#alt.horror.werewolves

[dolphins-cove]

I found an intro template werecreatures used back in AWHH times so i will fill it out now :))

Name: Loki

Were Name: Loki

Email Address: \

Phenotype: Brown eyes, 1,60m tall, idk what else belongs here

Shifting Ability: Mental and phantom shifting mainly.

Birthdate: not sharing

Birthplace: earth

Home Territory: Forest near my home. It has a pretty river :))

Dream Territory: the ocean.

Physical Description, Were: Im a striped dolphin, mostly grey with a lighter belly and side, stripes going from my beak to my tail.

Human Career: future ride operator

Hobbies/Interests: Themeparks! Rollercoasters specifically and i play the guitar

Favorite Movies: the last unicorn

Favorite Were-movie: my favorite were-related movie is probably princess mononoke but im not sure right now

Favorite Literature: i usually dont read but i remember liking the fox craft books

Favorite Were Literature: i guess fox craft is were enough

Favorite Art: idrk what to answer here tbh

Favorite Were-art: same here

Favorite Quote: "its a dolphins birthright to swim in a straight line in the ocean as far as its heart desires." - Ric O'Barry 

Favorite Were Saying/Quote: i really like the scene in princess mononoke where san tells ashitaka that shes not a human but a wolf. I think this fits here well

Favorite Personal Quote: i dont make creative quotes :(

Favorite Song/Band(s): I like IMAscore alot

Favorite Season: spring

Favorite Holidays: Christmas!

Preferred Prey: fish! And octopus/squids

Hunting Tips: you dive, swim fast and catch your prey with your mouth and go NOM

Preferred Method of Attack: NOM

Favorite Non-Were Mythological Beast: not a beast but Unicorns, i am a unicorn kin tho so its were related actually

Feelings Toward Vampires: my best friend is one!

Feelings Toward Normal Humans: i tend to avoid humans.

Personal Therianthropy: I awakened between 2017-2018 in winter, i discovered the term therian and i knew, this is me. From then on i thougt i was a wolf then over the years i found out im a dolphin. I have multiple were identities but being a dolphin is the most dominant. I identify as a dolphin psychologically and physically, i view my body as the one of a dolphin. Being a were influences my life daily because i am always dolphin. I always feel dolphin and it sometimes affects the way i perceive things. I also tend to talk in a simpler language when fully transformed.

Ill update this at some point when i thought abt certain questions more!! :)

I changed some things up in the template btw, since i am not human i had to adjust the points to neutral words!

[vagabonds-howl]

Piece of history right here

this therian post from 1997… i hope ur doing well now AJ i feel ur pain

[moon-the-therian12]

Bored as an alterhuman/otherpaw/feraveli? Here's 30+ things to do ^^

- Make your kintypes out of clay

- Crochet your kintypes

- Make a cardboard mask

- Make treats that look like what ur kintypes eat

- Watch documentaries of ur kintypes

- Collect random stuff that make u think of ur kintype

- Make a den/nest

- Play in the fallen leaves/snow/sand

- Go for a walk in the forest (or whatever natural area u have near u)

- Make outfits that make u think of ur kintype

- Make a scent maker

- Start an alterhuman/therian journal

- Make alterhuman stickers and stick them to random sings in ur city

- Make jewlery w feathers on it (I heard we are trying to find eachother by wearing stuff w feathers)

- Make a yarn tail

- Go bone hunting

- Make your alterhuman symbols out of clay

- Paint your alterhuman flags

- Read random posts on a.h.w.w. (link: https://alt.horror.werewolves.narkive.com/ )

- Find your territory

- Make a map of your territory

- Build a swing in your territory (MAKE SURE ITS SAFE!!)

- Paint ur paw print

- Hunt plushies

- Turn gloves into paw gloves (example: glue paw shaped fabric on them)

- Try to make alterhuman friends online

- Play games where u play as ur kintypes

- Make an aesthetic pinterest board that makes u think of ur kintypes

- Link with an animal u like

- Start a journal/notebook where u write abt plants/animals u see when u go on adventures

- Visit your hearthome

- Research the history of alterhumans (dont know where to start? Elf Queen's Daughetrs, Alt.Horror.Werewolves, Sylvan Elves)

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANY OF THESE THINGS TO BE AN ALTERHUMAN, OTHERPAW OR FERAVELI!!!

[indornaga]

Hey, Lets Talk About Therian Gatekeeping.

If you've ever seen my work, you know that I'm a very inclusionist therian. People & creatures who have read my work or been to one of my presentations of Therian: Dispelling the Earthen Animal Myth have been very receptive of the information and have passed it on to others in the community that havent been so fortunate as to have experienced and learned along side me. There's still a lot of work to be done in this venture, and every person & creature who shares it is a crucial part of history.

