I am more than just a fox.

I tried some new things with this picture. This is the first full kitsune image I've ever done of Knux. He's a powerful kitsune, but doesn't like to show it. He's a bit mischievous at times and will use his powers for entertainment purposes, but many people seem to think that he's just a regular fox... and as many of you know, you can't throw a ferret at a convention without hitting a fox. I'm tired of being compared to the dime-a-dozen foxes out there who are foxes just because they didn't have a clear idea of what they wanted to be. I've been enthralled with foxes since long before I ever discovered the Furry Fandom, and don't feel that I should change just because there are so many foxes in the fandom.

There's obviously a common pull outside the whole idea of "foxes are just cute". Bunnies are cute, chipmonks are cute...shoot, most rodents are cute. Puppies are cute, kittens are cute... I think what draws people to the red fox in particular are the sharp, pointed features, the sense of wildness that no fox can truly be tamed, and the reddish coat as brilliant as the rising sun casting rays of fire on the horizon.

Maybe it's that foxes hold qualities that we respect, that we wish to have in our own lives? Foxes have never been thought to be greedy, even those who raid a hen house will only take what they will eat. Foxes mate only in early spring after courting his mate through the harsh winter and are certainly not the easy, slutty things that the fandom has painted them as. They are family-oriented, and a fox will coddle and protect his mate while she's pregnant and will put his life at risk to defend his mate and his kits. Like us, they're opportunistic omnivores and will eat whatever is available to them. Also like us, they are able to survive in a large variety of climates, even in close proximity of humans.

I want to make clear that I have no problem with people portraying their character as a slutty fox or however they want to portray themselves. I just think that stereotyping foxes as sluts is just wrong. I also don't have a problem that there are so many foxes, just that I'm often denigrated for being a fox, even a kitsune as they are thought of as being the same. Sure, there are a lot of foxes, but I'm sure there are many like myself who would refuse to be anything else.

I had made the, perhaps stubborn, decision years ago that there is nothing that I would rather be. I am a fox and a fox am I. I don't like touching on the spiritual side of things because some may look upon me as a fanatic or a freak, but I can't deny that I feel the spirit of a fox within me. I'm not saying I'm physically a fox - A spirit takes no form, it simply is - I'm simply stating that a spirit that was once hosted by the body of a fox is now hosted by my human body. This may sound strange, but if what I believe is true, then every living person has the spirit of some creature that had lived previously inside of them.

I'm not religious, but I do think there are many things that humanity can't explain. There is much that is unknown, and even if my personal beliefs aren't true, at least I can live my life feeling like they give me some kind of richness beyond what I otherwise have. And isn't a positive outlook on life always a good thing?