zaphaera:

Not to be a gatekeeper but, there are things in the otherkin community that need to be addressed if any of you ever want to be taken seriously..
I’m not doing this to invalidate anyone or be offensive, but there’s some things that need to be said.

I’m bringing this up because it gets my attention when I see quite often the “accept anything and everything” tone of a lot of the tumblr-kin community specifically. Mainly the over-accepting attitude of when I hear things like “wow you’re this, that’s so cool, you are amazing!” and sigh, because it is truthfully not helping any of you.. And most of the time isn’t even following what being otherkin is.

Quite honestly I find it to be destructive to the community as a whole and to many newer kin who are being over-encouraged in the wrong way. Yes, I know you all mean well, but keep in mind that you should be directing people to question themselves more and question what it is to be ‘otherkin’. By over-encouraging them like I see much too often, you are really hurting that individuals need to introspect and find who they truly are. Introspection and finding ones self is the most important thing! Validation is great to a point is what I’m saying, and I’m not saying to invalidate anyone, but to gently encourage them in the right direction rather than telling them spot on that what they think they are must be it..  Instead encourage them to question themselves more! Younger individuals taking their first steps into the community especially need guidance on what they are getting into. This is not something to be taken lightly, just like if you were to join any spiritual or religious community. 

If we want to continue having a nice community and be taken seriously, then as a community we all need to educate more properly! I haven’t been in it very long, but it really is starting to bother me the more I see people within the community treat being otherkin as nothing more than a trend or a pretty label to slap on whatever they want to. By what I have come to know.. otherkin is a strongly spiritual belief, but yet there are many people on tumblr I see that are distorting it into something it is not.. and what they are not. 

My main point here is to stay truthful to what otherkin is. So that when newcomers ask questions they can be put on the right path.. not be told that “otherkin is anything you want it to be, because we except everything! uwu” Because I’m sorry, I don’t want to be harsh but, there are things that are considered otherkin and things that simply are not.

Let me start with: Otherkin are humans who identify as things that are non-human.
This can be spiritually or by reincarnation. There is no possible way to be physically otherkin, period. No one can physically shift into anything. And I highly doubt anyone is, genetically speaking, anything but human.

Let me further explain by simplifying it into two categories,

Things that are otherkin:
– Identifying as something non-human (not by choice, but by feeling)
– Believing you were something non-human in another life (reincarnation)
– Believe that your soul is non-human (I believe every soul is a certain species)

Things that are not otherkin:
– Coping mechanisms
 (A coping mechanism is an identity created by the individual to overcome illness or otherwise. It is a choice and can go away at any time or be changed to fit their needs.)
– Identifying ‘with’ non-human things
 (Identifying with non-human things would rather be called ‘other-hearted’. The person feels a strong connection with something non-human, but not so much that they are that thing.)
– Furries 
(furries are people who choose an identity by making a ‘fursona’ of an animal of their choice that represents them)

Correct me if I’m wrong, but those two categories above should rightfully explain what makes someone kin or not. I’ll follow those up with another two categories to further explain what otherkin is..

Common things many otherkin do:
– Feel astral limbs, the sensation of limbs that aren’t there
– Have mental shifts, feeling of mentally becoming their kinself
– Have memories of their other lives
– Dream of their past lives
– Astrally project as their kinself
– live regular human lives

Otherkin do not:
– feel oppressed
– feel offended when you walk on grass 
– think we are physically non-human
– choose what we are
– act inappropriately like our kinselves in public 
– need to be treated like what our kinselves are
– feel they are better than anyone (if anyone does, then they are just an asshole honestly)

Those four lists up there should draw you a fine line between what otherkin is and is not. Just like any other spirituality, not everything is accepted unless it follows a specific guideline. And I’m not trying to be mean or invalidate anyone, but just feel that what being otherkin actually is about needs to be brought forward and taken more seriously by our own community. Because its not about labels, its not about being special, its not about identifying with any little thing that attracts you, and its not about having fun. If you want to have fun, go make yourself a fursona, being otherkin is more serious than that. If you think you are otherkin, take it seriously. Meditate, introspect, research.. take your time and figure things out before rushing into it. I see it a lot where most of you all just want to decide what you are right away and show it off. Relax. Take a breath and learn something before jumping headfirst into it all. 

One thing that I see a lot that I’m going to bring up is everyone jumping at identifying as every new pop culture cartoon character that comes out within weeks.. Finding out if you were those characters takes a lot longer than that. There is no being “kin at first sight”. I’ve felt a connection with my kinself since I was young, but only came to terms with being dragonkin for only 3 years now and I still question it. 

I just want to see the whole community learn and educate everyone a little more. Be supportive by helping newer kin find themselves. Point them in the right direction to what being otherkin is about, and tell them their feelings are valid, but do so in a way that doesn’t twist what being otherkin is. 🙂