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Silver Dragon Breath dragon forums
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CB
Dragonstar
Joined: 20 Oct 2009
Posts: 163
Location: Ohio
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 Posted: Sat 24 Oct 2009 9:58 Post subject: How do you see it... |
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OK so I went to otherkin.com yesterday and read up, and to my avail once I saw that there was an otherkin following for every fantasy type creature my heart sunk, because that made me so much more skeptical about otherkinship...especially when I found out *shutters* unicorns were on that list...I wont say anything to anyone in particular but I hate unicorns with an extreme passion.
Regardless I continued on and read the description they had for both western and eastern dragons...and strangley enough neither one of those lists had any of the traits I see in them. To me a dragon is a swift and nimble creature, deadly and possesing great pride.
At the same time I dont beleive they had any powers, that they breath fire or even that they're particularly strong...for their size maybe, but not as strong as everyone makes them out as. These are all just personal feelings and veiws though and I get this from nowhere in particular.
Both of the lists I saw lacked any of these qualities, so now I ask what you think on the matter (both the other otherkin followings and how you see dragons).
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Jasriella
Shining Dragonstar
Joined: 19 Nov 2008
Posts: 1709
Location: Minot, ND
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| Posted: Sat 24 Oct 2009 11:20 Post subject: |
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Well I posted a thread a while back titled "How you view dragons." Since I made that thread though my opinions have become a little more skeptical so I guess I'll enlighten here.
To me the dragon I view myself as would be relatively the size of a large elephant (fully grown). Scaled and possibly plated. I don't think we had any sort of breath weapon (and I cringe at saying that, it sounds so childish "breath weapon"). No magic that I can think of. Everything was kinda natural I guess would be the proper term. Basically if our bodies physically couldn't do it, we didn't do it. Other than that I believe we were (or are if the kind I view myself as are still in existence) how a regular Western dragon was viewed. Wings, horns, tail, 4 legs, obviously flight, scales and plates depending on the individual and genetics. Venom is a possibility but I'll leave it as little as that.
As to otherkin in general. I wont infringe on other's beliefs. If someone honestly believes they're a unicorn trapped in a human's body then so be it, it's not that much different compared to those of us who think we're dragons. Though I do find the idea a little rediculous it's not my place to judge other people on their beliefs.
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Shiari
Moderator
Joined: 26 Apr 2008
Posts: 227
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| Posted: Sat 24 Oct 2009 13:37 Post subject: |
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Frankly, the idea of a horse/deer looking creature with a single horn is FAR less outlandish than the idea of a large, 6 limbed, flying creature.
Think for a moment how ridiculous it sounds for a *dragon* to tell a unicorn that they can't exist. |
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Hyraxylos
Shining Dragonstar
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 805
Location: Atlanta, GA
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| Posted: Sat 24 Oct 2009 14:46 Post subject: |
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| CB wrote: |
| OK so I went to otherkin.com yesterday and read up, |
I'm a highly active member there, though I've been putting off signing in there for a long time because it's far harder to keep up with new posts than with here.
| Quote: |
| and to my avail once I saw that there was an otherkin following for every fantasy type creature my heart sunk, because that made me so much more skeptical about otherkinship...especially when I found out *shutters* unicorns were on that list...I wont say anything to anyone in particular but I hate unicorns with an extreme passion. |
Firstly, if you've grown more skeptical about otherkin, that's excellent. It makes your surviving beliefs all the more significant. Secondly, I don't think there is a unicorn section on there anywhere and I don't recall seeing it, unless it's been added within the two weeks since I logged in there. o.O Indeed, I've only seen one unicorn on the entire Internet, though admittedly I've never looked very hard.
