brightberries

I wasn’t around for the discourses on whether or not it’s okay to ‘kin outside of your race. I wasn’t around for the discourses about identifying as a certain Algonquin spirit (W*) and other culturally sensitive beings, either. Though, shortly after confirming that I am a shiny Hoopa, that was a concern that passed my mind. Although Hoopas aren’t culturally sensitive beings, I do experience a connection to the beings that inspired them. Djinn, also known as djinni or genies in the west, are hard for me to discuss sometimes. I haven’t brought them up in any formal writings. I’ve compared myself to them in a couple of Discord servers, but I haven’t publicly said anything about them until now. I feel comfortable sharing my thoughts here, because things are slower and far less intense than discourse hotspots like Tumblr or community forums. It’s been a long time coming for this journal entry, and I’m ready to open up about it.

Shifting is a popular topic among alterhumans. It's certainly a hot bed for discourse, for one. For two, it's one of the first things that new members inquire about. There isn't a moment where someone goes without asking about how shifts are experienced, what types of shifts folks have, whether or not a shift counts as a physical experience, or if a specific kind of shift is common in the community.

Conceptually, shifts were introduced through the weres of alt.horror.werewolves. The modern therian community originates from this group, but before they were known for delving into species identity, their website originally gravitated around werewolves in fiction. It's not surprising that "shift" was used to describe an experience with one's species. After all, werewolves shapeshift from a human being to a wolflike creature. The communal definition and usage of shift came into fruition alongside the term "were", which was pulled from "werewolf' or "were-creature" and used to describe a nonhuman being. To this day, this usage of shift still holds up. I also wonder if there's anyone who labels themselves as were(s), too, but I digress. Maybe, I'll save that thought for another day.