I’ve been a furry my entire life, y’know. When i was a kid, all I wanted was games about animals, books about animals, stories about animals. I wanted to play The Dog at daycare when all the other kids were deciding which family member to be while playing house.

When I was 13 or so, I stumbled on the furry fandom through Furcadia, which led me to Second Life, which led me to… well, who I am now. I’ve known a lot of people, heard a lot of opinions, and learned to love myself a little more through it all.

Now… On fursonas.

I saw a post a few years back on probably twitter, and it’s stuck with me. I think about it a lot. Someone was asking, if your fursona isn’t literally just you but as an animal, is it actually a fursona?

I feel like that’s a very New school of thought, and one I do not want to see spread. I feel like the ability to be creative and imaginative is fading and needs to be held onto and fought for.

Of course, “literally just you but as an animal” is a kind of fursona you can go with. My dog is more or less just that. It can be a very personal way to look at yourself.

Sometimes, though? That’s too vulnerable for people and they want their fursona to be themselves but more. Something different and more in line with who they want you to see.

Sometimes, it’s not about vulnerability. Sometimes it’s about the storytelling and the passion and the fun of it. A fursona can be a futuristic space traveling bird or a chipmunk that’s a werewolf or an interdimensional dragon.

At the end of the day, the person you become friends with is the real person behind the fursona. Does it really matter how they choose to present themselves to the world outside that?

If you’re gonna be a furry, have fun with it. Don’t play within arbitrary rules. Be creative. Be passionate. Have fun. Be weird.

That’s it. Not so much a journal entry as thoughts, but. That’s fine, too, I think.