#hearted

ttt_bathplex

do you have a definition of otherhearted? or a lived experience with it?

thank you for taking the time to read that. kudos :]

- @starlight-chickens

From the otherkin wiki:

Otherhearted describes a person who has a strong fundamental connection to a species or character which impacts their core sense of self. This is most commonly described in terms of identifying with a being as opposed to identifying as one, although this is not always the case.

Now.. This is pretty vague! That's a large part of the term in all honesty. It's meant to be broad, because things can be important and integral to your identity in many, many ways. We've written on heartedness before with some examples of what that can mean, here's a link to that post.

I'll copy a part of it to this post though. These are some examples of what could be an otherhearted experience!

You feel like you “should have” been it, but you aren’t. You feel like you “could have” been it, but you aren’t. It is a part of you even if it’s not entirely “you”. You feel like you will be it in a future life. You believe that in another life, you are/have been it, but right now you’re not. Your sense of self wouldn’t be the same without it as a part of your life. It’s your ideal self, or a representation of it. You feel at home around it or imagining being around it. It’s the form of your daemon. You believe it’s a parallel life of yours, but you’re not it right now. It influences your identity in some way. It’s a special interest or hyperfixation that feels tied to your sense of self. You feel like it is a part of the same family as you. You feel like it is, in a way, kind of almost you, but a little “to the left”--too distinct to be you in a literal sense. You feel like you belong with it, but you’re not literally one of them. It is a part of your identity in some way other than you being literally them.

Are these the only ways to be 'hearted? No. Are these experiences always something someone would describe as an otherhearted identity? Also no. What counts or doesn't count is ultimately up to you, as long as the potential hearttype is important to your own identity, it can count.

Our collective system is otherhearted. Some stuff we experience due to that:

We're birdhearted, because birds are our main special interest and we form a lot of our identity and sense of self around them. We're also a corvid therian, and that extends to birds of all kind having a sort of "this is just like me" feeling to them on top of that.

We're planthearted, because we feel that plants are intertwined with our daily life and very being to a point where we see them as family or something close. This actually might have started years ago (or have been made more strong feeling) by our psychologist recommending that we get plants for our room so we'd have to open the curtains in the morning to help it grow. She recommended this to us during a really dark time in our life and we feel like we owe us even getting out of that situation at least in part, to the plants that we had motivation to look after when we couldn't care for ourselves.

I, Del, personally am snakehearted and dragonhearted. These identities go hand in hand in a way? Snakes feel like my cousins, symbolically. They're often seen as slippery, sly guys out to con and scheme and take foes down with venom--but they're also in truth, just animals doing what their nature drives them to do. On a deeper level due to my fictive identity, I feel so intertwined with the narrative around snakes here that they're a core part of who I am and how I feel about myself. Dragons, on the other hand, feel like an extension of the snakehearted identity, with added cultural significance from my home world.

Aside from our own personal experiences, we can recommend @otherhearted-culture-is as a good blog to learn about 'heartedness from. They've got good stuff over there!

Only you get to decide what does and doesn't apply to your identity. We haven't experienced anything like what you're describing ourselves, but we see no need to avoid classifying it as otherheartedness, at least to test out how you feel about labelling it as such. "Heavily impacts identity" can be vague and mean a whole lot of things, but in my opinion, feeling such a strong draw toward characters beyond what you'd normally experience sounds like it could absolutely be classified as a hearttype.

Titus 3New International Version

Saved in Order to Do Good

3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.

3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.

9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Final Remarks

12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives.

15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith.

౿ ꒰ jackalopehearted , ,

— when the user identifies with jackalopes deeply , but not as one,

꘩ pinterest link

Drawing of Memory <3

Young Memory & Trigger (inspired by Nettles by Ethel Cain)

Half-art of Memory again

Misery♡

One of my "what if"s. What if all my characters from Atlas lore were in the Purgatory (and I just ended up with Ollie and Rich)