[tragelaph]

My main blog is @falconiforme, I will follow/like/ask from there.

I go by Tigris, I’m an adult, and I use He/Him pronouns.

I’ve been in the alterhuman community since 2015, but only got the courage to be more open about my nonhumanity and contribute to the community in 2021. I am a therianthrope, fictionfolk, and otherhearted. I’m avoiding making this fandom-searchable so here is my alterhuman identities webpage.

I use this sideblog as a place to reblog and store posts that I feel are important to my alterhumanity or are educational posts about alterhumanity. I don’t tend to write much myself on here, but I’m trying to get better at that. I do write about alterhumanity on my personal site, however, if you want to check that out.

Resources I’ve Made

My Writing (External Link)

[insectoidvoid]

the fundamental fictionkind experience of being spoken about like you're not there in a direct one on one conversation

[horsebark]

VOL 2- NOCTURNE. An 18+ zine

Download vol 1 here

What is Nocturne? Nocturne is a collaborative zine for 18+ therians, otherkin, theriomythics, alterhumans, nonhumans, holotheres, etc. whose identities creep into every facet of their life­ in this case the bedroom!

For the first edition, we didn’t want to focus on one particular theme, however with this edition coming out around summer time for the northern hemisphere and winter for the southern hemisphere, we’re going for a “Survival Guide” and duality theme. This can include works about camping, foraging, hunting, or the wilderness in general. Do you experience a seasonal coat change? Do you need to be sheared? What do you need to survive?

Note: If you find a theme restrictive- as long as it is related to your kinks/fetishes and animality, send whatever!

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Due to the nature of the zine, all participants must be 18 years old or over to participate. By contributing, you certify you are at least 18 years of age. Please provide your name and social media for accountability purposes & credit. If you wish to remain anonymous in the final zine let us know!

Do you want to contribute but don't feel up for the workload? We need small "filler" graphics! Message @horsebark on Tumblr or email [email protected] if this is something you'd like to do!

Written submissions may take any form, but must be under 10 pages (12pt font, double spaced) and submit as a PDF. Artwork must be submit in PNG format- keep in mind it will be placed in an 8.5x11 page with 1 inch margins. You are welcome to submit up to 5 works!

Submissions will open 01/05/2025 at 10 AM CST and will close at 12AM CST 05/05/2025. Please submit through this form. Provided everything goes smoothly, Nocturne’s second edition will be available for free on 06/01/2025.

If you wish to rescind a submission, please email [email protected] to let us know! Feel free to reach out to the email with any questions, or message @horsebark here on tumblr. We look forward to another great zine!

[fictionfolkpolls]

Do you like to make your source self in character creators, such as in games or Picrew?

Yes!

Meh

No

I would if I were able to / I can never make anything close

I've never tried

Voting ended onJan 14, 2025

[drchucktingle]

What do you think of people who are therian, otherkin, and alterhuman? Or, perhaps, the ideas of alterhumanity as a whole?

this is a good question had to look up what some of these things were, so bear in mind my understanding is limited and fresh, HOWEVER this one seems pretty easy for me to speak on philosophically because it falls under a BASE philosophy that i have always had

as far as identity and body, my trot is that everyone has the right to do whatever they want with their body, which includes of course things like gender affirming ways (or even humanity affirming or unaffirming aways). that also includes ways in which you identify yourself.

some otherwise well meaning buckaroos get wrapped up in things like 'well i am okay with the standard pronouns but what about neo pronouns of buds who say they identify as non human or a dang tree.' i mean WE ALL KNOW there is the old scoundrel joke about attack helicopters and the thing is this: i genuinely, sincerely, without any reservations believe you can legitimately identify as a helicopter.

who am i to say you are not one? how do we even define what a HUMAN or UNHUMAN is in this swirling mix of matter and energy? is there even really a point where i end and you begin? there are OF COURSE standard answers to this that help us get through the day in a material way, but i feel like once you start talking PHILOSOPHY AND EXISTENCE and really ZOOM OUT then you are opening things up to a grander perception of this timeline, where things like 'what even IS my body?' become very abstract

in a world where all i REALLY know is that 'i think therefore i am' i am not really ready to start imposing strict definitions of these things on other people

what i personally care about is RESPECTING others and showing them kindness. so if someone is identifying in a way that is unusual (not in the sense of bad but in the sense of literally not usual) i will always just say 'okay that is very cool and exciting thank you for telling me'. i mean HECK, as a non dysphoric trans person i identify in a technically unusual way.

it is SO EASY to just 'yes and' other buckaroos expression of themselves. it is SO EASY to just 'yes and' love and exploration. so i fully support and am excited about and whole heartedly believe in any way that buds see themselves fitting into this timeline

[centaurus-festival]

Centaurus Festival 2025 Attendee Registration!

