Otherkinity is a non-physical, intensely personal, and subjective self identification as something other than human. It is not a mental illness, and doesn't always affect a person's life negatively.

Therianthropy is similar, though grew separately. It is a similarly personal and subjective self identity, though specifically as some kind of animal. This includes dragons, wolves, dinosaurs, fish, and other creatures.

Both subcultures found their beginnings in the early 90's, but that doesn't mean they just suddenly popped up. Otherkin have been documented as existing in the 70's, for example. It's not a Tumblr thing, and isn't purely found online. Some otherkin and therianthropes may be young (13 to 18 years old) and some are over 50 years old.

Another thing to note is that otherkin are fully aware they are physically human. If a self-identified otherkin says they have physicially transformed into an animal or believes they are genetically or physically animal, they are either lying/trolling or suffer from an extremely rare and unrelated condition called clinical lycanthropy. Otherkinity in itself is not classified as a delusion or mental illness in any medical resources and never has.

Terms
Some terms you may have heard that might have made you ready to write a rant on your flop account:

Shifts - these are NOT physical shifts from human to animal. They represent an internal, nonphysical change into an animal, be it a supernumerary phantom limb or a slight mentality change into a more animalistic mindset.

Species dysphoria - yes, this is real. No, it isn't 'mocking trans people'. Dysphoria is NOT limited to LGBT groups, seeing as anyone can experience dysphoria of some kind in their lifetimes. For more information, see the links below.

Factkin - these are not real. Factkin (people who identify as real people) is a term made up by trolls in an attempt to make otherkin look bad since there is nothing they could already use. Otherkin are just people, you guys.

• Links and resources
• Trolls

Resources, links, and academics

Massive thanks to House of Chimeras for compiling this list. Whilst it is not complete, it should help the non-otherkin find information and opinions.

Academic Books
Bronner, Simon J. and Cindy Dell Clark, Youth Cultures in America. Santa Barbara: Greenwood, 2016.
(Furry Fandom pages 274 -277 and Otherkin pages 530-533)

Johnston, Jay. “Chapter 42: Vampirism, Lycanthropy, and Otherkin.” In The Occult World, by Christopher Partridge, 412-423. New York: Routledge, 2014.

Johnston, Jay. "On Having a Furry Soul: Transpecies Identity and Ontological Indeterminacy In Otherkin Subcultures,” Animal Death, edited by Jay Johnston and Fiona Probyn-Rapsey, 293-306. Sydney: Sydney University Press, 2013.

Kirby, Danielle. Fantasy and Belief: Alternative Religions, Popular Narratives, and Digital Cultures. Bristol: Equinox Publishing, 2013.

Kirby, Danielle. "From Pulp Fiction to Revealed Text: A Study of the Role of the Test in the Otherkin Community." In Exploring Religion and the Sacred, edited by Christopher Deacy and Elisabeth Arweck, 141- 154. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2009.

Kirby, Danielle. "Readers, believers, consumers, and Audiences: Complicating the Relationship Between Consumption and Contemporary Narrative Spiritualties." In Australian Journal of Communication, edited by Roslyn Petelin, 121-133. St. Lucia: The University of Queensland Press, 2012.

Laycock, Joseph P. Dangerous Games: What the Moral Panic over Role-Playing Games Says about Play, Religion, and Imagined Worlds. Oakland: University of California Press, 2015.
(Pages 169-176, 199-200, 204-205 mentions otherkin, real-life vampires, and therians)

Laycock, Joseph. Spirit Possession Around The World: Possession, Communion, and Demon Expulsion Across Cultures, Santa Barbara, ABC-CLIO, 2015.
(Pages 265 to 266 is a section on otherkin)

Nelson, Victoria. Gothicka: Vampire Heroes, Human Gods, and the New Supernatural. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2012.
(Briefly goes over otherkin and fictionkin on page 58).

Plante, Courtney N., Reysen, Stephen, Roberts, Sharon E., Gerbasi, Kathleen C., FurScience! A Summary of Five Years of Research from the International Anthropomorphic Research Project. Waterloo: FurScience, 2016.

Shane, Margaret. “Chapter 16: Some People Aren't People On The Inside.” In Educational, Psychological, and Behavioral Considerations In Niche Online Communities, by Vivek Venkatesh, 260 - 271. Hershey: Information Science Reference, 2014.

