#realself

I changed my names.

I changed my form.

And now, quietly—I've returned to who I truly am.

In this age, showing your true self isn’t easy.

Many live behind borrowed names and shifting faces.

I was one of them—

known for years as “Sauna Neko.”

I started drawing five years ago,

using the shape of a cat to express feelings I couldn’t put into words.

Messy hair between the ears, drooping ears, a flicking tail, trembling speech bubbles—

that cat was a mirror of my unstable heart.

Eventually, the cat became a girl.

Then, slowly, she turned into a real cat again—

a quiet presence beside me.

My online icons changed along with me:

First, I was a cat.

Then, a girl.

And now, it’s a sleeping version of myself,

with a small cat beside me—who is also me.

At the beginning of 2025, I made a decision.

To live through drawing.

To live under my real name.

The visible “form” of my being,

and the invisible “presence” I had never been able to express in words or lines—

have finally come together, quietly, as one.

In a world that often feels like a virtual reality,

Made myself and a boy version it was super fun

😇😊😇

A little reminder to myself and you - it takes courage to live as your real self.