My name is Ethan and I am a Wolfdog, Cameroceras, and Machine!
Here’s some basic info about me and my page! :D
⭐️I am nonhuman, and as for labels for my non-humanity I tend to use Therian and Alterhuman!
⭐️I am physically 22 years old, so please keep that in mind when interacting with us!
⭐️I have Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and fully function as a system, but this account will only be used by me (Ethan)!
⭐️I am chronically ill and may vanish from the internet at a moments notice due to medical necessity, so please be patient with me!
This account is going to be used to post my written works as well as art of various mediums, mostly related to my nonhumanity and therianthropy!
I am mostly known off of tumblr for my YouTube and TikTok videos (posted under the same handle as here @BirdyDogs) but I actually tend to prefer writing my thoughts out than recording them haha. This page will be for my more… complex thoughts on Alterhumanity/philosophy that might be harder to get across to my YouTube + TikTok audiences. Which I guess to put it plainly—this is the more “boring” side of my platform haha. I personally identify as a Wolfdog Therian, a Werewolf/Lycanthrope, A Cameroceras Therian, and a Machine. When I say that I identify as these things, I am not deciding or choosing them as labels. I mean that I—in a literal sense—am these things. How this works exactly is unfortunately very complicated, and as such will be posted in more specifically dedicated posts.
I am NOT an expert on therianthropy or Alterhumanity and do NOT claim to be in any capacity! I am simply one of many resources available online that discusses a community that I am a part of! My thoughts and opinions are always updating and changing and I do my best to provide accurate and up to date information on my platforms, but I am only one being in this ocean of life, so my videos, posts, and other pieces are prone to becoming outdated and inaccurate. I do my best to correct and update information as I can, but I am chronically ill and the world moves very fast so in all honesty it can be hard for me to keep up 😅
I would label my professional work as a Therianthropy and Alterhumanity educator, a lost media archivist, and a meme historian! These labels are subjective and self-proclaimed so do take this with a grain of salt HAHA, but when I do finish my philosophy degree these are the labels I will gladly choose professionally :D
More basic info!
⭐️My pronouns are he/him or they/them; any combination of the two!
⭐️I identify as transmasculine nonbinary, but will use various gendered terms for myself as gender doesn’t exactly apply to me the same as a nonhuman 😅
⭐️I use the labels gay and queer for my sexuality!
⭐️I am in a long term relationship with my partner and am polyamorous!
I am always looking for new mutuals! I am a very social Wolf but due to my chronic illness I have unfortunately been extremely isolated for the past eleven years that I’ve been in treatment.
So feel free to reach out if you’d like to chat or have any questions!! :D
I just ask that you PLEASE be respectful, I don’t mind disagreement with my stances or even you outright saying I’m wrong as long as you’re nice to me! In fact, I often change my opinions and stances as I become more educated on a subject, so I actually welcome folks with different thoughts than me to please educate me on your side! I have a deep love of learning and a deep love of educating so if you are kind enough to talk with me I would be happy to become friends or mutuals!!
The most random affirming thing for my therianthropy happened today!! I was at the gym and I was wearing a t-shirt with a werewolf on it, and as I was getting a paper towel I ended up getting in a stranger’s way.
I said “Sorry!” And he replied “no worries! I wouldn’t get in the way of a werewolf!” And I was internally like YES I AM A WEREWOLF THANK YOU!!!! But outwardly I just smiled and laughed a bit haha
But wow!! Being recognized as a werewolf—even if not actually—was so nice!!! It made my Wolf heart very happy!! *wags tail*
Not a question, just saying that knowing there's adults in our community makes me feel like I can make it past my situation and that I can be happy and keep living after all :D
Oh my goodness what a kind thing for you to say!! It means the world to me that my posts inspire you to keep going, that’s why I post what I post! I think it’s important for younger therians/alterhumans to know that it does get better and you can still be the Animal/Creature/Being you are even when you’re an adult! Because growing up doesn’t mean you have to lose your identity or how you express yourself!
I may not know what your situation is, but I know for sure you can get through it! And one day you will wake up and this will all be long behind you and you’ll be so happy to be alive to see it! I’m proud of you for staying so strong, you’ve got this!! :D
It’s funny, as I get healthier and keep going further in my recovery, my therianthropy seems to be getting stronger. What I mean by that is I have more room in my brain to understand who I am and how I identify, and being a Wolf is more of a constant now. I can feel my ears and snout and Wolf body most if not all of the time and it is really a wonderful experience!
