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Kiwa Lyon: October Featured Fursuiter of the Month
Derek O'Donnell poses as the leonine Spartan god Leonidas at Anthrocon in 2010. Known as Kiwa in the furry fandom, O'Donnell's unique costume made its debut at Further Confusion in 2010 and has been a fan favorite ever since.
Salt Lake City, Utah native Derek O’Donnell is living proof that we are products of our environment. Better known as Kiwa in the furry fandom, or as the striking lion warrior Leonidas, O’Donnell’s childhood upbringing had everything to do with his eventual entry into the furry world.
The 25-year old grew up in a “very animal-oriented house,” often helping his mom at the family’s dog grooming salon, and developed an affinity for lions at about the age of five.
In 1994, when he was eight, The Lion King (TLK) came out in theaters, and O’Donnell’s obsession rose to a new level.
“The Lion King, when that came around, just enforced all that natural attraction and affinity that I had for (lions),” he recalled.
At that time, when he was in the third grade, he found himself struggling socially with the societal barriers imposed by his family’s hometown.
“I grew up an only child, and my family was not of the religious faith predominant here,” O’Donnell said. “It’s not a really friendly community to those who are not of that particular religion. I would go to classes and a lot of the kids wouldn’t be friends with me because I wasn’t Mormon. The ones that would, their parents often times wouldn’t let me hang out with them.”
When he was 12 years old, he created his one and only character, Kiwa Lyon, based off a Swahili name with a meaning that hit home.
“It actually means ‘outcast,’” O’Donnell explained. “It sounds kind of emo… but I got a lot of outcast-type feelings, and this massive, unexplainable connection to (The Lion King) that wasn’t shared by any of my peers at all. I picked that name at the time because it seemed appropriate, and it stuck.”
Fortunately, as a young lion lover looking for his place in the world, he had the luxury of the internet to guide him.
In his early teen years, he got involved in a number of TLK fan and role-playing sites, including doing some work on lionking.org, and found that getting involved in role play in the Lion King universe led to a lot of crossover into the anthropomorphic fandom as well.
“The more I found out about it, the more I started talking to people, and I became more familiar with the (furry) community,” O’Donnell said. “I found out what cons were, and it kind of just of escalated from there.”
“I don’t feel like too much of an outcast anymore.”
FROM PETA TO PROSTHETICS
Although O’Donnell’s costume doesn’t feature any faux fur like a traditional fursuit, those that have seen his character know that it certainly doesn’t fall short in creativity or complexity.
What people may not realize, however, is that the inspiration for Leonidas came from the most unexpected of places.
“I saw some people protesting – I think it was PETA – and they had some people in animal body paint,” O’Donnell remembered. “They had cheetahs and a zebra and everything, and I thought ‘Wow, man, that’d be a really cool idea!’”
After doing some research online, he found out about latex prosthetic masks, and built his signature mane, which is a custom-constructed three-piece wig.
With all the pieces in place, he finally had to figure out how to develop all of it into a playable character.
“I went online and bought custom parts, and after a lot of research and a lot of hard work, it came together,” O’Donnell said. “I’m really big into the whole Greek/Roman mythology, ’300′ happens to be one of my favorite movies, so I thought, ‘Leonidas, lion, Greek,’ it’s too perfect. I just had to do it… this crazy, off-the-wall cosplay costume.”
To get the effect that O’Donnell wants, it takes an unthinkable amount of preparation time. While most fursuiters without intricate parts to their costumes can suit up in five, or at the most, ten minutes, his get-up is considerably more involved.
“The body paint, in and of itself, usually takes about three to four hours,” he said, adding that the skin-staining ink that he uses for the paint lasts an entire convention weekend. “The face paint and getting the prosthetic glued on is about another hour. It’s a huge commitment.”
Leonidas made his debut at Further Confusion in 2010, and his reception was nothing short of outstanding, from the furries and mundanes alike. O’Donnell said that his favorite part was seeing the public reactions, from people stopping in traffic to take a picture to gawking from the windows of buildings.
