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Preteens

Parenting a preteen can be a minefield. Find support here.

Original poster

What the fuck are Theriens?

371 replies

Yappucino · 23/07/2024 21:56

My youngest DD (10) has taken a liking to jumping like an animal in the garden, drawing foxes, and wants me to buy her a mask and tail for her 11th birthday. She claims she's a "Therien" and feels like an animal. Apparently a few kids her age have gotten into it.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
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PinotPony · 26/07/2024 08:35

BananaLambo · 26/07/2024 08:31

My golden retriever believes he is human and is certain he was King Henry VIII in a past life (on account of his fondness for meat and shagging).

🤣🤣

EmmaGrundyForPM · 26/07/2024 08:40

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 07:18

@susey No, I myself am a gay female though

You said earlier you are pansexual. Now you're saying you're gay. They are two different things.

RenegadeMasterx · 26/07/2024 08:41

Be very concerned.

PinotPony · 26/07/2024 08:42

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 07:28

Please just stop.
This is our identity.

The whole concept of self-identification is flawed. It's not based in reality.

Sure, you can "feel" a certain way. I understand that one might have feelings of being primal, animalistic... but to conflate that with reincarnation and then take it even further to say that you identify as a very specific species is utter nonsense.

You're a human being and, as such, capable of imagining amazing stories. But that's all this is - a story.

Original poster
Yappucino · 26/07/2024 08:43

HettyCletter · 26/07/2024 07:48

I wish I hadn’t clicked on this thread. Now I’m worried my 8yo daughter, who often enjoys pretending to be a puppy or a horse, might grow up to be part of, or be exposed to, some of the madness on this thread.

I think it’s a tragedy that instead of giving (mostly young) people the support they need to live as who they are (often autistic, gay, mentally unwell or a combination of the above), as society we are instead offering them more and more ways to escape reality by identifying as something different. It doesn’t solve the issue, it just creates a diversion for a few years. And I say this as someone who has watched as a close family member has identified as a cat, an owl, an elf and eventually the opposite sex, before now, years later, slowly coming to the realisation that they are probably “just” an autistic gay woman who has experienced a difficult childhood. I can’t help but wonder how much pain and stress could have been avoided if they’d been given the support they needed in the first place, rather than being indulged when they said they were an elf or an owl.

Your 8 year old is probably going through a phase, same as my almost 11 year old. Just keep her off social media

OP posts:
Original poster
Yappucino · 26/07/2024 08:49

ReadtheReviews · 26/07/2024 01:07

You could talk about older cultures that believed in having animal spirit guides? Make it an exercise in R.E. and remove the idea that it's a new thing old people don't get. But make clear that it doesn't mean she IS that animal but instead connects with some of its symbolic traits. It can be her totem.

Second this! Will talk to her

OP posts:
Bodeganights · 26/07/2024 08:54

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 06:49

@PhantomSmoke Some therians are autistic/on the spectrum, but it has nothing to do with our identity as therians :)

How do you know, as you seem unsure which animal you are or that you are in fact human?

More questions, how many animals can you be?
If say wolves die out, can you still be a wolf?
Do any therians3believe they are birds of some sort?
Do they require wings and feathers?
How does that work when we cant fly?

Original poster
Yappucino · 26/07/2024 08:55

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 05:25

@AccountCreateUsername I believe I am human and I don't believe in evolution (but I'm fully respectful of your beliefs if you do).
@WiddlinDiddlin We figure out our thereotypes mainly through shifts and past memories, and remember we don't choose them, but foxes felines and wolves are the most common ones, though I have a friend whose thereotype is a golden dart frog and a fallow deer.
@knitnerd90 If it's so 'impossible' then how do over 40 million therians worldwide get shifts and past memories, hmm? (I'm also autistic btw 😁)

Edited

You... "don't believe in evolution?"

OP posts:
RottenApplesSpoilTheLot · 26/07/2024 09:00

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 05:37

@StealthSpinach Nope, I fully believe in gravity, just not evolution as it hasn't been fully scientifically proven yet and I just don't believe humans evolved from monkeys/apes. After all, then there wouldn't be any of them left because they all evolved into humans. I don't know what alternative could have happened, but then again nobody does. We don't fully know how humanity was created, though there are many theories like God made humans or evolution or even with the Ancient Mayans humans being madeout of maize paste.

well you've just proven that you actually don't understand the theory of Evolution.

