#hearttype

there are a few mustelids out there but im the only sablehearted ive seen!

edit: i am now a sable therian, and there are indeed more!!! i love you sable therians 🫶

(for @skylargoesbark alterhuman new years posts!)

i know a lot of folks tend to think of otherhearted as “just having a connection”, or like the lesser version of kin, and it will never not get on my nerves when i see someone (trying to correct someone else) say “therian/kin isn’t a connection!! if you just have a connection, that’s just otherhearted!!” or something similar.

it’s the word ‘just’ that always gets me. it’s just a connection. it’s not kin; it’s just otherhearted.

it feels reductive. it feels like dumbing down what it truly means to be otherhearted.

personally my hearttypes aren’t just anything. they’re a whole slew of complexities and emotions that are integral to who i am as a being. they make me who i am, and i wouldn’t be the same without them.

and i know people tend to think it’s not a big deal, and even if i were to say “imagine if someone said ‘it’s just a kintype’ about one of your kintypes”, many of you probably wouldn’t care. but my issue is that to otherhearted creatures, specifically, it happens over and over and over again. and if i ever point it out, suggest a correction, i sometimes get dogpiled on as if im the bad guy; op didnt mean it that way, dogbite, don’t be so sensitive. you’re overreacting.

but i suppose that’s the problem, isn’t it? that they didn’t mean to. that reducing our identity in such a way is so common, so familiar that people don’t even think about it when they do it. that in their subconscious, otherheart will only ever be “just a connection”, and nothing more. even if they don’t mean it that way. it still stings a little even if it wasn’t intentional.

We've seen some posts around like this for other subsections of the community, so we figured we'd make a 'heartedness one. This isn’t extensive, nor does it cover the entirety of the hearted experience–but it should serve as a general rundown of the community. This post has a PDF version that's going to be archived on our Neocities.

Terminology

Otherhearted:  – Synonyms: “Otherkith”A person with a strong connection to a species, character or other entity, usually defined by identifying "with", but not "as". More on what exactly this means later.

Concepthearted: A person whose otherhearted identity relates to concepts. (Emotionhearted, songhearted, timehearted, etc).

Facthearted: A person whose otherhearted identity relates to real, this-world people, places or individual animals. (Hearttypes including specific oceans, public figures/celebrities, specific animals, etc).

Fictionhearted: A person whose otherhearted identity relates to fictional characters, species or places. (Nightfuryhearted, Mariohearted, etc).

Planthearted: A person whose otherhearted identity relates to plants. (Treehearted, sunflowerhearted, etc).

Theriohearted: – Synonyms: “Animalhearted” A person whose otherhearted identity relates to animals. (Wolfhearted, bearhearted, etc).

Hearttype: – Synonyms: “Kithtype”, debatably “Synpath”The entity that an otherhearted individual identifies with.

–hearted: A suffix used to denote your specific hearttype. For example, a person whose hearttype is wolves would be wolfhearted.

Hearthome: A hearthome is a place–be it real or fictional–that a person has a deep connection with, often to the point of considering it a “home” regardless of if they’ve never been there in their current life/body.

Synpath: A thing someone identifies with and not as, used similarly to "hearttype", though there's nuances separating the two terms depending on who you ask.

Symbols

The otherhearted symbol or diamond heart was proposed by tumblr user aestherians in 2017, chosen by the community using a poll. The design features a ring interlocking with a heart, which converges into a diamond shape in the middle.

What Does It Really Mean?

“Identifying With”

“Identifying with” is a broad category that’s understandably, quite confusing. This explanation aims to make it a little more understandable, but this absolutely doesn’t cover the entirety of what “identifying with” can mean. “It” in the following points refers to a hearttype or potential hearttype, whatever that may be.

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.

A lot of the above points relate in similar ways to hearthome identities, but reworded to incorporate “it” as a place instead. Additional points for hearthomes include:

Feeling like you should be there.

Feeling like you were there once, and it’s left a mark on your identity.

That place holding a special place within your identity.

Feeling a “pull” toward that place.

FAQ:

How is this different from otherkin/therians?

A therian/otherkin identifies as their kintype, whereas an otherhearted person doesn’t, and will have a different type of connection to them. Think of the difference as “I am [kintype]” vs “[hearttype] is a part of my identity”. However, there’s plenty of nuance, grey areas between them, and these identities can even shift and become each other over time, so this is a general statement not accounting for those nuances.

Both things are still alterhuman, and no identity is “lesser” than the other–hearttypes can have just as much influence over a person’s identity as kintypes can.

Can hearttypes be chosen/voluntary?

