Therian Guide: Forums

Hi everyone!! I'm not sure if many remember me since I haven't been on these fourms properly in years now,, but I wanted to talk about something that I've noticed recently that's been bugging me ig. I'm sorry if there's already been a thread on this topic or this subject is in the wrong board!! If so, admins feel free to take this down or whatever.
Anyway!!
Okay hi so I've noticed that recently there's been an upsurge of fictionkin on Instagram and Tumblr; and by fictionkin I mean people who see an anime character they like or relate to and are like "Wow kin!1!!". And nowadays the term "therianthropy" has been disregarded for using otherkin as a sorta umbrella term; which I guess it always has been, but never like this.
Sorry if this doesn't make sense n it's really rushed,, but yeah. What I wanted to know is: what are ya'lls opinions on this new wave of kids who claim they're "kin" when really it's just for fun or something they relate to? Personally I feel like it's harming the therianthropy/otherkin community, I'm glad that kinning is more talked about n no longer as taboo as it once was, but it becoming mainstream is turning therians n such out to be a joke, I feel like. Idk about you but I don't really want this community to be associated with "Oh you're a kinnie? Wow me too I relate to this character so much!!" Because that's... not what "kinning" is. Not seriously, anyway. It's a spiritual thing most of the time, right? And I feel like people are forgetting or twisting the meaning now. Idk.
Anyway, I apologise if this really didn't make any sense or it was disrespectful to anyone in any way. :') Like I said, I haven't actually been involved in this community since probably.. god, 2016. I'm not sure if this is accepted or not here. Btw, I'm not trying to say that fictionkin aren't valid, ofc they are!! I just don't think people who relate to a character n they say they're "kin" are. There's a big difference between relating to a character and being it, I've learnt.

People just wanna fit in and it's probably a phase for many. Those "kinnies" are just misinformed teenagers who are jealous what the fictionkin and therians have and want to be special. For some, it might be real, but when you're on a group where everyone shares the same idea, then it's hard to separate fact from fiction

It's mainly just a bunch of uninformed people who think that just because they like some character/animal it means they are therians. They don't have much of an understanding of what theriantrophy is, and usually they're the type that think that you can just change your kintype on a whim or have 300 kintypes.

I feel like most of these "kinnies" are similar to what the trans community calls "trenders"; people who are either misinformed or are faking it (sometimes even both). Most of them with the bombardment of types are mostly doing it for attention. They're trying to stand out and be special by saying "ooo look I'm all of these things" when in reality, if they are a therian or otherkin, they're most likely anywhere between one to three types. If I hear anyone call themselves a "kinnie", I'm most likely not going to believe them. But I would try to inform them about therianthropy and what it really is; what it means to people and how it's a big part of some of their lives.

Hi,

(2019-08-04 5:00)Darkshifter2 Wrote: [ -> ]what are ya'lls opinions on this new wave of kids who claim they're "kin" when really it's just for fun or something they relate to?

It's important to remember that everyone's experiences are valid, they just might be different from what you experience.

We have quite a few sites that try to explain what therianthropy actually is, so if people wanted to look it up, it's just a google search away.

What you can do is point out to people that you're not a therian because it's cool, but rather that you just are. Those who are not therians will move on to other, more interesting things soon enough.

LP,
Dusty

I think education and patience is the key. I hate to see teenagers get dismissed and seen as bandwagon hoppers, just because they're young and still figuring themselves out. Yes, most of them will probably go down a different path on their journey, but some won't. Some of them are actually young therians, and they need support and guidance. I'm sure most of us remember what it was like to be them once, young and uncertain.

The community is strong and stable enough to survive fads and phases.

I agree with SadieCat29. Education and patience are very important. That's why it's important to be impartial and to ask questions. There will always be individuals that claim to be something or someone they aren't. However, through proper education you can get through to these people. When this happens they might stop pretending. You will also help others who aren't pretending find the answers they seek.
If you ever need a break from those sites and their inhabitants you're always welcome here.

As someone who's had to interact with the "kinnies" on a regular basis for the sake of attempting to educate them on the culture and history of otherkin and therianthropy, the majority of them are uninformed children who are stubborn and refuse to admit that they've done anything wrong. They act like this community was invented on Tumblr as a coping mechanism and for shits and giggles rather than a spiritual community with a recorded history of almost half a century. It's insufferable. I can only hope that this "phase" falls away in a few years and things start to go back to normal.

I often see folks confidently tell me what therianthropy is or isn't despite the fact that even those of us in the community for decades still aren't sure.

I know the history of the therian community intimately but am not that familiar with the Otherkin community history. These days they are merge together and if you teach from the therian side you often get accused of misinformation because they aren't the same. The "identity" view comes from the Otherkin community, as do the ideas of kith VS kin. In the historical therian community, they were the same thing. So, I have often seen Therians run off because what they described "wasn't therianthropy" even though for the first 19 years of the community it totally would have been. It's frustrating.