Hee. Ljdrama? I forwarded an otakukin link to my husband this afternoon, because I firmly believe that a marriage is based on both parties having to look at shit like that -- no one should have to bear it alone. posted by sugarfish at 6:40 PM on September 16, 2004
Penis-Unicorns, Fantasy BoobButtocks, Otherkin...what wave of cultic fantasy strangeness just passed by? posted by kozad at 8:14 PM on September 16, 2004
From the first link: "dragons all have something in common with other dragons, but they cannot say what it is." I wonder why? Probably becuase they have the wrong shape of tongues for verbalizing words. posted by louigi at 8:47 PM on September 16, 2004 [1 favorite]
kozad, *this* is the best of the web.
::revels:: posted by armage at 9:16 PM on September 16, 2004
sugarfish: You're right. Most of my personal relationships are based on shared hate. They're by far the most enriching type. posted by abcde at 11:05 PM on September 16, 2004
Well, I know two people (!) in real life who say they're Otherkin. And I wrote that kuro5hin article that filmgoerjuan just linked to...
Now I'm skeptical as anyone (perhaps moreso, being a hardline atheist and all), but there's definitely something going on here. People tend to be quick to write the whole Otherkin thing of as nutty furries who've read one too many fantasy books, but, but, but. The idea of 'otherness' seems to spring up without any real prompting. People will self-identify as somehow having the 'spirit' of something else without ever knowing the word Otherkin. Some people seem to see or hear a description of it for the first time and say "oh my God -- that's me!" It's really strange.
It's like a religion that lots of people come up with independently, and it's the only thing I've ever heard of where such a thing happens. At the very least, there's some kind of inbuilt psychological condition here. posted by reklaw at 11:37 PM on September 16, 2004 [1 favorite]
reklaw: Well, a sense of body alienation and foreignness to normal society is relatively common, just a lot of people hide it. It's probably (IMO, but I believe backed somewhat by the psychological establishment) due to the extreme dissimilarity of civilization to the normal operating parameters of the human body. Same reason people think they're reincarnated in a more conventional way (from a 14th century mill worker, or Mozart, or a rabbit), or MPD, etc. This sort of mental condition (and condition it is) falls loosely under the term "depersonalization."
That was a lot of parenthesis. posted by abcde at 12:08 AM on September 17, 2004
They want to know which part. But please don't tell them here. posted by jfuller at 3:24 AM on September 17, 2004
*digs around the directory for people he knows...* posted by kaibutsu at 4:00 AM on September 17, 2004 [1 favorite]
> I'm part Tentacle Beast.
What's your position on squiddy-porn? Do you support legalizing cephalopodosexual marriages? Octopedophilia - "the love that dare not shriek its name": for or against? posted by taz at 4:56 AM on September 17, 2004
my favorite were/otherkin is ponty the singing were-pontiac ... meow posted by pyramid termite at 5:21 AM on September 17, 2004
Sapphic vampiricism - the love that dare not spell its name. posted by Pretty_Generic at 5:39 AM on September 17, 2004
Cthulhusexuality is a Valid Lifestyle Choice! posted by Pretty_Generic at 5:43 AM on September 17, 2004
Identitiy is illusion.
If you don't think so, try being someone else for awhile. posted by ewkpates at 6:05 AM on September 17, 2004
This reminds me a lot of Doin' Time on Planet Earth (IMDB). Adam West plays a deranged middle aged guy who tricks this insecure kid into thinking he's an alien over the internet by relating to the common insecurities the boy experiences growing up. Rubbish film. posted by Evstar at 6:06 AM on September 17, 2004
"Its a Liger...Half lion, half tiger...breed mainly for its skills in magic." posted by Dr_Octavius at 6:55 AM on September 17, 2004
I'm part Tentacle Beast.
Keyboard: 0 Screen:0 Dignity: 0 Pretty_Generic: 3,451,096. posted by moonbird at 8:44 AM on September 17, 2004
But...but....I'm a unique snowflake! I'm different and special! You just can't see it on the outside, but...deep down...I'm a pritty pritty unicorn. posted by Hildegarde at 9:18 AM on September 17, 2004
Of course, none of these folks are claiming to be the human avatar of elephants, gnomes, slime blobs, or cockroaches. And no one is the reincarnation of an ant that someone stepped on in ancient Egypt. posted by mkultra at 11:09 AM on September 17, 2004
BTW, is any of this really at all different from the premise of The Matrix? posted by mkultra at 11:15 AM on September 17, 2004
being Otherkin does not necessarily make one magically safe - every culture has it's predators, this one is no different.
Is this even a subculture? posted by etoile at 11:59 AM on September 17, 2004
More forms of escapism are growing on the intarweb, and I think these are just a few very vivid examples. I personally don't see any problem with them, and in fact I encourage diversity and for people to do what makes them happy.
I see a lot of people who play out just about every role imaginable in a sophisticated virtual world called Second Life.
I've seen nearly everything roleplayed in SL, including cute woodland creatures, robots, chocobos, unicorns, kitchen appliances, cartoon characters, characters from Snow Crash / The Matrix / etc, and even the controversial "gor" roleplaying, and amazingly enough, nearly everyone gets along quite well.
Personally, I think life would be pretty boring if everyone was the same. posted by joquarky at 1:18 PM on September 17, 2004 [1 favorite]
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posted by sugarfish at 6:40 PM on September 16, 2004