“A lot of people comment that it’s a very original, awesome costume, and I love hearing that,” he admitted.” I do kind of like the fact that it’s not very typical and non-traditional by furry standards, and I get some criticism for that, but at the same time I love doing it and pushing the ‘normal’ envelope, so to speak.”
While the Spartan god Leonidas sports a traditional shield and sword combination, O’Donnell recently debuted a generic Zulu warrior costume at Anthrocon this past June, featuring a giant spear and an colorful African loincloth.
He enjoys playing both characters, noting that each have their distinct personalities and that his costume allows him to go back and forth based on the accessories he chooses.
Also, he makes sure to go out one day of every convention just as Kiwa himself, in normal street clothes to be himself.
“Leonidas, he’s very rigid, firm, proud, he’s got a lot of honor and that badass glare in eyes,” O’Donnell explained. “That’s a lot of fun to play, but at the same time in order to pull off that character you have to be a little more intimidating – and that can be a little off-putting for some people. My Zulu warrior is more laid back, more friendly. He still has that leonine sense of pride, but that’s something I got from my travels in Africa. The people there are very friendly and greet you with very passionate and enthusiastic greetings.”
O'Donnell's Zulu warrior costume, sporting a traditional spear, made its debut last June at Anthrocon. While Leonidas is more stone-faced and proud, his warrior character is more laid-back, a trait O'Donnell picked up from his travels in Africa.
INTO THE PRIDE
In the quarter-century he has been alive, O’Donnell already has a wealth of experience under his belt, from degrees in Wildlife Biology and Economics from the University of Montana to a Masters degree in Resource Conservation.
He also is very much into physical fitness and does personal training on the side, and is currently employed by the Utah State Government as a planner in its Parks and Recreation Department, putting both of his degrees to good use.
“Right now I’m doing a lot of business planning initiatives, how the parks can be a little more profitable while cutting back costs,” O’Donnell said about his current job. “I’m kind of in charge of capital investment decisions.”
But like most that are passionate about wildlife, he felt a higher calling to work with big cats in their natural environment, lions in particular, and he had that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in early 2010.
After finishing up his Masters, O’Donnell was looking for work and came across a nonprofit organization called ALERT, stationed out of Zambia in Africa.
“They have an operation that basically re-introduces lions back into the wild,” he described. “I contacted the owner, and started talking to him about my background and the work I’d done with lions. I gave him this full-blown e-mail and we instantly hit it off very well.”
At the beginning of 2010, O’Donnell went to Zambia to meet David Youldon, the Chief Operating Officer of ALERT, to tour the facilities and take part in the current work the organization was doing, while getting to start on background research for the Ph.D he is currently pursuing.
While there, O’Donnell was part of a team that helped integrate lion cubs into their wild surroundings.
“I’d take these cubs that were anywhere from a couple weeks old to maybe about a year and a half to two years, and walk with them out in the wild so they could get opportunities to explore their environment and interact with different trees, different scents, different animals,” he explained. “We’d allow them to hunt, and do what they wanted to do.”
The Grizzlies’ graduate also played a role in the general caretaking of the lions, which involved feeding the big cats and their just-as-big appetites.
“We’d have to take machetes and hack up donkeys and stuff like that, which was pretty interesting for a vegetarian,” O’Donnell recalled with a laugh.
After his time with ALERT ended, O’Donnell was offered a position as research supervisor for the entire organization, but that meant he would have to give up his life in the United States and relocate to Zambia, by far the most difficult and important decision he had yet to face in his young life.
“It forced me to look at a lot of things and answer a lot of really tough questions,” he noted. “I wasn’t in the particular place or time to be able to accept something like that. It’s really hard to look back on, but I wasn’t ready to uproot my entire life and move permanently to Africa.”
