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What is a dragon? The evolution of me.
13 years ago
I have always wanted to own David E. Jones' book, An Instinct for Dragons. In it, he asks how it is that, across the world, at the same time, in different cultures that had no possible contact with each other, did the dragon evolve in the same fashion in their lores?
I often bring up how the dragon is the combination of the most powerful aspects of predators that human ancestors (primates) feared the most: the claws and teeth of the great cats, the long and muscular scaly body of the boa, and the wings of great hawks and eagles. All of these great predators would have preyed upon apes like chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. This book, along with a few other sources, presents that this fear is genetically inherited.
I got a kick out of the Animal Planet docudrama "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real" as well, which made reference to Jones' book.
However, for me, a dragon was always more than that. A dragon, since I was a child, since before I knew what a furry was or what an otherkin was or what the internet was, has always represented power and enlightenment. A dragon did not represent a sum of all my fears. Only, my spiritual animals of power and enlightenment were not derived from fear, but from a respect and affiliation/kinship with them.
A dragon represented the sum of all my dreams and goals and began to represent me at 8, when I began to draw. I have been drawing myself as Archadia for as long as I remember drawing. At first she had reptile wings like other dragons, but it seemed not right somehow (even though, back then, I had begun my love for dinosaurs and had named myself Sauria). The name Archadia came from a small boat my father had built in the basement (as a bar) out of wood, and had burned that beautiful name into her side. I used to stroke the letters over and over and decided to take the name for myself after he died. Still, she didn't seem 'quite right' until I had chosen to represent her with the totems and spirits that I felt most comfortable around, that felt the most like me.
It is important to note that I adopted these characteristics, but my color has always been purple. More specifically 'plum', 'plum crazy', or 'plum kisses', as described in several different brands of paint or dye. I am generally not picky about how people draw me. I like to see myself represented in different ways, but if you have some insatiable desire to see me how I do, that would be Catalonian Plum (Hex: #660066) (RGB: 102, 0, 102). My fringe is Magenta/Royal Fuchsia (Hex: #CA2C92) (RGB: 202, 44, 146) or Pale Plum/Medium Lavender Magenta (Hex: #DDA0DD) (RGB: 221, 160, 221). My eyes are Amber (Hex: #FFBF00) (RGB: 255, 191, 0).
Wolf: I had always grown up with a dog. Chip, our wolf-dog, was very close to me, and I appreciate how they value their family and care for their pack members loyally, much like we did when we were children (and we always pretended we were wolves and I always had to be the 'mommy'). I always found Chip's fur soothing, both the scent and the feel, and noticed he seemed to appreciate the petting and scratches as much as I do when people do it to me. There is also something simultaneously gentle and wild about a wolf's eyes that made me feel in touch and whole. So I have the claws, teeth, eyes, tailfur, and fur like a wolf. If someone draws me in a 'feral' form, I would have dog-like forepaws.
Horse: I had never touched a horse until I was much much older, but I had always admired them. I had every original MLP from 1982 until the mid nineties. In fact, that's how I learned how to draw animals, studying my MLP dolls. I also had a vast collection of Breyer horses, but always admired them from afar. I admired their spirit and how intelligent they seemed, and how close they were to humans. Free-spirited, helpful, powerful, steadfast. When I saw a horse I always felt as if I were seeing an old friend. And so Archadia has the head of a horse.
Raptors and Ravens I have been fascinated with birds of prey since I was young, especially owls and falcons, and with flight in general. I also tend to scavenge when I eat at home, eating things that most people don't want to eat first (and eh, something past its expiration date by a few days or so hasn't killed me, yet!) like a raven or a vulture might. I honor the cleverness of the raven and often they appear in my dreams at night. My wings are large and broad and feathered, like those of a great horned owl or vulture.
Rabbit My lower legs and most of the belly fur and general fur softness I borrowed from the rabbit. Like a rabbit, I have a summer and winter coat color, but only in my fringe/tuft: in the summer it is a deep magenta and in the winter it becomes more of a lavender. I also sometimes present with large, floppy rabbit ears. These changes are mostly recent, but I have had rabbits through my childhood and our family even bred Dutch rabbits for a time. I noticed that rabbits tend to like their surroundings a certain way. Perhaps not neat and tidy to others' standards, but to their own, like some kind of inherited OCD. They take great care of their loved ones and, in fact, often can't live without them. I feel the same way.
I try not to let it bother me when someone tells me I am 'too hybrid' and I hope it doesn't bother anyone that I'm purple. These things have been with me a long, long time. I have been like this for longer than the people that have a problem with it have been in the fandom. I've been like this longer than I even knew there was a furry fandom.
