Chaosmasterdelta
Rule Breaker
I don't know what a therian/otherkin is, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't hate someone for it.
So ah…from reading the forum history I’m getting the impression that otherkin and therians aren’t really welcome here?
- Thread starter justenoughlight
- Start date
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
Dawww, thank you! <the cat jumps into a warm fuzzy hug> I can already tell it could be entertaining...
Frank Gulotta
Send us your floppy
If a few people not taking that particular hobby seriously makes you feel unwelcome, then sure, but therians aren't one of the groups that are blatantly told they're not welcome here
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
I'm pretty sure you wouldn't either; it's not too freaky a concept honestly despite what some people think. As stated already, I'm one quite comfortably and openly (and most people don't even notice or care really). Would you like it explained by me BTW? If not, s'ok, just offering an insider's perspective if you were curious at all...
Chaosmasterdelta
Rule Breaker
You can explain it if you want.
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
Ok, first off, I speak for myself and there are always variations as everyone's unique, so I'll keep this pretty basic. I'll use male in the examples, but obviously genders can be flipped as needed:
Let's start with the the idea of self-image. I assume you can understand that a normal straight typical male would see themselves as male. They picture themselves with their male body and their mental processes are male-oriented (this doesn't mean culturally macho mind you, just that they are boys). They'd believe their spirit is male if they feel they are guided by one. Simple, boring, moving on...
Now you have those that are gender-mismatched. So as an example, a male may be male in body but internally they are female. They think like a girl, when they close their eyes they see themselves as a girl, their attitudes and mannerisms might reflect their femininity, and in extreme cases they would maybe want to alter their bodies so the outside matches the inside. Not the same as femboys necessarily who often still see themselves as males but merely feminine ones, but rather these are boys who would literally see themselves as a female spirits trapped in a male body, and not feeling "right"...like Lana Wachowski and millions others. So far so good? Awesome...
Now a therian simply feels like their inner self is not human, but rather an animal spirit instead...like me personally. In my case, I feel like my spirit is feline, as all my attitudes, mannerisms, skills, personality, reactions...they're all a cat! When I close my eyes, I see myself as a cat and not a human. Like the above I obviously know I'm a human body but to me it's just an accident of birth mostly. When I put on my ears and fangs and tail, I feel like I'm taking OFF a costume, not putting one on. I related to cats intuitively, when I'm hurt or angry I instinctively snarl and hiss without even thinking about it, I have feline savagery when playing and fighting, I purr when happy without even thinking about it, etc...
Otherkin is all the above...but their spirit is something that doesn't exist like a fictional character or species...like a Pokemon or dragon or something else.
Important point though is despite what many people seem to think for some reason, we're not faking it (usually) any more than a person who's gender-fluid is. I can't turn off my feline personality nor my instinctive views when I'm exploring any more than anyone else. My desires to run and jump and chase don't go away when nobody's looking. My fangs feel more natural to me than my "real" teeth. It's not an act for attention as some think, but a realization that I simply am not human inside and out but rather a feline spirit guiding a human body and deciding not to bother to "pretend" to be just a pure human around others. Like Mystique the shapeshifter said when asked why not just be normal all the time in the X-men movies, "Because we shouldn't have to". I'm comfortable with who and what I am, and never been happier about it!
<purrrrr> Help any? This is just a quick summation top of my head and all...
R3sh_.R4c0on
and your passion.. i was lost < / 3
Heres a brief description for anyone wondering, coming from someone who has been in this community for a year and is seeing a bit misrepresentation here:
Otherkin: those who identify as a non-human entity/creature nonphysically. Commonly physiological or spiritual but can be both or neither.
Therian: an umbrella term for otherkin, but they are specifically animals that are currently alive or have been alive.
Theres a lot more terms related to otherkin as well that are lesser known. Fictionkin, alterhuman, alterbeing, conceptkin, etc.. As well as communities related to otherkin such as C'links, fiction/animal/other-hearts, fictionlinks, etc.
Y e a h
(No, we are not related to kins/kinnies. That was a term originally made to mock the community.)
more on topic
I dont remember seeing any people being non-accepting? I seen some misrepresentation but not anything more. I been rambling about my identity and no ones seemed to care lmao
Otherkin: those who identify as a non-human entity/creature nonphysically. Commonly physiological or spiritual but can be both or neither.
Therian: an umbrella term for otherkin, but they are specifically animals that are currently alive or have been alive.
