#heartedtype

[lycanthropic-omega]

Woof

Hopping on the bingo trend!

Plus the blank

[radiocmyk]

The biggest reason I can't and never have questioned a cephalopod theriotype is because it feels like it would be too good to be true. Like something that's just so me that it necessarily has to go past theriotype and be my heartedtype and special interest and favorite animal because if I, myself, was a cephalopod well that would just be self-indulgent and fanciful. If you want something you can't have it, you have to pretend like you're burdened with a curse you wouldn't wish upon your worst enemy I guess. 'Else it's a funlink. I think being a cephalopod therian would be the best part of my entire alterhuman existence. It would also be like the culmination of everything that led up to finally relenting and confirming it. But it would also be something about myself that makes me happy and g-d knows can't have that.

Remembering the time several years ago I said "it's probably not a copinglink if the only thing I can think of that I'm coping with is just not being the thing" and that post was about the Knight, a fictotype I chickened out of and "deconfirmed" really quickly after and that I've since learned might be too serious and involuntary of an identity to me.

[nimdreams]

Anteatype;

A type that used to be very important to you, or that you identified as for a long time, but no longer identify as.

A type you identified as for a long time or greatly shaped you in some way, but is no longer a therio- or kintype. Can also be used for other past identities by adding the prefix antea-, as in for example, hearthomes as anteahearthome or heartedtypes as anteaheartedtype, etc.

The poll results are in. Out of 147 votes, anteatype won out with 70.1%. Anyone who feels like this term applies to them, is free to use it however they choose.

Thank you to everyone who voted or gave their input.

[maanhaar-lycan]

Does anyone else wish they were an animal in a way that is different from heartedtypes?

With certain animals I really wish I had a close identity-based connection. I don’t necessarily wish to be said animal, but I wish I had a deeper connection. A deep admiration that doesn’t quite match the deeper level of fondness and kinship I feel with heartedtypes. It’s also more commonly influenced my phases or less intense hyperfixations.

A few examples I can think of at the top of my head are dragons (more questionably because they are on the edge of being a hearttype) and thylacines.

[wxlfbites]

Living in a colder climate during the winter puts me in a state of hibernation. My energy is low, my shifts are mostly dormant if not infrequent, and I rarely leave my house unless I have to. But with the arrival of summer, I feel revitalized, increasingly more wolf by the day, I’ve got grass between my toes more than my head on a pillow.

Winter is when I put my human skin back on and remember I can’t survive in the wild. It’s too cold, it’s too dead, it’s too quiet. I’d rather be my bear heartedtype, snuggled up and sleeping while the snow piles up around me. I only really get my fur back in the summer, when the world is alive again. My instincts to hunt are stronger and I feel closer to my wolf self when I’m both spiritually and physically closer to the earth.

Just recently, I’ve begun to practice stalking the neighborhood groundhog. He’s been here for years according to my neighbors and lives under their houses and sheds. He comes out to graze and sit in the summer and I’ve taken to stalking him as prey. I’d never actually hurt him, it’s all just for the fun of getting as close as I can before he runs. I move slowly, quietly, planning my next step, never taking my eyes off him as I move. It’s thrilling. A safe way to exercise my wolf brain balanced with my human empathy.

[beastlybardou]

I am a werewolf! I am also sometimes a spotted hyena? Yeens are somewhere between a heartedtype and a kintype.

I've been in the nonhuman community since 2016 and it's been a huge part of my life ever since then - it's been how I met my mate, most of my friends, and got me on the right path to my taxidermy career!

I am a man in the way people usually refer to the wilderness and dangerous animals masculinely.

