#therian info

[coyotesinew]

Here’s a little explainer post I made for my instagram. Thought I’d post it here too! 🐾

It does a disservice to all listed communities to have them be misconstrued and misunderstood to the degree that they often are. Hopefully this post helps some folks understand the differences and nuances a bit better! ^^

[synanthropic]

Project NUZ: Nonhuman Unity ZineZero

Hi!! I helped create a nonhuman art collective called Project NUZ with the intention of creating zines and other media- here is our first proto-zine! You can read it all here, I plan to share the files for printing at as a foldable soon!

[dogs-have-fallen]

ok wait so what IS transspecies bc i feel like i've never heard anyone actually use that one in good faith before

omg i LOVE this question !!!!

in a simplified manner , transspecies is an identity someone can claim if they have or want to transition to their theriotype , via medical or social transitioning . an example of each is body modifications like fangs , tattoos , implants etc , and for social it can be really anything ! it’s about how you portray yourself , for some it’s wearing gear all the time (remember that a lot of therians gear a lot , so this isn’t transspecies exclusive) , or overall socially presenting as your theriotype (ex: my friends refer to me as a coydog , that’s a form of social transition) . i’m going to cover a bit more on medical transitions in the next paragraph .

now, there’s a lot of controversy with the label but it’s mainly from people who are uneducated on the subject . there’s the “it’s harmful to transgender people” agenda which can be true , there is a small minority of people who troll under the label (similar to early kinblr days , a lot of what you’ll find in the older “otherkin cringe” vids are mostly trolls) , but it’s a separate identity that happens to use similar terminology . along with this argument, many claim that because medical transition is impossible , that it’s a mockery of trans people . the counter point is that even if some forms of medical transition don’t exist (ex “hrt that turns you into [insert animal]”) , the desire is still there .

there’s also the argument that it was made by radqueers and transID people , which simply isn’t true . the link below will go through a lot of mentions of the transspecies label prior to the mention of it in radqueer spaces .

here’s another link that talks about what transspecies is beyond what i’ve described !

i hope this helps !! thank you so much for your ask 🤍🤍

[paxthepuppycat]

Alter humans and furries have a rich history in human mythology, with anthropomorphic creatures often depicted as animals with human-like traits. Ancient Egyptian mythology, Greek mythology, and Middle Ages European folklore all have their roots in these myths. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, authors like Rudyard Kipling and Robert Louis Stevenson wrote stories featuring anthropomorphic animals, such as Mowgli in "The Jungle Book" and Dr. Jekyll's Mr. Hyde, which explored the complexities of human nature, the line between good and evil, and the struggle to maintain control over one's identity.

The modern alter human and furry subcultures emerged in the 20th century, particularly after the 1960s, due to the rise in counterculture movements and the exploration of alternative identities. The first known furry convention, "Anthrocon," was held in 1999, and the furry community has grown in size and influence. Furries identify with or have an interest in anthropomorphic animals, often dressing up in costumes or participating in online forums and social media groups. Alter humans, on the other hand, identify with or have an interest in non-animal, supernatural, or mythical creatures, such as elves, fairies, or demons. The alter human community has also gained traction in recent years, with conventions and events dedicated to celebrating these alternative identities.

This is so interesting

[crown-jay]

People spreading misinformation about therianthropy in/on tiktok compilations really ruffles my feathers (A rant by a therian who likes people to have correct information)

Surely it isn't that hard to do even a little bit of a research to find the actual definition. All of this "therians are people who were animals in a past life and have a spiritual connection to that animal." No! If you only have a past life or a connection to animal, but do not identify as that animal, you are not a therian. It's okay to have a past life and be proud of that, but only having a past life is just that, a past life. And a connection isn't therianthropy. If you have a deep connection to an animal, you might be animalhearted, but you are not a therian.

And quadrobics≠therianthropy! It is a sport, a hobby. You're allowed to do quadrobics as a nontherian and therians do not have to do quadrobics.

Seriously, it is not difficult to find correct information, it is all over the internet, tailor made by people who know what they're talking about. I know a lot of these people are kids but it is so frustrating to see just how many people don't understand the fundamental definition of what therianthropy is. Therians identify as a non-human animal on a non-physical level. That's it! If you identify as an animal on a non-physical level, you're a therian. If you don't, you're not. Simple as that (I say that, there are probably situations where it might be more complicated, but I digress).

This isn't me saying that "people aren't allowed to make mistakes", I'm just baffled by the sheer amount of times I've seen this under tiktok compilations or even in the tiktoks themselves. I want this community to be understood and I want people to know what their experiences are actually called. I can't imagine how many of these kids have joined therian spaces, only to find out that they're not actually therians. And that just makes me sad.

