#this might be a lesson that can be applied to things outside of Phantom tbh

[glassprism]

Follow-up on the Wikipedia. Thanks for letting me know about the “ other productions“ heading, but I guess that raises an unflattering question about who arbitrary decides which productions this to be on the front list, and which ones are relegated to an article further down the page? Don’t you think there is a bit of a neglect/apathy in international productions? The same wiki article doesn’t even mention world tour back in 2005-2007 and 2012-2016. Nope just the 2019 one… Maybe I’m just angry.

Technically it does mention the previous World Tours - as I said in my last post, that's where I thought the info was a little inaccurate because it was giving several of the World Tour stops their own country instead of placing it under the general heading of "World Tour". The 2005-2007 World Tour, therefore, is split under the Australia and Singapore productions, the 2012-2016 World Tour is split into the China, South Korea, Turkey, and Thailand headings, etc.

I can definitely see your point about how all productions outside of the UK and US are relegated into an "other" section, but then again, it's not just Wikipedia that does it, it's something you see happening throughout the musical theatre fandoms, across many different shows. Like, I (and you, in your own question) lump all of them under the heading of "international productions" or "foreign productions". Trading sites, including mine, will have separate tabs for West End, Broadway, and touring productions, but place everything else into a "World" or "Other" tab. Sites with information, not just Tumblr but wikis and such, will usually have far more detailed info for Broadway and West End and tours within those respective countries than for productions outside of it. And this is kind of a problem throughout the musical theatre fandom, which tends to be very Broadway-and West-End-centric (though not always, I've seen the West End get neglected pretty hard as well).

Then again, however, and this might blow your mind a little, have you tried going to Wikipedia in other languages and searching Phantom there? Look at Phantom in Portuguese Wikipedia? They have the entire cast of both Brazilian productions plus their covers and replacements. Same for Dutch Wikipedia (which was actually really helpful considering the Scheveningen and Antwerp productions are fairly old and difficult to find info on). Phantom on Spanish Wikipedia is also pretty good with cast info. Phantom on German Wikipedia could be a bit better but at least they give start and closing dates for each production. And massive shout-out to Japanese Wikipedia and its page on Phantom, which gives the dates of not only each of the Japanese runs, but also the start dates of many non-Japanese productions. You go, whoever is running the Japanese wiki page of Phantom!

What this might also show is that, while the pages in other languages do spend some coverage on the West End and Broadway, they're obviously geared towards the productions in their own respective languages. So perhaps it's also a language thing - the Wikipedia page in English is going to lean hard towards English-language productions, because information for that is easiest to find. So explore a little outside Wikipedia in English, and you might find the bias against international productions to be rather different.

[a-dragons-journal]

Otherkin Challenge

Putting this under the cut so I don’t spam the tag.

1. What name do you go by? What is the significance of it to you?

Rani! It is, as near as I can figure, the name I had when I was physically a dragon.

2. How old are you? (If you don’t mind sharing.) What is the gender you identify as?

18, nonbinary woman.

3. What is your Otherkin/Therian species?

Dragon.

4. How long have you known that you are Otherkin? How old were you when you Awakened?

Around a year and a half now; I was 16-17 when I awakened (the period I label as my awakening happened to fall over my birthday, inconveniently enough).

5. How did you find the Otherkin community?

I stumbled across an Otherkin FAQ - I have no memory of how that happened, only that it was entirely accidental -  and that led me to tomorrowlands.org and the rest of the community.

6. How does being Otherkin affect your life?

Not hugely, tbh - I’ve long since learned to override most behavioral urges, people learn remarkably fast to translate nonhuman noises and even respond in kind, etc, so there’s usually not a huge tangible effect. (It’s also hard to tell, given that nothing has changed since I awakened, I just have a name for it now - so what’s affected by being otherkin and what’s not? Hard to say.)

7. Are you “out of the metaphysical closet”? If so, to whom?

Yes! Mostly. My family does not and probably never will know. Most of my friends do, and those who don’t don’t know because it doesn’t come up rather than because I make any effort to hide it.

8. How did/would your family react to you being Otherkin?

I suspect it would be hard for my mom to believe, but other than that, I don’t think she would respond hugely negatively - just skepticism and neutrality. Still. Better not to bring it up.

9. What does being Otherkin mean to you?

I don’t know that it does mean anything, beyond the literal “identifying as something other than human” bit. It’s just a state of being. It’s not something I choose, so it’s somewhat counterintuitive to me to try and apply a deeper meaning to it - the same way I don’t apply a deeper meaning to me having blonde hair, or being asexual, or whatever. It just Is.

10. How do you believe you came to be Otherkin? Is it a psychological connection? Were you reincarnated? Explain.

I believe my draconity stems from a past life - that I lived a life as a dragon (on another planet or in another universe), and that for whatever reason my soul resonated particularly strongly with that shape and still remembers it, causing it to “bleed over” into this life.

