fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3382 ]

[ SECRET POST #3382 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3382 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

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Some people think the world was made in seven days by a being that burns you for eternity if you stick your penis in another guy's ass, and I think that's fucking nuts. Some people think they're a reincarnated elf, and I think that's fucking nuts, too. But I'm never gonna argue people out of their religious beliefs, so one way or another, I have to live with them and negotiate boundaries such that we stay out of each other's way. Why not stay out of the way of otherkin, too?

Because this sort of imaginary role play is cute when you're six. In a teen or adult it's no longer cute. It's one more symptom of the infantilization of an entire generation.

Infantilization of an entire generation??? I'm curious what you're basing that off of.

Among other things? Being on mommy and daddy's health insurance until age 26 on one end of the spectrum and criminalizing what is known as 'free range parenting' aka the way every generation of kids prior to this one was raised.

Forgot some words there.

... on the other.

Being on your parents health plan is being infantile? What? I think you're being ridiculous. If I go outside and compare the lives of people my age to what their parents were doing 30 years ago I doubt I'd see much difference. Lifestyles and economies change, people are basically the same.

Because unfortunately, otherkin and fictionkin are also a hotbed of creepy, abusive people. It's a combination of the "unique and special" and "I'm not responsible for my actions because I have the soul of this mythical animal/fictional character inside me" that seems to attract an assload of truly dangerous people.

I'm not even gonna draw the parallel there. It's too freaking easy.

Seriously, I'm all for threat management. My aunt has alters, and she's burned all her bridges and ruined her life, so I understand that some people need treatment whether they want it or not. But I'd just as soon keep that to people who're actually hurting themselves or others.

I think you missed the point. "Staying out of otherkin/fictionkin's way" is kinda difficult when a lot of them are manipulative, abusive, and are constantly seeking out new targets.

If they're manipulative and abusive, they should be dealt with like anyone else whose mental illness makes them manipulative and abusive. I think we agree on that.

To hell with it, I'll name names. Didn't L.B. Lee have a fiction-based personality? They never seemed particularly harmful or dangerous in their posts here.

I have no idea who that person is, so I can't comment on them.

But I think it's alarming that you don't see a problem with ready and blind acceptance of a subculture that fosters and breeds this kind of behavior just because "hey, they're different."

I learn what I've been taught, and people keep trying to teach me not to blame religion when a politician says that gay people are different from pedophiles because they're possessed by two different kinds of demons. You could frame that as petty if you wanted, and I guess that's a part of it--"See, I'm doing exactly what you tell me to, and following it through to its logical conclusion! Be annoyed at me!" But that implies insincerity, and just as I'm 100% sincere in thinking religion is fucking nuts, I'm 100% sincere in thinking it does a lot more good in the world than my own viewpoints have ever accomplished or likely ever will. I can't judge people based on what they think, no matter how crazy it seems to me, and I'm not enough of a hypocrite to apply that to some people but not others. And if thinking you're a cat is less "weird" than thinking an all-powerful being is watching over you, that's only because the world has normalized the latter so much.

So you're being a deliberately obtuse troll. In that case I'll stop wasting my time.

If I'm being obtuse, I promise it's not deliberate. I saw your post upthread about personal negative experience with soulbonding, and that's not something I can address. Your experiences are your own. But it seems like you're trying to frame me as completely unwilling to judge or recognize when something is dangerous or harmful, and you don't get to divide things that tidily. All I'm saying is that some otherkin aren't necessarily a threat, and I don't think that conflicts with everything you're saying about how and why otherkin in a position of power can pose a threat.

People who are disconnected enough with reality to think they are really not human at heart are absolutely a threat. That's not up for debate. You're free to disagree, and I'm free to find that alarming and avoid the hell out of you. The internet's funny like that.

If it counts for anything, I like you. I think you're an intelligent poster who often makes good points. I haven't had your life experiences, but I'm not your opponent in any practical terms.

I appreciate that. But I refuse to stop seeing otherkin/fictionkin as threatening, because dismissing it as "oh well, whatever makes them happy" is exactly how I got sucked in and abused. I learned my lesson and refuse to be complacent when someone is completely dismissing verifiable reality.

That's where I draw the distinction between religion, and shit like this. Religion and faith are by definition unprovable one way or the other. You can't prove deities don't exist any more than people who worship them can prove they do. Thus, it's left up to faith, and nobody's getting hurt unless there is other abuse going on independent of the religion.

I CAN prove that people aren't wolves/panthers/unicorns/gryphons/etc. I CAN prove that the person I'm talking to isn't a character from Homestuck/Undertale/Steven Universe/FF7/etc. People who choose to dismiss verifiable reality in favor of believing their escapist delusion are dangerous to me for the same reason someone following me down the street at night is dangerous; call it Schroedinger's Abuser. They haven't attacked me yet, but I'm not sticking around long enough to find out if they will.

People who are disconnected enough with reality to think they are really not human at heart are absolutely a threat. That's not up for debate.

People with mental illness are statistically more likely to be the victim of crime than the perpetrators. Saying all otherkin are dangerous is a worrying generalisation for me, because in that case how do we tackle it?

Edited 2016-04-08 21:58 (UTC)

We don't. We avoid them. Walk away. Do not engage. No contact.

Nobody can "tackle" someone with a mental illness until that person decides they want help. Until then, the most we can do is not supply them with fresh victims.

Most people with mental illness are not ensnaring 'fresh victims'. We're mostly just trying to survive. And I'm sure lots of people who buy into the otherkin stuff are just doing it as a bizarre hobby rather than out of some psychological problem. I'd rather raise awareness of cult-like behaviour than tar an entire community with the same brush and risk people not wanting to talk to others about what's going on.

Re: I really don't draw a distinction

lady_dragoon - 2016-04-08 23:34 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I really don't draw a distinction

arcadiaego - 2016-04-08 23:42 (UTC) - Expand

Re: I really don't draw a distinction

lady_dragoon - 2016-04-08 23:48 (UTC) - Expand

if thinking you're a cat is less "weird" than thinking an all-powerful being is watching over you, that's only because the world has normalized the latter so much.

I completely agree with you on this point.

They did seem like a fuckin' loon though. Seriously, my eyes just about rolled out of my head at times

yes, let's compare thousand year old belief, ethical and moral systems to people thinking they're actually Sephiroth.

I don't think age is the important factor here, or popularity for that matter. If someone's an eclectic Wiccan whose combination of beliefs comes from study and personal experience, that wouldn't make them any more or less similar to otherkin than someone whose beliefs have been codified for a thousand years. Like I said elsewhere, I look at it in terms of threat: if this person can function within a diverse society without hurting themselves or others, it's not really my place to lecture them or try to change them.

Belief in things not seen is one thing. Humans are objectively not cats, or whatever. I would never bother arguing with someone over it, but I do roll my eyes here in ghe privacy of my hone.

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