| Which brings me to the next chapter of my Were life, and also the most critical. At the age of fifteen, my family was fortunate enough to get the Internet! Now this was a very important time for me, since here is where I met my first net Were friends. While learning about the wonders of surfing and e-mailing, as well as still learning about my mysterious wolf side, I one day happened to stumble across a site that had to do with werewolves. Through reading this, and many other sites that were linked together, I discovered that I wasn�t the only person out there who felt all of these strange animalistic behaviors. My first Internet buddy was a huge black Dire wolf who went by the name of Anubis T. Darkfang, and who is now dubbed as my Big Brother. By talking with him, I found out that there was an entire community of Were people all over the net. In four years I have met some of the nicest people from all over the world, from Canada, to the United States, to the UK, and Australia. And what we all share in common, our connections to our animal selves, is what makes it such a close community. For beings who�s history seems to be so very grim and ghastly, Weres today are some of the nicest, most honest, and cuddliest people you could ever know. It�s a shame, though, that most of the time, Weres do not live anywhere close to each other. This is why we have to resort to using the net, and why we also frequently hold what are called Howls. All that is, is basically just a gathering of Weres from different places around the world, to give them a chance to meet and get to know one another in person. They�re usually organized in a camping trip manner, and are just meant for people to have a good time and be themselves. Apart from Werewolves, there are also other Were creatures. Actually, instead of just using the term �Lycanthropy,� which only applies to wolves, most Weres will tend to use the term �Therianthropy,� as it applies to any animal. Although the concept of being Were is actually pretty limitless. For some people, their Wereness may have come from a totem animal, while another might claim that they were an animal in a past life and just kept part of their animal soul when they were reborn. You could also have anything from Werefoxes to Weretigers, bears, badgers, coyotes, and we even have the occasional Weredragon, or even a combination of two species. Then there are people who are called Furs, (the Anthropomorphic community) who aren�t exactly like Weres, but are just people who like to roleplay certain animal characters. Furs are actually more about fun and games, while Weres take what they are a lot more seriously. In fact some Weres will get insulted if you mistake them for a Fur, since we do not roleplay what we are. We just are. I've got some Furry friends as well, though, and they're a fun bunch of people. Most Weres are also very quiet, and tend to keep to themselves. Unlike the popularity of vampires and witches, we do not consider ourselves to be part of an occult. This goes for religion as well. For example, Wicca is considered to be a religion, whereas Therianthropy isn�t exactly what we�d call a religion. Although anybody can be Were and still be Catholic, Christian, Atheist, or any other religion out there. Also, very few of us come out to our human friends because we are afraid of being criticized. I�ve seen many cases where a newly found Were will try to come out to the community for help and advice, often really confused and afraid that others will think them insane. I used to think like that at first too, but now I know better. For those of you who are still skeptical and think that I�m just writing all of this for attention, I can honestly tell you that this is not the case. This is just something that I�ve wanted to share for a while now, with those who are willing to listen. I don�t try to be anything other than myself. All of my friends know what I am, and they don�t judge me for it. The wolf was born a part of me, I honestly and truly believe that. Then there are others out there who are also born Were, but who may not discover their animal selves until a bit later on in their lives. I actually like to compare being Were with being gay. It�s very similar, if you think about it. I mean, there�s the whole �coming out� thing, and the fear of being discriminated because you�re different in some way. I believe that there are many reasons as to why things are the way they are. Although, being Were and growing up, and seeing the world through Jessie�s eyes has been a very positive thing for me. You have a very heightened sense of awareness and intuition. You become a lot closer to nature seeing things from an animal�s point of view, and it is a very passionate feeling. Sometimes, though, I can�t help but feel sorry for my wolf half. For instance, if we�re in the car and we pass by some woods, I can feel her pain and hear her whine inside of my mind, feel her longing to run wild and free with the pack, and to just escape humanity. But she knows that she never can. We�re stuck with each other, in this one body. So, every now and then, I go to the Rouge Valley, where she can feel more at home. Sometimes I think that if I could have one wish, it would be to be able to separate both of our minds and give her a body of her own, and set her free. But then I know that I would miss her because she�s been a part of my whole life, for so long, that I honestly don�t know what I would do without her. I think though, on the whole, being Were has taught me a lot about things in life, and if I had to choose between being Were and being a regular human being, I�d stay Were. I�m happy with who I am, and I wouldn�t change that for the world. |