Academic Dissertations & Thesis
Allan, Troy D. Other-Than-Humans: A Qualitative Narrative Inquiry Into The Spiritual Development of Therians. Argosy University, July 2014.

Altmann, Eric Stephen. Posthum/an/ous: Identity, Imagination, and the Internet. Appalachian State University, 2010.

Bricker, Natalie. Life Stories of Therianthropes: An Analysis of Nonhuman Identity in a Narrative Identity Model, Lake Forest College, April 2016, http://publications.lakeforest.edu/seniortheses/63/ .

Getzler, Melanie. Othering Among Otherkin: the discursive negotiation of the face-threat of exclusionary othering in a demarginalizing Internet community, Bloomington: Indiana University, 2013.

Academic Articles
Coudray, Chantal Bourgault Du. "The Cycle of the Werewolf: Romantic Ecologies of Selfhood in Popular Fantasy," Austrailia Feminist Studies, Vo.l 18 No. 40 (June 9 2003): pp 57 -72.
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0816464022000056376?journalCode=cafs20 (accessed March 18 2016).
(Article in general deals with people using werewolves as a way of delving into the connection between "nature and spirit" and directly talks about therianthropy (with a specific focus on those who identify as werewolves) on pages 67-68.)

Cusack, Carole M.. "Spirituality and Self-Realization As 'Other-Than-Human': The Otherkin and Therianthropy Communities" https://www.academia.edu/12572512/Spirituality_and_Self-Realisation_as_Other-Than-Human_The_Otherkin_and_Therianthropy_Communities (accessed March 2016).

Feijó, Pedro. "Doctors Herding Cats: The Misadventures of Modern Medicine and Psychology with NonHuman Identities," University of Cambridge, 2016.

Gangadharan, Tara. "Social Network Sites as Evolving Subculture," Discourse. Vol. 3 No., 1 (March 2015): pp 234-246.
(Defines otherkin in passing on page 236 as "people who believe they are non-human and take on imaginary characters such as vampires, elves or fairies.")

Gerbasi, Kathleen C. et al, "Furries A to Z: (Anthropomorphism to Zoomorphism)." Society and Animals, Vol.16 (2008): pp 197-222. (accessed January 28, 2013).
(Goes over the topic of "species identity disorder")

Grivell, Timothy, Helen Clegg and Elizabeth C. Roxburgh. “An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis of Identity in the Therian Community.” Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research. Vol. 14, No. 2, (May 2014): pp 114-135.

Hendrickson, Kate M., Teresita McCarty, and Jean M. Goodwin. “Animal Alters: Case Reports,” Dissociation, Vol. III, No. 4 (December 1990) https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1854 (accessed March 27 2015).
(Article is about animal alters in cases of people diagnosed with MPD (now called DID), but as the alters do identify as nonhuman animals the article might still be on interest to some.)

Keck et al, “Lycanthropy: Alive and Well In The Twentieth Century,” Psychological Medicine. Vol. 18, No. 1 (Feb., 1988): pp 113-20. http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=4990600&fileId=S003329170000194X (accessed August 29 2014).
(Article includes discussion about a man who identified as a cat since childhood and whose identification did not change with treatment over the course of over six years)

Kirby, Danielle. “Alternative Worlds: Metaphysical Questing and Virtual community Among the Otherkin.” In Through a Glass Darkly: Reflections on the Sacred, edited by Frances Di Lauro, 275-287.Sydney: Sydney University Press, 2006.

Kulick, Aaron, Pope HG Jr, & Keck PE Jr. “Lycanthropy and Self-Identification.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Vol. 2 ( Feb. 1990): pp 134-137 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2405100 (October 14 2014).
(Case Report of a man who had identified as a cat since childhood, whose identification did not change with any treatment given, and simply identified as a cat and did not have the delusion of physically being one.)

Laycock, Joseph P. “We Are Spirits of Another Sort: Ontological Rebellion and Religious Dimensions of the Otherkin Community." Nova Religio. Vol. 15, No. 3 (Feb., 2012): pp. 65-90 http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/nr.2012.15.3.65 (accessed November 24 2013).

O’Callaghana, Sean. "Navigating the ‘other’ world: cyberspace, popular culture and the realm of the Otherkin," Culture and Religion. Vol. 16 No. 3 (Nov 2015): pp 253-268.