This form is for the purpose of registering to attend the Centaurus Festival 2025, on Friday March 7th - Sunday March 9th . Further informa

Attendee Registrations are OPEN!

This form is to attend the Centaurus Festival convention on March 7th - 9th. This form will close on February 28th.

[sebastace]

"New year, new me" hits different when you're alterhuman and questioning a label.

[fictionfolkpolls]

Do you like how fandom treats you?

Yes, except for very limited exceptions

Yes, most of the time

Sometimes / it depends on what side of the fandom

Only if you exclude fanon

No; they don't understand me

No, because of shipping

No, other reason

It's complicated

My source has no / basically no fandom

Varies between sources

Voting ended onJan 6, 2025

[aestherians]

I wonder if there are otherkin communities like ours throughout Asia and Africa. I'm a firm believer that otherkinity is a global phenomenon, but what kind of communities do Chinese or Nigerian or Pakistani or Tanzanian or Thai otherkin have? There's so little crossover between our various corners of the web, it's actually stressing me out. What search terms would I even use to find the Japanese otherkin community? How similar would the Lebanese otherkin community be to the Anglocentric otherkin community? We barely have crossover with the Russian otherkin community, and that's considered a partially "western" country.

[aestherians]

Thanks for digging this up!! Here are the links, for anyone else who wants to peruse:

https://note.com/azusakurodori

https://detail.chiebukuro.yahoo.co.jp/qa/question_detail/q13306063523

If this wolfdog (黒執 梓 / Kuroshitsu(?) Azusa) is anything to go by, the Japanese therian community seems to be in the same boat as most non-English communities I know of - a tiny handful of animals struggling to find others to connect to. Here's what they have to say:

【セリアン/Therian】という言葉や概念を初めて聞く方も多いかと存じます。それもそのはずで、今まであまり世間やネットで広く認知されていませんでした。日本語圏に至っては、ほぼほぼ無名と言えたでしょう。 　そもそも【セリアン/Therian】としての悩みを抱える人の数はとても少なく、自分からこの言葉を見つけ、積極的に検索しなければセリアンのコミュニティには辿り着けませんでした。かく言う私も、幼少の頃からこの悩みを抱えていたものの、その概念や海外のセリアンのコミュニティを知ることが出来たのはつい数年前のことでした。 　母国語ではない英語での交流でしたが、自分と同じ悩みを持つ皆と出会えたことで、ずいぶん救われたと思います。そこは個人が運営するウェブサイトだったので、大手SNSと比較にならないほど規模の小さいコミュニティでしたが、しかしそれ故に【セリアン/Therian】についての知識をダイレクトに学ぶことが出来ました。自分たちが抱える悩みや問題について皆が真剣に議論して解決策を模索し、協力し合い、そして人生を前向きに考えられるようになる交流の場が育まれていたのです。「もう独りではない」という感覚は、本当に何にも換えられないものでした。

Google Translation:

I think many people are hearing the word and concept of Therian for the first time. This is because it has not been widely recognized in the public or on the Internet until now. In the Japanese-speaking world, it is almost unknown. The number of people who have problems as Therian is very small, and you cannot reach the Therian community unless you find the word yourself and actively search for it. I myself have had this problem since I was a child, but it was only a few years ago that I learned about the concept and the overseas Therian community. Although we communicated in English, which is not my native language, I think it was a great relief to meet people who had the same problem as me. Since it was a website run by an individual, the community was much smaller than major SNS, but because of this, I was able to learn about Therian directly. It was a place of exchange where people could seriously discuss the problems and issues they had, seek solutions, cooperate with each other, and think positively about life. The feeling of "not being alone anymore" was truly priceless.

It sounds like they've been embedded in the Anglocentric therian community for a while, considering they discuss things like teen wolves, Theri There, copinglinking, vacillant shifting, werecards, and AHWw, and have a lot animosity towards "tiktok therians" (which are apparently the most prominent/active therians on the Japanese web, if this blog is anything to go by).

I also LOVE their description of kitsunekind/kitsune therians. It's so cool to get a different cultural perspective on it:

