alright since nobody else is stepping up to the plate i will gladly do it!
kin comes in many different forms.
- some people heavily identify with a character/animal/plant/thing as a way to cope with trauma (usually called copingkin) or life in general
- some people just feel a very strong connection to certain characters/animals/plants/things
- others (fictionkin) believe in the multiverse theory or the idea that in some universe at some point, events actually transpired. everyone has different timelines (or canons) and most people have multiple for certain kintypes. being kin in this form necessarily just means you believe that you were or are this character
some people don't label themselves directly as kin, and others do! i used to not wear it with pride, but now i gladly do, because i see no reason to be hiding for other people.
kintypes can come in all forms. there are otherkin, which is generally an umbrella term for everyone, but usually applies to people who are kin with animals (also called 'therians', but i see that one used most for wolfkins) and plants. sometimes people also feel connected to certain things or concepts like the sky, clouds, wind, stars, constellations, etc. you can also use kin as a suffix; plantkin, skykin, cloudkin, birdkin, etc
i should also mention if a kin seems to not be conscious of the fact that their body is 100% human or says stuff like "don't step on the grass you're offending plantkin uwu" you are definitely dealing with a tumblr troll trying to slander the kin community.
on the other hand, there are fictionkin. this is easier to explain, it's just being kin with a fictional character (like how lorien is kin with dave peixes).
fictives are also easy to explain, and they only happen in systems. a system is basically a person who identifies as multiple people (i don't identify as any of my systemmates they are all separate people i should add to avoid confusion), formed usually out of trauma though some people have endogenic (or "natural") systems (i will not speak on endogenic systems as i am traumagenic). a fictive either forms as a fictional introject or, persay, walks into the system. i am the latter, personally. you can read more on system vocabulary here: http://thatmultiplefeel.tumblr.com/glossary
a fictive literally is that character. they may have other kintypes, but a fictive typically feels most strongly attached to the character they are a fictive of. i, personally, am a fictive of john egbert.
TL;DR
- kin either believe they were something in their past life, feel a strong association with something, or identify with something to cope
- fictionkin identify (for any reasons above) as fictional characters they all are different
- otherkin is usually animals and plants but can be used as a blanket term, fictionkin is exclusively fictional characters, therian is animals but usually wolves
- it is really easy to pick out tumblr trolls and they are nothing like actual kin
- fictives literally are a certain character and usually identify with that one the most
