kinspeak:

I’ve noticed in the otherkin community that we generally try to go out of our way to assure others that we do not think we’re “better” than humans in any way, and this assertion (that we are, that is) seems to only be made by beings who aren’t kin (or who are outright trolls).  And for most beings, this is true, I know.  But it got me thinking…what about those of us who do see our species as superior to humans?  Or whose species has been seen as superior by humans (in their mythologies, legends, folk tales, etc.)?  Or whose species is in some way seen by humans as advanced?

Because the fact of the matter is, I do feel superior to humans, because I feel my species is superior to humans.  This doesn’t mean I want to subjugate humans, it doesn’t mean I see myself as better than anyone on a personal level, it doesn’t mean I look down on humans.  And I recognise that, for all intents and purposes, I have to be human in the way I interact with others—and I’ve lived a human life, so I do anyway.  That’s the way it goes, right?  My species, though, is a superior species, not quite godlike or even demigod-like, but “up there”, I guess.  I’m having trouble even wording it the way I want to word it.

I don’t know why I’m rambling about it at all, even.  I suppose I was just curious if there’s anyone else out there who feels this way, or who might be scared to admit that they feel this way, because we do try so hard to dispel the notion that otherkin think of themselves as “better” than human.

I definitely relate to this. I don’t see Elves as being superior to humans but a lot of humans do. In fact, I’ve reached a point where I roll my eyes and groan inwardly whenever I see someone say anything along the lines of ‘I’d love to be an Elf! They’re just completely perfect!’ Why? Because I feel like this delegitimizes my identity. To a lesser extent I’ve already received a similar response to coming out as trans, because ‘of course you’d want to be male, they have more privileges’ or ‘you’re just suffering from internalised misogyny; you think women are inferior so you don’t want to be one’.

Indeed, I once came out as Elven kin to a friend and her response was something like ‘I think we all want to be Elves’ (she’s a Tolkien fan and I know her through the fandom). I find this so frustrating and hurtful. I don’t want to be an Elf I am an Elf; I feel guilty even saying self-positive things such as ‘I like being an Elf’ because I feel as though I should be arguing that I dislike it so people might stop thinking that I use my identity as a way to feel superior towards everyone else.

Recently, I’ve seen quite a lot of posts, by both people who identify as humans and those who don’t, saying things like ‘I hate humans’. Now, when it comes to groups who are oppressed, I have no problem with people from those groups expressing their anger towards the groups who have privilege over them through statements like that, nor do I have a problem with people who are from the privileged groups saying that they hate other members of their own group because they find their ignorance shameful and embarrassing. However, because Otherkin aren’t oppressed (and you get absolutely roasted if you give any indication that you might think they are) and because Elves are commonly considered superior to humans in folklore and fiction, I feel immensely uncomfortable just reading anyone say that they hate humans.

I feel like in many ways Otherkin aren’t allowed to have feelings of anger towards humans or - not even necessarily superiority over humans but simply feeling like we wouldn’t want to be human identified. Let’s face it, we probably all have human loved ones, but this is a group that constantly bullies and verbally abuses us; a group that we will by default at times feel alienated by. Yet, we aren’t allowed to express those feelings or we’re told that we’re just trying to make ourselves sound superior. 

I’m not sure that I consider any species inferior or superior to another as each have their own strengths and weaknesses, but in an ideal world I’d be surrounded by other Elves because I generally prefer the company of my own species.

Friends say they would “never judge you negatively” for confessing anything to them

Hahahahahaha.

Ha.

Ha.

Please.

I’ve heard that one before.