No, You Dont Need To Wear Your Mask/tail To School.

no, you don’t need to wear your mask/tail to school.

i wish young nonhumans didn’t feel compelled to be ‘out’ at school, especially when it’s a dangerous environment. i keep seeing posts along the lines of “wore my tail/mask to school! people berated/teased/put their hands on me, but it’s ok”.

no, it’s not.

like.. i understand a mask or a tail can be a very validating thing for some people. and i’m not saying NO ONE should wear them at schools. but i just keep watching this mounting trend of young therians insinuating you need some physical accessory or to do quads to be a ‘real’ nonhuman. and then it leads to things like this and it makes me incredibly sad.

i’d known i was alterhuman since late elementary school, actually. it’s a huge part of my life even now, years after graduation. there wasn’t a reason for it to be brought up, so i never did. it was a closely guarded secret to me, but it didn’t feel like a weight i was carrying. i always thought “no one needs to know i’m an animal if it jeopardizes my safety. so, oh well”.

“but, how will people know that i’m an animal?”

they probably will. they probably already do.

i was the designated ‘animal’ person my entire school career despite not ever handling animals in front of anyone. if there were pets, lost wild animals (baby rabbits, birds, lizards), or sometimes even loose livestock that got onto campus, it was always me who had to go tend to them.

everyone wanted me in their group in environmental science. if a project called for animal illustrations, the same thing would happen. it was certainly weird because i was also a ‘weird kid’ and not especially desired to be around outside of that, lol. but i was never harassed for it. it made me feel very validated, actually.

i had fun during gym running and fiercely destroying the opposing team in field hockey. i taught everyone which plants were okay to forage (and we snacked on them when we had to sit on the lower field for practice). every day i was hyperaware of the limbs i had that weren’t quite there. friends noticed my ears twitch and my nose wiggle at certain stimuli. i felt nice walking on two legs. i felt nice because i felt animal and i didn’t have to prove it to anyone.

really like… just do what makes you happy. i admire the bravery it takes to so earnestly wear your identity on your sleeve like that. that’s very impressive. however, there is NO obligation to do anything like that if you understand that there will be a reaction that poses a threat to you.

i want our kids to be safe, too. you don’t have to feel dysphoria over being discreet. sometimes it’s the safest option. and sometimes, that can be really fun, too.

study everything you can about your ‘type. wikipedia and animalia are good resources. ramble about them to anyone who will listen. jokingly refer to yourself as one in friend spaces. wear discreet clothes that remind you of your ‘type. find a nice private place outside where you can run and explore and look at plants and smell the air and feel like yourself. but by no means do you have to prove yourself. you know you.

I remember I tried to practice Quadrobics but I keep falling cause I am kinda a little bit teensy bitty chubby-

I feel you there! Though anyone of any body shape can find great joy and good excercide in quads, MAN is it hard to get started! It can hurt your arms, your wrists, strain your back and depending of your size it can be hard to hold yourself up! (*cough* one of the reasons I can’t do quads anymore)

If quads is something you’d really like to do and your body isn’t in a condition where starting quads could risk major injuries and lessen your health, I’d say continue to practice and go for it! Easier things I find is to start with sitting using all four limbs but not letting your rear touch the ground. It strengthens your legs and core which can make you feel quite creature like without full on walking/running! Oh, and going up stairs on fours! This is the only kind of quads my disabled and plus sized body will allow me to do personally :>

All in all if you’d like to do them and are able to safely work towards getting better at them, go for it! But know that if it’s too much work, pain, or stressful in general, there are other ways to do safer and more comfortable quads! ♡ I’m happy to give “modified” quad ideas if you yourself or anyone else is interested! (No I am no experienced quadrobist lol )

I wanna start posting more therian stuff especially of quads (I'm still terrible) but I can't bc I don't have a proper mask and I don't wanna censor my face, so can people recommend places to get stuff for the mask? I'm gonna ask my friend to make me a tail, so any recommendations on stuff to get mask supplies that isn't Amazon would be great!

MAKING MY FIRST MASKKKKK

(lol it looks a lil goofy rn haha)

:0

I’ve only just noticed but I have 219 followers now sorry for not thanking u guys sooner

Thank u all so much <3

:0 100th post

Man, what the hell did I just catch on my trail camera