Otherkin News

Content warnings: Internet troll activity.

Short version: Don't look at the #otherkin tag on Tumblr right now, because it's full of disturbing pictures.

July. Anonymous participants of the web-site 4chan declared their summer plan to "invade the feminist tag" on a social blogging site, Tumblr.com. This means that Tumblr users checking the #feminist tag on Tumblr will mostly see a flood of shock images put there by the trouble-makers from 4chan. The shock images include disturbing topics such as photos of gore and animal abuse. 4chan participants then said that they would expand their attack to many other tags, including many LGBT related tags, many specific fandoms. They have also started doing this in the #otherkin tag.

(For context, the #otherkin tag has been trolled heavily and constantly for the past few years. Most of the posts to it are meant to be offensive and to make otherkin look bad. This even included elaborate hoax blogs that make outlandish claims about being otherkin in absurd ways. Many otherkin stopped bothering to read that tag years ago.)

I haven't heard how long this will last. Tumblr site administrators are unlikely to do anything about it.

Advice: It would be wise not to browse any tags on Tumblr for now. You can choose to either not post to the tags for now, or you can try to counter the attack by flooding the tags with positive content. The trouble-makers naturally don't tag their shock images with content warnings, so filters such as Tumblr Savior and Washboard.ws are not effective solutions for this particular problem. The Tumblr blog 4chancounterspam is posting updates about this attack as it happens. That blog gives lists of the usernames of 4chan troll blogs to block, and which tags they're posting to so far.

[Edit 2014-07-05] 4chancounterspam reports that participants of 4chan have furthermore declared plans to collect all self-portrait photos posted to the tags, paste the faces into porn, and then post these images. The same 4chan post expressed that a goal of this attack is to render Tumblr's tagging system unusable. I've also seen mention that 4chan participants are spamming tags for disabilities with images that can cause seizures. They've expanded their attack to all kinds of innocuous tags, so their goal is apparently not just an attack on feminist groups or any particular political alignment, but on Tumblr overall.

Here's 4chancounterspam's master list of blogs to block.

Content warnings: None, although it's annoying.

An article published in The Montag journal mistakenly says otherkin originated in Tumblr. Sterling Hall also argues that otherkin are based in "appropriat[ing] the struggles of transgendered [sic] people" (p. 85-88). Hall's claim appears to be based on the Gawker article that drew some of the same connections, but Hall doesn't cite it.

Hall offers no support for the claim that otherkin started on Tumblr. The otherkin community, by the strictest definition (such as the adoption of the term "otherkin"), originated in the year 1990. In the loosest definition, the community started in the 1970s. The otherkin community has always been significantly made up of people who are transgender. For more information, please see the history book that I wrote about the otherkin community.

Source

Sterling Hall, "Beyond critique: An essay on the need for a new discourse." The Montag vol 1 or 2 (March or April 2013). http://www.unr.edu/cla/ch/docs/The-Montag-Volume2.pdf

(Some parts of the volume say that it's Vol 1 from March, while other parts say it's Vol 2 from April. I'm not certain whether The Montag is technically an academic journal. It says that it is, but it doesn't look right.)

Content warnings: None.

September: A new blog for otherkin opened in Tumblr.com. Kin Homes shows photos of remarkable architecture and interior decoration. These are supposed to inspire various kinds of otherkin and therianthropes to make homes that feel more like their home-world or natural habitat. The blog accepts requests to post certain types of pictures.

Source

Mod O, "Introduction." Kin Homes. 2013-09-14. http://kin-homes.tumblr.com/post/61229072121/introduction

Content warnings: None. For the linked blog, Kinshopping: Photos of food. Photos of animal products (including meat and taxidermy). [Edit 2013-08-15: Also, Kinshopping has sexual content on Sundays.]

September 8: A blog on Tumblr.com opened, named Kinshopping. The blog recommends fashion and food for various types of otherkin and therianthropes, particularly including uncommon types, such as owls. It's well-organized with tags. They answer requests. The blog is run by several otherkin under pseudonyms. The maintainers have changed a few times since the blog opened. They have included Mod Cat (a snowshoe cat), Mod Glitch (a computer glitch and kaiju otherkin), Mod Space, Mod Dog (Canaan dog), and Mod Goat.

