psychological kin and copingkin are not the same thing. psychological kin are people who are for from psychological things such as a brain quirk, while copingkin are kin for coping purposes. they are not the same thing and it's really rude to refer to us as the same thing.

Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that they were the same thing, except to say that some people use both psychological kin and copingkin as labels to refer to themselves (if that in and of itself is incorrect, then I’m unaware of why).

I’ve also been lead to believe that being kin for coping purposes (absent any other brain quirks or spiritual reasons) is now being called copinglink, to prevent misunderstandings as to how the kintype works? But then again I’ve only seen a couple of posts on that, so it may be an unpopular opinion or I may be misunderstanding myself.

First: I’m not white, though I’m definitely white passing.

Secondly, I’m sorry if it appeared as though I was simply shrugging off the comments of others? I didn’t see that you shared the opinion that fictionkin are not always otherkin until after I made the comment that it was an opinion I’d only seen once; now that I’ve heard it from multiple sources, and thought it over more, I think part of why my immediate response was so disbelieving was that it’s relatively rare to see someone who’s fictionkin without also being otherkin (probably because an introduction to fictionkin will likely be through the otherkin community? I’m not sure!)

I’m also not claiming to be any kind of authority on otherkin, and I’m sorry if I came off as trying to pass off this blog as some kind of be-all-and-end-all of otherkin authorities! Like I say, the community is huge, and there are probably more people in it who disagree with me than who agree. Which is fine, because it affords me opportunities to learn and grow, along with any followers who see this.

You’re allowed to block whoever you want, of course, but please understand that it’s somewhat frustrating to be accused of not listening when I wasn’t given an opportunity to listen in the first place, considering you’ve never interacted with this blog before. If you’d like, I can go through this blog’s history and find examples of the mods admitting we were wrong to prove that we are willing to listen? On that note I’m reading through several of the posts right now, and may reblog a few, if that’s okay? Clearly there’s some level of discomfort involved in interacting with this blog, if you felt the need to block it, so I’d like to ask permission first.

also @thunderpunching are we not listening to criticism? I apologize for not reblogging the full post (in the interest of not clogging dashes) but I would very much appreciate if credit was given where credit is due; when the mods of this blog make a mistake, we admit it. I don’t know if there was a callout post about us that I somehow missed, or a reblog which I didn’t notice in our activity, but if there was I apologize!

On that note I think there’s something wrong with my computer, because I’m having trouble pulling up the tag you mentioned:

If you wouldn’t mind sending a specific link, it would be very appreciated? Of course you don’t have to, and I’m looking at the other recommended blogs who have posted about it now.

@beaconsystem to elaborate a little bit (and to provide a very short post to reblog, if you don’t want to have to interact with the monstrously long one anymore)

[here’s an explanation of my belief system, which does allow for some kintypes to be dropped]

[here’s the ask in question where i attempted to provide some advice on dropping kintypes for someone who had a kintype which harmed them emotionally]

I misunderstood your point on physicality, and yes you are correct there. However, fictionkin are a subset of otherkin. They are not separate, and your use of the word “kintype” to refer to your own fictotype proves it. To say that fictionkin (who are only kin with human characters and have no other kintypes) are not otherkin is not only an opinion that I’ve seen exactly once, it directly contradicts both the formation of fictionkin as a term and every other resource I’ve seen on otherkin, and I’ve been in the community for a while.

With that in mind, at the very least the portion of your definition which states that it must be non-human is false. On the subject of dropping a kintype, it changes depending on personal reasons for being ‘kin, and just because your experience and spiritual beliefs do not allow for it doesn’t mean that no one’s experiences or beliefs allow for it. Without going into too much detail, my dropping of my kintype (while an unhealthy example and therefor not one that should be followed) involved obsessive avoidance of any media including the character for several months, along with conditioning myself to have powerful negative reactions to thoughts of the character. This effectively severed the emotional bond I had with the character (since the kintype existed mostly for coping purposes).

The portion of the original answer which you likely misread is: “there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.” The original quote didn’t contain my personal opinion on the matter, since I tend to try to keep information (especially for those who are not particularly involved in the otherkin community) relatively basic and unbiased, but if you’d like my own opinion it’s that each individual case should be assessed separately, due to the vast amount of variation which can occur in the community.

