Welcome to Gaia! ::

With the pride made up of primarily females related to the current queen and heir, there is a need for new blood, for strong females to join and support the pride.

In the interest of this, I would like to welcome everyone who's interested in joining the pride to post with what their 'dream' girl would be.

When posting what she would look like, also post a personality for her, with a bit of a backstory or history to explain how she came to find the Antianeira and why she'd want to join.

Please use this form for your post:



Interest posted here has a better chance of being rewarded than just appearing at some opportunity for a custom. Ones here will have first consideration. There is also a chance that one of the current members might feel like helping you out, if they like the idea or have the means to help.


**Special Event!**

Blue has another opportunity to make a new lioness for the pride! You have from now until Tuesday to post your dream lioness. At that time, they'll be reviewed and one will be made up. Of course, then you'll need a joinng rp.

If you already have a lioness made up and posted here, you are welcome to edit/change/spiff up your entry. If you're still interested in having that lioness in the contest, edit your post with 'I WANNA JOIN', in bold red.

Name: Ataro (Puzzle; upside down)
Description: Base Fur: Black
Underside/Paws/Muzzle: Dark brown.
Moon marking on her left eye: White
Eyes: Right Eye- Light Blue
Left Eye- Dark Green

Umm... just see the reference. <3

She's mostly black, but she has dark brown paws. Her chest and belly are also dark brown, as is her muzzle. She has a white crescent moon marking over her left eye.
Reference Images: (if applicable) Here!
Reference for hair and tail tuft colors

Personality: Ataro had been taught, from birth, how to take care of herself by her father. She does not hate males, but she is bitter towards them, especially those who abandon their mates and cubs without a second thought. In her younger days, she truly did hate males, every last one of them, blaming them for every wrong in the world. But, as she got older, she realized that females were just as responsible for putting up with it. As a cub, she was taught by her father to be slightly dispassionate, as a warrior had to be cold. If he wasn’t, he would be forever crying for his lost comrades. The realization that everyone sorta sucked made her even colder. Cold and distant, Ataro is a puzzle to many. She does have a soft spot for cubs, especially female cubs. She is determined that teaching self-reliance and independence to female cubs will help them escape their supposed ‘fate’ as little more than baby-makers.

She’s brash and impulsive, unfortunately, which was what landed her in her mess to begin with. Her father also spoiled her, listening to her every whim, so she has a bit of a ‘me’ complex. When she doesn’t know something, she’ll refuse to admit it. While she would never admit it, she does look down on females who ‘make the wrong choice’ and become mothers instead of warriors. So, in a way, she’s all for women making their own choices, so long as it’s the ‘right choice’.

There is a softer side somewhere in there, a part of her that enjoys looking pretty, getting compliments and even snuggling on occasion. She was just trained to hide it---and other emotions---at all costs.

History: Females in the pride had always been sickly. It was pretty much just the way things were. Litters were generally small, which made every female precious... far too precious to be risked needlessly. Ataro's father believed that, and doted on his mate, who was frailer than most, especially when pregnant. Little did they know that she was carrying five cubs, a huge number for the pride.

Ataro was the only surviving cub of her litter. Her mother, a sickly lioness at best, had found the strain of a huge litter too much for her to bear and died not long after giving birth. The cubs were sickly as well, and weak and died one by one, until Ataro. To her father's delight, the cub survived, which had always been a bit of a puzzle to him. She had been the youngest… by logic, the most likely one to die, but she survived. In honor of this, he named her ‘Puzzle’.

