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Anyone else Play DnD (or similar) with a furry twist?
I've been playing and running games with other furs over the net for years, and just love the creativity they bring to the table, and the vast, varied array of furry character concepts that get created.
Here are some of my favorite character's that I've gotten to play over the years:
Anyone else got some notable ones they want to share?
submitted by welovekah[link] [32 comments]
Stay Furry, My Friends
We don’t need to tell you much about Puss in Boots from Dreamworks. “The Most Interesting Cat in the World”, his mini-trailers have gone viral all over YouTube and elsewhere already. So we’ll just clue you in on a few interesting factoids. The movie stars Antonio Banderas (of course!) as Puss and Salma Hayek as the curvaceous Kitty Softpaws, as well as the voices of Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton, Amy Sedaris, Constance Marie, and Guillermo del Toro. It’s directed by Chris Miller, who’s an old hand at Dreamworks by now: Besides having directed Shrek the 3rd, he’s also known as the voice of Kowalski the penguin in the Madagascar movies. (Popular voice actor Jeff Bennett voices Kowalski in the Penguins of Madagascar TV series though. Back in the day, Chris Miller was also very well known for an animated short he created, Lea Press-On Limbs.) And of course, the most important news: It’s coming to theaters on Friday, October 28th. Right after seeing the movie, you might want to check out The Art of Puss in Boots, edited by Ramin Zahed and available in hardcover this November from Insight Editions.
image c. 2011 Dreamworks Animation
Fursuit eyes
Im in the middle of making a fur suit and I know that there are several different ways to make eyes. How did you make your eyes (pics are a plus). Also what is the best way to make realistic eyes, or at least the eyes that firestormsix makes on his suits.
submitted by Ragingsquism[link] [4 comments]
A furry paw logo for t-shirts. The Design is from http://shop.cafepress.com/furry, but I re-colored it, so it can be seen on black shirts and will have a nive color contrast.
TigerTails Radio - Season 6 - Episode 07 - The Felis Returns
Episode 156 - Fall Has Fell
FNN Featured Fursuiter of the Month - Kiwa Lyon
If you're unfamiliar with the series, the FFotM is a profile series where I feature one well-recognized figure in the fandom's fursuiting community. In the story I try to offer a unique, "behind the mask" look at their characters, their lives outside of fursuiting, as well as how they came across the furry fandom. As a journalist I love hearing other people's stories and presenting them to you guys!
Went a little outside the box this month with Kiwa Lyon, but he is an awesome guy and a pleasure to interview. And I'm sure if anyone has seen his character at cons, he's not easily forgotten! Kiwa gave me a ton of great quotes and information and I think this is my best "furry" journalism work so far :) Enjoy!
Kiwa Lyon: An Outcast No More
And if you missed any of my previous Fursuiter of the Month Features, here are the links if you'd like to have a read:
July - Furry Veteran Yippee Coyote has left his mark on the fandom
August - Dogbomb: Not your ordinary Californian canine
September - Nicodemus: A rat of many talents
Free commissions, anybody?
WINNERS! Slot 1 goes to slugrav! Slot 2 goes to sojahawk! and slot 3 goes to Warfy! I'll probably be doing a contest once every couple months, so if you didn't win this round, you may next! **I am also always open for commissions, find me at ???http://www.furaffinity.net/user/blinkworks/**
Hello my fellow reddit furs. I'm a furry artist and I'd really like to draw somebody else's characters for once :P So, I'm opening up a few free commission slots for the practice, fun, and for my FA portfolio. This is my FA page ???http://www.furaffinity.net/user/blinkworks/ for some examples of my work. I do painting and cel-shading, (but I prefer and am better at painting) Anyway, I am opening up 3 slots. (hopefully somebody will want one :P)
1st slot is a super deluxe awesome painty character reference sheet. You get 3 poses (usually front, back, and some kind of action pose) and a couple of close up shots of various anatomies or important details. It's fully shaded and all kindsa neat stuff.
2nd slot is a fully shaded and colored full body shot of one character. Any pose, with simple props (like sitting in a chair or on a bed, etc)
3rd slot is porn. (I need the practice, and examples in my FA) Two characters doing almost whatever the fuck you want them to do. I will also do just about any fetish, though there are a few I do not want to draw: Watersports, scat, diaper, baby fur, cub/underage porn, that kind of stuff. Ask if you’re not sure.
And now the fun part. This will be a contest for the three slots, so more people see this post and have a better chance at winning a free commission. Put which slot you want in the comments, and something about yourself or your fursona you feel like sharing. (I love getting to know the community as a whole) I'll use a random generator to pick the winner. (You can only win 1 slot)
closes Tuesday, October 11th, at 12am Central I'll pm the winners on Wednesday
And now for some boring details- I'm a college student so these may take a while for me to make, but hey, they're free. I get to use these in my personal portfolios and post them anywhere I like. I'll send you any file type you want, but the image ultimately belongs to me. See my journal in FA for any other details, and don't hesitate to PM me.
TL;DR: I'm opening a contest for 3 free comissions, reply in the comments with which kind of slot you want and a little about yourself/fursona. Contest ends Tuesday at Midnight.
EDIT: Contest is closed
submitted by blinkworks[link] [105 comments]
![[link]](http://i.imgur.com/uFmbN.png){kind=link}
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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.