| Quote: |
| Both of the lists I saw lacked any of these qualities, so now I ask what you think on the matter (both the other otherkin followings and how you see dragons). |
My thoughts of otherkin FOLLOWINGS (defining a "following" as doing something because others are doing the same) are that they are absolutely disgusting and should be dissolved immediately. As for my thoughts on dragons... the only time when I think about someone else's spiritual state is when I've conversed with them about it deeply, one person at a time. One huge thing to stay away from is thinking about the "otherkin community". Don't think about how "most otherkin are" blah blah blah, which tends to lead to a large number of association fallacies yielding horribly excessive emo, and I see far too much of that stuff on otherkin.com. Every time I see someone talk about how otherkin as a whole are going down the tubes or (worst of all) that they "don't want to call themselves otherkin because of negative connotations", I feel an urge to slap someone. Not that I'm accusing you of doing this, I'm just saying to watch out for the mentality, because it's based on a total lack of information and doesn't accomplish anything. Talk to someone directly before making any kind of decision about them and you should be ok. 
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Namhias
Shining Dragonstar
Joined: 19 Jan 2006
Posts: 1055
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| Posted: Sat 24 Oct 2009 15:08 Post subject: |
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I know at least a few people who are either unicorn, angelic, wolf, or otherwise. I know that there are also vampires, but I've never talked to one. There are, in fact, many many more, and if I were to try to list them all, I'd probably fail. I don't think much of it, it's just as outlandish as thinking you're a dragon.
| CB wrote: |
| Regardless I continued on and read the description they had for both western and eastern dragons...and strangely enough neither one of those lists had any of the traits I see in them. To me a dragon is a swift and nimble creature, deadly and possessing great pride. |
There is no fixed way to view dragons. The descriptions of the western and eastern dragon are classical ones. There is a huge variety of dragons out there. If you compare it to those classical views, you'd notice that there aren't many who fit the description. The western and eastern dragons are stereotypes. |
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CB
Dragonstar
Joined: 20 Oct 2009
Posts: 163
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Sun 25 Oct 2009 6:07 Post subject: |
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Woah people, I think I did another horrid job at explaining myself. Time to clear the air again....and I thought I made my first short post.
First off about that whole 'unicorn' comment...I wasnt putting down anyones beleif on the matter, I was just saying that it a) Made me very skeptical on otherkinism in general, and b) That I really hate unicorns NOT in the 'people who are those' term just the actual physical ones...in the same way I dont like rap but still respect those who do. I was just voicing my opinion.
Second I haven't come to the conclusion yet that I was, am, or ever will be a dragon. I kind of beleive alot of you when you say you are because alot of you said the feelings came with intense physical pain in the form of phantom limbs, which DO exist in the matter of how a WW2 vet might feel his arm he used to have before it was blown off his body. I however have only had VERY strong emotions on dragons and occasional physical quirks that I have since learned to focus away, and some random experiences that can all be explained as random events due to their lack of concistency. So if I took these few things and jumped to a conclusion so quickly that took many of you years of deciding and based of alot more than I have to go by, I would be an ignorant fool. For now I will not say I am otherkin no matter how strong I feel, and even if I ran into some psychic who told me my name and life story then told me i was otherkin, I would still be somewhat skeptical.
But I dont want anyone to think Im attacking people who think they are other things beside dragons! D: I just saw that and it threw up the thought in my head of why all these were conveniantly in myth, which reinforced one of my ideas that this is just a bunch of people getting carried away. And I hope I offend no one with that statement because I am here too, which means it would apply to me as well. Im just trying to make healthy debate, but by all means if I begin to start conflict I'll quickly shut up.
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Hyraxylos
Shining Dragonstar
Joined: 13 Jun 2007
Posts: 805
Location: Atlanta, GA
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| Posted: Tue 27 Oct 2009 16:44 Post subject: |
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Nobody's offended. There's no need to apologize or back down from anything. o.O
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JKarrah
Dragonstar
Joined: 20 Jun 2009
Posts: 20
Location: Massachusetts
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| Posted: Wed 28 Oct 2009 7:43 Post subject: Re: How do you see it... |
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| CB wrote: |
| ...once I saw that there was an otherkin following for every fantasy type creature my heart sunk, because that made me so much more skeptical about otherkinship...especially when I found out *shutters* unicorns were on that list... |
I find that rather amusing, to be honest. Way back when, nearly 20 years ago when the term "otherkin" was first invented, those of us who thought we were dragons had the hardest time. The fledgling otherkin community was dominated by people claiming to be Elves and Fairies. The collective term "fae" didn't come into popular usage until later.