Probyn-Rapsey, Fiona. "Furries and Limits of Species Identity Disorder," Society & Animals, Vol. 19 (2011): pp 294-301 https://www.academia.edu/2903078/Furriesandlimitsofspeciesidentitydisorder (accessed January 28, 2013).
(Goes over the topic of "species identity disorder")

Riley Elizabeth A, "Adolescent Gender Diversity Assessment: An In-depth Collaborative Conversation," Journal of Child & Adolescent Behavior. Vol. 3, No. 5 (September 4 2015): pp 1-6. (accessed January 3, 2015).
(Mentions otherkin on page 4 though only in passing)

Roberts, S., Plante, C., Gerbasi, K., & Reysen, S., "Clinical Interaction with Anthropomorphic Phenomenon: Notes for Health Professionals about Interacting with Clients Who Possess This Unusual Identity," Health & Social Work, Volume 40, Issue 2 (February 2015):pp 42-50.
(Mentions therians as well as touches on the topic on identify as and with animals.)

Roberts, Sharon E., Courtney N. Plante, Kathleen C. Gerbasi, and Stephen Reysen. "The Anthrozoomorphic Identity: Furry Fandom Members’ Connections to Nonhuman Animals," Anthrozoös. Volume 28, Issue 4 (December 2 2015): pp 533-548.
(While the article is focused on furries, the article does touch on the topic of identifying as and/or with animals.)

Robertson, Venetia Laura Delano. "The Beast Within: Anthrozoomorphic Identity and Alternative Spirituality in the Online Therianthropy Movement." Nova Religio, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Feb 2013): pp. 7-30 http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/nr.2013.16.3.7 (accessed November 24 2013).


Robertson, Venetia. "The Law of the Jungle: Self and Community in the Online Therianthropy Movement."Pomegranate: The International Journal of Pagan Studies, Vol 14, No 2 (Dec., 2012): Pp 256-280 http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/POM/article/view/17911 (accessed January 28, 2013).

Robertson, Venetia Laura Delano, “ Where Skin Meets Fin: The Mermaid as Myth, Monster and Other-Than-Human Identity.” Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, Vol 26, No 3 (2013): pp 303-323. http://www.equinoxpub.com/journals/index.php/JASR/article/viewArticle/18597 (accessed October 1 2015).

Smith, Stanley G. “Disorder With Human and Non-human Subpersonality Components,” Dissociation, Vol. 2, No. 1 (March 1989) https://scholarsbank.uoregon.edu/xmlui/handle/1794/1415 (accessed March 27 2015).
(Article is about a case of someone diagnosed with MPD (now called DID) of mostly animal alters, but as the alters do identify as nonhuman animals the article might still be on interest to some.)

Williams, Emyr. "A Quantitative Investigation Into The Paranormal Beliefs of Contemporary Vampire Subculture," Paranthropology, Vol. 7, No.1 (2016): pp 33-39.

Magazine Articles
Alioff, Maurie. "The Fairy Faith," Take 1, May 2001, 8-12.
(Mentions otherkin in passing.)

Belander, Rev. Michelle. “Dragons & Faeries & Gnomes Oh My!: The Fascinating World of Otherkin,” PaganNet News, Litha 2003, Vol. X, No. IV, June 21 2003, http://www.otherkin.net/mirror/www.paganet.org/pnn/2003/Litha/Feature_Sample1.html
Buchanan, Rebecca. "Of Shamans, Otherkin and the Elephant in the Room," Sequential Tart, September 22, 2008, http://www.sequentialtart.com/article.php?id=1064 (accessed September 1 2016).

Couteur, Peter Le. "Slipping Off the Sealskin: Gender, Species, and Fictive Kinship in Selkie Folktales" Gender Forum, Issue 55, 2015, http://www.genderforum.org/issues/gender-animals-animality/slipping-off-the-sealskin-gender-species-and-fictive-kinship-in-selkie-folktales/ (accessed October 1 2016).

Destai, Cara. "The Internet Goes Mythic." Fate Magazine. March 2001.

McNeil, Emma. “The Otherkin.” Fortean Times Magazine. January 2012, 44-46.

The Elf Queen’s Daughters, “The etheric web.” Green Egg, Vol 8 Issue 75, December 21 1975, p. 18.

