Fictionkin: the issue with canonmates

This is part of a series of posts about the concept of kin and its history. For a more comprehensive explanation of what kin is, check here. A glossary is also included at the bottom for convenience, as not all terms are immediately explained. This was posted on 19 Feb, 2022.

It was last updated on 05 Aug, 2024.

What changed: Unlisted entry. Check the series 'portal' for more information

03 Mar 2022: Changed capitalization to be consistent with another entry

28 Feb 2022: Added information on the Final Fantasy VII House

22 Feb 2022: Added a link to find my other posts about this topic

It's common for fictionkin communities to want to connect with people who are kin with characters from the same source - comparing and contrasting different canons is fun for some, while others may want to talk about a series without fearing the judgement that comes from being kin. People would often post source calls - they would explain who they're kin with and what from, and then state who they wanted to meet. For example, a source call may look like this:

Hi! I'm Joey Wheeler from Yu-Gi-Oh!. I'm looking for anyone, but I'm more interested in meeting any Yugi, Tristan, or Mai. Doubles of myself are also welcome, though it'll take me a minute to adjust.

^{(This is not a real source call, I made it up. This is also based on more modern source calls, and may not reflect how they were pre-2014.)}

During fictionkin's boom on Tumblr in the mid 2010s, it was common for people to suddenly want to meet people from their canon as well as their source. Canon calls were the same as source calls, however people would usually bring up things they specifically remember to try to identify others. A canon call may look more like this:

I'm Hikaru from Magic Knight Rayearth. I'm mostly canon-compliant but I never became the pillar. I'm interested in meeting my Umi and Fuu, but if anyone else remembers me I'll talk to you too.

^{(This is not a real canon call, I made it up.)}

You may notice a small problem with this call: the information, while not too vague, could apply to a variety of canons. However, this isn't the worst problem these communities faced at the time in regard to memories:

It is extremely easy to lie about these things and manipulate others. While older members of the community may be more headstrong and less susceptible, Tumblr's fictionkin community was mostly teenagers who were already in a vulnerable state (whether that be mental illness or ongoing abuse outside of the internet). There are a handful of cases of people manipulating others to stay friends (or romantic partners) with them because they happen to be canonmates of preexisting lovers, and there is at least one person who used to pretend to be canonmates with others to scam people out of (eshop giftcard) money.

A scarier but real example of this kind of manipulation would be the Final Fantasy VII House - the ringleaders Jen and Hojo would often try to hammer the belief into people's heads that they were a FFVII character in a past life (notably Zack or Vincent, though there were others), regardless of if they were actually 'kin or not. This among other manipulation tactics kept their victims in the house for extended periods of time. While Jen and Hojo were actually soulbonders, situations like this can be seen in true 'kin communities, too. A link to all the information on the house will be in the sources, as it's quite a read.

A common phenomena that came from this is kindating, or dating someone only because you're source/canonmates. These relationships often ended up in flames, and the reactionary nature of Tumblr users often turned these small private matters into public callout posts and putting each other in their DNI, calling their exes abusers. This is unfortunately still somewhat popular with new-age kinnies, despite the fact canonmates shouldn't exist in non-spiritual settings. It's also common for one half of a relationship to kin the matching character in their partner's favourite ship, kind of like reverse kindating.

There are also instances of (arguably) more heinous actions, such as a series of events well known in the JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fanbase and kin communities. Primary sources are extremely scarce and it's treated more as an urban legend, but here are some important details:

• An Italian person kin with Diavolo owned a JoJo kin server.
• The Diavolo kin would send a Doppio kin $100 biweekly (there may have also been a Trish kin).
• Diavolo visited Doppio at his college.
• Doppio and Diavolo then went off to Italy (allegedly the Diavolo kin referred to this as 'saving' him).
• Doppio kin was never heard from again.
• Diavolo kin told the server he hated everyone in it except for Doppio, shortly deleting the server.

SOURCES (that I have proper links to)

Fictionkinfessions

Scicraft on Tumblr: Kinfishing (mirror)

My friend Anam who is smarter than me

A Public Warning: Documentation of The FF7 House

A handful of this is also from personal experience, so if you want to take it with a grain of salt, go ahead.

• Kin: Believing that you or your soul is a reincarnation of something
  
• Fictionkin: Kin, namely with fictional characters. Formerly known as Otakukin/Otakin
• Kin memory: Often shortened to kinmem. These are the memories one may have of their kintype (can also be called 'past life memories')
• Double: A double is someone who is kin with the same character as someone else. Some people don't like them, others do, most people don't care either which way
• Source: Where the thing you're kin with comes from (eg Dragon Ball)
• Canon: Your specific past life
• Sourcemate: Two people who are both kin with Dragon Ball characters would be sourcemates
• Canonmate: Someone from your past life specifically. If you were Goku, this would be your specific Vegeta
• Source call: A post detailing who you're kin with to find sourcemates
• Canon call: A post detailing who you're kin with and specific memories to find canonmates
• Final Fantasy VII House: A cult run by two (or three) deeply disturbed people
• Soulbond: When a creature with Soulbond enters the battlefield, it can choose another unpaired creature under your control. The creatures are considered paired with each other. The player may also choose not to pair with another creature, and then choose to pair with another creature under your control when that creature enters the battlefield. Usually, the creature with Soulbond as well as its pair gain abilities or advantages when paired up. There are also other cards which look for paired up creatures.
• Kindating: Entering a relationship with someone solely because you're source/canonmates