【キツネ/Kitsune】 [関連性：高] [セリアン用語] 　日本ではごく自然に「狐は化けるもの」と考えられ受け容れられているが、これは日本独自の民俗学的風習に基づくもので、海外にはこの認識がない。そのため「日本の化ける狐」は海外では「Kitsune」と表現され、「化けない動物のFox」と明確に区別されている。【セリアン/Therian】や【アザーキン/Otherkin】のコミュニティに於いて、この差は日本人が思っているより遥かに大きい。 　Foxは【セリアン/Therian】であり、Kitsuneは【アザーキン/Otherkin】に属するためである。そのため【セリアン/Therian】用語の【Kitune】を正しく「日本語訳」するならば、おそらく「妖狐」が適切な訳語になると考えられる。 　非常に似た例として狼の【セリアン/Therian】と人狼の【アザーキン/Otherkin】の関係がある。こちらも「人間に変身できるかどうか」で【セリアン/Therian】か【アザーキン/Otherkin】かが分かれるため、明確に区別される。 [Kitsune] [Relevance: High] [Therian term] In Japan, it is quite natural to think of foxes as beings that transform, but this is based on a unique Japanese folk custom, and is not recognized overseas. Therefore, the "Japanese transforming fox" is expressed as "Kitsune" overseas, and is clearly distinguished from the "non-transforming animal fox". In the [Therian] and [Otherkin] communities, this difference is much larger than Japanese people think. This is because Fox is [Therian], and Kitsune belongs to [Otherkin]. Therefore, if the [Therian] term [Kitune] is to be correctly "translated" into "Japanese," it is probably appropriate to say "Yōko" (fox spirit). A very similar example is the relationship between the wolves [Therian] and the werewolves [Otherkin]. Here too, there is a clear distinction between Therian and Otherkin, as they are determined by whether or not they can transform into humans.

Does anyone know them?? Their blog was last updated a week ago, so they're definitely active. But I can't figure out if they're directly involved with any Anglo communities or if they're just a lurker. Their blog is FULL of personal essays - every post with a yellow/brown banner is a personal essay. There's a lot to dig through for our community archivists!

[that-dreaming-dragon]

So, someone shared this a long while ago: a Google Doc listing various Alterhuman Communities, which also include as much as possible of non-Anglo communities they can find or have been submitted with.

Alterhuman Communities

Should be another helpful place to look at for folks that can work with other languages.

[sundragon]

That post about "you can't be a therian if you're under 14" is obviously silly, I'm not gonna give them any more attention because they seem like the types who just want that.

The biggest flaw here is that the journey is the point. I wouldn't be who I am today if it wasn't for all the exploration my younger self did. I got a lot of things wrong about my identity when I was a kid... and I got a lot wrong when I was in my 20s. You don't suddenly become wise once you hit a certain age, that's not how this works. I know it's unpopular to mention the prefrontal cortex anymore but like it or not, it plays a large part in how you regulate internally, and even THAT is not some magical key to knowing thyself or whatever. I've met 15 year olds who are a hell of a lot more grown than I was at their age.

You can't just write off someone's experiences prior to a certain age. Everything up to that point matters, even if they move away from those conclusions later.

I'm almost certain that I wouldn't experience my lionhood the way I do if it wasn't something that developed when I was a child. It was that exact combination of factors in that developmental period that resulted in me being a grown man who is also Simba, lol. Maybe I'd just be a lion in a different way if that hadn't happened, but that's not the point. I was a therianthrope when I was 10, before I ever saw that word, and I'm a therianthrope now. And there are therians as we speak who are younger than that, and 14, and 18, and 48+, and they're all still figuring themselves out because it never stops.

That's the second point, equally important. It never stops. If one day as an adult you decide you have it all figured out and have nothing more to do because you passed some milestone in your mind, you've lost the game. Woe, paradigm shifts be upon ye, because it'll happen when you least expect it. That's just how it is.

[frameacloud]

Guides to Safety in Fandoms and Other Communities

Content warning: PG-13. Some of the below links go into a level of detail about sexual abuse necessary to appropriately warn about it. This may be troubling. Assume none are ideal to open at work. Individual links have additional warnings as needed.

Summary: This post collects some guides to safety in specific fandoms, subcultures, Internet groups, and other communities. Among other thing, they offer advice about how to recognize and respond to abuse and sexual predators, which can be problems in any kind of community. Plus, any community has its own particular other problems to be aware of. That’s important to find out about first thing whenever somebody is new to any community.

Furry fandom safety

The furry fandom is a subculture based around interest in fictional human-like animal characters in art, story, role-play, and costume. It’s an LGBT-friendly fandom that has been around since the 1980s. It’s huge enough to have some all-ages spaces, and some spaces only for consenting adults to explore their sexualities in imaginative ways. A wide variety of safety issues need to get addressed.

FurScience’s Resources for Parents helps parents make sure their children don’t encounter harmful sexual situations if they’re in the furry fandom.

The Furry, Explained audio podcast episode What is Furry Internet Safety and How to Be Safe Online tells how to stay safe from predatory people and Internet addiction. No transcript.

The Furry Fandom Compendium collects guides to safety in the furry fandom, including a couple of the below.

How to Stay Safe in the Furry Fandom, about abusive relationships.

How to Spot Propaganda in Fandom Spaces, on how to defend against alt-righters intruding into the furry fandom.