The Elf Queen’s Daughters, “Ride the dragon.” Green Egg Vol 8 Issue 76, February 2 1976, p. 16.

Treesong and Ravenwolf, untitled letter in “Forum.” Green Egg, Vol 8 Issue 73, September 21 1975, p. 52.

News Articles
Anderson, Paige. "Student Profile: Being An 'Otherkin' At Knox. The Knox Student Online, January 27 2011. http://old.theknoxstudent.com/newsroom/article/student-profile-being-otherkin-Knox/ (accessed April 16 2015).

Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia. “Meet the People Who Don’t Identify As Human,” The Week, July 21 2015, http://theweek.com/articles/552648/meet-peoplewho-dont-identify-human (accessed August 1 2015).

Baker-Whitelaw, Gavia. “Understanding The Otherkin,” The Kernel, February 22 2015, http://kernelmag.dailydot.com/issue-sections/features-issue-sections/11866/otherkin-tumblr-definition-pronouns/?fb=dd (accessed August 1 2015).

Cha, Ariana Eunjung. "Vampires Are People, Too" The Washington Post, July 9 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/07/09/researchers-vampires-are-people-too-and-deserve-acceptance-by-medical-professionals/ (accessed march 17 2016).

Clairouin, Olivier. “Pas complètement humains : la vie en ligne des thérians et otherkin.” Le Monde.fr. May 20 2014. http://www.lemonde.fr/cultures-web/article/2014/05/20/pas-completement-humains-la-vie-en-ligne-des-therians-et-otherkins44103064409029.html (accessed June 10 2014).

Degennaro, Rosa. "Our Otherkin brothers and sisters," Examiner, March 13 2012, http://www.examiner.com/article/our-otherkin-brothers-and-sisters (accessed March 26 2016).

Fitzgerald, Sarah N. "Otherkin Remove Masks for Halloween." Metro Vancouver, October 29 2010. http://metronews.ca/news/vancouver/56474/otherkin-remove-masks-for-halloween/ (accessed April 16 2015).

Graziosi, Graig. "The Curious Life of Dr. Mittens," The Jambar, October 23 2014. http://www.thejambar.com/the-curious-life-of-dr-mittens/ (accessed March 18 2016).

Greene, Amanda. "Meet the Magical Folks In Our Midst." Star - News. October 29 2007. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1454&dat=20071029&id=8VgaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=GyAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6208,4777378&hl=en (accessed March 18 2016).

Hausfeld, Russell. "Getting A Grip on Furry Fandom and Species Dysphoria Blues" WWweek, May 24 2016, http://www.wweek.com/culture/2016/05/24/getting-a-grip-on-furry-fandom-and-species-dysphoria-blues/ (accessed May 26 2016).

Last, Jonathan V "A Bathroom of One's Own," The Weekly Standard, Jun 06 2016, http://www.weeklystandard.com/a-bathroom-of-ones-own/article/2002571 (accessed September 30 2016).

Lerner, Thomas. "Ibland får jag lust att yla som en varg,” Insidan, April 7 2010.
https://archive.today/ZX0Ti (accessed January 20 2013).

Rogers, Luna. "Human Behavior" Letters, The Village Voice; Mar 6, 2001, pp 6. http://0-search.proquest.com.uafs.iii.com/pqcentral/docview/232289871/fulltextPDF/2AC91B890C184A69PQ/29?accountid=14481 (accessed March 17 2016).

Mamatas, Nick. “Elven Like Me,” The Village Voice News, February 13 2001. http://www.villagevoice.com/2001-02-13/news/elven-like-me/full/ (accessed February 1 2015).

McVeigh, Sarah. "What's a therian?" triplejHack, September 30 2014. http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s4097695.htm (accessed December 15 2014). (Audio interview - triple j Hack, “What’s a therian?” Soundcloud, https://soundcloud.com/triple-j-hack/whats-a-therian)

Roberts, Amber. “Otherkin Are People Too: They Just Identify as Nonhuman,” Vice, July 16 2015, http://www.vice.com/read/from-dragons-to-foxes-the-otherkin-community-believes-you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be?utm_source=vicefbus (accessed September 20th 2015).

Sexton, David. "Being human is so last year, the next frontier is trans-speciesism according to these new books," Evening Standard, April 19 2015, www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/books/being-human-is-so-last-year-the-next-frontier-is-transspeciesism-according-to-these-new-books-a3228701.html (accessed September 2016).