Source

Untitled. KinShopping. 2013-09-08. http://kinshopping.tumblr.com/post/60707324932/hello-welcome-to-kinshopping-this-is-a-blog

"About." KinShopping. n.d. http://kinshopping.tumblr.com/about

Content warnings: None.

August 16: A dragon otherkin who goes by the moniker Dragonslorefury wrote an article to address some of the common questions that people have when they first hear about otherkin. Posted on Dragonslorefury’s personal blog on Tumblr.com, the article is titled “An FAQ on Otherkin for the Perplexed Observer.” Dragonslorefury’s article addresses issues of escapism, the difference between otherkin and therianthropes, and the role of Tumblr in the otherkin community. Dragonslorefury supports this with references from writings on otherkin by other authors, including Lupa's book A Field Guide to Otherkin.



Source

Dragonslorefury, “An FAQ on Otherkin for the Perplexed Observer.” 2013-08-16. Just An’Otherkin. http://justanotherkin.tumblr.com/post/58429596952/an-faq-on-otherkin-for-the-perplexed-observer

Trigger warnings: None.

Eamonn Keaveney, an anthropology MA student, wants to make an ethnography of otherkin and therians, focusing on the parts of that community that are active on Tumblr.com.


Source

Eamonn Keaveney (Kinthropologist), "Researching otherkin on Tumblr." 2013-02-17. http://kinthropologist.tumblr.com/post/43339329412/researching-otherkin-on-tumblr

Trigger warnings: criticism of otherkin.

I thought that I would post a link list like this every month, but the otherkin community has been so creative recently that I find it hard to keep up! Scarcely any time after my previous link list, I’ve already got a long list of new articles and projects. Maybe I should post a link list here on a weekly basis instead of monthly?


New articles introducing otherkin-related concepts

“Cladotherianthropy,” by Pantairin, of Chimera. 2011-07.
A cladotherianthrope is one whose animal side is a generalization of all animals within a taxa, such as an entire genus, rather than a species. A very well-written introduction to the definition and history of this concept.

“A short history of soulbonding,” by Tatsuya Rokurou, of the Flatlanders.
This article is written with the assumption that the reader is already familiar with multiplicity. In 2001, the first mention of “soulbonding” (mentally communicating with fictional characters). An overview of this concept’s changing relationship with fan-fiction and multiplicity. The development of related concepts of “muses” and of “otakukin.” How the definition of “soulbonding” changed in 2003, and problems with that definition: it assumes that every soulbonding relationship is the same, which is false in actual practice.


New articles criticizing otherkin, and new responses to criticism

“Otherkin troll bingo!” by Tsu. 2011-11-12.
A list of the phrases that people most commonly use to discredit otherkin, followed by a list of short responses from an otherkin correcting misconceptions in all of those. Both parts were created by a bird otherkin.

“We are not sick and dangerous, for the record,” by an anonymous otherkin. 2011-10-27.
An otherkin described being otherkin to mental health counselors, and they responded positively. They don’t see it as disassociation, schizophrenia, or anything harmful. It just exists, so the responsible thing to do is to deal with it existing as best possible.

“The parable of the were-duck,” by Aura Escher. 2011-08-24.
A vampyre criticizes therians for claiming to be animals, saying that therians are not animals in any real way. Escher expresses the opinion that what therians fool themselves into mistaking for their “animal side” is actually something else which is present in all humans, and not an “animal side” at all.

“Confessions of a former otherkin,” by BellaDonna Saberhagen. 2011-11-13.
A personal reflection by a Neo-Pagan who once self-described as fairy, describing how inexperienced Neo-Pagans often initially go through a phase of deluding themselves and one another into believing excessively far-fetched things, including that they are dragons, werewolves, angels, or even gods, who will play a part in the end/transformation of the world. Saberhagen advises the reader to take caution with spirituality, and accept being human.

