Therian Guide: Forums

Lets say youve told some one (whether it kin or non kin) u are a therian. They are processing the whole "being an animal on the inside " concept, and then ask what animal you are. And once you say what animal you are they have a second reaction.



Hmm.



For me, some ( even open minded non therians, usually thought its cute and friendly to identify as a cetacean, being that cetaceans, even orcas, are portrayed as super cute and approachable by media.*

*(Well...until 2010 at least, since the seaworld incedent of an orca killing a trainer..... every time i mentioned i was a dolphin or basically anything about dolphins people brought up that for quite a while )

Alternatively it can be a neutral reaction, since identifyin as that animal is already weird, but they.may be thinking, " at least the animal isnt "that strange".


And at its worse i would be thrown with dolphin rape jokes* or something, lol

*Jokes are at times by friends in good fun, but sometimes by people trying to passively make a joke of something im trying to say seriously.


Also, dolphins are at times seen as clowns, well, it may kinda make me look extra stupid over the fact that i identify as one.

People have pulled flipper/hoop jumping/begging for fish jokes on me, some in good fun, some cause they think im just making a joke or metaphor about myself. .. but some passive agressively.


So..

Im a dolphin,


Im a wolf,


Im a dragon,


Or Im a starfish

Can have different reactions...

So i wonder... here are my questions:

whats your experience in telling others? You feel types stereotype make a difference? ... is the stereotype stronger amoung kin or non-kin?

Also clarify any of the stereotypes so that others here can learn as well i thought it was a good topic to start here in introduction to therianthropy section, to get the stereotypes cleared up


Here's mine:

As for me, actually cetaceans are usually friendly in general, general being REALLY GENERAL, over all of cetacea , but there are populations of even the same species that are more or less agressive, a pod of bottlnose in monkey mia, australia tend to be more agressive in mating strategies than a pod off florida bay coast.


But mostly we wont attack humans for no reason really, so us being.known as friendly is reasonable, and were mostly generally friendly and playful lmao.


And i need not mention jumpin through hoops and doing tricks is NOT natural behaviour.


Also that cliche flipper "sound" people use on TV and movies usually ? NOT a dolphin. It was a really eggagerated and pretty innacurate impersonation of a dolphin done by Mel Blanc (known to voice bugs bunny and other looney toons back in the day)



Super interested in your awnsers!


Dolphin huggles,
StarDolphin ^^

Even to people who don't know what therianthropy is, wolves are a cliche. It's seen as cringy and just generally unpleasant- not to mention they then go into all the "I'm the alpha/you're the alpha" stuff which is fair enough, as that's the most commonly known trope about wolf packs, but is also quite annoying.
One of my friends who I told had already pretty much guessed, saying "it makes sense" and so on and so forth, however I can't ever gauge a full reaction as you have to take into account people trying not to hurt your feelings. I think that friend thinks I'm pretty insane XD

I agree with what Shmi mentioned about comming out as a wolf. Among the community I'd say it's even harder to come out as wolf since sometimes it feels like you have to "prove harder" that you identify as such based on research and knowledge, and even then people might be skeptical about it for a while or just roll their eyes at you. Understandable, though.

To me regarding otters I had a couple experiences like you with cetaceans. People see them as cute, funny, cuddly "clowns". I was sharing facts on instagram once and posted a picture of an otter attacking a coyote. A few people were surprised and said "I had no idea otters were like that!!" Since they are viewed as playful and funny, most people forget that they are still predators and that they will defend themselves and their families.

I'm get the same reactions that Rain and Shmi said about wolves. It's a bit hard to say you're a wolf to other therians, people always seem to have a little doubt in their minds unless you really know what you're talking about and being an adult helps too. As for the fae aspect of me people say that I seem to be part fae all the time just people in my classes or on social media, so for that I don't even tell people and they pick up on it. The only bad reactions of fae I've seen are from people who have dealt with them through spiritual means and those people find them annoying, but that's completely understandable because fae are jerks

Wow, really interesting awnsers!

Yes @shmi , the proof asked of wolves is a lot more and for good reason too. I feel People associate this kind of were existance with wolves more since there are more werewolves than were dolphins jaguars or lions in the media lol. Funny enough, therianthropy the word came from alt.horror.werewolves xP

And yeap @Rain otters do share similar stereotypes to cetaceans actually! Cute and funny "clowns" i do believe alos otters are jept in captivity though i dont know if they are taught tricks. Either way people go and see and develop this whole image of always being cute and cuddly heh.

