What's a kff? Why does kinnie have a negative connotation now?
Oh, buckle up, this one's a bit of a doozy!
KFF is short for "kin-for-fun," and either "KFF people" or "KFFers" are thus the people who claim to be "kinning for fun" - in other words, misusing "kin" to mean roleplaying as, projecting onto, strongly relating to, and/or just really really liking their "kins" (as opposed to what 'kin actually means, which is being nonhuman/fictional). In particular, when used more scathingly, it's often used to refer specifically to people who have been approached by 'kin folks trying to explain that that's not what 'kin means and it shouldn't be used that way, and who continue to use it anyway, often while claiming that actual otherkin/fictionkin are "crazy," "delusional," "taking it too seriously," and my personal favorite (/s), "otherkin are ruining kinning."
Kinnie has always had a negative connotation, even though some parts of the community have chosen to use it for themselves. It originated from antikin as an insult - many claim that it came from the t-slur, but neither I nor anyone I know have been able to hunt up any actual evidence of that, so it's equally likely they just happen to sound similar because they're both diminutives used in a derogatory way; either way, many are uncomfortable with "kinnie" because of the similarity.
These days, it's not terribly unusual to see legitimate 'kin calling themselves "kinnies," but it's far more common to see that language used by KFF people - to the point where some people use "kinnies" and "KFF people" as synonymous (I tend to gravitate toward the latter just because it's more accurate and because I know legitimate 'kin folk who use the term "kinnie" for themselves). Usually when you see someone using "kinnie" in a derogatory way who's otherkin themself, that's what they're using it to mean.
(And as a bonus, while I won't say outright that you shouldn't use "kinnie" for yourself if you like it*, I will warn that a large chunk of the otherkin community will side-eye you if you call yourself an "[x] kinnie" instead of "[x]kin" and consider it a red flag for being KFF, though usually not to the point of not being willing to see past it if you show no other red flags for that. It's just something you're going to have to deal with if you want to use that language, because of its history both past and current.)
* I will, however, outright say - please don't use "kin" as a verb (ie "kinning"), even if you're using it to mean identity and not KFF stuff. I care far more about using "kin" as a verb than I do about "kinnie"; "kinnie" is just vaguely insulting and has a bad history, "kin" as a verb actually carries serious potential to perpetuate misunderstanding of what otherkinity is by making it sound like otherkin is something you do, rather than something you are - which sounds like nitpicking, except I've seen that confusion happen because of that language being used firsthand time and time again.
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