There is no such thing as a "real person" in the way people typically understand it. If you asked someone "hey, what is a real person?" they would probably reply by saying it's anyone like you or me. Anyone with flesh and blood and a brain. But that isn't really accurate. The person that you see in the mirror doesn't necessarily have to be you, that isn't definitively your "real" self. Your real self is whoever you identify as.
There are layers to every person's identity. Sometimes a person only has one layer! They're born into a body and they stick with that body and identify as that body forever and always. Some people will move a layer inwards, and create a self in what you would call an avatar or an oc. Think back to when you were a kid, playing Animal Jam or Habbo Hotel or Club Penguin or RuneScape or any kind of massive multiplayer social game. When you were a kid, and you pictured yourself in your mind, did you see your body? Or did you sometimes see your online avatar? Perhaps, without knowing it, you changed who your real self was. You no longer connected with your body. You had created a new body, a new person, to be. At that point, you in the real world were just a mind and soul controlling your virtual self. The virtual self was your real body.
This can also apply to original characters, or "ocs". Maybe you liked to roleplay with your friends at recess as a kid. Maybe you were a warrior cat, or a wolf, or maybe even a horse. Maybe you were still a human, but a different one than your body. Maybe you were a fictional character. Maybe you were an abstract concept you couldn't even really put a name to. If you expressed yourself as such, and that's how you pictured yourself in your mind, then that could have been your real body.
I think that's what a lot of modern 'kin stem from. They view themselves differently in their minds than how they look to others, so they identify as what they see themselves as. The definition of what makes someone a 'kin has changed a lot over the past few years, and it has a lot of different meanings now. Sometimes it just means collecting characters you like. But I definitely think a lot of 'kin people are experiencing this phenomenon.
There is also the possibility that someone moves a layer outward. Examples of this would be people who experience maladaptive daydreaming or plural people that are able to exist at will in the headspace. To them, the irl body is actually a lot like playing a mmo. It's viewed as an avatar you get to dress up and play as, and not as the self.
Both of these scenarios often take a person away from this universe entirely. People who are a layer inward will often feel that their home is within the world that their created self resides. People who are a layer outward will often feel that their home is within their own mind, in their headspace, or something similar.
Usually, this experience is unintentional, and sometimes even distressing. People may not want to identify as anything other than their irl body. A lot of people would even consider it a mental illness. But other people are open to it. Some even actively try to detach from their irl body because it brings them discomfort. It's important to be safe when detaching from your irl because it can be dangerous if things go wrong. I may write something about that later. Remember to take care of every part of yourself.
- Casey