf with a silver paratype, and I could go on. Even something like a lost love from another life or an entire universe could be categorized as a paratype if you wish to do so.

You can also get noemata from a paratype, or only have one specific version of a species/object/character be your paratype. A paratype can be as vague as it can be specific - it can be every single type of dragon ever, or it can be a specific interpretation of a specific dragon species from a specific book. Essentially, you can have any kind of alterhuman experience be classified as a “paratype” as long as it meets the “offshoot/extension of a preestablished identity” criterion - which led to the excellent essay “How a hearttype gave birth to a parallel life of a paratype - a view on the connection between spiritual and psychological roots for otherkinity” which I implore you to read - but not before you’ve finished the final section:

4. A definition - finally!

paratype, plural paratypes (noun) From para- (prefix): beside, alongside, related to; and type (noun): a particular kind, class, or group

1. (biology) a specimen of a type series other than the holotype 2. (biology) the environmental component of a phenotype 3. (alterhuman community slang) an identity facet that only exists in relation to a preestablished identity

[sesshy380]

Time for my breakdown of the four main characters for my WereKat AU! (Forewarning: This is going to be a long post and there will be a lot of images)

Throwing a tag to @resuri-art! You are the reason this AU appeared in my brain, therefor you must suffer the consequences! 😂

I'm going to start with Bakura, since he's kinda the most 'normal' out of the four (I use the word 'normal' very loosely)

(Click each image for better viewing)

Bakura is the only Human in the group. He's not like most Human's however, as he was found and raised by Naga when he was very young. He knows he obviously had a human family once, but he doesn't remember them.

His Naga family had to learn a lot when it came to raising a Human child ('They eat HOW many times EVERY DAY???'). Can you picture little Bakura trying his hardest to unhinge his jaw like his Naga sister, Dia, so he can eat a rat whole? He developed some rather unique eating habits due to this, which is how he first met Ryou.

Being that he's Human, walking into a butcher shop that specializes in Therian meats got him some very unpleasant looks. The proprietor wasn't very thrilled either, and was giving him a hard time. Cue Ryou's entrance.

Ryou is a Vampire (despite his very not-vampire aesthetic). But he's not just any Vampire, he's from one of the most highly respected Ancient lines: Necrophades. Despite his elevated status, he’s never felt like he belonged among Vampire society. He’s viewed as an outcast since he doesn’t share their hierarchical standpoint on things, but because of his status there is nothing the other Ancient lines can do about it.

Ryou doesn't follow the typical Vampire tradition of feeding off thralls, but instead prefers other, more ethical sources. His meeting with Bakura came about when he went to visit his regular butcher, who he pays well to save the blood of the animals he harvests.

Ryou found Bakura to be quite intriguing, and after some time the two began dating and moved in together.

Humans are notoriously monogamous, while the other races (due to their longer lifespans) are known for having polygamous relationships whenever it suits them. Being that Bakura was raised by Naga, his views when it comes to relationships is similar to Ryou's. Which is why he eventually found himself with not one, but two partners.

Say hello to the little spitball of energy and attitude that is Kat.

(Second image is to show off her markings when in her standard appearance)

Kat is a Felidae, which is a feline Therian (were-beast). She's pretty secretive about her background, only mentioning that she is the illegitimate offspring to a Kemati noble.

Bakura met her at the very popular casino/popular hotspot, Geal'drache, where she works as a cocktail waitress serving drinks to the patrons. She didn't treat him with the same disdain most people treat Humans with. They started talking, and as soon as he mentioned his boyfriend being into tabletop RPG's, her inner nerd flooded out.

No one really knows when it happened, but it started out with Kat coming over for campaign nights, to coming over to plot new campaigns, eventually staying the night on occasion because of how late she and Ryou stayed up plotting new nightmare mode campaigns, to her just suddenly living there. Somewhere along the way, Bakura acquired himself a Therian girlfriend. He's not really complaining. Everyone's cool with it, so why should he?

Then Ryou's old boyfriend, Amir, came back into the picture.

(Yay! Amir has markings too! He was my fave to design! His hair so floof!)