The blog [adjective][species] posted “Furries & HIV,” offering suggestions for how attitudes about safe sex could improve in the fandom. 

Minor Safety Guide in the Furry Fandom, a short video by Cain the Sergal. Advice for children, though kids watching the video should have parental guidance. Inadequate subtitles.

Let’s Bark! Furry Meets and Safety, a short video by Tiki Song. For fursuiters and other furries who want to go to a small meet up in person. Inadequate subtitles.

Plural community safety

Plural means everyone who self-identifies as being or having more than one individual within a single body, whether or not they have a diagnosis like Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), formerly called Multiple Personality Disorder (MPD). These kinds of human variations have existed since before modern psychology. The community is important for beginning to understand what it is in all its forms, and how to live with it.

The Corvidae Collective wrote this thread on safety online in the plural community.

The Crisses’s presentation Safer Support Groups.

Access & Inclusion in the Plural Community: safe & inclusive spaces for minorities, a presentation by Dr. Serenity Serseción. Closed captions.

Cultiples: The Complete Series, e-books by L.B. Lee. A history about leaders of abusive groups who happen to be plural systems, some of whom used concepts from fiction, fictionkin, or soulbonds as tools of abuse.

Relationships between Plural Systems, a presentation by Epsi and Kara, who have been in a healthy relationship together for years, with advice from what they have learned. Dialog in French, with closed captions in French and English.

Vampire subculture safety

Vampires are real people who feel a need to feed on blood or spiritual energies from donors. Their community necessarily talks about consent, abuse, and other safety issues.

Merticus and Zero wrote Real Vampire Community Personal Safety & Privacy Awareness, about how those in the vampire community can beware of predatory relationships and abuse.

The Atlanta Vampire Alliance’s Vampiric Ethos, about abusive groups, consent, and transmissible infections.

Sarah D’s Rules of Thumb, about consent and predatory relationships.

Therian, otherkin, and alterhuman community safety

Therianthropes and otherkin identify as other than human. Most often, they describe themselves as nonhuman animals, mythological beings, or characters from fiction, by means that they consider spiritual beliefs or psychological experiences. Their communities came together in the 1990s, though some groups trace back to the 1970s, and many individuals have written about feeling that way before finding the communities. “Alterhuman” was coined in 2014 to include therians, otherkin, plurals, and some furries and vampires, and more, if they choose to be included. Alterhuman means many subjective identities that are beyond the scope of what is traditionally considered being human.

The Dragonheart Collective wrote Safety in Alterhuman Spaces, about how to recognize and respond to abusive groups and sex predators, plus other kinds of risks that can happen in specifically therian, otherkin, and plural communities.

Jarandhel Dreamsinger’s A Revised Otherkin FAQ has some sections on general safety tips in the community.

A Therian Bill of Rights (which asks no specific author should be credited) offers general advice for the therian community about boundaries, consent, and abusive groups.

The Sol System runs a Community Beware page, warning about some specific sites and individuals in the therian community, with a collection of primary sources showing why and how those ones are abusive.

The Ang333l System’s presentation Stay Safe From Predators 101, which is in particular about how to guard against abusers who would prey on younger members of an internet-based community. Auto-generated subtitles.

These are all good resources, and this collection is just a beginning. What other safety guides or advice can you share about for these or other fandoms and communities?

Originally posted March 26, 2022. Updated September 16, 2024.

[aestherians]

Weredog (the company that made that one canine packer) mentioned therians in the description of their equine packer!!

When it launched, the Canine (our first sheath) was our most popular product, and we were blown away by people's creativity with it: using it for fursuiting, kink play, and some gorgeous pup photography. We were also delighted to hear from trans and therian folks getting good euphoria vibes from it!

That never would have happened a decade ago. I mean, neither would a canine/equine packer. But still, it's so cool to see more mentions of therians in neutral/positive contexts!

[insectoidvoid]

if you're fictionkin, there is a very, very high chance you have a little metaphorical devil on your shoulder that constantly yells at you to downplay and minimize your identity for everyone else. and I am here to tell you that you must grab that little devil and dropkick it into an industrial shredder.

[louisirl]

I’m not as vocal in the community as I once was, but I feel compelled to share this. If you identify as alterhuman, it’s equally important to embrace both the aspects of the experience that align with societal norms and those that might seem strange or unconventional.

The ongoing debates about what is considered “normal” in human society—and using that as a standard to gatekeep alterhuman experiences—baffles me.

This is your own community that you’re undermining—a minority group of those who already somewhat exist outside the boundaries of human norms, yet you, as a fellow alterhuman, are filtering their experiences through a rigidly human perspective.

If you’re alterhuman but unwilling or uncomfortable to explore or express its full complexity, that’s your choice. However, it’s unfair to project that choice onto others who are open and willing to engage with every facet of their identity.

