been considering making a proper fursona recently, but i’m not sure what species(‘s) to pick. how did you pick yours? did it have to do with aesthetics, personality, or some kind of connection to that animal? all three? tell your story :)

  • Laurentide@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I didn’t pick my fursonas’ species (genus, really) so much as it picked me. At some point during my teen years I suddenly began noticing fox stuff everywhere. Random unexpected appearances in TV shows, pictures in odd places, a nature documentary about foxes discovered while flipping channels. I realized I knew almost nothing about these creatures despite them being so common and culturally important, and that felt wrong to me.

    So I resolved to fix that, and started reading up on everything fox-related I could find. The more I learned, the more I began to identify with them. The idea of these small creatures that lack the power and social benefits of their larger canine cousins and have to rely on their intelligence and evasiveness really resonated with me, the unpopular and oft-bullied nerd who didn’t seem to have a place among the “wolves” of high school society. Even the fact that foxes are most often depicted as feminine, which bothered me at the time, became meaningful after I discovered that I’m transfemme.

    • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      damn, this is so whimsical and i love it. i wish i had an experience like this to help me lol, but i’ll probably just go with a cat since i’ve always liked them ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • Laurentide@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        You don’t really need some deep mystical connection to your chosen species. A lot of people just pick an animal they like or have a fond memory of. It’s also fairly common to change your mind a few times before you find something that fits, and to make more changes as you grow as a person. I myself went from blue fox feral to anthro blue fox to adding an arctic fox as secondary sona, which eventually became my main sona, and now I’m considering adding some weird seasonal shapeshifting genderfluid shenanigans to him/her/it because my identity is a bit of a mess right now.

        Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect on the first try. :)

  • shiny_xnaut@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I picked raccoon because:

    • skrunkly trash gremlin

    • cool fur pattern

    • neutral color palette that wouldn’t clash with the outfit I wanted to use, which is a reference to the origin of my username

    • the cotton candy video

    • Laurentide@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      If it wasn’t for foxes I’d probably be a raccoon. Chonky, skrunkly, can be a little obsessive about washing my food, and I have a lot of trash cool stuff lying around, like those old game consoles I’ve been tinkering with.

  • Senil888@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I chose a synth (draconic lizard bot basically) because a) lizards and dragons are neat, and b) robots are neat. And so I thought “why not both?” found synths, and said “yep that’s me.”

    • Ehllay@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      Same for me but also because the author of the species provides several free to use bases, which is a great plus for me since I suck at drawing

  • Suzie Starlight@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I chose bunny because :

    • I love bunnies
    • they’re cute
    • look at those ears!
    • also I’ve always loved bunnies my whole life since as a kid so it’s only right to choose an animal I’ve always loved!

    I made a 2nd sona, she’s a dragon, because :

    • I like Dragons
    • also my dragon is cool having purple scales and white fur!
    • Dragons are cool
  • SavvyWolf@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I started as a wolf, because that’s what my username was (and still is) in many places and it was my favorite animal at the time. I then started to like fox features so became a fox/wolf hybrid. I then saw some nice art of mightyena (the Pokemon), and decided that I liked some features of that as well. I’ve spent the past month or so tweaking it and making a better mental idea in my head of what it looks like, so I think now it’s probably just a custom species rather than a three species hybrid.

    I know there’s stereotypes about certain species (wolves being independent, foxes being very friendly and the like), but I never really paid attention to that while choosing. Although, now I’ve started personalizing it more, I’ve started to relate more to my species - we’re both disorganized messes. :P

    But yeah, my advice is to just pick your favorite animal and see how it goes. You can always change or customize it later.

  • TacticsConsort@yiffit.net
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    1 year ago

    I’ve always considered dragons my favourite creatures ever. Honestly, I didn’t choose the species, I always knew from the start that dragon was what I wanted no matter what.

    • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      love that. i’ll probably be picking a basic cat (though maybe with some fun other species traits) just because i’ve always liked them too

  • atomic peach@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I’ve always liked cats and was in awe of pumas and cheetahs when visiting a zoo or watching documentaries. I chose to base my fursona on a cheetah since they are less populated and easier to make unique (in my opinion).

    Ultimately, it’s pretty easy to just pick your favourite species for your first sona. You can always make other OCs whenever you want!

  • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I didn’t really initially design my sona to be my sona per se, I initially just meant him as just a side character when I didn’t have a sona yet, but the concept really clicked with me once I had come up with it. In any case, I just combined my love of dragons with my interest in exotic nuclear rocketry to get a nuclear-powered space dragon.

    • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      okay, nuclear powered space dragon is hands down one of the coolest sounding things i’ve ever heard. do you have any pics? i’d love to see :3

      • CarbonIceDragon@pawb.social
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        1 year ago

        I don’t really have any full body pictures of his latest version ( I’m not so good at drawing dragons, and did redesign him a little bit recently.) I really ought to find the time to draw a proper reference sheet for him but keep procrastinating.

  • Ethanol@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I just like foxes, think most fursonas start with favorite species + favorite color, there is a lot more to it though.
    Foxes always resonated with me cause of their agile nature and sly behavior and they look hecking cute and floofy :3
    There is a large variety of fursonas too, like: foxes, wolves, dragons (fluffy or scaly), bunnies, sharks, dogs, cats, pokemon, sergals, protogens
    and also more exotic species like: snow leopards, lynxes, servals, hyenas, otters, bats, bears, lions, owls
    basically every animal, fictional or not, you can think of

    • Laurentide@pawb.social
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      1 year ago

      I find it amusing that pokemon, sergals, and protogens are somehow less exotic to you than real-world species like otters or bears. Although I do see a lot more proots these days, now that I think of it…

  • Exec@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    Back then when I played World of Warcraft I was a feral druid. Now I stopped playing a long time ago but the cat form stayed and now I’m a lion. I also like all felids so that matches too.

  • tev@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    my first one was a dragon cuz i used to rly like seawings from wings of fire. then i switched to a robot bc robots are cool. i have p simple motivations tbh

    • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      a robot? like a protogen or something animal shaped? i’m just imagining a microwave atm 💀

        • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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          1 year ago

          awww okay i love this. been thinking about 4 arms also just because they’re cool but does that make drawing them a pita?

  • emptyother@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    been considering making a proper fursona recently

    Me too. If so its gonna be a felid. Because of their introverted but still attached nature. And relaxed attitude. And careful curiosity. Fierce independence despite being very dependent. Matches with my personality. Probably going to be based of the guy in my avatar. Who I think is a lion (and he is originally named Coloned Leopold so a pretty big hint that he is). He is taken from a Duck Avenger comic I was a big fan of. I might make him more cat-like if I do, to distance myself a bit from Disney’s copyright. Make it my own.

    Probably never gonna get around to it, knowing myself.

    • thumbtack@beehaw.orgOP
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      1 year ago

      same! i’m thinking probably just some kind of basic domestic cat, though maybe something bigger, just because i’ve pretty much always liked cats. i don’t find myself particularly relating to to their stereotypes though, which makes me a little hesitant, but it really shouldn’t matter should it.

      Probably never gonna get around to it, knowing myself.

      honestly though 😭 i completely relate. i’ve been “thinking” about this for like 3 years at this point hahaha

  • Sloan the Serval@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    I’ve got three current fursonas with different stories as to how I picked their species.

    Tofu (Zenko Kitsune): I actually had a lot of trouble narrowing this one down, and the final decision literally came down to being on a discord server about foxes and what I could do with DazStudio. The character that became Tofu could have been a Kobold, a Land Form Shaymin, a Sphinx (as in the Greek/Egyptian mythical creature, not a Bingus) or even a “scrap yard special” protogen with cybernetics made from recycled and/or repurposed parts, but eventually I decided on a Zenko Kitsune with five tails, who’s tails represent her age in centuries.

    Sloan (Serval): If you can’t tell, Sloan’s my main. Tofu is very much not like me at all but rather more of a way to self-explore, so I decided I wanted to make a fursona that could act as my mascot. I thought about what traits are typically associated with various fursona species and settled on “lesser” wildcat, and then went with a serval because I’m tall and so are servals.

    Amara (Land Form Shaymin): I liked the Land Form Shaymin concept I had when trying to decide on Tofu’s species, so I decided to use it as a separate character/'sona.

  • trslim@pawb.social
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    1 year ago

    Tails was my favorite character from Sonic. I think he was probably the biggest influence for me.