May I ask something that I'm genuinely curious about? I'm not kin, and from everyone I've ever talked to who is kin, they are because they can't help but feel like that they are that character. Why is it so bad if someone is kin with a character who is another race, if this is something that you can't control?

i’m not the best person to explain this, and i understand that the nuances of the argument are hardest to understand when you don’t have the full context of otherkin as a community and otherkin who are poc specifically, so please bear with me if this is a little confusing.

basically, the issue lies in the fact that anyone’s experiences in life will be influenced by their race. as a result, if (and this is only an example, but it’s a pretty black and white one) someone who’s white ids as a character who’s japanese, they cannot fully understand that character’s experiences and will likely fill in the blanks in their understanding with racist stereotypes, whether or not they mean to.

most people cannot control kintypes, but there are ways to influence how kintypes effect you, and that’s where dropping a kintype comes in. if someone has a kintype which they deem to be problematic (for racism reasons or otherwise) they can chose to distance themself from the kintype, with relative degrees of success. sometimes someone can drop a kintype entirely, and sometimes the best they can hope for is to simply not acknowledge the kintype

of course, there are many more nuances to this than what i’ve said, and what exactly qualifies as a “racist kintype” will vary a lot depending on who you ask. there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.

Unless you can provide receipts, I’m inclined to not believe you at all on the basis of the cis white girl statement, mostly because I actually remember the original post which started the idea and it was made by @thisisnotjapan (who tumblr won’t let me tag for some reason, but their blog is still up).

The idea may have been popularized amongst tumblr otherkin by these white girls, but none of the mods of thisisnotjapan are otherkin so I’m incredibly skeptical of any accusations that they could be the ones lying?

Also, your definition of otherkin is self-contradictory. You include human fictional characters, clearly, but state in no uncertain terms that a kintype cannot be human? Or physical, which is odd, considering there is a general consensus that a kintype can in fact relate to a physical thing? In any case, the point is moot when you realize that that definition of otherkin is in no way representative of all otherkin’s identities.

In addition it seems as though you didn’t read the last paragraph of our answer at all, and you definitely have not looked through our blog. Every time we receive an ask about race issues within the community, we are careful to clarify that putting ones mental health at risk for the sake of dropping a kintype is a negative thing. In fact, the only time we’ve posted about how to drop a kintype, it was because the kintype itself was causing that person’s mental health to deteriorate- it had nothing to do with race at all. Not all kintypes are helpful, and dropping a kintype does not need to be a traumatic experience, though it can be.

In fact, I can understand if you don’t believe me, but I actually did have a kintype which I forced myself to drop once, due to pressure from tumblr. The character was Midousuji Akira (a japanese person) and dropping that kintype did effect my mental health negatively. I actually cannot look at the canon material for the show he’s from anymore without feeling physically ill. This is part of why I try to reiterate as often as possible: not everyones experiences are the same.

May I ask something that I'm genuinely curious about? I'm not kin, and from everyone I've ever talked to who is kin, they are because they can't help but feel like that they are that character. Why is it so bad if someone is kin with a character who is another race, if this is something that you can't control?

i’m not the best person to explain this, and i understand that the nuances of the argument are hardest to understand when you don’t have the full context of otherkin as a community and otherkin who are poc specifically, so please bear with me if this is a little confusing.

basically, the issue lies in the fact that anyone’s experiences in life will be influenced by their race. as a result, if (and this is only an example, but it’s a pretty black and white one) someone who’s white ids as a character who’s japanese, they cannot fully understand that character’s experiences and will likely fill in the blanks in their understanding with racist stereotypes, whether or not they mean to.

most people cannot control kintypes, but there are ways to influence how kintypes effect you, and that’s where dropping a kintype comes in. if someone has a kintype which they deem to be problematic (for racism reasons or otherwise) they can chose to distance themself from the kintype, with relative degrees of success. sometimes someone can drop a kintype entirely, and sometimes the best they can hope for is to simply not acknowledge the kintype

of course, there are many more nuances to this than what i’ve said, and what exactly qualifies as a “racist kintype” will vary a lot depending on who you ask. there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.

This is coherent! And yes, we have a sort of standard disclaimer here that generalizations aren’t going to sufficiently cover the breadth of experiences that otherkin as a community cover. This is an interesting read though, thank you!