Yes! There’s a divide between otherkin and otherlinkers in this way, but this hasn’t ever really been a need for the ‘hearted community to define or draw a line between.

What things can be a hearttype?

Anything! Generally, if you are currently experiencing it, the rule is that it can happen. You’re experiencing it, after all!

Hearttypes can be (but aren’t limited to): 

Animals, mythical creatures, plants, fungi

Oceans, forests, off-planet locations, buildings, fictional locations, other natural formations like rivers and mountains

People, real or fictional

Emotions, colours, aesthetics, sounds, seasons, songs

Objects, robots, machines, artworks

Book series, tv shows, movies, games

Do otherhearted people shift?

Otherhearted people absolutely can experience shifts, as can any other alterhuman and even non-alterhumans. Shifting isn’t a thing exclusive to otherkin/therians.

Is this different from a special interest or hyperfixation?

For some people, yes! We’ve seen many people (including ourselves) who experience these things with a lot of overlap. For others, no–they’re distinct things even if there might be some similarities.

Hearttypes can be the same thing as your special interest/hyperfixation, or they might not be. Sometimes hearttypes form spins/hyperfixes and sometimes it’s the other way around! It’s really up to the individual to decide whether these things are hearttypes or not–there’s no set default for this.

Further Reading:

Alterhuman Archive’s Otherhearted Section: https://www.zotero.org/groups/4956615/altarchive/collections/R9URWR67 A compilation of heartedness related writings from across the community.

Otherhearted-Culture-Is: https://otherhearted-culture-is.tumblr.com/ A culture-is blog for otherhearteds that’s turned into more of a general purpose otherheartedness blog.

-To all the beings with 1 kintype

-To all the beings with loadsssssssssssssss of kin types

-To the beings who don’t feel very connected to their kin or only faintly feel like them

-To all the beings who wholly identify as their kin and very rarely or don’t even at all in any way identify as human

-To all the beings who are transspecies, physical therians/kins, have clinical zooanthropy/lycanthropy or experience creature-like delusions

-To the therians with common theriotypes

-To the therians with extremely rare/not well known, extinct or nonexistent theriotypes

-To the fictionkins who don’t really act like their kin’s a lot

-To the non-therians who regularly get mistaken as therians

-To the therians who don’t do quads or wear masks

-To the other/animalhearts, otherlinks/kins, copinglinks and otherpaw

-To the clado, omni, ambi and cambi-therians

-To the conceptkins, plantkins, objectkins, songkins, placekins and others

-To the beings with extreme species dysphoria

-To the beings with no dysphoria

-To the beings who don’t have a safe space to express their alterhumanity

-To the grey-muzzles and to the newly awakened

-To the beings who do or don’t wear gear

-To the beings who have no clue what their kin is

-To the beings who don’t know what labels to use yet

As time has gone on the (majority) of labels have expanded their purpose. Hearttype, for example has gone from a particular expression of affection towards something that isn't you to an expanded and ambiguous catch-a-lot term that's only real repeating definition is 'closer to like than to as', which, doesn't mean much.

Functionally, it's more of an ambiguous category catching all types of identites in its net, or serves as a large and fluid border between KFFer and the more solid or even more 'real' kintype identites. This is where ideas of identites being "just otherhearted" comes from.

Conversely, we also have coining culture if you don't find a term that fits you, you're heavily encouraged to make a new term. Sometimes these labels tend more of the side of gender coinings which leans towards personal elements or aesthetics but many others are terms that fall between other terms. Terms that are 'between' kintype and hearttype. Or kintype and otherlink, or theriotype and hearttype or fictionkin and fictionflicker, for just a few examples.

The Belgian Hare is a "fancy" (i.e., they are primarily for exhibition, not products) breed of domestic rabbit. They have been selectively bred to resemble wild European hares, but are rabbits rather than true hares. Averaging 6–9 pounds (2.7–4.1 kg), the Belgian Hare is known for their slender and wiry frame and their long and powerful legs. The breed is responsible for launching the domestic rabbit industry, as well as popularizing rabbit shows in the United States. The Belgian Hare is one of the most intelligent and energetic breeds of rabbit, with the potential to be trained to respond to the sound of their name. Due to their active nature and alert temperament, they can very easily be startled by sudden noise or movement. As a result of their active personality, they have been called "the poor man's racehorse".

MANMADE / EXPERiMENT

pt; manmade / experiment . end pt

a species flag for any nonhuman that is in some way manmade, usually via science/alchemy/etc. use it if you think it fits you im not a cop. but if it helps i was thinking of frankensteins monster, jekyll & hyde, edward scissorhands when making it.

flag designed by our alter mr hyde who wants credit idk