Anonymous asked: I'm aviankin and... is it normal for me to think that human noses look strange? I mean, when i picture someone with a beak, i find it alot more.. fitting and normal, you know? But when i talk to someone and look at their face, i can't help but to think human noses are so odd.
Noses are strange. You’re not alone, anon.
Also, LIPS. Wobbly flesh lips that stretch and twist when you talk. Human faces look so much like rubber masks sometimes.
Anonymous asked: Is it possible to identify with something like a tree? Idk, I've always felt a really strong connection to trees. I don't know if I identify with them or if I just feel drawn to them. I've never really seriously considered it before, though.
You might want to read the FWAK, because that is answered in there! ^v^ But yes, it is possible. I have heard of a number of plantkin.
Anonymous asked: why do kin of established types (for example- dragons, angels, fae) seem to be so judgemental of any "new" kintype of a similar kind that challenges that their kintype might not be the only one? like your tinker anon or someone who is a Supernatural angel
I’m not really sure… I think it’s because they want to have some power over someone else who can appear to be even lower on the otherkin social hierarchy than them. They think if they attack ‘kin that might sound less believable to “ordinary” people, they will get some respect from those “ordinary” people.
But you have to have a pretty ugly attitude to step on your own kind to get higher on the ladder, I think. Let’s face it, we’re all strange. Identifying as a dragon isn’t less strange than identifying as a Tinkerbell fairy. We should be fighting the cultural ideas that say “you have to sound as normative as possible to be worth something”, and start looking at what happens if we ARE something non-normative. Making our own space in the world instead of begging for some of the crumbs from the “normal” table.
Anonymous asked: Can otherkin have more than 1 identity? For example, someone identifies with a cow, a duck and a dragon. But they're mostly more aware of their cow identity?
Yes! That’s sometimes called polytherian. Or just “having more than one kintype”. It’s quite common.
Anonymous asked: Did you have these feelings that you should have very specific parts of swan anatomy before you learned these things about swans? I'm not trying to imply that you're making it up, not at all, just wondering if it comes from a conscious desire to be more like a physical swan, or whether it's something more innate than that, or a mixture of both. :)
Oh, I think it’s a fair question!
Some of them, I’m not sure. Some of them, like the phantom crop, I definitely had before. I wasn’t even sure if swans have a crop, because not all birds do, and actually, I thought that swans might be one of the birds that don’t.
I also wasn’t sure if swans have a cloaca, because male swans have penises. But they do… it’s not really a penis, it’s part of the cloaca and it doesn’t actually work the same way as a human penis.
But I still felt I wanted/should have both those things (a crop and a cloaca, not a penis, hehe) before I knew they were actually part of a swan’s body. To be fair, I’m sure there’s some that came after, too. I just can’t remember that they are.
Anonymous asked: As part of your dysphoria do you feel like you should have a cloaca? Or an avian respiratory system? I am new to the idea of species dysphoria and am just curious about how deep the feelings go! Thanks :)
Interesting question anon!
I definitely feel like I should not have human breasts and reproductive parts, I often imagine being flat on the chest (or having a keelbone instead of breasts), and yes, I definitely would prefer a cloaca and avian reproductive system to what I have now! The cloaca seems efficient and tidy compared to the messy, complicated thing that humans have. And it feels wrong that I should never carry an egg, for example.
I definitely feel like my lungs should be more efficient, and also like I should have a crop. “Phantom crop” is one of the strangest “phantom” experiences I get, actually. It’s really painful, so be glad if you don’t have it! It also gives me a compulsive desire to swallow stones, fortunately I don’t act on this (except one time at the beach »), but I love to swallow small candy pieces because it satisfies that feeling.
Thank you for the interesting question!~
Anonymous asked: Do otherkin sometimes slowly realize over time that they are nonhuman? Like... they don't have a specific story, i could say, other than they just slowly realized it over time?
Definitely! There are as many ways to discover your identity as there are nonhumans. There are a lot of different things that could affect how you discover your identity, like personality, what you experience in life, etc.