So why does the "therian = earthen animal" belief exist and persist? My favorite theory is that there's a pervasive need to be seen as legitimate. Fictional and mythical animals arent seen as real, in their therian-worldview. Not real enough for exclusionists, and that theory is constantly reinforced by exclusionists who insist that inclusionists are the ones trying to rewrite the term's history.

Let me show you what I mean.

Here's a link to where I got this screenshot. Please note the date in the upper right hand corner of the screenshot. For context, this is from a thread on the community's originating website, Alt.Horror.WereWolves. This is the thread that originates our current usage of Therian/thrope/y. (The censored info is the members' real names. You can see them uncensored at the link, unfortunately. I've censored them here for privacy.)

As I see it, therianthropy applies to *any* human/animal form, regardless of history, powers, or other attributes.

The original defining discussion thread of therianthropy includes "any human/animal form". Gatekeepers are the ones in the wrong here.

There's an argument amongst exclusionists, "if therianthropy can extend to include non-earthen animals, what's the point of therianthropy as a concept?" For those who arent aware, although therianthropy and otherkinity significantly overlap in their experiences and the way those experiences are described, the two communities developed separately, with overlap in experience and terms used, depending on which of the two a member found first. It's so deeply ingrained in these exclusionists that therians can only be real animals, that they choose a narrow inclusion or non-existence.

On top of this, it's incredibly disturbing that these people & creatures are encouraging revisionist history by completely denying original, first hand sources that tell them they're wrong. They delete messages that inclusionists reply with, giving them these primary sources. So I'm here showing you the truth.

If you've been led to believe, threatened even, that you're "not a real therian" if you believe therians can be non-earthen animals, then I'm here holding your paw, telling you that your inclusion in a term/experience doesnt hinge on how well you uphold the standards of a few.

If you would like more reading about this, I have a whole essay, linked at the beginning of the post, with dozens of citations to primary sources about this issue. If you agree that "therian = earthen animal only", I challenge you to read the essay. Read and really analyze the sources linked there. Engage with your history in it's purest form, not from others telling you things. Learning and expanding your worldview is the most powerful way to grow as a person.

[transspeciesculture]

We keep mentioning how transspecies as a term has existed long before the radqueer & transID communities formed, and started claiming it as part of those communities despite it's actual usage within nonhuman/fictional/unusual human species identifying spaces and objections from said spaces.

As a sort of quick thing to back this up, here are some examples before the year of 2020 (estimated beginnings of the radqueer/transID community)!

All of this excludes troll posting/mockery, and is focused on NH/FICT community's discussions. Some additional content warnings are provided for some of the e-mails, however.

This is not extensive, feel free to show us any other finds (excluding alt.horror.werewolves e-mails, we've already scoured trough everything. There is actually more mentions via that, but all from the same person).

Mentions of term:

01 - "Gender-bender" e-mail, 1999. Included in this section due to the unclearness of if the original author of the e-mail identifies as otherkin or transspecies personally.

[Link] [Link 2] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "On cosmic surgery and personal identity" e-mail, 2005

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Da Jakkal's work revisited" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology/beliefs.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Re: Introduction" e-mail, 2002

[Link] [Archive]

05 - "Re: Shifters: in need of Help." e-mail, 1999. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: Musing of the Week" e-mail, 1999

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Re: define were" e-mail, 1997. Warning: thread has mentions of an un-nameable native American creature. (This is the second time we've have to issue this CW. Sucks.)

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

07 - "Re: Fun with Faith" e-mail, 1997. Same warning as above, unfourtunately.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

08 - "Re: Questions on Were's/Shifting/etc" e-mail 1997. Same warning, a lot of early instances of the word being used seem to all be from this one being, sorry.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

09 - "Re: Slithering into AHWW" e-mail, 1997

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

10 - "Re: Odd Dreams" e-mail, 1998

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

11 - "Shifters: WereBreeds" e-mail, 1999. Warning: has some outdated terminology.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

12 - "On the appropriation of trans narratives by therianthropes" article, 2013. Contrary to the title, it is supportive. It does mention the native creature again due to excerpting an AHWW member's ramblings, so thread with caution.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

13 - "An Introduction to Animality" article, 2009

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

Usage of term for clear self identification (flags and symbols are included):

01 - "Re: A question to everyone out there" e-mail, 1997. Warning once again for mentions of an un-nameable native American creature, and questionable identity that may or may not be considered cultural appropriation (we have no place to say as we are not native). Still, it is an clear account of identification with the label and experiences that'd come to be associated with it.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

02 - "Chewing and biting (and intro)" e-mail, 1999. The poster at the time of posting already specifies that they do not identify with the label anymore, but used to.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

03 - "Transspecies Pride stamp" flag/pride graphic, 2017.

