Discord Servers, Otherkin and general bullshittery

[CrystalisRC]

I've been part of the otherkin communities as long as 1995-1998...and frankly for the past few weeks..a set of peculiar behaviours has warranted my attention.


The talk about science, research, fictionkin (otherkin coming from mangas and movies like Gundam Wing, Twilight or Macross Plus) to name a few and the conclusion of banning and kicking people without notice kinda upsets me...

Draconic and Dragon Realms used to be a place where 10-30 channels existed at a time where a lot of us could discuss our spiritual and physical natures.  While some of us still enjoy that aspect, I've seen places like DreamHart, Otherkin.net and other related otherkin sites turn into dissection labs trying to use science and math to brainfart their way into our communities.

The gryphons have their own community, the weres/therians have their own community, the dragons have their own community, even the witches, faes and elves have their own community.

I get it, we all have our communities.  Given the amount of power hungry admins and the ability to create a server anywhere on Discord,   I felt outcasted by the communities I was raised in (with the exception of Draconic and DR)

anyone else experienced this as of late?

[NoddyTheDragon]

I'm not a big fan of the whole "science" thing either.  I find it to be too religious in nature, more along the lines of "scientism" than an actual proper usage of science. 

Also, as far as fictionkin and that type of thing goes, I think that if I believe I'm a dragon, I've got no business saying that someone who thinks they're a Na'vi is wrong or stupid or any of that stuff.  As far as the rest of the world is concerned, dragons and Na'vi are both works of fiction, so it doesn't do a Dragonkin any bit of good whatsoever to get on a fictionkin's case for their weird beliefs.

And finally, I agree that a lot of people are real power-hungry.  I got permabanned from Draconic because, according to KaniS, I was a "danger to the community."  My crime: I had proved his favorite moderator wrong in a forum debate, and later called her out for her bullying of a younger member who was complaining of abuse at home.  I'm sorry, but I'm not going to stand idly by while a moderator uses their position of power as a blunt force weapon to silence people they don't like.  And if that means a permaban for me, then I guess that's what it means.  Doesn't mean I have to like it, though.

[CrystalisRC]

The moderators have changed after the main servers went down...the days of 10-30 channels and draconic being populated and waned to about 1 and a half channels with people trying to salvage the community to a bearing where everyone's accepted.  Do I recommend going back to Draconic? The forum activity has been recent as of late, but as for the IRC...it pains me to see it in the state it is.  The difference is that Dragon Realms was created from that fomer oppression and the didn't have enough time to collect metadata and input (that's basically what DR 2.0 is). 

They want to learn from their mistakes since they're trying to re-capture the data from the old archives and use the new forums to make this place more spiritual and more of a sanctuary.

[GreySpectrum]

I have, on a site called Therian Wilderness and on a site run by an ex-friend of mine. From my experience TW is a place that practically demands a clear explanation of your otherkin self right off the bat. They tell newbies to "expect to have questions asked about your otherkin/therian identity". I've had alot of practice explaining my otherkin identity to people so I didn't get very many questions but many people who are new to otherkin communities or unsure of their identity have been grilled for answers for weeks sometimes months after joining. I'm pretty much an outcast there now because I wanted to make friends over there (alot of the replies I got tell me they take the view of "I don't care, you're just text on a screen.") and I'm a spiritual kin which doesn't agree with alot of their definition of what it is to be otherkin. The other site owned by my ex-friend is one he got me to join claiming it was open to dragons but after a few months I started getting bashed on because he and the other admins didn't like my dragon identity not conforming to their specifications and me having a real life outside of being on their forum. I was banned for not being there enough while taking care of my grandfather who had dimentia and being away while I was moving across the country after he died. I was let back in with the understanding I would never deal with such bullshit or have an otherkin belief or identity that was equally so ever again. Mostly I just agreed with them so I could keep an eye on how they were treating some of my friends who wanted to stay despite what was going on. Anyways the site owner there is no longer my friend as he had his wife come track us down on different otherkin related sites and used our posts on other sites against us.

