Hi,

1. @LycanTheory The point I could never explain to you.

2. I very much agree with everything that is stated in this post. A very good resource if those who would wonder about these things would choose to read it.

3. As always I have to pick problems with something... sorry.

I think it's important to note that a wolf therian always experiences therianthropy from the wolf's perspective. There are certain phases in a wolf's life that most wolves experience at some point, and us therians can experience those same ones.

(2018-05-13 12:01)Vyt Wrote:  Wolves are literally pack animals. "Lone wolves" aren't nearly as much of a thing as people think.

When wolves are exposed to circumstances in which there isn't enough food for them, they have a tendency to want to split and leave the pack. This is based on a feeling, if you are often hungry or the food you are eating is not good, you may feel like you want to leave your family. If the problem is worse, the feeling will be more intense. If the problem is not so great, you are more likely to feel a lack of confidence that will make you rather submit / adapt to the requests of your family members than split.

I am saying this so litterately, because this is also the way it is experienced. Wolf therians can do things as trivial as try loosing weight or try going vegan, and end up doing drastic changes in their lives because of the way these instincts work and because people usually don't question why they feel like doing something.

Wolves who do split, travel a great distance in a relatively straight line and are on the lookout for a mate. During this time, they are alone. Many die. They are not accepted into other packs and are seen as a bit of a nuisance by wolves of the same sex.



When a wolf finds a mate, they establish a new territory that they stick to (the little crumbled lines with blue regions over them), as is needed to create an environment where pups can be raised. This is once again the point where the pack settles down in a set territory and sticks together and cooperates. You can expect your feelings will change accordingly.

Although I've never heard of a therian experiencing the following things (probably because this part is fairly similar in humans and human cultural norms regarding the cirucmstances take care of it well enough), the pregnant female wolf will find a den, a safe and typically underground spot where to raise the pups. Female wolves consider taking care of pups to be a "social status" kind of thing, because they do not have to hunt while taking care of pups, they are entitled to expect the males to take care of this. Because of this female wolves will compete for the privilege of taking care of pups and will also have fake pregnancies if status is desired but not afforded and stuff like that.

LP,
Dusty

So, as we all know, there are a lot of wolves. And it is often proposed or believed that many of these 'wolves' are often other species, and haven't researched enough or realized it yet. There's also a lot of caution to newbies about not letting human stereotypes and misconceptions of animals be how they determine their theriotype. And that's really easy to debunk when the misconception is "I howl at the moon as a wolf" or "I'm the gamma of my pack". But I think there are some beliefs, held by wolf therians, that are still influenced by human stereotypes of wolves, but in a much more subtle way.

Main thesis: There are certain statements by/about wolf therians that seem to be centered on wolf behavior, but are actually stemming from human stereotypes.

1. "I'm a wolf because I'm aggressive!" - Actually, predators mostly aren't.
(I talked about this somewhat here, and much of the text will be directly copied.)
Hunting takes a lot of energy. So to be as efficient as possible, predators will tend to stack up as many advantages as they can before attacking. After all, a failed hunt doesn't just mean not eating, it can mean the predator gets hurt in the process as well. So predators pick "easy" targets: the young, the old, the sick, the isolated. Some, like wolves, hunt in packs. Some use stealth tactics. In areas where humans and tigers share land, humans can prevent attack by wearing a mask on the back of their head- thinking they've been seen is enough of a deterrent for tigers, even though you'd think "but the tiger could easily win!".
In summary: predators are very conservative with their attacks, and will only pick a fight they are sure they can win. Large herbivores are actually much more aggressive. Hippos cause far more trouble for humans that lions do.
To give a wolf example- wolves (and high-content wolf dogs) actually make terrible guard dogs, because they tend to be "shy" around humans and back away rather than attack.

2. "I'm a wolf because I'm independent!" -Most wolves aren't, and you're working from the human perspective of pride.
This is an argument I've seen most when wolf therians are defending why they aren't dogs. So many of the statements will be things like "I would never be subservient to anyone". I've literally seen a wolf therian say dogs were slaves to humans.
Let's put aside how dismissive/rude it is to classify an entire species (and the therians of that species) as enslaved or weak-willed. (And that's not my relationship as a dog-therian to humanity...at all). Let's just look at wolf behavior:

• Wolves are literally pack animals. "Lone wolves" aren't nearly as much of a thing as people think.
• Wolves have much stricter dominance relationships than dogs, so 'subservience' is still a wolf trait.
• This pride in individualism is a human cultural thing (especially an American thing). Wolves do not have a concept of pride in the same way. When wolves and dogs diverged, it wasn't a conscious, ego-based decision about being "free" and not being "subservient to humans". That's an incredibly anthropomorphized narrative, it is how humans romanticize wild animals, and this prideful emphasis on it is really a human cultural value.
  

(2018-05-11 15:38)Val Wrote:  

(2018-03-06 23:15)DustWolf Wrote:  Record the sound of a sensory shift. Anything you like!

Id love to do something like this! Would that be okay, and how would I get the audio file to you?

In the end we'll probably have to put it in youtube somehow.

(2018-05-09 23:54)Aster Wrote:  If this is still open, I'd love to add to it!
I've got some cool ideas I could create

Yeah please do!

LP,
Dusty

(2018-03-06 23:15)DustWolf Wrote:  Record the sound of a sensory shift. Anything you like!

Id love to do something like this! Would that be okay, and how would I get the audio file to you?

If this is still open, I'd love to add to it!
I've got some cool ideas I could create

(2018-04-10 7:22)WhiteCoyWolf_kayla Wrote:  

Accepted for #therianArt and featured on TG's Facebook today.

LP,
Dusty

(2018-04-22 2:31)Zefer Nezumi Wrote:  

(2018-04-21 19:40)LycanTheory Wrote:  I purpose that we make a tradition of going out of our way for someone else.

They don't have to be therian or even human at all. Can be a totally random person or animal, not necessarily friends or family.

Doesn't have to be a gift or anything special, perhaps just a few genuine words of encouragement, whatever one can do or offer.

Lyc

But this should be an everyday thing...

You've got a point

(2018-04-21 19:40)LycanTheory Wrote:  I purpose that we make a tradition of going out of our way for someone else.

They don't have to be therian or even human at all. Can be a totally random person or animal, not necessarily friends or family.

Doesn't have to be a gift or anything special, perhaps just a few genuine words of encouragement, whatever one can do or offer.

Lyc

But this should be an everyday thing...

I purpose that we make a tradition of going out of our way for someone else.

They don't have to be therian or even human at all. Can be a totally random person or animal, not necessarily friends or family.

Doesn't have to be a gift or anything special, perhaps just a few genuine words of encouragement, whatever one can do or offer.

Lyc

I think it’s something to pawnder on. Could be a nice way of celebrating the inner critters, and no real rules about what we can or can’t do for it. (Within reason)

Maybe take the moment to make some new traditions!

*has mental image of Therio-Day cakes, facepaws*

The community is what its members make of it, after all.