Thatcher, Autumn. "Film is alive and well -- and furry -- at Slamdance 2016," The Salt Lake, January 18 2016. http://www.sltrib.com/entertainment/3419839-155/film-is-alive-and-well- (accessed March 18 2016).
(Is about furries but mentions otherkin.)
Williams, Walter E. "You're What You Say You Are," Creators, June 24 2015, https://www.creators.com/read/walter-williams/06/15/youre-what-you-say-you-are (accessed September 28 2016).

Williams, Walter E. "You Are What You Say You Are," CNS News, May 25 2016, http://www.cnsnews.com/commentary/walter-e-williams/you-are-what-you-say-you-are-0 (accessed September 28 2016).

Xenia. “After Awakening: Otherkin and Spirituality," Spiral Nature, http://www.spiralnature.com/spirituality/awakening-otherkin-spirituality/ [accessed January 13 2016].

Xenia. “Not Of This World: An Otherkin Primer,” Spiral Nature, September 3rd 2015, http://www.spiralnature.com/culture/otherkin-primer/ [accessed November 9 2015].

Lectures
Addie, Trevor. “Therianthropy: A State of Being,” ANTH-331 "Taboos," American University, March 5th 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMEkuOW5pjs (accessed August 20 2014).

News Clips
Chen, Angela. "Community of People Who Believe They Are Animals." Fox26, May 24 2016, http://www.fox26houston.com/news/local-news/144413530-story(accessed May 26 2016).

Ese, Silje. "Født i feil art,"NRK 93 Verdens Rikeste Land, January 26th 2016, https://www.facebook.com/rikeste/videos/993795060693888/?permPage=1 (accessed January 26 2016).

Grav, Ivar Grotta. "Jenny tror hun var drage i et tidligere liv" VGTV, December 30th 2015, http://www.vgtv.no/#!/video/122325/jenny-tror-hun-var-drage-i-et-tidligere-liv (accessed January 1 2016).

McDougall, Nick. “Otherkin: Heart of a Human, Spirit of a Wolf,” SBS World News, SBS, June 4th 2013, http://www.sbs.com.au/news/video/32187459989/Otherkin-Heart-of-a-human-spirit-of-a-wolf (accessed June 6th 2013).

McDougall, Nick. “Otherkin: Heart of a Human, Spirit of a Wolf,” 4:21, Posted on “SBS2Austrailia.” June 4th 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eU_E-oXxyQU (accessed June 5th 2013).

Documentaries
What?! I Think I’m An Animal. LogoTV. April 2013.

Callahan, Claire. The Real WolfMan. History Channel. October 2009.

Pemberton, Justin. Animal Imitators. TLC. August 2003.

Priddle, Abigail. Teenage Vampires. Channel 4. 2011.

Podcasts or Radio
Amber, Ashlee, Branden, and Dave. “Episode 6: Otherkin,” Pagan Centered Podcast, May 30 2006, http://pagancenteredpodcast.com/episode-6-otherkin/

Ashlee, Dave, Jason, and Sam. “Episode 50: The Pagan Taboo (Otherkin Episode),” Pagan Centered Podcast, December 9 2007, http://pagancenteredpodcast.com/episode-50-the-pagan-taboo-otherkin-episode/

Amber, Ashlee, Barbara, Branden, and Dave. “Episode 131: How Can we Study Otherkin?,“ Pagan Centered Podcast, December 23 2009, http://pagancenteredpodcast.com/episode-131-how-can-we-study-otherkin/

Amber, Branden, Dave, and Joe. “220: Otherkin - The Power of Names,“ Pagan Centered Podcast, December 14 2011,
http://pagancenteredpodcast.com/220-otherkin-the-power-of-names/

Archer, S.A., Sherri Semine, and S. Ravynheart. “Real Life Vampires and Werewolves,” Ultimate Urban Fantasy Podcast, June 30, 2013, aprox. ~ 1 hour, http://www.ultimateurbanfantasy.com/tag/therian/

Bell, Art, Father Malachi Martin, and Lance Foxx. “Lycanthropy,” Coast to Coast AM, July 11 1997, aprox. ~ 4 minutes.

