Neat you're a ocelot, a cat, and I'm crazy about cats!

Yeah, kinda funny since for the longest time I'd been trying to see myself as a wolf or a dragon. While those reflected aspects of myself, they never quite seemed to fit. Then back some time ago, when "The Golden Compass" was made into a movie, there was a really well done personality test (to determine your corresponsing deamon, which in the books is a part of your soul externalized) on the movie website, the kind where the answers aren't so blatantly obvious that you can engineer what "personality" you want it to say. And, to my surprise, the thing was pretty accurate, and the deamon, if I recall correctly, was an ocelot. That stayed in the back of my mind for some time, until recently, it started taking a life of its own, and now I'm perfectly comfortable with Isaac here being my fursona, as he, unlike wolf or dragon, seems to fit me more wholely.

Ah, I can relate to the muse thing. I used to have a set of sona-like characters (the first of which was created maybe mid-high-school or such) but right about the time I was first joining FA they weren't so much sonas as representations of my various states of mind. One was a gleeful and oblivious derp of a werewolf. Another was basically my moodiness and anxiety and such (also a wolf, just because that seemed like the default). It was kind of more like the happy one was me, and the other was the things that plagued me (like stress and so-forth). Having them as different characters was actually really great for drawings, because I could depict them interacting in a way that visually represented something normally very abstract.

I once did a sketch a lot like this image of yours but basically the opposite. The happy sona is trying to draw at her computer, but the sad sona is closing the laptop, pulling on her ear with his mouth (they were drawn feral), and looking very worried. At the time I was having a really hard time drawing because of school stress and such, and I felt like that image captured it well. It's kind of a shame nothing ever became of it.

And then I won't even get into the third sona (who has several states, mainly male and female, to represent different states of mind). I needed a depiction for my dark side, so they filled that niche. They were pretty much demonic werewolves, but by demonic I don't mean evil so much as powerful and unrestrained.

btw, it probably sounds weird to say I had sonas of different genders, but they were pretty much just characters at that point and I was picking the sex that seemed most fitting for their personality.

Anyway, sorry about the text wall. ^^;

Hey, no problem. My "sona muses" have different genders as well, and are representations of my state of mind, though not tied too closely to my actual emotions, as they're more representative of my creative interests and inspirations. Instead, it's more that my muses pick up on my emotions, as they're actually self aware that they are muses and figmintations of my imagination residing within my mind, and I see there being a relation between us (strange as thay may sound). I've even had them comment in my comments at times, since I feel they've really taken on lives of their own, which is great for characters. They know me as well as I know them.

Isaac, however, is not a muse himself, but he's still self aware of his state as a "sona". It's been really interesting having characters being self aware of their creator, and letting them reveal to me who they are naturally over time. Makes them feel more alive and not "just fictional characters". In a sense, when I write for them in any sense, it feels more like they're the one's guiding the words rather than me making it up; my subconscious is doing the thinking, and the subconscious doesn't seem to be as prone to doubt, confusion, and the like as my active thinking self is.

That's really cool. ^^ I love it when characters can get that in-depth, and I like the way you "handle" them and their state. I don't think I've really heard of something like it, but it makes a great deal of sense.

My sona-set was aware that they were is a sort of metaphor world when I wrote about them, and in real life I just felt like one or another was "dominant" at any given time. They weren't separate characters from me, really; more like magnifications of what they represented (though there wasn't always one "out and about" so I still was kind of "my own entity"). The moody sona was kind of on the outskirts of that, because I would describe him as bothering me, and saying things like I wish he would go away so that I could write or whatever. I've got things like anxiety obviously, and in general I just sort of view those as ailments rather than parts of me, which explains why this sona was more of an outsider. Anywho, it was often quite clear which of them was taking the wheel, so to say, to the point that my friend would comment about them.

Now I want to make a character that's aware of their state as a character. I've done images and such in the past but never had that as a specific trait.

For me, it partially stemmed from wanting "FA" characters, character's with whom I could be identified from in this community. For a while I couldn't come up with anything, as to make a character, I also had to make a world for them exist in. I just couldn't put them in a vacuum, it would drive me nuts. But a while before a picture I made back in high school became a character by chance, who then became my muse, and as I was thinking on "for FA characters", the idea of personifying my creativity hit me, and so The Department of Creativity came into being, and then it got a new member. This made them all personal characters (without being too personal), the setting is my mind (which I know well enough), and because they are explitly figments of imagination, the laws of reality only apply when they want them to, lowing for all of my varying...interests...to coexist without having to come up with some sort of ellaborate and convoluted explanation. They've made for a lot of fun brainstorming segments.

XD
That's really neat. The story about how Damian came about reminds me of a doodle I did of an angel perched on a railing, holding a Cat-o-Nine Tails, and looking thoughtful. I decided I wanted to write a little back story for her and it ended up being not one but two 60,000+ word stories and *looks up the number* 31 stand-alone doodle comic pages. Oooopse, I accidentally a novel and a sequel and a bunch of silly comics? That was one of the rare times where a story just sort of flowed out in its entirety. That was back in high school and because it's an old story I of course think it's crap now, but it was really fun at the time. ^^

(I didn't read through all the character descriptions, though I'll do so when I have the time and would like to get to know these guys better. I like how the journals are written by Damian.)

Yeah, he came into his own through a combination chance, happenstance, and inspiration. I'd won a ltle contest to have a character of mine in a picture (finding a hidden message in a picture)...and didn't really have an "FA character". At the time I had the Winged Werewolf piece as my ID (as tha predated Isaac), and the artist said, "Why not him? He looks cool." And I was, "Sure, why not?" and named him Damian, and it as all downhill (in a good way) from there.

Hey, take your time. The links are just there to augment what I was saying. And yeah, I meant it when I said my muses have lives of their own, and there are times when they let me know when they have something to say. In the case of the journals, as the new head of the DoC, I thought it only proper that he be the one to make introductions.

Cool. ^^ And yeah, makes sense. [=

btw, do you IM? And if so, would you be interested in chatting? You seem like a neat person.

I don't have IM, actually, and funny thing is you're not the first to ask such a question either. I've been told Skype can do much the same thing, and it seems easier than having these conversations through comments, or even notes. However, I am going back and forth between computer and the Michigan/Ohio State game, so to be frankly honest you wouldn't have my full attention right now.

If I get an IM/Skype, I'll be sure to let you know. Maybe I'll finally start being social through an actual social communication medium.

lol no problem. [= The offer stands, if you decide you'd like to chat. I just got a Skype, but I also have AIM. I could make others as well if you find one you prefer.