Any of this fit?

When I posted my thoughts on realizing I was otherkin on my livejournal, one of my friends sent me this addy: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.metatech.org/07/fairies_elves_gnomes_trolls.html">http://www.metatech.org/07/fairies_elve ... rolls.html</a><!-- m --> -After reading this article, I cried. Yep, I'll admit it. I cried. It was such a relief to see that other people felt this way, had had these thoughts, mourned the same things that I did that I couldn't help but shed tears. At the same time, I wanted to write to the article's author and ask him if he knew me personally, for everything he lists (and I'll include them, just in case the link doesn't work) fits me.

Does it strike a chord for anyone else?



They will know what makes other people happy does not make them happy, and that what makes them happy makes them happier than anyone else alive.

They will see things others cannot see, hear things others cannot hear, feel things others cannot feel, and know things others do not know.

They will laugh a great deal or cry a great deal or both.

They will love humans individually, but have a hard time with humanity as whole, and that will occasionally approach loathing.

They will have a handful of very close friends, and often be very lonely.

They will be unhappiest when forced to act like a human and do things that humans do, want what humans want, or when they are convinced that they actually are one.

Things will not be easy for them. Because of their memories of the other side, the world will seem to them a wondrous calliope with just a few teeth missing on one of the cogs. Because of this tiny deficiency, the music is off key, the horses are crashing into each other and the children are frightened, bruised and crying.

The solutions will seem obvious, but no one will listen.

They will repeatedly be punished for shouting FIRE! in a crowded theatre, when the buildings really are in flames but no one else can see....They will get slapped on the wrist for pointing to the EXIT signs when everyone else is running around screaming and trampling one another.

They will be zealous, fanatical and didactic in their beliefs. They will feel utterly confused.

They will have ecstatic visions and babble incoherently. They will be extremely articulate.

They are prone to long periods of silence. They have no idea how to say what they really mean.

They spend a lot of time with children and animals.

They will become drunkards and dope fiends, organic gardeners, soap makers, carpenters, madmen, magicians, jugglers and clowns, lunatic physicists, painter and scribblers, travelers and wanderers...

They will dress in bright colors, frumpy sweaters or all black.

They will smoke too much and drink too much. They will eat only macrobiotic foods. They will develop addictions to Mountain Dew.

They will often be accused of living in their own fantasy world.

They will make great lovers. Yeah, even the trolls.

They will spend too much time either making love or thinking about it.

They will speak to inanimate objects. They will have much brighter eyes than everyone else. They will expect their magic to work in this world and their love to heal, and will be crushed by this world, and often won't expect it.

It will come close to killing them.

They will visit the places where the connections still exist: the waterfalls, the mountains, the oceans, and the forests. They will draw on all the power they have, and sometimes, sometimes, the magic will work. And everything will be wondrously easy. The teeth will grow back on the cog on the calliope, the tune will right itself, the horses will bob gracefully up and down, around and around, and the children will giggle and sing with cotton candy stuck to their cheeks and noses.

They will spend their days trying to reconnect a branch that millions are busy sawing away at. Often it will be more than they can bear.

While the rest of humanity is busy working on new and more efficient ways to lay waste to the Earth with the push of a button, they are saving it. A handful at a time.

They will share a common conviction that they are the only sane individuals in a world gone mad.

I don't think any of that list describes otherkin at all, and I don't think it describes any specific kind of otherkin either.

I think it describes people of a certain personality type who feel alienated from the world, and I think it does it in such general terms that a lot of people can identify with some of it, and so anyone who wants to feel like it fits them will say it does. In short, that list describes being human. Not all aspects of being human, sure - but everything on it is very human indeed.

Archer Wrote:I don't think any of that list describes otherkin at all, and I don't think it describes any specific kind of otherkin either.

I think it describes people of a certain personality type who feel alienated from the world, and I think it does it in such general terms that a lot of people can identify with some of it, and so anyone who wants to feel like it fits them will say it does. In short, that list describes being human. Not all aspects of being human, sure - but everything on it is very human indeed.

Fair point. *nodnod* I guess I was wondering if, considering we're all human to begin with, any of us felt like this kind of personality type that suited us, that might have been created or compounded by being otherkin.

I think that kind of personality type can be compounded - by which I mean, led to express itself in a certain way - by the simple fact of not knowing what your place in the world is.

Being otherkin doesn't lead to not knowing what your place in the world is . . . how you react to being otherkin might.

Commenting on what I think of people who follow all of the above list would get me banned because it isn't nice, so I'll hold my tongue.

Anyway, the list seems awfully vague. Almost anyone could have many of these traits. Seriously, one of them, "they will laugh a lot or cry a lot or both" contains so many people in it... the only people you're excluding are the ones who don't cry or laugh often.

And "they'll smoke/drink a lot. they will eat only macrobiotic foods. they will develop an addiction to mountain dew." C'mon. You're telling me you're going to eat only one type of thing then go around and eat something that is clearly not macrobiotic?

I was looking through the list, occasionally going, "Ah, that sounds right," or "Eh, it's a little like me." Mainly a lot of "how does this even work?" or "Nope."

This one made me giggle:

Quote:Things will not be easy for them. Because of their memories of the other side, the world will seem to them a wondrous calliope with just a few teeth missing on one of the cogs. Because of this tiny deficiency, the music is off key, the horses are crashing into each other and the children are frightened, bruised and crying.

Because that makes things very easy for me. Heehee, horse crashes. A horse accident. "Oh, my horse ran into a lightpost today." Tee... hee... hee hee hee.

To sum it up, this list could apply to most of humanity, kin or not. Needs more specifics.

Quote:They will remember a dark wooded area with a shining lake in the middle. At this lake, a certain quadruped species will drink, this species closely resembling equine species of our current world. Red berries will grow from silver tendrils of vines. These berries were thought by their kind to grant the gift of true insight of their futures.

They will own a red Prius and drive erratically in the hopes that someone will notice their witty bumper stickers.

They will soar to the heavens... in airplanes. But they know that at one point they had wings.

Things like this. Much more specific.

Maybe you relate to it more since the article seems to be geared more to a fae sort of otherkin and a few celestial types I've met could relate more with that then say shadows or other demon.

A few things on the list clicked for me (like simim pointed out, they were usually the vaguer ones), though most didn't overall.

I've seen this list pop up every 4 months for a few years now and each time I greet it with a sigh and a "you are all aware that these are perfectly human feelings right?"..
I'll just keep it at that.

I thought it was an interesting list though certainly many people could identify with it. From many other groups too. Still, I think there is some truth there. I think a possible down-fall to the list is people identifying as Kin who may just be lonely or perhaps are drawn to say a magickal path or different spirituality than what is seen as mainstream etc...

*reading all the replies* And honestly, this is one of the reasons I posted it, even though I did figure that it wasn't a perfect fit. ^_^ I wanted to see what everyone else thought. Sorry, Freetha, I'd never seen it posted anywhere else. If I'd known, I wouldn't have put it up. Now, however, I'm curious which ones everyone gave that vague nod to.