I used to classify myself as a purely psychological therian, but these days I have come to accept it pervading into my spirituality and physical self too.

hey alterhumans/alterbeings, tell me about your identities! i'll start:

i'm a magpie therian

i'm foxhearted

sometimes i'm also a machine and/or an angel, it fluctuates. i specifically feel connected to the comparisons between the divine and the mechanical

i love being called a thing and it/its pronouns are awesome

i'm fictionflicker

[mogai-corvidae]

archetrope: An identity under the alterhuman umbrella in which one heavily identifies with or otherwise experiences an archetype, trope, or otherwise preestablished character model in a way that is central to their identity. It may not necessarily be inherently nonhuman, but has a significant enough impact on one’s identity to be experienced in similar ways as other alterhuman labels. Archetropy may specifically or especially inform one’s identity in deeply influential ways in regards to aspects such as personality, occupation/profession/field of study, gender expression or identity, philosophy, spiritual beliefs, or political alignment. It is a nuanced and complex identity which can fall anywhere on the voluntary-involuntary and “identify with”-“identify as” spectrums. This identity can also have spiritual, psychological, or other origins. It could present as an intrinsic identity one is born with, an identity one takes on for the purpose or self-expression and enjoyment, a coping mechanism, or in a myriad of other ways. It is a flexible term that describes a broad range of experiences of identity and alterhumanity. (Examples of archetropal identities include pirate, clown, ranger, royalty, etc.)

"person who is" noun form: archetrope (For example, "Jane is an archetrope.") "state of being" noun form: archetropy (For example, "John's archetropy affects their identity.") adjective form: archetropal (For example, "Jane's archetropal identity makes them happy.")

To refer to specific archetrope "types" (as one would specific kintypes or kithtypes) use the prefix "arche-" followed by the identity itself. (For example, "I am an archepirate," "They are archeroyal," etc.) The term can also be hyphenated if the identity label starts with a letter that would make the term difficult to read such as in "arche-explorer," if the term is multiple words long such as "arche-raised by wolves" or "arche-mountain man," or if one simply prefers to use that syntax.

It is very important to note that those who created this term do not believe in anyone being forced to identify with any particular term or label themselves any specific way! This term exists to describe a community and identity that is commonly experienced but doesn’t have any specific preexisting terminology, but no one should be forced to identify with it if they prefer to describe their identity in some other way. The way you define yourself is up to you, this is just another option!

This term was coined (and both its flag and symbol were designed) collaboratively in this thread on the Nonhuman National Park forum. Additional credit goes to @monsterqueers and @thelightfluxtastic for their contributions.

For more information on flag and symbol meanings, see the information below!

As mentioned, this term, its symbol, and its flag were all collaboratively designed on a forum thread! For information on the history of the term and its development over time, you can check the linked thread! As you can see, it went through quite a bit of change over time, but we’re all glad with how everything turned out! The two accounts mentioned (The Dragonheart Collective and Vyt) contributed the majority of content, but there were a few other forum users who helped us or gave valuable input. Flick, from our system, is the one responsible for a majority of our contribution, including all art (symbol/flag designs) we created. (He is a rogue archetrope, in case you were curious.)

A lot of thought was put into the meaning of both the symbol and the flag! The symbol has a few general meanings or ideas which it represents:

The teardrop shape in the symbol represents both a seed, which represents the capacity to grow and develop in infinitely many ways, and fire, which represents the torch of storytelling and the many character models carried on over time across so many mediums and in so many ways.

The seed’s shadow, which is an outline of the seed itself, represents archetropes themselves, which are “cast from the original mold” of a trope, archetype, etc. so to speak. It represents the way that archetropes are just as diverse and complex as anyone else, yet fall into or follow a certain character model in some capacity, and how that identity coexists with the great nuance and diversity of their identity as a whole. The shadow is its own distinct shape with an entirely different center, but it follows the outline and general shape of a preexisting model, as do archetropes with their archetropal identities.

The roots shooting down from the seed represent both the growth and disseminating of archetropes and their community as well as the development of character models themselves. The many roots also represent the many different aspects of archetropal identity and the many ways it may manifest in an archetrope’s life. All of these many individual aspects of identity, from morals to aesthetic tastes, come together to create a greater picture of a character model of some kind.

Though not pictured, the symbol can also be drawn without a circle surrounding it, simply as the shadowed teardrop shape with roots branching off from beneath it. Both the simplified and more detailed versions can be used in this way.