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

04 - "Transspecies Flag" flag, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

05 - "Why I call myself Transspecies" personal article, 2018

[Link] [Archive] [Archive 2]

06 - "Gender: Furry II (Now With More Scales)

[Archive]

07 - "Real Dragons: Transspeciesism" article, 2001

[Archive]

[sillyfreakx5]

every time i see nonhumans+ complaining about "tiktok therians", i get reminded of how "tumblrkin" used to be a derogatory term for those not taking their identity seriously and only doing it "for the aesthetic", or even earlier, in the early 2000s, how the weres/therians on the alt.horror.werewolves forum were complaining about the new community members not taking it seriously. XD

i suppose us complaining about the youth doing nonhumanity wrong is a tradition lol. Like of course kids aren't posting philosophical essays about nonhumanity, of course misinformation amongst them is rampant (especially considering the medium of tiktok), of course some of them aren't taking this very seriously or might "grow out of it". It's ok!!

Obviously, we should lend them a helping hand in clearing up misinformation and teaching them about the full variety and wonder of the nonhuman or alterhuman experience. But we shouldn't look down on them, and treat them as if they're bad somehow. As well as that, sometimes we should just accept the generational and platform based differences between us. It's ok. We've been through this before, and we'll be through this again when the next wave of newbies rolls around.

[wxlfbites]

A Werewolfs Guide to Terminology - an update

Authors Note: Below is an ever developing glossary which will be used by a new, yet familiar, branch of the nonhuman community known as the were community. For all those who wish to distance or no longer associate themselves with the current alterhuman, otherkin and therian communities, respectively, this glossary provides ways of describing one's experiences and identities that are more reminiscent of the "old days". While terms used within all of these communities will be listed here, you'll notice they're written a bit differently, to distinguish between "new" and "old" variations. Any and all questions about terminology are welcome. Any terms coined by individual Were's may not appear in any official Were community glossary unless it proves to be a useful, popular term; we want to avoid as much micro-labeling, excessive coining and term hoarding as possible.

A

Animality - the experience or state of being an animal.

Awereness - when one comes to understand their nonhumanity/animality; they become "awere".

Alt.Horror.Werewolves (AHWW) - a usenet group created in 1992 to discuss werewolves and the werewolf genre, it became the birthplace of The Were Community when others began discussing their experiences with nonhuman identity.

C

Calling - feeling drawn to something, someone or someplace as part of ones nonhumanity, this could be used for a nebulous experience that one might not be able to label otherwise, a placeholder while one is discovering what an experience means to them, or a standalone label : "I feel the call of x" or "I'm having a strong calling toward x".

Clinical Zoanthropy - a psychological condition wherein one experiences delusions of being, transforming into or having previously transformed into a nonhuman animal.

D

Daemon - a thoughtform representation of someone's subconscious, inner thoughts, or soul which is given a name, animal form, gender and, in most cases, sentience.

Daemian - one who has a daemon.

Drop - to no longer identify as or with a specific identity for whatever reason; typically seen in the context of voluntary identities.

F

Flicker - one who experiences a nebulous or temporary identity which is often brought on by the consumption of some source material; the thing one identifies as : "my x-flicker" or "I'm flickering as x".

G

Gear - accessories, including jewelry, clothing, taxidermy, etc. worn to express and connect to ones nonhumanity and/or relieve species dysphoria.

Greymuzzle - an older, well respected member of the were community who has been active for several years; equivalent to an elder.

H

Hearted - the strong connection one feels to something nonhuman which may include an affinity for, relation to, resonance or familiarity with; the thing one feels a connection with : "I am x-hearted".

Howl - an organized gathering of Were's, typically in a physical location.

L

Link - a nonhuman identity that is voluntarily chosen or created; the thing one voluntarily identifies as or with : "my x-link" or "I link to/as/with x".

M

Mundane -  indicating those who are not part of any nonhuman community and do not consider themselves to be nonhuman in anyway, particularly those who do not know of these communities or who do not believe in them.

N

Nonhuman - someone who identifies as something other than human.

Nonhumanity - the experience or state of being nonhuman.

P

Pack - a tightly knit group of Were's who communicate regularly and function as a chosen family; may or may not have ranks.

Polywere - a Were whose identity is that of multiple separate species at once.

S

Shifting - when one feels more like their nonhuman identity at any given moment; refer to part two of this glossary.

Species Dysphoria - a type of bodily dysphoria (i.e. anxiety, distress, dissatisfaction) arising from the perception that ones body is of the wrong species.

