There are two different groups of thought on the subject of The Shadow.
One side says that they are the third corner of the eternal triangle, and therefore the creators of all the Races of Otherkin.

The other side says that they are evil, malevolent beings. That they live in the shadows they were named for and are only interested in doing destructive, malicious and hurtful things to any and all others.

On which side do you stand?

On this one Noctem Aeturnus.

It is to be expected that all the individuals with in a group must vary to a greater or lesser degree.
Shadow is a race that is neither good nor evil.
Shadow is Shadow in all it's variants from darkness to light.
Each Individual within Shadow is different. You would have to ask each and every one them what makes them different.

Zygo

I am aware that there are many different views of all races of Otherkin, and yet my question remains.

The two most discussed sides to this coin called The Shadow are: a force with good intentions or a force with evil intentions.

What are your beliefs as far as The Shadow are concerned?

I have come into contact with many different types of Shadow Noctem.
I do not class them as a race, I take them individually. I work with everyone on an individual basis.

Calling a race evil just because of their colour is way past wrong. I associate the argument that Shadow is evil because its not white with the kind of racist slurs we are all, very well, aware of.

As for me, If a being comes to me, with good intentions, asking for help or in need of healing then I will do that regardless of who they are. The point being, that they need my help and I am in a position to give it.

Zygo

Hello Noctum Aeternus, I don't believe we've met before, I'm Faith.

From what I know about Otherkin Zygo is absolutely right, no one race is all one thing or another, and there are good and bad in every Kin.
However the one Shadow I am aquainted with seems to be helpful, and if not always as kind or tactful as she might want to be, she is at least fairly honest and straightforward.
I have heard the tales of Shadow who feed on the souls of babies and children, the Shadow who follow you and watch you for their own evil purposes that you can't even guess at, the Shadow who scare children and float about with billowing black robes draining life energy from people until they are near death, or even dead. I don't think that the Shadow are like this, or if they could be it would be only some of them, not all.
I am not sure exactly what the Shadow do here on earth in human bodies, maybe they just do what we do and hang around trying to reach others of their kind and remake the connections we all seem to have lost.

Faith.

I wonder Noctem if you would mind answering your own question?.

Zygo

Not surprisingly my views also lie on zygo's side of the border on this one. No race can be considered anything just because they are that race. Well, they CAN be, but that doesn't mean they SHOULD be.

Thus, this actual question really doesn't remain valid at all. It becomes difficult to have a discussion about a race being good or bad after it is stated that it is wrong to judge a race's good/badness based on them being that race.

~Farshief

No honestly I am not surprised either, everyone seems to be afraid of expressing an honest opinion here these days.

I have asked no-one to judge anyone. I stated the two most popular ways of viewing The Shadow, and simply asked which of them you thought was more likely to be the case.
I asked on which side you stood.
Not to judge which one was the truth, only which you thought was closer to a likely existence, as your own thought.

However asking anyone here for their personal views would seem to be a bad idea now, so perhaps I shall not bother to do it again.

As for my views Zygopterix. I am tired of reading fence posts.

I believe The Shadow are the creators of Kin. I believe in the Triad. I believe that those who consider The Shadow, as a group, to be an evil and malignant force in the Universe are mistaken.
I believe that all groups have good and bad members, but that if you have to take them as a group and measure from the majority then most Kin who are actually Kin have good intentions when given the opportunity to show it, but that many are so afraid that they dare not show themselves, let alone show themselves to be kind and so therefore be percieved as potentially weak!.

I believe in universal energy used for good or evil intentions as the situation decrees.
But leaving room here for perspective, what seems good to one often appears evil to another.

I believe that to judge another should be a completely different matter from having a firm point of view of your own.
I am not asking you to state what IS, I am asking you to give your point of view. You have to have a point of view, and be willing to share it, otherwise why are you here?

Ok I get it now and I apologise for sitting on the fence quite as much as I did. . It's not my usual style is it.

My view as factually as it gets.

The Shadow are good people, they absolutely are the creators of Otherkin.
Of that I have no doubt.

