#since fictionkin falls under those umbrellas

[roughentumble]

okay, i tried my hand at making some potential fictionkin symbols! i like the inkwell, but i also really like the simplicity of symbols like the theta delta and alt key, which are very easy to draw lines and curves but are quickly recognizable.

the first two are different symbols for pluto, combined with the greek letter phi which makes the "f" sound. pluto, symbolically, can be associated with transformation and rebirth, which are both things that many fictionkin have experienced, being "transformed" from your fictional self to your current body, or being "reborn" into this new life if you're a more spiritual 'kin.

the last one is the symbol for arsenic combined with phi. it also means transformation, in alchemical symbolism, and change.

the idea is that you're "f"ictionally "transformed", and "changed" into your current self see?

the first two could be represented through unicode using the ⯔, or ⯓, plus Φ. there isn't a unicode for this version of arsenic

then there's these similar alternates

i think the arsenic one ends up the most a mess, but maybe that's just from staring at it?

the idea is that with just the one line, it's combining the symbol for salt with the letter phi to create the symbol for earth. salt alchemically represents the body, while earth is obviously grounding and focused on physical matters. so it symbolizes that though there has been a "f"iction-based "transformation" and a "rebirth", you're still grounded in your body and your self. through all the different selves, you're still you, and we can all come together

personally i think i like the second design best from both lines but maybe if i'd edited it so the circle was bigger on the first pluto symbols they'd look better? idk. anyway i hope other people like one of these ideas

the first two could be represented through the same unicode and then ⊕ instead of phi.

[were-we-stand]

Hello! Welcome!

My name is Talon Ironwood. I am a therian, otherkin, otherkith, and plural system. I also hold two degrees in Anthropology. I like to say that it's like zoology, but backwards. A wolf who studies humans. But I want to bend that idea a little. After all, not all of those who wear a human skin are, indeed, human. Even those who are may not be singular. So I'm here to examine our experience of existing as non-human or non-normatively human in a monoanthroponormative world.

I have been in and around this community since 2007, well before "alterhuman" was coined as an umbrella term for us all. In that time, I have earned my BA and MA in Anthropology, as mentioned, and I am an independent folklorist. In addition to being human, I (the host) am a wolf therian and a gryphonkin. I (collectively) am also a plural system with a current headcount of nine.

I am here to engage with all good faith identities on research topics. For that purpose, I have a BYF.

Good faith alterhuman identities include therians, otherkin, fictionkin, factkin, otherhearts/otherkith, otherlinkers, and plural systems of all origins, as well as any other being who does not fit a normatively human definition of personhood.

This does not include anti-kin, "kin for fun" people, or bestialists and zetas. KFF is not a good faith identity.

Non-contact zoophiles who do not push a pro-contact agenda and who fall under the alterhuman umbrella in some way are not barred from this space, as this is a place of learning and thought crimes are not real.

This blog will not engage in syscourse, as it is not my place to say what is happening in any other being's head.

This blog will not engage in shipcourse, as it is not relevant to the purpose of this blog.

This blog will not engage in debates about morality. I do condemn abuse of any kind, but that's where my statement ends. I cannot judge anything a being has not actually done.

Curious human singlets are welcome here. You're not the subject of my research, but if you're here with good faith inquiries and curiosity, I welcome you.

Please do feel free to send me asks about what I'm working on and about alterhumanity. I look forward to working with the community!

Header image is the nonhuman unity flag. Icon is a colored version of the nonhuman unity symbol by dinocanid. The plural rings on the projects pages come from Pluralpedia.

[crowleaf]

Something that's interesting to me is how being 'kin is seen as a trend for chronically online kids (and adults), when I've been aware of my fictionkinity since around 2015-2016, maybe even a bit earlier, I just wasn't ready to accept or 'admit' it yet. I think I learned the concept existed around 2014, and it resonated, especially after some research into it. But even though I felt like it described what I was experiencing, I was too embarrassed to tell anyone about it. It wasn't until sometime in 2015 that I actively embraced it and made a blog where I could talk about it publicly and connect with others. But I digress.

