Q. What is Theri There?
A. Started in 2005, Theri There is an online comic by, for, and about therianthropes and otherkin, and other such people whose identities are defined in non-physical ways. This isn’t a science fiction tale about people who transform into werewolves and fight mad scientists. Instead, these are the true stories of real live modern-day people and their spiritualities. Here's the title explained in a comic.

Thanks to Kevin Pease (graphic designer, Cerulean Stimuli) for vectorizing and partially redesigning the logo that I designed for Theri There.

Q. Who are therianthropes and otherkin?
A. Therianthropes (meaning “animal people”) and otherkin (“kin to the other”*) are people who identify as other kinds of creatures than humans. Although they look human, one such might say, “I am a wolf,” or “I am an elf,” not as a role-playing character, but in earnest. It’s a type of experience which certain people have throughout their lives, without needing to try to believe in it, and without needing to have heard of the concept from anyone else beforehand. That means that it’s not a spiritual or philosophical belief in and of itself.** Depending on the person, he or she may additionally seek to develop explanations for that experience that are spiritual, philosophical, metaphorical, behavioral, or psychological, etc. Common spiritual explanations include reincarnation and metaphysical anatomy. It’s an individualistic process. Each person figures out their own identity for their own self. Nobody else can do that for them. Since we have no common dogma, no shared cosmology, and no widely-agreed-upon leaders, it is not a religion.

To read more of what others have said on this subject, refer to the links page.

* According to Swiftpaw’s essay “Tracing the origins of the term ‘therianthropy,’” the word “therianthrope” was adopted by the therian community in about 1995, as a more inclusive alternative to terms such as “shifter” and “werewolf.” The word “otherkin” was coined by Torin / Darren Stalder in 1990 in the Elfinkind Digest mailing list, to include people who identified as creatures other than elves. Jarandhel Dreamsinger coined the phrase “kin to the other” as a definition for “otherkin.” Otherkin such as the Silver Elves and other elven groups have been writing about their philosophies since the 1970s.

** This definition comes from a 2003 essay by Mokele, “The experiential nature of therianthropy.”

Q. Who makes this comic?
A. One person, going by the name of Orion Sandstorrm. I’m an artist, writer, and dragon.

Q. Will there be guest comics on Theri There? I'd like to see many points of view on the subject.
A. Yes, that would be highly appropriate, and I’d appreciate it a lot! However, they still would be guests in my comic, so I’d be picky about what I allow to appear on there, just as I’m picky about which of my own ideas I post here. Guest comics would have to follow the same rules as I do when I'm writing Theri There. If you're interested in making a guest comic, read more here.

Q. I’m looking for a specific past comic. I remember what was in it, but not when it was. How do I find it?
A. Well, you could browse through the entire archives by date, looking for it, but that would be tedious. There’s a better alternative. Every week’s comic of Theri There is mirrored in our Livejournal community. Each entry has tags indicating what has appeared in that comic. If you’re looking for a comic that you knew had a wolf in it, refer to the full list of all tags used, find that there’s a tag for wolves, and browse through all the entries with that tag.