Daoust, Phil. "G2: Radio: Pick of the day" The Guardian, 30 Aug 2001 2:15 PM.

Emshir, “Podcast 1.” To Be Unicorn Podcast, 2006, aprox. ~ 30 minutes.

Emshir, “Podcast 2.” To Be Unicorn Podcast, 2006, aprox. ~ 50 minutes.

Fickerfly Zara, “Always Believe,” Always Believe, August 2008, aprox. ~ 20 minutes

Jones , Dave, Savage, and Night FireWolf. “Werewolves: The Truth From Those Who Are,” KAPS Radio, Para-X, October 18 2009, aprox. 2 hours, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86_dZoZNXRk

Kimmijae, Jody, Werewolf of Waldor, and SerrpentineZebra. “Therianthropy,” The Reign, ParaX , April 31, 2011, aprox. ~ 1 hour

Madrid, Bob. “WolfMage’s Radio Interview,” News Radio, Uath County, October 31 2000, aprox. ~ 24 minutes.

Polson, Willow. The Veil's Edge: Exploring the Boundaries of Magic. New York,: Citadel Press, 2003.
(Pages 91 - 115 deals with otherkin)

Punnett, Ian. “Otherkin Calls and More,” Coast to Coast AM, January 5, 2007, aprox. ~ 3 hours, http://www.coasttocoastam.com/shows/2007/01/05

Punnett, Ian and Jason The Horse. “Man With Horse Soul” Coast to Coast Live, January 20, 2007, aprox. 2 hours 30 minutes

Punnett, Ian and Jason The Horse. “Horse in a Human Form,” Coast to Coast AM, June 10 2009, aprox. 2 hours, http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/06/20

Punnett, Ian and Jason The Horse. “Horse in a Human Body,” Coast to Coast AM, December 18 2010, aprox. 2 hours, http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2010/12/18

Punnett, Ian and Jason The Horse. “Ian’s Farewell Show,” Coast to Coast AM, July 14 2013, aprox. 3 hours, http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2013/07/14

RevKess and KaliSara. “Dark of the Year & Other Kin,” Pagan Musings Podcast Channel, BlodTalkRadio.com, November 19 2011, 2 hours 2 minutes, http://hosts.blogtalkradio.com/pagan-musings/2011/11/20/dark-of-the-year-other-kin

RevKess and KaliSara. “Other Kin Encore” Pagan Musings Podcast Channel, BlodTalkRadio.com, January 8 2012, apex. 2 hours, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pagan-musings/2012/01/08/other-kin-encore

Tsunami and Pirate, “T.T.K.,” Luna Sanguinus, BlogTalkRadio.com, February 11, 2012, 30 minutes, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/luna-sanguinus/2012/02/11/ttk

Ward, W.B. and Jason the Horse. “Jason - A Horse In a Human Body.” WXBX Ward, BlogTalkRadio.com, August 6, 2009, 1 hour, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/wb-ward/2009/08/07/skeptic-beliefs-with-wb-ward

Non-academic Books
Bonewits, Isaac, and Phaedra Bonewits. Real Energy: Systems, Spirits and Substances to Heal, Change, and Grow. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books, 2007.

Brownless, Lauren, Elizabeth Coppen, et al. Shifting Hearts. Manteca, Good Mourning Publishing, 2013.
(Is a romantic/relationship anthology of short stories written by otherkin with otherkin characters)

Cohen, Daniel. Werewolves. New York: Cobblehill Books, 1996.
(Chapter 12, Page 101 - 107 talks about real-life “werewolves” on Alt.Horror.Werewolves)

Coudray, Chantal Bourgault Du. The Curse of the Werewolf: Fantasy, Horror and the Beast Within. New York: I.B. Tauris, 2006.
(Pages 133 and 143 make mentions of alt.horror.werewolves and even a mention of “spiritual therianthropy”)


Fortune, Dion. Psychic Self-Defense. San Francisco: Weiser, 2001.
(Never mentions otherkin directly but does touch upon psychic vampires on pages 42 to 50 and talks a little bit about people who have nonhuman souls on pages 69 to 75.)

