Otherkin: real, non-fictional people who identify as other than human. Otherkin identify as creatures from myth and legend, usually elves, faeries, and dragons. This is a sincere identity, not role-play. Being otherkin is a very individualistic thing: each otherkin reaches his own explanation for how and why he is an otherkin. There are both spiritual and psychological hypotheses for the causes or origins of feeling non-human.
The term was coined in 1990 by Torin in the Elfinkind Digest listserve. It is a variant of the word "otherkind," which referred to any creature that was not Elven. In the early 2000's it became an umbrella term that could include Vampires, Therianthropes and other people with animal self-images.
References
Scribner, O. "Otherkin lexicon: A multi-lingual dictionary of jargon used in the communities of otherkin, therianthropes, and other similar peoples, v. 0.1 Abridged." The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. 8 September, 2012. https://frameacloud.com/otherkin/nonfiction-otherkin/
Scribner, O. "Otherkin timeline: The recent history of elfin, fae, and animal people, v. 2.0." The Art and Writing of O. Scribner. 8 September, 2012. https://frameacloud.com/otherkin/nonfiction-otherkin/
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Therian Dictionary
Non-FictionCommon Terminology of the Therianthrope Community with history and links to References for each term.
