Is your fursona the most authentic version of self?

[Stereo]

I had an interesting thought today and was wondering if anyone might think the same way or not.

Essentially, if stereo (my fursona) is a creation of my mind, which is a personification or ideal self of who I think I am then….. Who is the real me?

A. I’m curious if you guys think of this question from a more materialist or idealistic way

IE, with idealism, I am my fursona because maybe it’s just a better, more real, or even enlightened version of me. It could even be something like discovering a new identity deep within yourself. (more spiritual)

and with materialism, my fursona is just a copy of myself and I don’t have any identity with it. (less spiritual)

 

 

[Erdrick]

My online identities are more ‘me’ than my IRL identity. I don’t have a fursona, and I’m not necessarily someone different online than I am offline, but I’m far more limited in my ability to be myself IRL.

I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s common for MMORPG players to feel that way.

[Renton Whitetail]

My fursona is pretty much me in real life but in a different form. In fact, he’s more of an extension of my real-life self, allowing me to express myself in ways that I normally don’t get to act in real life. In real life, I’m often restrictive about how I act in public so as not to be perceived as strange or weird by anyone, but whenever I get to engage in furry-related activities, this is when I can loosen up and have fun, thus being able to create strong social bonds with the furry friends I’ve made in the years since I ever first discovered the fandom. 🙂

[Aerak]

This is a very good forum post!

Before talking about my fursona’s meaning to me, I should say that it is different from my spirit animal. I have always had a strong kinship to wolves – they have always, for a lack of a better descriptor, been sacred to me. If I saw one in the wild, it was some sort of magical moment for me, like watching a Miyazaki film, or finding out my room mate cleaned the kitchen. I used to visit the zoo in the winter early in the mornings, when no one else is there. And the wolves and I would just stare at each other. Or lick my hand. No, that last thing certainly never happened and I would never tell people to stick there hand against a fence (seriously, probably not a great idea XD)

With how strongly I feel about wolves, you would imagine my fursona to be one. And for a while it was, but it never fit. I could never decide on the markings, and I stuck with it but could never completely identify as one. My current fursona was unintentional. I had created the concept of a character and decided to give a fursuit maker artistic freedom. My only request is that it have purple eyes. After the fursuit was created, I found that I really connected with the character. I also began thinking about myself, and how I am in the real world. Foxes, especially in this fandom, seem to be creatures of passion. For those who know me, I am a very passionate individual when it comes to my work and volunteering. So I decided for my fox to be my fursona.

My fox is me and he’s not. It’s an idealized version of myself. Whatever I am, he is “more”. More caring, more giving, more confident. He’s how I see myself, but he’s also, in the case of someone else wearing the fursuit, a mentor and close friend who I rarely get to meet face to face.

[Sauce]

I tend to think of mine as a more natural version of myself, cut away all the modern conveniences and worries and there you are. Just my opinion though……

Electronic Music - EDM, Industrial, Synth
Nocturnal - You will rarely see me during the day, I work nights
Demi-Sexual - Fun first, flirt later
Foodie - Food Adventures constantly, not a fan of fish though

[Renton Whitetail]

@Aerak Come to think of it, your post reminded me of my personal experience in creating my fursona.

Originally, I thought about creating a dragon fursona (or scalesona, rather) to express the fierce and tough side of me (and in association to my past training in Tae Kwon Do), but then I later realized that the dragon wasn’t really “me,” so to speak; I’m normally not tough or fierce in my personality, real life or online.

