I hope to see Dust around still but I'm happy this place will continue. I wish you all the best with your new role, Bag!

This is a rather huge announcement that I write in a bit more of a personal tone since I feel that it deserves a level of reverence and respect.

As many of you know, DustWolf has been wanting to step into the background for a long time now. He has been the owner of tg, and thus it's face, for... I don't even know how many years at this point. Love him or hate him, he keeps the lights on, he pays the bills. He coded TG from the ground up and he is still the only person here who can take care of the site from a technical standpoint. Whether you like him as a person or not, please understand this and respect the work he has and continues to dedicate to this space. Many people in the wider therian community dislike him, but despite all of this, he still put forth that dedication to keeping this space here, so all of us can use it freely. This place is like home to many people, myself included.

I've been here since the year TG was founded, back on the old website. I remember back when Dusty joined actually, I've been here even longer than him, and lots of folks over the years already thought I was staff since I just seemed to be a fixture in the community. When TG needed new staff early this year, I felt that it was a chance to give back to this space that has been my home for these many years.

Now I come to you all, once again taking up a mantle of service for this space.

Dusty will be officially stepping down as owner of Therian-Guide. He is tired and has been trying to give the rest of us staff the tools we need to take over as much of the technical as we can. He won't be leaving the site, and still plans to keep the lights on, but he wants to fade back as much as he can to enjoy the quiet role of tech wolf. The past few days, we staff have been carefully discussing and casting our votes on who will be taking up the torch as the new owner of TG. As you may have already surmised by my winded personal speech, I have been chosen to be the new owner of Therian-Guide. Unanimously so. I was humbled to wake up this morning and see that every single staff member felt that the community would be best in my hands.

It was a lot, I'm feeling many emotions right now, and I write this announcement nervously because I'm feeling some hella imposter syndrome right now. I also want to make sure I do what is best for this community, and that isn't always easy. Being staff was already difficult. More difficult than many folks see since we try to keep much of the goings on behind the scenes, to try and keep this space tranquil. As the other staff have said during their votes though, they have seen me consistently handle issues head on, with compassion, and maturity. I know I'm not perfect and will end up making people mad at some point, but please know that I truly love this space, and will do everything in my power to do what I feel is best for it. So with that, the torch is passed. May we continue on to a bright future.

With humility,
Bagera

(2019-07-26 20:57)ThunderGlory Wrote:  Personally, I believe that naming my theriotype makes perfect sense. When I’m not shifted, I feel like my human self. But when I’m shifted I feel different, like I need to shake off my human identity.

I feel the exact same way

(2025-09-03 23:06)Cygnus Wrote:  You might find this paper discussing the Body Schema interesting: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605253/ It's rather long, but it does go into phantom limbs.

From what I remember it noted that the brain didn't necessarily reorganize after the loss of a limb, and continued to "expect" signals from it. I think this may have implications for those of us with past lives if what is carried into the present results in the formation of those circuits during childhood development.

Also, this paper discusses the possible mechanisms behind phantom pain: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2025.1419762/full

Thank you, I'm gonna give them both a read!!

You might find this paper discussing the Body Schema interesting: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10605253/ It's rather long, but it does go into phantom limbs.

From what I remember it noted that the brain didn't necessarily reorganize after the loss of a limb, and continued to "expect" signals from it. I think this may have implications for those of us with past lives if what is carried into the present results in the formation of those circuits during childhood development.

Also, this paper discusses the possible mechanisms behind phantom pain: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pain-research/articles/10.3389/fpain.2025.1419762/full

Randomly opened my old neuroscience textbook because a friend wanted to borrow it, and landed my eyes on phantom limbs!

Now keep in mind the researched concept is about amputated humans, not alterhumans, however, it mentions a fascinating fact: These phantom sensations are acknowledged to exist even for some humans born without limbs. Meaning, even if your physical body doesn't develop the limb, your brain can still store its representation, and proactively contributes to your perception of your body.

I'd love to see a screening of an alterhuman brain because it makes me wonder, what activates in the brain during phantom shifts? Do we have "additional nodes" in the somatosensory/motor cortex for extra limbs? Considering that humans still have a tail bone, it wouldn't sound crazy that the brain sometimes assigns it a full tail...

Thoughts?

Hey folks, in about 16 days (September 17th-18th) there will be a scheduled server update for the website. We're currently unsure of the length of time the site may be down for while this occurs. It could be as few as several minutes, but it could potentially be much longer. The site will be down entirely during this time, but the discord server will still be up and running just fine.

So if in a bit over 2 weeks, tg seems to just be gone, you will know why. It's nothing to be concerned about. I'll post any further information we get here in the time leading up to the reset, and answer any questions I'm able to. During the downtime, if it lasts longer than expected, we will share updates on the discord server.

On behalf of the staff team, we thank you in advance for your patience, and apologize for any inconveniences.

Hey there library dwellers!

Just a heads up, Custard has decided to step down from staff, and will also be taking a step back from TG for a while.
She'd appreciate if everyone give her space and not DM her about TG-related issues.

We know she's a very busy fox, and the team thank her for her time on staff and all that she contributed over that time. We wish her the best of luck in her future adventures and hope she gets some much-deserved time to relax. <3

- Fern & the TG staff team

Walk-ins, possession and soul shattering are different from therianthropy, like apples and oranges. But you could have a salad with both apples and oranges in it.

I disagree that possession experiences come from outside of you. That is an illusion created by the brain. The environment can influence your perceptions, but such entities come from inside. They are a part of you, whether they're temporary or permanent.

I think soul shattering is a psychological condition which is likely related to trauma, or maybe another condition like abuse by a narcissist. It makes a person feel like they've been shattered, and trauma almost literally shatters the mind and sense of self.

i actually had an experience that i guess would fit the definition of a walk in
I have the soul of a coyote , I dont know if its a past like or just how I was born. arpund early 2024 I think I started to feel like I was recently killed , and I would get nightmares of past memories i had never had before. I would lash out like a scared coyote and couldn't explain these new emotions because I had learned how to mask those reactions and emotions before.
I looked inward and realized it felt like I had an additional soul , like I was housing another being. after about a month I just stopped feeling it. the unknown emotions and reactions stopped , the feeling of housing another being with my body stopped too. my experience is probably a one off thing that cant really be used as I already identified as a coyote on a spiritual level , and this soul walk in didnt change that , but I felt like id share my experience anyways !