sonne_windsoul: (antelope statue)
Finally an update on this project.

I got my domain (Sonverrid.org) fixed up for WordPress and multi-site capabilities via WP, so I've been getting some rough things done on the few WP sites that will be on there, including Radiant Obscurities.  RadObs is still awhile from going live, but progress is being made on the actual site, thankfully.

So here's a list of the menu category links for RadObs, to give you all a better idea of how I plan to have the site laid out and some of the categories I'm seeking for writings, links, etc. (the ">>" denote a subcategory under the particular menu section):

*About >> Authors
*Aquatics [>> no subcats needed at this time]
*Terrestrial >> ~Mammals: --Ungulates –Carnivora –Other Mammals
~Reptiles & Amphibians
~Invertebrates
~Fantastical Otherkin [Animalkin]
 
*Polyshifters & Humanoids [>> no subcats at this time]
*Links & Resources >>  ~Creature Info Resources –Books –Video –Websites
~Otherkin & Therian Links

By the way, "terrestrial" is meant to denote primarily land-based, regardless of whether they are from planet Earth or not.

I'm horribly lacking in writings to put under: invertebrates, polyshifters & humanoids, fantastical 'kin, and of course the remaining 'kintype categories are all in need of more content.  Here's a list of submitted and potential writings I have put together for the site so far, organized by authors instead of the writings themselves (**please check to see if I've mentioned your name and/or 'kintype and if you'd like to contribute any/anymore writings):

**Aquatics:
~Elinox (mermaid/fae; [8 writings])
~Aquasarius (‘sea serpent/dragon’; “Coping with Being Aquatic”, "The Ocean is Home")
~Earth Listener (sea slug & frilled shark; “Phantom Shark on the River”, “Cerata: From the Blue Fleet” [2 more writings])
~Ketrino (hippocampus; [writing titles??] [need to get permission])
~Podsinger (orca; [1 writing])

~[dolphins or cetaceans?]
~[other sharks?]
~[other fish?]
~[other aquatic invertebrates?]
 
**Mammals:
~Pantairin (deer cladotherian; “My Antlers Tell Lies”, "Deer is Not Prey")
~Liesk (marsh deer; “My Antlers are the Biggest Liars I know” [need to get permission])
~Chaos/Sondu (duiker; “The Dao of Duiker”)
~Khamaseen (giraffe; “Skyward & Grounded”)
~Your Deer (horse and deer; “I am Not the Grace of the Doe” and “Writing on Horse”)
~Sonne (horse; "Midnight Sand", "Hooves Beat as Hearts", and "Threshold of Escape")
~Ketrino (bighorn sheep; [writing titles??] [need to get permission])
 
~Aethyriek (bat; [writing titles??])
~BlueSloth (3-toed sloth; “Sloth Shift”)
~Yenot (raccoon; “Shifts for the Shifter Who Doesn’t Shift” [need to get permission])
~Mobius (raccoon; “My Therianthropy, Too" [to be rewritten & retitled])
~Talos (hyena; [writing titles??])

~[rabbits?]
~[mustelids?]
~[other Carnivora?]
~[rodents?]
~[other bats?]
 
**Reptiles/Amphibs:
~Zeno (komodo dragon; “Fire and Ice: Heat, Therianthropy, and being a Komodo”, “The Dragon’s Claw”, “Here be Dragons” [need to verify permission])
~Sonne (erdenvogel/theropod; "On Wings of a Living Past", "Designing a Theriotype")
~Nomad (deinonychus; "On Extinction" and "Deconstructing the Raptor")
~Farsmell (aquatic lizard; [writing titles?])

~[other reptiles?]
~[amphibians?]
~[dinosaurs, pterosaurs, etc. extinct archosaurs?]
 
**Invertebrates:
~[possibly Earth Listener’s nudibranch writings--will also put under Aquatics]
 
**Fantastical Otherkin/Animalkin:
~Spiridon (unicorn; "To Be Unicorn", "What is Being Unicorn")
~Kardegray (bestial 'demon'; "They Call Me Demonic", "A Demonic Animal")
~Cavern-Risen (garou)
~Lunatani (adlet; "Red Hair of the Dog")

~[atypical/uncommon dragons?]
~[gryphons?]
~[other unicorns?]
~[other fantastical/myth/fictional creatures?]
 
