ladala99

[ladala99]

I am half convinced Nintendo saw me play my Switch for the first time in over a month, specifically playing Mario Kart (8 Deluxe), and went "ah, these are the actions of someone who wants a Switch 2 and doesn't have one. And she's on the list of people interested in purchasing a Switch 2. Push it right now!"

Because I got the "It's your time to buy!" email not very long after my second play session for the day.

[ladala99]

Wolvden - A Fae's Mistake

Just going to bullet-point summary this narrative arc because I didn't have time to write it out. If I do have time later, I'll delete this and post the written-out version, but I wouldn't hold my breath on it.

Chaz is the first Fae-eyed pup of Nathanael and Sonja.

He, along with Berit's pup Klym, were separated from the pack to be tutored in Fae powers by Berit. They'd be returned to the pack when they were old enough and skilled enough to control their own powers and not harm others.

Of course, that only applies if the pup has no intention to harm others. While Klym is content to only use his powers on prey, Chaz has heard of Nathanael's condition (under Sonja's full control, but acting like himself so no one knows) and has ambition to lead.

Upon returning to the pack, Chaz learns that his brother Dicun is currently favored to become lead.

Chaz starts doing independent training, learning all he can about how Nathanael's condition came about and stealthily entrancing Dicun out into the woods and back when no one's awake to get practice in on his real target, doing it at such a time not even Dicun realizes what's happening

Chaz successfully manages to replicate Nathanael's condition on some birds, giving himself a little network of local animals

After gaining enough confidence and consistency, Chaz finally tries to take full control of Dicun

Nathanael had taught the other pups, including Dicun, what to do when a Fae wolf attacks: keep yourself focused, run and get others, and if you find yourself frozen, let the Fae wolf entrance you because otherwise you might die

Part of the process of full control is to release the victim from entrancement, as they cannot both be entranced and having the Shadow feed on them at the same time (Nathanael's condition is achieved by switching from the Shadow to entrancement at a pivotal moment)

Dicun becomes conscious, realizes that he's frozen, freaks, then tries to let himself become entranced, even though Chaz is purposely holding off

As the process completes and Chaz switches to entrancement, Dicun is not so much surrendering as trying to pull himself into the entrancement. This plunges them both into a mind realm.

They discuss things, and Chaz tests his control of Dicun's will, only to find to his shock that he doesn't have that power.

Eventually they decide they need to wake up, and Chaz orders Dicun to do so since will alone doesn't seem to work.

Dicun's body awakens, but neither wolf really controls it and it stands rigid as if under entrancement. They both quickly realize that Chaz's body is passed out, Chaz cannot get back to it, and that it isn't breathing and is quickly growing cold.

Chaz figures out the right command to get himself in full control of Dicun's body and gets Berit for help, explaining along the way what happened.

Berit doesn't know any way to fix this, and scolds Chaz for even trying when specifically told not to use his powers on wolves.

Sonja, Nathanael, Klym, and the other royal pups get informed. Chaz allows Dicun control for appearances, but Chaz has the ability to swap them anytime.

For the rest of the pack, the story is that Chaz wandered into the woods by himself and was killed by a predator. Dicun had heard the commotion and found the body, and that the immediate family would be dealing with the remains.

Everyone who knows what happened is very upset with Chaz, but at least he can't hurt anyone else since Dicun doesn't have Fae powers.

[ladala99]

One Spyro Level a Month Until the Next Spyro Game Releases - May 2025 - Sunny Flight

Intro/Rules

Previous Level

Next Level

Back to Artisans to follow up on a hint from Lucas, we're entering Sunny Flight this month!

Fun fact - if you wait until after speaking with Lucas (and Lucas is the trigger - I checked), the stones in front of the waterfall light up and play tones! Each stone has a specific tone so if you do it in a particular order it rises in pitch, but it doesn't matter what order you do it in.

I think it was like this by default in the demo I played when I was really young, but it was at my dad's, and he doesn't keep anything, so that's long-since lost.

Anyway, onto the level itself!

Trains

Unlike the other flights up to this point, there is no clear first target. I always go for the trains first, circling their track, since they give plentiful time bonuses.

Chests

After the last train, our closest target is a line of chests in a tunnel. I assume this is supposed to be last since there's a bit of dead time after you get the last chest, but this level is very generous with time.

Arches

Exiting the tunnel, the arches beckon us to follow them behind the mountain.

Planes

In the middle of the arch path, a group of planes circle around a spire of some sort. A Lighthouse? Time to take them out!

After a final run of arches, the level's complete! Quite a bit of time to spare, too, in comparison to the last two times. As I mentioned above, this level is very generous with time, likely because it can be done first. Or perhaps the intended order is very different from what I do, but either way, I ended with 15 seconds to spare and that was with struggling with the planes a bit.

I actually found out when playing around for additional photos that the planes seem to use the "don't move if the camera's not looking at me" AI, which leads to them easily getting bunched up, and explains why they're so difficult to line up correctly.

With that level completion, we add one more percentage point to the counter!