There are folks out there that view therianthropy in a negative light, as if it is a result of “poor mental heath” and is possible to “get over” once someone gets healthier but that is simply not true!! As I get healthier, I become more of a Wolf, not less. I can feel my identity so wholeheartedly now that my medications are finally in order and being a Wolf brings me joy! I feel so authentically me, and I am a Wolf now more than ever! *wags tail*
Had some people wondering, yes this is my official legitimate tumblr account haha! I just don’t have it in my Linktree or share it because it is way more complex and often way less lighthearted and often darker subject matter than my channel and other pages. That way nobody accidentally stumbles across deep thoughts BirdyDogs if they only know lighthearted super fun and positive BirdyDogs.
This is also my page (which is to say Ethan’s) rather than a shared account like the rest of ours are, as nobody else in the system wants to post on tumblr anyway haha
But yes!! Fear not!! This is actually me and my page!
My name is Zinni, and I’m a red fox therianthrope. I first awakened around 2006, when I stumbled across the term that finally gave shape to what I had always felt deep inside. Looking ahead, it’s strange and wonderful to realize that come February 2026, I’ll be celebrating 20 years of walking this path with awareness.
At this point, I’ve embraced the title of “greymuzzle”—an affectionate term for older members of the community who’ve been around for a while, seen the changes, and carry some of the history with them.
I’ve been part of this world since the days of old forums and pack sites, long before social media reshaped the landscape. In that time, I’ve witnessed so many changes, both online and offline: communities rising and fading, ideas evolving, and new generations of therians finding their own voices. I’ve met incredible people, weathered the ups and downs, and I remain grateful to be part of this living, evolving community.
But I’ve also noticed a recurring issue—one that’s been present since the very beginning of my time in the community:
The definition of therianthropy.
Over the years, I’ve seen countless posts, videos, and discussions where people attempt to pin down exactly what therianthropy “is” or “isn’t.” These voices often speak with authority, saying things like “you must experience it this way” or “you have to meet these conditions” or even “if you don’t do/feel this, then you’re not a real therian.”
This kind of gatekeeping has been around as long as I can remember, resurfacing in different forms as the community shifts platforms. And while I understand the desire to create clarity and boundaries, what I often see instead is rigidity that shuts people out, dismisses personal experiences, and makes newer therians doubt themselves.
Therianthropy has never been a one-size-fits-all experience. It is deeply personal, fluid, and shaped by each individual’s relationship with their own animal self. To try and confine it to a checklist or a strict definition feels, to me, like trying to cage something that was never meant to be caged.
I’ve always viewed the definition of therianthropy as a baseline—a foundation to build upon, not a rigid set of rules meant to box people in. The definition I first encountered, and the one I’ve always carried with me, was simple: “an individual who identifies as an animal.”
That was it. No caveats, no lengthy requirements, no tests to pass. Just a recognition of something deep and unshakable inside.
When I first read those words, it was like a light switching on. It cut straight through the confusion I’d carried for so long and gave me the language to finally say, Yes. That’s me. I identified as an animal. I wasn’t human, not at my core—and for the first time, that truth had a name.
Now, obviously, over the years I’ve watched the definition of therianthropy shift and reshape itself countless times. What began as something simple has been lengthened, reinterpreted, and given all sorts of added meanings. And to be clear, I don’t see anything inherently wrong with that—like I mentioned before, the base definition is just a foundation. People naturally build upon it, adding their own perspectives and language to reflect their experiences. That’s part of what makes this community rich and diverse.
But the trouble begins when those new definitions stop being personal frameworks and start being wielded as universal rules. When someone takes their own version of therianthropy and insists it is the only “real” definition, the harm becomes clear.
Therianthropy does carry a collective, shared experience at its core, and sharing those experiences with one another is incredibly valuable. It helps therians who are struggling feel less isolated, it creates bonds, and it can even offer the language someone needs to finally understand themselves. But when the sharing shifts into gatekeeping—when someone declares, “if you don’t experience it this way, then you’re not truly a therian”—it creates doubt and discouragement.
I’ve seen it happen so many times. Therians begin to question themselves, wondering if they’re “real” or if they belong at all, simply because their personal experience doesn’t fit neatly into someone else’s box. And that is the issue that has persisted in this community since the very first days I joined—an issue that, sadly, I still see repeating itself even now.