As for the flag, there is a meaning represented by each stripe/color:

cyan: tropes, archetypes, and other established character models that are consistent or pervasive enough throughout media as a whole over time to be considered a distinct identity one could have

blue: the significant relationship between archetropy and other parts of identity, and the impact of archetropy on many aspects of identity, from moral philosophy to personality to clothing style and much more

magenta: the depth of and intensity with which archetropes express their sense of self, the inherent desire for self expression and autonomy associated with being an archetrope

red: archetropy as its own unique experience which is distinct but still falls under the alterhuman umbrella, the potential relationship archetropy has with other alterhuman experiences

yellow: the creativity and diversity archetropes have in their expressions of identity and how they interpret their experiences, the many different perspectives and experiences of archetropes and how diverse and varying they are (psychologically, spiritually, regarding identifying "as" or "with" or somewhere in between, and in every other way)

green: the development and transformation of tropes and archetypes over time, the vast diversity and variation in interpretations of tropes, archetypes, and other established character models

black: the shadow/imprint of an archetype, trope, or other established character model, which is what an archetrope is in essence

Once again, thank you so much to everyone who participated in this project! We hope to see other archetropes finding much use and value in this term and the art associated with it.

[shyfoxsky]

Photo Credits: Jim Cumming, Aline Bedard, Brian Hall, Ron Gallagher, David Burt, Jake Putnam, Megan Lorenz, Anne Dorcas

If you've been following this blog for more than a couple of weeks, then this post will come as no surprise to you. I've been using tags and writing posts as if I've already confirmed the red fox as a theriotype, but that actually isn't the case. I really wanted to wait and give myself time to determine if this was a cameo coming back or potentially the season affecting how I feel, but it's been three months, I've graduated college, and now that it's my awakening anniversary, the same day I first confirmed this species nine years later, I feel it's time to officially announce.

I've spent some time to myself, really looking into my identity and who I am over the course of my final college semester, and I feel like my therian birthday/awakening anniversary just after my graduation from college is a good time to graduate from my state of questioning. I've done some in-depth research on therian terminology as well as watched and tracked my shifts, my moods, my days, and more, and through that I've come to a conclusion.

Foxes are my theriotype and wolves are a heartedtype, alongside horses. I used to consider vultures, bats, and even marine mammals to be the same, but with some time to really look into the term itself and the experiences of other otherhearteds, I realize they're simply animals I like and relate to and have had some influence in my life. I've found horses to fit under the heartedtype label due to the longevity and intensity of their influence on my life, as they've done so since I was a small child, and my connection with them, and wolves are similar. Otherhearted people have described their heartedtypes as just shy of theriotypes, something they felt like they almost were, something they longed to be, something they 'ought to be, but aren't. Many describe seeing themselves in their heartedtypes, thinking like them, even having shifts. Many said that they feel more deeply and strongly about them than they do their own theriotypes, and though I could say that's how I feel with foxes, it honestly fits wolves better. Though I feel they look like me, they don't feel like me more than foxes. My behaviors, vocalizations, and just general feelings all point to me being a fox, but not a wolf.

Wolves are a recent thing, red wolves in particular being discovered by me in college, just before I first questioned them. In college, I had to be in friend groups for my own human social needs, and I think that caused me to think of myself as more social than I really am. In my final semester, I wasn't in any groups, I barely attended clubs, most of my time was spent by myself in my dorm working on my thesis with my mate as one of the only people I talked to at all, and that's when I started seeing myself as a fox again. My life became wrapped around wolves as I prepared for my thesis, and I think that deep appreciation and connection for the species led my brain to becoming confused as to what I am. I think that earlier in the year, when I said I might consider myself a wolf because I want to be one and have it easier in the community and be seen as cooler and more powerful, I was right. I never really thought of myself as a wolf when I was younger, even when I knew less about myself and both wolves and foxes and I was aware of them and their ability to be red-furred and enjoy water, whereas with foxes, there was no question that I was one when I first awakened. I just always knew, but it was never the same when it came to wolves. I love wolves, they're amazing animals, but they just aren't me. I don't see myself in how they act, how they live. From sociality to vocalizations to especially body features like the tail, they get trumped by foxes.

