sunpoweredog

[sunpoweredog]

Note: I tend to use therian as an adjective the way theriform can be an adjective! I prefer this bc when I say 'I am a coyote therian' it feels like my therian-ness is the most important part, and coyote is a descriptor, but when I say 'I am a therian coyote' it acknowledges that my coyotehood is the most important part, and therian just describes how I experience coyotehood

[sunpoweredog]

Mildly annoyed at the trend of people... Forgetting that many of the strong experiences one can feel about alterhumanity are historically very very common in otherkin and therianthrope? This is not... Beef toward anyone, in fact this popped up bc I checked in on a non anglophone alt-h server, but god. Like speed round. As a note this is gonna be more therian linguo heavy just bc I'm very tired, a therianthrope, and mostly was in therian spaces so it's what I default to but a lot of those are applicable to otherkin n fictionkin.

"can phantom shifts feel like physically shapeshifting"

-> yeah this was an experience talked about not uncommonly on forums. A lot of therianthropes expressed the feeling of "a pelt under your skin begging to breach out" or feeling limbs push out against their skin as the phantom shift took place. Sure a lot of people also feel very mild phantom shifts. Both exist. But this experience is in fact a phantom shift experience. We called ourselves "weres" for a reason. Seems more common in people who distinctly see themselves as werecreatures, but this is not abnormal for a phantom shift, although preferably you should do a doctor check if you feel pain (also an experience ppl talked about, but it's not usually thought of as "normal" just bc. Well that's kinda bad and may hide an injury or whatever so it's better to check mundane reasons first. But painful shifts seem to exist you should just be very very certain nothing else could be causing it).

"I can't turn off being an animal / I can't stop my instincts at inconvenient times / I don't feel suited for human society"

-> this one always surprises me when it's presented as bizarre for otherkin/therians. That was like... A baseline therian experience. Yeah no a lot of us can't either. Usually the difference is that this feeling is at an all time high when in situations where you are constantly pressured to "human" correctly, socialize and have no breaks to wild it out, which corresponds a lot to The Entire Duration Of School and is therefore a more common complaint amongst teenagers than adults. It gets a bit easier as an adult sometimes if you're lucky to have opportunities that let you manage your life around instincts and such, although sometimes, well, you gotta play by societies rules to survive n it stays hard. Also a commonly reported experience. You do learn! But some people are better at hiding instincts than other, some instincts are easier to hide than other, etc.

"I have shifts I cannot control under very intense emotions"

-> "Berserker shift" is a controversial term due to a variety of reasons that span the usual "that's too weird, don't talk about that", the fact you're still responsible for what you do while shifty, or just bc it sounds kinda... Edgy, from a first glance, but it IS a term from our history and a lot of people do report the experience of going fully animalistic if freaked out enough. Sometimes alongside extremely strong phantom shifts as described in the first point! I've heard of people who had complete verbal shutdown and could neither speak nor understand speech, could not walk on two legs, reacted with growling spitting and biting, just the whole thing. I think this experience is a bit harder to find mostly because it's... Very vulnerable, usually. It tends to require less than pleasant conditions, and tends to be very vilified, so not talked about much, but very much something that is recorded.

Transhumanism, species transition and body mods overall

-> I'm not gonna talk much about this one bc I've said a lot in other posts, but there's a reason trans species and therianthropy are super intertwined and it's... Because a lot of therianthropes did historically attempt to transition or at least modify their body and surroundings to their best capacities. The idea that therianthropes, as a rule, mostly do not attempt to modify their bodies seems to me very incorrect.

"I feel a strong, almost supernatural drive toward nature / I feel in my bones I am nonhuman / I believed I could physically shift during most of my life under the right conditions"

-> This one is going to be a bit hard for me. As a result of having psychosis, I have kind of a mental block over thinking too much about it in regards to myself. It's also I think A Major way ppl seem to be confirming physical nonhumanity, so like, you do you, I'm not Telling you anything about yourself. However I do want to note that these feelings aren't particularly rare amongst nonhumans overall. A reason why so many therianthropes got in toxic groups that promised being able to go back to one's true form was... Because a lot of us are deeply convinced in some way or another that if things align juuuuust right maybe just maybe we'll have our bodies again. It's not hard to. Understand why an entire community defined by being in the wrong body would have this trait. A lot of us felt a strong drive toward nature, a feeling of being displaced amongst humans, a lot of us attempted to physically shift.

