Hybrid or Single-Species Sona?

Hello Papabear,

Hello!

I have an interesting situation -- My main sona, Aryu, is a bull/deer mix. However, over time, I keep getting conflicting thoughts as to whether or not I should change him along with my other sonas. I don't really like the idea that I've gone with, and I consider changing them, however, there are a few things holding me back from changing. Those are:

1. My DnD campaign. I put Aryu in the campaign as a playable character, and I have some comfort in being creative there. It would also be a hassle to redo all of my paperwork for the campaign.
2. The current year and who's in office (This is going to get mildly political. You don't have to read this if you're not okay with it.) . I don't want to associate the year that I redo my main sonas with who is currently in office.
3. I already have a lot of things with my sona that I can't go back and 'redo'. For example, I was in the MFF variety show for 2023 and 2024, and I can't go back and "edit" Aryu to be what I want.

There's also a flip side -- Reasons why I do want to:

1. I see a lot more people able to make connections with single animal sonas, along with merchandise typically catering to a specific animal rather than saying "hybrid". Being able to identify with a single animal would make merchandise a lot easier to pick out, is the long story short.
2. The general concept of mixed animals is kinda hard for me to put into my sonas' lore and world. What happens if a mixed animal has a child with another non-mixed or mixed one? It would be a genetic mess and hard to sort out. Due to that, I'd like to stick to single animal sonas to root out the complexity.
3. Single sona animals seem more "iconic" - They stand out a lot more and have a formed "identity" to them. Changing to a single animal would make an identity more recognizable.
4. I've had Aryu and my other sonas since my last year of high school, and I feel they're attached to that part of my history, which, plays for both why I would want to change and why I wouldn't. I don't like that I designed them, and he has that connection with high school, and I also would hate to get rid of him due to him being with me for so long. This goes for my other main sonas, too.

All in all, it's a dilemma that's been going back and forth in my mind for awhile, and I've struggled on what to do about it. I'd like to make an adjustment to the sonas, and on the other hand, it'd also be a pain to have to re-adjust everything that came with them.

Thank you,
Aryu

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​Hi, Aryu,

Thank you for your question. To me, the solution is obvious (and perhaps it just didn't occur to you): You can have multiple fursonas. Lots of furries have more than one fursona. You can keep Aryu for your DnD play, and you can certainly keep all the memories of Aryu, including any video recordings out there from furcons or meets. Now, all you need to do is create a second--and maybe a third or fourth!--fursona to do various other stuff with.

You might think this could be confusing, but it's really not. You see, right now, Aryu is your main OC (original character), but what you do is create a new OC who becomes your main fursona and "demote" Aryu to just be a character in your RPGs. Later, you might even phase Aryu out by starting to create new adventures for whatever OC you design, introducing them to your fellow gamers and making Aryu more subordinate over time . . . or not. There's no reason you can't have two or more DnD characters.

Being 19, you are bound to change fursonas with time, especially if you feel your fursonas are a reflection of you personally, because you are in a phase of your life where YOU are changing. Take me, for example. As a kid in grade school I was a wolf inspired by Kipling's character Akela. Later, in my teens and twenties, I was a dragon because I was waaaay into fantasy books. Finally, as I came to realize who I truly am as an individual, I became a bear, and that is likely where I will stay for the rest of my life. Now, just because I made these transitions sequentially, always being just one fursona at a time, this doesn't mean you can't have two or more fursonas developing in parallel to one another. I predict that when you reach your late twenties or thirties you may change fursonas again . . . or not. That's the fun of it, isn't it? You never can tell how things will work out until you get there.

Make sense? If not, feel free to write again. Until then, stay furry!

Bear Hugs,
Papabear

P.S. Hmm, rereading your letter, it seems you have other sonas? So, perhaps my reply was dumb? What do you think about what I said: making Aryu a more subordinate fursona and replacing them with a new primary OC?

* * *

Hello,

I really wouldn’t want to do that, as for some reason I can’t bear to let that be the case, as I would feel guilty “dethroning” Aryu. He’s by design supposed to be 1 to 1 of me, aside from name and other factors. I have gone over and thought that I am overthinking the whole idea. That’s just me, though. What say you?

Thanks a ton,
Aryu

* * *

Hi, Aryu,

First of all, I should say that you should never allow outside factors--people, culture, job, church--dictate to you what your fursona should be. This is about you and not anyone else.

You know, there are two kinds of people in the fandom: one kind just uses fursonas as characters for role play and maybe fursuiting and such without any real emotional connection to the fursona, and the other kind has a deep, personal connection to their fursonas (the second kind usually only have one sona or perhaps a main sona and a few "background" secondary sonas). In your first letter, I thought maybe you were the first kind, but your follow-up seems to indicate that you have a deeper connection to your sona.

To be clear, there is absolutely no problem with your having a hybrid. Hybrids, in fact, are common in this fandom. Often, features of not just two but of three or more species are combined into one. I mean, you could, for example, have a bear with antlers, wings, and scales. You could even create an original species altogether (as has often been done), or even combine biological and technological features (as with the popular primagens and protogens), and I have even seen people combine plants with animals. The reason you don't see people "catering" to specific animals is because it's impossible to cater to the nearly infinite possible combinations of hybrids. So what? So, if you are at, say, a con dealer's den and see merchandise pertaining to a wolf or a lion or a dragon or whatever, and you're, say, a wolf/lion hybrid, you can purchase something wolfy and something liony and there you have it. You can also easily find artists in the artists room or dealer's den and commission them to draw your OC. As for single species being more "iconic," well, I guess so. But there are also iconic hybrids out there that go back centuries, even millenia. For example:
​

• The Egyptian Sphynx is part lion, part human
• The manticore is part lion, part scorpion, part human
• The griffin is part lion and part eagle
• The hippocampus is part hippo, part fish
• The lamassu (Sumerian) is a bull-eagle-lion hybrid
• The chimera is a lion-snake-goat hybrid
• The valravn (Danish) is part wolf, part raven
• And a bunch of other human/animal hybrids like mermaids, minotaurs, etc. etc.

In fact, one could easily argue that ALL anthros in the furry community are hybrids in that they are some kind of animal mixed with human characteristics. This applies less to those with feral sonas, but even they have some human attributes and could be called hybrids in that sense.

I agree that you are overthinking this. Also, I say, go with your gut, and it sounds like your gut loves your fursona as it is, so why change? There really is no reason to if you don't want to. As I said, your fursona is for you. It is an expression of who you are and it is a means to show your creativity.

Finally, please remember that this is supposed to be fun. If you enjoy the Aryu hybrid, then you should revel in the fun of being your character. Stop worrying so much.

Does that help?

Hugs,
Papabear