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This is part of a series of posts about the concept of kin and its history. For a more comprehensive explanation of what kin actually is, check here. A glossary is also included at the bottom for convenience, as not all terms are immediately explained. This was posted 06 Apr, 2022.
This post assumes the reader knows the basics about 'kin, at least up to the Tumblr era. The post linked above will explain some of that.
It was last updated on 05 Aug 2024.
What changed: Unlisted entry. It's been a while and I doubt any of this is relevant anymore.
As many know, bringing fictionkin to Tumblr caused a lot of younger folk to misunderstand what it is - this caused the definition of kin to be watered down, leaving us with new terms to describe their experiences: kin (identifying with), ID (identifying as), and selfhood (literally me). 'Kin was eventually brought over to Twitter during the 2018 porn ban exodus, with the term selfhood becoming less common over time. 'Kin did already exist on Twitter at the time, however you'll find that older members of the community tend to adhere more to the original definition of fictionkin. Tumblr's definition, which you could also call 'kinning for fun', eventually took over Twitter's younger folk in full force.
For the sake of slight clarity, I'll be referring to new-age 'kin as kinnies, and older 'kin as just 'kin.
Kinnies are very different from 'kin in a variety of ways, although you might not catch the differences as quickly if you aren't paying attention. A handful of 'kin may also use Twitter- or Tumblr-era language as shorthand, since a lot of it tends to be quicker to type out. Here are some key differences:
- 'Kin will often say kintype, while kinnies always say kin.
- Kin is always a noun in 'kin communities - with kinnies, kinning is a verb. ('I'm kin with/of' vs 'I kin')
- Kinnies may feel more inclined to say they have IDs or selfhoods, while 'kin are less so.
- This isn't linguistic, but it's very important to note that 'kin are spiritual*, while kinnies are not.
*Psychological kin tend to be closer in behaviour to older 'kin communities, however I'm more focused on the difference between the spiritual and new-age groups. Spiritual and psychological kin apparently have drama sometimes.
Of course, when you have little to no contact with older communities that use the same name, you start to try to fit them into pre-existing boxes in your own. Around 2020, a new term was coined: delusional attachment.
Delusional attachments (often shortened to DAs) are a term used to explain an intrinsic connection one may have with a fictional character. These people may get uncomfortable seeing other people claim to be the character they're 'attached' to, and may even go so far as to ask their friends not to interact with anyone who kins (and by extension, is kin with) or is attached to that character as well. The term is often considered an extension of an identity delusion or a delusion of grandeur, however the connection is dodgy at best considering how delusional attachment is a term coined by some kid on Twitter.
The coinage of delusional attachment actually had nothing to do with older 'kin communities at all, and it seems it came to be due to similar reasons ID and selfhood became terms: you feel more connected to this kin than your other kins. The term is often said to be for psychotics only (due to it being related to delusions of grandeur), however more non-psychotics than psychotics use the term and it's often employed as a power play against kinnies and 'kin alike. As stated before, the new-age group tends to want to fit older communities into their new, modern boxes - spiritual kin are often put under the umbrella of delusional attachments without understanding what that group is going through.
It should be noted that new-age kinnies have also made contact with other communities such as the alterhuman community and asserted the delusional attachment term on them as well. Such practices have made the new-age group even more disliked by more spiritual groups, or even just any group that generally doesn't associate with them.
To me, the delusional attachment folk seem very similar to the more extreme 'kin on Tumblr - being very cagey toward doubles and almost trying to control who their friends interact with so that they don't end up accidentally seeing one. They even have the whole 'I'm me, how can I be kin with me if I'm me' thing going on, but with more modern language. Despite the delusional attachment 'community''s attempts at controlling kinnies, they seem to hate it when you assume or assert that they belong there with the rest of them.
The community also has a very strange and distorted view of psychosis - while there are definitely a decent amount of people in this community that do struggle with it, a lot of the people in the community make out delusional attachments (which isn't even a medical term) as the peak of it. While something like believing you're a fictional character could be part of it, that's not the only delusion people suffer from, and something like this would be a very small minority. I know I've personally suffered from people acting like this is all there is to being psychotic, and many other people probably have, too.
These people also seem to hate the concept of 'reality checking'. Reality checking is a way of helping people tell the real from the fake. While this can sometimes be sad (if you believe someone's alive but they're actually dead or something), most of the time this is actually quite reassuring to people, as the most common type of delusion is something along the lines of 'people are out to get me'. However, people with delusional attachments will apparently have panic attacks if you do so much as slightly hint that they may not be the fictional character they believe they are.
The delusional attachment folk also somehow reality check themselves, both with the term (that implies they're delusional) and with the fact I've actually seen a few people claim that they reality check themselves yet still insist they're the character they think they are. They do seem generally very anti-recovery, while also punishing people who seem to not want to get help at all. They also seem to think being delusional is the best, while also talking about how it's not a joke and they genuinely suffer with their delusions. There are a lot of contradictions in this community I don't quite understand.
In general, I would advise against using this term, and if you genuinely think you're a fictional character outside of a 'kin (or therian) setting, do your best to keep yourself in reality and get help when you can. It's not fair to yourself or other people to lean into whatever delusion you may have or claim to have - untreated psychosis only gets worse as it continues, and may become harder to treat as a result. That and, would you really want to associate with a community like this?
I'll link a couple of posts talking about delusional attachments and the issues with them in the sources as they're better at getting this out than I am, but I hope this served to be a good introduction as to why you shouldn't be using that term.
SOURCES
Kin, ID, and selfhood (for more on Tumblr kin's linguistic changes)
A handful of this was from personal experience and observation, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt.
GLOSSARY
ORTHODOX & OLDER TERMS
- Kin: Believing that you or your soul is a reincarnation of something
- Fictionkin: Kin, namely with fictional characters. This was what otakukin rebranded to
- Kintype: Whatever you're kin with (eg foxkin)
- 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
TUMBLR & NEW-AGE TERMS
- Kin: Relating to a character or wanting to be a character
- Fictionkin: Antiquated term for kin
- Kintype: Whatever you kin (eg a fox) - antiquated term, often just 'kin' is used
- ID: A character you identify with/as
- Selfhood: Delusions related to the a character - antiquated term, 'delusional attachment' is used instead
OTHER
- Alterhuman: The experience of not being or identifying as human
- Therianthropy: Similar to otherkin but not, usually only with animals that exist in this world. Was Lycanthropy until 1994
- Double: Two people who kin/are kin with Vegeta would be doubles
- Kinnie: Term for people who kin. Usually used by new-age kinnies, but some find it offensive
- New-age kinnies: What happens when you don't know what you're talking about
- Delusional attachment: What happens when you give new-age kinnies the DSM
- Psychosis: A mental disorder in which the person may not be in touch with reality
- Delusion: A belief or impression that is firmly maintained despite being contradicted by reality or rationality
- Identity delusion: A belief that the identity of a person, place, or thing has somehow been altered
- Delusion of grandeur: A delusion where the holder believes they are more powerful than what is true
- Reality checking: A process of reassuring an individual that what they believe is not reality
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