Zygo

First I have to say that I am not Otherkin and so I have no idea what The Shadow are, but I wanted to put my views on the debate that has sprung up from this topic non the less.
I hope no-one minds.
Right so, here we go.
I may be naive, but I refuse to believe that there are any inherently evil or good beings in the world.
I believe that all beings hold a measured amount of the universal energy that they could use either way, depending upon how they view the world.
I also do not believe that a being that does things that are thought to be bad, is necessarily bad, or that a being that does things that are thought to be good, is necessarily good.
You must check not only the actions of a person, but also the reasons behind those actions. If someone does a good deed, it is still a good deed as it stands on it's own, but if they did it in order to get into someone's good graces, and gain their trust in order to use that trust to their own advantage at a later date, that changes your perception of the good deed doesn't it?
And of course on the other hand if someone does something that you believe to be a bad thing, would it change your mind to find out that they did it to save a life or a race of creatures, perhaps to stop someone doing something illegal, or to prevent a disaster? Of course it wouldn't make it into a good thing, but it would change it into a bad thing done for only good reasons, which would change your opinion of the person.
Standing in judgement should never be allowed, especially not by those who believe they have the right, as often they are too full of self importance to see anyones rights but their own.

I think things have changed too, I don't think that people here are afraid, but I think they are more cautious now than they were before. I think this is a direct reaction to those who came here, judged, and then having found us all 'not up to snuff' went merrily on their way spreading lies and misconceptions all over the internet.
Whether people like this do this to make themselves feel better, or just because they are so insecure they cannot handle the thoughts of others who disagree with their own I don't know, and I don't really care to be honest.
The internet is one of the biggest places that never existed in the whole of forever, there should be room for all people and all thoughts, no matter how advanced, sad, silly, unbelievable, crazy, furry or whatever.
I have one last question for any of the Kin members who might possibly have an answer.
Why do you worry them so much? Why does your ability to drop your humanity at the door and check it like a coat on your way in, to be picked up and worn home at the end of your evening worry them so?
Why in their lives of so important Otherkinity do they even care that here are a small group of people who do not fit in with what they would like to see as 'their' Otherkin.
What is it about your beliefs that scares them so much that they have to behave this way?
Why can't they just shrug you off as nutcases and walk away?

If anyone could answer this puzzle, I would be interested to hear from you.

My final point (I promise) is this:
If you change the way you are because of these people then who do you become instead? Them perhaps?
And if you become them, (intolerant and judgemental), then who will be there for the other people who are not like them? The truth is that no-one will be there.
There will be no-where for those considered to be socially and racially unacceptable to them, and these individuals who have no-where to go and no-one to talk to will just disappear. Because they don't belong.
I remember a group of people who tried to do this once before in human history. This way of thinking didn't succeed then, and it shouldn't be allowed to succeed now.

I think it is because it is becoming increasingly obvious that we are actually the real thing.
And that scares them silly.

I think every once in a while Kin should try speaking truthfully to an RP'er and see what happens...it's actually quite amusing when it finally dawns on them that your not making it up.

Zygo

I think about the question you asked Kes. I think that when people come here who cannot shrug us off as nutcases are like this: If someone like us comes along, they cannot accept us. They cannot forget us. I think they are jealous of what we have. Which is family ties and good friendships with each other. I think that it is like a big circle, and those who do not fit into their circle must be crushed or otherwise destroyed or molded to fit into their circle, and if it is evident that that cannot happen, destroy them completely.

As for what I think of the shadow. I think that if they had to have a majority ruling of good/bad. I would think good. Unless of course I was previously given reasons otherwise.
~Farshief

Thanks for your replies guys.
I am reading pretty much my own impression of the situation reflected in your words.

That's a good answer. And I think it's good advice for anyone when dealing with any group of beings, in any way at all. It is positive, and affirmative, but sensible and cautious at the same time.

Well I don't understand this, are you saying that you all think they don't like your ideas of Otherkin because you have something they can't have?

No, at least they shouldn't be saying that, as that is not the case.
I think that some who are new to the idea of Otherkin, or who are still trying to fit into their essences can feel insecure, and so hold onto the human part of themselves because they feel like they should, as a kind of touchstone. There is nothing wrong with this at all. Everyone born into a human body with a human family does it.
But often when you have been kin for a long time you find yourself able to seperate yourself from the human part of you and relate only to your kin. This doesn't mean you deny your humanity, or your human-ness, but that you do not define yourself by it because you know that thinking like that can limit you quite a lot.
Often, in all things, people think that if they cannot do it then it cannot be done, and that is an end to it. Then they come upon other people who have been this way for so long that it is first nature to them, not second, and it upsets some of them.
That's what I think anyway.

I don't think I am better than them, or more kin than they are, but I do think that I remember being kin for longer than them, that I am more awakened right now, this time, and that that gives me a different way fo seeing myself in relation to my Otherkin-ness and my human-ness. I believe that this is a level of awakening that they haven't reached yet, that they will, but that it takes time. It took time for me and it will take time for them aswell. And that if they would try and remember that this is not a competition and try and concentrate on helping and being helped then we could all improve every skill we have, and things might just be a little better for all of us.

Lady C.