It takes deep introspection and courage to reflect on these things, come to terms with them, and actively share them with others. Without this process, our community wouldn’t be what it is today.

Pushing your insecurities onto others and shaming them for embracing the difficult parts of themselves that you’ve chosen to avoid is deeply harmful to the community. It’s 2024; we should be progressing, not regressing.

If someone is being genuine about their truth and isn’t causing harm to themselves or others, they shouldn’t be shamed for their alterhuman experiences. Life isn’t a flawless, polished narrative—it’s messy, chaotic, and sometimes uncomfortable. But that’s what makes it so profoundly and beautifully complex.

[horsebark]

transspecies folks-

if you are actively transitioning/aiding your species dysphoria, what are you doing? be specific please.

[brer-dragonne]

Here’s what I do as a transspecies polymorph, specifically with my animality.

Linguistic Affirmation:

I’ve been using more gendered language based on species. Bull is my preferred term on account of my antelope identities. I do enjoy buck, stallion, jack and john from time to time, though.

Although I’m not a man, male animals are a major source of gender and species euphoria for me. Male animals affirm both my transmasculinity and my genderqueerness because they’re distinctly associated with masculinity while existing outside of human binaries. Thus, I associate my animality with this specific demographic.

I also use more neutral language, specifically beast, when referring to myself. It’s not for everybody, that’s for sure. Even so, no matter how you slice it, I am undeniably a beast.

If I’m undergoing a species shift into one of my otherhuman or partially human identities, then I affirm myself by saying I am a beastman, a human animal or an animal-human. This is because human animality is a prominent facet of my experience with species as well. Mostly having nonhuman species doesn’t change that.

Clothing / Style:

I’ve been looking into fully facial masks (kind of like puppy hoods) to better affirm my species. On Etsy, there’s one shop that makes these exact kind of products for adult buyers. They also have hoods styled after specific dog breeds! I’ve personally been looking at their large cat collection, but I wouldn’t mind getting a buck hood either. For anyone who’s curious, you can check out their work here: (x), (x) and (x).

I’ve been wearing a lot more leather and fur-lined clothing to get into my animality. Leather and heavy furred clothing really simulate the feeling of being my more prominent species: a lion, a mountain lion, a greater kudu and an elk. It’s very satisfying, but it sucks when winter is pretty much the only season where it’d work. The trials and tribulations of southern living…

Body Modifications:

I’m not too interested in most body mods, but tattoos are certainly options that I look into for species affirmation. I plan on drawing out a map of the markings I have on my draconic body. When I have all the details and placements I need, I’d get them tattooed on the body I have now to feel closer to my draconic self.

Remember what I said about my transmasculinity and how animality can affirm it? I plan on going on T in the future, but gender is only a portion of why I’m going on it. As a matter of fact, species euphoria is my main reason behind pursuing it. I’ve sat with the decision for years now, but I made up my mind earlier this year. My goal is to feel closer to being the bull that I am.

Other:

Voice training is another method I’ve been looking into. I’ll never be able to physically roar or bugle in this body, but that doesn’t make I can’t supplement my voice by sounding low enough to match that!

Maintaining my *hoard is also affirming as a transspecies dragon. Now, of course, it’s important to always organize what you consider to be a hoard and avoid falling into overconsumption. That said, I love to organize my hoard whenever I get the chance. It’s such a draconic thing for me to do (for a lack of better words), and it’s a practice I’ve enjoyed for a long time now.

Word of advice: learning mimicry can help with species affirmation. From time to time, I read books and studies or watch nature documentaries centered around a species of mine so I can better emulate their behavior. Of course, not every thing can be picked up on; focus on what is accessible to you, and it’ll help in the long run.

*My hoard consists of books and decorative dice used for TTRPGs.

[a-dragons-journal]

I am once again fucking begging the community to stop writing everything other than identify-as identities out of the word alterhuman and now fictionfolk too

Alterhuman does not mean everyone who identifies as nonhuman on some level (oh and maybe otherhearted people too). Please for the love of all that is good and holy stop saying that. It means anyone whose identity falls outside of society’s idea of “normal human” - anyone with an identity alternative to humanity or that’s an alternative form of humanity. It includes nonhumanity, yes, but also otherheartedness, hearthomes, archetropy, plurality, daemonism, furry lifestylers, othervague folks, constelics, and so much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

Fictionfolk does not mean anyone who identifies as a fictional character. It means anyone with an alterhuman connection to fiction of any kind. It includes fictionkin and fictives and such, yes, but also fictional hearthomes, fictionheartedness, soulbonders, fictional vaguetypes, fictional constelics, and much more. Here’s the coiner’s words to prove it.