Anonymous asked: If we're going to talk about/differentiate between you and physical swans, what terms would you prefer that we use?
Hmm… “swan therian”, “swan otherkin” or similar for me is good. I usually use “physical swans” like you do for the swans that have that physical shape.
It’s not the same for all otherkin, but that’s fine for me.
Anonymous asked: (Same anon who asked about transition.) There's something I've been wondering about, and I'm sorry if I've been picking your brain too much, but... what do you think it would be like, mentally/emotionally, if you could physically become a swan? Do you want to retain your current mind, or would you like to have the same kind of mind as beings that start life as physically being swans? Do you think that'd be a disadvantage, or a negative, or that you'd be losing something? (1/2)
Is it a positive? Something that would make you feel more like your swan self? Is it just something you’d be okay with having for the sake of having a physical swan body? I am a supporter of animal rights and believe non-humans deserve respect our and consideration even if they don’t have minds like ours, so please don’t think I mean otherwise. It’s just hard for me to understand wanting to give up a “human” mind. I don’t think I’m phrasing this well. I’m interested to hear your thoughts. (2/2)
It’s okay, anon, you’re not picking my brain too much! I like these questions, actually. It gives me a reason to explain to people more what it feels like to have this experience.
For me, I would not mind having the swan mind and I actually think it would be a positive thing… I feel that there are probably some parts of me that my brain right now can’t express well, that I would understand or make sense if I was thinking with a completely swan mind. I feel like it would be probably the most honest way for “me” (my soul, consciousness, or whatever you call it) to express my self, through that mind.
I don’t really have any concern about giving up a human mind because I feel like… like you said, other kinds of minds are also worth respect, and I don’t think the human mind is particularly special. We know that many other species of animals can think and feel in complicated ways… and, this is only the animals that can express it in a way that human science can recognise at all. I really believe that every kind of creature has a complex mental life, and that it is not like losing something at all, to be a different creature, but only would be a different perspective.
So, it might look to the rest of human society like I was “less”, but, I don’t think that I would be less.
But, I can understand you not wanting to give up a human mind, because you are human as you say. If I was in a swan body with a swan mind, answering this question (in any way that a swan can), I would probably say that I can’t understand wanting to give up a swan mind, also. ^v^
Thank you for the questions! You’re a really nice anon, and if you have a Tumblr I’d like to know who you are in private, because I would like to talk to you more. ^v^
Anonymous asked: Assuming anything you wanted was possible and accessible, what kind of medical, physical, and legal transition would you like to undergo?
Good question, anon!
For the medical part, I would like a support network of doctors, psychologists and therapists to exist that are trained to understand species dysphoria. Of course, even I don’t understand it completely, but I think that if we (otherkin) work together with the medical community, it is something that can be understand.
I would like support groups, (optional) therapy and counseling, and informations (pamphlets, books, etc.) to exist on this to allow me to make the best choices for my physical and mental health. I would probably want to go to counseling because I struggle with the fact that otherkin desires and feelings are not really accepted in the mainstream, and I would want to speak to someone who accepts me and takes me seriously.
Physically, I would like to have a full transition if it was possible, human body to swan body. I would be prepared to accept the pain, money and time that would take, and having to leave the human life. I think that of course, if you don’t want to leave civilisation then you should not have to, and there should be options for people who have “anthro”, or more humanoid, etc. forms to live in society. Or even for a physical swan bodied person to live in society if they want to and they are able to (if we discovered through this process that they would still have the ability to exist in society).
For the legal part, obviously there is not much legal understanding of person other than human, but I would like that to change. If a non-human identity that also is a person could be recognised in the law, then I would very much wish for a legal transition. (And if the existence of a legal transition can make it possible for non-human persons to be recognised in the law, then also I would very much want that, as it would be a step for otherkin and also for physical non-human intelligent creatures such as dolphins, crows, apes, etc.) I would like to see a future where language does not assume that we are human or that humans are the only people, and I would like to be part of my future.
Is it a radical collection of ideas? Yes. Is it possible? Probably not… but it is what would truly make me happy.