It's just funny to me that it's treated like a 'trend' (I've even seen it called a 'tiktok trend') when the concept has been around for years. Decades. I've found a few sources claiming it started sometime around the 60's-70's and was named in the 90's.

While yes, this is the genesis of otherkinity and not fictionkinity specifically, it began with elfkind groups, and I personally consider this to be an overlapping of otherkinity and fictionkinity, which in itself falls under the broader umbrella of otherkinity. But once again, I digress!

My point is, aren't 'trends' supposed to be fleeting? Things people have a brief interest in because of its novelty and popularity, then drop when the novelty wears off?

Interesting that it sort of mirrors the way 'kinnies' ('kin for fun') treat fictionkinity. How it parallels the manner in which these kids (and sometimes adults, like I said earlier) 'add and drop' their 'kintypes' on a whim, based on some shiny new media that's popular at any given time*.

I would love to be able to 'drop' some of my kintypes, but that isn't how past lives work**. You can't 'drop' a past life any more than you can say 'what I did last week didn't actually happen because I changed my mind about it. lol' and expect the universe to just go along with it.

I dunno. Maybe it's just weird to me because for some of us - fewer each year, it seems - it isn't a fun little internet game where we put on and take off different personas like a fashion aesthetic and look for sourcemates (or 'canonmates' - how does a kinnie even have canonmates if they don't have a 'canon' they experienced in another universe/life??) to play along with us until we get bored, then drop those 'sourcemates' along with the discarded 'kintype'.

Some of us treat our spiritual beliefs like, well, spiritual beliefs. Some of us are irritated with this bastardization of the concept of 'kinity because we don't have the option to just throw away a part of our literal soul because we're bored with it or it's cringe or whatever.

I guess I'd rather be seen as some weirdo online who holds unusual niche beliefs than be lumped in with people who use their 'kintypes' as an excuse to, at best, be annoying, and at worst, be fucking awful people.

People who have co-opted 'kinity and diluted its meaning to be nothing but bad roleplay, who then turn around and mock those of us who 'actually believe in that shit'.

Footnotes and disclaimer after the cut

*"but crowleaf, your kintype is from a piece of very popular media! You're a hypocrite!"

I kinfirmed Crowley around 2015-16, before the show existed; this was one of my first kinfirmed kintypes, based on my past experience of having obsessively reread the novel countless times and what I now recognize as having experienced a kinshift, all around 2011, before I knew what 'kin was. My canon was about an even mix of novel and show, so far. Hope this helps.

Almost all of my other kintypes are from media that ended years ago and/or is not very popular. It typically takes me years to kinfirm a suspected kintype, because it requires thoughtful contemplation and introspection that takes longer than just a few hours or days to engage in.

**"but crowleaf, you add and drop kins all the time!"

Incorrect. I experience kinshifts (not 'reality shifting,' which seems to me like another word for lucid dreaming and is entirely unrelated to 'kinity), usually every few years, which is not the same as 'adding and dropping' kintypes (and for fuck's sake please don't call kintypes 'kins' if you want to be taken seriously). I have multiple kintypes because my soul is old as fuck and has lived many lives, including some of which I'll probably never remember.

There seems to be this assumption that if you have multiple kintypes, you must be a kinnie - this is bullshit. If a soul can reincarnate once, who's to say it can't do it multiple times, across multiple universes? Don't assume someone is a kinnie based on the number of kintypes they have. However, if they claim to kinfirm a new kintype every time they consume new media or become interested in something new and popular, they're probably a kinnie.

But that's just, like, my opinion, man.

Disclaimer: This post is not about system fictives. I'm a singlet - when I say kinshift, I do not mean fronting. I don't know what it's like to be a fictive or be in a system with fictives. I am not and will never equate fictives to kinnies. If you are a fictive, I hope something nice happens to you today.

