“The tigers here are bound by neither day nor night, land nor water; these tigers, some say, are creatures of neither heaven nor earth.”
- Sy Montgomery, Spell of the Tiger

I’m otherkin, otherhearted, and a furry. This page is a place to list and talk about my different species identities and ‘sonas. In short, being otherkin means fully or partially identifying as nonhuman. I’m on the “partially” side of things and consider myself both human and nonhuman, or half-human.

In the early-mid 2010’s people began using “kin” to mean “relating to” or “sharing traits with,” and many began “kinning” fictional characters and creatures in this way. While this experience can overlap with fictional or nonhuman identity for some (identity is complicated!) they're two different things. I think it’s important for people to know that otherkin isn’t a new concept, we continue to exist, and we aren’t wrong for using this terminology since we were doing so before kinning became a thing.

Some good resources: Otherkin wiki, Alt+H, Three Dragons and a Dog, The Chimeras Library, the Alterhuman Archive, Orion Scribner’s site, and the Othercon YouTube channel.

Kintype

I am a spirit- "forest spirit" would probably be the closest descriptor. I’m associated with temperate deciduous forests and plains/fields, along with the changing seasons. I’m not sure what my “role” as a spirit is; I don’t particularly see myself as the embodiment or the protector of a space. It’s something that I’m currently exploring. At my core I’m tigrine, meaning I resemble a tiger. I don’t know why; on the surface it doesn’t seem befitting of a spirit associated with temperate climates. But I heavily identify with tigers regardless. I’ve also come to see myself as a shapeshifter due to my being human and using multiple species to represent myself. I’m very skilled when it comes to taking a human shape :3

Although my kintype is, by its very nature, spiritual, the origin of my identity is psychological. I don’t believe that I was born nonhuman, but I think it’s possible that I was born with the ability to develop a nonhuman identity. That identity ended up manifesting through nature and nurture. I don’t shift but I experience fluctuating species euphoria and dysphoria, and overall my preferred self-perception is that of a spirit or a multispecies person.

Hearttype

I’m fictionhearted. Not with a single character but with a species, so I use the words “otherhearted” and “fictionhearted” interchangeably. The specifics are something I’d prefer to keep private for now. I’ve had a long-lasting fascination with and admiration for my hearttype, leading to lots of thoughts and headcanons which I’ve become attached to. Recently I realized “ah shit, this turned into a hearted thing, didn’t it.” Like my kintype, liminality is a core trait of my hearttype.

My hearted-ness comes from a pretty human place. While I’m ok with being seen as a [species], being a human-amongst-[species] is perfectly fine- even desirable. I really think canon should explore certain things more but it probably won’t! Aa!

Fursona(s)

My furry code:
FFTmp5/MKmp4/CAmp4 A~++ C+ D+ H P++ R T++ W Sf#/m#/p# RLS c++ e+++ f+ i+++ j+ p

My fursona is a form of self-expression and doesn’t follow a set canon. It’s more a piece of art or a symbol than an actual character. Currently I have multiple fursona species; these can all exist independently as separate “characters” or they can all be part of one shapeshifting, multi-bodied spirit. As a shapeshifter I can’t be anything, just anything that I see as “me.”

I’m an American mink because it’s native to temperate deciduous forests, and it’s a small predator unlike the tiger. It’s caniform but looks more like a weird cross between a cat and a rodent. I feel like it represents me holistically. Mink is who I am in the here-and-now. Although, I wouldn’t necessarily say that my personality matches the mink’s- they have a very active metabolism, and while I definitely feel like I have “mink brain” sometimes, I wouldn’t characterize myself as energetic.

I’m a tiger because of my kintype. Since my fursona and my kintype intersect, all of my sona species can be associated with that (e.g. I can be and often am a mink spirit), but tiger is more basal and something that I have a more innate connection with. Even though tigers are important to me, using that shape as the primary or only representation of myself doesn’t feel quite right.

The arctic fox is the newest animal to join the ranks, and represents my connection to maleness. I’m not quite sure why, I guess foxes give off a subdued–at times nontraditional–masculinity vibe to me. Arctic foxes have “just a little guy” energy. I originally connected with them due to the scruffy transitional stage they have between their winter and summer coats.

Another important aspect of my fursona is being multibody, meaning I can split myself into multiple copies and spread my consciousness across them. Similar to a hivemind. I can be a mink swarm, or 5 minks and 1 tiger, or 2 foxes and a humanoid, etc. It’s a fitting ability for a spirit.