Raised in Captivity: Thoughts on Domestication [Originally written February 2022. Posted February 2026]
I wouldn’t be surprised if many otherkin are drawn towards the idea of the feral child. Not as a glamourization of the reality, but more the concept of a human raised in a distinctly nonhuman environment. Or, perhaps, as another form of identity-seeking.
I bring this topic up because of my own thoughts of what it means to be otherkin of a non-domestic species. I see my childhood and upbringing as a sort of reverse “raised by wolves” situation-- the part of me that is intrinsically a feral animal raised by humans. It’s as if I’ve been in a zoo my entire life. Although this is not precisely the right word, I feel “domesticated” because I’ve been raised as, and essentially (in many meanings of the word) am human.
My easy acceptance of this is probably helped along by how I view myself as both mountain lion and human. I don’t consider myself entirely nonhuman, although like any facet of identity I can feel one way or the other more strongly at different points in my life. I have both the hallmarks of the typical therian experience (awakening, noemata, shifts, dysphoria, a self-image of my kintype…) and a genuine like of humanity. With that comes the desire to label myself and see myself as human, but I also acknowledge how only the humanity has been constantly nourished and encouraged within a human society. The mountain lion had no chance from the beginning.
Seeing myself as “domesticated” is also a reasonable explanation for certain feelings that line up better with a domestic cat kintype, as well as general feline affinity. (gray areas like cheetahs and feline clade-- topic for a different journal). Examples of such inclinations include a desire to be pet, to be close but not interact with humans, to seek validity with humans. I can’t escape, nor would I want to, the human wiring of having a human brain.
It is also an explanation for my own lack of affinity towards the wild. I can’t emotionally understand writings from otherkin who reminisce or express desire towards the wild. My home has always been this zoo, this adopted civilization that has taken care of me.
Why would I ever want to leave? I have such a safer life than any wild animal would ever have…