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This is a rewritten version of A decently abridged history of kin. With new information at hand, I figured it'd be easier to rewrite and squeeze what I need to in, rather than just trying to fit it all in something I wrote a couple months ago. I don't plan for this post to have many rewrites, but I figure one that adds more accuracy in general would be easier. This was posted on 27 Apr, 2022. Read the other posts in the series here.
It was last updated on [[DATE HERE]].
What changed: [[CHANGES HERE]]
Did you know that the concept of kin is older than Dungeons & Dragons? The first group that followed this concept is the Elf Queen's Daughters, who came to be in the Wicca scene around 1972-1974. There are many conflicting sources as to where they started, but the Silver Elves' blog states that the founding sisters came from Illinois, their names being Susie Creamcheese (Arwen) and Mary Sunshine (Elanor). They had a mailing list known as Elf Magic Mail, sharing lore and philosophy called the 'Elven Way'.
In 1975, a group was 'awakened' by the Elf Queen's Daughters and formed a vortex (or coven) in Carbondale, Illinois. This group was known as the Elves of the Southern Woodlands, and they have gone through the following location and name changes:
The Silver Elves have created books and continued Elf Magic Mail since their creation, with a brief pause in 1977. They have also created a language called Arvyndase (Air-vin-dah-see) or Silverspeech, which appears to be primarily used for magic.
- 1979: Gainesville, FL - Sylvan Elves
- 1981: California - The Silver Elves
- 2008: Hawai'i - (No name change)
A while after in-person meetings started to be held, other fantasy creatures began coming out of the woodwork and joining (such as dragons). In 1990, the term 'otherkin' was coined, and is still in use today. They were somewhat common on Usenet and were a target of the meowers (Meow Wars) - some meowers were actually otherkin themselves. The Meow Wars were a wave of trolling that spread across Usenet.
Where exactly did the term otherkin come from, though? The term originates with the word 'elfinkind', which was used to refer to the elves. A mailing list known as Elfinkind Digest first mentions otherkin as 'otherkind' in its 16th issue - the D was eventually dropped, but both otherkind and otherkin were used interchangeably for a while. It's likely that some older members of the community still refer to themselves as otherkind.
At this time, 'kin and all concepts related to it were spiritual in nature. Otherkin believe that they are a reincarnation or a parallel incarnation of whatever they're kin with, usually nonhuman creatures.
Many similar communities came about around this time, but developed independent of each other. The oldest of these groups is 'real vampires', which appear to have existed as early as 1987. The community was not active online until 1994, and didn't seem to gain much traction until 1997. There are varying types of people considered real vampires, with some being psychic vampires (feeding off psychic energies), and others believing they need to drink actual blood.
There's also the faeborn alongside other supernatural beings, who appear to have come about around the same time as otherkin. I'm not able to find much information on these folk, but the faeborn believe that they fae have been interested in them since birth. Some may prefer the term 'fae-touched'.
A group that seems to frequently interact in or around otherkin circles is that of therians, who are similar to otherkin, but with nuances I haven't quite looked into and likely wouldn't understand. They appear to only have a connection to animals that have existed in this world, but I have seem the term 'fictherian' a couple times, so perhaps their definitions have shifted over time.
Therianthropy started around 1992, however it was known as 'Lycanthropy' until around 1994. I personally don't know much about them - my only real impression happens to come from those that look down on otherkin and its various branches, though of course not every therian is all high-and-mighty. There are bad folk in every group, after all. (It is quite absurd seeing some of them say otherkin hurt the transgender community, though - otherkin has nothing to do with being transgender!)
In 2003, a concept of 'otakukin' or 'otakin' came to be - I have no idea if it started out as a joke or not, but it was adopted and eventually had a sizeable community. Otakukin branched off of otherkin, acting as the same thing but with fictional characters instead (namely anime, it seems). Around 2007, the Livejournal group for otakukin debated on a name change, eventually opting to call themselves 'fictionkin', which has stuck ever since.
Around 2011, trolls came and created the term 'factkin', meaning the same thing as before, but with real people (often historical figures). It was used to mock fictionkin in ways such as 'OMG you're fictionkin? I'm kin with Hitler LOL' or other similar jokes. Some people do seem to legitimately consider themselves factkin, however these people are often mocked by other 'kin communities because of how blatantly disrespectful and troll-like they can be.
Otherkin and fictionkin, while one is somewhat a subset of the other, tend to butt heads occasionally online, as well. A lot of otherkin see fictionkin as somehow fake or a fad, for similar reasons people see otherkin. However, they also point out that if that fictional source hadn't come to be, fictionkin may have never found out who they were. While true, they should probably remember that there's a high likelihood the original elves that started this whole thing may have been at least partially awoken by the works of J. R. R. Tolkien.
The concept of fictionkin boomed in 2014 when it finally made its way to Tumblr. However, due to so many younger people being introduced to the concept, it was going to find itself going under major changes. At some point, being kin with a character went from identifying as to identifying with - this caused the people who identified as to try to explain that they were more than the new definition of 'kin. This lead to the term ID, which eventually needed a more extreme version of itself, the selfhood.
This development in terminology marks the beginning of the modern era of 'kin - newer people in the community didn't seem to enjoy how seriously older and more spiritual folk took it, and started saying they were kin for fun. These folk tended to not be spiritual at all, and were part of the 'identifying with' crowd. There were some minor skirmishes and spats over both sides of the communities, and a major figure of the spiritual community actually tried to backwards-coin the term fictionkind to avoid associating with these new-age folk. (It didn't work.)