Human beings did not descend from the apes we see today. Human beings AND the apes we see today have a common ancestor.

I suggest you do a bit more reading

Blarn · 26/07/2024 09:00

glittercunt · 26/07/2024 01:42

People seem to forget or choose to ignore that our world is full of things based on belief, faith, feelings, urges, interests.

Dressing as schoolgirls is a kink for some. Do we ban schools or uniforms?

We have multiple faiths across the globe. All based on belief, ideology.

Some of us diverge from the heteronormative path.

Some are dual spirit, trans, non binary, etc.

Some people are just super mega into anime or games and live for cosplay and conventions.

Some people find escapism in things like furries, therians, reenactment, LARP groups.

Many have hobbies with quirks.

Some people can and will take anything and make it a fetish; it doesn't mean that that thing is therefore primarily a fetish. But adults may be more inclined to turn to fetishism because as adults we work differently to children and sometimes incorporate sexual elements. It's just important that if that's happening, in any setting, interest, hobby or group, that it's completely separate to anything involving younger enthusiasts.

No-one needs banning from anime, just check content before allowing it to be watched or read.

No-one needs to ban therians and furries, for the majority it's a harmless means of escapism or incorporates into spiritualism.

We are a massive planet filled with all sorts of crazy or fun or odd or different things. Most things aren't sinister.

My youngest has dabbled in the therian thing, she likes to wear a mask and tail and do quads sometimes. Mostly we just sit around decorating the masks and drawing together and she tells me about her favourite animals.

If you continue to monitor what your kids are accessing, and who they associate with, they should be safe from the real dangers lurking.

Edited

While I agree with what you write, and PPs who have mentioned normal childhood play, I think the most important takeaway of your post is the internet. It is so easy for children to fall down rabbit holes and do not have fully formed brains to navigate what they are seeing and reading. Anything where older people are telling children that their parents don't understand what they are going through is dangerous and is how children are groomed.

Original poster
Yappucino · 26/07/2024 09:10

@Wysteria123
Do you believe that "reverse Therians" exist?
Maybe my cat is a Therian and identifies as a human.

OP posts:
Original poster
Yappucino · 26/07/2024 09:12

Also please don't bring trans discourse into this thread ive already blocked the sex and gender discussion board as i'd like to stay out of that.

OP posts:
ArabellaScott · 26/07/2024 09:14

There's an awful lot of overlap between "trans' and therian.

ArabellaScott · 26/07/2024 09:16

Do a bit of research into therians and you'll be hard put to avoid 'trans discourse ', OP. Try the reddit I posted upthread.

EmpressaurusDeiGatti · 26/07/2024 09:17

Not believing in evolution is a fundamentalist Christian thing. I’ve heard Americans from the Deep South talking about it.

Having a ‘shift’ every time you see or touch grass must be pretty inconvenient.

AccountCreateUsername · 26/07/2024 09:17

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 07:18

@susey No, I myself am a gay female though

@Wysteria123 thanks for answering, I don’t hate you at all. I’m very curious about more people seemingly reject scientific evidence and explanations. Religious people do believe in evolution btw.

Did you see the Reddit thread I posted earlier about the lack of ‘representation’? Are most therians white, female and youngish? If that’s the case, I’d be interested in understanding why.

I think the comparison with religion is also interesting - were you brought up to have these beliefs / is this part of your culture, or did you find explanations online of how you feel and then develop those beliefs?

Obviously these are very personal and intrusive questions.

Tmpnmc86 · 26/07/2024 09:34

I can't help but see the overlap though. Identity and inner soul feelings trump all.
Self victimisation and seeing people who don't buy into it as haters.
Scariest of all .. If your parents don't understand you there's a lovely glittery, rainbowy, whiskery?, betailed? Community here who are ready to welcome you and love bomb you.

AccountCreateUsername · 26/07/2024 09:34

ArabellaScott · 26/07/2024 08:19

It's inevitable, though, isn't it?

I mean, any group of young, impressionable, confused, and vulnerable children is created, who is going to flock to it in the blink of an eye?

Always!

LemonT17 · 26/07/2024 09:34

Wysteria123 · 26/07/2024 06:27

Okay I have a genuine question here. Why do y'all hate therians so much? We're just being ourselves and making the most out of our short-long lives. We are animals you just can't see it. We are standing for our identity. Therian haters are going too far. We don't need therapy and we're not mentally ill, but we WILL need therapy if you keep on hating on us. People have /oofed/ themselves over hate. It's not doing anything except making us feel unsafe and unwelcome being who we are. Just like you indentify as a human, we identify as animals. Simple as that. An animal in a human's body.

