wretched little beast off in the distance

SHEPARD | 28 | HE/THEY -- genderqueer, bisexual, cat monster thing, bird nerd [ icon by ccasino ]

[shepfax]

hey hello hi here is a pinned post

(art by me)

I'm Shepard--three-eyed cat monster, birdwatcher, and aspiring wizard

28

bisexual

genderqueer FtM

he, they, or no pronouns

married 💕

T: 2016 Top surgery: 2024

white USAmerican

animist polytheist therian (spiritual blog at @yngwaz )

geography major

hobby artist (art blog at @shepfax-art ) (inactive)

below the cut is some extra stuff about my blog and some cool art of my Sona

last edit 01 December 2025

things to know:

Feel free to spam like/reblog, it doesn't bother me :) have fun while you're here.

I'm always available to answer questions, discuss stuff, etc. just send me an ask (you can also ask for my discord to reach me faster). The chat function on Tumblr is generally not the best way to reach me, it bugs out a lot lmao

Minors, please stay safe. I'd generally prefer not having minors follow me here because I reblog adult humor and mature content regularly. That said I'm always open to answer educational questions and stuff from people of all ages. I've been out as trans since 2012 and I've acted as a mentor to younger people exploring gender identity before, and I want to empower young community members.

If I reblog from someone shitty please let me know. I'm not active enough in Tumblr spaces to know all the tea, sorry

Above all else, this blog is just for me to post about whatever I'm passionate about. It's all over the place thematically, I've been on Tumblr for 14 fucking years and it's still not curated at all lmao

As for a "DNI" (list of people you don't want interacting with your blog) I think they're essentially pointless since people love to just ignore them. But if you're a zionist, a terf, a febfem, a radical inclusionist/radqueer, pro-para, transabled or whatever trans-x shit then you need to stay the fuck away from me

and now you can check out some pics :)

This is Mira, my beloved fursona. He’s a cat + monster + demon + reptile thing. Below are some awesome pics of him courtesy of my friends!

(art by furbyfries)

(art by sturner)

(art by crunkerton)

(art by ccasino)

p.s.

(art by missrockyqo)

and here’s more of him :3

[femme-bo]

Bangs! 💥🔫

[sapphireh3arts]

today is the ten year anniversary of the Pulse Nightclub shooting. a full decade ago, i lost a friend and a coworker. i was lucky. i had friends that lost several people. today, please remember and fight for all those that have died to live the life they should have been free to. i'll always remember you, Cory.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

Folk, I’m gonna vaguepost for a sec here, but it’s an important one.

If you are in the United States and not employed by a zoo or sanctuary or a veterinarian working with a facility, if anyone for any reason offers to allow you to touch a big cat, please do not do it.

No matter how much you want to, no matter how much it is a dream, understand that it is a violation of federal law that could get the facility the cat lives at in very serious trouble. It does not matter if it is through the fence, or in the context of a trained behavior, or if the cat is on a leash. Even if it feels “safe” or they swear the facility condones it.

It’s starting to appear that lots of zookeepers have not been informed appropriately about the scope of the law - or in cases where they do know it’s inappropriate, they are sometimes being overridden by their management and forced to allow encounters. (Even at accredited facilities!)

We do not know exactly what the penalties could be for that happening within an accredited zoo (yay badly implemented laws) but it typically comes down to being risk to a) the cat’s welfare b) the facility’s ability to have any big cats at all and c) someone, either the facility owner or the person offering, could go to jail or pay serious fines. There are two instances of this happening at AZA zoos that were leaked recently and we may now find out how bad it’s going to get for them.

Lots of facilities will have big cat pelts as educational biofacts that they will allow you to touch. You do not ever need to take the risk associated with touching a live big cat - generally anywhere, and especially in the US.

And for some reason, if you ever are in that situation and unethical enough to actually touch the cat? Don’t post it on social media and definitely don’t make that post public. 🙄

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I literally got to touch three different big cat pelts today in one zoo visit (didn’t take a photo of the lion one). You! Don’t! Need! To! Touch! Live! Cats!

The volunteer did not know where these pieces of pelt came from - they often don’t. Generally in the US they are either sourced from US Fish and Wildlife confiscations (as part of a collab for educational programs) or they’re actually from previous collection animals. The latter is much rarer because it’s pretty emotionally hard for staff, but it means you can touch them without worrying it’s an animal you might have loved.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

I’ve seen a couple comments in the tags suggesting zoos should trade biofacts from their deceased animals for educational purposes - it’s a good idea, but a little more complicated than that!

Most of the animals people want to touch something from (elephants, rhinos, cats) are protected under at least one and sometimes multiple federal laws. Those laws extend to cover their bodies after they pass. States may also have additional laws regarding what can be done with the remains of endangered species or marine mammals. IIRC I’ve been told by keepers that some zoos can’t even keep chunks of elephant tusks broken off of live animals (this happens, sometimes) because of ivory laws. Even if they’re just burying them on site, they have to keep detailed records to prove they’re not illegally selling the remains of protected species. So it’s a lot more complicated than just being able to keep and do whatever with the remains, even for businesses with all the right paperwork and compliance to own the live animals.

