# Help on Fursona inspiration



## HoneyCollie (May 8, 2010)

I have been a furry for some time now and have yet to come up with a fursona. All I know is that it'll be a Border Collie mix. 

I know the fun of making a fursona is doing it by your self; but i really need advice on what i should be looking for.

Do I base the fursona on my personality or what? What are your stories?

How did you get inspiration?


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## Willow (May 8, 2010)

Took 2 years to develop Willow


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## Alstor (May 8, 2010)

Right now, Alstor is just me as an otter. As in, he has my exact same clothing and exact same personality. If you just want to have a fursona just for the sakes for having one, just put your personality in a border collie mix. Afterward, you can add new, original personality traits to him/her.

If you want add character to him/her, develop some characters in the privacy of your mind first. Start out by making human characters, preferably ones with outrageous sterotypes. Keep these characters in your mind, as no one would really like to see some super peppy teenage girl. That way, when you get into more subtle characters, you know what is too "out there" for a regular fursona. Personally, I love working with sterotyped characters. Right now, I am working on an overpowered, God-like character, who shall be named Jesus Wolf !!! (the "!!!" is said like "the third".)

After you completed work on human characters, you can move into anthros. When I work on anthros, I make sure the character keeps some animal and species traits, rather than making him/her a human with fur and a tail. For example, with a border collie mix, make sure he/she is very energetic, as that is how they are in real life. Also, when working on the design, make sure it can still be recognized as the animal it is. Taking the border collie as an example again, it he/she has purple fur with orange stripes and pink spots, then it is not a border collie, as they have black and white fur in real life. Finally, when creating the character's personality, tend to exaggerte some traits without going too overboard. Give your collie energy and happiness, but don't make so he/she can run the Iron Man Triathlon in three minutes or he/she can create world peace with a smile.

I hope you take these tips into consideration when creating your border collie. These things don't magically appear in front of you, y'know.


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## KarabinerCoyote (May 8, 2010)

I combined one of my hobbies with my coyote character. It's a good fit made even more so by a Shoshone folktale on the card which came with a Folkmanis puppet bought at a recent con.

When Border Collies come up, Ace MacFluff and Minstrel come to mind. Maybe you have a favorite sport or interest which would mesh well with your chosen fursona. What do you like to "herd"?


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## Willow (May 8, 2010)

Alstor said:


> Right now, Alstor is just me as an otter. As in, he has my exact same clothing and exact same personality. If you just want to have a fursona just for the sakes for having one, just put your personality in a border collie mix. Afterward, you can add new, original personality traits to him/her.
> 
> If you want add character to him/her, develop some characters in the privacy of your mind first. Start out by making human characters, preferably ones with outrageous sterotypes. Keep these characters in your mind, as no one would really like to see some super peppy teenage girl. That way, when you get into more subtle characters, you know what is too "out there" for a regular fursona. Personally, I love working with sterotyped characters. Right now, I am working on an overpowered, God-like character, who shall be named Jesus Wolf !!! (the "!!!" is said like "the third".)
> 
> ...


I always had a thing for split personalities
I made a human character a few years ago while I was writing a story, he had a dark side too and I think I incorporated that into Willow, and that's how Ash was born


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## Alstor (May 8, 2010)

WillowWulf said:


> I always had a thing for split personalities
> I made a human character a few years ago while I was writing a story, he had a dark side too and I think I incorporated that into Willow, and that's how Ash was born


And now we know.

And I realized I didn't answer any of the OP's questions.

As of right now, base your border collie directly off your personality while, at the same time, giving it the sense that it is still a collie.

I already answered the stories part.

To achieve inspiration, think WAY outside of the box. Think of some personalities that are so crazy, they're near impossible to duplicate in real life. Looking at other collies also helps find that creativity. Just don't go tracing and stealing artwork. Finally, it's your fursona. That means if you like it and others hate, then it is the perfect fursona.

Hopefully, that got us back on topic.


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## Zseliq (May 8, 2010)

Well its a start. Maybe next you can figure out what her physical appearance will look like. I am sure you must have some sort of an idea on her looks, at least you know what she will not look like. Start from that and go with that feels right.


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## Willow (May 8, 2010)

Zseliq said:


> Well its a start. Maybe next you can figure out what her physical appearance will look like. I am sure you must have some sort of an idea on her looks, at least you know what she will not look like. Start from that and go with that feels right.


Don't be afraid to toy around with different features such as color and what not


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## Oovie (May 8, 2010)

You might try researching the species you've chosen and find out some of  their own attributes to see what catches your interest. But do try to  find flaws, a flawed character is far more interesting and practical to  relate with for the reader.

I myself being a Corvid, Corvids tend to be regarded as the most  intelligent of birds with their outstanding problem solving skills. But  perhaps along with their intellect they exhibit more quarrelsome and  aggressive behaviors than most. Intelligent individuals also _tend_  to be more of an outcast due to lack of social development, or frequently appear more unhappy as they discover more of the travestys in the world than the average being.

This of course doesn't mean intelligence should be frowned upon, in fact I think of it as an advantage with how many people I see describing their character as predatorial. Other than an exceptionally large beak, I am a physically very frail.

So if I'm finding myself about to be in that big 'ol maw of theirs I might resort to mind games. Crows are carriers of disease, how can you be sure I'm not carrying something lethal? Are you confident enough you'll get at me before I gouge one of those eyes out with my beak? I've scavenged some wealth in my time and made some strong friendships in the area presenting such gifts. Can you be certain they're not on their way right now?

You of course likely have no reason to incorporate some of these details into your character, but this has been my experience so far in developing mine. There seems to be far too many dragons or canines of unbeknownst abilities threatening to obliterate someone like me when speaking out of line, and even they need to be reminded they're not as perfect as they believe themselves to be.

Unless of course they wield fire and lightning equivalent to a small nuclear strike as some do, what kind of retarded cra...


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## PenningtontheSkunk (May 8, 2010)

Penny was in the works for 2 1/2 years until I got the right back story to the actual character her/himself.

Don't afraid to experiment. :3


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## HoneyCollie (May 9, 2010)

Zseliq said:


> Well its a start. Maybe next you can figure out what her physical appearance will look like. I am sure you must have some sort of an idea on her looks, at least you know what she will not look like. Start from that and go with that feels right.


I do have some ideas of appearance, I'll try going with the flow and do what you said  Thank you haha


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## Slyck (May 9, 2010)

Lurk moar. Zzzzing!

Seriously, wait for inspiration.

PS: It's kind of funny how inspiration rhymes with desperation.


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