So, I’m writing this post to share my own experience. My hope is to offer a perspective that others—especially those who may be feeling lost or uncertain—can look to and recognize pieces of themselves in. Think of this as a kind of touchstone, a collection of what I’ve come to understand about therianthropy through years of living it, observing it, and growing within this community.
This isn’t meant to be a rulebook or a rigid definition, but rather a reflection—a way of putting into words the patterns and truths I’ve noticed in my journey. By laying them out, I want to show that while our paths are all unique, there are still common threads that connect us. And if even one person reads this and feels less alone in their experience, then I’ll consider it worthwhile.
When I first awoken as a therian, I knew I was a canine but I did not have a solid idea yet of which canine I was. This was very common for all newly awakened therians. You either could tell right away or it took you a while to figure it out, and that was ok.
I thought I was a wolf when I first awoken, but that was normal. All I knew was I was canine and, at the time, the group of therians I joined were mostly wolf therians, so naturally I took to that.
I didn't have my first full phantom shift or feel phantom limbs until I was 14/15, five years after my awakening. That didn't stop me from being a therian, though.
Even after knowing I was a canine and even after discovering I was a fox, I struggled with identifying my theriotype. I kept having experiences that contradicted that identity.
I ended up spending a decade trying to discover that, going from canines to felines, even bears, red panda, otter, and so many more animals I thought I had common traits with until I circled all the way back around to canine.
Cameo shifts were normal. They were shifts where one briefly experiences shifts of an animal (or kintype) not of their own. These shifts would be mental, phantom, or both and last anywhere from a few minutes to a few months (even a year in some cases). These shifts were influenced usually by images, videos, or even hanging out with other therians/kin.
I didn't have my first mental shift until I was 19. Not a full one, anyway. I had experienced fluctuations (or partial mental shifts and mental flare ups) but for the most part, I learned my therianthropy is "suntherian" - I would feel more animalistic or less animalistic given the situation, but would always be "animal" in mindset. Because I am an animal, a fox, and not human.
There were moments of high stress in my life where my therianthropy felt like it disappeared; where I stopped having shifts and my usual animalistic mindset all but faded. I was on autopilot, acting human - and that was ok. It didn't mean I wasn't a therian anymore just because I wasn't having therian experiences. They came back eventually once my life settled back down.
It confused me greatly to still act human. Despite knowing I wasn't human from a very early age, to know I was different, I had gotten bullied and in trouble too much that I started to mask. Before I learned what I was, I studied and acted as human as much as possible. I also can't deny I was 'raised' to be human before I knew I wasn't. And that's ok. Still acting human (enjoying video games, driving, using your opposable thumbs) is ok. You're not human, but the way I see it (and this is m own personal view), you're in a human body. Experience it. Enjoy it. There is so much you can do now that you couldn't do before.
Like I’ve said throughout this, these are just my own personal takes on therianthropy—what I’ve lived, what I’ve observed, and what I’ve learned along the way.
This post ended up much longer than I expected, but if even one person walks away from it feeling a little lighter, then it’s worth it. I want anyone reading this to know: just because you don’t fit neatly into someone else’s definition of therianthropy does not mean you aren’t one. And maybe, as you explore yourself, you’ll find that therianthropy doesn’t fully describe your experience at all—and that’s okay too. The landscape of nonhuman identity is vast, and there are so many terms and frameworks out there now. You may find yourself resonating with something other than therianthropy, and that’s no less valid.
At the end of the day, your nonhuman experience is yours alone. No one else can take it from you, redefine it for you, or decide its worth. So embrace it fully. Be animalistic. Be feral. Be monstrous. Be strange.
Most importantly: be unapologetically you.
divider credits:
- solid red line @/uzmacchiato
- green leaves @/thecutestgrotto
- fox stamps @/zresp
I’ve never posted any of my photography anywhere but I was going through my pictures and thought some of you guys might appreciate these, so here they are!!
I have a BUNCH of pictures I’ve taken of things that look pretty liminal or otherworldly so I’m starting with these haha, let me know what you think!!
I always feel like a puppy that’s been beaten and then thrown into the street. To fend for my already broken and bloody self alone. Scared, hungry, getting hit by cars and kicked repeatedly by those passing by me.
I sit sometimes and wonder what it would be like to be held gently and taken care of by life instead of destroyed by it. What it would feel like to have my tired puppy bones gently cradled in life’s arms and my wounds mended and head pet.
