exactly what i was thinking! cat playing fetch = cute. human playing fetch = freak. funny how that works.

very true, which i think is a good point that would maybe help destigmatize therianthropy to some; since displaying traits that arent 'typical' for a species is seen in nature, why should it be considered wrong for humans?

(2024-01-04 2:21)Leaf_Coneybear Wrote:  im sorry, i didn't explain very well. i didn't intend to say that therianthropy is just about imprinting. i only meant to make note of instances similar to therainthropy in speceis other than humans. i apologize for my lack of clarity.

No no! I knew this, I'm just saying imprinting because it's somewhat related to what you had said.

im sorry, i didn't explain very well. i didn't intend to say that therianthropy is just about imprinting. i only meant to make note of instances similar to therainthropy in speceis other than humans. i apologize for my lack of clarity.

I believe you are partially right. For some of us, like maybe myself, I may have been Imprinted as a child by my wolfdog as a kid, as my parents neglected me... But this doesn't explain other experiences for me and so many others at the same time.

this isn't so much of a theory i suppose as it is just a thought. an opinion lets call it.

all the time we see examples of animals exhibiting charicteristics unusual for their speceis. for example, unlikely animal friendships, or cats that play fetch. i once watched a documentary where a narwhal was separated from it's mother and raised by dolphins. it learned to live and act like the dolphins. my point is that speceis interact with and take traits from one another all the time, for one reason or another. that is, i beleive, what therianthropy is.

we as humans like to label our experiences. its how we understand and communicate them. as far as i know, identity as we think of it is a human thing. but we are not the only ones to push the boundrys between ourselves and other animals.

(2024-01-02 22:02)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-01-02 20:16)Siris Wrote:  ending with "kin" also comes from otherkin(d) and is often used interchangeably with "type" as it rolls off the tongue easier, i.e. "I'm a foxkin" as opposed to "I'm a foxtype" or "My theriotype is fox."

I've always thought this was all it was.

LP,
Dusty

Generally yes, I've heard some of the younger ones out there use it in place of calling themselves otherhearted or kith.

(2024-01-03 1:49)foxmarrow Wrote:  

(2024-01-02 22:02)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-01-02 20:16)Siris Wrote:  ending with "kin" also comes from otherkin(d) and is often used interchangeably with "type" as it rolls off the tongue easier, i.e. "I'm a foxkin" as opposed to "I'm a foxtype" or "My theriotype is fox."

I've always thought this was all it was.

LP,
Dusty

so is it just a difference in preference of terminology? sorry, im a bit confused

Yeah, it's basically a preference in terminology. There are also those who think otherkin are non-Earthly animals (whereas I think mythological animals can fall under therianthropy as theriomythics) and that therians are Earthly animals.

Just depends on what you prefer to call yourself.

(2024-01-02 22:02)DustWolf Wrote:  

(2024-01-02 20:16)Siris Wrote:  ending with "kin" also comes from otherkin(d) and is often used interchangeably with "type" as it rolls off the tongue easier, i.e. "I'm a foxkin" as opposed to "I'm a foxtype" or "My theriotype is fox."

I've always thought this was all it was.

LP,
Dusty

so is it just a difference in preference of terminology? sorry, im a bit confused

(2024-01-02 17:03)Werewulfra Wrote:  Therian means you experience traits that are not normal human traits, or one of much higher level than is normal. It can come with all sorts of 'shifts', or altered states—the common ones being phantom (feeling phantom limbs like ears/tail/wings) and mental (anywhere from small instincts to a totally different mental state).
For therians, these things do NOT go away even if you do not get any exposure to animal-related things—I. E. if you try to live a completely usual human life, they still affect you. And, even more important, you do not have to LIKE these things—you could get shifts aligned with an animal you dislike or felt little outside connection to.

Kin, on the other hand, is self explanatory: it means you feel kinship with something. Kinship, in simplest terms, is belonging—you feel as if something is "your people" or "your kind." You could experience this alongside therianthropy for the same thing, but most of the times it's simple kinship without therianthropy backing it. Kinship can create sensations similar to being therian, but without exposure to said focus of the kinship, it won't be there.

I've never heard of this specific dichotomy before. I'm curious; is this your personal view on the relationship between therianthropy and otherkinity, or is this a more widely held opinion that I just haven't come across before now?