I'm still a dragon, just a mammal, really. I think we can get along fine, as long as there's not people trying to tell me what to be and how to dream.
There's nothing wrong with being a little *fantastic*!
I often bring up how the dragon is the combination of the most powerful aspects of predators that human ancestors (primates) feared the most: the claws and teeth of the great cats, the long and muscular scaly body of the boa, and the wings of great hawks and eagles. All of these great predators would have preyed upon apes like chimpanzees, orangutans, and gorillas. This book, along with a few other sources, presents that this fear is genetically inherited.
I got a kick out of the Animal Planet docudrama "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real" as well, which made reference to Jones' book.
However, for me, a dragon was always more than that. A dragon, since I was a child, since before I knew what a furry was or what an otherkin was or what the internet was, has always represented power and enlightenment. A dragon did not represent a sum of all my fears. Only, my spiritual animals of power and enlightenment were not derived from fear, but from a respect and affiliation/kinship with them.
A dragon represented the sum of all my dreams and goals and began to represent me at 8, when I began to draw. I have been drawing myself as Archadia for as long as I remember drawing. At first she had reptile wings like other dragons, but it seemed not right somehow (even though, back then, I had begun my love for dinosaurs and had named myself Sauria). The name Archadia came from a small boat my father had built in the basement (as a bar) out of wood, and had burned that beautiful name into her side. I used to stroke the letters over and over and decided to take the name for myself after he died. Still, she didn't seem 'quite right' until I had chosen to represent her with the totems and spirits that I felt most comfortable around, that felt the most like me.
It is important to note that I adopted these characteristics, but my color has always been purple. More specifically 'plum', 'plum crazy', or 'plum kisses', as described in several different brands of paint or dye. I am generally not picky about how people draw me. I like to see myself represented in different ways, but if you have some insatiable desire to see me how I do, that would be Catalonian Plum (Hex: #660066) (RGB: 102, 0, 102). My fringe is Magenta/Royal Fuchsia (Hex: #CA2C92) (RGB: 202, 44, 146) or Pale Plum/Medium Lavender Magenta (Hex: #DDA0DD) (RGB: 221, 160, 221). My eyes are Amber (Hex: #FFBF00) (RGB: 255, 191, 0).
Wolf: I had always grown up with a dog. Chip, our wolf-dog, was very close to me, and I appreciate how they value their family and care for their pack members loyally, much like we did when we were children (and we always pretended we were wolves and I always had to be the 'mommy'). I always found Chip's fur soothing, both the scent and the feel, and noticed he seemed to appreciate the petting and scratches as much as I do when people do it to me. There is also something simultaneously gentle and wild about a wolf's eyes that made me feel in touch and whole. So I have the claws, teeth, eyes, tailfur, and fur like a wolf. If someone draws me in a 'feral' form, I would have dog-like forepaws.
Horse: I had never touched a horse until I was much much older, but I had always admired them. I had every original MLP from 1982 until the mid nineties. In fact, that's how I learned how to draw animals, studying my MLP dolls. I also had a vast collection of Breyer horses, but always admired them from afar. I admired their spirit and how intelligent they seemed, and how close they were to humans. Free-spirited, helpful, powerful, steadfast. When I saw a horse I always felt as if I were seeing an old friend. And so Archadia has the head of a horse.
Raptors and Ravens I have been fascinated with birds of prey since I was young, especially owls and falcons, and with flight in general. I also tend to scavenge when I eat at home, eating things that most people don't want to eat first (and eh, something past its expiration date by a few days or so hasn't killed me, yet!) like a raven or a vulture might. I honor the cleverness of the raven and often they appear in my dreams at night. My wings are large and broad and feathered, like those of a great horned owl or vulture.
Rabbit My lower legs and most of the belly fur and general fur softness I borrowed from the rabbit. Like a rabbit, I have a summer and winter coat color, but only in my fringe/tuft: in the summer it is a deep magenta and in the winter it becomes more of a lavender. I also sometimes present with large, floppy rabbit ears. These changes are mostly recent, but I have had rabbits through my childhood and our family even bred Dutch rabbits for a time. I noticed that rabbits tend to like their surroundings a certain way. Perhaps not neat and tidy to others' standards, but to their own, like some kind of inherited OCD. They take great care of their loved ones and, in fact, often can't live without them. I feel the same way.
I try not to let it bother me when someone tells me I am 'too hybrid' and I hope it doesn't bother anyone that I'm purple. These things have been with me a long, long time. I have been like this for longer than the people that have a problem with it have been in the fandom. I've been like this longer than I even knew there was a furry fandom.
I'm still a dragon, just a mammal, really. I think we can get along fine, as long as there's not people trying to tell me what to be and how to dream.
There's nothing wrong with being a little *fantastic*!