Rory expression sheet!! I have been working on this all day haha, and it is finally done!! :D
I have never made an expression sheet like this before, so let me know what you think!! I tried to get as many possible expressions as I could, and I still have to make three more of these for my other fursonas 😅 but I had SO much fun drawing this so I don’t really mind that much haha
It’s funny because looking the way I do, a lot of folks are very surprised when I tell them I’m trans haha. But what’s even funnier is if I talk to them long enough to be like, “yeah I want to have kids someday and I want to carry the pregnancy myself” because their brains *always* glitch out from that information HAHA
Like yeah, most transmasc folks don’t want to get pregnant and if they do it isn’t usually intentional but not all of us!!! And not only those who are more “fem presenting” either!
Masc presenting trans folks can also want to carry a pregnancy!
Anyone who’s trans can want to carry a pregnancy!
If you want to and have the ability/resources to, then it doesn’t matter your gender identity or how you present!
i was looking at some of the big, cumbersome art books in the library and carefully paged through compilations of the works of rene magritte and paul klee.
i was very reminded of the "dreamcore" edits on pinterest and also of letsplays of backrooms games I watched on youtube. these more modern works deal with a similar theme of the uneasiness of the constructed world.
Looking at the books I noticed that surrealist paintings have tension in them from the combination of organic bodies and creatures with hard lines, barriers, and industrial or mechanical imagery.
I think backrooms and a lot of "liminal space" "nostalgiacore" and "dreamcore" are successors to surrealism, but they iterate upon it in a really interesting way. There is a much greater focus on absence and emptiness, with the subjects being environments or landscapes more often than figures.
And the tension between "natural" and "constructed" has been inverted in an uneasy and striking way. A key characteristic of "backrooms" environments is arbitrariness. Rooms and hallways are infinite, illogical, pointless mazes that make no sense in regards to human needs or uses, profoundly empty and sterile. They are not designed or intentional, they are as impersonal and pitiless as a universe without God. In other words, "backrooms" environments follow the rules of the natural, not the constructed. The constructed world of squares, edges, corners and walls has become a form of natural environment, a landscape, THE landscape.
Ah, surrealist art and the backrooms, oh how I love this genre of things. It feels the most familiar to me, liminal and surreal places. Which I suppose makes sense, considering, ha.
Do you have a really bad taste in music? Do you want to find more music that makes you go, “wow, why would anybody ever listen to this?”
ADD ME ON AIRBUDS HAHA my user is birdydogs! (I’m BirdyDogs everywhere haha I made up one username and called it a day XD)
I also don’t use Spotify (Apple Music’s library formatting works so much better for me so sorry 😅) so it’s not as easy to share what songs I like, even though music is a huge thing for me that I’d like to share!!
And this is honestly probably the most efficient way to do that, and allows for those who actually want to see what I’m listening to (and nobody who doesn’t) to see just how much I mean it when I say I listen to *everything* haha
Especially since some of my favorite songs aren’t even on Spotify??? Like Beach House by the mountain goats is SO GOOD BUT NOBODY KNOWS THAT 😭😭
(This is totally not because I only had two other folks added on there and FINALLY found a third but I need one more to unlock something? On there and I want to unlock it haha no no of course not! XD)
So if you want some certified BirdyDogs Music Taste—though you’ll probably live to regret it—add me! :D
GUYS OH MY GOD I don’t know why I didn’t think of this before!!!!
Try doing quads using a skateboard instead of just your body!!
Here’s a video I just posted on my YouTube about what I actually mean by this BUT OMG!!! Losing my mind over how game changing this is for me so I figured it might help some of you too!! :D
Feeling despair over the general state of things? Blorbo from your shows not enough to hold the horrors at bay? Need something healthier to be insane about? Need to go outside more?
Want to become a pokemon trainer like you dreamed of when you were ten?
MERLIN BIRD ID APP BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY
It's a fun little app that lets you use your phone to identify birds by song. You hear a song, open the app, let it listen for a moment and it tells you what the hell is making that noise (if it's a bird), and shows you a picture of the little feathery bastards, so you can squint at the surrounding shrubbery with a better idea of WHAT you're looking for.
After thinking "Man, I wish I had that app to ID that lovely bird song!" and then completely forgetting that I wanted to do that by the time I got back to WiFi approximately five million times, I have finally managed to install it.
Friends.
I am becoming a pokemon trainer.
This is very literally like the Pokemon anime where Ash would find some godforsaken beast in the shrubbery and immediately whip out his Pokedex to Identify it. I will be out walking the dogs and will hear... Something? And now I can find out what the hell it is! Curiosity immediately rewarded!