Amir is a Leona, which is a lion Therian. His brother, Marik, is the current King of the Kemati nation, and their older sister, Ishizu, is Marik's advisor to the crown. The three also have an older adopted Pantera (panther) sibling, Rishid, who is Marik's personal guard.

Long before Ryou met Bakura, he and Amir spent some time together as a secretive couple. Due to the politics involved in Amir's life, he couldn't be openly seen with Ryou. When Marik ascended the throne (due to a very unfortunate 'accident' that befell his father one night), Amir felt stuck between his duties and his secret lover. Ryou made the decision for him and told him if and when things changed, to come seek him out.

It's been ten years, but Amir hasn't forgotten what Ryou said...though, ten years isn't much when you live for centuries.

Amir found Ryou again, but was a bit shocked to see who he was now living with...and openly in a relationship with. He always knew Ryou to be a bit...eccentric...when it came to who he dated, but Amir never could have imagined Ryou with a Human.

Amir, like most everyone else, sees Humans as less than the dirt beneath his feet, and tolerates them simply because that was what one did. The idea of being in a relationship with one? Disgusting.

But, he hates the idea of losing the person he cares about most due to his own prejudices, so he simply tolerates Bakura's presence for Ryou's sake. The fact that same Human is also dating his childhood friend/devils advocate has nothing to do with it.

Seriously...his old flame and his childhood friend??? What's so special about that human?????

And there you have it! Four crazy people that are now living together and have their own weird relationships with one another!

Oh, bonus! Forgot to add that Therians like Amir and Kat have TOE BEANS (which is why their shoes are designed the way they are, so that not only is there room for toe claws, but also so there is room if they shift into a full beast).

(I cheated, because I can't draw feet any more than I can draw hands. Pinterest image that I used as a base trace here)

[l0cal-were]

Something that I don't hear much or any therian who's theriotype is a predator is the urge to be....

Violent...

Tw for mentions of violence, animal 💀 and the darker parts of therianthropy.

It's something that I kinda hide about myself due to its weirdness and in no way is this post meant to encourage anyone into being violent against animals, or anyone for that matter. Animal or not, your morals are intact and shouldn't be ignored.

Onto my experiences though...

For those who haven't read my previous posts, I am a wolf and mountain lion. Being a therian whose theriotype are predator type animals that live off violence, there are part of it I don't mention for good reason.

For example early this week my boyfriend spotted coyotes in the neighborhood and was naive to how dangerous coyotes can be to small children and pets. My therioside of me really didn't like this news. Huffing and puffing and pacing around in a cubical I take lunch brakes in and I was just not okay with the thought of a coyote being in the area. Not just any area tho, MY territory.

It seems so unserious (and it is lol), but in the moment I was genuinely worried for the pets in the area (understandably).

I don't like coyotes. Which I recognize my therianthropy plays into this annoyance but also being born into American and being a pet owner all my life. If you're any one of these, you'd learn quickly; we hate coyotes.

Wolves don't like coyotes, they're both territorial creatures that have constant beef with eachother. That was until colonizers wiped out most wolves that then led to the over population of coyotes in Yellowstone.

Loud, annoying, tricksters that murder your pets any chance they can get. There's a reason why to many native people's, the coyote spirit is something to be revered. They stalk and draw away their prey from the herd, only to ambush them before they know it.

Coyotes in the same breathe and beautiful, they are a necessary part of the ecosystem, and cut down populations of rodent. As human, i appreciate them. As a wolf, I still hate them.

The need to protect my family and home was strong in me. As embarrassing as it is to admit the urge to howl out to let them know exactly who they were messing with, was there.

The thought that they might target our pets or some young children in the neighborhood put me on edge. Not that this 5'2 120 lbs little Asian boy was going to have a smack down with a yote any time soon (dispite knowing some of you would pay to see that).

This isnt a new phenomenon within my therianthropy by any means. There's talk on prey drive but this goes beyond prey drive, this is survival.