"I wish I could have my species's offsprings / I feel dysphoria over my sexual functions / I have sexual drives that align with being weird fetishes in a human society"

-> this one is more getting erased due to puritanism I think but yeah no for a lot of nonhumans it. Does not stop magically under the belt. And it's not a problem unless any theriform animal is involved. Yes even if it's kinda nasty to think about. I will however note for the first point "no theriform animal is involved" kinda still goes, please do not adopt animals, especially exotic animals, under the impression that you can parent them as a theriform animal could? It CAN be possible to raise a theriform animal in a way that would satisfy parental instincts if you're trained for it, but we're not special. We got raised by humans, we don't magically understand our species better than people trained for it. Very imprinted animals commonly make poor parents.

"I remember my past life / I communicate with my animal self spiritually / other spiritual experiences"

-> this one is such a surprise to me to see so uncommon now. Spirituality used to be a cornerstone of otherkin and therian spaces and it's kinda wild to me to see it's so rare now. So yeah no that's very much a thing. I don't think I've seen someone soul search for their "true name" in ages, when that was everywhere on old spirituality inclined forums. I can't speak much on this bc I am not a spiritual therianthrope + point about psychosis made before but I've seen parallel lives, I've seen past lives, I've seen future lives, I've seen misplaced souls, I've seen having a chat with your theriotype as a representation of your soul... Awakening seemed to have a meaning of the... Spiritual event of your soul kinda ripping to reveal your inner self for a while, a singular event in which you start remembering. Was very common on an old french forum over here. Not sure if that was as common in English ones. A lot of people's nonhumanity was not as based on shifts and instincts as on uncovering that hidden self through spiritual means, memories, and such.

Weird Shit Happens Around Me ("I can't digest things a human should digest in accordance to my species, ppl have noted my nonhuman traits as if they could see my invisible limbs, animals react weird to me, etc")

-> noooooted in the past but I think these have always been subject to doubt to be fair. Like you can find records of stuff like that quite easily, but also its very hard to prove in any way, shape or form. So that's a reason it's not in the basics of nonhumanity. But yeah historically a lot of otherkin/therianthropes have claimed Weird Shit Happens. Not rly my case so can't speak on it.

And I think I've mentioned what I had in my brain but this is just to remind ppl like... The therianthrope who wears a mask for fun and is only mildly inconvenienced by their animality is not really a representation of the community historically. Weve always been pretty fucking intense and pretty fucking weird. Chances are, if you are experiencing a very weird thing, it's not particularly a disqualifier of therianthropy or otherkin historically. Not that people might not give you shit about it! Pretty much all the points here, while not uncommon reported experiences, ARE in fact also things I've seen ppl be antagonistic about in the community. Which to be clear is stupid. But yeah it doesn't mean you're wrong, it means they don't realize the extent of our experiences.

[sunpoweredog]

spin this wheel

you're now this mythical creature, congrats!

[sunpoweredog]

Another piece for @saturnyote.bsky.social ! Shedding some winter coat🐕

I've had the sketch for this pose for a while and really wanted to do something with it, so i'm really glad to finish it now ^^

[sunpoweredog]

In the old stories, changelings were human children replaced with monsters. But have you ever asked yourself why a so-called monster would do such a thing? Why would they entrust their children to human strangers? The answer is simple: to keep them safe. This art is also by ReagentNein!

[sunpoweredog]

I understand that p-shifter are alterhuman, but is it wrong to not want to interact with them?

I struggle with psychosis / unreality and seeing so many people saying they can physically shift is making me question reality. There has been a huge wave of new people who claim to be p-shifters on tumblr, and I feel like I don't know what to do.

I fear being called prejudiced or bigoted if I block them, so lately I've been avoiding alterhuman spaces online because of this.

No it's not at all wrong. If someone else is regularly talking about beliefs that trigger your psychosis, it's perfectly fine to not interact with them.

[sunpoweredog]

If anyone's mutual/friend has found themselves blocked on my blog and wonders why, please tell them it's nothing personal.

I've blocked a lot of accounts that participate in the recent pshifter/physical/biological nonhumanity discourse, because it triggers me into a very bad state of mind, featuring extreme anxiety and dysphoria.

While I understand that this is not anyone's fault, I couldn't scroll through the therian tag anymore without triggering myself, so I've decided to set some firmer boundaries.

[sunpoweredog]

they could have said, like, "we made a new wolf morph, which shows how far genetic science has advanced". they could have said, "we're calling them direwolves out of a love for the extinct species." maybe too much to ask for but would have loved it if they'd pointed out some kind of ecological niche they were theoretically intent on resolving - like, "wolves are having trouble adapting to human sprawl and we are hoping that our research into the past will help us save wolves in the present."

but alas they did not do this. and see this sucks because i want to be hype about new bigass fantasy wolves. there is a 7th grade version of me that would be ecstatic about this. she would be obsessive.

unfortunately, due to capitalism, now i gotta have beef with puppies. can you imagine.

