One corner of School of Communication third-year Apollo Umbra’s bedroom is covered in Taylor Swift posters. No fewer than 10 plants line the windowsill. The mirror is surrounded by stickers and small notes. A multi-colored crab Beanie Baby sits next to a shelved CD collection.
And on the bed sit Umbra’s stuffed animals, their arms and legs carefully arranged around each other. Mashka (the British bear) has his arms around Dino (the dinosaur) and Frosty (the husky), while Jolteon (the Pokémon) sleeps to the side.
Most of Umbra’s stuffed animals are gifts from his boyfriend (or ones he’s temporarily babysitting). They personify the plushes when together, giving them voices and conversing through them.
“They all have personalities that interact,” Umbra said. “I’m crazy – I’m a theatre major – I wanna do animation, try and stop me.”
When he’s home over breaks, he sleeps with his dogs, something he said he misses now that he’s at school. Umbra said he became more attached to his stuffed animals once he got to college.
“I’m a big softie,” Umbra said. “They all have memories associated with them. It’s a combination of that and I’m really used to having pets, so these are my make-do pets.”