11. What do you hope the Otherkin community will be like in ten years? Are you for public awareness or against it? Why or why not?

a) A little less... conflicted than it is now. I hope things will have settled down somewhat, and that we can sort out this issue of “Tumblrkin” (for lack of a more accurate but equally concise term) that’s arisen in the last decade or so - people calling themselves otherkin without really putting enough thought into it, or even actually understanding what it is first. On the other hand, I also like the shift away from “grilling” that the community seems to be taking - but that’s so recent that we’ve yet to see if it’ll stick.

b (and c)) ...Yes and no, honestly. Would I love public awareness that’s truly accurate information? Yes. Am I 99.9% sure that any large- or even medium-scale documentary or similar thing done on the subject will be sensationalizing and attention-grabbing at the cost of accuracy, making us out to be “crazies” and “wolfaboos”? Also yes. It’s happened before, and I have great faith in patterns.

12. Do you have phantom/astral limbs? What are they and how often do you feel them?

Yes! Most often, wings and/or tail (several days or weeks at a time, usually). Less often, horns, claws, paws, teeth, muzzle/snout, and digitigrade hind legs.

13. Do you mental-shift? Have you ever harmed yourself or someone else during one?

If I do, it’s so subtle/gradual that I’m not really aware of it. No.

14. Have you ever mental-shifted at a time when it could be considered inappropriate?

Not that I’m aware of, though I probably lean more draconic when I get tired/worn out and that does happen a lot during class, soooooo...

15. Do you Astral Project or practice any occult crafts?

I’m a witch, so yes. Haven’t gotten the astral projection thing specifically down yet, though.

16. Do you feel you are any sort of danger to society?

...No?

17. Does your nonhuman identity complicate every day life for you? If so, how?

Not particularly.

18. Why do you believe you are here as a human?

Because I was reincarnated here. :P

More seriously, I do tend to believe that we learn lessons across all our lives and thus life is about the living and the learning - but I don’t know if I chose to reincarnate here or if it’s determined by chance or some outside force.

19. Are you active among the Otherkin community?

You could say that, yes. (Thanks for 1200 followers, by the way, y’all.)

20. Are you religious? What faith do you follow? Does it contradict your Otherkin identity or do you feel that the two are synonymous somehow?

I am, though I’m not sure spiritual isn’t a better word. I’m Pagan, and please don’t ask for any more specifics than that at this moment - I’m in a bit of a questioning phase right now. Nothing about otherkinity inherently contradicts literally any religion, as far as I know, unless there’s a religion I don’t know about that has a rule about identifying as something other than human. The fact that I already believed in reincarnation sure helped pave the way for my explanation for my otherkinity, though.

21. Have you ever been emotionally, verbally, or physically harassed simply for being Otherkin?

Verbally, yes, though only online. Emotionally, not really, mostly because not a single antikin I’ve ever met is actually good at being cutting and insulting. They’re all boring and mediocre at it, and rehashing the same handful of bad insults a thousand times.

22. Do you feel you are oppressed because you are Otherkin?

No.

23. What is your take on fictionkin/mediakin? What about machinekin and appliancekin?

As far as I’m concerned, it’s really not my place to judge whether someone’s identity is “valid” or “real” or not. As long as they’ve clearly put thought into it and understand what otherkin is before they call themselves that, I try to live and let live. If they don’t seem to have a good understanding or seem to be misinformed, I try to gently correct them.

24. Did the awakening process seem relatively easy, or difficult to you? Why?

Somewhere in the middle, for me. On the one hand, it was less complicated than for many because there was never a doubt as to the possibilities - either I was a dragon, or I was a human (or, as it turned out, both). On the other hand, I loathe change, especially to something so integral as my labeling and identity - so I probably spent longer agonizing over it than I really needed to.

25. What do you think of the information provided online about Otherkin, is it relevant or not?

As with everything on the Internet, some of it is good, and some of it is bad. Read critically.

26. How has your Otherkinity/Therianthropy defined you as a person? Do you feel as if it has given you morals that you didn’t have before?

Not really? It’s something I’ve always had, whether I knew it or not. Trying to figure out how different I might have been if I wasn’t a dragon is both time-consuming and pointless.

27. Have you learned any life-long lessons due to your Otherkinity?

See above. Also, I’ve only known I was otherkin for a year and a half. Check back in in another five or six years.

28. What do you want to do with your life?

Marry my girlfriend, love and take care of my family, not have to constantly stress about money (or anything else, preferably). Chiropractic medicine.

29. Do you have any tips or advice for young and newly-Awakened Otherkin?

Take your time. You can’t rush self-exploration, nor should you. Furthermore, there will be some questions you can’t (or don’t want to) find answers to, and that’s okay. You’re not obligated to explain yourself to anyone but yourself - and your obligations to yourself are only to be truthful, to do your research and make sure you know what you’re talking about, and to be kind to yourself (and others).

30. Anything else you’d like to share with us?

I am very tired and I would like to sleep for a thousand years. Thank you.