Read on Twitter
"Kinning" is traditionally NOT relating to a character. Otherkin have a deep history, and "kin" has since been misused, spreading a trend completely on misinformation, and it's harmful to otherkin. 
Otherkin are people who feel like or identify as (nonphysically) animal or some nonhuman creature to some extent. This isn't the same as a delusion, because we're aware that we have human bodies and brains, but FEEL otherwise, and just want to express that in harmless ways!
It has nothing to do with LGBTQ+ and we do not claim to be oppressed or anything, however we are definitely bullied a lot by the internet, and it's extremely tiring. We just want to exist in peace, nothing else!
Otherkinity is not a choice. There is no one "real" cause behind it, some believe it's spiritual and some believe it's purely psychological. One person believes they're otherkin because they had a past life as an elf, and another believes they're otherkin because they grew up
around cats and imprinted on them for whatever reason, sometimes due to neurodivergency or trauma/mental illness. And many more explanations! All are valid, as long as they're not something like, believing you're literally a werewolf or something, which is impossible.
We very much discourage those kinds of things, though young people tend to fall into it anyways. We're here to educate them, not bully them like some outsiders do. They're often just confused or were misguided.
Another kind of misinformation, which is why I made this thread: the idea that "kinning" in a choice. Firstly, we don't really use kin as a verb, because it makes it sound like it is a choice! Although it's not really wrong, it leaves a bad taste in some people's mouths.
The otherkin community has origin in the 1970s, whereas the idea that kin = relating to or stanning a character has only been around for a few years. Some people must've gotten confused about what kin was or latched onto it and started spreading misinformation.
"Kinning" has basically just replaced the "me/same" and "spirit animal" memes. Of course, the spirit animal meme is appropriating other cultures, and thankfully has died down over the years, but the internet decided to latch onto something else instead.
People now equate kin to having a similar personality to a fictional character or really liking them, which as you can imagine, is quite frustrating for us to see our terms misused. I promise we have no problem with people relating to characters or anything, it's that you're
our words that we spent a long time creating, for our very specific experiences. There is no other word for otherkin. Using "kinnie/kin" or another variation of otherkin... isn't really enough. People still think otherkin = kinnie, not to mention actual otherkin will often use
"kin" for short (especially since just "kin" includes fictionkin, which otherkin does not traditionally include) or sometimes we'll use "kinnie" for ourselves as a funny nickname for us. I've used it a few times as a meme. It was originally created as a nickname for otherkin.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with relating to characters or stanning them or whatever. We're not saying "you can't use the word kin ever" but "hey, don't use kin this way". If you find that "kin" describes your experiences- as in, you identify (nonphysically) as
some type of nonhuman entity (which would classify as otherkin) or some type of fictional character (fictionkin), that's awesome! One big reason we hate the misinformation about kin is that it drowns out real kin experiences, and someone who is actually kin might latch onto
the misused type of kin and still feel left out among other "kinnies" and not understand why. This just makes it harder for someone to open up about their experiences, because they'll be afraid of getting backlash for "taking it too seriously".
On top of this, it makes it harder for outsiders to understand what otherkinity is if they think the Only Way to be Kin is to simply relate to a character, and this perpetuates the idea that "kinnies" were the original kin and some people came along and decided to use
the word kin and take it "too far" by identifying AS these animals/creatures/characters rather than just, having a deep connection to them or something. Personally, as someone who has felt like a dog since childhood and felt different from others because of it, and one day
found the kin community and felt very at home, it very much pains me to see people take the word that has felt like home to me, the word that finally described an experience I'd felt all my life and continue to feel, and use it to mean "I relate to this character" when other
words already exist to describe that experience. We aren't going to throw away 50 years of history to create a new word when "kin" works perfectly fine, but it hurts us that other people use our word to mean something different.
You can simply call them relatable characters, or say "me/same/mood" when you mean those things, instead of saying kin. You can use the term "comfort character", which is exactly how it sounds; a character that brings you comfort.
There are so many other words! There's even hearted/kith, which both mean having a deep connection to something beyond it being a favorite animal/creature/character. I myself have kithtypes, and they are very important to me. They have a very special place in my heart.
"Synpath" was created to mean relating to a character! I know it doesn't sound as "cool" as kin does, but if you don't like these words, why not create your own word? I'd MUCH rather have multiple words describe 1 experience than 1 word mean multiple things.
And before you tell me "Oh, but there are words in the English language that mean multiple things! Why does it matter?" Because it affects our community. Also, why would you WANT to make it harder for people to learn English? Why do you think it's one of the most difficult
languages to learn? Why would you want it to be harder to find other people like you, for both otherkin/fictionkin AND people who just relate to characters and want to find other people like them?
"But the most popular use of 'kin' is relating to a character now! Times have changed!" Firstly, you don't know how many otherkin there are. I promise there are more of us than you think. It's easy to misuse the word kin because people have been using it in place of "me/same"
which is something everyone can relate to. I certainly have characters I heavily relate to that aren't kintypes! Secondly, that doesn't mean it's RIGHT. A lot of people doing one thing doesn't at all mean that it's morally correct, or should be normal.
All we ask is that you use another word instead of "kin" if you don't mean identifying as a creature/character! If it doesn't fit the definition, don't use it! If you feel that "kin" is the right word for you, we won't gatekeep you (and if anyone does I'll bite them)
Normalize using other words to describe your experiences, rather than taking from a small community that has struggled to be accepted by society for 50 years, and struggled to find each other. You absolutely don't have to do anything more.
You're not obligated to correct other people when they misuse kin (although, it's very much appreciated!) or spread awareness, etc. Just using a different word is enough. Instead of making memes asking people's "kins", if you mean characters people relate to, then say that.
Normalize using terms like comfort character and synpath! It's really that easy! That's all we ask :)
