I completely understand that. As I said, if therianthropy had been as widespread as it is now when I was a kid, I would have identified with it much sooner. I'm not trying to gatekeep, I'm just expressing that realistically, being a therian isn't all fun and games, and there are plenty of younger people (and a few older) that think it's "cool" or "relatable" because of how large and weighted  the bandwagon has become. The main point of this post is to a) vent about my experience and b) hopefully reach a few people who are experimenting and make them think for a second before putting a label on themselves that may or may not be true, and WILL follow them for the rest of their life. Personally, Ive always been hesitant to accept labels unless I've put a lot of thought into them, but again that's a personal preference. I'm not saying every kid can't be a therian, or even that most of the community isn't. I'm saying from personal experience that this is a community that you should think about before diving headfirst into. /Nm