Ossie Feb 20
I think a lot about accounts of older "therians" who do not use or know that term. I think about this story from Tumblr. https://www.tumblr.com/questions-within-questions/770568290019999744/being-a-ranger-i-spend-a-lot-of-time-alone-in-the
Show threadRosyFeb 20

@spacefinner I don't like to use the term either though other people would probably describe me as such. I'm not that old though...

it would be cool if there were any history books about "therians" or "lycanthropes" or whatever word we want to use... I haven't seen any yet

Show threadOssie Feb 20

@lalah I tend to believe "therian" is a very young term, and many of the behaviours ascribed to it are cultural and (imo) symptoms of being on the internet a lot. This is why I have been trying to think in terms of behaviour.

The man described in the story doesn't have a strong empathy with cartoons, for example. He is presumably unfamiliar with the internet. But he still feels this particular way, very clearly. If he is referred to as a deer he feels this is right, in some obscure way.

That's a thing he and I share (albeit it's not deer for me). And I think it is a thing that can be named. But I have to be careful.

Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer ΘΔ🐲
@spacefinner @lalah I originally discovered otherkin and therians back in the very early 2000's and - at least back then - many of us didn't have a strong empathy with cartoons either, at least in the community I fell into. The empathy with cartoon characters that leads to or awakens non-human thoughts and beliefs is a bit more of a modern thing, I think.
Feb 20 at 5:42pmWeb
Show threadBaral'heia Stormdancer ΘΔ🐲Feb 20
@spacefinner @lalah Though to be fair, it's been really nice to see more and more furries not only become aware of therianthropy, but also awaken to the possibility that their character is more than just a character. I remember back in the day there was almost animosity between the two communities so seeing the Fandom openly embrace therianthropy has been quite refreshing, honestly.
Show threadOssie Feb 20
@baralheia @lalah It's interesting because I still don't interpret my related experiences as "literal", and didn't relate strongly to others at the time when I discovered the identity online; but as time has gone on I've decided the associated images and feelings are still very important to me and probably need attention.