Fictionkin and the Suspension of Disbelief | Fictionkin | Forums

Being fictionkin myself… well, somewhere between fictionkin and multiple… I'll try and give my two cents ,and explain it as I see it.

 

I don't see it being at all different from any other branch of otherkin. Yes, fictionkin tend to work more with modern myths than ancient ones and some people think “well Legend of Zelda was created in this lifetime, how could someone identify as Link?”. However, if we work under the idea that time isn't exactly linear and borrow a multiverse theory, then who's to say? I tend to say that art and expression are ways of tapping into things beyond this world, thus authors as vessels and could very well be describing something that was/is/will happen somewhere else. Some say this crushes creativity or ideas being unique, but I don't agree. Take dragons, for example; does someone claiming to be a dragon in general invalidate the story of Pern or The Hobbit? No. Why would that change if someone claimed to be a dragon from Pern, or Smaug? They are one version in a possibly endless multiverse.

 

Trust me, I understand how people would raise an eyebrow to all of it. Sometimes I still go “is this really real?” and have doubts, but with all the experiences I had had as well as the experiences of those closest to me… it's real. Maybe it's only real to the people experiencing it, I don't know. Even if that were so, does it matter? It doesn't harm anyone. Live and let live, right?

 

As for someone claiming a specific person… Yes, it is like claiming to be the reincarnation of a famous person. However, most fictionkin will outright state that (with the multiverse idea) they are merely one version and they are nothing special. That is true for myself; I claim at least one very specific and well known identity as “me”, and combined with the multiple thing, most people would look at me like I am insane. But I'm… nothing special. I don't want to be. I'm the guy in the corner sipping tea with his nose in a book, minding his own business. I just happen to have a miniature universe in my head, and feel like I have lived many lives in a variety of places and situations. No one has to believe me. I merely want to be understood and accepted, which is quite different.

I agree about sometimes being unable to take a kintype seriously. I also feel that for some of them, it really is just about getting some attention, and they don’t truly feel a kinship of any kind. For the rest that are serious about these seemingly ridiculous kintypes, I’ve had the thought that there is a connection.

That is, some popular forms or entities can manifest in multitudes of individuals. Through the concept of simultaneous time, anyone can be anything, plus the reverse of that, any number of times. I kind of see this as like how some of the higher spiritual beings, like Archangel Michael can be in as many places at once as needed of him. The same can be true for the spirits that make up these other beings.

Now there is one thing that’s come to mind recently with regards to fictionkin, and that is with the idea of infinite universes, the inspiration for those writing the fiction has to come from somewhere. While we do all have imagination, some of us appear to be not only better at it than others, but truly attuned to other universes as if all we were doing was being a reporter of that realm. People then could find it appealing to them because there is a previously unknown connection to that place. Then they discover that connection and become fictionkin.

I understand people may have had this observation already. So, I apologize if it’s been presented elsewhere and I haven’t seen it because I’m not as heavily into all of the otherkin forums as the rest of y’all I don’t think I am fictionkin, though. I love the Pastoral section of Fantasia, but I’ve never felt I was one of those centaurs, nor did I ever think I was Newton on The Mighty Hercules

As fictionkin myself, and having been around many fictionkin already, it always seemed natural to me. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but weren’t the first famous group of otherkin Tolkien elves? My personal believe on time and the multiverse is that if something has been imagined in one universe, it’s real in another one. I sort of see it as a tree with infinitely-reaching branches. Some universes may seem very far-fetched compared to the one we currently live in, but I’m sure that things we take completely seriously here might be a laugh and a half in another universe. The kintypes I have the most trouble with are those for inanimate objects, whether they’re real or fictional. Hopefully someday I’ll get the chance to talk to someone with an inanimate kintype, though, so I can ask them what it’s like!

Jarandhel Dreamsinger said
Are you referring to the Silver Elves, or the Elf Queen’s Daughters?  To my knowledge, neither group were Tolkien elves.

Ah, please forgive me then. I really do need to study up on my history… Perhaps I just made the connection because of the time period it was in? There was a huge boom to the popularity of science-fiction and fantasy during that time; I know that much.