T

Transspecies - one who identifies as a species that is different from the one they are assigned at birth; typically used only by those who are also transgender, experience species dysphoria and desire body modifications which may resemble medical transitioning to resemble their species more on a physical level.

The Were Community - the overall population who identify themselves as Were's.

W

Were - one who identifies as nonhuman, specifically as some creature or animal; this can be a physical, spiritual, psychological or mixed-belief identity : "I am a Were" or "I am a Were-x".

Werefeels - the feeling of being closer to or reminded of one's nonhumanity; sometimes triggered by an image, item or sensation.

Weresona - a character created by a Were member of the furry fandom, based on their nonhuman characteristics; for use in furry circles.

Part Two - Shifting

Astral Shift - a shift where one takes on the form of a nonhuman creature within the astral plane

Aura Shift - when one's aura changes to reflect their nonhumanity.

Berserker Shift - when one's animality takes over, characterized by loss of control or an altered state of consciousness.

Bilocation Shift - a shift where one's spirit leaves their body and takes on the form of a nonhuman creature.

Cameo Shift - a shift of any kind that is not representative of one's established nonhuman identity.

Dream Shift - a shift experienced in an unconscious state or dream, where one takes on the form and/or mentality of a nonhuman creature.

Mental Shift - when one experiences what they believe to resemble the mentality and cognitive processes of a specific nonhuman creature.

Phantom Shift - when one experiences non-corporeal body parts associated with a nonhuman creature.

Sensory Shift - when one experiences heightened or altered senses that they feel resembles that of a nonhuman creature.

Transformation - a physical shift which is acknowledged by the one experiencing it to be a hallucination.

[a-dragons-journal]

I am Very frusted and confused and hope that maybe ive just misunderstood something and that you could clarify ... ive started seeing posts asserting that therian = kinning non-human/humanoid animals that exist in meat space (regardless of extinction status) and otherkin = everything other than that. That's not true afaik. As long as ive been in the community Therian has meant either a synonymon for otherkin, a loosely defined portion of the otherkin community that experices mental/spiritual shifts, or a cluster of loosely connected spiritual beliefs surrounding reincarnation, animism, and non-100%-human souls inhabiting human bodies...iirc the first therians to write abt their experiences were elves

I am a fairy but not kin but i like to look in the various blank - kin tags sometimes and like a good chunk of the top posts in fairy kin tags are by non - fairies with large portions of the posts asserting ( supportively not malicously mind you !! ) that fairy kin are some how not therians by Virtue of being capable of being bipedal and superficially Humanoid in shape OR are not therians in some different unique way **other than that a fairy may or may not self identify as a therian**

Have I been wrong abt this for over a decade somehow?

I am however a mushroom kin (Clathrus ruber) to assure you I am not infact some stranger stumbling into things I don't understand

"your mushroom kin but you being a fairy isnt kin ?? how ??" It's a complicated mix of "our brain interprets fairy as too broad of a category/is a loose affiliation of non-human cultures not a single specific species" and irl adoption trauma

Sorry for the delay in answering this!

So... I really hate to say this, but while the thing you're complaining about is inaccurate, the definitions you've presented are also not really historically accurate. ^^;

People saying that therians are earthen animals and otherkin are mythical creatures are wrong on both points. Otherkin has historically been dominantly mythical creatures, yes, but it has always been an umbrella term for all nonhumans, including earthen animals. And while the "earthen animal" myth became popular for a time, therian historically has not been restricted to earthen animals (one of the earliest therians, before the word therian was even popularized when the term was still were, was a werePontiac!).

That being said, therian and otherkin aren't synonymous either. The two aren't defined by shifts - there are therians who don't shift, and many otherkin who do - and there's no inherent spirituality to therianthropy. (And the elves you're thinking of are the Silver Elves, who were the source of the otherkin community, not the therian one. The therian community came out of alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW), a werewolf fangroup, and was dominantly, well, wolves and werewolves from the start.)

The actual distinction, as per community history, is classically that therians are animals, animalistic, whereas otherkin includes sapient, human-like beings as well. An animalistic dragon fits the term therian; a 100% sapient dragon who lived in a city probably doesn't. The same would apply to fae - many faeries are animalistic in some capacity, many are not.

Daski of the River System @indornaga did an excellent project researching, writing up, and presenting the history of the term therian - that would probably be very helpful to you here. Here's the link to that for more details and also sources on most of the things I've said here.

[who-is-page]

i heard that youre a good resource on therianthropy/otherkinity so uh

i know that you can be a therian for animals, real or otherwise (im a cat therian) but can i be, like, a scoutbot tf2 therian? is that allowed?

also can you have multiple theriotypes (i think thats the term) at once?