“The skeptical otherkin #3: How inappropriate,” by Feathertail. 2011-11-21.
An otherkin asks, how do we determine whether the use of an idea is cultural appropriation?


Articles on what it's like to be a...?

“Motionless claws,” by Citrakāyaḥ. 2011-07.
What it’s like to be a cheetah therianthrope.

“Certata: From the blue fleet,” by Earth Listener, of Chimera. 2011-11.
What it’s like to be a blue glaucus sea-slug therian.

“Tell me what it is like to be a swangirl,” by Tsu. 2011-11-18.
What it’s like to be a swan.

Untitled (swangirl), by Tsu. 2011-09-06.
On how the human and swan sides get along without clashing. On being autistic and otherkin.


Other new articles
“People are only visible when they’re encouraged to speak,” by an anonymous author. 2011-11-12.
The otherkin and therian community mostly limits itself to conversation in English. As a result, we hear less or not at all from people in non-English-speaking parts of the world.

“From fictionkin to animalkin,” by Mist Weaver, of the Chimeras. 2011-06.
Written by a fictional animal member of a plural system. Assumes the reader is already familiar with the concepts of fiction-kin, therianthropy, and plurality.

“More thoughts about monsters,” by Tsu. 2011-10-17.
On the sacredness of that which is seen as different, strange, wrong, unacceptable, or scary. Whether you are a monster or not, you deserve to exist.

Untitled (mythology), by Tsu. 2011-08-28.
On the value of mythology

“The upside-down of grounding,” by Child Of The Fae. 2011-11-15.
The metaphysical anatomy of this Fae otherkin differs from the standard metaphysical anatomy of a human. This creates a challenge when performing metaphysical acts such as “grounding.” Assumes the reader is already familiar with the concepts of metaphysical anatomy, otherkin, and grounding.


New foreign-language articles

“Otherkin – dziwactwo czy fantastyczny sposób na życie? (Otherkin – a quirk, or a fantastic way to live?),” by Ewelina Czarnecka. 2011-08-29.
(In Polish.) An introduction to otherkin for outsiders. This polite and not sensationalistic article is in a women’s online magazine, We-Dwoje, which is otherwise mostly about fashion and health.


New art

Otherkin comic, by Drakmanka. 2011-11-13. Very nice.


New Podcast

The Pagan Musings podcast is having a show about otherkin, interviewing three otherkin: “Arthur,” Stormcrow, and Lupa.


New projects

The Beyond Awakening blog focuses on exploring otherkin-related topics that have had relatively little written about them. The latest essay prompt is titled “Challenge: Energetic Health.” Meirya asks otherkin to write about how their metaphysical energetic anatomy differs from that which is defined as “normal and healthy” in most literature on the subject.

Waoterlelie is running a survey, and is asking for otherkin to take a Meyers-Briggs personality test, and then send in their results.


New web-sites

Walking Between Worlds, a collection of essays written by two anonymous Vanir elves: one, an otherkin, the other, her spirit companion.


New blogs

The Other Problems, or, Dear Solace: A secrets and advice Tumblr. Anonymously send in your otherkin-related secrets or pleas for advice. The person running this blog is familiar with both psychology and otherkin, and patiently offers very wise advice to any who ask for it.

It Was Never Perfect But It Was Always Right, an otherkin-inspired work of ongoing fiction that has only just begun.

I Want To Go Home: Send in pictures of places that feel like Home, pictures of places for which your otherkin side feels homesick.

Little Otherkin Things And Problems. Short blurbs summarizing small things that are distinct to otherkin experience, whether joyful or sorrowful.


Other new link round-ups, like this one

“Link roundup and some news,” by Meirya. 2011-11-26.
Includes some summaries of how the otherkin community has been changing recently.

“Non-human blogs, resources, and projects,” by Tsu. 2011-11-26.


Thank you

Thanks to Earth Listener for telling me about several of these new things. Thanks to Tsu and Meirya for also collecting lists of new links on their blogs. When the otherkin community is so wonderfully creative and active, I appreciate any kind of help for keeping up with the fast pace!

- O. Scribner