Intersection of otherkinity and humanity
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To start off, I’m one of those otherkin that still identify as, and consider myself, 100% outwardly human. The keyword being “outwardly”, since my nonhumanity is something internal rather than external. As meme-worthy as the “on all levels except physical I am X” line is, it’s an accurate description of my otherkinity, and one I’d use if it weren’t a meme lol. I consider myself nonhuman metaphysically, and doesn’t tend to conflict with my humanity all that much.
Mental shifts are the only type of shifts I experience, and they’re so integrated with how I am everyday that they’re just…not noticeable. Rather than a definitive “I’m having a shift right now”, I have no idea when I am and when I’m not. They come and go throughout the day, every day, and I’ve gotten so used to them that I wouldn’t notice unless someone pointed it out to me.
If there was some magical ability to turn me into one of my kintypes, would I use it? Only if it wasn’t permanent. There’s too much I enjoy about being human to leave it behind, like not having to live in the wild (living in the wild is not all it’s cracked up to be imo, rose tinted glasses), having a longer life span, thumbs, eating food my kintypes can’t because it would literally kill them, etc. There’s things particularly special about being human that I wouldn’t want to just throw away.
I like being human, and I also like being otherkin. The two don’t cancel each other out for me and, if anything, they kind of work well together. Is there stigma towards otherkin currently among nonkin? Yes, but there’s also stigma towards humans among otherkin, so I gotta deal with both. Even so, it doesn’t define how I feel about my identity.