Godfrey, Linda S. Hunting the American Werewolf: Beast Men in Wisconsin and Beyond. Madison: Trails Books, 2006.
(Page 213 - 223)

Godfrey, Linda S. Real Wolfmen: True Encounters in Modern America. New York: Penguin Group, 2012.
(Page 63 - 67 talks about people who identified as were beasts or animals in spirit or similar with a few having claimed to physical shift, 307 - 316 is an interview with someone who identifies as a werecat and talks about furry fandom and therian community)

Godfrey, Linda S. The Beast of Bray Road: Tailing Wisconsin's Werewolf. Black Earth: Prairie Oak Press, 2003.
(Page 96-100 talks about both clinical lycanthropy, people who claim to be shapeshifting lycanthropes, and makes mention of "spiritual therianthropes.")

Godfrey, Linda. Werewolves: Mysteries, Legends, and Unexplained Phenomena. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2008.
(Pages 53 - 56 mentions therianthropy and therians by name and 109 defines therianthropy in its glossary)

Greene, Rosalyn. The Magic of Shapeshifting. York Beach: Red Wheel/Weiser, 2000.

Howl, Thurston. Furries Among Us: Essays on Furries by the Most Prominent Members of the Fandom. Nashville: Thurston Howl Publications, 2015.
(Otherkin are mentioned, though in the context of their overlap with the furry fandom on pages 11, talks about people mistaking furries for otherkin -and especially therians- specifically on pages 19 and 23, otherkin in general and therian specifically are mentioned in passing on page 61, passing mention of the "were community" which is an old term for the therian community in 68, and talks about how many furries identify as therian as well or not identify as entirely human on page 121.)

Jason The Horse. What Is You Are A Horse In Human Form?, Lulu.com, 2011.

Konstantinos. Werewolves: The Occult Truth. Woodbury, MN: Llewellyn, 2010.
(Page 169 - 171 talks about therians, a type of otherkin who identify as animals)

Lupa. A Field Guide To Otherkin. Megalithica Books: Stafford, 2007.

Lupa. Shifting, Shamanism and Therianthropy: Magical Techniques For Your Therioside. Self-published via Lulu.com, 2007.

Matthews, Mark. The Horseman Obsessions of A Zoophile. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1994.
(Page 206 talks about people with “species dysphoria’’)

Penczak, Christopher. Ascension Magick: Ritual, Myth & Healing for the New Aeon. Woodbury: Llwellyn Publications, 2007.

Reece, Gregory L. Creatures of the Night In Search of Ghosts, Vampires, Werewolves and Demons. London: I.B. Tauris, 2012.
(Pages 118 - 124 talks about otherkin with specific focus on therians while talking about interviewing the wolf therian, Wolf VanZandt)

Reid, Luc. Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures. Cincinnati, OH: Writers’ Digest Books, 2006.
(Page 126 defines “therianthropes” in a chapter describing the furry fandom)

Richards, Christina and Meg John Barker. The Palgrave Handbook of the Psychology of Sexuality and Gender. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015.
(On page 62 mentions otherkin in passing)

Steiger, Brad. The Werewolf Book: The Encyclopedia of Shape-shifting Beings. Canton: Visible Ink Press, 1999.
(Page 146 defines “howls” and mentions AHWW and the 1994 Harvest Howl, Pages 261- 266 while not directly talking about therianthropy discusses “spiritual shape shifting,” Page 278 defines “theriomorph” and “spiritual theriomorph” as people who have an “inner identification as a particular animal.”)

Wicker, Christine. Not In Kansas Anymore. New York: Harper, 2005.
(Talks about otherkin on pages 67 - 68, 82-83, 135-126, and 240-251.)

Wilkinson, Roy. Are You A Unicorn?: Mission and Meaning of Unicorns. Kaysville, UT: Unicorns United, 1998.

Zell-Ravenheart, Oberon. Grimoire for the Apprentice Wizard. Franklin Lakes, NJ: New Page Books, 2004.
(Page 298 -299 talks about werewolves but mentions and defines “therians” and “otherkin.”)

Television Shows
“Ten Ways Shorts: DO Werewolves Exist?,” 2:29. Posted by Science Channel Werewolves.” October 29 2008. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-atQrCzz6ro

Survey Results
Asikaa, ">>> THE GREAT AHWW SURVEY! <<< [repost]," alt.horror.werewolves, February 20 1996, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!topic/alt.horror.werewolves/OcrxF8eZxKQ[accessed May 18 2013]

Cheetah, “Therian Census,” Werelist. August 14 2013. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B4uX28ws5wsHLWpMWEJjWXhYeHc/edit (accessed August 18 2013).