Lore Talk

If we're continuing on the assumption that the Flight levels take place in a flooded land, Sunny Flight looks like it was developed after the floods, and not originally as an obstacle course like Night Flight. It feels like there's some purpose to it.

There isn't much here. Train tracks and a tunnel with a caldera full of treasure. The trains are now Gnorc-operated and the planes are, too, so I assume that the planes at least were not here before the Gnorcs arrived. The train tracks themselves are designed like dragonmade architecture, so the Gnorcs didn't build them, though they are operating them now.

It's hard to place what's going on with the Gnorcs because this level could be the first Flight level you encounter, or you could encounter it halfway through the game like I did here, and Gnorc technology progresses as you progress through the game.

I'm going to throw out my theory for the timeline here: 1) The land flooded, 2) Dragons built up the area that would be Sunny Flight as a treasure vault, moving the treasure there via train, 3) It was decided that the Flight land was going to be used for training young dragons to fly, so Sunny Flight was retrofitted into an obstacle course, explosive barrels were included as targets and the train tracks changed to go in an infinite loop, and 4) the Gnorcs arrived via plane and took over the trains, using the tracks to move the explosive barrels to their own armory. (Or maybe attempted to, not realizing that the tracks had been retrofitted to move in a loop.)

I think regardless, there is a connection between the explosive barrels we see in this level and the ones we see in a later level.

Next Stop

Enough playing around - we'll be finishing up Magic Crafters by facing Blowhard.

[ladala99]

5/25/25

Added Focus Stats to data for existing wolves

Updated leader voting logic to add Focus Stats as a tiebreaker

Added table for a smaller group of voting wolves for primaries/voting for representatives

Added choice to leader vote to source voters either from full table or smaller table

Built code for Best Friend influence

New Goal:

Build code for Best Friend Influence so I don't have to manually dig through the data.

Wolvden Democracy Calculators - Progress

Keeping a log for myself for what progress I've made with the personality generators this generation, and my goals.

Goals

Manually add Focus Stats to data for existing wolves

Build August voting before August

Build generic voting code that will simulate instant runoff regardless of how many rounds it takes to find a winner

Implement above generic voting code into already-existing voting systems

Build code to assign Independant wolves to their closest Parties

Accomplishments

Successfully implemented Focus Stats into Personality Generator

Fixed bugs in existing voting systems so they point to the right file again

Removed rank check in the mate finder because I don't remember why I had that criteria

[ladala99]

Wolvden - Eligio's Quest

Wolvden story - minimal magic this time!

Eligio chased after the elk with the others of his team, right into their trap.

The elk stopped suddenly, and Eligio knew it was because Berit caught its eye. Her power could freeze any creature that looked at her.

She leapt out for the kill, taking it down. The rest of the team gathered, ready to take their prey back to the pack.

Today, Eligio had something on his mind, though. Something that he wanted to discuss with Nathanael, the leader, but wasn’t sure if he had the right words. Berit might be able to help.

“Can I talk to you on the way back?” he asked her.

“Sure,” she said, motioning for the rest of the team to go on ahead with the prey. After they were far enough, she said, “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking. . . I joined this pack because I heard about the whole democracy thing you’re trying out—everyone gets a say, whether it’s what to hunt or who is leader. But it seems a lot of the roles are limited to the Leader’s pups. Scouts, the Herbalist, and the Leader position itself. Someone like me, or even you or your pups, can’t achieve them.”

“You want to climb the ranks,” Berit guessed. “Hunting wasn’t your real goal—is it leadership?”

“I don’t know,” Eligio admitted. “I want something to work towards, I guess. Leading would be great, but I just really want to make a difference. Make things better for wolves like me.”

They started walking.

“I understand. In a way, that’s my goal, too,” Berit said. “My kind—that is, Fae wolves—were nearly made extinct in this area before Nathanael was elected. Because he took Sonja for a mate, we have a chance now. Sure, it won’t be my pups up for election, but I can teach Sonja’s Fae pups to use their powers responsibly. To help the pack, and my kind, thrive.”

That was good for Berit, but, “I don’t really care to raise pups,” Eligio said. “My kind are the wolves that came into the pack to participate in the system, to have their voices heard without having to start a family of their own. I want to help change things so that it’s possible for us to achieve whatever we strive for, and maybe that does include leadership.”

“Hm.” Berit looked off in the distance. “I never really considered that possibility. I is as impossible for you to gain Fae powers as it is for me to be leader. How we’re born affects our potential. But all rules for pack roles are arbitrary. There is nothing inherent about Nathanael’s bloodline that makes him fit and someone like you not. After all, there is nothing stopping you from leaving and forming your own pack. You could lead.”

“But it’d be harder without an established group,” Eligio said.

“It would be,” Berit agreed. “But changing pack rules—Nathanael needs to be open to it, and something this drastic is something the entire pack should debate. I think you have a better chance than a generation ago, however, as the worst fear for most is that Fae wolves will take over, and now that is a very real possibility in the current system now that Sonja is Nathanael’s mate.”

