Therians/Otherkins

[Sepharina]

Hello!
Some of you may know me , I've posted a couple times and commented on some threads , but anyways , hello again if you don't know me!

Before I begin , I ask that you please don't say anything rude ( like "what a bunch of idiots ". Please keep you opinions to yourself . it's hard enough even being Therian/otherkin without backlash , and I/we definitely don't care for more.)

I made this thread for all the therians/otherkins here on MerNetwork!
So if you would like to comment , feel free!

Also , if your just looking for answers to questions you may have about this belief , don't be shy to ask! Im sure I can answer with a complete answer that makes sense.

So , hi!

(Admins , if you feel that this thread is wrong , feel free to delete it or move it!)

[NorthernPrincess]

I'm not otherkin / therian. But i have many friends who are. They consider me the ''human of the pack'', as they like to call.

[wooven]

Question: Are my facts right that Otherkin/therians do not accept (or simply refuse to live a human life?) their human body forms, and instead identify with an animal or mythical beast because they have a spiritual connection to that creature?

[Aquatarian]

When I read about this stuff on tumblr I felt like I kind of identified with it because I find my connection to water, the sea, marine life, mermaids etc to be honestly spiritual to a degree. But when I saw the examples of others online identifying as fictional book, anime, tv, etc it stuck me as sort of off. Like thats not what I had interpretted it to be.

So how do you define otherkin? therian? Is there a difference for you?

[Echidna]

I felt like I kind of identified with it because I find my connection to water, the sea, marine life, mermaids etc to be honestly spiritual to a degree. But when I saw the examples of others online identifying as fictional book, anime, tv, etc it stuck me as sort of off.

I know exactly what you mean.
There was a thread about otherkin stuff going here a year or two ago, and I checked that out, always having felt that deep, emotional connection to all things aquatic.
Seeing all this talk about fetishes and anime figures then convinced me pretty fast that this therian or whatever community wasn't my gig. xD

While it would be nice to find people who feel the same way, you are not likely to find them there imo.
And not that many here, either. Most discussions here are about dress-up and tailmaking, environmental topics aren't very popular it seems.
Nothing wrong with that, mind. It was just a disappointment for me to discover so many "mers" don't really give a hoot about nature.

So if you're looking for company, I suggest working with environmental groups in your area, Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd, whatever you find.
I feel very much among likeminded individuals with those and maybe you will, too.

[Sepharina]

Oml this is such a late reply ;-;

NothernPrincess ,
Wow. That actually made me snicker a bit XD. Mine is quite the opposite though.

Wooven ,
Not exactly , haha. The majority of therians/otherkins do realize that they have a human body. Most will willingly tell you that they have hands , feet , toes , etc. So most of us do accept a human way of life. (Well , there are some posers who are all like "Oh look at me , I'm a vampire *hiss hiss* and they will tell you shapeshifting is possible. No , it's not ;-; . )

Aquatarian ,
To me , the only difference I see between therians and otherkins is what kind of creature you have a a kintype/theriotype. Therians being the group who have a earthy animal , like a cat or owl. Otherkin in the group of dragons , Angels , etc.
It did kind of shock me about the whole identifying as a fictional character , I mean don't get me wrong here I do not judge. (These guys are known as fictionkin )

Echidna ,
I feel you! Every time I see a Mer who just doesn't care about the environment boils my blood. I don't understand how they can just , not , care. .-.

I hope I cleared up some question you guys had :3

[Triton-Mahtlinnie]

I identify as a therian and also fictionkin.

There's been a few threads on the subject around here in the past, the topic tends to come up every so often

[Sepharina]

Exdraghunt ,
Awesome!
I didn't mean to offend you earlier , if I did at all. I didn't mean "shock" as in a bad way. I won't judge anyone for who they are :)

[Takahao]

I'd say I'm dragonkin. I wouldn't say I identify as one, but I do identify a lot and love them. They're definitely my favorite animal by a long shot, and I love everything to do with them. Movies, books, comics, tv shows.

I've been enameled with them since I was a really young child, reading the dragonology books (of which I own all of them!), American Dragon, and the Inheritance Cycle and How To Train Your Dragon have done the most influence on me. I've spent 4-5 hours a day reading them and fanfiction of them since I was 10, and I'm 17 now.

So yeah. I'm probably Dragonkin.

[Tigerwolfofthesea]

Hej I saw this thread and I thought I jump in. I'm also a Tigerwolf Polykin and Otherkin as well. But I take more after the Sabertooth tiger. in the Tigerwolf.

[Sepharina]

Takahao ,
Oo! I love dragons as well ^-^ . Speaking of dragons , have you ever heard of the game Flight Rising? It's basically a very , very fleshed out game you can play on mobile or your computer , and you don't even install a app!

TigerWolfoftheSea ,
I see where your username comes from now haha! I'm still trying to figure out my cat theriotype , even though my Timber wolf theriotype is usually dominate. I've also never heard of a person with a saber-toothed tiger theriotype! That is super cool :o

[Azurin Luna]

I would say that I'm dragon kin. I have always felt that I'm different and that my body does not show how I feel inside. I never told any of my close family, cause I was sure they wouldn't understand. But when I met my husband, that changed. He was very open to that idea and is happy I don't hide it from him

[Sepharina]

Azurin Luna ,
That is so sweet :o
It's great when both partners are very open with each other , and aren't secretive! I hope you two stay together for a very very long time! :D

[Meerihua]

Mermaidkin, of course! I'm also Dragonkin and Amphitherekin, but Mermaidkin has been even more important to me. That's why it delights me so much that there's an entire forum dedicated to become a mermaid!

[Teeny]

I might be mermaidkin, I think that I am. But the weird part of the otherkin community and the troll accounts make kin people seem weird, and the amount of fake kins is just disappointing, and so I don't really want to be the part of a community like that.

