(un)moved

As you might have noticed, I did not pick this blog back up like I intended to last year. This is mostly because I had a lot of shit going on. (I graduated high school! I'm in college now! Wow!) I simply did not have the time and energy to pick up where I left off. Which is a shame, because...

A lot about me has continued to change! I'm a solid two-almost-three years older than when I started this blog, and my identity (all of it, my nonhumanity, systemhood, etc,) has shifted a lot. I'm not really a canine anymore! So coming back to this blog felt weird, because it felt almost 'tainted' with past versions of myself that I had left behind while doing a lot of personal introspection.

So, my intent last year was to start a new therianthropy sideblog. Still connected to this account, but more focused on who I am now.

Unfortunately I have a strange flavor of autism that doesn't allow me to start new things. A lot of my aforementioned personal introspection was done... well, personally, and I don't have any of it written down. And the concept of starting a new, blank blog, calling myself a 'writer on therianthropy' while having nothing to show for it... It felt really strange! The logical conclusion is to, of course, write some damn things down, but I am not a logical person. And I did not write a damn thing down.

So, where does that leave me? I don't know.

I know who I am now-- or, at least, I know who I am in this moment. But do I want to sweep up the dust on this old blog and begin where I left off? I don't know. Do I create a new place to write honestly, truly, genuinely about myself? I don't know. And, as of right now, I'm not sure how important that is to me.

This blog will always stay up, lest tumblr strike me down. It is an archive of who I was, and what I became. And if/when I work up the courage to start over, to push past that paralyzing fear of a blank page... I promise, you will all be the first to hear about it. (Otherwise, you can find me @mawchine.)

All that being said... I love you all forever. The nonhuman community of tumblr might be a chaotic place, but it will always be my first and last home.

Preface: Although my concentration is on therianthropy, a lot applies to general nonhumanity regardless of label.

It is often commented that it is difficult to define what a 'therian' is whilst being truly accurate. It is a source of frustration that this is so, as it makes it feel vaguer than it really is and yet, it cannot be accurately described at least not in a concise manner, whilst attempting to provide full information.

The most accurate definition to me is;

An Intro to Therianthropy (Zine)

Made by me to hand out at irl events and meet-ups. (Available on my itch page as a pdf, printable version and a transcript)

Transcript below cut:

These are purposefully non-specific, make them more specific as needed.

What led you toward identifying as other than human? Is it a voluntary or involuntary expression for you? Explain why?

What about you, your personality, and mannerisms naturally feel nonhuman compared to others? Do other people notice the difference?

What do you identify as and how did you come to that conclusion? Describe your kintype(s) in detail.

How does your identity play into your everyday life? Do you make an effort to include it in your daily life?

How do you affirm your nonhumanity mentally, how do you do it physically?

Do you still feel a connection with humanity? If so, when do you most feel it? Is it a positive or negative experience?

Where would be the most ideal environment to live in where you could express your non-humanity? If you have a hearthome, describe it in detail.

What do you think society would look like if nonhumanity was a widely accepted expression of self?

If you've identified as something other than human for a long time, how has your expression of that identity changed over time?

If you've only recently begun identifying as nonhuman, how do you predict your expression of your identity will change over the years?

Do you believe individuals belonging to certain demographics (poc, neurodiverse, younger generations, etc) are more likely to identify with nonhumanity over others? Why or why not?

Does your nonhumanity influence how you interact with others? If so, how, and do you make an attempt to manage it?

Do you view yourself equal to, above, or below humans in any regard? Why?

What is the oddest thing that brings you euphoria related to your identity?

What is your most favorite item or activity that brings you euphoria?

If you had the ability to change into your kintype (or alternate nonhuman form), would you do so permanently, or would you want the ability to shift between your human and nonhuman form? Explain your choice?

If you had the choice to live entirely separate from humanity, would you take it? Where would you want to go? Is there anything you would miss about humanity?

What do you believe the origin of your nonhumanity is? Do you believe it's different for everyone?

Are you a social or solitary species? How does this affect you in your day to day life?

Do you have nonhuman friends? What are they like, how did you meet, and how does interacting with other nonhumans affect you?

If you don't have other nonhuman friends, do you want them? Why or why not? Would you want to make friends with those of a specific type?

Do you have dreams, visions, memories, etc. Of yourself in your nonhuman form? Explain them in detail?

