Who knows. Anyway people with animal traits are one thing, but strait up anthromophic animals I just never got the fascination.
Been wading through that sort of thing since the Sega Genesis era, and I still don't think I'd be able to explain it adequately.
Art was by Chris Hazelton of Misfile.com, but again the original character design of my character was from Gaia online. I wanted a Kitsuene character and since Lioconvoy is a white lion, I gave her white fox ears and tail with a little yellow like Lioconvoy's mane.
In all seriousness, I know Lio's explained this at least once, but for the life of me I don't remember what started it. I just remember that it began at one of our other hangouts, and that I eventually picked up the "Popebot" nickname from one of their resident lunatics.
The resident lunatic that you just posted an image of started the name. As for the hat, I don't know the whole story myself. At MSF, long before you joined, they had a poll with something about me in popehat being one of the choices. I don't recall if that was the winning result or what, but somehow it got back to me, I figured okay why not. At the time I was still in the military and had some money to spare so I commissioned another member to draw Lioconvoy in a Popehat. I Used the image as an avatar for a while and it just stuck that the pope hat was one of my things. Edit; huh I have the story on the Deviant art post for this too. I think I recalled a little bit more here.
Speaking of said lunatic, I think I remembered hearing something once about either his or someone else's introductory thread at Fukufics spiraling out of control. I wish I'd discovered the place sooner just so I could've been present for that. ...Though I was rather feverish at that point, so I imagine that some of my own comments would've ended up pretty well out there in mentality.
I don't know about his introductory thread going out of control, but the wedding thread did. I did everything I could to stop it cause the rule was his fiancée's had to get married in order and Caprice was cutting the line. I think it was Caprice... it's been a long time. I wasn't really active on the site at the time, I think it was either at the end of Akemi's hostile take over, or the begining of X's. I blame Akemi for the sites downfall cause she was the one that took down the topsite.
Wish I could've checked on that first point (the intro thread, that is), but unfortunately the Wayback Machine doesn't preserve the oldest stuff (or most threads, for that matter). The wedding I don't know about; I don't know which thread it was in, and I have no way of knowing whether or not MSF's forum archives have it. I remember talking with Himitsu on AIM once or twice. He helped me engineer the whole "Buttercup living in Callista's brain" thing. Good times. Good times for you, maybe. Do you have any idea how startling it was to get resurrected and find out that Kaoru was staying rent-free in my mind?