It may not be my place to say all this, afterall I only "awakened" (kinda hate that term) a few months ago, but I am also a sucker for knowing things and gathering information (I blame my Doctor fictotype)(and also, I have the 'tism) and I am always looking to provide people with correct info about the topics in passionate about.

Sorry for the rant, I needed to get that out. If there is any misinformation in this post, please tell me so I can correct it, it would be kind of hypocritical for me to rant about the spread of misinformation while knowingly spreading misinformation, now wouldn't it?

[dogs-have-fallen]

a lot of people have already replied to this , but i wanted to add my own thoughts ! not just for you , OP , but for anyone who stumbles upon this post :3

therianthropy is a very personalized experience . while yes , many people under the therian umbrella identify as such due to past lives , there is a huge number of those who identify as such for psychological reasons ! and physical , ill get to physical therianthropy later in the post .

we all know the quote “ on all levels except physical , i am a wolf . arf ! ” while naia isn’t considered the best example anymore , the phrase often stands true . so yes , to an extent therianthropy CAN be being an animal in a non - physical sense .

onto the physical side . there are a LOT of reasons why someone would identify as a physical therian . it depends on who you ask . for me , it’s a part of my transspecies identity . but that’s not the same for everyone . some identify that way due to delusions . now , i can’t talk much on the delusional side as i don’t have delusions of physical therianthropy , there are plenty of phys therians that talk about their experiences .

now for the question : what is the difference ? are they the same thing ?

the difference usually just lies in how someone identifies and how their therianthropy manifests . not all physical therians are transspecies , and not all transspecies use the therian label . so it’s a big yes and no on the last one .

all in all , you’re not wrong that therianthropy “is” having a past life . a big portion of it IS spiritual . but there are more that one kind of therianthropy :))

dog out

Soo... clearly I'm not understanding something regarding being therian. Is it not having had a past life where you were an animal (or more in most cases) and doing things to reconnect with that past life?

Is it being an animal in a non-physical sense? (As in you're body is human but nothing else is.)

my understanding of being a therian has been the past life thing, but with the recent discourse people have been saying being an animal period is being a therian, is that not being transspecies? What's the difference between being therian and transspecies? Or are they the same thing?

I am asking this genuinely, please explain to me honestly. This is not a meme, this is not bait, I am asking in genuine because I've only heard of the second thing in passing or in jokes and don't want to be spreading/believing false info.

[nyctohyloph0bia]

Honestly y'all need to chill with the "nonhumaness needs to be involuntary!"

The only reason you're saying that is due to wanting to present 'valid' enough for outsiders. It's not a choice so they won't bully you, like they do furries or other people.

And I hear you cry "but KFF!". KFF aren't nonhuman, they just relate. If someone comes over to me and says "I choose to be nonhuman today, I am nonhuman no matter what other ppl tell me. I genuinely identify as nonhuman." That isn't KFF, that's a nonhuman.

Truly, I'll just go "woah...that's so based". Because truly, what are our differences? We both genuinely identify as nonhuman....and yeah that's about it.

You might say, "they don't experience shifts!" There's nonhumans that don't experience shifts. And there's humans that experience shifts, we call it the "shifter's disease". Basically when a full human researches or is around nonhumans and begins feeling phantoms or feeling nonhuman, despite not being nonhuman. So it isn't exclusive to us.

"They don't have noemata!" There's nonhumans that don't have noemata.

"They don't suffer species dysphoria." Theres nonhumans that don't experience species dysphoria. Also cool transmed rethoric.

"They weren't born with it!" There's nonhumans that become nonhuman later on in life.

"They didn't wish their whole life to be a different species!" And? I can imagine there's some nonhumans that didn't even realize they wanted to be/were a different species.

"It's disrespectful to nonhumans that suffer due to their identity!" Another cool transmed rethoric. It's only disrespectful to you because you're up your own ass and believe that anyone who didn't suffer like you did, that didn't have it as hard as you isn't as valid as yourself. But what you don't realize is by having that belief you are excluding such a large portion of your community.

There's involuntary nonhumans who don't suffer from their identity at all and they're still part of our community.

The line between voluntary and involuntary can get blurry very quickly and hard to describe. But truly, you are no one to say who can use a label that rightfully describes their experiences.

Get real and truly think about why you're so upset at someone having a good faith identity.

[the-crystal-femmes]

Hi, we made a post like this long ago on our now defunct althuman blog, but we feel the need to redo and reconstruct this post as we realise that there are still misconceptions to things.

What is a physical alterhuman?

