Fursona help for the indecisive?

[Secret Wolf]

i know this is technically a "help" topic, but it seemed inappropriate to post it in the actual help section, so sorry if it ends up being moved basically, i have no idea how to settle on a fursona and would appreciate insight. may take some explaining, so please bear with me as i have a tendency to waffle (as people should know if they read intros ) i've read a few posts on similar lines and what i've seen most is "you don't choose, you just are", which doesn't really help the type of person who has to spend 10 minutes analysing their own emotions before replying to "how are you?" lol. i'm quite spiritual in a vague way and i've always attributed specific personality traits in others to a previous incarnation or link with certain animals but when i try to do the same thing for myself it's practically impossible. basically, i'm posting a brief list of the worst contradictions and hope somebody else can see something i've missed
1) i'm nocturnal by nature, moonlight seems to cleanse me somehow, but i can sun myself for hours given the opportunity and love warmth
2)i'm incredibly lazy, sleep atleast 12 hours a day, but can't nap; my sleep is all done in one session, unlike the stereotype "cat-napping"
3)i'm very solitary but form strong bonds with a small number of people who become more like family to me than friends
4)i can spend huge amounts of time focusing on a single thought but other times i have the attention span of a duck pancake
5)when threatened i always follow flight over fight instinct, but go mental if someone even looks at a friend in a funny way
6)i purr when i'm happy but growl when i'm annoyed (really true, it's been quite embarrasing at times )
7)i'm freakishly flexible (thinking feline) but incredibly clumsy with awful balance (so thinking not)
8)i'm quite a serious person most of the time but given the right incentive i can be SO childish (found a red pompom at work a couple years back, ended up playing with it for hours giggling to myself in front of about 200 strangers. still have it too )
there are more, but the post is getting a bit long, so i'll wrap up soon. i can't put myself on one side or the other of the cat/dog argument, have a deep respect for wolves but also an abiding fascination with big cats. i'd like a fursona that feels right but they all feel right; i settled on wolf for my account because i was drawing one at the time, but i draw big cats/foxes/various dogs and the occasional squirrel, so no help there. all i know is that i long for a tail
please, please help (puppy dog eyes and pathetic whining noises attached to the following smiley) 

[Landrav]

To be honest, you really sound more feline than canine.  Look through some of the smaller big cats to see if there is one that stands out to you.  And it doesn't have to be a "perfect" fit, either. Individuals will have different temperaments, probably even more so when you anthropomorphize them. The main thing is to own your choice. Look at me--aside from being taur, I'm one of the most stereotypical species in the fandom, the red fox. But you know what? I embraced my choice, and it has grown as close as my own skin.  And you know what? If you feel there's just one thing that really doesn't fit, that's where the hybrid option comes in :3

[Kobuk]

Read here:
http://forums.furtopia.org/index.php?topic=33034.0

[Lycusthevampyrum]

Hummm
May I suggest a specie of bat perhaps?
Like a flying fox, or Eygyptian fruit bat, they seem to match your discryption!

[Avan]

Advice: don't listen to liedt's advice about being a hoofer.
That's all.

[redyoshi49q]

Advice: don't listen to liedt's advice about being a hoofer.
That's all.

Normally, I'd agree wholeheartedly with this, but this is somebody who hasn't chosen a fursona yet.

...

I suggest that you not take Liedt's horse propaganda into account when you make your choice.  If you end up being a "hoofer", that's great; if you don't end up being one, that's great, too.  There's plenty of choices on both sides of that fence; one of them's bound to be right for you.

[489109]

.