**Polyshifters & Humanoids:
~Arawn (polyshifter; [any writings?])
~Seraphyna (polyshifter; [any writings?])
~Loh (polyshifter; [any writings?])
~Sonne [vampire’kin writings]
~Arron?; Isha?; Lestat? [vampire’kin writings, if they have or make any]

~[other animalistic humanoids?]
 
yourdeer: (pull)

Sometimes, horse is comfortable. There is respite, relaxed head angled towards the ground with eyelashes drooping close to one another, and there is high-spirited energy and determination, and there is strength for another’s need. But frequently, horse is irritated, angry, tired, panicked, overworked; it is an intolerant nag with thick legs, a heavy nose, and a poor temper. When I am horse, I am a huge animal – a creature that belongs in front of a plow or cart with straining legs or heavy clattering hooves, rather than one of flowing mane and gracefully bent trotting legs. I am not frequently a fun horse to be around; I am fussy and likely to kick, and will only grudgingly enjoy the pleasure of the curry-comb or carrot. But when I do, I will sigh heavily, close my eyes, and lean into it, grateful.

Anger, irritation, overwork, panic, and yet determination and pleasure to serve: I am horse in these states because other animals don’t fit the way I feel these things.

My anger does not have sharp teeth or claws or an agile, twisting body. It has flat, mean teeth, blunt hoofs, and weight, and sudden, unexpectedness. It is not predatory – it simply desires to rid itself all that is in its way. It will not rip or tear or devour; instead, it will bludgeon, and it will crush.

My irritation is the sharp slam of hoof on stall wall. It is the likelihood of lashing out with a swift and bruising kick or flat-toothed bite. Don’t come near me, don’t touch me, don’t make me do. It mistrusts. It has flattened-back ears and locked thick knees and obstinacy.

Horse is the foul mood of overwork, of being overburdened. It is the difficulty to relax after being demanded to do what benefits others. Though I need to feel useful and take great pleasure in it, there is that point where I balk, resistant to being useful for a moment longer. It is the indignant squeal, the little tricks to make it harder – puffing up to sabotage the tightening of the girth, keeping my head out of reach of the bridle, nearly squashing your foot without a thought. There is the bitter anger at those who should be working alongside me, but aren’t, and the open rage at the lazy thing pulling in the traces beside me.

There is panic, too, at being too crowded or faced with those unthreatening threatening things that come as sudden changes. It is a rearing, bucking sort that nearly topples itself and will damage others as much as it will break me. Though my body remains still, internally I rise and plunge, wild and sweating with white-rimmed, rolling eyes. It breaks when the crowd is gone and I am in the fresh air or home, or when I am spent, legs shaking, head down and done.

In these times, when I am the horse that is nag, it is comforting to remember that I am human, though somewhere inside there is an unpleasant and unhappy equine. I remember, when I am one human body packed tightly among many on the commute home, that I can will myself to stand still; picturing what I would be if I were the kicking, rearing horse reminds me that in my human body, I can remain as I am without hurting myself or those around me. I can quell my panic and wait to get home. The horse that I am would kill without qualms or intention, and most likely end up with broken legs myself – as a human, I can grit my teeth until “Next Stop: Washington Square” and then rush through the crosswalk and home.

 

            But besides all this there is determination and hard work. There is the big, hearty energy to give to another, to take directions and leap forward with them, to pull with all my strength with the result of joy and satisfaction, shared. There is the plodding work, the steady, persevering, low-headed forward movement towards the end goal of rest or praise. When I return home, it is the comfort of cozy stall or pasture, of my own space where I can do as I like, whether it is to roll without dignity or to sleep or to frolic. There is the feeling that horse was first remembered from, when deer pulling carts didn’t make sense, but horse, yes – heavier hooves and a more purposeful movement forward, carrying the purpose of others besides myself. It is, too, the rollicking carrying of big love, the wealth of my heart in the wagon on which perch the people I love.


epsilon_pegasi: (giraffe: to the dark)

What giraffe sees is far away.