There were a few other terms adjacent to whatever nightmare the community had become:
As nonspiritual kin began to predominate kin communities, it only makes sense that the definition one may be most familiar with is that of relating to a character, heavily. The spiritual side of kin doesn't seem to have died out, however it's less common to run into them on Twitter - and even less common to find younger folk who claim to be so. However, Twitter's introduction to kin might as well have been a death knell for it - most spiritual 'kin I know appear to not want to openly state they're kin, finding it embarrassing to do so with the newer crowds, or even because of the risk of being associated with or mistaken for them.
- Nokin ID: You identified with or felt that a character was you, but you weren't kin with them - there was no spiritual connection or past life. This term doesn't seem to have been popular, but I ran into it at least a few times, including in private conversations.
- Psychological kin: A nonspiritual alternative to spiritual kin. It's very similar to copinglink, and I believe it may actually be an antiquated term still in use. A small group of psychological kin are similar to spiritual kin, though they don't believe in reincarnation.
- Copinglink: Seems to be very similar to psychological kin, though with nuances I don't understand. The creator of this term does not consider it a kin term.
- Divinekin: Most commonly godkin, though there is a smaller branch of angelkin. Godkin believe themselves to be reincarnations, parallel incarnations, or fragments of a deity (they may also use the term godshard). They have a reputation in other communities, for the better or worse.
Separating the Tumblr and Twitter eras of 'kin, I generally refer to the Twitter folk's concept as new-age kinning. This concept became a thing around 2018, and solidified itself as Tumblr's porn ban caused many people to move over to other platforms. It encompasses pretty much every version of itself, but these people are either part of the coping or 'for fun' crowd, and very rarely are spiritual. (They may be in other ways, but certainly not with their kins!)
One interesting difference between the old and new communities is how they describe being kin: older communities may say 'kin with' (with even older ones saying 'kin of'), while newer communities simply say they kin something. Some people find it irritating to see kin used as a verb, others don't seem to care.
Some members of the newer community have found that they can't control their kins - there, of course, are varying reasons for this. Some folk may be spiritual kin and unaware of it, and others may have taken their coping mechanism too far. In 2020, the term 'delusional attachment' was coined, quickly becoming controversial. The term is used to explain some kind of intrinsic, allegedly uncontrollable connection they have with a fictional character. These people become uncomfortable seeing other people who are attached to or kin the character, and have a reputation for being quite controlling. The term is likened to a delusion of grandeur, however it's more similar to a kind of self-deception. These folk have somehow managed to get into trouble with every other kin and kin-adjacent community there is.
I have seen some people say they're the IRL of a character, instead of saying delusional attachment - I don't want to burst their bubble, but if they don't want to associate with 'kin communities, they should maybe realize that term is a somewhat antiquated kin term, too. 🤭 You can't escape!
Right now, the new-age kin community seems to be at a point where some big drama is going to happen that will shake up the community. Considering the type of folk that are in the community now, it's hard to say what exactly will be the straw that breaks the camel's back...
SOURCES
A handful of this is also from personal experience, so if you want to take it with a grain of salt, go ahead.
GLOSSARY
- Kin: Believing that you or your soul is a reincarnation of something
- Elf Queen's Daughters: First traceable group with a similar concept to kin
- Awakening: The process one goes through as they realize they might be 'kin. Old term, often only really used nowadays by the Elf Queen's Daughters and their various offshoots, but was used even by fictionkin for a while
- Silver Elves: Branch of Elf Queen's Daughters that became its own thing
- Real vampires: People who believe themselves to be vampires - ranges from feeding off psychic energy to drinking actual blood
- Elfkind: Term used to refer to elves
- Otherkin(d): Kin, usually with animals or other nonhuman creatures
- Kin(type): Whatever you're kin with (eg foxkin). Shortened to just 'kin' for convenience, though the -type ending has been completely lost in the new-age community
- Therianthropy: Similar to otherkin but not, usually only with animals that exist in this world. Was Lycanthropy until 1994
- Faeborn: People who believe the fae have been interested in them since birth. Alternative term: fae-touched
- Meow Wars: Wave of trolling on Usenet
- Meowers: Perpetrators of the Meow Wars
- Otakukin (Otakin): Kin, namely with anime characters
- Fictionkin: Kin, namely with fictional characters. This was what otakukin rebranded to
- Factkin: Kin, but with real people. Started out as trolling, some people seem to be genuine
- Nokin ID: Identifying with a character heavily, but no past life
- Psychological kin: Nonspiritual alternative to spiritual kin, a coping mechanism similar to a nokin ID (though some are almost the exact same as spiritual kin but don't believe in reincarnation)
- Copinglink: Similar to psychological kin, but not using the kin name
- Divinekin: Umbrella term for godkin and angelkin
- Godkin: Same as otherkin, but with deities that may or may not exist in this world
- Angelkin: Same as godkin, but with angels
- Godshard: A more sane version of godkin, where one is more like a fragment of said deity than the whole deity itself
- New-age kin: What happens when you don't know what you're talking about
- Kinnie: Term for people who kin. Usually used by new-age kinnies, but some find it offensive
- Delusional attachment: What happens when you give new-age kinnies the DSM
Comments
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MetalHeart
Nah there isn't any history, it's an online thing, seek help
Online thing or not, it's older than you. Do you know what history means?
by Nikita; ; Report