Therianthropy and Otherkin.

So originally I was never going to post this here, I didn't even see the need to do it. Since I had already posted this on Wattpad, and frankly its a stigmatized thing plus its nobody's fucking business. However; Wattpad does not support the use of uploading photos aside from one in a entry. And, when I have gotten the chance I wanted to do and post some of my artistic expression relating to this. And if people get confused I can re-direct them to this. I did re-write this because I felt like I wasn't being stern enough, however it was absolute shit so I will just repost what I submitted to wattpad. I may delete this later.
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What is therianthropy and Otherkin? 


 Therianthropy is a state of identifying as nonhuman for whatever reasons, it can be purely psychological or completely spiritual. -Usually- but not always; its a mix of both. Therians may believe they have the soul of a certain animal, or was one in a past-life. Perhaps some feel as if they were born in the wrong body of the wrong species and have a longing to be the species they feel they were supposed to be. Otherkin also appears a lot within the communities, this one can get tricky. For some an otherkin is someone who identifies with non-earthly creatures. Such as mythological beings and animals, or for others it means the same as therian does and categorizes everyone. A therian or otherkin's identity is called their "Theriotype" or "Kintype". You can have one, or multiple, a therian who has more then one theriotype is often called a "Polytherian".  However, one does not choose their own theriotypes, therianthropy is not a choice.  

When a therian says they "shift" it does not mean physical change, therians do not believe in the idea of physically changing and a therian who claims they can are usually liars. A "shift" can mean many things, such as a mental shift or a "M-shift"; meaning they take on the mindset of their theriotype(s). Such as reacting to situations more like their identity would, they may feel more anxious to things if their identity is a prey animal or feel more predatory if their identity is a predator. They may even mimic sounds that their identities make without realizing it, however many therians do not condone acting like a animal in public. Some therianthropes claim to "fully M-shift" meaning they claim to fully mentally transform into their said identity and forget they are human for a small period of time; however this is up to debate and I am skeptical.

Another example of shifting would be a phantom-shift, this is when a therian feels parts of their theriotype that are not physically there. They may experience tails, wings, ears, claws and more and some can even channel slight pain. Some people prefer to call this limbs "Astral limbs" because phantom-limbs is usually used to describe amputee patients who can still feel the parts they had amputated and want to avoid being offensive.

 Two other shifts involve sensory shifting and dream shifting. Sensory shifting involves your senses becoming more comparable to your theriotype's. Example would be, you may pay more attention to smells or be more sensitive to sounds and touch. A dream shift is exactly as it sounds, its when a therianthrope has a dream regarding around becoming their theriotype. It can be a dream about transforming into an animal or even "past-life memories" appearing in your dreams.

However, it is to keep in mind that not all therians experience shifting, just because someone doesn't shift as much as others, or may not shift at all; does not mean they are any less of a therian.