Therianthropy; how are we shaped identity wise?

Heya, I don't know if the title is a bit misleading or not, so if anyone has any name suggestions just shoot. It's 7 am and I haven't slept yet, lol. Anyways,

I was reading a newly published book this morning, digging into a lot of things, such to say the history of therisnthropy, an explanation to it, and the publishers personal experience... They spoke about how they found their theriotype, the iriomote cat... It got me thinking.

As Therians that are aware of their identity, are we truly born this way, knowing we for sure are our identity at some point, or can it be shaped?

I know for me, it's been a mixed bag as a shapeshifter with some identities thrown in there... For example, I've always known I was a timber Wolf. I've known since I first saw them in my area that I was one of them, even if in the flesh I was not. This experience was innate to me. However, there were other experiences that were not. Ones I had to do research on. Ones I saw and had a "Aha!" Moment. I wonder, if there were animals of very similar characteristics both physically and personality/behaviour wise, and I came across them first, would I have identified as them, instead of what I identify as now?

What if most of us were like that. We know we are something, and we know we have something of certain traits, but how are we so sure that it's one thing over another? Would it be possible for us as Therians to be torn in two over this? Does it come naturally?

By the way, this post isn't meant to be controversial at all. It's meant to provide a question to allow people to think about themselves for a moment. It's also aimed to create feedback, and create a space where we can talk about challenging things with ourselves.

I thought yes, why can't it be shaped when I stumbled upon your post, although it's possibly more complicated than that. For instance, I knew I was canine for sure and therefore sought after animals under that same hood. While other animals (under that branche) had indeed crossed my mind before then, it wasn't until the wolf was introduced the idea that that should be me was the strongest. And that idea kind of lingered on since then. I'm not saying I changed theriotypes like underpants back at the very start, but switching between types can be meaningful sometimes in order to get to know yourself from all possible angles. (I had four possible theriotypes at the start, for your information!) I think it's okay to do proper research and to try out multiple types to see what gets closest to your skin. See what fits and what slides off of you... like the rain on a duck.
I'm just saying that you're born with a therian identity, but what you are, is likely to get clearer to you through experience and the life wisdom you'll gain through interaction with your world, the people in it and of course by putting your mind to the test. Is this too far-fetched?

(2024-10-19 13:07)Lupus Ferox Wrote:  I thought yes, why can't it be shaped when I stumbled upon your post, although it's possibly more complicated than that. For instance, I knew I was canine for sure and therefore sought after animals under that same hood. While other animals (under that branche) had indeed crossed my mind before then, it wasn't until the wolf was introduced the idea that that should be me was the strongest. And that idea kind of lingered on since then. I'm not saying I changed theriotypes like underpants back at the very start, but switching between types can be meaningful sometimes in order to get to know yourself from all possible angles. (I had four possible theriotypes at the start, for your information!) I think it's okay to do proper research and to try out multiple types to see what gets closest to your skin. See what fits and what slides off of you... like the rain on a duck.
I'm just saying that you're born with a therian identity, but what you are, is likely to get clearer to you through experience and the life wisdom you'll gain through interaction with your world, the people in it and of course by putting your mind to the test. Is this too far-fetched?

It is not, no. I definitely agree with what you have to say here!

I know I was born this way because even before I could really form any solid memories, my parents have home videos of me acting in animalistic ways and vocalizing. Now the point you raised about dialing down a specific theriotype is interesting and did get me thinking.

As a young pup, I wasn't super specific about identifying a specific animal. I was more generalized, though I often did gravitate towards wolf more than other animals except when reading a series like Warriors. Later on, after letting the animal part of me back into my life, I quickly identified as a wolf and nothing more (though went through a brief phase of questioning a second cat theriotype, but I was reading Warriors again). I really didn't conduct any sort of research because as an animal fanatic I already had sufficient knowledge to determine with certainty that I was a wolf, and I think the traits, urges, instincts, and what not are pretty easy to connect to wolves specifically, and it's the only thing that feels right. Looking back on it, wolf is the only thing that has ever felt right, or real. While I enjoyed acting as any type of animal as a pup, being a wolf has always had a deeper sort of feeling or meaning.