@Xinjinmeng@mastodon.social Oh, I see the point of difference there now! That's reasonable and it's now obvious I actually should've ranted for MUCH longer. O:)

Yeah, that's another point worth clarifying. I like Otherkin. I'd like to caucus with Otherkin, if they'll have me. I will take up rhetorical arms for Otherkin. I have no problem at all with getting mistaken for Otherkin.

I think I could fairly be described as "plural" and "Otherkin adjacent," though for me personally, I prefer just "fantasy-prone" because it acknowledges my "mystical rationalist" flavoring base better than most terms. :)

If someone else' definition of Otherkin scoops me up in it, I'm fine with that; I'm just saying my personal one doesn't, so I don't want to *presume* to speak for Otherkin, and I do feel like a bit of an outsider.

Plus, my own self-image is basically "human who's decided to make a 24/7 pretense of being a homicidal jungle cat because WHY THE FUCK NOT play a character for your entire life and make it a form of art?" So I feel like maybe the Otherkin *should* disown me?

And that'd be my loss, not theirs, because even if I don't think the typical Otherkins' belief system aligns well with mine on some fundamental levels, I still like the kind of questions they raise. I think they're good questions.

And I think the very fact Otherkin are engaging in these identity questions, even if I don't personally think they are "literally" (whatever that means) elves and wolves and such, means they're doing better than the mainstream— and are perhaps just braver than me.

Mostly I just wanted to remind people there are a few of us Otherkin-adjacent fence-sitters, and there are *many* valid ways to play this identity game.