Otherheartedness has been something I've struggled to comprehend for some time. I've struggled with finding that line between an animal I like and one I'm connected to and one I identify as. It's like looking at a blonde as a ginger. I identify with them, we both have light hair, but I can't put myself under their specific label, because though we are similar, I don't have the same feelings and experiences as them. It's an inconsequential thing, but if someone were to say I was blonde, I'd feel they were wrong, because I know myself to be a ginger, even though I wouldn't mind or care if I was blonde. I feel similarly with wolves. I can see myself as one, I can look at one and think "that looks like me", I am a canine like them, but I'm not one myself, I don't have the same feelings and experiences as them, and I can't ignore that fact anymore. My friends, family, even my mate all can see the fox that I am, so much that even those who don't know I'm an animal consider me to be like one. I rarely get that with wolves unless I make it obvious, to the point that my mate has made sure to ask me and clarify that yes, I do see myself in wolves and consider them part of my therianthropy.

Of course, this is something I've honestly known for a few months now, since September, but with four years identifying as each species, I really wanted to take my time with my questioning. I didn't want to just give into my rose-colored nostalgia goggles and drop one label for the other because it had been my theriotype before or because it had been my theriotype for so long. I think that was the right choice for me, waiting. I also think I was right in getting off Instagram for this. That's where most of my therian journey has been, some posts dating back to 2018, before I even knew red wolves existed, and while I love that side of the community, I've made some genuine friends on there, it's addicting to post as often as you can with big, grand essays about your identity, especially when it comes to questioning and confirming and having some news to share, rather than little side posts whenever you feel the need to post about anything you want. In that way, I think I prefer Tumblr. Not only do I not really waste anything by posting something small three times a day about how I'm feeling and what shifts I've had, but it's not a numbers game. I don't have hundreds of followers to write super eloquently for. I love my essays, just take a look at this post, but it's nice to be able to go back to my roots and embrace my younger self, the little kit who told everyone how she had a super fun mental shift and of her new tail and about the epiphany she had that morning at breakfast. The switch helped me reconnect with the part of me that first awakened and knew without hesitation that she was a red fox. I've missed her, and I hope that if she could see me now, she'd think I'm everything she wants to be when she gets older.

That leaves me with one conclusion; I am a red fox, just like I thought and said back when I first awakened. They are so very near and dear to me, and I have a deep, rich, and complex history with them. The universe, fate, whatever you call it, has put them in my life for years. From the first time I ever saw wildlife other than a squirrel or backyard bird, to my awakening, to when my mate immediately guessed I was one when I told him about therianthropy, they've always been there. Wolves are one of my favorite animals, the defining animal of my college years, the species I dedicated my senior thesis to, and they have had a big impact on my life, but they are not what I am. I share certain behaviors with them, but I believe they more than likely only feel like me because they are so alike the human world and body and mind I was born into. It's easy to behave similarly to them when we share the same nuclear family, dispersal style, socialization behaviors, and body types. Foxes are so different from humans, and I think that as I learned how to hide my animality and assimilate into human society, especially in college when friend groups feel the most like temporary dispersal wolf packs, I forgot just how different my natural instincts are from humans. I am a solitary, red-furred, water-loving, forest-dwelling, little hunter.

TL;DR I am a red fox therian who is otherhearted to wolves and horses.

[beastlybardou]

🌥️ - how long have you identified as alterhuman?

👼 - Do you identify as/with other non-human things that aren't animals?

- fern :)

How long have you identified as alterhuman?

My whole life if we're just using the definition of alterhuman. I've never considered myself fully human and would even get pretty mad as a kid if anyone tried to say I wasn't an animal - but as far as how long I've identified with the term alterhuman, I first started considering myself therian around 2016 and started using the term alterhuman in probably 2019?

Do you identify as/with nonhuman things that aren't animals?

Depends on if you count a werewolf as an animal or not! Werewolf is my only kintype, but as far as heartedtypes or things I identify with not as, I did used to have a dragon and a satyr copinglink - both of which sort of stuck around as heartedtypes.

[radiocmyk]

Hi!! Also gonna put it under a cut but I'll tag some mutuals first, @ciarashoggoth @ochremutt @wynterwulf7 @theros but also @paracosmic-gt I'm curious to know you more!