Though most sites are not like that it's still hard to find good ones out there. Draconity.org I've found is a good one and on Google+ the admin from alt.fan.dragons forum has made a good group called Therian/Otherkin Community. I actually don't think most of the community knows what it wants yet so there are many sites catering to only a few or one type of kin or method of otherkin identity. Draconity.org has gotten some undeserved comments offsite about it being "Just for dragons", something which is totally not true and is mostly said by people who've never been there and is based on the sites name. It's really open to everyone dragon and non-dragon alike.

[CrystalisRC]

Draconity.org is a shell of it's former self, there's a history behind it...

after the moderators started power tripping (not to mention I found out Selroth really doesn't identify with kinship) a lot of kin started dividing between scientology and spiritualism...

some became furries, others just gave up "being dragon" while some of us much like Rakul, Akhor, myself and a few others want to rebuild the draconic feeling with heart and soul in mind because we knew from the internal heart being dragon is a lot of things and it's a deep, spiritual experience

[NoddyTheDragon]

Draconity.org is a shell of it's former self, there's a history behind it...

after the moderators started power tripping (not to mention I found out Selroth really doesn't identify with kinship) a lot of kin started dividing between scientology and spiritualism...

some became furries, others just gave up "being dragon" while some of us much like Rakul, Akhor, myself and a few others want to rebuild the draconic feeling with heart and soul in mind because we knew from the internal heart being dragon is a lot of things and it's a deep, spiritual experience

You act like all that's news.  I've known about the Scientology part pretty much ever since I got involved in the Otherkin community back in 2009, and I found out from others who've been part of the Otherkin community for a lot longer than I have.  Also, Selroth's non-Kin way of thinking is no secret, he's openly said as much numerous times.  Should he be excommunicated from the Kin community because he doesn't believe he's a dragon anymore?

And why is being a furry so terrible?  Just because it's a fandom and there's lots of porn in the furry community does not automatically make it less spiritual.  Some people experience their spirituality through porn and other sexual expression.  You act as if there's only one true way to experience or express one's spirituality.  Well, as a goddess incarnate I'm here to disagree with you.  You don't think my way, I don't think Selroth's way, Selroth doesn't think your way.  That's how it is, and there's nothing inherently wrong with it.

Finally, you need to understand that even though the word "Science" is the root word in both cases, that what most of the more outspoken Dragonkin are into isn't Scientology, it's Scientism.  Scientology is a fake religion created by L. Ron Hubbard that centers around an alien "god" named Xenu.  Scientism, on the other hand, is where people think that the Scientific Method is the only means of finding out what is and isn't real, and that everything else is fake because it isn't science.  Scientism is what the most vocally "pro-science" Dragonkin are into, not Scientology.

By the way, the Dragonkin who are into Scientism are actually not pro-science.  Science is a method, but scientism treats that method like a god.  Scientism is a religion that worships science.  Science itself doesn't claim godhood or that it's worthy of worship, and in fact it never says anything about souls or spirits or anything else along those lines, because science doesn't have the necessary tools or knowledge to deal with those things. 

However, with all that said, the biggest problem in the Otherkin community as of right now is not science, scientism, scientology, the furry fandom, or spirituality, it's the whole "us vs. them" thing we've got going.  We don't all have to be the same to get along, we just have to stop trying to convert each other to our way of thinking.  Just because my way works for me doesn't mean it will automatically work for everybody else.  The same goes for your beliefs, or Selroth's beliefs, or anyone else's beliefs.  The absolute best thing anyone can do is to stop acting like anyone else who isn't exactly like us is out to get us.  You can't read my mind, I can't read Sel's mind, and I'll be goddamned if I'm going to sit here and pretend like I can.  We're just going to have to accept that people are the way they are and stop trying to make them into carbon copies of ourselves.  If we're not willing to back off and let others be what they are, then we are the problem, not them.