It was a good name, as she constantly puzzled over everything. Why couldn’t a lioness fight? Why did she have to give all of her things to her mate, when he didn’t have to do the same for her? Why couldn’t she leave her mate, when he was free to abandon her at any time? Since lionesses could hunt, why couldn’t they fight too? Why were lionesses considered to have higher ‘moral purity’ and why did that mean they had no right to leave their mates? Yes, she had many questions, and he simply didn’t know how to answer them. Eventually, ‘because things have always been this way’ simply seemed inadequate. It was at that moment that he decided his daughter was different. Against the traditions of the pride, he taught her self-reliance. He pointed out which plants were safe to use as an herbal cure, and which ones weren’t. He taught her to be sure of herself, and to not be afraid to make mistakes. Her favorite memory of all was when he first started to teach her how to fight, handing down the traditions of his own father to Ataro. Mostly, her father taught her self-reliance, a trait encouraged in males, but discouraged in females. The pride members found this more amusing than anything else. While she was useless and tiny, it was merely cute, not threatening. Besides, they figured that the father had been sorely damaged by his loss and so they would put up with this silly little dream. And, surely, she would lose interest in it soon enough. That was what lionesses did, naturally. None of them wanted to be warriors or anything like that. That was just silly.

But that was exactly what Ataro wanted. When she came of age, she stood with the males, head held proudly and chest puffed out. With the expert tutelage of her father, she knew full and well that she could beat any one of them. Her father watched with pride at his little girl, his darling daughter. He didn’t like putting her in danger, but this was what she wanted. The old warriors stiffened and glared at the young girl, wondering if she had already gone insane from hormones. She didn’t budge, but met their glares evenly without a single look of fear or emotion. A warrior had to be cold, she was taught.

Eventually, a young male, outraged at the lack of action, strode up to her and grabbed her by the scruff, attempting to force her off the ranks. She dug her claws into the ground and refused to move. No. This was who she was and if they didn’t like it, that was their problem. Not hers. Other females stared in a mixture of horror, fascination and awe… they had never heard that they might be able to do that… it wasn’t long before Ataro was forced away from the ranks to be punished for her insolence. Her father was also summoned and given a strict talking to about how to raise his daughter right. It had been cute when she was a cub, but he had gone too far. She would be ruined at this rate. Her father laughed and said his daughter was absolutely perfect the way she was, and ignored the 'advice' of the elders.

Maybe it was on purpose. Maybe it wasn’t. Either way, in the next battle with another pride, the Father was killed. Oh, the lion who killed him claimed it was an accident, which happened every so often in the field of battle, but Ataro knew better… when the news of her father’s death came, she was devastated. The only male who ever loved her for her was gone… sure, she had some suitors who were amused by this ‘warrior-girl’, but they weren’t interested in her. They only wanted a toy, or something with rarity value. A girl who thought she could fight? How precious was that? When the news came… she didn’t cry until she was all alone. Anything less would only be seen as ‘proof’ of a woman’s weakness. She didn't just have to be as good as the males; she had to be better than them. The next day, the leaders decided that something had to be done about her and she was turned over to another male, to be raised properly.

He was not amused by her little habits and traits. Whenever she did something on her own---gather helpful herbs, give advice on a fighting stance, or even just playfight with the boys---she was punished. She had to learn her place. And she did, eventually. Her place was to teach other females to fight back. She now understood why those other lionesses stared at her so oddly. They simply didn’t know what they could do… under the cover of night, she would sneak out to talk to other females, slowly teaching them the skills that she had learned from her father. Both of them, actually. Her real father had taught her how to be independent. The second ‘father’ taught her how to be sneaky, how to avoid being noticed when doing something ‘wrong’ like think for herself. All real rights began with a choice, and she had made hers.

Unfortunately, one of the girls talked eventually, telling her mate everything about that ‘awful lioness’ and how she was going to ruin the pride forever. Ataro was, once again, called before the leaders. Once again, she stood proud and tall, never regretting a moment of it. Her crimes were listed: “Perverting society, tainting other females with her evil ideas, being a traitor to the pride and, most of all, attempting to undermine and end marriage and family, the very core of society itself.” She was no longer a harmless little cub; she was a danger to them all.

