Post #1779520
2026-02-20 04:45 UTC
@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.
Replies (1)
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@baralheia@dragonchat.org 2026-02-20 17:42
@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.