Original, by Feeka: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/2642316/

My stance with fursonas is probably not all that unique, but it's one I stick by.

If you want to create a character that you can use for any sort of of rpg, story, made up world, pieces of art, ect, fine. And you can even call that character your fursona. But at the heart of the word and what it should mean, your fursona should be you.

You with an idealized body that might not be human, but still you. It should have recognizable traits attributable to you. Allowing for instincts that come with not being human and mannerisms that come with a different body it should have a personality that's still recognizably yours.

If you want to throw extra stuff in, fine. Go for it. If you want to take that character and do some really crazy rp's with them then by all means indulge. It's the kind of entertainment that the internet allows and that everyone should at least give a whirl in to flex their creativity.

But when you get to the point where the character acts absolutely nothing like you yourself do then you've broken away from portraying yourself as an anthropomorphic entity. The character is no long a cypher for 'you' and instead the character has become a character, which to me at least removes a bit of the personal connection and meaning there is in interacting with others using your fursonas as the medium.

I love sci-fi or fantasy settings plenty. The character that eventually grew to be remodeled into my fursona (scalesona, really) came from a kinda futuristic pokemon/pokemorph rpg and a fantasy/sci-fi rpg. But up until Feeka-chan (http://www.furaffinity.net/user/feeka-chan/) did this picture for me as a reward for a kiriban win I hadn't had any pictures of my 'sona that were really modeled after my own interests and behavior. Everything had been based on the sci-fi or fantasy material that the body-design had grown from and that I still participate in.

But in real life cooking is a passion of mine. I'm attending The Culinary Institute of America right now, and I'll be building a career in food-service. Moreover, when I think of the design I settled on for my 'sona I actually did settle on it because I can look at the work that takes place in a kitchen and what the environment there is like, and I can say that if you trimmed away the excess stuff like the psionics I so love, then; 'Hey, that body works for the industry pretty well.'

Thank you for this, Feeka-chan. It turned out wonderful and I'm very grateful. Because it's closer to the real-life me this picture hold a great deal of personal value, and it's now easily among the most liked in my gallery.