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transfelid · 1 year

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Kinrichment — Expressing Nonhumanity and Indulging in Kintype-like Behaviours:

Why is this important?

Species euphoria is a feeling of contentment, comfort, and rightness that one experiences when they’re able to present as and be addressed as their correct species. Activities that align closely with your species are an easy way to attain this. Species dysphoria affects a lot of us, so it’s handy to have an idea of how to combat this, or just an idea of how to have fun with and connect to your identity more.

If you are in a safe environment, and have the means to, it’s nice to try out some things that make you feel more like yourself. This could be as simple as making a few vocalisations (barks, growls, roars), eating kintype-related snacks such as jerky, and chewing on a plush toy or other safe object, or as elaborate as having a full-body fursuit or quad-suit of your kintype or living as close as possible like your species 24/7. I’ve tried to write some suggestions for activities, as well as methods on how to figure out some for yourself.

Tips and Suggestions:

It it helps, think of yourself as taking care of your enrichment needs as an animal. You are both a tiger and the keeper introducing a treat pumpkin into the enclosure.

Behavioural / Environmental:

— Research common behaviours or vocalisations of your kintype. Videos or documentaries may be helpful for this. Try to reenact them.

— Research your kintype’s habitat, and think about how you can replicate it in your own environment:

Spend time in a dark room for nocturnal kintypes. If possible, adopt a nocturnal sleep schedule. You could spend time outdoors at night such as in a garden, on a porch, or just looking out of an open window, use caution if going outside alone at night.

For cooler environments: go out in the cold or snow outdoors, sit in front of a fan, drink cold/iced beverages, or lay in an ice bath. Be careful not to develop hypothermia.

For hotter environments: rest near a heater, lay on a heated pad, sunbathe/bask, drink hot beverages, wrap up in a blanket or a few layers, or visit a sauna. Be careful not to overheat.

For underwater environments: swim, run a bath, or go out in the rain. You can also play whale song or underwater ambience.

For forest-dwelling kintypes: visit a forest or woodland, or play forest ambience.

You can take up outdoorsy hobbies such as hiking, camping, kayaking, trail riding, or mountain climbing.

If you cannot leave the house, can’t do these suggestions for any reason, or your species is from an environment difficult to replicate, a good alternative is to find a soundscape close to what your kintype is familiar with and practice meditation and visualisation, especially visualising yourself as your kintype exploring this habitat. Another option would be to write descriptive pieces or to draw scenery from noemata or from photographs.

— If your kintype is domestic, read care guides, forums, or books on how to raise and care for your species. It may have some suggestions for toys, games, and activities for you.

— If you are a working animal and miss having a task, find an easy way to continue doing that job by doing things such as tracking scents around your house, locating hidden objects, herding objects or (consenting) people, pulling objects to mimic a sled or carriage, standing guard in your room or house, asking a friend to give you tasks, or helping and guiding others, literally or emotionally.

— Play with toys for domestic canines/felines, but make sure they’re safe to chew and put in your mouth. An alternative to pet chew toys would be chewlery made specifically for human-bodied people.

— If your kintype is commonly kept in zoos, you can read relevant care guides and look at the enrichment suggestions. You won’t be able to do all of them, but it may spark inspiration for other games and activities.

Here are some suggestions of where to look:

Association of Zoos and Aquariums Care Manual

AZA Ungulates Husbandry Manuals

Australasian Zookeeping Husbandry Manuals

— Research the diet of your kintype, and then find some similar foods and recipes you can create and safely consume (there is elaboration on this topic further down).

— Build a nest or den out of blankets, pillows, and items you enjoy. You could also invest in a large dog bed.

— Go to the beach or create a sandpit to dig holes in, you can use your hands like front paws instead of a shovel.

— Quadrobics is a type of exercise based around running, walking, and jumping on four limbs like a quadrupedal animal. I do not know much about this, and definitely not enough to give any detailed tips here, so you should look into it for yourself if you’re interested in starting. Remember to always use safety gear such as wrist protection. A safer/easier way to do quadrobics is by ascending stairs on four limbs.

Aesthetic:

— If you’re an adult, you can wear certain pet-play gear such as pup hoods, pony hoods, paw mittens, and harnesses. Although on the pricier side, I find the hoods from Wruff Stuff to be more comfortable, customisable, and a nicer design than the more generic ones you see around. They stock a range of species designs such as dogs, cats, foxes, pigs, and dragons. They also sell bodysuits, collars, paw-design shoes, and harnesses. Not sponsored by them, I just think they’re neat.

— Wearing fursuits, quadsuits, or fursuit parts, such as fursuit heads, tails, horns, hoof shoes, wings, or paws to match your kintype.

— Wearing a belt-loop tail made from a (ethically-sourced, research where you’re buying this from) pelt or faux fur.

— Wearing animal ears on a headband or hair clips, or silicone elf-like ears.

