u/Wepwawet_fathmos

When I think of the otherkin/therian identity spirituality and the metaphysical come to mind first, and this really is of no coincidence. For a long while the community has playfully been deemed as the spirituality of the furries, now obviously there has been non-spiritual otherkin/therians long before this; however the majority were in fact spiritual.

Saying this I feel there has been a huge loss for me at least as of recent in terms of the community as I notice much less of the spiritual identity being discussed, it's been replaced with what reads more socially as gender expression than deep spiritual experience and this makes me very sad.

Just like Austin Texas has largely been gentrified, and their slogan was or is "keep Austin weird" I feel we need a 'keep otherkin and therian weird' or perhaps that would just doom it further to share that same destination of gentrification so to say.

The false doctrine of the so called transhumanists helping otherkin/therian, couldn't be further from the actual truth. No amount of merging with technology or mutating nature is going to make any of you more non-human, our identity is for ourselves to define we don't need some techno-fascist preaching to us about how to become more otherkin or therian.

Couple this with the cruelty of testing on animals, and slavery to mega corporations that own the genetic mutation. And the prospects aren't bright for transhumanism.

If anything a return to nature is what's needed, and removing our limited thoughts about ourselves. If you're an otherkin/therian YOU ARE NON-HUMAN, there's no to 'become non-human' when it's what you are.

Sure many of you might say: 'but wait politics are pervasive throughout every social gathering' and that could be the case but let's not be bad faith about it. Yes underlying politics can exist, but do the overt ones belong in the fandom?

If you ask me I would say no, they stifle creativity by subjecting works to right or wrong think. Beyond that it also subtracts form the hobby itself, through dividing us and removing the overall focus on cartoonize animals and henceforth a focus on meta political causes.

I have learned throughout my life that I have been tempering my wild inclinations, while it might sound nice or proper to do so I would be lying if it didn't cause me a large amount of distress.

Ostensibly it seems like a premeditated choice, I limit myself on purpose to fit in or appear more amicable to humans. This however couldn't be further from the truth, see thing is I long for a situation in which I can howl/run/'shift'/play/sniff/ etc. Problem is I feel under threat or duress of violence be it someone whom seeks to institutionalize me or worse, surviving everyday feels like I'm in a battle for my life.

Wondering if anyone here can relate?