She was given one last chance to repent, only because it was her father’s fault she had turned out this way. She spat on the floor and announced, “No. I don’t regret a moment of it. You hear me? Not a single moment. You claim to be protecting lionesses, but you are ruining us all! You deny us a chance to be ourselves. You call yourselves men! MEN! But you are threatened by a ‘mere lioness’ like myself because she is different. Oh, you will cite various things… you will claim that lionesses are more emotional than you are, more easily damaged, more prone to sickness, like my mother… but, I say you are lying! We are not naturally like that. You make us like that, by denying us an education in medicine and how to defend ourselves. You keep us from having any other professions, in the name of ‘Righteousness’. Before we even have a chance to be ourselves, we are told to sit down and shut up. Being a ‘good girl’ means not being a girl at all! It means being a doll, a helpless toy for some male!”

Her punishment was announced. For a male, it would have been death but, as a female, she was merely given Exile for life. But, she was informed it could easily be changed to death if she didn’t move right now. At first, she considered refusing to budge… but, she knew her father wouldn’t want her to die. He would want her to live and teach everything she knew to others. With a heavy heart and her nose in the air, she left.

Name: Mufasa
Description:A light olive-y green on top, with a creamy pale underside. Her necks and back are dotted with blackish-brown speckles and spots, almost like those of a giraffe, more than a cheetah or leopard. Her eyes are golden and bright.
Reference Images: [x]

Personality: Full of sorrow but determined to not let life defeat her, she has the will of a woman, strong and unyielding. Distantly inside, she is a very angry person, but she does her best not to let it show. She tries to accept her life's fate with grace, but she is still bothered by it, daily. Shy of strangers, she won't go near any other prides, even though she desperately wants to, for fear of being called ugly or 'bad' again. With a little kindness she would warm right up, and become quite devoted. She imagines a paradise for herself someplace far away, but she is sure she will never be accepted as she is, regardless.

History: Born and raised in a land by the sea, her pride and those nearby worshiped water in all its forms. At night they danced beneath the rich blue-purple sky, celebrating their lives. As time passed, lions with fur in non-blue or purple shades began to fall from favor. Those with earth tones were oppressed, for lions were heavenly beings, born of the mingling of the spray of the sea, which they wore in their manes and fur, and the sharp westerly breeze, which filled them with life.

In the present world of that pride, there are only lions of blue, purple, and some grays. The 'earth' colors have been so long gone that they are thought of no more than a terrible myth, remaining only in some seashells and flowers (which, when found, are quickly destroyed). The elders of the pride work day and night to keep their borders sealed off, for fear of 'bad-colors' entering...or to keep any of their own from leaving. Many are complacent with this, reveling in the strong hold of tradition and the safety it brings.

Along with this new laws have arisen. Rules about mating, breeding, hunting, bathing, everything in life has a rhyme and a reason and a set way it must be done, lest they fall from 'purity' and favor with the sky and sea. Of course, many are forgiving, especially of children. For example, if a cub were ever to be (for none have been, and none are expected to be) born with the 'bad-color' in their coat, it would be acceptable to...


Excerpt of Mufasa's "Final Days" in the Land of Her Parents

...“But…but she's so ugly! C’mon now, it’s a joke, right?” The cyanish lion laughed, prancing backwards from the scene before him. He looked to his left, to the pair of violet lions standing there, expecting to find them grinning and chuckling back. “Really…it’s a joke…isn’t it?” His laughter slowly subsided as he realized no one was smiling.

Behind him a small sob was choked off. Confused, he looked back. The cry had come from the female...if he could call her that. She really was...he nearly wanted to think of her as some hyena, with such foul colorings. Why would someone be crying if it had all been a joke? She should know better, right? He’d been supposed to come to meet a lioness who was to be his own mate, and instead he’d been offered this...this thing! His mate was supposed to be sweet and charming, brilliant and kind...he'd dreamt of her, his charming lady in lavender and blue fur...His friends knew he’d been excited to meet the lioness, maybe jealous, and so they’d concocted this scheme, right? “I mean…you can’t expect me to mate this…this bad-color?! I mean look! She's green and white and...and brown too!”

