AHHH wow this is so nice of you to say!!! It makes me feel especially happy, because I had also not written fic or been involved in fandom for many years before Haikyuu and it REALLY brought me back! It’s just such a show that makes people want to be immersed in it, I love that! ^^

To wax on at length as I am prone to do, and because this made me think about one of my favorite things in depth (AUs!) -- AUs are strange and fascinating in this way, because they are very hit or miss with some people. It makes sense that canon-verse content draws people more strongly, because we KNOW those dynamics and settings, so it has that joy of being familiar while still containing scenarios that would never happen in canon (but that we usually wish would).

But AUs often have the reverse kind of magic, because they are unfamiliar. They give us this creative freedom to explore and make New Things happen; but finding or matching up the similarities to make the story recognizable as the series people love is delightful in its own way! I say this a lot, but I enjoy writing AUs pretty much more than anything else, I love having room to play in the sandbox, with the challenge of getting all the pieces to align. 

ANYWAY! This ask is so wonderful for me because I’m truly proud of the different settings and stories I’ve created with these two dumb volleyball dorks who really mean so much to me (not just because I love HQ, but because they unlocked this kind of creativity for me). I’ve always stressed over the details in my AUs a LOT, because I want them to feel rich and whole, even if I’m only showing a small part of the world they’re set in. So to know they stood out to you (enough for you to tell me about it) is so reassuing and such a good feeling ^^ (Oh and it makes me so happy to see Thirst listed among your faves!)

not at all comparable!!!!

in short, kin is spiritual, alter is part of a psychological disorder that works regardless of our acceptance of our dissociated identities.

kin is someone who identifies with or as another thing in another life. 

alters are the result of dissociated consciousness from trauma. an animal alter is a part of the psyche that split off to fill a role in order to survive.

i am in no way a wolf, nor do i identify with wolves. however, with severe dissociation, a part of my consciousness believes it is a wolf and behaves as one in order to keep the body safe. it is a psychological phenomenon that developed from trauma. it in no way was something i ever chose to accept and this part of consciousness can completely take over control of my body regardless of what i want or think.

“coping mechanism” does not quite fit in the way you are using it here. yes, alters are a coping mechanism, but not one someone chooses to go along with. its something the mind does long before self begins to develop because of the threat of the enviorment. 

alters aren’t a coping tool in the way that immersing yourself in an aspect of your identity would be a coping tool. they are more like how a body copes with an allergy by going into anaphylactic shock. its involuntary and happens whether or not you accept it or believe in it. its something the mind does on its own. its something that develops regardless of spirituality or tendency toward certain beliefs. its medical. neurological.

animal alters are in no way like an animal kin type. alters are literally a dissociated part of consciousness that has its own identity. animal alters don’t choose to identify as an animal, they are created to believe they are that animal. the animal identity is intrisnsic to their role in keeping the person functioning. hell, some animal alters may not even know they are in a human body, they just do their job because thats hwo the brain has made them to be.

ta-ao's family tree :D