Ok so I don’t know much about the whole otherkin thing but I’d like to learn. Problem is I can’t seem to get any answers on some things because it looks like some experiences are different across the board. Which is fine! I just want to learn more.
So for starters, what’s the difference between -kin, -heart/hearted, -link, and -lith?
I hope I’m not crossing boundaries or upsetting anyone, I just want to understand and learn more
Hey! Never feel bad for asking questions.
The basic definitions/explanations of those things:
Otherkin/fictionkin: identifying nonphysically as something other than human/a fictional species or character (respectively), partially or wholly. That can be a spiritual thing, a psychological thing, or something else entirely. Basically, if you consider yourself to be something nonhuman/fictional, you fall into ‘kin. Some people will say it has to be an involuntary thing, but the line between “voluntary identity” and “involuntary identity” is not as smooth as we’d like and personally I really don’t care anymore. The thing you identify as is your kintype (or your fictotype, in the case of fictionkin).
Otherlinker/copinglinker: someone who intentionally chooses to form an identity as something other than human or a fictional species/character, often but not necessarily as an intentional coping mechanism. Hence the above note about ‘kin often being considered exclusively involuntary. Despite the name, “copinglinker” is not specific to coping mechanisms (there’s a history behind why it’s named that, which we won’t go into here). The thing you identify as is your linktype.
Otherhearted: someone who strongly identifies with, but typically not as, a species/character/etc. This can manifest as feeling like [x] is family to you, feeling like you “should be” but aren’t [x], feeling a strong connection to [x], etc. - basically, a connection strong enough to be relevant to how you view/describe yourself, but without the “I actually am this thing” that’s a part of ‘kin. (...Unless you happen to have the same thing as both a kintype and a hearttype, but let’s not go there.) The thing you identify with is your hearttype.
Lith: a person who takes large interest in, and/or relates to a object, animal, character, deity, etc. Liths tend to take a creative approach with this bond they have and make art, names, pronouns/genders, and more regarding this interest. It's not super serious, you can do it for coping or for fun. (Direct from the coining post.) This is one of several terms coined partially in order to provide an alternative to people who “kin for fun,” ie using “kin/kinning” to mean relating to, projecting onto, really really liking, etc. something without actually identifying as it (which is a whole Thing of drama that I won’t get into here; if you want to read about it, I have a whole tag full of posts about the discourse on the subject - tl;dr, “kinning for fun” came out of people misunderstanding what “kin” was supposed to mean and is now a rampant misinformation/misuse-of-terms problem). Synonyms/near-synonyms include click/clicking, cir/cirrie, and constel/stel.
