Kind of confused

So, I’m pretty sure I’m a therian. I feel confident in the label of fox cladotherian and coyote therian, but the way I experience it seems different from how it’s often shown in the media. A lot of people talk about phantom shifts, where they feel or see things like paws, ears, or tails, but I’ve never experienced that. For me, it’s more like I’ll feel as though I could be a fox pouncing in the grass when I’m walking through grass or dirt. I feel really in tune with nature, like I can notice every movement in the leaves and grass, but I don’t feel physical body parts that aren’t there.

For example, I play this game called Ecos La Brea on Roblox, where you can be a dire wolf. The tail in the game makes me so happy because it looks like a coyote’s tail, and I just feel so euphoric playing as a dire wolf. It’s even better when I’m stalking prey because it matches coyote movement and behavior so well. I also spend hours playing coyote and fox Roblox games, and it gives me such a strong sense of joy.

What confuses me is how people describe shifts as being dysphoric. I’ve never felt that way. Sure, I might feel a little sad that I don’t have a tail, ears, or paws, but I don’t feel deeply upset or distraught about it. Also, I don’t really identify as an animal. It’s more like I identify with animals. I feel like I’m partially one in the sense that I have instincts like one. For instance, I notice every movement in the grass, or I’ll feel urges to yip, bark, stalk something, or pounce.

But I don’t feel connected to all the stuff you see on TikTok, like people eating dog food or doing quadrobics when they’re shifted. I mean, I’ll do quadrobics sometimes, and they might make me shift, but I never do quadrobics because I’m shifted, if that makes sense.