Um, hi! :) I have a bit of an issue; I don't know if I'm Otherkin. I can feel a possibility, kind of a "longing" like theres a possibility but unlike most of them I can't remember any memories or feel astral limbs. All I know is that I'm emotionally connected to felines, dragons, I love hiking and nature, but I also love technology and modern things too. Another thing, animals seem connected to me too. To, the point where other people notice. Any help?

memories, astral limbs, and other common ‘kin experiences are NOT qualifiers for kintypes, and never will be! there are otherkin who have expansive and detailed memories, and there are otherkin who have absolutely no memories, and they’re all equally valid (same goes for the spectrum of astral limb experiences)

that being said, nothing you’ve listed here sounds like a strong indicator of a kintype, except the connection to felines and dragons. even that is pretty vague, though, so you might want to consider some particulars of that connection? for example:

are there any places in nature which make you feel homesick, as though they’re your intended habitat? or do you just like nature?

which felines are you connected to? if it’s all of them, it’s likely that you’re just a cat person, but if there is a particular one it might be a kintype

do you tend to conceptualize yourself as a dragon or feline? do you ever see a picture of a dragon or feline and feel a sense of familiarity? both of those might be signs of a kintype

of course, ultimately it’s your choice whether or not the otherkin label fits you, and no one else can really determine your legitimacy. if you want more information, check out our [questioningkin tag]

It’s fine if you don’t understand psychological kin (or copingkin, as some prefer to refer to themselves) so long as you’re still respectful of their beliefs! Otherkin have a very large and varied community, so it can be hard to keep track of everyone’s beliefs, but you seem to have a pretty good grasp on things...?

May I ask something that I'm genuinely curious about? I'm not kin, and from everyone I've ever talked to who is kin, they are because they can't help but feel like that they are that character. Why is it so bad if someone is kin with a character who is another race, if this is something that you can't control?

i’m not the best person to explain this, and i understand that the nuances of the argument are hardest to understand when you don’t have the full context of otherkin as a community and otherkin who are poc specifically, so please bear with me if this is a little confusing.

basically, the issue lies in the fact that anyone’s experiences in life will be influenced by their race. as a result, if (and this is only an example, but it’s a pretty black and white one) someone who’s white ids as a character who’s japanese, they cannot fully understand that character’s experiences and will likely fill in the blanks in their understanding with racist stereotypes, whether or not they mean to.

most people cannot control kintypes, but there are ways to influence how kintypes effect you, and that’s where dropping a kintype comes in. if someone has a kintype which they deem to be problematic (for racism reasons or otherwise) they can chose to distance themself from the kintype, with relative degrees of success. sometimes someone can drop a kintype entirely, and sometimes the best they can hope for is to simply not acknowledge the kintype

of course, there are many more nuances to this than what i’ve said, and what exactly qualifies as a “racist kintype” will vary a lot depending on who you ask. there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.

Not every otherkin believes in past lives/reincarnation! We already covered that dropping a kintype might mean simply ignoring it; please don’t selectively ignore our points for the sake of argument.

We also stated that things are usually much more nuanced than our white to japanese example. Here are some more asks the mods of this blog have answered on the subject!

[korean person iding as a japanese character]

[spanish/white person iding as a japanese character]

[white person iding as a malaysian character]

parts [one] and [two] of a general post on the subject

May I ask something that I'm genuinely curious about? I'm not kin, and from everyone I've ever talked to who is kin, they are because they can't help but feel like that they are that character. Why is it so bad if someone is kin with a character who is another race, if this is something that you can't control?

i’m not the best person to explain this, and i understand that the nuances of the argument are hardest to understand when you don’t have the full context of otherkin as a community and otherkin who are poc specifically, so please bear with me if this is a little confusing.

basically, the issue lies in the fact that anyone’s experiences in life will be influenced by their race. as a result, if (and this is only an example, but it’s a pretty black and white one) someone who’s white ids as a character who’s japanese, they cannot fully understand that character’s experiences and will likely fill in the blanks in their understanding with racist stereotypes, whether or not they mean to.

most people cannot control kintypes, but there are ways to influence how kintypes effect you, and that’s where dropping a kintype comes in. if someone has a kintype which they deem to be problematic (for racism reasons or otherwise) they can chose to distance themself from the kintype, with relative degrees of success. sometimes someone can drop a kintype entirely, and sometimes the best they can hope for is to simply not acknowledge the kintype

of course, there are many more nuances to this than what i’ve said, and what exactly qualifies as a “racist kintype” will vary a lot depending on who you ask. there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.