There's a longstanding history of therians who have had multiple theriotypes at one time, so you don't need to worry there. The idea that therians could only ever have one theriotype arouse around the mid-2000's, and was propagated largely due to the grilling and gatekeeping culture that was ongoing at the time-- the circles you will mainly see parroting that language nowadays usually are similar in the ways they micromanage the ideas around what does and doesn't count in terms of someone's personal therianthropy.

The Scoutbot TF2 question is trickier to answer. In terms of "is this a thing you're allowed to do," the answer is yes (as the saying goes, you can do whatever you want forever) but you might run into an issue where people assume your experiences are different than you may intend to represent them as.

The therian community traces its roots back to the were community of the 1990's, specifically to alt.horror.werewolves (which is often shortened to AHWw). On AHWw, there was a were-Pontiac who went by the name Ponty. I've seen arguments for and against the legitimacy of this user, but there's still the fact that they were an active participant in the community, and they specifically identified as a Pontiac car. There have also been other inanimate objects within the community, such as a broom who was on the Werelist forum for a brief period of time (and I think I've heard talk of a violin on a different forum elsewhere, too-- but take that one with a grain of salt, since I can't remember exactly where or when it was, and I could be misremembering).

So is there historical basis for non-animal therians? The answer is, absolutely, yes! However, when people use the term therian or reference their theriotype, there is an underlying assumption that there is an inherent form of animality connected to their identity because of the history and culture around the community and term. For some non-animal therians, that works perfectly into their paradigm and is exactly why the term therian appeals to them so much-- they may not be an animal, but they still experience that animality and ferality that is so often closely associated with therianthropy and which is often assumed to be a relevant part of the concept, so the term perfectly encapsulates everything they hope for people to understand about their identity and its experiences.

For other non-animal identified folks, they don't experience anything they'd want to label as animality, and so they don't find the term therian useful to apply to themselves. If they were to use it, they would end up in a situation where they would be presenting their identity in a way that implies importance on specific things that aren't actually relevant to them.

What terms someone uses are going to come down largely to personal preference, how accurate they feel the term is in application to their experiences, and how well that term conveys their experiences to others on a surface level. Therian isn't necessarily a term everyone will find applicable, but for those who do resonate with it, it's perfect for what it needs to do.

I hope this made sense!

[liongoatsnake]

Hello I hope this finds you well. I don't mean to sound overly formal but I feel a bit awkward asking about this.

As the person known to wrote down a lot of the history of the communities, do you happen to know or have any information on the were Pontiac that sometimes gets mentioned?

I awkwardly feel like by the vague meaning of what were/therian history I think I may also consider myself a therian vehicle and I simply hoped maybe there was more on that person's experience or others like it. I'm very nervous being in this extreme out-there way of identifying, though I am thinking to make a side blog for it with a friend's help.

If there isn't much that's alright. Or if you can't help me at all that's fine too! No pressure. I don't want to over step in the community or misunderstand anything.

All I know at base my identity as a vehicle (for vagueness) is animalistic and also affected by my view point as an alter who is an animal at base.

-a vehicle fox

Unfortunately, little is known about the whereabouts of Ponty after alt.horror.werewolves. (Or at least, we’ve never come across any information personally.) Ponty was active on AHWw between the late 90s to the early 2000s, but we’ve never seen anything to suggest Ponty moved onto any of the forums created around and after that time frame.

And there is so little information out there about or by machinekin/objectkin.

Perhaps someone else who sees this post might have an idea for resources or other vehicle-identified people?

Apologies for the lack of any information or answers.

[tempestgnostic]

On Therianthropy

or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Label

As with all identity groups, the therian community has dealt with its fair share of misinformation, ignorance, and exclusivity throughout its storied history. For quite some time, I felt connected to the label—in that profound way when something just fits—yet, I wasn’t certain if I fit the bill. I had seen the common misconception that therians were limited to only “Earth animals.” There are many issues with this definition, and plenty of folks have gone over this already. This discussion between irritatedandroid and spiritus-sonne was one of the first posts I saw that gave me some background on this misconception, and it struck a chord with me.

As I began to look into it more, I kept finding challenges to what I thought I knew about therianthropy. Below is a snippet of the forum post that ultimately led me to identify with ‘therian’ as a werewolf rather than ‘otherkin.’

You can find the page right here if you’d like to check it out for yourself! The author is Lynna Landstreet/Lynx Canadensis at time of posting. (9/18/1999 on alt.horror.werewolves)

This might get a little lengthy, so here’s your courtesy readmore.

