hey i'm very new to the community and i'm struggeling with figuring out what actually are kintypes and what are things i just relate to or just past lifes and i was wondering if you could give any tips or maybe help with terminology because there are so many words for different things and I was wondering if otherkin and fictionkin are might just not the terms i'm looking for
Hello! For terminology I really can’t recommend Kiera’s Alterhuman Dictionary enough! It’s so useful and easy to use: https://www.beyondhumanity.net/alterhuman-dictionary. It only offers basic definitions, though, and doesn’t go into detail about the concepts.
The most basic groups I suggest you look into are:
Alterhuman: An umbrella term for all people who have identities that fall outside of what’s generally considered a normal human identity. Otherkin, fictionkin, therians, otherhearted, and linkers (among many many other groups) fall under this umbrella.
Otherkin, fictionkin, and therianthropes: People who identify as a nonhuman or fictional being. The identification is often spiritual or psychological in nature (though it doesn’t have to be), and it can be partial or whole. The only requirements are that it’s an identification as a thing and that it’s an identity that’s inherent to you. ‘Inherent’ in this case means that you don’t actively choose to create that identity, and that you can’t force the identity to go away.
Otherhearted/otherkith: People who identify with a nonhuman or fictional being, to the point that it becomes a part of their identity. Otherhearted people do not identify as their hearttype on any level, only with. This identity is often spiritual or psychological, and it’s usually thought to be inherent like ‘kin/therian identities.
Copinglinkers/otherlinkers: People who have chosen to create a nonhuman identity. It is typically to help cope with difficult situations, though this is not necessary, and the identity can be created for any reason. The identity can be dropped voluntarily.
To reiterate: You do not have to belong to any of these groups to be alterhuman! To be alterhuman, all you need is to have an identity that falls outside of what society accepts as a normal human identity. These are just some of the most common identities that exist.
With that out of the way, onto the second half of your question: How can you figure out what you are?
I think the easiest way to look at it, is that each defined alterhuman group has a set of experiences in common. Some only experience a fraction of these things, and some experience all of them. Some experience things I haven’t even listed, but that still help foster a feeling of alterhumanity. Some experiences also overlap between the different groups, making it more difficult.
Typical otherkin experiences:
Species dysphoria - A deep sense of unhappiness from not being of the correct species. Can include having a different body, being perceived a different way, and being treated a different way to what you feel you should be.
Species euphoria - A deep sense of joy from being of the correct species. Can include modifying your body, dressing up and being perceived and treated like the correct species.
Shifting - A change in perception that makes you feel more like your kintype. There are many different kinds of shifts: https://aestherians.tumblr.com/post/164797991209/
Phantom limbs - Feeling like you have the body/body parts of your kintype
Memories/noemata - Remembering or ‘just knowing’ things about your kintype’s life
Instincts/urges - Reactions and actions that you don’t really think about, but that are very similar to those of your kintype
Wishing you were nonhuman - Self-explanatory
Dreams - Dreams where you are your kintype or are living your kintype’s life or interacting with your kintype
Homesickness - Longing for places or time periods or situations that you’ve never been in in this life
Self-perception - Picturing yourself as your kintype in your mind’s eye, drawing yourself as your kintype when you try to draw a self portrait, always playing as something resembling your kintype in games, etc.
Typical otherhearted experiences:
Familiarity - Feeling like your hearttype is familiar to you or that it’s like family, or feeling otherwise very close to it
Feeling like you should be that species but knowing you aren’t on any level
Comfort - Finding contentmen, safety, satisfaction, or joy in your hearttype
Wishing you were nonhuman
Typical copinglinker experiences:
Knowing you had an active hand in creating the identity - You don’t have to have been fully conscious of creating the identity, but knowing that you created it (even subconsciously) is a defining trait of copinglinking
Knowing you would be able to quit identifying this way - Quitting might not be comfortable or easy, but if forced to you would be able to push away the identity
Wishing you were nonhuman
The process of figuring out what kind of identity you have, and later what specific kind of nonhuman/fictional being your identity is tied to, is called questioning. Questioning yourself takes a long time, usually upwards of a year! Sometimes it only takes a few months, sometimes it takes several years, but no matter what you need patience. The three R’s of questioning are:
Record your day-to-day alterhuman experiences in a journal
Research related topics, such as animal behavior or the source material these feelings stem from, community history, other people’s experiences, philosophy, and spirituality, to name a few.
Reflect on your experiences and what you’ve found out, for example by meditating or by just letting your mind wander while doing other tasks
