Otherkin

Otherkin

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About

Otherkin is a term used to refer to people who believe that their physical bodies do not reflect their perceived “actual” non-human spiritual forms. This perceived entity may range from mythical species like demons, dragons, elves and faeries to wild animals and domesticated pets.

History

The phenomenon of identifying oneself as a non-human dates back to the 1970s when a group of self-identifying faeries known as "The Elf Queen’s Daughters" was formed. However, the term “otherkin” was coined decades later in April 1990 with the appearance of the word "otherkind" on the Elfinkind Digest[2], a mailing list for elves started by R’ykandar Korra’ti in March 1990. The term was used to describe the non-elf non-humans that were subscribed to the list.[5] Three months later, on July 9th, 1990, a poster known as Torin[6] became the first to use the term “Otherkin” out of convenience instead of typing out “elf/dragon/orc/etc.-kin.”[5]

Outside of Usenet, the first definitive FAQ about Otherkin was posted to a personal webpage hosted by att.net[25]. An updated version of this FAQ now lives on Kinhost.org[36]. That June, Otherkin.net[10] was established for people to not only find information about the subculture, but also to connect with others who felt similarly. By November, the site put up an Awakening essay[24] to welcome newcomers who think they may be Otherkin. A year later on March 4th, 2001, a LiveJournal community[26]was created for users of that site to communicate with like-minded people.

Reception

As of August 2013, there are 250 LiveJournal communities[27] associated with Otherkin. Tumblr has also seen a flurry of Otherkin activity, both positive and negative, that is collected on the Otherkin tag.[12] There are two wiki-style reference sites[11][16] that catalog Otherkin related materials. An Otherkin-identified person known as Orion Sribner[28] has compiled a a book list[8] of published Otherkin writings, a directory[9] of other related works and a consistently updated timeline[5] of the history of the subculture, from the 1970s to present. On Facebook[7], Otherkin has 1718 likes. In 2009, LiveJournal community Otherkin News[29] was established to share both online and offline updates about Otherkin and Therianthropes.

Criticism

Otherkin frequently receive heavy criticism from non-participants due to the seemingly eccentric beliefs and behaviors engendered by the subculture. Several message boards have had threads discussing Otherkin in a negative manner, including Straight Dope[17], Forumopolis[18] and Gaia Online.[19] In 2008, the Examiner[23] published an article expressing skepticism towards non-human identities, labeling them "weird" and suggesting their writings satirize themselves. In 2009, Otherkin was included on Oddee's[21] list of 8 Bizarre Subcultures. In 2011, humor site Zug[20] published an article in which the author attempted to break into the online communities as a troll, pretending to get in touch with his "inner elf."


Today I learned how much sugar an elf can eat in one sitting.

Impact

FYIAD (Fuck You, I'm A Dragon!)

On October 17th, 2003, Matthew Finnegan, known as Starblade Riven Darksquall, posted a diatribe about his Otherkin beliefs to the LiveJournal community debate.[30] Throughout the more than 500 comments, Starblade asserted that he was a dragon and did not take any sass from trolling commenters, brought to the community by LJ Drama.[31] LJD users interpreted his argument as Fuck you I'm a dragon!.


o -starblade- E October 20 2003, 16:11:26 UTC link Collapse Okay, but... I never said their false logic makes me right, or that it was a straw man fallacy. Nor did I say that their lack of evidence against me is a reason to believe me. I am utterly serious about my draconity. How can telling me that I pulled this idea out of my (or another person's) ass just to get attention be taken as anything BUT an insult? I never said that I was a dragon because nobody can disprove it. I am a dragon. Nobody can disprove it. Those two statements are not inferred from one another. I'm sorry, but your idea of 'getting to the truth of the matter is completely and utterly distorted, full of fallacy, and based completely on mistruths. That's no more getting to the truth than is a kid with a spoon digging a hole in the ground getting to the center of the Earth Reply

The argument lead to Starblade being documented on Encyclopedia Dramatica[32] and Wikifur.[33] However, in 2010, Finnegan was stabbed to death by his friend.[34] It was discussed on the LiveJournal community Unfunny Fandom[35], where the original poster noted that Starblade had been convinced someone was planning his murder.

Search Interest

External References

[1] Wikipedia – Therianthropy

[2] Elfinkind Digest – Home

[3] Wikifur – Otherkin

[4] Wikipedia – J.R.R. Tolkien

[5] Orion Sandstorrm – Otherkin Timeline: The Recent History of Elfin, Fae, and Animal People

[6] LiveJournal – Torin/Darren WhoEver

[7] Facebook – Otherkin

[8] Orion Sribner – The Otherkin and Therianthrope Book-List

[9] Orion Sribner- A Director of Otherkin Writings and other works, organized by topic

[10] Otherkin.net – Home | reg. June 29th, 2000

[11] Wikia – Otherkin Wiki

[12] Tumblr – Posts tagged "otherkin"

[13] Urban Dictionary – Otherkin

[14] Wikipedia – Otherkin

[15] Wikipedia – Species Dysphoria

[16] AnOther Wiki – Home

[17] Straight Dope – Otherkin? WTF?

[18] Forumopolis – What the hell is an Otherkin?

[19] Gaia Online – Furries? Otherkin? WTF?

[20] Zug – The Otherkin Experiment

[21] Oddee – 8 Bizarre Subcultures

[22] Everything2 – Otherkin

[23] Examiner – There's Weird and Then There's Otherkin

[24] Otherkin.net – Awakening Essay

[25] Astraeasweb.net – Old Otherkin FAQ

[26] LiveJournal – Otherkin

[27] LiveJournal – Communities that list Otherkin as an interest

[28] LiveJournal – Orion Sribner

[29] LiveJournal – Otherkin News

[30] LiveJournal – Beliefs.

[31] Eat All Furries – Starblade in the debate community

[32] Encyclopedia Dramatica – Starblade

[33] Wikifur – Starblade Enkai

[34] The Californian – Monterey man pleads not guilty in friend's death

[35] Unfunny Fandom – Starblade of "Fuck you, I'm a dragon!" fame stabbed to death.

[36] KinHost – Otherkin FAQ v 4.0.1 (2/8/01)

[37] Kinmunity – Terminology & Lexicon

Recent Videos 11 total

Recent Images 45 total


Top Comments

illium_rusty
illium_rusty

I sexually Identify as an Attack Helicopter. Ever since I was a boy I dreamed of soaring over the oilfields dropping hot sticky loads on disgusting foreigners. People say to me that a person being a helicopter is Impossible and I'm fucking retarded but I don't care, I'm beautiful. I'm having a plastic surgeon install rotary blades, 30 mm cannons and AMG-114 Hellfire missiles on my body. From now on I want you guys to call me "Apache" and respect my right to kill from above and kill needlessly. If you can't accept me you're a heliphobe and need to check your vehicle privilege. Thank you for being so understanding.

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