Otherkin / therians / other-hearts

I hesitated making a post here but hello.... Both Therian and otherkin. Closest connected to my werewolf kin, but also bear-kin. Closest connections there are panda and kermode bear but I really haven't been able to sniff out much else.  There's more but those are the most prominent.

Therian Leopard ( melanistic ) and Dog ( Poodle ) here. I quit keeping up with the online communities after some nasty facebook drama took place ( mostly gatekeepy older otherkin bullying kids for drawing themselves anthro / having unnatural colors for the animal they identified as ).

I hope this is a more positive experience, that was ten some odd years ago for me. ;u;

Yeah, I can understand wanting to make sure the younger, newer ones actually fully understand what it is and aren't mistaking it for something else, especially because of course they'd like us to not be looked at as dumb or crazy or anything, but some people go overboard with the grilling and questioning and questioning and grilling. It's extremely tiring and I tend to avoid those circles where it's encouraged.

The ppl in the facebook group were taking it way too far, yeah. I remember some of the kids knew their stuff and understood what they were claiming to be. They still got grilled and banned the second they got frustrated with how they were being treated tho, it was gross. I was always getting in fights with those mods for being needlessly mean.

i'm werewolf kin and possibly something else

i got what mightve been a memory a few nights ago, chasing down someone in the woods, i wont get into too much detail bc i dont wanna go overboard lol

i say something else bc tho i do get phantom fangs/fur/claws/muzzle/tail i also get wings/horns/a different tail
i can, however, make myself feel any sort of phantom body-part to an extent, so im not sure if some of them are just me tricking myself

im also pretty new to the community, my friend introduced me to it and theyve been helping me find myself :)

Hi all,

I wasn't sure if I should post here, or what to write even, but here goes. 

For as long as I can remember I've strongly identified with canines. Dogs and wolves, and even something similar to werewolves, perhaps. I've never really felt I fit in with otherkin/therianthropy though, in part due to my mental health. I have a dissociative disorder that I'm pretty open about, which often leads to feelings of unreality, so for groups who feel like this is more of a spiritual than psychological thing, I often feel as if I'm infringing.

That's not to say that I don't believe in such things as reincarnation and the like. I would never rule out the possibility of something that science simply cannot prove/disprove yet. However, I often wonder if I would have ever ended up identifying with dogs if I hadn't had such an overactive imagination from a young age, exacerbated by my disorder.

I've also only recently come to terms with fictionkin, due to learning a bit more about them. It's still a little scary to me that somebody might kin one of my own characters, (some of whom are based on me personally, haha) but I understand that these things happen and wouldn't want to invalidate anyones experiences ^^

yeah, i was a bit of an odd kid tbh so take that as you will

i acted like various animals when i was younger and i still carry some of those things with me now (im 16 now)

examples that i know arent just me being werewolfkin: baring my teeth, using my ears to express emotion (as best i can), certain poses i find myself in, etc

i mean maybe this just means ive been closer to it my entire life than i thought but im not sure

Hey, it's nice to meet you all! ^u^

Yeah, I agree that grilling can get way too intense in some communities... I actually kind of enjoy being grilled, always have (I love talking about myself and answering questions, so it works for me, aha) but I don't believe it's something that should be forced on people, especially not young folks who are still just figuring out who they are. And in the few cases where I have questioned people, I've always tried to be nice about it and made sure that the other person is comfortable with talking about themself in that way. Sometimes I'm just genuinely curious, but I don't think anyone should approach questioning with the intent to "disprove" someone's internal identity. That's just wrong.

I definitely don't want to see this thread become anything unpleasant like some communities have been, hence the "no grilling" rule!

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@VagueShapes

Hey, don't worry, you're welcome and accepted here. I've had problems with dissociation in the past too, AND I'm mentally ill - so you're not the only one! It doesn't make your identity any less valid - whatever the cause, if you feel like you are a non-human or connect with non-humans in some way, you're welcome here! Personally I believe that my identity is a mix of spiritual stuff and psychological stuff. Which seems to be an increasingly common trend in the otherkin / therian communities I've been part of. There's been a move towards accepting that everyone's identities are different and their reasons for identifying in that way may well be different too. Just because one person feels their identity is wholly spiritual shouldn't mean we all have to look at it in that way, y'know?

So yeah, I hope you feel welcome here! c:

@Rook- Thank you so much, that does make me feel a lot better! ^u^

It's also very nice to see that so many people are also canines. I suppose it makes sense, given that we're all playing a wolf sim, haha. I take a while to reply sometimes, but I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this thread

As soon as I saw this I got so happy. Hello fellow otherkins/therians!! 

Im a black housecat, horse, fox, dragon, and others.. heh-