And @kisota , i totally caught that, though i didnt know coyotes were seen as "knappy" or mangey that much, but definately as pests like wolves, perhaps sly and mysterious, like the desert version of a fox haha. But i dolphinately sea where stereotypes can be a problem with finding your type. XD I never based mine on stereotypes since i didnt really associate having traits of some animal made you THAT ANIMAL, as i thought the stereotypes of dolphins can apply to other animals like otters for example! So to me it was more of a "thats me !" From very early age, before i found most stereotypes.

For whales though i didnt like how they were portrayedin the media like in pinnochio as a man eating monster or Books mentioned like moby Dick. I never felt right with those depictions , but i was aware ad ask why people draw them as monsters so much if it isnt right. Pissed me off a lot, and i wiuld think if i told someone i like whales, they'll start making jokes about fat people (i was skinny but never though it was right to call a whale fat even if they have a lot of fat, they're actually VERY strealined!!! ) or how they could swallow ppl how scary it would be swimming with a whale as they could acidentally or purposely swallow. Lmao. Just no. XD

But as i grew up and found documentarys (that mind you arent always objective but better) as ppl grew up too whenever i mentioned whales they would think of how endangered humpbacks are and just go "save the whales!" , or because of finding nemo, well... ask me if i speak whale.... actually people would pop that joke even if I mention dolphins! (Dolphins are actually small whales,though comunicate higher pitched) but i guess even so, remembering about the sereotype of speaking dolphin still reminds of dory speaking whale xD lmmmaaaooo

(Actually, her orca impersonation in the first movie was preety neat tbh xD)

This joke i think its cute and well really funny, and really isnt harmful to perception as honestly, dory does similar impersonation and we know its not REALLY speaking whale xD

Its always a kind and caring joke to me xP plus, the idea of dolphins and whales having a language is possibly yhe mosy accurate stereotype out there , yet scientists are REALLY slow in actually declaring it! People get surprised that scientist arent sure about dolphins having language, there are still studies being done in gammer syntax stuff, the problem is since we speak so high pictched and make many sounds at once, in fact the sounds are so complex humans dont know how to decode it, its not one dimensional like human speech, but more like human music, with a melody and accompaniments that make a concept or message. To a human that thinks one dimensionally in terms of speech can have dificult time, plus lack of tech as well and physical barrier of not being able to produce sound without machine :/

But in that i can say the general public is actually right about i feel xD science has too much proof in brain stucture analysis but i feel they dont want to say it full out because then theres (rights) involved, but recently its being more accepted slowly (because as much as a discovery is made that human superiority complex is a hard nut to crack) and rights are slowly being implemented , though honestly i dont feel any animal needs to have complex cognitive ability to have rights honestly, i feel every animal is their own type of genius!


Which leads to the Second kind of stereotype, the general ANIMAL stereotype, of humans being greater than animals...which perhaps can also affect (which i think it REALLY DOES) affect peoples view on identifying as an animal in general, at least general public and media, identifying as an animal is mostly seen as a joke, not just because we feel we are a TOTALLY differing spiecies, but perhaps may raise the question, "why identify as a measly animal when humans are at the top? Why would you want to degrade yourself that way?"

I've only told a few people in real life and the responses have been positive.

When I told my best friend in college, she wasn't surprised at all. She was however surprised I didn't think I was a dolphin, since at the time, bottlenose dolphins were my favorite animal. (I still very strongly associate with the sea though.)

And when I told my mate, he was curious and a little confused at first, but then asked questions and accepted it.

I also told my college roommates and they nodded and seemed to take it in stride. Now though, years later, it's simply never come up. So they either forgot about it or didn't believe me enough or it just doesn't matter.

(2017-04-04 13:59)Arccitius Wrote: [ -> ]but that's completely understandable because fae are jerks

LMAO I'm sure its not all of the time though, even if some fae are known to be mischevious triksters xD


@Ishvala should join this loveley conversing of le fae~

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(2017-04-04 14:27)elinox Wrote: [ -> ]I've only told a few people in real life and the responses have been positive.