// pt: what is a physical alterhuman? //

[ DISCLAIMER: please do not take our words as the definitive fact. We are aware we could be wrong in some areas and appreciate corrections as long as they are in a civil tone. ]

Well, for starters; a physical alterhuman is someone who identfies as an alterhuman on a physical level, much like the name entails.

This can be experienced in many forms, and includes (but is not limited to!): being able to transform into an alterhuman being, the body being alterhuman, the "human" appearance being a veil or glamour, an alter in a collective who views the body as them when in front, etc.

A common misconception is that ALL physical alterhumans stem from delusions. This is not the case! However, those who are physically alterhuman due to delusions are still 100% valid and do not deserve to be ridiculed, hated, shunned, or any other harmful thing.

Physical alterhuman experiences are not all the same, it's always going to be a spectrum. Personally, for our collective, we are physically alterhuman but are unsure of specifics. This stems from many childhood traumas as well as things like our mental disabilities such as autism and attention deficit hyperactive disorder. The "human" everyone sees from us is a glamour, or a veil, that we cannot remove, but that does not make us any less of a physical alterhuman.

I don't like how this has to be constantly said but; no, someone being physically alterhuman does not give you the right to shun them out of the community, to try to police their identity, or come to harmful conclusions. It isn't anyone's right to meddle into another being's business, especially when you are a stranger on the internet. As much as some of you may come from good intent, you're not really doing a nice thing by telling others to get help or trying to "reality check" them for who they are. We personally find it ridiculous that this statement has to be said.

- Yellow Pearl (usually Ula would make these types of posts, however we notice that she's easily triggered and would rather not have her do that, so I'm stepping up for her.)

[darkmagenugget]

Hiya! I'm Ashe! One of the main fronters of the DarkMage Nugget System, runner of of this account, and main artist! Fennec kitsune/shapeshifter as well. (She/They) Welcome to the DarkMage Nugget Tumblr!

Creator of Hyper City (With extra lore from friends and Aqua) where a lot of my friends stories are taking place. You can find my commission info here and are open! I do character art, emotes, and more!

System Intros after the break!

Allow me to introduce the rest of the system.

Iris- (She/Her)

Iris is the host of the system. She has her own blog here ( @iristhedarkwitch - 18+ only). She is the witch of our system, and also the current host. Specializing in transformation spells fictionally, and energy manipulation in practice. One of my girlfriends as well. And Aqua's girlfriend too.

Aqua - (She/They)

Aqua is the writer of our system. Also has a blog of their own over here ( @nuggetofthesea ). She is an elf with (currently) 3 forms. A base, a sea, and a shadow form. She is the one responsible for most of the lore in Hyper City, and is usually the calmest of us and just loves hanging out by vibing in the room. Also girlfriend. Also dating Iris.

Chaos- (She/Her)

Chaos is a gremlin. Is always interested in things that are high-energy and fast paced. She plays games on stream on fridays at 4:00 PM Pacific. She is also the most direct of us (Though speaks a little rough) and able to put things bluntly and deal with scenarios we wouldn't be able to otherwise. She can by hyper, but cares greatly for everyone in the system. Usually spending time with Aria.

Mira - (She/They)

Mira is the organizer of the headspace. A crystal fairy who is able to duplicate herself up to up to 30 of her at once, she manages the entire headspace and the thoughts and memories of system members. Keeping the memory archive as a collective reference for us to go back to. They do tend to be able to handle multitasking better than the rest of us, but tends to stay out of the front unless she is needed (or wants to troll us, because when she enters the front we all see what she sees. All 30 of what she sees at once). She keeps everything organized.

Aria - (She/Her)

Aria is a puppy. She's just a big strong puppy. She is the sweetest person in existence. She can't really communicate well verbally or over text. But can communicate through images, emotes, barking, and through me or Chaos. Would protect anyone physically if needed, but we try to not have that be needed. She is too sweet! If she shows up, give her headpats. She absolutely loves them. ^-^

Nova - (They/It/Fae)

A trickster fae that has found its way into our system. Rarely calls anyone by name, and speaking with a scottish Accent, they are playful and tricky. But likes to fly free. Bound to it's "Little Fox" (me) in terms of willing to listen her, but will chime in at any time it wants. So if I ever speak with a scottish accent, that's Nova.

And just some more examples of my character design work. These aren't part of the system (As far as I know) but are still characters I use often.

[we-are-other]

Otherkin beings, alterhumans, nonhumans, therians.

Send me an ask and tell the world what you are. Use as many or few words as you want without censoring yourself. It can be written like a poem or straight forward and simple. Do what feels right for you.

My goal is to collect and archive until we have enough entries to make a zine out of it that can be downloaded and passed around for free. I want to make our voices less quiet. 