May I ask something that I'm genuinely curious about? I'm not kin, and from everyone I've ever talked to who is kin, they are because they can't help but feel like that they are that character. Why is it so bad if someone is kin with a character who is another race, if this is something that you can't control?

i’m not the best person to explain this, and i understand that the nuances of the argument are hardest to understand when you don’t have the full context of otherkin as a community and otherkin who are poc specifically, so please bear with me if this is a little confusing.

basically, the issue lies in the fact that anyone’s experiences in life will be influenced by their race. as a result, if (and this is only an example, but it’s a pretty black and white one) someone who’s white ids as a character who’s japanese, they cannot fully understand that character’s experiences and will likely fill in the blanks in their understanding with racist stereotypes, whether or not they mean to.

most people cannot control kintypes, but there are ways to influence how kintypes effect you, and that’s where dropping a kintype comes in. if someone has a kintype which they deem to be problematic (for racism reasons or otherwise) they can chose to distance themself from the kintype, with relative degrees of success. sometimes someone can drop a kintype entirely, and sometimes the best they can hope for is to simply not acknowledge the kintype

of course, there are many more nuances to this than what i’ve said, and what exactly qualifies as a “racist kintype” will vary a lot depending on who you ask. there are also many otherkin (especially neurodivergent otherkin) who cannot drop a kintype without jeopardizing their mental health, and in that case whether or not the rules should be more lenient for them is also something which many otherkin disagree on.

Thank you for the input! I do have to say, I'm slightly confused though. Not about being a cladotherian (that makes sense) but about someone with a dragon as their theriotype being a possibility? I've always been led to believe that therians pretty firmly only have real animals as theriotypes.

Um, hi! :) I have a bit of an issue; I don't know if I'm Otherkin. I can feel a possibility, kind of a "longing" like theres a possibility but unlike most of them I can't remember any memories or feel astral limbs. All I know is that I'm emotionally connected to felines, dragons, I love hiking and nature, but I also love technology and modern things too. Another thing, animals seem connected to me too. To, the point where other people notice. Any help?

memories, astral limbs, and other common ‘kin experiences are NOT qualifiers for kintypes, and never will be! there are otherkin who have expansive and detailed memories, and there are otherkin who have absolutely no memories, and they’re all equally valid (same goes for the spectrum of astral limb experiences)

that being said, nothing you’ve listed here sounds like a strong indicator of a kintype, except the connection to felines and dragons. even that is pretty vague, though, so you might want to consider some particulars of that connection? for example:

are there any places in nature which make you feel homesick, as though they’re your intended habitat? or do you just like nature?

which felines are you connected to? if it’s all of them, it’s likely that you’re just a cat person, but if there is a particular one it might be a kintype

do you tend to conceptualize yourself as a dragon or feline? do you ever see a picture of a dragon or feline and feel a sense of familiarity? both of those might be signs of a kintype

of course, ultimately it’s your choice whether or not the otherkin label fits you, and no one else can really determine your legitimacy. if you want more information, check out our [questioningkin tag]

Um, hi! :) I have a bit of an issue; I don't know if I'm Otherkin. I can feel a possibility, kind of a "longing" like theres a possibility but unlike most of them I can't remember any memories or feel astral limbs. All I know is that I'm emotionally connected to felines, dragons, I love hiking and nature, but I also love technology and modern things too. Another thing, animals seem connected to me too. To, the point where other people notice. Any help?

memories, astral limbs, and other common ‘kin experiences are NOT qualifiers for kintypes, and never will be! there are otherkin who have expansive and detailed memories, and there are otherkin who have absolutely no memories, and they’re all equally valid (same goes for the spectrum of astral limb experiences)

that being said, nothing you’ve listed here sounds like a strong indicator of a kintype, except the connection to felines and dragons. even that is pretty vague, though, so you might want to consider some particulars of that connection? for example:

are there any places in nature which make you feel homesick, as though they’re your intended habitat? or do you just like nature?

