September 2026 Midway Menagerie - "Identity and the Self"
Instead of one prompt, I'm going to answer all provided ones. I hope that's okay :3
How do you relate to your fursona(s)?
My current fursona, Orchid, kind of represents how I would like to be in my day to day life.
As Orchid, I feel a lot more confident in myself.
I'm confident in how I dress, how I present myself, and it's refreshing because I never really had a medium to unapologetically be myself. I dress masc, I dress fem, and it's because of this new found confidence that I have experienced way more in a year than I ever have in my entire 23 years of life. And even though I may treat Orchid as their own entity at times, they are more than just a mascot to me.
I AM Orchid.
And just like all my fursonas of days past, I was them too.
- My first fursona, Pootis Nash, was around the time I first discovered the furry fandom.
I didn't really know what I wanted as my fursona, so I mixed two things that I really enjoyed at the time: Team Fortress 2 and VanossGaming. Pootis Nash was really just the Chicken Kiev, a Halloween cosmetic item in TF2 that replaces the Heavy character's head with an orange bird (The "Pootis Bird"). The "Nash" part came from a VanossGaming skit where they were talking about PLUTO Nash in 3D, hence the origin.
- My second fursona, Rylie Sabre, was during high school when I was figuring out my gender.
She's a saber-toothed tiger/feline with bubblegum pink hair. Think of Diego from Ice Age but he's anthropomorphic, has pink hair, and is a woman; that's the best I can explain it. Rylie was the chosen name I wanted to go by while I was figuring out my gender. Sabre, pronounced like the sword "saber", was just because I thought it'd be cool and also because she's a saber-toothed tiger.
- And finally is Orchid! The part of my life where I'm a lot more confident in who I am, but still kind of unsure of who or what I want to be.
Orchid kind of looks like SCP-1471, but that's not inspiration. I just like skull dogs, but didn't know what I wanted Orchid to look like. I still don't have a full reference sheet for Orchid, so aside from the artist renditions from my friends, Orchid doesn't really have a torso aside from what I come up with on the fly. Spinous processes down the back like crocodile plates, a bone tail, a "rib cage" encapsulating Orchid's torso, etc.
How do you relate to humanity?
While I don't identify as therian or otherkin, I would absolutely choose to live in the body I have imagined for Orchid if I had the opportunity.
Orchid is like a cryptid and I would 100% lean into that. Also Orchid is a shapeshifter because I cannot decide what I want from my gender, so Orchid has the ability to be Yes, No, and All of the Above.
It'd feel more like me because what I want from my human body is something impossible. I never feel correct as only male or only female, and sometimes I don't want to feel like both, but I can't feel like neither.
How essential is "furriness" to your sense of self?
VERY ESSENTIAL!
Maybe as a kid it wasn't as much because I didn't know anyone else near me who was a furry, but as an adult, a LOT of my friends are furries, and I love them all.
It's probably not as much as a core aspect of my life as it is for others, but it did shape me into the person I am today. The people I've met and the people I continue to meet through the fandom have all had some impact on me.
The first furry I ever knew went by the name of FawkesCheese and this was back in high school. Seeing their furry art on display was amazing to witness. They were a very talented artist. I don't know where FawksCheese is or who they go by now, as all I could find mention of them was someone else's YouTube video shouting their art out. This was my only real-life experience with a furry as a kid and I was infatuated with FawksCheese's art.
FawksCheese was probably the reason I got interested in the furry fandom again. I never met them, but I hope they're doing well.
What role has the furry community played in your path of self-exploration?
I don't believe I'd be this out and confident in myself if I wasn't part of the furry community in some capacity.
I truly am fortunate to have a group so in support of me and how I choose to present myself. I recognize not a lot of people have that support, so I always lend a gentle hand to guide and support them. We may not stay in touch, but even if I made the slightest difference for them to be more confident in themselves, I'd be the happiest person in the world to make a small, personal difference for someone.
I mentioned this previously at the start, but I never had a proper place/medium to be myself and to express how I've always wanted to. Now I do and because of my friends and these events I attend, I've learned a lot more about myself and am more sure of my gender stuff going on. I wear a lot more graphic clothing with art and designs on them, I wear a kandi bracelet that I made with one of my furry friends, I wear a skull dog mask at events, I dress in punk/alternative clothing sometimes, and just enjoy life a lot more than I used to.
It's hard to explain when you've been writing for 2 hours, and it's 2 in the morning, but the experience I've had with the furry community has been life-changing for the better of myself. I'm happier, I have more confidence in myself, I've met and befriended so many wonderful peeps, and I'm having the time of my life!
It's been a wild year and a half, but I'm cherishing every moment I have with the ones who make it special <3