What Fictionkin (and otherkin) experience
(The following is an excerpt from the first draft of my upcoming book on fictionkin)
Fictionkin have experiences and feelings that set them apart from the rest of the world, often even at a very young age. Many of us have known that we were somehow different from others since we were small children, though we lacked the words to properly describe how we were different.
One of the heaviest and most common experiences fictionkin share is one of homesickness. Most people know what feeling homesick is like, but can you imagine feeling homesick in your own town? Your own house, room, or even bed? This is a very real phenomenon for kin, and almost all of us have experienced it. Empty, melancholy longing. Feeling out of place, and out of time. Feeling like we don’t belong even in the place where we were born and raised.
It’s one of the subtlest, most basic, and also most heart wrenching things that kin go through, and it can be near ever present. It can be hard to describe too, not knowing just what you’re missing. Just knowing that something is wrong. Just wanting to go *home* and, before we know what it means to be fictionkin, not knowing where home is.
Gender and/or Species Dysphoria
Another trait many fictionkin share is the experience of feeling as though they are trapped in the wrong body.This can manifest itself in any number of ways, depending on what their spirit ‘expects’ their body to look and feel like.
Kin with spirits that were nonhuman may feel ill at ease walking on two legs, or feel like there are too many or too few teeth in their mouth.They may expect to have limbs that they not, or even feel like they have too many limbs altogether. They may feel like some of their senses are too dull or too sharp.***
Kin with spirits that are human, or close to human may experience dysphoria with things like height, gender, or eyecolor. Many kin feel too tall, or too short, looking at the world from the wrong perspective. Likewise, informal studies and polls in the kin community show that the overwhelming majority of fictionkin consider themselves transgender or on the transgender spectrum.
Supertasters: Some people who are kin to creatures with different experiences of the sense of taste may be supertasters as humans.Supertasting is a documented phenomenon in humans where certain foods and drinks that most people enjoy are intensely bitter or disgusting to a small minority, because they are able to taste underlying chemicals and elements that others can not.The cause of this ability sense is scientifically unknown.
Supernumerary Phantom Limbs
Normal phantom limbs the experience of having feeling and sensation in a limb despite that limb no longer being there. Kin experience supernumerary phantom limbs (also sometimes called Astral Limbs) which are sensations in limbs that were never present on their body in the first place- at least not in their human body.
Kin who have experienced alien or animal bodies often feel the phantom sensations of wings, tails, tentacles, etc. When they can feel these limbs they have a sense of where they are positionally, and may be able to ‘touch’ things with them, and feel heat or roughness, etc. They also may be able to feel when someone ‘touches’ their limbs, or pain if they for instance, get shut in a drawer.
Birthmarks, Scars, and wound pain
Related to phantom limbs, some kin experience unexplained pain or ‘scars’ at the site of wounds that they received in their other lives. As is often theorized to be the case in reincarnation, many kin believe that birthmarks are the remnants of the physical injuries that killed them in another life.
Many kin also experience unexplained pain, or discomfort at the sites of mortal wounds or other large injuries. Pain in lost limbs, or at the site of stab wounds, blurred or other vision problems for those who lost an eye, etc.***
Whether you believe it is kin related or not, if you experience chronic pain or other mysterious symptoms, you should always have them evaluated by a doctor.
Consistent Memories (Visions/Dreams)
Another extremely common and potent kin phenomena is the experience of kin memories.These usually come in the form of potent dreams or ‘visions’ (like normal waking memories). They are snatches of experience from another life. Often memories are visual or audial, but they can also be smells, sounds, or physical feelings.
Kin memories don’t connect with any memories or experiences that the kin has from this lifetime. They are completely from outside this world, and unexplainable. Because of this, they are often very distressing to people who don’t know that they are kin yet, because they seem like they must be hallucinations or suppressed memories.
Kin memories are often vague, and are also often traumatic or tragic, simply because upsetting events can be more memorable than pleasant ones. Memories often tend to be ‘triggered’ by something- either by a similar experience in this world, or by coming in contact with something that in fiction reminds the kin of the memory. The most potent trigger for memories is of course, coming in contact with the story that a fictionkin is ‘from’.
Unexplained fears or urges
Some kin experience unexplained mental hang ups that are related to their other lives. These can include both positive and negative feelings and impulses. For example, a fictionkin who had drowned in their other life might have a phobia of the ocean, or unexplained desire to avoid water. A fictionkin who was a concert violinist might be powerfully drawn to violin music, or even have a natural and inexplicable talent for it.
Like unexplained urges, some fictionkin also experience problems with ‘missing abilities’. This is when a kin feels like there is something they should be able to do, but can not. The kin might, especially when younger, reflexively attempt to call on that ability, and be profoundly confused when it doesn’t work. Some examples are kin who were spellcasters might attempt to make light with a certain gesture, or kin who canine might attempt to track people by their smell.
