Not like I'm into it, but I recently became aware of all this kin stuff and I'm genuinely curious..What is it? How does one become whatever they are? Why does it happen? Do you or other people genuinely believe you're part of this? How do other people react, and is this a thing that goes beyond Tumblr? How long does it usually last for? What are the effects it has on your life? Not to sound aggressive, I just really want to know what's going on inside the heads of kin people (if that's the term)
Lots of questions, my friend! Iām more than happy to answer.
Otherkin describes someone who identifies nonphysically as something other than human, partially or wholly. That identity can be spiritual or psychological (or both), but itās generally understood to be involuntary - that is, one doesnāt choose to be otherkin, itās just something you are or are not.
How does one become whatever they are?
Otherkinity isnāt a matter of becoming something - like I said above, itās something you either are or are not, pretty much full stop. You canāt reallyĀ ābecomeā otherkin (or stop beingĀ otherkin, for that matter) if youāre not already. Howeverā¦
ā¦there are a lot of theories explaining why someone might beĀ otherkin in the first place, both spiritual and psychological! Probably the most common is theĀ āpast lifeā theory - the idea that one lived as oneās kintype (the thing they identify as) in a past life, and the identityĀ ābled overā into this life for whatever reason. I fall into this narrative myself. Other theories include walk-ins (the bodyās original soul left and was replaced by another), misplaced souls (the nonhuman soul wasnāt supposedĀ to end up in a human body, but did by some cosmic mistake), unconscious imprinting (the individual became so fixated on and familiar with the kintype, usually when young, that it became an irrevocable part of their identity), involuntary/unconscious coping mechanism (exactly what it sounds like), etc.
Do you or other people genuinely believe youāre part of this?
If someone doesnāt genuinely, literally identify themself (nonphysically, but still literally nonetheless) as nonhuman, theyāre not otherkin, full stop. Thatās something a lot of people on Tumblr donāt understand. Otherkinity is not something you do voluntarily to cope (someone who voluntarily adopts a nonhuman (or fictional) identity for coping reasons is called a copinglinker, and while thereās a lot of overlap, the two arenāt quite the same), and itās most definitelyĀ not something youĀ ādo for funā. Itās not roleplay. (Thereās nothing wrong with roleplay! Thatās just not what otherkinity is.)
How do other people react?
They donāt, for the most part, because from what I hear most of us really donāt talk about it outside our own community that much, for somewhat obvious reasons. Itās not something most of us want to discuss with strangers. However, I personally am someone who wants people to know things about me, so Iām probably more open about it with my non-ākin friends than a lot of us, and the reactions Iāve gotten post-explanation have thus far ranged fromĀ āyeah, that explains a lotā toĀ āyeah, that seems rightā toĀ āIāVE BEEN WONDERING ABOUT THAT FOR SO LONG, THANK YOU.ā Thereās usually a lot of questions, because itās a Weird Thingā¢ and itās not an experience most people are even remotely familiar with, but I donāt mind answering questions.
On the other hand, thereās a reasonĀ most of us donāt talk about it with outsiders much, or want to talk about it with strangers. It isĀ a weird thing, and it has the possibility to have pretty serious repercussions, what with accusations ofĀ ācrazyā and all that. And, of course, thereās the antikin. So with rare exceptions, it seems like for most of us itās either entirely private or itās something we only talk about with people we trust. (And, after all, for a lot of people thereās no real reasonĀ to talk about it with non-ākin.)
Is this a thing that goes beyond Tumblr?
Most definitely; it dates back to physical snail mail mailing lists in the 1970s (the Elf Queenās Daughters and the Silver Elves, if you want to look those two groups up) and has a recorded history since then. The actual termĀ āotherkindā (which would then becomeĀ āotherkinā at some point) was coined in 1990 in the Elfinkind Digest, a mailing list for nonhumans which was recently discontinued. Therians, or therianthropes (people who identify specifically as animals that exist or used to exist physically on this earth), can date their communityās history back to an IRC called alt.horror.werewolves (AHW), which was originally a fan page but eventually became a space for therians (then called weres) to talk; similarly, dragons can trace our communityās history back to the IRC alt.fan.dragons (AFD). Both of those communities have been at least partially absorbed into theĀ āotherkinā umbrella; therian-specific spaces still exist, but there are very few draconic-specific spaces left. (I know the unicorn community also originated separately, but Iām afraid I donāt know as much about their origins.) Nowadays Tumblr and Discord are two of the most active places otherkin communities can be found, but a few forums still exist. Otherkin/therian Amino, from what I hear, is an even more misinformed and sketchy place than Tumblr, but I havenāt verified that myself, so take that with a grain of salt.
How long does it usually last for?
Again - you canāt really stop being otherkin. Itās an integral part of you. I canāt stop being a dragon any more than I can stop being nonbinary or stop being asexual. It is, of course, possible to stop self-identifying as otherkin because you realize another explanation fits your experiences better - but itās generally understood that if thatās the case, you were never otherkin in the first place, you were just wrong about yourself (and thatās okay!).
What are the effects it has on your life?
Ranges fromĀ ābasically nothingā toĀ āhuge impacts that I have to rearrange and compensate for on a daily basisā for different individuals, with most of us falling somewhere in the middle of that scale. For me personally, itās not a huge impact, or maybe thatās just because I donāt really know what it would be like to notĀ live like this. Supernumerary phantom limbs (the sensation of having body parts that are not and never have been physically present, in my case most often wings and/or tail but sometimes other parts as well) can be annoying at times, but Iām so used to ignoring or compensating for them that itās not really a big deal. Homesickness, which is as close as I personally get to species dysphoria, is a similar deal. (People who do experience species dysphoria probably generally have a bigger impact on their life than I do.) Does it impact my behavior? Yeah, sure. Human body language is fortunately also relatively instinctive for me, but thereās definitely instinctive body language (and vocalizations, for that matter) that is notĀ human I have to curb pretty much on a daily basis, at least when Iām in an environment where itās inappropriate. But again - Iām so used to doing that, because itās just normalĀ for me, that itās not really a big deal.
And, frankly, itās kind of hard to quantify. There are a lot of things where Iām not sure and probably never will be sure whether itās draconic, human, or both. Itās hard to tell, when I donāt really have super intense mental shifts (if any at all) and again, I donāt really know what itās like to notĀ be dragon-in-human-skin. And thereās a lot of overlap! Sometimes you just have to be okay with not knowing.
Props for using the rightĀ āa/effects,ā by the way.
Hope this helped clarify some things for you! Remember, Iām always more than happy to answer questions or chat further - my inbox and DMs are always open :3
