# Fursona Mark II



## Unsilenced (Oct 18, 2011)

Doing this again to make him more Mary Sue interesting. 

As  a note: I spent a lot more time thinking about how he would look than  his history/personality. It makes sense considering I'm more likely to  be drawing than writing about him. It also makes him not the most  interesting character to write about, so bear with me.  


Name: Creon (After a self-destructively stubborn character in _Antigone._ Yes I did just see a random play and think, "Bam. Name get." Still better than it was before.) 
Age: 22 (Update: he is now older than me.) 
Sex: Male 
Species: Striped Skunk
Height:5'11"
Natural Weight: ~120lbs
Actual Weight: 173lbs (will explain) 

Appearance:
- Hair and fur: Standard skunk markings with stripes running from head  to tail. Patch of thicker white fur on chest and front of neck, ending  under the chin. 
- Markings: Long cuts and burns across torso and arms, radiating out from right hip. Visible as streaks of lighter colored fur. 
- Eye color: Light blue. 
- Other features: Prosthetic/robotic left leg, amputated just below the hip.  Damaged right ear. Right side of face mostly covered with bandages.  Several internal systems have also been replaced or backed up with  artificial parts. With these parts and the artificial limb he weighs  close to 170 pounds, but just his own weight would be closer to 120. 

He  also wears a collar that allows him to speak normally (a skunk's jaw  does not lend itself to such) and monitors his vital signs. It also  regulates the function of his implants and can inject chemicals/medicine  as needed. The collar is difficult to remove, and doing so improperly  could lead to severe bleeding. 

Behavior and Personality: Creon draws much of his behavior from his  species. He is solitary, opportunistic, and not particularly aggressive,  though when threatened he will not easily back down. While his  stubbornness has worked for him on occasion, it's also the cause of most  if not all of his injuries. Nothing has managed to outright kill him  yet, but it could just a matter of time. When injured/defeated, Creon  rarely takes it well. Given time he can forgive most offenses, but if an  opportunity for revenge is immediately presented he has a hard time  refusing it. 

Traits (good and bad): 
-Durable: While plastic and metal parts have  the disadvantage of not self-repairing like organic tissue, they also  have the advantage of being stronger and fully replaceable. Creon can (and  does) take beatings that most could not survive. 
-Spotty judgement:  When most people would know to run/get out of the way, Creon will often  stay put. This behavior often walks and crosses the line between bravery  and stupidity, even for someone with his resilience. 
-Poor eyesight: Another trait from his species, Creon cannot see accurately very far. As a result he has an aversion to open spaces. 

Abilities:
-Play  dead: He doesn't like to, but thanks to the miracle of modern  (futuristic) medical technology, Creon can shut down most of his body at  will to the point where it would take more fancy medical equipment to  tell he was alive. Combined with the ability to survive being thrown  across a room, this can be a very effective means of defense. 
-Energy  boost: Exact opposite idea of playing dead. On-command burst of energy  allowing for quicker reflexes, greater strength, and faster movement.  This, of course, comes at the cost of severe exhaustion later, often  sooner than he'd like. 
-Intimidate: Creon looks like he picked a fight  with a bear and didn't lose. People who know the real stories might not  be impressed, but anyone meeting him for the first time would have  reason to keep their distance. 
-Spray: Always an option for a skunk, though generally more useful as a threat than an action. 

Likes: Exploration/discovery, sheltered or closed areas, easy/quick victories. 
Dislikes: Giving up, being beaten/embarrassed, change. 

Profession: Creon makes his living salvaging in an urban waste known as the "dead zone" that was mostly abandoned after a devastating battle at the end of the last world war. Simply put, the area was so littered with explosives and condemned/unstable structures that it was cheaper to move on than move back. There are however still things people would like to get back from the zone, and that's where Creon comes in. Given a location and a fee, Creon will retrieve high-value artifacts (plus whatever else he can grab) and bring them back to their rightful owners. 

...

Or, you know. Whoever knows where they are and is willing to pay more than market price to get them. It's not like he can really verify that this rubble or another was actually was theirs. 

(Maybe going to add military history tomorrow) 



Clothing/style: As much as he'd like to cover up  some of his scars, being covered in thick black fur restricts Creon's  wardrobe choices. Cargo pants or shorts are a favorite, as are long  jackets/coats when the weather permits. It is not unusual though for him  to go shirtless since he has a permanent fur coat. Most of what he  wears is black and white, keeping in the theme of his natural  patterning. 


...

Inb4 "He didn't ask for this." :v


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## General-jwj (Oct 18, 2011)

I like thhow your 'sona is basically the opposite of mine when it comes to creativity : you know you'll be drawing it a lot and can't find a good story for him right now so you focus and his appearance (elaborate description of body + clothing) , and I know I'll be writing a lot about mine (hence the elaborate history) but can't draw worth shit, so his description is somewhat vague.