As O’Donnell pursues his Ph.D next year, he said that a return to Africa for his post-graduate work is quite likely. But until then, he looks to enjoy home life to the fullest and do all the furry-related stuff he can, which includes plans to attend FC in 2012.
“They want me to start classes for my Ph.D project in January, so it’s going to be a bit of a stretch, but I could also be in Africa for the next two years, so I’m pretty determined to make it happen,” O’Donnell said on his plans for the con, adding that he enjoys the fandom because of the friendly, open-minded people in it. “You can be who you are, and have fun with it. It’s not like real life where you have to worry about being judged. Getting to know what it is about (others’) worlds that makes them the way they are. I love the sense of community.”
A very content sub-adult male lion gets scritches from O'Donnell, who worked in Zambia for one month for ALERT, an organization that helps sustain lion populations in Africa.
———-
Additional Q & A with “Kiwa Lyon,” Derek O’Donnell
Q: You got to live the dream of just about all big cat lovers on your trip to Zambia last year. What was your most memorable experience from that adventure?
A: I got to be in the middle of a pride of eight lions while they were all running around and playing, that was an unbelievable experience. For that particular thing we were doing enrichment, so we would place scents. We grabbed this giant tire and decided to throw it up into the trees, and watched as the two big males jumped up and tried to rip it down. Walking with lions in the wilds of Africa, that obviously was a really cool experience.
Q: What is your favorite part about going out in costume as your character?
A: Just wandering around downtown and seeing the reactions of people when you’re parading around, it’s just so much fun. I’ve almost caused traffic accidents. Just the expressions you get from the people looking out the windows from the buildings, to drivers pulling (over) or stopping their cars to get pictures when the light is green. It’s so much fun to see the reactions from people.
Q: As far as within the fandom, what do you enjoy most about being Leonidas or a Zulu warrior?
A: My favorite part is the appreciation for the creativity and the hard work that goes into my costume. I put a lot of time, thought, money, and effort into it, and to say that it’s a lot of work would be a gross understatement. But when someone comes up and pays me a compliment like “that’s the coolest/most original/etc. costume that I’ve ever seen,” it makes it all worth it. The support that I’ve gotten from the fandom has been really encouraging, and definitely keeps me doing it… I actually get messages on a pretty regular basis from people who say that they’ve been inspired by my costume to get in better shape. Many people even keep me up to date with their progress reports, and I think that’s fantastic. Physical fitness is something that I think is very important, not only for one’s physical well-being, but for their mental well-being as well. I actually take a lot of honor in hearing that something as simple as my costume can inspire someone to start taking strides to better their life. Of course, I also just love doing it because I love how much fun it is to become Kiwa, or the different characters that I represent, in real life. Kiwa is more or less just a lion version of myself, so it’s a ton of fun getting to put on my ‘lion skin’ and interact with other people as my character.
——–
Editor’s note: The FNN Featured Fursuiter of the Month is profile series written by Kijani. Every month he will choose one well-recognized figure in the fandom’s fursuiting community, offering a unique “behind the mask” look at their characters and lives outside of fursuiting, as well as how they found the furry fandom.
Also, starting this month, the Featured Fursuiter of the Month will be a bimonthly article, published every other month. The next feature will be in December 2011.
A Little Game Called AnthRO
10/09/2011
By: Curly
What do you think of when you hear someone talking about an “MMORPG”? For most people, this abbreviation may need some explanation, but countless others will immediately think of players teaming up to battle hoards of monsters and huge dungeon bosses, characteristic of games like World of Warcraft and Maplestory. How often, though, have you come across a furry RPG? Usually, they are few and far between. So, Miles Aeon, server administrator of the up-and-coming game AnthRO, decided to start his own community, in order to “give something back to the furry community,” he said.