❗️We have enough entries! Look at the pinned post to see what’s next.

How it works

You send me an ask. Short and simple example:

“I’m a ___.”

I will post your ask (I'll use the queue to space the posts out a bit) and put it down on the zine as:

“I’m a ___.” -Anonymous

If you don’t want to be cited as anonymous, you need to tell me. Like this, for example:

“I’m a ___. -Blue”

You can ad as much information as you want. An example:

“I’m a ___. -Blue, they/them, 21”

That would look like this in the zine:

“I’m a ___.” -Blue, they/them, 21

I hope I explained it in an easy to understand way!

I will cite the asks exactly how I receive them, including things that I think are typos. I don’t want to accidentally change something that was done on purpose. If you want to correct a mistake you’ve made, just comment under the respective post. I can’t allow this for anons because I need a way to know the request comes from the being that made the original ask.

Update

We already have over 30 entries! Given that number, I can confidently say that this zine will happen. I already started working on it. I'm excited! 

(Some of these entries are bringing me to tears omg /pos)

❗️We have enough entries! Look at the pinned post to see what’s next.

Informational posts and basically anything about the zine, my process and eventual questions I may have -> #other info

[therian-and-nonhuman-polls]

Therians, what level of differentiation/dissociation (not sure if it's the right word, please correct me if I'm wrong) with your theriotype do you have? Meaning that your "cat self", for example, is more playful, or energetic than your "regular self".

I see this much more often within therian community than within otherkin, so I'm interested. Also feel free to rephrase the question if my wording is off.

- 0% (I am my theriotype fully and thoroughly, no differentiation)

- 0%—25%

- 25%—50%

- 50%—75%

- 75%—100% (there is a "human me" and an "animal me")

- not a therian

[k9catastrophe]

If I see one more therian trying to invalidate Copinglinks, Funlinks and Otherlinks and say that they don't exist. I might scream .

[lifenconcepts]

BEING YOU DOES NOT NEED ANY RULES!!!

AAAAA

You can be an alterhuman while still feeling content with being in a human body!

You can use terms or not, relate to certain situations or not, and it doesn’t make you any less than what you already are! You’re you and that will stay true even if you feel like you’ve changed, no longer relate to the person you once was, or on the contrary, go back to being the being you were before. There are no limits or concrete steps you must take, as it’s all just part of existence!

Being uncomfortable with things others don’t see problems with is fine, as even if they don’t understand, your experience is valid. Enjoying things that are unusual for the self you present is also quite alright and you shouldn’t be brought down by anyone!

you don’t need to prove yourself to anyone, nor explain why you are the way you are. Any little detail and aspect about you is allowed to exist even without a label, and should you use one, there is no obligation to fit the stereotypical definition of said term!!

you’re allowed to have unusual symptoms or strange behaviours, desires for unsettling things and fascination with harmful things! It’s all a part of you and you don’t need the praise of others to feel like you can be yourself.

You can be a therian with no past memories, be a conceptkin of an entirely new thing you have seemingly created, make up terminology that allows you to express yourself in a way that you’re more comfortable with, you can feel like you need physical attributes to validate your identity, it’s entirely fine and possible to even have species dysmorphia and be fine with still presenting human, relate to species that simply have no concrete form, be a dog and yet like licking yourself clean, be a cat and adore dogs, be a bird and yet hate the sky, be a bug and yet seem big, be a slow creature and yet love the wind in your hair, be a god and yet proudly take on the form of a mortal.

even those “unusual” things that seemingly have no presence online, you’re still valid.

Stereotypes hold no value over you and any aspect of you is still you even if it ‘doesn’t make sense’. People can relate, or they can’t. And that’s not a you-problem. It’s theirs.

You can have reasons, or not have them. It still doesn’t change the fact you can be whatever you are. No matter if others demand an explanation. The only things you should feel inclined to share are your preferences or voluntary answers. The rest? Hidden away in a little box! Nobody needs the key, why should they?

[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.

[paxthepuppycat]

sorry if this is a silly question but im new to the therian community and im wondering what the deal with outline art is?

like i dont mean this in a negative way, I've just noticed that outline art in specific is quite popular with therians, and it made me wonder.

Hi! Welcome to the community! :)

I’m honestly not sure why they are so popular right now. I just found out about them and it’s fun to do! I like it because I can add my own humanity to my nonhuman self, it’s kinda like I’m editing myself? Idk if that makes sense but yeah :3

Have a good day!

Made by @mamimikey

[unetherian]

Did you know ?

An alterhuman with many types can be called a polymorph!

It's a rather subjective term but it's still fun to use!✨