On terminology

I’ve seen a little bit of confusion between the terms ‘fictionkin’ and ‘fictive’ since settling her on tumblr; and to be honest, I was initially a bit confused myself. Fictive wasn’t a term that was in use when I was originally in the community. Here’s a handy cheat guide of what I’ve picked up, to help anyone else who is confused. Examples are hypothetical, and do not necessarily reflect the author’s kintypes or experiences.

Fictionkin

• born on this Earth/original inhabitant of current body
• Experiences association with a character or fictional universe as a deep element, but not the whole of, the current, singular ‘self’, and/or as a past life experience. (ex. “Before I was born on Earth, I was Ken Ichijouji. I remember parts of my life, but not my whole experience as Ken, and parts of it inform who I am today.”)
• Typically fictionkin experience memories of the person or place they associate with, rather than have conversations with them. 
• Experience an ‘awakening’ where they realize their association with their kintype, often involving traumatic memories.
• Often experience feelings of dysmophia and dissociation long before their awakening, which the awakening helps explain.
• When multiple kintypes are present they ‘stack’. (ex. “I used to be Mami Tomoe, but before that I was a pikachu. When I was Mami, I didn’t remember my pikachu kintype consciously, but I liked the feeling of rubbing balloons on my cheeks”)

Fictives

• Not born on Earth/not the original inhabitant of the body; rather show up some time later in the body’s life.
• Experiences association with a character or fictional universe as the sum total of their personal identity. (ex. “Stop calling me Dana, I’m Karkat and I don’t know how the fuck I got here! Dana’s busy and now I’m sharing her stupid hornless body!”)
• Typically do not experience an awakening, rather other people in the body realize they are there fairly suddenly.
• Presence is not typically felt before someone in the body experiences the source material.
• Typically fictives can have internal discussions with any other fictives or headmates present.
• When multiple fictives are present they typically do not ‘stack’, rather being distinct and separate entities from one another. (ex. “I had a Sephiroth fictive, and then Kuja showed up. They have a lot in common, don’t mix them up or Sephiroth will get mad." 
• Some fictives are stuck in the body, and some can travel freely between it and their source material or other planes.

BOTH fictionkin and fictives

• May experience dysmorphia or dissociation
• are subject to all human physical limitations
• May have headmates who are or are not fictives

I hope this helps clear up the terminology. If you have any questions, or anything I said doesn’t seem to be accurate please feel free to let me know.

*edited the fictive section after input to be more inclusive