To collapse these words down to basically be synonymous with otherkin and fictionkin is to utterly defeat their purpose. Please stop defining us out of our own communities. Please stop erasing the existence of everyone outside of “identifies as nonhuman and/or fictional”.

[otherkinnews]

Russia proposes banning quadrobics and furry fandom

[This article was originally posted on the main blog for Otherkin News, on DreamWidth: https://otherkinnews.dreamwidth.org/95252.html Orion Scribner @frameacloud wrote it on December 8, 2024.]

The Kremlin-aligned Safe Internet League is an organization for censoring the internet in Russia and educating the public about risks they may encounter there. The State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children helped establish the organization in 2011. The League’s Ombudsman is Irina Volynets. In the spring of 2024, Volynets said that the furry fandom and quadrobics are both dangerous hobbies. She said that furries dress as pigs and eat from troughs. (Later, a furry explained to the news that they don’t do that.) Soon afterward, Volynets claimed to have received death threats from quadrobists, which she said shows they’re generally hostile. The League doesn’t plan to ban cartoons for having furry characters. Instead, they want to ban quadrobics and furry fans for encouraging “crazy” behavior and having direct connections with LGBT. Russia bans LGBT for allegedly being an extremist movement.

At the end of the summer of 2024, Russian pop singer Mia Boyka humiliated a small child for expressing an interest in quadrobics. Boyka derided the cat-masked child to tears on the concert stage in front of a booing audience. Boyka then posted a video clip of that to her TikTok, asking her followers what they thought of quadrobics. The child’s parents filed a police report, because they hadn’t consented to Boyka doing any of this. The child had been brought on stage because she had gotten lost at the concert so her parents could come find her. Other celebrities and authorities scolded Boyka for her cruelty. Yekaterina Mizulina, head of the Safe Internet League, wrote to the Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation that she thought that what Boyka did was unacceptable treatment of a child, even though she didn’t support quadrobics either.

In September, soon after Boyka’s video clip went viral, Russian Senator Natalia Kosikhina proposed banning quadrobics. The Senator claimed that the sport was dangerous because supposedly, quadrobist teens attack and bite people who visit parks. So far, I haven’t found names, dates, or proof that those sorts of attacks actually happened. State Duma deputy Svetlana Bessarab says the ban is unnecessary, because the Code of Administrative Offenses would cover any bad behavior that could develop in connection with the hobby, whereas the hobby itself is a healthy form of play.

Something consistent across the articles that I read about this is that they describe quadrobics as a fashionable hobby among children and teens, derived from normal ways that smaller children play, and connected with the furry fandom. They don’t mention therianthropes.

About the author: Orion Scribner is a moderator on the Otherkin News blog. I used machine translation to get the gist of the Russian-language sources, which isn't a real translation, so I welcome corrections to that from fluent speakers. However, I never write articles with the assistance of procedural generation or so-called artificial intelligence (AI), and that type of content isn’t allowed on this blog.

Annotated List of Sources

Fliskaya, Anna, and Lomeiko, Alexandra (Анна Флиская, Александра Ломейко) (September 11, 2024). “Больше запретов — выше интерес. Кому и чем не угодили квадроберы.” (“More bans, more interest. Who and what did not please the quadrobists.”) 360.ru. https://360.ru/news/obschestvo/bolshe-zapretov-vyshe-interes-komu-i-chem-ne-ugodili-kvadrobery/ Archived September 27, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240927163837/https://360.ru/news/obschestvo/bolshe-zapretov-vyshe-interes-komu-i-chem-ne-ugodili-kvadrobery/

Bessarab’s interview with 360.ru, where he said the ban isn’t necessary. 360.ru is the news site counterpart of the TV satellite channel called "360°," which has 24-hour news. It's owned by the Russian government, and I noticed in one of the other articles from them that they had distorted the facts of events.

Kedr.Media (September 12, 2024). “«Может привести к трагическим последствиям». В Совфеде заявили о необходимости запрета квадробинга — детского подражания животным.” (“‘It could lead to tragic consequences.’ The Federation Council has declared the need to ban quad-racing — children's imitation of animals.”) Kedr.Media.https://kedr.media/news/mozhet-privesti-k-tragicheskim-posledstviyam-v-sovfede-zayavili-o-neobhodimosti-zapreta-kvadrobinga-detskogo-podrazhaniya-zhivotnym/ Archived December 4, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241204123625/https://kedr.media/news/mozhet-privesti-k-tragicheskim-posledstviyam-v-sovfede-zayavili-o-neobhodimosti-zapreta-kvadrobinga-detskogo-podrazhaniya-zhivotnym/

About the proposed ban, and how psychologists and authorities don’t support the ban and think it’s okay for children to be quadrobists. Kedr.Media is an independent social media blog that usually covers news about the environment.