This word, ‘liminality,’ is everything that I am. Liminality, balance, breaking down false dichotomies—this is what it means for me to be a werewolf. As a quick disclaimer, there are almost certainly werewolves out there whose self-perception is similar to mine, but they use ‘otherkin’ instead. That’s completely fine! As who-is-page points out in this post, “While it’s important to understand the definitions of various labels for a variety of reasons, these labels are not the end-all be-all to what you can or cannot call yourself or identify yourself by.”

I’ve written previously about how my werewolf identity is deeply intertwined and ultimately inseparable from my queer identity and my experiences as an autistic person. I don’t just toe the line between person and animal—I practically live in the split tongue of therianthropy. I’ve made a home at the crossroads as an autistic, nonbinary butch who’s had top surgery and is on HRT, who rejects boxes and binaries like the plague.

I embrace the ways in which I challenge norms, call out injustice, ask “Why?” and “Why not?” of my society. It’s the reason I named myself Taliesin, after the influential Brittonic poet and bard. He lives on as a creative genius and master satirist, and—according to legend—a figure who can be invoked and channeled by poets who continue his legacy. I carry on the name of a trickster figure who connected with the universal creative spirit—the Awen—and aim to do the same myself whenever I create art of all kinds.

I see my own ‘purpose’ in life as self-defined, not fated, and I find strength in the fact that I can be part of an ever-shifting process of change. Above all, it is transformation—the divine lesson of The Werewolf—that lies at the heart of my therianthropy, and that’s pretty damn therian, isn’t it? The word resonates with me almost as much as my own name, and that’s enough for me.

I encourage all of us to consider how our language can help us understand each other, and how the hard-and-fast rules and restrictions proposed by even the most well-meaning folks can be counterintuitive. It’s not that any label can “just mean anything” — rather, labels can offer a general framework to describe and relate our experiences to others. A label should be the start of a sentence, not the period at the end.

I’ll close on my favorite part of Page’s post, linked above: “Identity is unique, it’s not something that can be charred well-done and then flipped into a tupperware container for tomorrow’s lunch.”

[theriancultureis]

Therian culture is HAVING AN AWESOME THERIANTHROPY DAY! :D

Today we commemorate the first howl <3

didn't know about this!

"therianthropy day is an unoffical dat celebrating Modern Therianthropy. It is celebrated on the first full moon of november, in remembrace of the first how organized in 1994 by the members of the Alt.horror.werewolves USENET group

[frameacloud]

Therianthropes

"Therianthropes are people who have a lifelong identification as a certain species of animal on an integral, personal level. Some are other species than animals from Earth. The therian community started in 1993 in an online group, alt.horror.werewolves. They developed jargon about shapeshifting to describe feeling more animal-like at some times. These changes are mental or spiritual, not physical. Some have sensations of phantom limbs. Some feel consistently animal-like at all times. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, therians started mingling with the otherkin community."

- Excerpt from "A list of some alterhuman identities and groups," by Orion Scribner, House of Chimeras, Page Shepard, Dinocanid, Ryuu Yumemoto, Draconic Wizard Workshop, and others, 2023.

[gremlin-therian]

Therians e Otherkins

Qual realmente é a diferença entre eles?

1. "Real ou Mítico"

A resposta que a maioria das pessoas dão para essa pergunta é que "therians se identificam como animais existentes, enquanto otherkins se identificam como criaturas mitológicas" e, enquanto esse pode ser o caso, essa é uma visão reduzida dos termos, e que não os representa de forma tão precisa.

Nesse post, vamos nos aprofundar na história das duas comunidades, cultura de cada uma, e como ela moldou a alterhumanidade que nós conhecemos hoje.

2. Duas comunidades distintas

Quem é introduzido ao meio alterhumano hoje, mesmo passando bastante tempo na comunidade, pode não chegar a saber disso, mas a comunidade therian e a comunidade otherkin são, pelo menos originalmente, dois espaços diferentes.

2.1. A origem da comunidade otherkin

O grupo "The Elf Queen's Daughters" (lit. As Filhas da Rainha dos Elfos) é considerado o berço da subcultura otherkin. O fórum, até então, abrigava quase exclusivamente pessoas que se identificavam como elfos, e ganhou tração pelas cartas que ele enviava para outros grupos de espiritualidade e bruxaria. [3]

Com o crescimento dessa comunidade específica, surgiram indivíduos que se identificam como seres diferentes de elfos. Um caso notável seria um trio de elfos do EQD que se descobriram como hobbits, em 1979. [4] Porém, o fluxo de identidades mais variadas apenas cresceria significativamente alguns anos depois.

Em 1990, uma membra do EQD com o nome de Korra’ti criou uma lista de correio para elfos, chamada "The Elfkind Digest" (lit. A Compilação Elfkind). Essa lista era pública, e com o tempo, atraiu não apenas elfkinds (nome dado aos indivíduos que se identificavam como elfos), mas também muitas criaturas de todos os tipos, como lobos, dragões, anões, fadas e centauros.

