#kitt speak

[unashamed--felinity]

-uses my toes to scratch an itch on my other leg- hmm hm creacher

[unashamed--felinity]

My partner and I were just talking about the many aspects of enjoyable food experiences. Like, not just taste or smell. Like how some food is improved by the place it takes you mentally. Not strictly memory-wise either.

I just really appreciate food that makes me feel a little feral. Like biting into ribs like you're gnawing a carcass. And how a big reason I like oysters so much is that slurping them up makes me feel like an otter that just cracked open its dinner with a rock.

It's just fun! What foods do that for you?

[unashamed--felinity]

So has anyone else watched GLOW on Netflix because there's a straight up therian character and I actually really love how she's handled (so far, I'm not done the first season yet)

The whole cast has quirks and she's not really singled out for hers, she gets to have a real emotional moment when someone calls her 'wolf' for the first time and she explains "I know I'm a human, but spiritually I'm a wolf" and not only is she not mocked in response, the person she's talking to listens and empathizes

None of the other crew ever gets up in her face or calls her a freak or asks her to change, in fact they all take her out for a birthday party and put her age in 'wolf years' on the cake, and they all howl along with her

It's not perfect, but it's for real the kindest portrayal of nonhuman identity I've ever seen in media. So used to seeing 'cringe' content or a brief joke character. But she's allowed to be part of the main cast and is never seriously asked to change

It's just really lovely? I'd highly recommend watching. It's also just a good show anyway. (It is TV-MA so keep that in mind, maybe look up content warnings for it beforehand)

[unashamed--felinity]

Not a whole lot has changed in my life since I accepted being otherkin. I've always been like this, now I just have a proper name for it.

But one lovely change has been allowing myself the freedom of presenting myself as a cat in art. Like, in comics, doodles, and self-insert OC ideas and such. Everyone else in the show/comic is human? Well I'm a cat. I don't have to represent my human body if I'm uncomfortable doing so.

Who's gonna stop me. The fun police? Fuck em

[unashamed--felinity]

I am a furry, and I'm glad the furry "fandom" exists because its just a big ass group of people who won't judge you for expressing yourself with animal art. I've been less involved in that fandom in recent years though and it's honestly really jarring, and really disappointing, how disinterested general people are with animal art/characters/stories.

I've been exposed to the far other end of that of course, people going "ew freaky furries" at anthro stuff and all, so I'm used to that. But what makes me more sad is how much the average person just... doesn't "get" it.

Like, using animals in serious art or stories is met with confusion. "This is cool, but why is it a cat? Why use anything other than a human to tell relatable, deep stories?"

This goes triple if the creature isn't bipedal/humanoid, of course. Even cool alien/fantasy races are almost always human-shaped, particularly if they're considered intelligent or benevolent. Why does that have to be the case? Why do all stories have to be human-centric to be taken seriously?

I'unno. I guess it's just alienating, seeing how little the average person identifies with animal characters or stories, when animal identity is so intrinsic to who I am and how I experience the world.

Guess it goes without saying for someone like me, like us, but still, I hate feeling like I'm supposed to be thrilled to be a human.

[unashamed--felinity]

Something else I've seen, mostly off-tumblr on forums and such, is the tendency to go "People get the wrong idea about therians/otherkin/alterhuman. Most of us are functional members of society with jobs and education."

And while there's truth in that, and many of us don't look like what most would expect us to, this line of thinking should really be handled carefully.

"Functional members of society/people who contribute to society by working" is an ableist statement to begin with. When you then use it to elevate yourself above your own community, you're basically telling those who would think badly of us that you yourself have no reason to be treated badly, but people in your community who don't fit your idea of "functioning" are completely valid targets of abuse. Like they somehow deserve it, but you don't.

Yes, the alterhuman experience is very wide and that is an important thing to teach people. But disabled alterhumans exist. Mentally ill alterhumans exist. Not everyone is able to have a job or complete high levels of education. Are their identities then invalidated? Are they making their communities look bad?

Spread awareness of our colorful spectrum of experience if you want to, but do it without perpetuating ableist ideas just to protect your ego.

Alterhumanity is about who you are. Not what you do.

[unashamed--felinity]

I've always resonated strongest with creature designs that are somewhere between quadrupedal and bipedal. Like, able to stand up and do human things, but retaining the right anatomy to move on all fours.

Best examples I can think of are Zootopia and The Cat Returns.

I just want to be a little cat shopkeeper who has to climb and jump around to retrieve you items that look comically large in my wee paws. Is that so much to ask

[unashamed--felinity]

I'm so fuckin bored of human-centric fantasy