With AnthRO, he’s doing just that. The game is a furry take on the popular MMO Ragnarok Online, developed by Gravity, a Korean game studio. The game sports typical click-to-hit gameplay spanning over 9 major cities and various overworld terrains and dungeons. Events, hosted by Miles and the other current moderators, keep the players entertained during bits of downtime from questing and grinding for levels. Custom fashion items are currently in the works, and the admins are working gradually to give the game a more personal, and furry, feel. “Bit by bit, it’s really starting to feel like it’s our community growing into this game,” stated Arcazial Johnson, the project’s creative lead, “We’re just hoping it’ll ramp up a bit in the weeks to come.”
AnthRO currently averages 2-5 members online at any given time, pending advertisement by members and Miles himself to give the community a bit of a jump-start. “I really want to get more people on here. That’s when the real fun begins,” stated Miles. Most of the advertisement takes the form of posts on the Google+ network and Twitter, in the hopes that such posts would be reshared by other interested prospective players. Furries and non-furs of all types are welcomed with open arms, and Miles wants to make sure word spreads about this project.
More details about his game can be found on the AnthRO website here, and by searching the AnthRO tag on Google+.
Fursonas, fursonas everywhere!
Alright, so here it is! Feel free to leave your answers down below, so we can all get to know your fursona!
1: If your character was in a Gladiator's Duel, which weapon would he choose? Note, this can be any weapon, so be creative!
2: If your character where to be in a group of spies, which role would he play? I.E: Scout, Stealth-Ninja-Guy, Leader, Support, Sniper, Brute, and so on.
3: Your fursona is laid with four options: Steal the cookies from some old ladies house, this old lady used to hit you with an umbrella every time she saw you, yelling "You're all the same! Back in my day, we used to have to climb up both ways to get to school!" Option 2: Your fursona has just baked/bough a new tray of cookies, you've eaten so many, and you're all stuffed. You see the old lady, and you offer her some of your leftover cookies, this is a chance for forgiveness. Option 3: You see a poor little rabbit, scrounging for money on the street, they are obviously starving, but have nothing in return to give you. Option 4: You see your best friend, who just failed a test and is really bummed out, and offer him/her some cookies to make them happy again. Choose wisely. Note The options do not correlate, other than the old ladies personally, and insanely senile, anger towards you.
4: Your character has an opportunity to get his or her dream job, which job? Optional: How would they dress for this job?
Now that I think about it, all of these questions are optional XD
5: Your fursona is about to get the last taxi of the day, it's also the one with the really nice cab driver that you're friends with Or you just use him to get what you want. When you go to get in the cab, an obviously poor woman pushes you violently out of the way, holding a small, jumbled, and messy wad of miscellaneous dollars and coins. What do you do? Note, You're on the ground at this point, and the lady is about to open the door to get in the cab.
Alright, so there it was! I hope you guys liked it, and if not, please tell me that you didn't like it! I'd rather have feedback than wondering what I did wrong. But this isn't about me! This is about all of Your Fursonas!
submitted by TheNarwhalBacons1232[link] [12 comments]
More Art Instruction
There never seems to be enough of these, and frankly that’s just fine with us! The Explorer’s Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures is a new hardcover art instruction book, written and illustrated by Emily Fiegenschuh. She holds a degree from Ringling College of Art & Design, and in the past she’s illustrated numerous Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks for Wizards of the Coast. Now her new book (published by F + W Media) guides the would-be fantasy artist through not only rendering fantastic creatures of myth, legend, and nightmare, but also breathing life into the finished pictures. According to the publisher’s notes, the book includes: “25 step-by-step demonstrations for creating a bevy of beasts that roam air, land and sea; important basics of drawing, proportion and perspective to help you bring believability to your creatures; instruction for adding living, breating color to finished sketches; and expert tips on finding inspiration, developing personalities, designing costumes and more”. It’s on the shelves now.
image c. 2011 Emily Fiegenschuh
FC-56 One Of Those Days - *sighs* It's just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won't be a show... but Paradox will
*sighs* It’s just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won’t be a show… but Paradox will be there! 