And that's one hell of a dopamine hit.
You can increase the immersion into the pokemon trainer by also having Dogs (TM) with you. It's like having a starter pokemon, if your starter refused to go in the ball and was less keen on battling wild pokemon so much as generally yelling at, attempting to micromanage, or just straight-up eating them.
My dogs (functionally an off-brand Houndoom and Yamper-if-it-was-a-psychic-type) are thrilled that they're getting this much walkies, if somewhat confused by my stopping on the trail at random intervals to wave my phone around. They're Very Excited by me taking new, circuitous routes around the lake to get closer to trees and bushes to pick up songs because my phone was old when the pandemic started and the mic sucks. I'm pretty sure it's a matter of time before one or both of them figure out that I'm following birdsong and then I'll really be up shit creek because they fucking LOVE going on a hunt for something, and know that if they alert at something correctly at least a few times, I'll believe them when they pretend to alert at something. Like say, pretending they hear another bird, no I promise it's real you're just a comparatively deaf-ass human no I'm not trying to extend walkies how could you say that-
FURTHERMORE, Merlin Bird ID will keep a life list for you.
That's right.
You can put Birds in your Pokedex to fill it out.
And boy fucking howdy does my autistic ass love collecting things/completing sets, and that "congratulations, new lifer!" Thing lights up my brain like nothing else. I saw a blue grosbeak for the first time ever last night because the app told me ITS BLUE LOOK FOR SOMETHING BLUE!! AND BEHOLD, IT WAS THE BLUEST OF BIRDS!! I sailed through breakfast with my in-laws, a normally harrowing experience, on that high and I'm still going.
Granted, once the Blue Grossbeak took off and I was released from its enchantment, I realized that Herschel was rolling in half of a dessicated fish carcass while Charleston was attempting to work down the other half at speed, but that's just the joy of pet ownership.
...what I need to do now is figure out how to enter birds I can see that are not making noise into the list. There's so many ducks here, and all of them shut the hell up whenever the hounds and I are near.
Anyway,
MERLIN BIRD ID APP BY CORNELL LABS!!
Go insane in a way that makes you go outside and touch grass!
It’s funny, my phantom shifts disappeared nearly completely at some point or another because I would suppress them so much. Even with posting about therianthropy as much as I do, I still have a habit of doing that.
I think it’s partially because even when I do post about therianthropy, my goal is really educating the public/newly-awakened/younger therians at this point. Other platforms make it incredibly difficult to talk about my experiences as I would prefer to, since it’s easier to be misunderstood elsewhere. And the consequences of being misunderstood are also very very bad for some reason, even if your stance isn’t problematic or harmful?? I tend to “water myself down” a lot if you will when it comes to, well, everything haha, but my Alterhumanity especially.
Anyway, as I’ve been posting here and making more… detailed? Informed? I don’t know haha but therianthropy posts that are phrased how I like to speak and write haha, my phantom shifts have come back way more. In fact, they’re nearly constant again!!
It’s very very nice, since it makes me feel way better about myself to feel my ears/tail/paws again haha. It’s tiring being in this body anyway, but not feeling connected to myself makes it harder.
So this is nice!! *wags tail because I can again now* :D
“Why do you move your hands so much in your videos” “
“I couldn’t pay attention because I was too distracted by your hands moving the whole time :(”
“you say ‘um’ 13 times in this video lol”
“The shirt pulling 💔”
Literally FUCK all of you guys. You all fucking suck. Why do you think it’s okay to comment this stuff on my videos😭 I’m literally disabled that’s why :(
Like It’s because I’m autistic and god forbid it shows in my videos?? I move my hands because I wear a mask and I can’t be as expressive as I personally need to be??
And do you not say “um” at all, ever, in your daily life? Or are you just mean to me about it for literally no reason.
And I’m uncomfortable in my clothing. I’ve been so sick for months that nothing fits me right anymore and my body shape has completely changed. So not only do my clothes not feel right or fit right, I already have so many sensory issues around clothing in general so yeah. I adjust my clothes. Don’t be a piece of shit. And my body is always freezing and already not mine so thanks for the reminder of THAT too.
This is my actual fursona haha, which is to say Ethan’s! :D
I unfortunately have to remake the refs for everyone else since Rory’s design has changed and Cerina doesn’t like the way she’s drawn in hers anymore haha so I’ll get around to that eventually!
The fursona for us collectively and the design for Reagan’s have not ever been given a ref whoops so I’ll be making those too at some point 😅
