One Way or Another(kin)

We talked to the internet residents who feel more like foxes, dragons, and cats than members of Homo sapiens.

They are called “Otherkin.” Basically, they are human beings who believe themselves to be something else. An elf, a certain kind of animal, dragon, unicorn, mermaid, alien, an elemental spirit of some sort. Lycanthropes fall into this category. Only they still look human. They remain, physiologically speaking, entirely human. The difference lies within their minds, or their souls, depending on which member of the Otherkin community you talk to. Some will admit that for them it is just an elaborate form of role-playing. Other, though, genuinely believe, and claim religious-like “awakening” experiences as proof.

It’s easy enough to cry ballyhoo, call them a bunch of wackjobs. The Otherkin movement didn’t even exist as such until the Internet allowed these people to find each other and form communities. But it is possible that there’s something psychological going on, which is not to say defective, something perhaps similar to transgenders who feel they were born as the wrong sex. Might this condition have always been around, just largely unknown, feeding the “myth” of the werewolf? In ages past, one disturbed Otherkin who decided to act on some unhealthy impulse to violence would certainly have been branded a werewolf and his affliction blamed on demonic possession. No Internet needed.

By The Evil Cheezman

WAYNE MILLER is the owner and creative director of EVIL CHEEZ PRODUCTIONS (www.evilcheezproductions.blogspot.com, www.facebook.com/evilcheezproductions), specializing in theatrical performances and haunted attractions. He has written, produced and directed (and occasionally acted in) over a dozen plays, most of them in the Horror and Crime genres. His first novel, THE CONFESSIONS OF SAINT CHRISTOPHER: WEREWOLF, is available for purchase at https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/734763 MORTUI VELOCES SUNT!

1 comment

  1. That would be me :P Swift fox here. Also an old member of the long defunct A.H.W.W. newsgroup. Couldn’t remember my name back then if I tried. Being an otherkin, or therian, at least to me, kinda sucks. Always uncomfortable in your body, feeling like an amputee in many ways. My first clear memory was looking in the mirror and wondering why my face was flat and why my ears were on the SIDE of my head and couldn’t move. I now spend my time doing anything to make it more appealing to be stuck as a primate, my favorite being Motorcycling. Needing all four paws to control the bike, the hunched over position like being on all fours, and the added speed and nimbleness all just washes away that busy, silly human brain. Silences it. Allows you to just observe and react.
    Lots of love and dearest sympathies to all of my ilk, may we be ourselves in some other life. Lets just enjoy this one first as much as we can ^^

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