- Bats Have Fastest Mammal Muscles
- Starving Dog Survives Jump From Third Story Window
- Funday PawPet Show manatee on auction block
- Renabu Michi – “Annoying friends”
- Dashofweak – “One last question”
- MyHeadisFullofFuck – “My fucked up life”
- Skyler – “Curiosity questions”
- HybridFox – “Clan madness!!!”
- Verlis – “Ironic isnt it?”
- Anonymous – “Simple question”
- Arufa – “A question for each of you”
- Wolfe Masters – “An E-mail That Doesn’t Suck This Week”
- Volk, Folf- “(no subject)”
- Brandon – “Background research? Question for the show”
- Brandon – “Yo fuzzbutts!”
- Marco Wolf – “coming out of the closet, so to speak.”
FC-56 One Of Those Days - *sighs* It's just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won't be a show... but Paradox will
*sighs* It’s just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won’t be a show… but Paradox will be there! :D
News:- Bats Have Fastest Mammal Muscles
- Starving Dog Survives Jump From Third Story Window
- Funday PawPet Show manatee on auction block
- Renabu Michi – “Annoying friends”
- Dashofweak – “One last question”
- MyHeadisFullofFuck – “My fucked up life”
- Skyler – “Curiosity questions”
- HybridFox – “Clan madness!!!”
- Verlis – “Ironic isnt it?”
- Anonymous – “Simple question”
- Arufa – “A question for each of you”
- Wolfe Masters – “An E-mail That Doesn’t Suck This Week”
- Volk, Folf- “(no subject)”
- Brandon – “Background research? Question for the show”
- Brandon – “Yo fuzzbutts!”
- Marco Wolf – “coming out of the closet, so to speak.”
FC-56 One Of Those Days - *sighs* It's just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won't be a show... but Paradox will
*sighs* It’s just one of those days. A full studio crew tonight, just like FNT was last night. Good for some ADHD style radio show hosting *cringe*. Anyway, FurFright 2011 is next week so there won’t be a show… but Paradox will be there! :D
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News:
E-mails:
- Renabu Michi – “Annoying friends”
- Dashofweak – “One last question”
- MyHeadisFullofFuck – “My fucked up life”
- Skyler – “Curiosity questions”
- HybridFox – “Clan madness!!!”
- Verlis – “Ironic isnt it?”
- Anonymous – “Simple question”
- Arufa – “A question for each of you”
- Wolfe Masters – “An E-mail That Doesn’t Suck This Week”
- Volk, Folf- “(no subject)”
- Brandon – “Background research? Question for the show”
Shout-Outs:
- Brandon – “Yo fuzzbutts!”
- Marco Wolf – “coming out of the closet, so to speak.”
New to the fandom! Just saying hello!
Hello my fellow furs! I've been meaning to do this for the longest time of getting into the fandom because I love anthros and animals soooo this is kinda weird o.o I don't know what I say to any of you other than I'm a guy who is obessed with games comics and movies just like any other nerd. And two last things. I'm not in this for the porn O.o....vore expansions and other stuff like that just freak me out I want to stay SFW in this fandom and then second. I suck at talking to people :( Well I mean new people, people I just only meet so if I annoy you or just act like an idiot just know I can sometimes be a very socially awkward person thanks to my less that great times during my years in school (don't ask >.>) I hope I'll somehow become a valued member of this great community I plan to make lots of that music all you furs love so much on FA once I join. Trance and dubstep. FYI I think I am that good that I promise every time I make a track, it'll be like your ears are having an orgasm :3
(Prepares for trolls if acts like idiot and posts in wrong subreddit or mispelt shyt)
submitted by Blackdragons1234[link] [19 comments]
Affordable fursuit heads?
Hey guys, I was recently browsing around websites like Clockwork Creatures and Made Fur You, and I've noticed that for just a head it is normally over 600 dollars, which is kind of high. It's understandable, because of the level of craftsmanship and work that goes into making a fursuit, but I was wondering if there was any reliable fursuit stores, that won't break the bank.
submitted by TheNarwhalBacons1232[link] [8 comments]
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