Anyway, good luck with that.


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## Unsilenced (Oct 19, 2011)

I've now kind-of thought of a back story, but I'm not sure if I want to make it as bleak as it is now. I guess thees a limit to how funny/entertaining you can make a guy who's major accomplishment in life is being a bullet sponge, but I'd like to at least try to broaden my horizons. 

As it stands he's ex-military from the losing side of a major war and now does work basically like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R (From... you know... S.T.A.L.K.E.R. -.-) except with unexploded ordnance in the place of awesome super-power giving radioactive shit. Good times.


EDIT: I've added a description of his job. Not too bad. History... maybe tomorrow.


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## Neuron (Oct 19, 2011)

I really like this fursona. Also your futuristic idea sounds kinda similar to mine, maybe we should do stories together :V


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## General-jwj (Oct 20, 2011)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ?

Like the Ukrainian game ?

Are you some kind of other-side-of-the-world clone of me mister ? Because this is weird >:[

And you're the one that created the basic backstory, so don't go complaining you don't know what to write about what you wanted to do :V


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## Unsilenced (Oct 20, 2011)

Lacus said:


> I really like this fursona. Also your futuristic idea sounds kinda similar to mine, maybe we should do stories together :V



I'm glad you like him. :3 

I've never actually gotten around to writing stories about my 'sona. Might be kind of cool, though my story-writing experience is admittedly a bit... limited. I've made a few scenarios for RP's, but I have something of a... grittiness problem. Make of it what you will. 



General-jwj said:


> S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ?
> 
> Like the Ukrainian game ?
> 
> Are you some kind of other-side-of-the-world clone of me mister ? Because this is weird >:[



Yes the Ukrainian game, but why would I be your clone? 



> And you're the one that created the basic backstory, so don't go  complaining *you don't know what to write about what you wanted to do  *:V



I don't even this sentence. :c


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## General-jwj (Oct 20, 2011)

Nobody seems to know of Stalker but me ... that + the stuff in the mini rants thread makes me think we're awfully similar :c

And what I meant to say is, you say you don't know what to write about him because "there's a limit to how funny/entertaining you can make a guy who's major accomplishment in life is being a bullet sponge" but you decided he'd be a bullet sponge so I think it's funny you're complaining about that.


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## Unsilenced (Oct 20, 2011)

General-jwj said:


> Nobody seems to know of Stalker but me ... that + the stuff in the mini rants thread makes me think we're awfully similar :c
> 
> And what I meant to say is, you say you don't know what to write about him because "there's a limit to how funny/entertaining you can make a guy who's major accomplishment in life is being a bullet sponge" but you decided he'd be a bullet sponge so I think it's funny you're complaining about that.



True. I wouldn't have written him like that if it wasn't the kind of character and story I find interesting, but I'm always afraid it comes off as wangst when I write it. It's what I like to write, sure, but some people like to write self-inserting fanfictions and it doesn't make them any good. 

Have you ever seen the movie _Barton Fink? _You know how he just can't write a god damned wrestling picture because he always wants to make something "meaningful?" 

...

Err... obviously if you haven't seen it you don't, but that's kind of what it's like. I just can't write anything without it being fucking srsbsns, and that annoys me.


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## General-jwj (Oct 21, 2011)

I can't write unless it's (at least partly) not srsbsns :V

I only wrote two pages of story about my 'sona 'til now, and they're just riddled with stupid-ass jokes. I need to get my shit straight :c


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## Unsilenced (Oct 21, 2011)

General-jwj said:


> I can't write unless it's (at least partly) not srsbsns :V
> 
> I only wrote two pages of story about my 'sona 'til now, and they're just riddled with stupid-ass jokes. I need to get my shit straight :c



Hey, you've written something you're ahead of me. :v 

If you want someone to read them over I'd be happy to, though I can be a bit... opinionated when it comes to editing. Your call.


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## General-jwj (Oct 21, 2011)

Unsilenced said:


> Hey, you've written something you're ahead of me. :v
> 
> If you want someone to read them over I'd be happy to, though I can be a bit... opinionated when it comes to editing. Your call.



I wouldn't mind, but I'm pretty insecure and keep stalling because I'm afraid I've written a shit intro.

It's weird, because I once wrote a 10-page short story about warhammer 40.000 that I posted on the internet, and I didn't even care. But suddenly, when it's writing about my 'sona to post on FA I get all nervous and apprehensive.
The layers of erased and re-written upon text on the first two pages alone rival anything found on any medieval scroll you could find :V


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## Unsilenced (Oct 21, 2011)

Obviously the Spess Mehreens gave you strength. :v 

Everything gets harder when you try to make something for yourself. There's a reason 80% of my gallery is requests, and that's because any time I try to make something personal I get too worked up about it. Drawing is always stressful for me, but when it's something I really care about it is *destined* for the recycle bin. 

