You are entirely correct, but you do seem a little confused so I’d like to explain what happened here.
Otherkinity, or rather, a very very warped version of it came to tumblr. I’d like to say 2012-2014, but honestly, I don’t remember. One of the earliest records we have of this warped version on tumblr is the Yandere Bitch Club. There aren’t many records left of them, but there are people who saw it firsthand and can tell you about it. The YBC was a few white girls pretending to be Japanese transwomen with DID in hopes of claiming all their favourite anime characters as their fictotypes without encountering doubles.
They are the ones who started the “kin is a verb” and “you can’t be kin outside of your race” - along with other misinformation. They used their definitions and false authority to try and dictate others, but otherkin either looks crazy or super cool to outsiders, so they and others like them drew a lot of people in. Mostly teenagers.
Effectively, we were looking at the start of a cult-like mentality. Now, I heard about the community in 2015 or so, so I didn’t witness this myself. It wasn’t as bad as it is now about it, but it was kinda bad. It spun out of control and we were looking at a few hundred to a couple thousand people who aren’t otherkin, but think it’s a fancy roleplaying thing or a coping mechanism that allows them to dictate fandom and control others.
And yes, a large percentage of these people, who we’re going to call tumblrkin as that’s what they’re generally called, are also fandom antis. The older term for them is wishkin, but tumblrkin are the warped cult-like teenagers (and sometimes folks in their early 20s) who do this. They don’t understand it’s a personal spiritual and / or psychological belief. They have no idea what it actually is. It’s swapping kintypes like trading cards and using them to control people. And then it’s all dusted up in pastel pink, ‘uwu’ concern trolling, ‘think of the poor defenseless minors / POC!!’, and glitter.
It’s toxic and vicious is what it is. I had a tangle with it about a year ago. I still have no idea if the 21yo guy who got dragged into it was an actual pedophile or if he was framed because claiming ‘pedophile’ is a really good way to ruin someone’s life and 13yos are vicious and don’t understand consequences. (My digestive system is also still royally fucked up.)
The amount of actual otherkin and fictionkin is about the same ratio as always - maybe a little bit more, as the community gains more visibility and more people have words for their experiences. But never, and I cannot emphasize this enough, never take tumblrkin for actual otherkin unless you know that they are. Because they’re not. They’re so, so not, and all they’re doing is spreading misinformation and hurting people.
If you think you can correct some of them, try. But if you can’t or if you know you don’t have the patience / the willpower, don’t even bother, just block and move on. It’s not worth it.
That being said, if someone who was previously tumblrkin wants to know what’s really going on, what otherkinity and fictionkind actually are - tell them! Let them know! And if they need help getting out of tumblrkin spaces, help them or direct them to someone who can. I’m all for giving people second chances and listening to them. But be careful about it, and you’ll be okay.
Now you know what happened, so you’ll be able to make better decisions about it now. :D If that helps?
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