Okay, no, I need to talk about this.
I feel as though the general tumblrkin community has severely disregarded one key otherkin event – Awakening. And the awful part is, I now need to explain that to most people.
Awakening is when an otherkin person’s Other side first begins to stir.
This can happen one of several ways. Often, it’s a shift. Sometimes it isn’t. And on very rare occasions, it can be that one just looks at something and says “this is it.”
Let me repeat that: very rare.
This is not a common occurrence. Far from it – I have yet to meet a single otherkin or therian that has done that as their first ever experience. I’ve heard of it happening, I’ve come in contact with a few people (read: 2) who it’s happened to, but I have not met any of them – and I know a lot of therians and otherkin.
But Awakening doesn’t end there.
Awakening is part of a bigger process I’ve heard called “discovery,” which is self-explanatory, but for clarity’s sake: Discovering one’s self. You can “awaken” far before you ever “discover” your Other side.
One of the biggest, most important, and most stressed parts of awakening is research. It just doesn’t stop. As science learns more and more about animals, as more and more ancient literature is translated, and more and more old stories are being written down and spread, the research just doesn’t stop. In the Otherkin and Therian communities, you are expected to know your kin- or theriotype. It’s not optional. I’ve never been in a fictionkin community, but I would expect it’s probably the same, from the fictionkin community articles I’ve read.
And I would support that statement with this: If you don’t know about your kintype, how do you know it’s your kintype?
Awakening and discovery are also questioning yourself – because let me be the first to tell you, you will get questions. In every community. If you ever go into a community where questions aren’t asked of you, and especially where questions are discouraged, you should run as far away from there as fast as you can. Drop everything and leave.
Those types of communities are why the nonhuman communities are so wary. Long ago in the ages of Old Internet, many nonhumans were conned out of their money by people like that, in places like that – and it hasn’t stopped. They still exist. And even if they aren’t out for your money, those types of communities are practically breeding grounds for abusers and manipulators, because they know you cannot question them (read: think for yourself) and get away with it.
You don’t need to know every single fact about your kintype. You aren’t expected to be perfect. But you are expected to go in there with facts and experiences to back up your claims. If someone questions you, you need to be able to answer, or say “Let me get back to you on that,” and then find an answer.
Awakening and discovery take longer than 24 hours. They take longer than a few days. Truly, fully awakening may take you months or a year or two.
Dio Brando, of aXios on InCanon said it best: “It takes time, but not an eternity. …it doesn’t take a fucking eternity, it just doesn’t.”
Even after you’ve reached the point where you think you’ve figured out, solidly, “this is my kintype and this is why,” you will question yourself. You’ll ask yourself if it’s real, if it might be [x other thing] or [y other thing]. You may question everything. That doesn’t mean you’re not otherkin. If anything, it means you are, and this questioning isn’t necessarily “part” of awakening, nor does it mean you have to “awaken again.”
But that’s an essay for another time.
TL;DR: You cannot decide in less than 24 hours that you’re fictionkin, therian, or otherkin.
Step back. Research. Stay a while.
Without a strong foundation, you will waver. Build your foundation as strong as you need it to be, strong enough to withstand the weight of the questions placed upon it.