Dominating *that* group were a specific group of elves called the Elenari . So much of the terminology found today in the online 'Kin communities come directly from these groups. Some type of Elenari was what you had to claim to be to garner any kind of respect, but it was hard to do because so many of them actually seem to have shared pasts and cultures. Comparing notes... instinctively knowing the secret code words and the "secret handshake" was paramount to acceptance. A single slip up could land you in a world of ridicule for being a poser and wanna-be.
When other kinds of "critters" started making their appearance online there was reluctant acceptance by the dominating Elves. Anyone claiming to be a "mythological" really had to know their shit and be extremely convincing in their beliefs. After a while, as more and more gryphons and unicorns and pegasi started coming forward they were more accepted. Only one mythological critter remained firmly planted on the "poser" list...
Dragons.
Claim to be a dragon and find yourself laughed off the boards if you were lucky. Flamed off if you weren't. Claiming to be a dragon was to publicly admit to having a superiority complex, an addiction to self aggrandizement, to complete self delusion and, in general, simply to be a moronic, loser dick weed who'd spent WAY too much time playing Dungeons and Dragons.
The usenet group alt.fan.dragon eventually became our first refuge. Originally simply a dragon fan board, those who believed themselves to actually be dragonkin slowly started making in-roads in the early to mid-90's and gradually became the majority. Then there was the "dragon folder" on AOL (I first came across that one in 1992-93), then there were the email lists called E-groups (later bought out by Yahoogroups). It wasn't really until the late 90's that the "modern" forum we all take for granted today really came into being and the first dragon-exclusive boards were born.
Dragons today seem to dominate the otherkin community. Many of the Elenari have retreated to their own private groups and rarely have much to do with the broader otherkin world. They maintain a presence in the form of websites and yahoo groups so that newly Awakened Elenari can find them, but for the most part they have retreated into the shadows of the internet. And while you have gryphon groups and unicorn groups, and merfolk groups, angel groups, demon groups, vampire, werewolf and damn near any other kind of critter you can think of, dragons are the current apex critter.
We are the group every poser and wanna-be is claiming a member of. And because of our diversity and reluctance to try and pin down a "definitive" definition of what a dragon is we are more accepting, more willing to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Rather than assuming someone is a poser until proven otherwise, we accept claims of being dragon as given until proven otherwise.
The ease at which newly awakened dragons find acceptance is a direct result of us "gray muzzles" who had to almost apologize for believing to be dragons, who had to prove we were serious and not a collection of sad losers looking for something to make ourselves sound cool, even when other mythologicals were being welcomes into the online Otherkin community.
In the beginning it was the idea of including dragons into the greater otherkin community that made people shudder, that made their hearts sink, and caused people to be so much more skeptical about the whole concept of otherkin. To see someone on a dragon forum today having misgivings about the concept of the existence of otherkin because of the inclusion of "every type of fantasy creature" just goes to show that things have apparently come full circle, and that the more things change the more they stay the same.
I have known what I was for 30 years, long before the birth of the internet. I became active in the online dragon community at it's inception. I have seen the evolution of the greater otherkin community and the slow rise of the dragon community to dominance over the course of 15-20 years. And now I have to wonder if in another 10 years or so, should dragons drift off and join the Elenari in the shadows of the internet what new species of otherkin will rise to be the next apex critter to be skeptical about the whole concept of otherkin because the inclusion of "X" type critter makes them shudder...? 
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