The speckled lioness in question had been quivering until that point, but at the blue lion’s last jab she let out a pained wail, turning on the spot and running off as fast as she could. Confused, the teal looked back and forth between the others. Anger. Frustration. Sorrow. That was all he read in their faces. “Come…we will leave.” One of the larger males said, ushering him away quickly.

Far away, back near the heart of the pride’s territory, Mufasa was huddled under a small tree at the edge of the watering hole. Tears bubbled from her eyes in streams, dripping into the water below, casting ripples across the surface and distorting the reflection. A small bird twittered away in the branches above her, oblivious to the pain the young lioness was in.

“Why…Why do they all laugh? Laugh or joke or run away…” She sobbed piteously. “Am…am I that ugly? No male wants me…” She sniffed hard, slowing the tears long enough for the ripples to clear. There in the water was reflected back the image of a fine young lioness, full in her prime by the sheen and thickness of her fur, sparkling green and white and gold. A jaunty tuft sprang from her head, giving her a somewhat exciting, roguish appearance, despite the sorrow in her eyes.

With a snarl of sorrow turned to rage she slapped the water and wheeled away. Every day she cursed her appearance, but never more than now. The blue male she’d been so fond of, had liked so much from what her parents had told her of him, had finally agreed to be her mate. And then…and then when he’d seen her he'd laughed. Called her a bad-color. He'd thought it was some sick, twisted joke. Is that what I am? Some god's twisted idea of fun?

He was the third male to turn her down upon meeting her. By pride laws, she was now to be considered officially unsuitable for mating. The original idea was that there would have to be a very good reason for a mate to be rejected three times, some disfigurement or distemper that should be kept from the next generation. Of course no one had imagined the consequences in a situation like this, but laws were laws. And the pride was strict in obeying and enforcing them. Come nightfall she would be driven out, cast from the pride. If she could not help to make the future, she would not be helped in the present.

Breathing deep to hide her distress, Mufasa set off to find her few close friends, her family, and bid them farewell. If she waited she would be driven out, but she did not want to give many of the pride, who long had mocked and teased her for her colors, that pleasure. No, she would make her peace and leave. It was said that her parents' line had come from far to the east. She would leave the pride and head that way. Maybe she could find a new home, a place where even lionesses with ugly green backs could live in peace.

Deep inside she knew there was no such place. She was a freak, a blemish on their perfect pride. On any pride. But to let herself admit that…it would be akin to suicide. Her grief and self loathing would crush her spirit into nothing, leave her starving, too weak to hunt and unwilling to besides. That was why she had to believe. She would believe in such a place…And if there wasn’t one, she would make one. She would carve out a corner of the unclaimed lands across the vast continent, where anyone could live at peace. Bad-colors, or hybrids, or maybe even, she mused, mates that don't care how you look on the outside.
If only.

I WANNA JOIN!

Name: Umande’mwiba (Mist thorn)
Description: She is a black lioness. Her mane and tail tuft is white, and she has white swirly markings at the side of her eyes. Umande also has faint grey thorny markings up her tail and around her limbs.
Reference Images: (if applicable) none <3

Personality:
Umande is a mysterious individual that refuses to disclose anything about her past or of herself. Silently, she lurks in the shadows, often going unnoticed. This often arises into a misconception that she is introverted, but this is not so. Ever since she has left her own family and pride, Umande struggles to come to terms with who she really is, and as such, often acts as who she was brought up as, a quiet lioness. When provoked however, Umande knows how to speak up for herself, stubbornly sticking to her own views instead of conforming to others. Umande also chooses to trust little, as her trust has faded when her friends snubbed her after the news of her betrayal got around the pride.

