#therianthropy

Version 1.1 - Updated 2014-05-19
Created 2013-09-16
By Orion Scribner

I am more than I seem.
To the eyes, a girl,
Small, a grin at her lips,
A flicker of playfulness in her eye.

I am not you,
I am other,
When you lay down to sleep,
I wake.
In your light of day,
Your skin can be soft,
Your eyes do not see,
Things in the dark,
Your claws do not have to be sharp,
In your light of day,
I am not there.
When I awake,
My eyes see movement within the dark,
My fur keeps me warm,
My claws are easily unsheathed,
I prowl through the world,
That you can not see,
Surrounded by grey.
At that first light of day,
I lay down to sleep,
Your body stirs,
Alive with it's weakness.
You cannot live in the dark,
I cannot fight in the light,
You are not me,
But I am of you.

Mommy,
did you hide my wings?
can I have them back?
so I can fly up high.
why can't I reach the sky?
Daddy,
why are my paws not grey?
can't we please go hunting today?
my hands can't handle this.
they won't obey
Grandpa
when you were little,
did the dragons soar?
did they whirl and dive?
why don't they come anymore?
Grandma,
have you ever seen a faerie?
or maybe a nymph in the rain?
Grandma,
I want to see my old friends again.

Recently I got into a conversation and an interesting topic came up- Is there a difference between weres and therians? I have to admit it threw me off a bit because I had gone through my otherkinity without considering there to be a difference between weres and therians and then two people presented themselves to me adamantly insisting that there was a difference. At first I didn't know what to think of it so I told them that as far as I knew there was no difference but I would look into it. That is exactly what I done and that is what this post is about. Throughout this post I will look at the official definitions of weres and therians, the history of weres/ therians, and people personal stances on the subject. I will eventually come to my own decision and hopefully you can come to one as well.

I am not a werewolf. I am a therianthrope, an animal person, someone who identifies as a wolf. But I’m not a werewolf.

All through our lives, we create our own identities.
Sometimes, society imposes identities on us as well. At home,
in school, in the playground, in the workplace - we have our own
personal identities. Within us, we also have our core identities, the
Selves we know most intimately. Close to our skin.