[Sepharina]

Teeny ,
I totally understand were your coming from. Because of this reason I don't even mention anything about my kin on social media , except here , because the majority of MerNetwork is full of people who are mature enough to respect others. Besides , even if you dont mention your kin , you get yo have all the fun to yourself ;)

[Trade Winds]

*jumps in here*

I no longer identify as otherkin due to various personal reasons and experiencing the otherkin and therian communities degrade since 2005...but my beliefs in being a hippocampus would still 'technically' be grouped as otherkin. I don't take the label anymore nor do I want to be associated wiith otherkin.

I've 'been aware' of my beastly aspects of myself since 2001. Hippocampus emerged in 2011.

There is some other stuff I identify as and related things I am into but being a hippoc is the whole reason I started mermaiding. But thats as much as I will say. Believe it or not I used to be a BIG name in otherkin circa 2007 to maybe 2012ish.

[Sepharina]

Trade Winds ,

That is so unique! Hippocamps are so elegant <3
I honestly don't blame you , the entire community is ridiculous. Like Teeny said , the amount of mis-information is overwhelming. It makes all of us look like weirdos and its getting to the point where even I , a social media addict is wanting to just shut everything down. I honestly don't like mentioning my kintype too anyone , it's just a wildfire from there ;-;
Never heard of Circa , but I guess it's a cool thing that you used to be real (can't find the word) "popular" there !

[Trade Winds]

Trade Winds ,

That is so unique! Hippocamps are so elegant <3
I honestly don't blame you , the entire community is ridiculous. Like Teeny said , the amount of mis-information is overwhelming. It makes all of us look like weirdos and its getting to the point where even I , a social media addict is wanting to just shut everything down. I honestly don't like mentioning my kintype too anyone , it's just a wildfire from there ;-;
Never heard of Circa , but I guess it's a cool thing that you used to be real (can't find the word) "popular" there !

Oh, 'circa' means 'around this time'. I meant in the therian community in those years, a lot of people considered me a guru and knowledgable. I still have people seek me out wanting my old writings for online collections...which I DON'T want cuz I want to wipe my name from otherkin altogether (The library, Mikto's Darkfang archive, and someone messaging me on a furry website for an anthropological collection are a few examples)

I was on Werelist, otherkin.org, Werenet, and OKC for quite a while...probly some other sites too but I forget. They were great when I got into in 2005 but about 2009 things were getting bad. I have written a few looong essays about it but will stop rambling here. I imagine where otherkin congregate has changed with tumblr being so popular. Most of the sites I use to be on have shut down. They were so helpful and awesome, which would explain why there is so much stupidity around

[Trade Winds]

I know of 2 other hippocampi and an ickthyocentaur, and a handful of mermaids. Aquatic beings are rare, at least they were the last time I bothered to look a few yrs ago

[Sepharina]

Ooooo. My bad lol >~<
Yeah , Tumblr definitely jacked up the community for everyone. I wish people would actually learn before they dissed on somebody , and then maybe they would see that we aren't so bad.
When I actually started to question my kin I were kinda startled by how many hate sites and posts . Now I just laugh because they have no idea what they are even talking about :P . I think a site that would explain multiple answers to otherkinity would be helpful , since some otherkins are spiritual , some psychological , etc etc. Ive noticed the typical "Oh they think they are elves or dragons and such and such" , and it leads to so much unknowledgeable "facts" .

Yeah , aquatic beings I think are still more elusive than any others. I hardly ever see any aquatic kin unless it's here on MerNetwork

[Trade Winds]

I know of some aquatics on Livejournal. Thats where I met most. I can think of a couple sharks, a dolphin, a mermaid, and a glaucus from there. The rest I know of because I googled until I found more. I once was compiling a list of any aquatics I could find when my site was still active.

[Mermaid Ankhali]

I had never heard of the term Otherkin or Therian before the old thread from 2013, but that thread inspired me to do some research, and I found a forum called therian-wilderness. I created an account there and everyone urged me to do meditation and soul-searching and to reflect on my opinions and beliefs and why I held them. They explained to me the difference between being truly therian/otherkin or a performer/roleplayer/cosplayer, etc: the difference between identifying AS something and identifying WITH something. I spent a number of months trying to prove that I was a cat therian, but my experiences with my felinity didn't quite match up with therianthropy and many of the older forum members gently pointed this out while still encouraging me to identify with whatever I felt was most myself. At one point, I casually mentioned that I was a mermaid, and, when they asked me to elaborate on this, I did, and a lot of people said that these experiences were much more classically "otherkin." This was weird to me because I've kind of always been a mermaid, and being a mermaid feels normal to me, rather than "other' but I guess that's the point. Anyway, when I thought about it, it definitely seemed like being a cat was something that I wanted to be while being a mermaid was something that I was. Interesting. Anyway. I think, if given the choice, I would be a shapeshifter: domestic cat, something like a Khajiit, obviously a mermaid, a few satellite forms and finally my human form because, even though I have generally felt non-anthropic for most of my life, I have come to love my human form over the years (and putting on makeup over fur would be really hard!). I guess I never felt "dysphoric" with my mermaid identity because I've always had an outlet for it, unlike, say dragonkin. It's pretty impossible to create a dragon suit that will allow you to fly and breath fire and whatnot. Anyway, this has a been a long post on an old thread, but feel free to reply!


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[Mermaid Ankhali]

By the way, there's this term that therians have: hearted. It is probably the best word to describe someone like me with my inclinations toward cats. So, basically, if you feel that you are a cat, then you are a cat therian. However, if you strongly identify with cats, felinity, and want very badly to be a cat, then you are cat-hearted.


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