[caninesrock]

Hmmm....a raccoon maybe? It kind of fits or one of the raccoon realitives,like a red panda. Raccoons are mostly nocturnal,but they are also up and about during the day for number 1. Number 2, the ones at my  city's zoo sleep alot anyway,not sure about wild ones. 3. Whenever a raccoon has to be removed from a city setting, it seems to always be one raccoon by themselves, so I think they're solitary.
4. Almost any animals can be serious when they have to be, like if they need to find food or escape from danger. Raccoons are playful by nature.
5. Raccoons hide if they are threatened but if you threaten their babies they give you nasty bites I've learned from some animal control show I watch on National Geographic wild.
6. They don't purr or growl,but I think the main issues to be address when deciding on a fursona should be based on one's personality and the sounds someone makes doesn't really have much to do with personality for the most part.
7. Not sure how flexible raccoons are,but even though they can climb, I have seen them fall short distances off of trees, so they can be clumsy.
8. Is pretty much describing the same thing as number 4.

[Avan]

Advice: don't listen to liedt's advice about being a hoofer.
That's all.

Normally, I'd agree wholeheartedly with this, but this is somebody who hasn't chosen a fursona yet.

...

I suggest that you not take Liedt's horse propaganda into account when you make your choice.  If you end up being a "hoofer", that's great; if you don't end up being one, that's great, too.  There's plenty of choices on both sides of that fence; one of them's bound to be right for you.

you'll note I never actually said 'don't be a hoofer' but rather 'don't take liedt's advice'

[Katra]

Your description sure sounds feline to me. And don't fordet the unique benefits of being feline. *Opens bag of chips with a claw.* Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. 

[Secret Wolf]

Thanks to everyone who posted, you've given me lots to think about funnily enough i grew up around horses, they're amazing animals (some are more human than the genetic waste i deal with daily ) but they never even crossed my mind, which is enough of an answer in itself i guess. i know it sounds a little strange, but i need my fursona to be as close to "me" as possible. Having said that, i shall now explain (waffle ). i'm quite a cerebral person, spending more time in daydreams than reality (reality sucks ), and i believe that the imagination is the only place one can truly be oneself. by creating a fursona i am merely making flesh (metaphysically) my own mental ideal of who i am, including all the amusing little foibles that make me who i am mentally AND physically because the mind is inevitably shaped by the form it inhabits, like water filling a jug. the fact that i inadvertantly purr when pleased is as important as my likes/dislikes when trying to envisage an alternate form. i don't want to be anyone other than myself, even in the privacy of my own head, i just want snuggly fur and a tail to play with starting to think i'll have to go hybrid feline/whatever to encapsulate the whole of my rather dichotomous (borderline schizophrenic) nature
to those of you who made it this far, i salute you

[Ickyrus]

Make something originallllllll ~whine~ I'm bored of seeing real species as fursonas, try some creativity. That way you'll make something that really reflects you, and you're not limited by curse'd physics or biology.

[Avan]

pfft, I made something original within the constraints of biology and physics (but most of my handiwork is behind the scenes)

[Alexandre]

You've gotten good advice so far!

What I'd recommend is this: when choosing, realize your fursona doesn't have to naturally be perfect the first time.  Many people here have changed fursonas several times during the last years.  It's a process of discovery, and we should be excited to see what changes come!

With that being said, I think a cat might represent you fairly well.  Honestly, I'm much more cat-like IRL, but for some reason I stuck with the canines when choosing a fursona.  I still need to change back to a fox, though...

[RattleCat]

Hmm, well several of your traits seem reptillian. Like being nocturnal, lazy, flexible, and sleepy when warm.
It deffinately looks like you'll be some kind of hybrid, but don't worry, it took me a long time to find my fursona too.

[Ragnorrock_13]

You do seem more like a cat than a dog, but the moon/sun warmth thing threw me off several times. It seems to me that you would be a form of Asian Lung. They are dragons who have multiple personalities. They are supposedly the oldest dragon race on earth. They are very wise, have very strange scenes of humor, dislike crowds, enjoy the moon, and can supposedly create rain. I am not much of an expert in their field, but I would recommend looking them up, for they are much like the combination of a snake, lizard, cat and (of coarse) dragons.