There are a few exceptions, but those only happen when I "give up" on it at some point, or convince myself that I can go back and improve it later. In one case it actually *was* a request, so I had to complete it. 

The sad thing is though that looking through my gallery, I don't think you could tell me which ones those are. They're not the best, or the prettiest. Hell, for all the OCD shit that went into them they're often not even symmetrical. 

There's a lesson here but I haven't learned it yet.


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## General-jwj (Oct 21, 2011)

I just had a revelation earlier today. I had reached a dead-end just after the 2 pages ... and didn't know how to make the story go forward but I didn't want to sacrifice some text and start over because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get back to the point I'd reached ... in the end I erased half a page to erase the beginning of the current "narrative side-track" and wrote something else, and before even realizing it I'd filled in twice as much text as I'd erased and I finally feel inspired to get the story moving swiftly forwards.

EDIT : it was guardsmen from my very own Imperial Guard regiment and not sphess marheens, but close enough :V


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## Unsilenced (Oct 21, 2011)

That's always good. Not getting too attached to something just because it's there. 

Sometimes I know I can get a bit carried away with the idea... but not nearly as often as I don't do it at all, especially with drawings. 

...

Plus destroying frustrating drawings with the recycle binpurging fire is kinda satisfying. :v


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## Unsilenced (Oct 27, 2011)

Bit of an update, not that anyone cares: I've started trying to find a unified appearance for this guy so that I can draw him. 

Basically what it comes down to is this: On the one hand, I need him too look like he's been through hell. This is a huge part of his character. His eye is missing, his leg has been ripped off, and his torso has user serviceable parts. 

On the other hand though, he's still a furry, and as such I want him to have the potential to look cute or at least disturbingly off-cute. 


If the average viewer doesn't feel conflicted on the issue of whether or not to hug him, I have not succeeded. :v


Moar update: I've started thinking of a bit of history for him, but it's sort of at odds with what I had originally planned. 

Originally his history was going to involve a brief, gritty, and inglorious encounter with war where he served basically as cannon fodder as his country scraped the bottom of the barrel for more troops. He came in when hope was already lost, and served only to spite the inevitable. 

With this version the war sets up his character. The real story begins where the war ends, in the fallout and debris where he makes his home. Having fought in the war only serves to say something about who he is. 



My new(er) idea has things pretty much the opposite. He was a proud soldier of his county: a vast, authoritarian empire with a strong cultural belief in honor and duty. He went into the war with high ideals, a healthy body, and a beautiful uniform; all three of which were then torn to shit in the ensuing violence. 

With this the war becomes the story, or at least a good part of it. It shows not just a character, but a character arc. You could write a book and have it _end _with him picking through debris, rather than beginning then. If you *did* start it there though you would suddenly have the set-up for a redemption story. He, being a stubborn sunnavabitch with no stomach for defeat, would have to find a way to deal with the fact that he had gotten his ass handed to him. 

...

Ugh. I'm not sure why I've spent so much time thinking about this. Still seems like a bit too much srsbsns.


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## Ad Hoc (Oct 28, 2011)

I wouldn't worry about where he is in his story (although smoothing out the discrepancies between the two ideas is obviously wise; personally I like the second idea more) unless you intend to write a novel about him. Most likely you'll just be dealing with this character in short bursts, though--a drawing here, a short story/comic there; perhaps maybe you roleplay a bit. When you settle down to do something with him, just pick whatever point in the timeline you wish to deal with. That also may be a way to deal with the design issue. When you want him cute, draw him pre-war; when you want him horrific, draw him post-war. (Though, a reasonably skilled artist should be able to make either look cute. Or horrific.)


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## Unsilenced (Oct 30, 2011)

Yeah. I personally am leaning more towards the second idea. It fits better with who he is... though I worry a bit about making him based on the world rather than a world based on him. 

He has to stay the focus. 


I've been working on him a bit, making pictures and the like. Finally making a proper reference sheet, which should clear up some of the issues I had with my last "fursona." 

He doesn't look half bad. Drawing the prosthetic limb adds a... weird sort of element to the drawing as it sometimes looks more like an engineering sketch. As long as I don't dimension it. :v 

I've also given him a real name, "Creon." I'd like to say that it has 9001 levels of meaning behind it or something, but it just happens to be the name of a really stubborn king from Greek mythology. It sounds neat and is moderately more interesting/intelligent than an abbreviation of my screen name, so there it is.


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## Unsilenced (Nov 27, 2011)

Took me nearly a month to get around to making a picture of him that I liked enough to post. 

Took another week to remember to post it here. 

I work at a... leisurely pace. 






Going to make another pic though that more clearly shows what he's supposed to look like... hopefully maybe someday.


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