Still, Umande secretly longs to return to her pride, and harbours some affection for her family, especially her sister, wondering how Usiku’waridi is, and often dreams that her sister has a happy family with Baridi’epesi. Her encounter with Baridi and most males in her previous pride has made her wary of males, though she does not exactly hate them; she merely dislikes them.

Umande has a soft spot for cubs as well, no matter which gender, as she believes that there should be no gender discrimination. Seeing cubs reminds Umande of the possibility that she might have nieces and nephews and she is determined to treat them fairly.

History:
Umande was born in a pride where males are the dominant gender. She was taught to be meek and submissive from when she was a cub. Wanting to be the perfect daughter, she listened to her parents every whim and carried out any demand, acting like a proper lioness should. And so everything went well for Umande.

The same didn’t go for her sister, however.

Usiku’waridi was a chatty lioness who got too many ideas in her head, and spouted them all out for everyone to hear. As such, everyone thought she was strange and shunned her, and even their parents often rebuked her, and put their attentions on Umande’mwiba, their perfect daughter.

Or so they thought.

While everyone refused to talk or listen to her sister, Umande did, secretly of course, out of fear that her parents might find out. Late in the night, the two would awake and talk in hushed tones, where Usiku would ask questions that defied their pride’s beliefs, and which Umande would listen...and slowly get ideas of her own. Still, Umande never failed to act as the ideal lioness in front of everyone and gently encouraged her sister to do the same. Though Usiku slowly began to do so, there was still a general suspicion hovering in the air; the others were still hesitant to trust her.

It was not surprising then, that their parents arranged a mate for Umande, instead of Usiku, who was the eldest. In their own words, “Who would want to have a mate that talks too much and bring shame to his family?” Umande thought Usiku would not mind and accepted this; however, she was surprised to see her sister devastated by this news. It was then she learned that Usiku was in love with her future mate, Baridi'epesi, and he was too. However, he refused to acknowledge this when the two went to confront him about this matter.

“Men have their pride.” Usiku said, and Umande watched her sister’s tears fall with a heavy heart.

It was that night that Umande made up her mind.

The next morning, Umande went to see her parents, and offered that her older sister should be the mate of Baridi’epesi, stating that it was her right as the oldest. Her parents refused and told her not to worry for her sister, assuring her that she would make a good mate for Baridi. However, the unexpected happened, Umande’mwiba declined.

Stunned at her sudden change in behavior, her parents advised her to leave and mull over their words, but Umande was their shy daughter no more. Speaking up for her sister, Umande argued with her parents for the first time in her life, lying that it was her that made her sister this way; that they were all her ideas, but she was just too afraid to voice them out. It was not long until this matter was brought to the pride leader.

Umande’s defiance and “confession” was seen as a betrayal to her pride. Usiku agreed, after a long heated discussion and insistence, to play along with her story so that she could be with her loved one. With her sister’s happiness ensured, Umande’mwiba left the pride, a different lioness than the one she had been born as.


Note:
Usiku’waridi- Night Rose
Baridi’epesi-Swift Wind

Name: Mailae
Description: Brown with cream/dark brown spots under her eyes and along her tail and at the base of her neck like jewelry markings. On her neck she has a few long, darkbrown stripes like tiger-stripes giving her next a necklace like feel with the markings. Teal eyes. Feel free to add some markings in places if you would like.
Reference Images: (if applicable) X

Personality: Mailae is very calm, collected, and confident. She holds the upmost pride in her intelligence and tends to put reason about emotional impulse. While this doesn't make her unfeeling, it makes her very rational and through her experiences allowed her to come to the conclusion that males were inferior in mind and that she could not stand the boredom of dealing with them. She is reliable and blunt in opinion when it is asked, but otherwise brings no offense to others and chooses to simply bask in the variety of thought brought about by other females.
History:

Mailae was born in a pride of wisdom, one that worshiped the goddess with ferver and absolute devotion. While the pride as a whole believed anyone could learn and drove that everyone must learn the teachings they set forth, she experienced a slightly different rearing than many children there. Her father had been an outsider, brought in by her love-struck mother. He was a good lion, with the best of intentions but the worst ways of going about them. He was a cold being, calculating and ambitious, and made his way to bend others to his will, to what he believed to be the will of the greater good, the greater goddess.

