>>5134309I'm otherkin and most of the otherkin "community" born from Tumblr is such complete garbage and it took over what was originally a calm, personal, spiritual community that while unusual wasn't anything to do with social justice or transgender issues
I used to be fairly well known in the community, was a philosophically-inclined leader, held discussion on how to interpret one's animalistic/mythological beliefs and identities to better our lives and the lives of others
I used to talk with people who believed they were angels and help them nurture that part of their identity by helping others, volunteering, working at soup kitchens, etc
I used to help people who felt they were wolves get involved in their community as a way of helping them feel closer to a "pack", heard great stories of them helping homeless shelters and animal shelters and the like
We talked about humane hunting practices, helping the environment, helping people, learning about philosophy and history and language and mythology. We were using this important aspect of our spirituality to help people, to make the world a better place
And now our name has been tarnished by teens on the internet who by the droves believe they're allowed to be assholes to people because their true identity is a mentally ill genderfluid Steven Universe or Freddy Fazbear, and none of us who were older and more experienced could convince them to better themselves because they outnumbered us and destroyed the terminology we used and dragged our reputation through the mud and now we're little more than the laughing stock of the Internet, the thing people mention when they want to talk about how weird people can be.
I can't even bring myself to go back to the smaller, more secluded parts of the community that still hold on, the annoyance of how much Tumblrites destroyed what was once a peaceful and productive community is still too much of a painful reminder
And now here I am watching it happen to trans people.