[sunpoweredog]

To anyone who follows me, I don't care about nor trust Colossal Biosciences anymore (The people behind the "Wooly Mice"). They have proven themselves to be headline-chasing grifters after this latest stunt. They are claiming to have de-extincted *Aenocyon dirus*, aka the Dire Wolf, by editing just 20 genes from the the DNA of a Grey Wolf (*Canis lupus*) to make this thing:

If it wasn't clear from their scientific names, Grey Wolves and Dire Wolves aren't remotely related to one another aside from being Canids, despite what pop culture like Game of Thrones would have you believe. If they did look like each other, it would have had to be via convergent evolution, as they only shared a common ancestor over 5 million years ago.

This distinction, however, isn't found in the publicized articles about this so-called resurrected Dire Wolf and makes their claim that they brought the Dire Wolf back by simply editing *20* genes from the genome of a Grey Wolf laughable. A Dire Wolf would have shared more in common genetically with a Maned Wolf (*Chrysocyon brachyurus*) or Bush Dog (*Speothos venaticus*) than it would with a Grey Wolf.

Bottom line, don't fall for whatever this company is trying to tell you. If the Dire Wolf were to be brought back, it wouldn't be via something like this, and certainly wouldn't *look* like this. If you want an idea as to how a real Dire Wolf would look like in life, here is some fantastic paleoart by artist Mauricio Antón:

Addendum: I seem to have partially miscalculated Dire Wolf genetics. They were not closer to Maned Wolves or Bush Dogs, but they were still not closely related to Grey Wolves. They were basal members of Canini, related to canids like Jackals (genus Lupulella) but distinct from them. I am sorry for this misinformation in my attempt to correct other misinformation. My main point, however, is still correct.

[sunpoweredog]

"I want to be a dragon."

[sunpoweredog]

a girl friend group to do activities together? Like a pride

Yellow eye contacts if you don't have allergy

more yellow and beige items in your wardrobe to match your pelt colors

I kinda associate lions with having a strong voice so maybe training your voice so you can sing, scream and roar

I see lots of species transition plans on here lately.

I want to come up with something lioness-like for me but can't think of anything rather than muscle training and getting acrylic claw manicure...

Would someone with a more creative (than mine) mind help me with it? Please.

[sunpoweredog]

Someone stole my pelt.

It wasn't a man that took it from me to steal me as his bride like a traditional selkie story.

It wasn't my mother or my father, trying to hide the truth from me because I came into the world wearing an animal skin.

It wasn't even the doctor who delivered me, trying to make me live a human life because I was some "abomination".

I should have had a pelt, but it never came. My blood, my bones, my very soul seem to cry out for a life I never got the opportunity to live. Born for a pelt I would never wear. A body I could never change into. Something I could only imagine by watching others of my kind, sitting on the docks in communal groups in comfort while I'm "other". The furless, bipedal creature that can't enter the water like they can, watching them with my tiny eyes and hair that sprouts from my head and wearing my funny clothes.

To me, I am them.

To them, I am human.

This fact never killed my instincts. Since I could move, I have wanted to be near water. My infant hands would play with cubes of ice and reach for videos on the old TV screen of oceans and pools and water spraying from broken pipes with a smile on my face. I couldn't keep my hands out of the duck ponds and city fountains once I was able to walk. Then, when I could swim, seemingly no one could take me out of the pool. Even a near drowning experience only made me frustrated, wanting to learn how to swim better so I could go under the water next time.

One year, I found the show H2O: Just Add Water, and I was mesmerized. The idea of being able to visit some magical moon pool and suddenly be able to stay in the sea, swimming effortlessly with a tail I could conjure up at any time was a dream come true. My unrestricted internet access led me down the wormhole of "real spells online", and I was wearing a necklace everyday blessed under some full moon and drinking salty water from a jar every day. I could cry and cry and cry all day when I never developed a single scale, never got a selkie pelt, and couldn't go under the water the way I wanted to.

I can't explain it. I don't know why I am the way I am, but clearly something about me was misplaced when I was born. My wiring, my soul, something innate is meant to be off the land. My hands feel webbed and like they're missing claws. My teeth feel too short compared to what I seem to know they should be. I always want salmon and tuna and trout, yet will never be able to take a bite of any of them. I was born in a dry place, as if trying to keep me away on purpose. I don't know anyone in my life who doesn't think of me as some sort of water being, comparing me often to seals, otters, mermaids, water birds, and yet I feel so much like a selkie who has been forcibly trapped in a house, being told to forget who I am, to not look for the pelt, to not dip my toes in the tides.