Kin-spiration, “2014 Tumblr Otherkin Census,” Tumblr. June 26 2014. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1smXR1D_oAq8udYyrLoF8juLUeOHgHBhszmqDGFjGhiE/edit#gid=0 (accessed August 25 2015).

Shrio, "2015 Otherkin Community Survey Results," Kinmunity," November 3rd 2015, http://blog.kinmunity.com/post/132517371799/2015-otherkin-community-survey-results (accessed January 5th 2016).

Shiro, "2016 Otherkin Community Survey Results," Kinumity.com, https://www.kinmunity.com/surveys/results/2016/ (accessed January 5th 2016).

Utlah, “AHWw Poll'97 - The RESULTS!” alt.horror.werewolves, November 9 1997, https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!searchin/alt.horror.werewolves/results$2097/alt.horror.werewolves/lYqSQB2DVQM/FGPjBFzqarQJ (accessed August 18 2013).

White Wolf, “2012 Therian Census Results. Werelist. June 21 2012. https://www.dropbox.com/s/ythgrrx7ez25f6l/TSurvey.pptx (accessed June 25 2012).

White Wolf, “2013 Therian Census Results. Werelist. March 17 2014. https://www.dropbox.com/s/y8vmmanknlvqpek/2013%20TSurvey.pptx (accessed March 30 2014).

Other
"A Proposed Diagnostic Definition for Species Dysphoria," THETA, http://theta.kinfire.org/?page_id=7 (accessed July 1 2013).

Buxton, Alex. "Why be human when you can be otherkin?," University of Cambridge, July 16 2016, http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/why-be-human-when-you-can-be-otherkin (accessed August 10 2016).

Donovan, Laura. "4 People Who Don't Consider Themselves Human," ATTN, February 2 2016, http://www.attn.com/stories/5609/otherkin-therian-people-see-themselves-as-animals (accessed May 26 2016).

Gorath, “The Wilde Side: A Therian’s Perspective,” Psionics Institute, October 20th 2012, http://psionicsinstitute.org/classes/miscellaneous/the-wild-side-a-therians-perspective/ (accessed December 29 2015).

Proyen, Mark Van. "Robin Ward at Lisa Dent," Art in America, Vol. 93, No. 9, (Oct 2005): 189.

Robertson, Venetia. "Therianthropy," World Religion & Spirituality Project VCU, 11 October 2015, http://wrs.vcu.edu/profiles/Therianthropy.htm (accessed December 13 2015).

Webster, David. "What is meant by the term 'Otherkin'?," July 22 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNs0mZh7fkY (accessed March 28 2016).

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Trolls and how to identify them

When you visit an anti-otherkin site or look at so-called flop accounts, most (if not all) the otherkin content featured are either trolls or heavily misinformed internet users. How can you tell the difference between actual otherkin and the two groups above?


The Misinformed
These people will typically share things that sound a bit off, such as saying that otherkin is a gender, or saying the subculture is found only on Tumblr.

These people will often sound genuine, and that's because they genuinely believe what they are saying is true. They do NOT deserve to be called out and bullied. Instead, they need correct information calmly and politely given to them. Spamming 'GET HELP' on their accounts and sharing screenshots of their content doesn't help.


The Trolls
You'd think these people would be easy to spot, but you'd be surprised how many flop and 'cringe' accounts feature troll posts thinking all otherkin act that way. How do you tell a troll from a genuine otherkin?

• Trolls claim to be part of LGBT+ spaces and say otherkin is a gender, which is false.
• Trolls claim to be oppressed and 'triggered' by things such as cutting grass, being asked to wear clothes, and act human. Real otherkin don't give a shit.
• Trolls will make outlandish claims such as saying their mother won't let them, as a dragonkin, eat rocks. This is nonsense. How do you even fall for this.
• Trolls will have insane 'kintypes'. This includes serial killers, real life celebrities, food items, household appliances, and more.
• Trolls will claim otherkin act like maniacs in public, barking and peeing on people because they're 'wolfkin'. Otherkin are normal people. They don't pee on people to 'mark territory'.
•Trolls will make posts that sound outrageous and 'crazy' in an attempt to get attention. Real otherkin are actually quite boring and normal.

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