Mailae was one of three children, two brothers having accompanied her in birth. Her father taught them all vigorously, challenging then to their limits every day. It was so that he desired their upmost cooperation; else disapproval and disappointment, but not hate, would shine in his eyes. This look, this gaze, was far more soul crushing than even a slash across the face. So the children toiled endlessly to please him. Her brothers struggled and Mailae surpassed them. It was obvious who she took after in whit.

Seeing her progress he challenged her still further, until she felt her soul wring dry at each word he spoke. And as she grew older his plans became clearer.

"You will be the perfect mate," he claimed, "To an intelligent lion and you will help bring forth the work of wisdom and that of the gods."

It was at this point she had had enough. She did not wish to be a mate to anyone, not when she had been pushed so hard and had been flung so far from the minds of the males around her. She did not hate her father, for it was impossible to hate those intentions of good he wished to bring. But she hated his coldness, his lack of foresight, and his narrow-mindedness. He said that was her only path and she, made intelligent by him, did not believe it.

She left without saying goodbye, knowing that a little bit of her would die inside if she were to meet his disappointed gaze. But she would be firm. He had made her what she was...she wouldn't let him ruin her as well.

Name: Kimama’kijakaz’ (Hidden butterfly)
Description: Kimama’kijakaz (will be called Kimmy) is white with many markings. Her ears and tail are the only mostly blue part of her body. Her toes are splashed with blue, with a green wave pattern on her front left leg. Her eyes are a pink crimson with lime green marks under her eyes. She also has splotches of the pink crimson across her nose that resemble a well healed scar.
Reference Images: (if applicable) XD I know it’s on leopard lines…I was too lazy to transfer it all to Amy’s free lion ones

Personality: Kimmy would be a good leader if she wasn’t prone to such quick and judgments along with her temper. She always has an answer to any question or problem whether you want it or not, . She has a good sense of humor but will hold grudges if you push too far with getting to know her more. Her temper is quickly ignited and hard to extinguish, she sees a wrong of any kind and will punish the doer and distrust he or she for a while. She distrusts males but sees their purpose as studs and nothing more.
History: Since Kimama’kijakaz is so light and bright, she was often made fun of by her wandering family. But the teases and jibes were all in good fun usually. She laughed at those who tried to put her in the dumps and cried with her friends who didn’t see how they could laugh at the insults given to them.

Kimmy was the oldest of her parents, Loiette and Hans, second litter of all males except for her, (the first had all male also) her father was never around and had several flings with other lioness with out a care for how the mother would feed those extra four or five mouths. She became a strong hunter as she helped her mother provide. The brothers of Kimmy were all lazy and only thought of the good mates and flings they would have once their mother gave up trying to make them into better mates.

She would often boss them around and they constantly took jabs at her for being so weak. One day she got fed up with their old jibes and bit her eldest brother Romalth. She and him got into a bad fight and their brothers informed their father. Hans split up the fight and banished Kimama’kijakaz to wander on her own. To show all the others that she was banished, he forcefully swatted her giving her nose the light pink marks on her nose.

Kimmy wandered with her mark of banishment festering and getting infected. She was nearly delirious only killing small birds to stay alive. She fully hated her brothers by this time and wished them all dead especially her father who was so cruel to those women in his life. She wanted to go back and help her mom from over exerting herself, but the mark on her nose proclaimed to all that she was free to kill or abuse as they saw fit. That was a chance that Kimmy wasn’t willing to take. After a year she finally collapsed on Antianeira land.

our first contest is now closed! ^_^

I'll post again with who I choose for the new female a bit later.