I can recall the times whenever I encountered deer in real life (whether in a zoo or out in the wild) as sort of a magical experience, as it’s not often I get to see them in person. Somehow, I felt sort of a kinship with the deer, and so, after going through some personal reflecting and research, I found that the deer seemed to be the one species of animal I perhaps have the strongest connection to; part of this may be because that like the deer, I can sometimes be a bit shy and demure, but also display a sense of kindness and compassion toward others, and these qualities definitely fit me. 🙂

[Tundra Everquill]

For me I always just enjoyed creating characters, through out my life I’ve met a lot of people, friends, aqwatances, strangers, varying people with many different personalities and perspectives that I’ve taken in and adapted either to myself or gave me things to consider. But I also loved cartoons growing up most notably Anime, Characters in my mind are like fashion in a way as they are very captivating from how different and unique they can look, appear, act, etc. Especially if the character has an even more unique design. Thus for me I’ve always been creating my own Characters and worlds around things I’ve seen and people I’ve met. So for me it’s hard for me to really say I have a connection towards any character that closely relates to me because everything I create comes from a part of something else. Not something that I aspire to be but rather Creatures or Humans with their own pros and cons just like us. When I did get around to making my Fursona I tried to piece it more towards me by making a character that’s more Shy yet Bubbly, out going towards individual people, and Luscious, and I was successful as I did make a character that is closer to me but I still don’t feel that tied to my character as to me he is another individual that is similar to me but not really what I AM. It’s weird. I’d say the closet I’ve ever gotten to making a character that actually resembles more of what I would like to be would be my Vocaloid character R.O.S.A.I (which is what my icon is) as he is the character I take the most pride in designing and fits me the most.

[Tyrell]

That’s a very interesting question.

For me, yes it is. The wolf is my spirit animal. I’ve been fascinated by them since I was very young. My whole life has changed these last few years as I had a great deal of difficulty coming out as gay. Due to my upbringing it challenged my entire worldview and I was dealing with repressed childhood memories of being bullied as well. In my early thirties I was still emotionally like a second grader- timid, no confidence, and very very afraid of being myself because that’s why I was bullied and if I was really myself in terms of my sexuality,  I would be abandoned by everyone I knew.

So while I was coming out as gay, it allowed all aspects of my personality to emerge as I was becoming more comfortable being authentic. Wolves are beautiful creatures. They need time alone and can be quite solitary, yet they cannot survive without a pack. They are quiet, intelligent, passionate creatures and they are fearless and brave. These are very much key aspects of my personality and as a child I saw in the wolf what I did not see in myself. As I was struggling with coming out, I had dreams of myself as a tortured wolf wandering aimlessly in the bitter cold, howling desperately at the moon in pain as he had no idea what to do.

I started to incorporate my furry side into my personality quite organically. I started dating for the first time and quickly flirted with my eventual boyfriend with little woofs and barks. He eventually referred to me as his wolf for a pet name. My dreams shifted to a wolf running at full sprint away from the prison that I’d put around myself all of my life and as I did, another wolf started to run alongside me. The bravery and strength of the wolf that I saw as a child was something that again helped me as an adult. As a child I thought I did not have all of these qualities but in fact I did- I was just hiding them for my entire life.

I don’t know if I’m making any sense, but my fursona is quite personal and important to me. It’s an expression of who I truly am as a person and my efforts to manifest that fursona help me as well. It took me a lot of effort to draw my fursona both from a skill and personal confidence standpoint. It was very difficult to wear a wolf SpiritHood out in public, especially at work. It was hard for me to muster the courage to go to Furry Migration. It was even hard to wear my tail at the fall picnic in public. The more I do this, the more like a wolf I feel. I draw a lot of inspiration and strength from it. It’s just…me, and now for the first time in my life I’ve started to allow myself to show it with pride.

 

• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Tyrell.
• This reply was modified 6 years, 6 months ago by Tyrell.

Engineer by day, artist by night.

[FloWolF]

Very nearly.   Follow-up question, would OC’s be a less optimal extension of the self, or even more like one’s self as more often than not OC’s have character defects that may reflect those of the creator or that the creator wants to change about themselves.

[Peter the Bear]

My fursona is an idealism of myself, and I do that because it is a mask to hide my actual identity to people online, so it bends and changes just like I do. I think this is what should happen instead of people making multiple characters to personify different aspects of them, just have one that is you and that is complex like you, though having multiple characters can be fun. I’ve actually have found new things about me that I wouldn’t’ve known because I could be more open since I’m wearing a mask. It gives me a sense of security which in turn lets me be more open and to try new things.

[Author]

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