Kholodov, Vlad (Влад Холодов) (April 26, 2024). “Психиатр Федорович: Увлечение «фурри» может нарушить психику ребенка.” (“Psychiatrist Fedorovich: The furry fandom can violate the psyche of the child.”) Общественной службе новостей (Public News Source). https://www.osnmedia.ru/obshhestvo/psihiatr-fedorovich-uvlechenie-furri-mozhet-narushit-psihiku-rebenka/ Archived May 26, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240526235959/https://www.osnmedia.ru/obshhestvo/psihiatr-fedorovich-uvlechenie-furri-mozhet-narushit-psihiku-rebenka/

This is the original interview with the children’s psychiatrist Alexander Fedorovich about the furry fandom. Despite the clickbait headline, Federovich says that the furry fandom isn’t inherently bad for children, but parents should supervise and pull children out of it if they get into age-inappropriate risks. That seems reasonable, but he does make a strange claim that role-play can interfere with a child’s developing sense of identity, and that it would be healthy only if they do not have an animal character all the time.

Kosolapova, Tatiana (Татьяна Косолапова) (September 12, 2024). “Психолог рассказала, как вести себя при встрече с агрессивными квадроберами” (“The psychologist told how to behave when meeting with aggressive quadrobist.”) Vzglyad. https://vz.ru/news/2024/9/12/1286730.html Archived November 8, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241108083139/https://vz.ru/news/2024/9/12/1286730.html In Russian.

An interview with a psychotherapist from Moscow State University, Vera Sukhikh, about what she thinks of quadrobics. She praises their athleticism as they play outside, and doesn’t think it’s inherently any harm. The journalist claims that quadrobists attack and bite people. The psychotherapist doesn’t actually agree that that happens, but advises that if they do attack you, they’re only children, so you should just explain to them that’s not appropriate behavior. Media Bias Fact Check rates this newspaper as a questionable source with propaganda and many failed fact checks.

Lutsenko, Nadezhda, and Petrov, Anatoly (Надежда Луценко, Анатолий Петров). (September 5, 2024). “«Замаскированная форма экстремизма». В России призвали запретить движение квадроберов.” (“‘A Disguised Form of Extremism’: Russia Calls for Banning Quad Bike Movement.”) 360.ru.https://360.ru/tekst/obschestvo/zamaskirovannaja-forma-ekstremizma-v-rossii-prizvali-zapretit-dvizhenie-kvadroberov/ Archived October 8, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241008065407/https://360.ru/tekst/obschestvo/zamaskirovannaja-forma-ekstremizma-v-rossii-prizvali-zapretit-dvizhenie-kvadroberov/

Political scientist Alexei Yaroshenko has an interview with 360.ru about what he thinks of quadrobics. He says Russia should recognize quadrobics as an extremist movement and banned. He says quadrobists attack passersby because when people imitate animal behavior, they are no longer guided by human morals. He says it’s the same as how people can be transgender in the West. He compares it with the “Blue Whale Challenge,” and says that quadrobics is also a deadly game. (Orion’s note: the Blue Whale Challenge is an urban legend. It was a moral panic in 2016 where people were afraid that millions of youth were committing suicide as the climax of a specific series of dares being given to them by administrators on social media.) He says that if children play on all fours, then next they will want to cross the street at the wrong place, as animals do. Everything he said was out of touch with reality. This is also the only source I read that claimed that the pop singer hadn’t really insulted the little child, that she had told her she was beautiful without her mask. That’s a distortion of facts, because independent news sources and Kremlin-aligned ones had all agreed that the pop star had gone too far in mistreating the child.

Moscow Times Reporter (September 13, 2024). “What Is Quadrobics, Russia’s Viral But Divisive Youth Subculture?” The Moscow Times. https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/13/what-is-quadrobics-russias-viral-but-divisive-youth-subculture-a86370 Archived October 8, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241008073201/https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2024/09/13/what-is-quadrobics-russias-viral-but-divisive-youth-subculture-a86370

Media Bias Fact Check rates this as a high credibility source with a left-center bias. This is the English-language source where I first heard about this. Hat tip to Mord for having posted a link to it in the Discord server for the Otherkin Wiki. Many of the other sources that I’m listing here, I learned about them from this article.

Mustafa, Samer (Самер Мустафа) (September 11, 2024). “В России предложили запретить квадроберов.” (“Russia proposes banning quadrobics.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/politics/news/2024/09/11/23896279.shtml?updated

Media Bias Fact Check says this is “one of Russia’s leading online newspapers,” but rates the newspaper as a questionable source, lacking in transparency. This article is a secondary source. It says RIA Novosti is the primary source for this news. That one is elsewhere in my list of sources.