It's unfair. I was robbed. Someone took my pelt, and there's nothing I can do about that. But it will never stop me from trying to get as close as possible to living how I was meant to. It won't stop me from walking into the freezing waters at the marina. From digging through sand with my bare hands. From eating every shellfish that crosses my path. From immersing myself, clothes and all, into the running river hidden away behind the trees. From walking the halls with a fur blanket draped around my shoulders, dragging along the artifical floors while I pretend they're sand and rock. From visiting my kind in the wild, even if they look back at me and cannot see what I feel. I'll be waiting forever to get in the water, but I have done what I can by moving towards the coast and out of the mountainous alpine desert.

Nothing will take my spirit from me, even when everything else has been stripped away.

A selkie is a selkie, even without her pelt.

[sunpoweredog]

MUSIC: "I've Made My Choice, You'll Have to Make Yours"

“I cannot endure this much longer.” said Dostigai darkly. “Neither shall the river.”

Iskra tried to stay his paws, but Geroi went on undeterred. Though he emanated a scent of sorrow that flowed toward his enemies, their shoulders bunched, awaiting their attack upon his hide, his eyes, even the scarred, blind one, were calm, with power in them; Dostigai’s warriors, usually fearless in the face of hardship, slightly retreated, fear wafting from their bodies. But Rassvet stood firm, just behind his leader’s flank, unaffected. Geroi’s hackles bristled along his shoulders; he engulfed himself in those red eyes, creased with a smile of treachery, of supreme wickedness. A smile of evil itself. An evil waiting to ignite.

But Geroi did not flinch, his expression countering just as sternly.

And at last he spoke. “Harken to me, Dostigai Boreievich…” He leaned in, his mouth at his ear, but the words of secrets no one but them caught. However, what he told Dostigai, carrying an air of threat, with its utmost obscenity, was so vile, so horrendous and cruel beyond anything he had ever imagined, which guided his vehemence in every syllable. Therefore, from these pages, I shall omit them. All that the chroniclers knew—and with absolute certainty—was that it had struck not only a nerve, but the essence of Dostigai’s inner core. For there, upon the ice, with its composure about to give way at any moment, that same premonition preceded Dostigai himself.

In a blaze of fury, and with a snarl that ripped through the river and the trees beyond, perhaps carrying into the cosmos’s abyss, Dostigai lunged forward, his teeth narrowly clipping Geroi’s face, but Geroi staggered back, with Iskra bracing to flee.

Defiantly he raised his head, the yellows of his sclera stark against the crimson iris, and shrieked, “Kill him! Kill them! Kill all of them all, you shits!”

---

Finally did another one of these monster sets again after a long while.

Here rebel leader Geroi (Tricolored one-eyed one) guides his group across the frozen Pechora River (only beginning to crack with the gathering thaw), while the evil Commissar Dostigai (Red "brindled" scarred crazy-eyed one) and some of his militaria pursue them.

It doesn't happen for a longtime (A third of the way for BOOK II). Lots of stuff happens before then. Anyway, this only took four days to complete, and I wish I can only write this fast...

Art/Story/Characters © Me [HT Art | 2025]

[sunpoweredog]

Because other things/creatures have other terms! There are objectkins, conceptkins, songkins... otherkin and good old nonhuman can also be used for those who are not human but still humanoid. Alienkins, angelkins, demonkins, etc.

Therian is just a word used specifically for those who identify as nonhuman animal.

Therians are so funny to me, but serious question:

Like, why? Why tho? Why mostly animals? And also how, and when.

Not really in a position to judge, but the concept heavily amuses me

[sunpoweredog]

Finished YCH for Ynval!

I kinda expected it to be a canine or a feline, like a lynx or a tiger, but I got a DINOSAUR to draw and it's so cool! I love how it turned out and the character's colors remind me of watermelons ^^

[sunpoweredog]

Not related to the purpose of this blog, but DAMN I am so so tired of scam spam messages under my art posts. Each fucking time there is one or several comments asking to either dm if I'm available for commission or to donate to them.

Like. Bro. Sis. My sibling in tumblr. I couldn't send money to your robotic ass even if I tried, even if I really wanted to, even if you somehow managed to scam me. PayPal is fucking blocked in my country. Please stop.

[sunpoweredog]

fucked up tbh