I’ve been thinking…
It’s kinda funny, you know, the relationship between otherkin and fictionkin.
I’ve been digging through tags, interacting with (totally awesome) people, and it’s interesting that even though we get grouped together, and a lot of people are both, the two communities are pretty different.
I happen to be both, as well, but I only have one fictotype, and it’s not a canon character. I’m simply a member of a “fictional” species.
When speaking to other otherkin (blegh, that sounds weird) about my woes of having trouble finding others of my species, I often hear things about how we’re spread so thin across the world, or how others may not have awakened yet, and the like.
Speaking with other fictionkin about the same thing, it’s automatically assumed I’m a specific character, and that I’ll likely find someone from my canon soon. The language is different. The mindset is different.
I’ve also noticed that when someone is fictionkin and otherkin at the same time, their fictionkin side tend to dominate. It seem that they connect more with that than with their non-fictional kintypes. They also seem more inclined to be in that community. I’ve seen exceptions, though (like myself!), so I’m certainly not claiming this as a rule, just a trend.
It would also seem as though fictionkin tend to have a longer kin list. Most otherkin I see have anywhere from one kintype, to about five-ish max, while fictionkin tend to have ten or more. Again, this is not a rule, simply a trend.
Another difference between the two is that fictionkin tend to sort kintypes by dominance, while otherkin generally don’t. This begs the question, though… Fictionkin folks, if the kintype is not sorted under “literally me,” is it not you? Would that make it not a kintype, but a synpath instead?
TL;DR: What do you think the differences between the fictionkin and otherkin communities are? What have you observed? Why do you think they are so different?
I am not claiming any of this as a rule, and I could definitely be wrong. This is merely what I’ve observed among the communities, and I thought it was interesting and worthy of discussion. If you have any explanation or answers to questions I’ve posed, please reblog or send me a message with your response! I’d love to hear from folks across the board, in both communities. Thanks for taking the time to read!
The sorting kintypes by by dominance is definitely a recent thing that’s started on tumblr, as is the ‘literally me’ thing. I’ve been doing so research and it looks like about half the people who are using that term aren’t actually kin. Its…. confusing.