which felines are you connected to? if it’s all of them, it’s likely that you’re just a cat person, but if there is a particular one it might be a kintype

do you tend to conceptualize yourself as a dragon or feline? do you ever see a picture of a dragon or feline and feel a sense of familiarity? both of those might be signs of a kintype

of course, ultimately it’s your choice whether or not the otherkin label fits you, and no one else can really determine your legitimacy. if you want more information, check out our [questioningkin tag]

How do people come up with system names? miine never had a name??

firstly: we are not a multiple help blog. the fact that i (mod twitch) am a system means that i can provide a little bit of insight, but i tend to be relatively inactive in the multiple community and as a result don’t really have up-to-date information

with that out of the way, though, i think it’s safe to say that (at least from what i’ve seen) most systems don’t automatically have names. the system members usually choose a name together, or the host/main fronter will chose.

the name itself is usually something which the system members feel is relevant to the system, either because it shows how the system is perceived by others (e.g. Sister System, because the system members behave like sisters), or because it is an inside joke, or for any other reason which makes it feel like an appropriate name. of course you also don’t need to name your system, it’s really up to you.

what is exactly otherkin ?? and dollkin ?? i'm v new to this but i want to know more about it and know if i'm otherkin ?? tysm !!

definition of otherkin pulled from this [introductory typeform]

Otherkin is a label used by some who identify with or as a non-human being. This can be anything from a dog, to a fairy, to a star.

While most people have some kind of strong feelings about something, otherkin chose to use the label to easily display how important the thing/being they identify as or with is to them.

dollkin are otherkin whose kintype is a doll of some kind! they’re a subset of objectkin. while the introductory typeform linked above is somewhat outdated, it’s pretty comprehensive so you should probably look through it, if you haven’t already!

So I have two questions 1. Would being kin with animals fall under otherkin or is it a separate group entirely? 2. Would it be possible for the animal you're kin with to have certain characteristics that are different from other individuals like it? (For example, if the animal's fur changes color due to the time of year and one individual's fur color is different from others)

Absolutely, you can be ‘kin with an animal. Therians are defined as people whose kintypes/theriotypes are real animals, after all, though that sort of simplifies things (therians have a separate but related community to otherkin, and the similarities are about equal to the differences between them). Whether you want to call yourself otherkin or a therian is up to you, but either way: yes, an animal can be a kintype.

As for the second part of your question, it depends on what the different characteristic is. If it’s something that can be found in nature, no matter how rare it is (ie. albinism) then yes, you can absolutely still be ‘kin with the animal (or be a therian with that animal).

If the different characteristic is something beyond the bounds of what we recognize as reality (ie. a bright green rabbit) then you might want to consider that you could actually not be that animal, and might instead be a supernatural being of some kind which simply resembles the animal (ie. a rabbit fae). If that’s the case, then you couldn’t call yourself therian, since they are limited to real animals only. You could be otherkin, though!

I’m sorry, I thought the “there are exceptions” disclaimer was clear enough! To reiterate: yep, kin memories can be a thing regardless of kintype, but as you said they’re a main focus for fictionkin with greater frequency.

After thinking about it a bit more, I think that’s because fictionkin in general (and especially the ‘kin community on tumblr) have less of a focus on shifting than forums tend to have, and therefor interpret some things which would be viewed as shifts to be memories instead (dream shifts are the biggest example of this, I think). That’s not to say that either way of thinking is “correct,” just that they come from two very different lenses!

Is being otherkin always like others have described? With memories from a past life, or being kin with a character or something? Because I think I am robotkin, but but I don't exactly have these memories or experiences

Fictionkin are a very small subcategory of otherkin! The majority of otherkin are not ‘kin with any characters. Memories are also nearly exclusively experienced by fictionkin and alienkin (no idea why, and there are exceptions, but that’s the general rule).

You are actually in the majority here! It’s hard to tell on tumblr sometimes, but most of the otherkin community still resides on forums, and there it’s more obvious.

Is being otherkin always like others have described? With memories from a past life, or being kin with a character or something? Because I think I am robotkin, but but I don't exactly have these memories or experiences

Fictionkin are a very small subcategory of otherkin! The majority of otherkin are not ‘kin with any characters. Memories are also nearly exclusively experienced by fictionkin and alienkin (no idea why, and there are exceptions, but that’s the general rule).

You are actually in the majority here! It’s hard to tell on tumblr sometimes, but most of the otherkin community still resides on forums, and there it’s more obvious.