— Another common accessory is collars. I recommend buying from a maker that creates them for human-bodied people, rather than pets, so you can get a comfortable size and a range of customisation, but it‘s fine to buy a large enough dog collar if that’s your only option.

— You can now find many face masks with teeth, animal print, and animal snout designs.

— Hoodies with attached ears, horns, and/or tail. These can be bought as custom-made or generic designs, generally from furry fandom creators.

— Claw rings

— Coloured contacts, make sure they’re from a reputable company.

— Body paint, body markers, or makeup. You can look up tutorials to achieve certain animal looks / traits.

Creative:

— Draw or paint a self-portrait, or visualise your phantom limbs and draw how/where they appear on your body.

— Write fiction, a non-fiction informational piece, or a personal essay about your experiences, your noemata, your species, a shapeshifter of your species, or an alterhuman like yourself.

— Create your own gear such as masks, yarn tails, or jewellery.

— Make music based on or inspired by your alterhumanity, or by your noemata of music styles from your life/world.

Miscellaneous:

— Collect items that remind you of your kintype such as plushies or ornaments. If your kintype hoards items, you could start your own hoard.

— Spend time with other nonhumans, whether in person or online. Discuss your feelings, memories, and experiences. Ask those of a similar species to you what activities help them experience species euphoria. You could join or create an alterhuman Discord community or pack if you so wish.

— Read the writings of other alterhumans, especially in terms of their experiences of animality, how they express(ed) their kintype, and species euphoria.

Fictionkin:

— For (humanoid) fictionkin: indulge in your kintype’s interests and hobbies, try food you enjoyed, dress in their style or even cosplay them, make playlists of songs that remind you of yourself/your life/those close to you, maybe you can find merchandise / replica props of objects that mean something to you.

— If you want to engage in fandom, you can publish fanfiction or fanart based on your noemata or become active in forums or subreddit communities dedicated to your source, but I wouldn’t recommend being openly fictionkind while you’re there.

— If your fictotype is a nonhuman species, think about the previous points more suited for nonhuman kintypes; if there are earthly animals similar to you (reptiles, mammals, fish, birds, insects) find out what’s recommended for them as well, it may be helpful to you.

Kintype-related Food:

A lot of my information is from the Safe Recipes for Nonhuman Identities lecture from Othercon 2021, although I have added a few things. I recommend watching this panel yourself for some specific recipe ideas and more information on food safety and preparation.

— Raw meat and fish are unsafe to eat and should be cooked thoroughly. Steak tartare, carpaccio (thinly-sliced raw meat or fish), or black-and-blue steak are some safer alternatives to just raw meat, but should be sourced and prepared by a professional.

— Raw eggs are unsafe to eat unless the eggs you purchase are pasteurised, or the egg has been irradiated.

— Candy chalk, bone-shaped meringues, hone-senbei (deep fried fish bones), and roasted marrow bones are good alternatives for bones. Although not a bone itself, soups and stews made from bone or bone marrow-heavy broths may be of interest.

— Hard candy in the shape of gems or crystals, rock candy, chocolate rocks, and pomegranate seeds are good alternatives for rock or gem cravings.

— Chocolate-covered crickets or ants, roasted and seasoned mealworms, black sesame seeds, roasted pine nuts, and roasted sunflower seeds are good options for insect cravings. A lot of insects are more-or-less readily-available to buy in the form of protein-rich snacks, flour, or novelty foods, though mostly from specialty stores.

— Cranberry juice, tomato juice, chocolate pudding thinned with warm milk are good alternatives for blood. Black pudding or blood sausage, if you can get it, is made with blood. You can ingest cow or pig’s blood on its own, if it’s sourced by a professional, however it can be risky.

— Canned meat (corned beef or Spam), canned fish (canned salmon or tuna), beef or pork jerky, fruit leather, snack cookies or crackers, cubes of cheese, and steamed rice with gravy/meatballs/meat chunks are good alternatives for domestic pet food / treats.

— You can source uncommon meat cuts and organ meat from a trusted butcher. Your butcher may also be able to tell you where to get anything they don’t sell.

— For vegetarian options for carnivorous cravings, jackfruit and tofu can make good meat substitutes. There are also a variety of meat-shaped meat substitutes such as Beyond Meat and Quorn.

— There are ‘kin recipe tumblr blogs who post and tag content specifically for certain kintype species, although most are inactive you can still look through the posts. There are also general ‘kin request blogs out there that will suggest recipes and snacks relevant to your kintype.

‘Kin recipe blogs:

@kin-eats

@kinfood

@kinfoodie

Closing Notes:

I definitely haven’t included every possible activity or kintype in here, I’m only one tiger after all, but I tried my best! Feel free to add any suggestions that help you, ask any relevant questions, or shoot me an ask and I’ll see what I can suggest for you (but keep in mind that I’m not a request blog).

#wanted to get this out for therianthropy day #otherkin #therian #alterhuman #therianthropy #nonhuman #fictionkin #fictionkind #wolfkin #catkin #kin #kin care #kin self care #species euphoria #resources

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