#roller kin

The urges and instincts of a roller have always been natural to me, I would often try to fly as a kid by wearing a blanket around my shoulders and jumping

I've always been territorial in nature, I never liked when other kids would touch my things or invade my space

Bonus points for me really wanting to eat bugs as a kid but never having the balls to actually do it (oughh crickets taste so good mm)

General "bird brain" has also been a constant for me, holding my arms like wings, looking up before swallowing, sharp head movements

I experienced a lot of shifts back then, too even if I didn't know what they were, mainly phantom and bi-locational shifts, but other types were present too

Phantom wings were always common for me, but I'd also get phantom beak and occasionally could feel my feathers

Bi-locational shifts are something I don't experience often anymore, but as a kid, specifically during school, I would get them all the time, I'd see myself actually in the savanna, it has always called to me

I remember watching the birds at recess and getting so jealous that they could fly and perch in trees, but I couldn't, it wasn't fair (and it still isn't!)

I suppose I don't check the boxes for what usually gets gatekept, whatever that entails

Maybe it's because I'm actually the gatekeepy one, I feel like I'm pretty lax about how other creatures experience theriantrophy and what labels they use, so long as they're not horribly misusing a label, I don't really care

Maybe I'm gatekeeping when I express my frustrations about a group specifically for birds becoming overrun with discussions about other types and suddenly is no longer about being a bird, I don't think that's gatekeepy, but maybe I'm in the wrong

I think there has been a lot of over-correctiveness in the recent times, so maybe that's why I haven't experienced it much, I hear the old community was pretty bad about it, but I wouldn't know

Generally less gatekeeping is good, but I do also think that the current over-correction attitude is also causing some labels to be watered down, which is not good, though I don't think things like simply correcting someone should be counted as gatekeeping

Some also seem pressured to feel like they are "more therian" than others, and I really don't get that, having shifts, identifying physically, being nonhuman, or saying "I don't identify as my type, I am my type" doesn't make you any more therian than someone who doesn't shift or experiences theriantrophy psychologically or spiritually anyways?

Clarifying that identifying as physical or nonhuman or using "I am" instead of "I identify" does not automatically mean you think you're "more therian," I'm nonhuman myself, just that these are usually seen as "more therian"

I also don't think that anyone is really doing this consciously

Why,