Giraffe belongs to the open spaces. Wide and lacking coverage, the giraffe feels safe only where all is visible. Above it, and breathing it in. Aware, vigilant seer who is always seen. There is no hiding when you’re a giraffe. Always seeking threats, never relaxing the aerial visions. The giraffe fears only what it cannot see, too many lions to focus on, what unknowns lurk in shadows and bushes. A giraffe must know. But the threats, when found, are either far away or close enough to kick. Cautious of the world though it may be, the giraffe is above-it-all in more than a literal sense, feeling almost otherworldly in its consciousness. Detached.

Eyes wide on the horizon, stilts walk without feeling the ground, giraffe lives in the treetops while the hooves remain earthbound. But for the tickle of grass against the ankles, the world of under-foot is too far to know, or care. Giraffe moves as if levitating, drifting through life without attachments. The giraffe does not form lasting bonds, groups being loose and ever-changing. A giraffe may make company of zebras, or birds even, but isn’t prone to kinship.

Neck is more than height. It is for touching, a way to communicate desire or competition. A strong appendage that will take beatings of bones and poundings of flesh. Feel the air blowing around it, catching scents from above, and hearing the distance. Blood rushes through it, pounding, for war, for love, for food. It is the life-giver to a giraffe. The tongue extends onwards towards leaves, wrapping around rough branches, taking even the thorns, which the mouth is hard enough to devour without feeling their pricks. Many things to the giraffe are without feeling.

The Egyptians made the hieroglyphic of “prophecy” in the shape of a giraffe, and depicted them in tombs as a means to foretell danger, because its keen vision saw beyond the horizons of others. In The Book of Going Forth by Day, the giraffe is said to be a demon that guards travelers in the underworld. They were kept as pets by many cultures, and the giraffe, though wild, can take captivity in stride, not being a creature willful for wildness.

sonne_windsoul: (therianthropy cat)
This is a current project in the early stages of development that will hopefully end up with a separate site over on Sonverrid.org (same domain as my therianthropy site, The Sanctuary). For now, I want to use a journal community to aid in organizing ideas and possible essays/articles for the future site and allow a place for promotion of the project in order to better receive submissions to be added to the site.

In essence, the intent of Radiant Obscurities is to gather a variety of writings from therians and non-therian otherkin that focus on aspects of "being animal" (whether the animal is extant, extinct, Earth-based, otherworldly, fictional, etc.) but are of animal/animal-like or creature types that are relatively uncommon in the therianthropy and otherkin communities. It's easier to state what creature types won't (at least likely at this time) be included on the site: canines, felines, and avians are the main ones due to the commonality of canine and feline theriotypes, and avians due to the existence of the wonderful "Birds of a Feather" site that hosts writings about bird and feather-winged therians and 'kin (I thus encourage avian writings to be submitted there instead). Dragon'kin are rather common, however, dragon is such a huge umbrella term, I am apt to potentially include some kinds of "dragon'kin" writing on Radiant Obscurities (RO), more particularly if they are kinds of dragons or dragon-like creatures that are generally uncommon or rare amongst the otherkin and therian communities (aquatic dragons are one example I can think of right now).

Kinds of writing accepted can be essays, articles, poetry or poetic-prose, and likely some short stories or fictional writing may end up on there if they fit the desired subject matter for the project.

It can be rather difficult to find writings by uncommon therio-/'kintypes, with many of them being scattered widely (and thus not a more convenient way of browsing them by relative creature-type categories, especially in a singular site), and some people only make one or two writings about their uncommon 'type(s) and may only end up posting them on a forum, journal, or other personal blog.  I would like to help people be able to find writings more easily about 'kintypes like: aquatics, invertebrates, ungulates, non-feline/non-canine Carnivorans, bats, rodents, reptiles and amphibians, 'uncommon' mythical, fictional, and otherworldy/other-realm animal-like creatures.  My aim is for this to be an interesting, helpful, and valuable resource in the otherkin and therianthropy communities for any and all who are curious to read "being animal" writings from [insert uncommon 'types], and to hopefully help those of certain therio-/'kintype categories to better find writings on creatures similar to or the same as their kind.

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Radiant Obscurities

May 2013

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