O primeiro uso do termo "otherkin" foi nesse mesmo ano, e é atribuído a um membro da compilação chamado Torin, um lobo e centauro. Torin teria desenvolvido a palavra como uma forma de abrangir várias identidades não humanas, porque, de acordo com o próprio, "estava cansado de digitar 'elf/dragon/orc/etc.-kin' o tempo todo". Acredita-se que "otherkin" tenha sido, na verdade, um erro de digitação de "otherkind". Independente da intenção inical, "otherkin" acabou ultimamente tomando o lugar de "otherkind", e se tornando o termo de preferência da comunidade por 1997. [3] [11]

2.2 A origem da comunidade therian

A comunidade therian, por sua vez, surgiu no Alt.horror.werewolves (AHWW), [6] [7] [8] um grupo do Usenet fundado em 1992. Originalmente era um espaço para discussões sobre lobisomens, assim como livros e filmes com essa temática.

Em 1993, o ano considerado o de nascimento da theriantropia moderna, publicações e conversas vindas de membros que se identificavam como lobisomens começaram a surgir. [8] No dia 7 de novembro desse mesmo ano, foi publicado o post considerado um dos primeiros relacionados a theriantropia, com o título "Stop howling, we heard you already" (lit. Parem de uivar, nós já te ouvimos) [9]. Nele, a possibilidade de haverem pessoas que se identificavam como seres diferentes de lobos é levantada. Em seguida, um membro descreve sua experiência como um morcego, e afirma se identificar como um "werebat".

Na época, os membros desse espaço eram chamados de "weres". O termo "therianthrope" chegou a ser cunhado apenas no ano seguinte, 1994, e passou a ser o termo de preferência da comunidade desde então. [5] [6] [7]

3. Convergência e diferenças

As comunidades therian e otherkin se encontraram em algum ponto dos anos 2000. [14] O contato entre esses dois espaços proporcionou uma troca cultural, introduzindo termos que passariam a ser usado em ambas comunidades, como "shifts", que vieram da comunidade therian, e "kintype", que surgiu como uma adaptação de "theriotype", de mesma origem.

Com a convergência entre essas duas comunidades, surgiu também a necessidade de diferenciar esses dois termos de forma concreta. Muito provavelmente nesse momento, apareceu a famosa concepção:

"Otherkins se identificam como qualquer ser não humano, tipicamente criaturas místicas, enquanto therians se identificam como animais que existem na terra".

"Therian" chegou até a ser considerado um subtipo de otherkin por esse motivo. Porém, vários therians se opoem a essa categorização, por ignorar o contexto histórico e a cultura desses espaços. A ideia de que a theriantropia é exclusivamente relacionada a animais da vida real também é considerada limitante, e exclui aqueles que se se identificam como seres místicos, mas consideram o termo "therian" como o mais adequado para descrever sua experiência. [1]

Além do contexto histórico, uma diferenciação chave entre a theriantropia e a otherkinidade é a cultura e o foco de cada grupo.

3.1 A cultura therian

Por conta de sua origem, o foco principal da comunidade therian se torna a experiência da animalidade (real ou fictícia): como ser um animal não humano se manifesta em você, como isso molda seu comportamento e percepção (de um modo animalesco), que sensações e insintos ela proporciona, entre outras discussões semelhantes. [1]

Por extensão, a comunidade também pode se sobrepor com alguns outros interesses e estilos. Por exemplo: mídias com temas de animais e/ou transformações, certos artistas/estilos musicais, gears populares como coleiras, caudas e, mais recentemente, máscaras e a prática do quadrobismo. Intersecções com subculturas como teen werewolves, punks, furries, kemonomimis e alternativos no geral também são comuns. Essas tendências dentro da comunidade obviamente não são do interesse de todo therian, mas são inegavelmente populares dentro da cena.

3.2 A cultura otherkin

A comunidade otherkin, por outro lado, foca na identificação: como é ser e se sentir um ser não humano, como isso molda seu comportamento e sua percepção (de um modo civilizado, em oposição ao animalesco), como você integra a cultura do seu kintype com a cultura humana, entre outras experiências. [1]

Assim como ocorre com os therians, otherkins também podem se interessar por temas que são populares entre seus membros, como livros e filmes de fantasia, certos artistas/estilos musicais, bruxaria e paganismo, e outras gears populares, como orelhas pontudas, chifres e asas. A comunidade otherkin também pode se sobrepor a outros espaços, como as comunidades dracônica, unicórnia, vampírica, entre outras subculturas alternativas.