Next, you’ve got to process the remains to turn them into a biofact that can be used. I don’t know of any zoo that does this themselves. That means they’ve got to find a credible business that can clean skeletons or process pelts, make sure they can receive the remains (laws often prohibit movement of protected species across state lines, even if not alive), and then pay for the process.

Sometimes other institutions have a claim on the remains that could preclude other options, too. I know of a number of facilities with agreements with major museums or academic research groups who will take remains to study them or prepare them for display. I don’t know if the zoo can overrule them and say they’d like to keep a specific animal’s remains for other uses - probably very contract specific.

Then, right, you run into the same issues if you want to move finished biofacts between zoos. There’s a lot of laws that govern what can move where and if money can be involved, and it can require a lot of paperwork.

You also have to think about the fact that there are extreme cultural differences across the US regarding if it’s “okay” for zoos to use their animals that way. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest where the mentality is more… anti-exploitation focused? Even about good zoos. Let animals be animals, don’t commercialize them, etc. When I walked into a big Midwestern zoo a bunch of years ago and found a docent on the front plaza with an entire tiger pelt for people to pet - from a recently deceased animal that guests remembered - I was honestly kind of horrified? But after talking to a lot of people over the years I’ve really come to understand it’s a regional difference that seems to parallel how prevalent agriculture and hands-on experience with farming or game animals is culturally. There are still some things that blow my mind, though, like the time I found an elephant education cart with an entire taxidermied ear being used for outreach, or the lemur leg a docent had that was preserved bone and fur and all to show off the grooming claw.

All of the complications - logistical, legal, cultural, emotional - mean it’s much easier to get confiscated items loaned from US Fish and Wildlife to use for education. And this actually serves a second purpose! There is a massive warehouse in Colorado that holds a fraction of the illegal animal parts that USFWS has confiscated over the years. I’ve been and it’s… incredible and horrifying and really, really full. They don’t want to destroy the items if they don’t have to, but space is finite. So loaning out items as biofacts is a really good solution. It makes space and it provides a clearly legal avenue for educational facilities to access preserved pieces of protected animals. I also feel like using confiscated biofacts honors the animals, in a way, giving a second meaningful purpose to an item produced through senseless commercialized death.

We know that people appreciate and care about animals more when they can see them and have meaningful “interactions” with them - and using biofacts people can really touch and experience is a wonderful, safe way to do that. I find most docents and volunteers don’t know where the biofacts they’re using have been sources from, so it’s hard to know if a pelt is a previous collection animal or a confiscation in the moment. Regardless, it’s an incredible opportunity to understand an animal a little better (and much, much safer than doing so with a live one).

[requiem-on-water]

by Christian Spencer

[redstonedust]

my bugbear of the day is that i think its odd when people say "femme trans man" or "masc trans woman" they automatically assume it means no hrt. nothing stoppin someone from going on estrogen and also being butch. you can be 8 years on testosterone and be camp about it. being gnc is a whole spectrum babey open your eyes.

[pokeween]

im actually fucking crying right now

[evil-puppetmaster]

There are a lot of reasons to oppose monarchy but one of the most overlooked is that the king is always getting stuck in some kind of hazardous puzzle chamber filling up with gravel or lava or something. Do your fucking job man

[sparrowlucero]

adding to the pile of little colorful dragons i've been drawing lately

(also available on my kofi as adoptables!)

[handweavers]

people like the idea that there is an identity they can claim that will absolve them of the responsibility to examine their beliefs and actions and adjust them accordingly to better align with their values and desired outcomes but there isn't, we all have to practice humility and do the work regardless

[moveslikekeithrichards]

labubu was meant to be hanging off a kindergartners backpack filthy as fuck with no eyes left

[datadegroove-deactivated2026042]

stop deactivating

[datadegroove-deactivated2026042]

i thought we all agreed we were here forever

[kirishima-hates-terfs]

[valtsv]

time to make a post on tumblr. surely no one will interpret it to be as offensive and bad intentioned as possible.

[valtsv]

by talos this cant be happening

[sergal]

everyone shut da fuck up this is the only thing that matters

[sergal]

Oh My God Damn

[sayorithot]

hm yes the mysterious handy tool for unusual home adventures with a twist my favorite device

[gyarutau]

Haha yeah man thats- youre gonna call who?

[dankxsinatra]

[isawken]

going over to my minimalist girlfriend’s house and she apologizes profusely for the mess and there’s just a single perfect, fresh pea on the floor of her living room

[bluelois]

Blue Lois

[isawken]

can i help you

[redmarge]

Red Marge

[isawken]

jesus christ. I Am Under Fucking Attack

[worldheritagepostorganization]

World Heritage Post

[isawken]

i deserve a medal for this post. not because i was particularly funny but because i survived an onslaught of nearly one hundred gimmick blogs in the wake of this post popping off, and the fact that i didn’t try to track any of them down and snuff them out with my bare hands is a testament to my immeasurable strength and should be rewarded. at one point i had “the official letter h” add on to this post. you wanna know that blog’s gimmick? the really funny and original and worthwhile gimmick the official letter h blog had? yep you guessed it they just gave me the god damned letter H and then fucked off. only jesus knows the suffering i endured over that harsh winter, and he wept for me