Anyone who knows me knows that my mountain lion theriotype was the result of trauma, to cope with feeling helpless my mind created itself into a big scary cat in order to feel in control. That theriotype only ever comes out in times where I feel triggered into fight or flight (with a couple exceptions of course).

But that's an extreme example. Most of the time it's just getting territorial with random things. Wolf stuff, yk.

[sorensolsikke]

Am i a therian? A furry?

People of tumblr, i am gently asking you to help figuring out what the hell is going on

So yeah well

The desire to look non-human accompanies me since such deep from the past that this feeling became the very home, the shelter of my identity.

Yes, of course, i am autistic, i have a paper on it, yes i have ptsd and untreated adhd and i am queer, so i guess wanting to get away from the difficulties of being part of the human society is logical, but like.

Understanding where the feeling comes from shouldn't erase the experience itself.

I recall wanting to growl and purr, moving tail and ears since i was at least two and a half. Of course, i had grown up along many animals, my parents had worked with service dogs, and in one hand, small children learn languages so easily, why would be animals' body language so different? I just got fluent in it– And in the other hand, wanting to have ways for easier self-expression is such a common autistic experience.

But these thoughts lingered, transformed, grew as years passed. Of course i always played with animal toys, or roleplayed the animal company in games with (my very few) friends, but that's not very dramatic, not like other memories linked to the topic, for example.

The very first time i got penalty in school was in the second semester of first grade, when i growled at a girl who bullied me, and then i bit her. That's very strange of a memory, because it made me feel so guilty, so childish, that i didn't let it happen ever again. But that doesn't mean i didn't think about it anymore. When i moved schools and other bullies came and i just couldn't defend myself because of extreme empathy i think, i always imagined myself as a blue dragon, growling and roaring at people. It was, and still is, the easiest way for me to understand my own anger.

What i really feel alone with is that how these fantasies, images became the very pillars of my self-image.

I remember having the idea of wanting to be a dog first, when i was the smallest. I said goodbye to that imaginery when we had to sell my first and only puppy whom i loved dearly, because he was aggressive. I got obsessed with cats instead, then horses, and finally, the perfect mixture of every kind of animal: dragons. Anyone who walks into my room mentions how many dragon related things i have in there. I emphasize that i am 17.

But the reason i started to talk about this all how it forms the way i want to look.

For instance, lately, i've got a long mullett, which i style with a hair straightener in a way it looks like i've got animal ears. While it makes me somehow relieved, at the same time it leaves me with the longing for more.

I want hoop snakebite piercings, so to give the impression of long canines. I cannot stop thinking about this, even though i know very well that my father wouldn't approve it. I just found a really small thing that would make me feel better about myself, and i want to achieve it, quickly, because yk, there are so many things i cannot change.

There are some grotesque ideas in my head how'd i want to look like since i was very little. I've always stepped on tippie toes so to raise my ankle long, up towards my knee, like it is with dogs, cats, horses. I wanted my ears to be pointy, and i crave the black line connecting the eyes with the mouth, what the cheetah's have – therefore i absolutely loved face painting from a very young age. I've always wanted wings and tail, long tongue, and defined muscles; a bunch of these are somehow managable, but others are so distant. It doesn't usually hurt me, like not having a dick hurts me on some masculine days, but the cravings are there, and i think about them a lot.

What i want to ask is: what does it make me be? Am i a furry with a dragon fursona? Am i a therian, am i experiencing some kind of species dysphoria? I know labels aren't quite needed, but is there anyone sharing my experience? Where are my people? Dunno i guess i just don't really want to be alone.

[fallingsatellive]

Am I the only one who hadn't even heard of quadrobics until last year? For the entire time I've been in the community I've never even seen it mentioned and suddenly it's the biggest deal ever? I've never seen anyone say you must do quadrobics to be a therian, I've only seen people complaining about people saying that. It's literally not believable to me that someone thinks you have to do a specific physical activity to be allowed to identify as an animal. It's like someone saying you literally can't be gay if you don't listen to Mitski, it doesn't happen, it's a problem I've only seen people complain about, except I know who Mitski is and have never even heard the word "quadrobics" through six years of being a therian.