Por conta dessa diferença entre os interesses encontrados nesses ambientes, tal como a conotação que cada termo tem sobre a relação do indivíduo com sua alterhumanidade, muitos possuem preferências entre os rótulos que fogem da distinção considerada óbvia entre essas duas comunidades.

3.3 Theriomíticos e o guarda-chuva alterhumano

A ideia de seres fantásticos dentro da comunidade therian não é nova. A primeira menção à uma identidade mítica ocorreu no próprio AHWW, com o uso do termo "weremythic", ainda em 1996. Porém, essa discussão não ganhou praticamente nenhuma tração até meados de 2010, novamente motivada pela tentativa de diferenciar therians e otherkins. "Theriomítico", cunhado em 2013, surge como uma solução para aqueles que se identificam como seres fantásticos, mas de uma maneira animalesca. O rótulo passou a servir como um "meio termo" entre therian e otherkin, assim como um sub-rótulo para therians com objetos de identificação especificamente mitológicos. [12] [13]

No ano seguinte, 2014, o termo "Alterhumano" foi criado. A intenção foi cessar debates sobre o pertencimento de pessoas que se identificavam com um ser não humano, ao invés de como um (otherhearteds) dentro das comunidades therians e otherkin, ao criar um rótulo que incluía não apenas essas três comunidades, como também fictionkins e plurais/sistemas. [11] Por mais que não tenha sido o intuito inicial, a criação desse novo termo também afastou a concepção de que "therian" estaria dentro do "guarda chuva otherkin", trazendo uma opção argumentavelmente mais favorável para agrupar essas e outras comunidades.

4. Conclusão

A diferença entre therians e otherkins vai muito além de ter um objeto de identificação mitológico ou não. Ela data desde o nascimento desses dois espaços, e o contexto histórico dessas comunidade influencia até hoje a cultura de cada uma. Vários fatores constituem a escolha de um indivíduo entre se chamar de "therian" ou de "otherkin". Identidades alterhumanas são nuançadas, e isso apenas torna as coisas mais interessantes.

Foi um prazer escrever sobre a história dessas comunidades! E eu ficaria feliz em trazer artigos sobre o surgimento de outros rótulos também, caso venha a interessar. Eu amo muito esse assunto, e não vejo ele discutido com muita frequência, então eu estava muito animado pra levantar ele aqui!

Fontes:

Conjunto de posts do tumblr reblogados por "a-dragons-journal" [1]

"Otherkin" no Pop Culture Dictionary [2]

"Otherkin" em otherkin.wiki [3]

"Otherkin" na Otherkin Fandom Wiki [4]

"Therianthrope" em otherkin.wiki [5]

"Therian (history)" na Therian Fandom Wiki [6]

"History of Modern Therianthropy" na Therian Fandom Wiki [7]

"Alt.horror.werewolves" na Therian Fandom Wiki [8]

Post original "Stop howling, we heard you already" do AHWW, arquivado no Google Groups [9]

"The Elfkind Digest" em otherkin.wiki [10]

"Alterhuman" em Otherkin Fandom Wiki [11]

"Theriomythic" na Therian Fandom Wiki [12]

"Theriomythic" na anotherwiki.org [13]

"Otherkin" na Wikipedia [14]

[transspeciesculture]

not culture is

aaaghh Id live to see that anti tID transpecies document whenever its ready <:D (- a recently confirmed transpecies dead)

oh yeah i was just thinking abt that when i woke up- i havent had the time to keep digging, but the evidence gathered is already confirms the terms usage being oooold... the doc needs some reorganization before i continue though, may move it to notion.

so far its just emails, ive yet to dig the archive the first one is from as it was someone else who found that email. the rest is from alt.horror.werewolves

[who-is-page]

Would you please give me a definite to "therian" and "kin" please? I'm trying to find some good solid definitions for my fiance and I'm struggling lol. Feel free to pass on to someone else if need! TYSM

Otherkin - Someone who identifies as partially or entirely nonhuman, typically non-physically. This identity is often considered integral to one’s sense of self, and theories around personal origin vary from individual to individual in the community. Otherkin is sometimes used as an umbrella term which encompasses fictionkin and therian experiences, but it also functions as an individual identity label too.

Therianthrope (or therian for short) - Someone who identifies, typically non-physically, as partially or entirely nonhuman, either specifically as an animal species that exists or has existed on Earth, or as a nonhuman species which experiences particularly animalistic instincts or urges. The therian community is sometimes viewed as a subset of the otherkin community, but historically the original therian community developed independently of the otherkin community and formed on alt.horror.werewolves in 1993.

Some definition resources you can look into:

Beyond Humanity's Alterhuman Dictionary Orion Scribner's Otherkin Lexicon