The Pride Days (OOC)

That does seem to be the case, but it's true that romance adds depth, because the only way for it to work is to bring out the inner emotions of a character.

Indeed. I figured that out by experimenting. The first ever romance I RP'd was probably the one about Tharan over in Color and I must say it brought out things in him I didn't think I knew about his character. It really opens those doors and allows the character to truly progress emotionally. And I think Layla might slowly overcome her shyness with this, which will be interesting to write about.

Well, I've always been a fan of romance in stories, to be honest, but not the roses and chocolate sort. I prefer the ones that start as friendships and progress that way. I typically like emotional depth in this fashion.

Oh, same here. I despise the "Oh, I love you! Here's some flowers!" types of romances. I do however really like the ones as you've said and I also REALLY like the ones that happen during an age of disaster and a tragic incident brings the two together as those are always incredibly interesting and always so much fun to read.

Yeah, romance is cool, but it depends on what kind. I've seen ones where the author has no clue how to portray it...really, it was sad. I don't even date, and If I could portray romance better than an author who was married, well...yeah, can't think of what to say at that.

I don't date either, however I have before. My vision of romance--in RPs and stories set in fantasy that is--I view it to be a very different thing than most writers and I've seen so many of those Vipes. Where authors can't even make the romance right. It's just pathetic really. Sounds like a middle-aged couple sitting in teenager bodies.

Unfortunately, that's pretty true.

Yep.

Just a note, Gamba likes sunsets, but he has a different reason for it. Before being in the pride, he hunted primarily at night, so he's going to have that memory of it.

Interesting. Layla loves sunsets too, mainly because they remind her of her sister who used to go swimming in the river at sunset and had a very golden pelt that always reminded Layla of the evening sun.

She seems to have a lot of fond memories of her sister. Gamba doesn't really have anyone he thinks about when he looks at the sunset. While he can be calm and behave like a lion, he is also part tiger, which is typically fiercer, and a nocturnal predator. They also are very active, they have a lot of energy. He'll start slipping into this routine where he's calm during the day, and restless at night. It's pretty much how it was in his past.

Yeah, she had a very close relationship with her and it broke her heart when she died even worse than it had when her parents died of disease.

Interesting, Gamba seems to have a split of peace and hunter.

That's a result of his hybrid nature. Real tiger and lion hybrids are known to exhibit behavior like that. People working with them stated that one moment they would lounge about like a lion, and the next they were as energetic as tigers. Gamba's a nice creature, but at night he's supposed to be a bit more lethal. It adds a degree of tension to the story.

Interesting. So I was wondering, when a tiglon is born, do the parents, does the tiger always have to be male and the lion always female? Or vice versa?

There is a difference between a tiglon and a liger, genetically speaking, as a result of the parent's gender, so it is because of this that it is only considered a tiglon if it was a female lion and a male tiger. A lioness apparently possesses certain genes that suppress growth, and because ligers are the result of a male lion and a female tiger, they do not have the gene, and therefore become gigantic in size. Ligers are also more common, tiglons being rather rare.

Essentially, Gamba is much smaller than a liger, but he matches a fully-grown male tiger in size, and is therefore larger than the average male lion.

Interesting. I'll have to do more research on them. Very beautiful animals.

Well, part of the reason for choosing a tiglon wasn't really just rarity. In some of the pictures I've seen, Ligers appeared to have a heavier-set build that I didn't approve of, while tiglons seemed leaner, and had a richer golden tone to their fur. In regards to a mane, both hybrids may lack them, even if they are male. Gamba himself has a very short mane, so he looks a lot like the one in the picture on the top right corner.

Ah yes, I actually looked at pictures of them earlier today.

Okay, then. My point is that Gamba's face looks more like a tiger's, and that his fur as that tinge to it.

Okay, I imagined him like that anyways, XD.

That's good. Well, I should probably mention a deuteragonist will soon appear. Gamba's old rival, Ammon, will soon show up. I should note that he is not an average lion. He's going to be an Atlas lion, a species that is supposed to be extinct in the wild, but still exists in captivity. As a result, he will be larger than a normal lion. He will also have white fur, another aspect that will distinguish him. Gamba technically sees him as both a friend and as a threat, and has warned others to stay away from him because he does not like other creatures, and his subspecies is naturally solitary, unlike other lion types. He's basically what Gamba might have wound up like had he allowed himself to harden his heart.

EDIT: Dark, I just noticed something. I went to the first page to read the current stuff, and Jali's character sheet says that he is 14 years old. I don't think that makes a lot of sense, because that would mean that he is very old, and he struck me as a younger lion. Lions seldom live longer than 14 years in the wild. While I was at it, I changed the descriptions of prides and clans that I myself control, and you should probably change the Ridge Pride description. You can see a bit of a spoiler for the location and new name for the Skystone Pride and Brushland Clan.

Ah, yes. I wasn't really sure on the age thing, I rushed through that specific sheet for time problems when I made it, so I didn't have time to look it up. I'll fix it now. How's seven years sound?

That's a better, more suitable age. What did you think of the new names and locations I came up with for my clans and prides?

I thought they were very interesting and unique. I like that stone part you added in for Nightstone pride, and those names I think are just pure awesome. Skywalk and Nightstone, I mean, how do you come up with these!? They're so simple to come up with, yet they're not. Anyways, awesome job!

It actually takes a lot of thought to come up with what feels right. Reaching towards the sky is something that characterizes Kadir's pride, and they got the Skystone name from this pillar in their camp. Now they're on a very high plateau, just above the clouds. They call themselves the Skywalk pride because of the plains being at a high altitude, and the fact that the plains they live on make it like they're walking in the sky. A Baobab tree the camp surrounds is extremely large, and the branches of the tree look like roots naturally, so it symbolizes their connection to the sky as well.

As for Zanita, night is a symbol regarding her. She has a pure black pelt, and was born during a lunar eclipse, which is when the moon is blotted out by the Earth's shadow. All you would see would be stars. Essentially, the eclipse was taken to be an omen, and the strange black boulder, which looks sort of like polished black onyx, is also considered to have some sort of meaning. Because of the fact that the stone is as black as night, and the leader of the Clan is linked to it, they called it the Nightstone, and chose to settle there. It's further supported as a Clan name by the extremely dark coloration of the surrounding foliage, and the black nightshade growing around the area, which has round berries that also somewhat look like polished onyx. It's a more mysterious location, but the qualities it has would probably frighten outsiders.