Awesome!! I’d just got enough points for the TG merch stuff so I’m super excited abt this woooo! this is such a good idea ^^

oooooo cool!

Howldy folks! Us staff have been hard at work lately, but we're ready to announce that we're offering new merch in our points shop! We plan to offer new team focused designs, as well as make new kinds of offerings like stickers! The points shop side of things isn't set up juuuust yet, as we have a few more things to tweak first.

We also just set up a new thread where you can view the designs available before investing your hard earned points. It also has links to our merch stores in case you want to just buy the items directly, and it has items which are not listed in the points shop too.

You can view the thread with the art and shop links here.

Now you can sport your team memberships in stylish new ways.

Enjoy~

I mean Therianthropy can grow in you through things life trauma, but it can also just be there at birth. Like I always was connected to nature and the wild, but it grew more and more. It was initially more wolf/domestic dog-like, but I recorded senses and behaviors and narrowed them down to three, Spotted Hyena, Coyote, and Red fox.

I know I did certain animals things when I was younger (quads, vocalizing) like it's normal for young kids, but it stayed with me. I didn't know why I was like that, and I thought it was being a furry (which is totally wrong ) I then learned about Therianthropy, and someone told me it was when you did quads (which I had long stopped because it's lowkey uncomfortable ) I then learned about it being an animal identity through involuntary behaviors either psychological or spiritual.


itchy

(2025-03-05 22:57)Abysmal. Wrote:  

(2025-03-05 16:59)kookie Wrote:  Lore drop is crazy! but that is so cool!! -Kookie

Err... Who is this in response to?

To Avis, iirc. though I don't know why they put it here instead of Avis' journal where moss also posted it.

Just wanted to also say that I've been lurk-reading the thread and it's really interesting.

(2025-03-05 16:59)kookie Wrote:  Lore drop is crazy! but that is so cool!! -Kookie

Err... Who is this in response to?

Lore drop is crazy! but that is so cool!! -Kookie

I hope my contribution may have some value.
When I was a young pup in third grade my teacher had two dogs, two golden retrievers. He constantly showed us pictures of them and talked about them. I found that I was completely enamored with the dogs. I had a moment that I now know was a "that's me!" moment where I just connected with the dogs.

A good thing to know for the rest of the story is that during this time I didn't have friends because I was hyper, and my only friend was being gaslighted by her other friend saying I no longer liked her.

During field day my teacher brought his dogs. I think he got permission from the school, but I'm not sure he never said. Instead of playing with the kids, I played with his dogs (which he allowed since he knew I didn't have friends in school) and instead of playing fetch like a normal kid would do, I was on all fours running around with the dogs. I was very much acting like a wild animal.

I think this is where (using @Jeb_CC 's metaphor) I think the base of my clay structure formed. I was an animal, a dog.

I wanted to share because my experience with my theriotype has been consistent (even if I didn't realize it). I've always played with dogs the same, tried to be a dog too. I've been called out for it a few times, and I don't realize it half the time, Im just playing.

My identity with Dutch Angel dragons is complicated, and hard to explain and understand, so I wont get into it here.

I felt @Jeb_CC 's explanation is really impressive.

To me, identity is like an art, in many ways.
As a well-known concept, therianthropy is explained as an 'innate trait', a sort of 'born gift'. I agree with it. I had had non-human recognition since I was 3 or 4. But I couldn't sort out my 'nearly-true theriotype' until the adolescence stage. And when I could detect the accurate theriotype was later stage of 20's. It took a pretty long time.

@Jeb_CC 's metaphor, identity is like a clay sculpture perfectly makes sense to me. Without accurate references, I cannot draw nice art nor good 3D models. I have to reference photos, anatomy, and actual animals to draw or model. Identity is just like that, I feel. We can imagine 'maybe something like this' without accurate reference, but cannot picture the detail unless we see the objective reference. Just like we cannot see ourselves without a mirror.

I personally feel, my identity can decompose into an amorphous, chaotic mud. It can shape into anything or anyone, but 'nobody' at the same time. Perhaps our subconscious is like that. What we're thinking 'ourselves' is the tip of the iceberg, this is a well-known theory in psychology. Potentially we can be anything or anyone but we're taking the shape of what we want to be or 'should be', willingly, necessarily, or forcibly. Perhaps the human brain has the potential to imagine like that, and it is the source of the creativity of humanity.

However.
For both good and bad in therian's case, we have the 'awkward gift' of being a non-human animal.
Just like dogs, our 'awkward gift' defines what we're good at and what we're not good at when we were born. Like working groups, herding groups, hunting groups, or toy groups, many dog bleeds are specialized for their use or purpose, have innate superiority in their own tasks on both their body and mind.
In my personal forecast, therianthropy is the phenomenon of 'sharping' our basic shape of an identity, which originally can be anyone or anything into specifically 'something non-human'. Still we can decorate our identities, yes. But the most solid core shape cannot be anyone or anything else, for good and bad. Or at least it has shape-memory traits. Even if once it took another shape or smashed, but eventually it returned to the original form. That is the difference between normal humans and us, at least I personally think so.

So both 'discovery and reference' and 'imagination and creation' are important elements to one's identity. Even if the basic shape is solid and unchangeable, but still we can carve the details on the sculpture to make it more beautiful.

Some dogs are superior to normal humans in some specific tasks and that's why there are guide dogs, police dogs, military dogs, and therapy dogs. As long as we can draw our true potential in the right place and right purpose, we may perform better. But it depends on our respective circumstances. So finding one's theriotype means finding their superiority in my opinion. Finding the most appropriate job which much to their theriotype is the key to drawing one's potential in my opinion.

I did not expect my post to randomly revive XD anyways, I have read all three (technically four I just didn't know what to say) responses. Jeb, you have made a very important point, yes. I do feel this may vary for everyone however.. I know for at least my troll self, it's been something that's very innate to me. I know all the small and finer details... It just isn't something I can show off well! But I suppose in the long run, that doesn't matter.