Where is your favorite place or safe space to express your identity openly?

I think it is the result of an incredibly frustrating melding of reactionary panic from our community starting to come into the public eye and catch the ire of conservative politics causing younger members to want to act like it's an all fun cute innocent and toothless identity, similar to what we saw with the "uwu cinnamon roll soft boy" phase of the trans man community a few years ago, and of current social media trends pushing for cute, short, snappy and highly aestheticized content over introspective longform writing.

I think to some degree, the sharp decline of reading comprehension skills in America is also contributing, because writing a long post that people don't fully comprehend is not rewarded in nearly the same way something short and shallow is.

I feel like as a community we've lost a considerable amount of our culture because of it. It's flooded us with misinformation. It's flooded us with images of unhealthy, distressed, wild animals in human situations being passed off as cute and relatable reaction images. It's turned almost every bit of information about how to engage with your kintype away from actually doing anything and towards mindless consumerism and shopping lists.

I'm very thankful for my few chat rooms with likeminded animals who both have fun with their identity and actually explore it beyond aesthetics and come up with ways to engage that involve taking actions in the real world.

I genuinely don't care if wearing a collar and posting "me typing on my silly puppy pawz!! :D" is all someone's nonhumanity amounts to. If that's what they want to do, that's great. I'm glad they know what feels good to them. My issue is when that becomes the main kind of content that gets rewarded for existing, to the point that people who want something deeper than that feel like they have to try to make a whole new community for it because there must be something different and wrong with them, and then the new community they carve for themselves gets filled with puppyposting again, and the cycle repeats until people who are more serious with their identity feel like there is nowhere they are allowed to exist and interact with each other. This rapid expansion and then displacement just makes our whole community hemorrhage out when we could be coming together.

If they have your theriotype (they have a lot! Including a shark, seal, moth, raccoon, and snakes!) Then make yours here!! https://share.google/xKjgnDjSqAweaPei1

Tagging some moots, lets see if this will be a thing :33

@cryptid-insect @moosechiato @foxkinakechi @zeph-issilly @depressedquetzal @woofdawg @crosswalk-boy @casinthest4rs and open tags :3

i own this outfit surprisingly !!

this actually made me soso happy :)))

I loved how many choices there were!

Ermmmm ^×^" idk who to tag..

OMGGG i love this picrew !!! :D

DOBERMAN

5x7 inches

(Or if you're not a particular creature, just whatever you may be)

I'll go first.

I love that picture, its so accurate to how I look

And to a lesser degree (they move around in level of significance and what term my relationship to them would fall under)

You know how I'm trying out the omnitherian label rn? Yeah, I'm really happy with it! Thing is, I feel like there's a label that would fit me better, but I don't know if there's a name for it

So my question is if there's a term that describes someone who identifies as most animals but not all

Because the truth is... Identity is complicated. I feel comfortable with the omnitherian label but some of my animalistic identities are so weak that they're basically nonexistent, and I'd feel more comfortable with a label like the one I just mentioned

So if you know of a label like that, it would be REALLY really kind if you could let me know, really! I'd be super thankful!

If there's no label for it yet I wanna try and coin one actually! I feel like there's a bunch of individuals who feel the same way as me. If you have any ideas let me know!!!

If you want more serious discussion posts- you need to make more serious discussion posts.

If you want more silliness around your type- you need to post more silliness around your type.

If you want more art, writing, photodumps etc. of your type or kin- you need to get to creating and posting.

I think it is ridiculous to expect everyone to be “as serious” about their therianthropy/nonhumanity. On some level, this will simply not be a lifelong identification for some, but that does not mean that they were incorrect (or “invalid”) in calling themselves a therian when they did. There will be some who dip their toes into therianthropy before deciding, actually, this is not for them, or perhaps a different community serves their needs better. For some, therianthropy might be a small facet of their identity. None of these individuals have forfeited their claim to the space.

There’s the added complexity that often more physical/embodied experiences are shorthanded as more “serious” by default. The perception of validity, of “realness,” becomes: spiritual < psychological < biological < physical (or similar). Hopefully this is ridiculous on its face, but for clarification, none of these frameworks is more or less real than the other. The same goes for involuntary vs voluntary identities. The assumption that one is, at its base, more serious (and, following the “seriousness equals reality” paradigm, more real) than the other is just a mischaracterization at its heart.