1/ "Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?" I don't think there's really an answer for this question because I personally think of alterhumanity as something that can't be broken down into very neat boxes and squares, even if you allow room for overlap and unlabeled folks. I could sit here for a while naming labels I identify with and sub-labels of those labels but at what point does a Category™ become a (ˢᵘᵇᶜᵃᵗᵉᵍᵒʳʸ), y'know? If therian is a category, is cladotherian, or nonhuman? TL;DR I'm too autistic for open-ended questions like this

2/ "What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)" Uuh. I have a lot, some I'm still questioning, some I'm not sure of the full nature of, some I don't have words or names for, etc. I'm a conceptual darkness cryptid / birdbugbeastfishthing glowy alien computer with heartedtypes, hearthomes, fictotypes, and somewhere between 1 and 100 archetypes. Hopefully that satisfies.

3/ "Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?" Most common shifts would be mental and phantom like most therians but I also experience a lot of different types of shift, some of which I named myself because I never saw anybody talking about them but happened to me with enough frequency to be worth personally naming. Strangest cameo shift? Ketran which is an alien from Animorphs and that should suffice as an explanation. But I've had all kinds of weird cameo shifts, I think my brain is way too open to experiencing incompatible biology lmao. Snake, tyrannosaur, theow (which is a mythical creature that's like a wolf with hooves and a mane), seal. Thing is I'm already a centipede and a fish-reptile so few physiologies are as "weird" as my normal

4/ "How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?" I don't know I just… do? How do people with blue eyes experience blue eyes in everyday life? It just is a fact of life.

5/ "What do you think of the community?" Depends on when and where. But I think I'd be fine without it. I barely consider myself part of it to begin with but that's just because I'm kinda schizoid and I'll exist on the fringes of any community I'm ever part of and just be OK with that Checking in like are ya winning son and the room is on fire like usual

6/ "What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?" I'm a simple critter and i love to be called or even just compared to my species and fictotypes. I still remember the one time in freshman year of college when I said something I don't even remember and my roommate jokingly called me a computer in response. One of our other roommates who was also autistic immediately reacted by admonishing her because "you can't say that to an autistic person!" while meanwhile I was just like Me? 💻🥺 you really mean it?

7/ "Are you experiencing species dysphoria?" Like at this very moment? Or

8/ "What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?" Nothing. Is. Permanent. I know that's easy for me to say because my archetype is change, but it's not just true for me, it's true for everybody. Even if your philosophy is that you have One True Kintype, you can still be wrong, and everybody is at one point or another in their journeys. Absolutely everybody. So really, take it as slow or as fast as you want, as long as you take it easy. Be forgiving and patient with yourself.

9/ "Do you have/want to have gears?" I used to have a fox tail, real too, from back when I was a fox and when I thought having gear was the win condition for the point game that is alterhumanity, right alongside coming out to people and having Tumblr followers. In essence I was 19. But it was still such a cool get and I'm still upset by losing it. One of my favorite moments was walking outside with it for the first time, on a trail in the woods, and I passed a woman who I caught looking over her shoulder at me and grinning ear to ear, an earnest, non-mocking grin like it was the first time she'd ever considered people wearing tails lmao it was so cute

10/ "Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)"

If you are a alterhuman, reblog and answer these questions!

(don't be afraid to write a lot, do what you want ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯)

1/ Which category of alterhumanity do you belong to?

2/ What/who is/are your type(s)? (if you have any)

3/ Do you experience shifts? If so, can you tell us your most common shifts and your strangest cameo shift (if you've ever had a cameo shift)?

4/ How do you experience your alterhumanity in everyday life?

5/ What do you think of the community?

6/ What are the things that make you most comfortable and euphoric in your alterhumanity?

7/ Are you experiencing species dysphoria?

8/ What advice would you like to say to a young alterhuman who has just awakened?

9/ Do you have/want to have gears?

10/ Do you know/have any theories about the origin of your alterhumanity? If so, tell us! (all beliefs are legitimate)

11/ Tag someone/a creature to answer these questions!ㅤᵕ̈

[radiocmyk]

I never thought of myself as having a "primary" identity but if it's anything it's my archetype, not any of my species. It's as true to me as my physical nonhumanity even if it's not tangible.

Much of my identity is interconnected. My fictotypes influence my species influence my gender influences my sexuality influence the way I approach my culture... it's just not all-encompassing. Being an isopod isn't the same thing as being an osprey to me. My hearthome of O'Neill cylinders isn't the same thing as my heartedtype of dragons.

