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Read me.
10 years ago
Hey there fluffs
I'd like to take a bit of time to talk to you about fursona development, and take you on the journey I've had with mine.
I'm sure most, if not all of us have the special toon we relate to, that represents us well. When you look at your fursona, you can almost feel yourself in that art. It's almost like staring into a mirror with your furry self looking back at you. That's the relationship a lot of us form with these characters.
We use the art to express ourselves, and put ourselves into various situations reflecting the real world, or a fantasy world. It's a portal into brave new world.
Well, mine is a tiger/dragon mix named EC, short for Electrocat. Later on I decided she needs a real name for the initials and also go by Eleo Chase.
Over the last few years, we've grown increasingly detached from one another, most notably due to problems developing her. The problems are not the modifications chosen, it is the community - rather, I like to believe a small fraction of it.
For a lot of people, our fursonas grow, change and age just as we do - they live and breathe as long as they are drawn and developed. The problem begins with the fear to change your toon as it might resemble somebody else's.
Our characters should and do reflect how we feel, what makes us happy at that point of time we created it, what we like or want to be like. If that form happens to take on the shape of something someone else has already done, that fraction of the community needs to take a step back and leave these things be.
Nobody wants to hear "Oh that looks just like Fluffy or Scruffy." We want to see you admire the art and character for what it is. Please stop comparing and accept us the way we are. This is how we've all found a home here at FA, the love and acceptance.
Unfortunately, it would seem the larger a following one gains, the more this tends to happen should you want to make an alteration.
You know, if I ran into another cat that looks just like me, what I'd tell em?
You have good taste buddy ;) and move along on my merry way. Perhaps we'd become friends, as our tastes in these characters could potentially reflect similar tastes in other aspects, and similar personalities that make for good friendship.
To get back to EC, due to these kind of situations and attempts to avoid them, I've been hindered in developing and updating her, to the point where we are completely alienated from one another. End up changing things I don't want to to stop the drama going around of 'oh you look just like ___'.
This has not only resulted in my alienation, but also significantly degraded the quality of work I output, and the desire to create so. Why would I want to draw someone else' toon when mine isn't what I want it to be? I can't reflect my own happiness in the artwork, how do I do so for someone else?
If anything, learn from this please, people. Our toons are about our own self expression and experiences. Our freedoms to create and play god, perhaps our escape from a harsh reality, and most importantly, our right to be whatever the hell we like. Every furry should enjoy that right, and that is what is beautiful about the fandom.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
I will be working on a new design for my character, and would appreciate if there are no problems with doing so. It is a difficult process, but hope to find EC again in a new character.
I'd like to take a bit of time to talk to you about fursona development, and take you on the journey I've had with mine.
I'm sure most, if not all of us have the special toon we relate to, that represents us well. When you look at your fursona, you can almost feel yourself in that art. It's almost like staring into a mirror with your furry self looking back at you. That's the relationship a lot of us form with these characters.
We use the art to express ourselves, and put ourselves into various situations reflecting the real world, or a fantasy world. It's a portal into brave new world.
Well, mine is a tiger/dragon mix named EC, short for Electrocat. Later on I decided she needs a real name for the initials and also go by Eleo Chase.
Over the last few years, we've grown increasingly detached from one another, most notably due to problems developing her. The problems are not the modifications chosen, it is the community - rather, I like to believe a small fraction of it.
For a lot of people, our fursonas grow, change and age just as we do - they live and breathe as long as they are drawn and developed. The problem begins with the fear to change your toon as it might resemble somebody else's.
Our characters should and do reflect how we feel, what makes us happy at that point of time we created it, what we like or want to be like. If that form happens to take on the shape of something someone else has already done, that fraction of the community needs to take a step back and leave these things be.
Nobody wants to hear "Oh that looks just like Fluffy or Scruffy." We want to see you admire the art and character for what it is. Please stop comparing and accept us the way we are. This is how we've all found a home here at FA, the love and acceptance.
Unfortunately, it would seem the larger a following one gains, the more this tends to happen should you want to make an alteration.
You know, if I ran into another cat that looks just like me, what I'd tell em?
You have good taste buddy ;) and move along on my merry way. Perhaps we'd become friends, as our tastes in these characters could potentially reflect similar tastes in other aspects, and similar personalities that make for good friendship.
To get back to EC, due to these kind of situations and attempts to avoid them, I've been hindered in developing and updating her, to the point where we are completely alienated from one another. End up changing things I don't want to to stop the drama going around of 'oh you look just like ___'.
This has not only resulted in my alienation, but also significantly degraded the quality of work I output, and the desire to create so. Why would I want to draw someone else' toon when mine isn't what I want it to be? I can't reflect my own happiness in the artwork, how do I do so for someone else?
If anything, learn from this please, people. Our toons are about our own self expression and experiences. Our freedoms to create and play god, perhaps our escape from a harsh reality, and most importantly, our right to be whatever the hell we like. Every furry should enjoy that right, and that is what is beautiful about the fandom.
Thank you for taking the time to read.
I will be working on a new design for my character, and would appreciate if there are no problems with doing so. It is a difficult process, but hope to find EC again in a new character.
Im much happier with my characters now after this.
I mean, my only character that I designed from the ground up has a lot of look-a-likes...but not from copying. She's an American Shorthair cat, yet I decided to give her tiger like markings. That, mixed with the white fur and black hair makes her look like a lot of white/snow tiger characters. Do I care? No, I created her how I wanted. Not because others were doing it. Hell, I created her before even knowing about Furries...yet if I created her now I'd keep her the same. If anyone says I'm 'copying' or 'unoriginal', screw them. She's my character and I'll make her how I like. :3
If close similarities are not intentional hopefully it does not matter all that much. It is bound to happen with so many characters.
i'm sure you can re-invent EC to be the creature you want her to be :)