Theres a lot more terms related to otherkin as well that are lesser known. Fictionkin, alterhuman, alterbeing, conceptkin, etc.. As well as communities related to otherkin such as C'links, fiction/animal/other-hearts, fictionlinks, etc.
Y e a h
(No, we are not related to kins/kinnies. That was a term originally made to mock the community.)
more on topic
I dont remember seeing any people being non-accepting? I seen some misrepresentation but not anything more. I been rambling about my identity and no ones seemed to care lmao
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Chaosmasterdelta
Rule Breaker
That explanation helped me understand it a whole lot. I don't know why anyone would hate those things. If ever met you in person, I would probably find your behavior charming.
RachelTheFictionkin
Fictionkin & Soulbonder
In my own honesty, I believe wherever you go you'll consistently run into people who will cause you to feel unwelcome for being otherkin and/or therian. I've met plenty of furries who heartily despise me or make fun of me because of my beliefs. But the furry community is vast with those who all partake in alternative ways of life. So, you're bound to find countless others who will respect you regardless of your origins. It used to bother me a lot in the past, but it came to a point where I just do not care anymore. I just exclude anyone who wants to bark at me. Those who spit how much I'm delusional for believing to have lived a past life as a fictional character and continue enjoying my current life.
Parabellum3
I'm not a furry if I have feathers.
I think the backlash was directed towards the more sussy therians/otherkins who took their beliefs a bit too seriously.
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
I'm on your side here, really I swear, but I think the problem is base logic in the wording:
If you believe the past life you lived was real, but of a fictional character...then by definition fictional means "not real/made up", therefore you could not have lived that life. The character themselves didn't even live that life, as they came from the imagination of their original creator, right? Am I in error? For instance, I obviously don't know you at all, so was your character created after or before you were even born?
As a thought, do you maybe mean that your past life's personality/spirit seems to resemble that of a fictional character? If so, that might be easier for people around you to grasp as a concept. But if instead you say that you literally lived the life of a character that you openly admit did not exist...well to be honest that's harder to wrap your head around the logic of simply "how?", and probably the source of some of your troubles with others calling you delusional.
RachelTheFictionkin
Fictionkin & Soulbonder
I believe most if not all media portrayals of said fictional characters are from people who have caught a glimpse of such worlds. I also believe that people can make entirely new worlds. I believe in the multiverse thus the existence of other habitable planets such as this one where people and creatures that we see in television shows, video games and read in books come from. The idea is that there are an infinite number of possible worlds that exist.
I don't think the issue is not being able to get people to understand. Being fictionkin is weird and not common, just like soulbonding - saying that I talk to people in my head who also have media portrayals of themselves. People like to poke and make fun of things that are weird. whether or not it makes them feel better about themselves. Some people can be rational about it and try to understand what goes through a kin's mind but many I've encountered do not try to understand or accept that person's views and instead make a mockery of them because "it's weird".
I guess the best way I could've worded what I said prior is that I believe to have been someone from another planet who happens to be based on a character from a video game. When I say fictional, I do not mean "not real". It's just what I say without making a long-winded explanation.
Talking about my beliefs is difficult when trying to explain it to someone who may not fully grasp. It can be a complicated subject. And trying to come up with the right terminology to use without twisting words is rough.
My thoughts do not account for all fictionkin though. There are other reasons why someone may believe they are a character from a fictional source. I'm not the best at explaining things in depth like that but there are plenty of resources that may get the point across even better like this one: https://otherkin.fandom.com/wiki/Fictionkin
I literally just joined this forum so I have no idea what the history of therian/kin-bashing is like but I have noticed on reddit and other such sites there is a huge attitude of "Yeah, we like animals, but we're not like those weirdos who think they're literally animals."
It's just punching down honestly. Insecure furs who want to be more palatable to normies find therians to be an easy target since we embody one of the negative (to the majority) stereotypes that furries face. It's like when you see furs constantly deny the sexual aspect of the fandom because it draws a lot of criticism even though fetish and Kink are extremely prevalent here.
It's just punching down honestly. Insecure furs who want to be more palatable to normies find therians to be an easy target since we embody one of the negative (to the majority) stereotypes that furries face. It's like when you see furs constantly deny the sexual aspect of the fandom because it draws a lot of criticism even though fetish and Kink are extremely prevalent here.
Keket
Member
I am not bothered if someone is therian/otherkin. It's something I don't know much about. With that being said, I don't have much of an opinion. Live and let live.