My archetype is though. All-encompassing I mean. My archetype is how I'm queer and the way I'm Jewish. My archetype is my hobbies and passions and aspirations. My archetype is osprey and isopod and O'Neill cylinders and dragons and also cephalopod and raven and musteloid and Novakid. It's my plurality and special interests and political ideology. It's itself. It drives me and brakes me. Everything I am is in there, and it never feels like all my eggs are in one basket, because the name of the basket is "anything."

[nimdreams]

Shapeshifter

Being a shapeshifter otherkin can be quite confusing. When I take the form of an animal I will often not feel like a shapeshifter at all, but feel fully like the animal whose shape I am taking. It is especially bad with my heartedtypes; dogs, hares and elfae. I have identified as these many times and questioned them *a lot*. In the end the shifts, as a shapeshifter, change to a different being and I am left a bit empty. Yesterday I had a particularly strong dog shift, with all my maternal feelings flooding back in. Today I am shifted as a hare, and they are just so magical and interesting to me, all my feelings of being a hare are coming back.

But I know logically, that I am not truly a hare and perhaps thus also not truly a dog. At the same time, maybe these experiences are enough for me to claim both as theriotypes, but why do I have to? A kin/theriotype shouldn't be put above hearted identities and if I did call these theriotypes it feels like I am putting that weight on them.

These are just some of my thoughts today. I don't think I can decide right now whether I will or won't use dog as a theriotype. I am going to take more time, as much time as I need.

[aestherians]

Ngl, I find your experience absolutely FASCINATING. It’s interesting to see the world through a different point of view, even if it feels almost impossible through yours.

Also, theoretically- you mentioned you created a spider hearttype- do you think that, if you really wanted to, you could undo it? Not that you should, obviously, just as a theoretical.

I think I could in theory, but not in practice. The post that started all this described it pretty well I think (though through kintype, rather than hearttype):

Theoretically I probably could force myself to not be otherkin. But it would take a decade or more, the way my heartedtype creation did, and it would require constant work throughout those years. However, I see no way I would benefit from that work, the way I did when I unintentionally created a heartedtype in the process of getting rid of a phobia. It would just rid me of a part of myself that’s intrinsic to how I recognize myself. That’s not something I in any way want - and because I don’t want it, and because the choice would have to happen continuously on a timescale I can barely comprehend, I couldn’t make that choice in practicality.

[wxlfbites]

I recently took a trip up to the Adirondacks with my best friend and it was such an enriching experience for both my human side and my wolf side. I ate with my bare hands, I stuck my feet in the freshest water, I howled in the night, climbed a mountain for the first time - parts of it on all fours -, and even reeled in a fish my friend caught. I had time to be unashamedly animal, with my friend’s encouragement, and it got me thinking about some things that I’ve either tried to deny in the past or just never really thought about before. Like coyotes for example…

For some reason, my connection with coyotes has always kind of stressed me out. I think maybe because I fear that admitting such a connection may lead to a false identification as them or perhaps the assumption that I am choosing the much more desirable wolf over coyotes. But I know now that even if I am connected to coyotes, I’m still a wolf. Being in the Adirondacks, my howls could only ever signal coyotes, as wolves haven’t inhabited New York in many decades. And yet, knowing this, and hoping with all my might that I could call one to me, my identity was not coyote.

I love the aesthetics around coyotes, I love the stories about them, and I see myself in them - possibly because of my wolf identity. I think about them when I am in nature more than I think about wolves, but I am not a coyote. I do not see myself as a coyote the way I see myself as a wolf no matter how much I try. Yet I am connected to them whether I like it or not. So, like with bears, I am finally accepting coyotes as a heartedtype.

All because of a trip to the mountains 😅

[a-dragons-journal]

is it called something else when it's a shift of a heartedtype? I always thought it was called a cameo shift as long as you didn't identify as it, so shifts of heartedtypes are also cameo shifts ?

I wouldn't consider them as such - yes, typically cameo shifts are defined as "shifts of something other than your kintype," but we're realizing more and more that having shifts of your hearttype isn't terribly unusual, so I wouldn't personally consider them cameo shifts (hence my slightly jankily worded alternative definition of cameo shift, since we don't have an equivalent to "fictomere" that includes non-fictional things).