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I will never understand why people think that being otherkin is ‘cool’ or otherwise a gift that makes life so very enriched. Okay…I do understand why people think that…it’s because some people (mostly younger kids…aka teens) think being otherkin makes them super special, better than other humans, is SO COOL, etc.

I honestly think that these people aren’t actually otherkin…like I seriously question their beliefs and experiences. Most otherkin, especially those with non-humanoid kintypes, will tell you that the experience of ‘being otherkin’ is not cool, is not sunshine and rainbows, and certainly doesn’t enrich one’s life. If anything, being otherkin makes life harder.

For starters, most otherkin do not understand their fellow humans. We have a harder time relating to other people, finding ‘normal human things’ fulfilling, have a hard time with human emotions, etc. I know I personally just don’t get some things people do or how they can think the way they do (and I’m sure the feeling is mutual). Many of my personal views on things most people think are ‘weird’ and they expect me to feel certain ways in certain situations…and I don’t.

Also, that ‘alien’ feeling that you don’t fit in with the rest of your species? Not fun. Most people grow out of it after puberty…otherkin…not so much. I simply don’t think of other humans as ‘my kind’. I mean, logically, I know I’m human and, therefore, that other humans are ‘my people,’ but at my core I just don’t feel that way. I know I’m human…I just don’t feel human, never have, likely never will, and for that reason I don’t equate other humans with my kind.

Moving on…mental shifts are not super cool. They don’t make us special, they don’t give us some kind of sixth sense. If anything, mental shifts make it harder to get by in mainstream society. Mental shifts tend to lead to urges to do things that are either illegal, looked upon negatively, or that are just unacceptable in public. Like…prey drive. Yes, otherkin experience this…no it’s not acceptable to attack other animals/people. Some people claim to experience mental shifts that are so strong to where they seemingly lose part or all of their humanity (losing all of one’s humanity, arguably, being a serious issue that needs looking into by a mental health professional…but that’s a topic for another post).

Being otherkin is not a gift, nor a curse. It does not give us some sort of special something. It does not make us more than or better than human, it’s simply a part of who we are. If anything, it puts us at a disadvantage…and why someone would wish the ‘otherkin experience’ upon themselves boggles the rational mind. If you ask me, those people who so badly want to be otherkin do not understand what it means to be otherkin…and they certainly don’t understand what the experience is like.

In my opinion, anyone who is over zealous about ‘being otherkin’ is probably not actually otherkin and anyone who wants to ‘be otherkin’ doesn’t get it…doesn’t understand what they’re wishing upon themselves.

Being otherkin may be ‘fun’ or ‘cool’ when one first awakens…but people who truly have a non-human identity will learn rather quickly that it is not fun nor cool…nor special. Being otherkin isn’t a fad and it isn’t a choice…it’s an identity. You can no more choose to be otherkin than you can choose to be Irish…you can pretend, but you can’t *be*….and, in either case, pretending can be offensive and unhealthy.

If you really want to be otherkin because you think it’s sunshine and rainbows and the coolest thing ever…do yourself (and the rest of us) a favor and don’t ‘be otherkin’…pick something else to go all fandom with.