When I told my best friend in college, she wasn't surprised at all. She was however surprised I didn't think I was a dolphin, since at the time, bottlenose dolphins were my favorite animal. (I still very strongly associate with the sea though.)

And when I told my mate, he was curious and a little confused at first, but then asked questions and accepted it.

I also told my college roommates and they nodded and seemed to take it in stride. Now though, years later, it's simply never come up. So they either forgot about it or didn't believe me enough or it just doesn't matter.

I WAS UR FAVORITE ANIMAL AT SOME TIME PSSSHHHAWWWW XD

funny i think this "cool cool," reaction resembles sometimes the reaction to someones nationality or some thing, its mentioned, and isnt really talked about necesarily. Cause everyones cool with it or whatever


Its basically like that with my close friends, i mean sometimes they throw dolphin jokes and send me dolphin things that they pictures of and say omg this reminds me of you! Or other cetacean and ocean things, but when we hang out to watch a movie or go out its not really mentioned unless its really in context, so being treated as its a normal thing is pretty cool, though oddly i have rarely exhibited any squeaks round my friends.... maybe thets why? Eh, i dont think so, my friends already make weird noises or are just weird in general and literally give no effs and are soo caring! i only have been with my twin soul at some point, her being an unawakened therian rn (considering were twin souls lol) shes in her prediscovery phase and asks about my stuff and also very curious but kinda freaks out when i squeak cause shes like OMG WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHAT ARE YOU SAYING LANGUAGE BARRIER AAAAAAA

LMAAAOO

@StarDolphin yeah not all the time but there's no doubt they can be vicious tricksters if they wish to do so XD

I've never told anyone about therianthropy who didn't already know about it, so I have no experience with that. Especially as I've gotten older, I've determined that there are many other things which are more important in trust and friendship. It's never bothered me much.

It IS weird how there was an influx of coyotes. I remember when I came to my conclusions, the only other coyote in the entire community I knew of was Coyote Osborne.

I vanished for a while and then there were a whole bunch of coyotes! To me it kind of felt like that scene in the 90's Zorro movie. Some dude goes into the prison and asks "Who here is Zorro?", and then suddenly like literally every single person in the prison comes rushing forward screaming that they're Zorro, meanwhile the guy who actually was Zorro just quietly stood in the back. At least I think that's how it went. It's been 20 years since I've last seen it, but for whatever reason that scene got stuck in my mind.

My types don't... really have stereotypes that are commonly known. They're both fairly obscure in popular culture. Most people, if I mention a pronghorn or caracal, just react with a "what is that??" The only type of mine that has some kind of significance is perhaps are caracals, who are known as vermin who kill sheep. But that's only to small African farmers. So I'll answer this question based on felines (like cougars) and hoofed animals (like white tailed deer).

I haven't told anyone except my best friend and -sort of- my mother, and their reactions were mostly like "that's strange, but valid I guess." But none of them really reacted to my specific theriotype, they were much more surprised that I was a therian at all. However, I do tend to get different reactions when introducing my theriotypes to therians instead of non-therians.

Felines are traditionally viewed as lazy, sneaky, emotionless sociopaths who like to be cute so they manipulate humans (which is technically true, but it's a survival strategy that comes along with being a domestic cat- they just think cats are being assholes ). And when recieved in therian groups, people tend to be a bit suspicious but not as much as with animals like wolves.

As for my hoofed theriotype, it's really rather frusturating and depressing to be among a lot of therian groups. Hoofed animals are viewed as prey objects, and I've had so many "promise I won't eat you!!!" jokes I just want to punch people in the face. And when I insist most decent-size hoofed animals are capable of defending themselves against predators if they choose to do so, people scoff and even get offended. I honestly feel like I need to prove myself sometimes that I'm not a weak and defenseless chunk of meat. As well as that, among normal humans the image of deer and hoofed animals evokes a weed of an animal who likes to eat your gardens. Even more disturbing, when I talk about deer and such I get disturbing stories about gory ways people killed their deer. (Not "I shot a buck last week with my x rifle" but "a deer got caught in my trap last week and it was soooo funny! I kicked it a couple times before I finally shot it dead"). @Kisota I'm not personally a fan of coyotes (I have a huge huge fear of them due to probably my pronghorn instinct) but the amount of disturbing stories I hear about coyotes and other animals people have killed!