[eeveekitti]

ok cracks knuckles

fictionkin and catkin are both technically otherkinity, so that makes it a little easier to explain otherkin is typically used as an umbrella term for all non/alterhumans, such as therians, but is also used for people who are kin of [and identify as] nonhuman fantasty creatures therianthropy is used as a term for earthly animal otherkin, which is what catkin falls under, as catkin are kin of cats

nonhuman and alterhuman are also otherkin terms, since nonhumanity relates to feeling like/being a nonhuman creature on a nonphysical level, while alterhumanity is similar, but still has connections to being human [i believe anyway]

there's also other terms like otherhearted [identifying with a creature or character rather than as, known as a hearttype] and copinglink [which i think is when you're kin to cope with trauma?] but i'm personally less familiar with those and not too fit to explain ^^"

okay this has been on my mind

could someone explain to me what otherkin is? especially other kin terms if you wanna also explain others I didn't specify because im only familiar with fictionkin and catkin

[crystalitecloudie]

My relationship with my self insert oc is... complicated. Her name is Mitsuki Hanehara, and she has existed since... 2017 by now? I might be off on that timing. Often, the days just feel like a blur.

She isn't just a self insert oc. It feels like I should have been born as her. Her appearance, her strengths and weaknesses, they all feel like I should be and have that. Granted, many of her physical traits and strongsuits I already have.

But she has long, lavender hair for God's sake. And a heart shaped "ahoge". And violet eyes. Traits like those are really only seen in either cosplayers, or fiction. A human person in reality can't be born with those things, or wear them so naturally. I can dye my hair all I want, but it'll never grow long enough. Purple contacts don't permanently make my eyes purple.

I think this issue is something mentally wrong with my brain and soul. It's gotten to the point where if I remember a dream, the protagonist is always Mitsuki. It's never how I appear in reality. And this isn't a recent development, this has been happening over the course of several years. I even wrote a short story based on one of these dreams, and it won third place in a formal writing contest. I won real money. And Mitsuki wasn't even mentioned, even though it was from her point of view.

I have heard of Fictionkin, and vaguely understand them. I myself am an otherkin and therian. Listing all of my non-human identities would be long and tedious, but in many of my more human-figured ones (like Dollkin and Wingkin), guess who I look like?

That's right, it's Mitsuki Hanehara. Again.

I am unsure what umbrella this would fall under. I would say Fictionkin, but Mitsuki isn't in any sort of official series. I've also briefly heard of IRLS, but I don't know much about them at all. Most of my mutuals on TikTok don't support IRLS. Does anybody know, or have some commentary on this? Reblogs and comments would be appreciated!

... Also an explanation of IRLS. But, I can probably look that up on my own time.

[youredoingkinwrong]

can you help me? is it okay to be like multiple kins? can you tell me like all the alterhuman and kin stuff just simplified? its all really new to me and kinda confusing

Hi there anon! I hope the not so timely answer helps at least a little bit.

It is perfectly fine to have multiple kintypes - though I think there comes a certain point (in my experience... it's around ten or so) where you need to sit down and ask yourself if these identities are really identities or if they're something else.

I used to have a kintype list that was insanely long, somewhere along the lines of like, twenty to twenty-five characters on it. I realized that a lot of the names on there I'd had really intense shifts for once or twice but would fade to obscurity pretty quickly, and would only pop back up if I was actively engaging in the source. I didn't doubt that I had been those characters or creatures in the past, but they certainly weren't kintypes, as they didn't really mean much to me outside of the source. I kind of cut down on that list and separated a lot of them into a "past life" category - after all, I remember being them. I just don't actively identify as them in my current life. After that, it was much easier for me to realize which of my kintypes were actually kintypes, and which ones were just past lives that I hadn't quite forgotten. Not everyone has the same approach as I do, and everyone's experiences are different - this is just my way of saying it's okay to have multiple kintypes! Just, not every past life is a kintype, and not every kintype is a past life.

It's an identity, and those can come about in multiple different ways.

I don't think there's a particularly simple way to boil down "alterhuman and kin stuff" since the community is an old one and there's a lot of history to those words, but I can say that alterhuman is a general umbrella term for those who identify as nonhuman, and 'kin is a shortened form of "otherkin" or "fictionkin" which are identities that technically fall under the alterhuman label.

If you have any more questions my ask box is always open, and I will try to answer in a much more timely fashion!