I don't "identify" as human, I am human.

Nanaof1 · 26/07/2024 09:36

Sethera · 26/07/2024 07:24

Give it time ...

Show quote history

As soon as some doctors and psychologists decide there is money in it, you will start seeing ads and talks about giving therians their real identity. They'll be offering ears, tails, making paws out of feet and hands, whisker implants, snout jobs..... And the psychologists will tell us all that we need to accept it and pay for it via taxes, or the therians will be sad and it will be our faults if harm comes to them.

formerdragon · 26/07/2024 09:37

Namechanged for this because it's slightly embarrassing but I have a perspective you might find interesting. I'm an autistic woman and when I was growing up I was interested in make-believe and imaginative play for a lot longer than most people. I didn't really grow out of it. This was pre-internet and I loved playing pretend games with younger siblings.

When I got to about 12, I was having a truly horrendous time - socialising becoming more complicated and me failing to grasp it, puberty, family issues. I developed an intense interest in some of my imaginative play ideas, including mythical creatures. I started saying I was one of these creatures, and if someone said that I wasn't, I'd either ignore them or contradict them. Let's say dragons.

It got to the point where I was being told 'you're not allowed to mention dragons at Aunt Gertrude's house' which as an autistic girl I thought was horrendously rude and unfair since Aunt Gertrude had topics of conversation I didn't like much but I knew you couldn't just forbid people from mentioning things. In hindsight I think my parents were a bit embarrassed about it. I was oblivious and had no idea how weird it came across. Very emotionally immature, probably.

Mentioning dragons to Aunt Gertrude was actually a very good thing for me to do because she let me know that she was concerned about me and asked me if I really thought I was a dragon. Seriously, not laughing or mocking or getting angry over it. So I said no. No, of course I knew I wasn't. The whole thing was a big game that I probably withdrew into because of how hard I was finding everything else in life, and saying I was really a dragon was refusing to 'break character'. She talked to me about how there are times it's fine to play games like that but it worries people if you do it all the time. Really got through to me.

I don't think I ever really grew out of wanting to play make-believe but now I channel it by writing fiction and don't go about pretending to be anything. I'm aware of what's socially appropriate! At 12 I didn't know, or didn't care until I saw that it had made someone I cared about feel worried (my parents getting angry about it made me more determined to insist I was a dragon, because it became a power struggle).

I'm very glad the modern internet wasn't around then. If I'd had adults telling me I really was a dragon in a human's body and that's why I felt that way, I could have ended up genuinely drifting away from reality instead of just playing a game. My mental health was already bad and that would have made it worse.

ArabellaScott · 26/07/2024 09:37

Nanaof1 · 26/07/2024 09:36

As soon as some doctors and psychologists decide there is money in it, you will start seeing ads and talks about giving therians their real identity. They'll be offering ears, tails, making paws out of feet and hands, whisker implants, snout jobs..... And the psychologists will tell us all that we need to accept it and pay for it via taxes, or the therians will be sad and it will be our faults if harm comes to them.

Show quote history

Scarlet Blake 'identified' as a cat and had a microchip fitted.

[content warning for anyone googling that name btw]

ArabellaScott · 26/07/2024 09:40

Mentioning dragons to Aunt Gertrude was actually a very good thing for me to do because she let me know that she was concerned about me and asked me if I really thought I was a dragon. Seriously, not laughing or mocking or getting angry over it. So I said no. No, of course I knew I wasn't. The whole thing was a big game that I probably withdrew into because of how hard I was finding everything else in life, and saying I was really a dragon was refusing to 'break character'. She talked to me about how there are times it's fine to play games like that but it worries people if you do it all the time. Really got through to me.

May we all be more Aunt Gertrude. Glad you had her.

stargirl1701 · 26/07/2024 09:49

Are you sure it's not Thayins? They are from D&D. They were in the latest film: Honor Among Thieves.

forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thay

Chersfrozenface · 26/07/2024 09:57

stargirl1701 · 26/07/2024 09:49

Are you sure it's not Thayins? They are from D&D. They were in the latest film: Honor Among Thieves.

forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Thay

That's Thayans. From Thay.

And the OP says her daughter likes "jumping like an animal in the garden, drawing foxes, and wants me to buy her a mask and tail for her 11th birthday". That's not Thayan.