Nekasrov, Ivan (Иван Некрасов) (September 3, 2024). “«Позор тебе и твоим фанатам»: Миа Бойка унизила ребенка со сцены — теперь ее требуют отменить.” (“‘Shame on you and your fans:’ Mia Boyka humiliated the child from the stage – now they demand to cancel it.”) Chita.ru. https://www.chita.ru/text/culture/2024/09/03/74039252/ Archived September 9, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240909054834/https://www.chita.ru/text/culture/2024/09/03/74039252/ In Russian.

This magazine article goes into the most depth about the pop singer publicly humiliating a small child for liking quadrobics.

RIA Novosti (November 9, 2024). “В Совфеде предложили запретить субкультуру квадроберов.” (“The Federation Council proposed banning the quadrobics subculture.”) RIA Novosti. https://ria.ru/20240911/kvadrobery-1971964812.html Archived October 8, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241008010414/https://ria.ru/20240911/kvadrobery-1971964812.html

About the Senator’s proposal to ban quadrobics. I think this article may be the primary source for her proposal. It sounds like she said it directly to this newspaper. If there’s a legal source for the proposed ban itself, I don’t know where to look for it. Media Bias Fact Check rates this Russian government owned newspaper as a questionable source with state propaganda and many failed fact checks.

Titorenko, Danila (Данила Титоренко) (April 23, 2024). “В Татарстане рассказали о новой вредоносной субкультуре с Запада.” (“Tatarstan talks about a new harmful subculture from the West.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2024/04/23/22855358.shtml

Volynets says she will fight the furry fandom because it is from the West. She says that furries engage in psychologically destructive behavior, such as– she claims– eating out of troughs like pigs.

Vesnina, Alexandra (Александра Веснина) (April 27, 2024). “«Размытие границ»: Волынец увидела в квадробике расчеловечивание.” (“‘Blurring the Lines’: Volynets Sees Dehumanization in the Quadrobists.”) Национальная служба новостей (National News Service). https://nsn.fm/society/razmytie-granits-volynets-uvidela-v-kvadrobike-raschelovechivanie Archived November 1, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20241101212302/https://nsn.fm/society/razmytie-granits-volynets-uvidela-v-kvadrobike-raschelovechivanie

Volynets announced in Russia's National News Service press center that after she spoke against quadrobists, she received death threats.

Vesnina, Alexandra (Александра Веснина) (April 27, 2024). “«Дурачество!»: Милонов предрек исчезновение квадробики через полгода.” (“‘Stupidity!’: Milonov predicts quadrobics will disappear in six months.”) Национальная служба новостей (National News Service)https://nsn.fm/society/durost-milonov-predrek-ischeznovenie-kvadrobiki-cherez-polgoda Archived April 27, 2024: https://web.archive.org/web/20240427112916/https://nsn.fm/society/durost-milonov-predrek-ischeznovenie-kvadrobiki-cherez-polgoda

Vitaly Milnov is the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family Protection, Paternity, Motherhood and Childhood. He says that the furry fandom and quadrobics are foolish teen fads that come from Japan and Korea. He says everyone will forget about it later this year.

Zakarian, Ekaterina (April 23, 2024). “Фурри заявили Ирине Волынец, что не подражают свиньям и не едят из корыта.” (“Furry told Irina Volynets that they do not imitate pigs and do not eat from troughs.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2024/04/23/22856132.shtml?updated

An anonymous administrator of a furry fandom community on the social media network VKontakte spoke up about how Volynets is spreading misinformation about furry fans. He says they don’t imitate animal behavior or eat from troughs, as Volynets claimed. Instead, they appreciate cartoon animals that behave like humans, including those from Soviet cartoons, not just from the West.

Zamanova, Rosalia (Розалия Заманова) (April 26, 2024). “Психиатр заявил об опасности субкультуры фурри для психики ребенка.” (“Psychiatrist warns about the dangers of a furry subculture for the psyche of the child.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2024/04/26/22877533.shtml

This is a secondary source reporting on the Public News Source’s interview with the children’s psychiatrist Alexander Federovich, which I have elsewhere in this list of sources.

Zamanova, Rosalia (Розалия Заманова) (May 2, 2024). “Волынец заявила об угрозах от представителей квадробика.” (“Volynets reported threats from representatives of quadrobics.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2024/05/02/22918993.shtml

Volynets claims that after she started writing on social media that quadrobists are dangerous, she received death threats from them.

Zamanova, Rosalia (Розалия Заманова) (September 12, 2024). “В Госдуме не поддержали идею запретить квадроберов в России.” (“Duma did not support banning quadrobics in Russia.”) Gazeta.ru. https://www.gazeta.ru/social/news/2024/09/12/23906437.shtml

This is a secondary source about the interview with 360.ru.