“It’s pretty much already the case, isn’t it?” Eligio asked quietly. “It’s really Sonja in charge?” It wasn’t something everyone knew.

Berit huffed indecisively. “She defers to Nathanael in most things. She can take control, but I don’t know if she actually will. But in a way, yes. It is ultimately her decision whether to let Nathanael make any decision of his own.” She looked at him sharply. “But don’t you dare suggest this to anyone else. I will not forgive you if you get us chased out of the pack.”

Eligio quickly shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of it. I don’t want to ruin things for anyone—just make it more fair.”

Berit accepted his answer, but still seemed on edge. She was probably going to entrance him later to tell her the truth. He’d give the same answer, of course, and he trusted she wouldn’t abuse her power beyond that, but he understood why her kind were so feared by most of the pack.

“My advice,” Berit said, “would be to bring this up to Nathanael to give him the heads-up, then start discussions with others in the pack. With enough support, we might find a system that serves wolves like you more fairly.”

“Will he think I’m trying to take leadership from him and his pups?” Eligio asked.

“I doubt that would cross his mind,” Berit said, “but Sonja might be more wary. You can tell them we discussed it already to ease her worries, as she can speak to me.” She stopped, and looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “If you let me, I will be able to vet that your intentions are pure.”

He sighed. “I knew this was coming. Go ahead.”

He looked at her as she looked at him. Her eyes flashed and his thoughts became cloudy.

She was nodding as he came to. It took a couple of minutes before he felt like himself again. “Looks like you got something else out of me,” he said. “What did I say?”

“I was wondering why you’re so adverse to pups,” she said. “I took a bit of a deeper look, and while I don’t quite understand, I see that you see things quite differently.”

He shuddered. “You could have asked me while I was awake.”

She lifted her head indifferently. “And not been able to see through your eyes on the subject.”

He wanted to protest, but they’d almost arrived at the pack’s main territory, so their conversation was over. They were closer than he expected—how long had she been talking to him while he was under her spell? What else had she gotten out of him?

No use wondering, though. “Are you satisfied that I can take this to Nathanael?” he asked.

“Very,” Berit said. “I think you have some good points, and should pursue this. There is always room for improvement.”

———

It was evening by the time Eligio was called into the den. After what had happened to Epaphos, all audience requests went through Philidelphus, a younger brother of Nathanael who wanted to help make things run more smoothly. Eligio didn’t know whether she knew the reasons for the change in policy.

“Welcome, Eligio,” Nathanael said, sitting in the middle of the room. Sonja was off to the side, tending to her pups. All but the Fae-eyed one were here—Berit was raising that one in the old Fae territory with her own pup.

Eligio bowed to the leader. “I have an idea I would like to introduce for open discussion with the pack, if you’ll allow it.”

“Go on,” Nathanael looked curious.

“Wolves like me, outsiders without an established family line and do not wish to join one, can only have so many roles in the pack. We are forever barred from taking on the roles of Scout, Herbalist, and Leader, and can really only take on the roles of Pupsitter, and Hunter if we’re lucky. I think that is unfair and that we should re-evaluate how roles are assigned in the pack.”

Nathanael frowned. “Do you have a plan?”

“Not yet,” Eligio admitted. “I just wanted approval to start seeking out other opinions. I spoke to Berit about it and she encouraged me to speak to you first.”

Sonja spoke up. “Did she speak to you normally or her way?”

“Both,” Eligio said. “She encouraged me to talk to you afterwards.”

Nathanael rolled his eyes. “Sorry for her rudeness. We’ll have to speak with her about that again.”

“I know her well enough to expect it,” Eligio said. “And she did ask before putting me under this time.”

Nathanael swallowed. “Hold off on bringing it up with others. I’m not certain whether this is something that needs to change, especially right now.” He looked to Sonja. “Anyone has the chance to bond with the lead, after all.”

“I’m speaking for those of us who don’t want to take a mate,” Eligio protested. “It’s not about leadership. It’s about being able to pursue what we want.”

“We’ll discuss it,” Nathanael said. It was clear this conversation was over. Dejectedly, he exited the den.

———

The morning light was just starting to shine when Sonja joined Berit in the old Fae territory.

The pups were still sleeping, but Berit roused as her sister approached. “What’s up?”

“Eligio spoke to us last night, about potentially changing the rules of leadership. . . Or I guess role assignment was what he said it was about. He said he spoke to you first?”

Berit nodded. “He was earnest. He’s frustrated, since he finds everything to do with pair bonding abhorrent but still wants to become a useful member of the pack.”

“How much of that did he tell you willingly?” Sonja asked, since that hadn’t come up at all.

“Depends on what you mean by willingly,” Berit said with a mischievous tail flick. “He agreed to answer my questions while under my power so I could vouch for his honesty.”

“I really hope you’re not teaching the pups to do things like that.”

“They’re just learning how to hunt,” Berit said. “I’m sure they’ll experiment when they’re older, but I have made it clear that they are not to use their powers on wolves until at least they’re grown and know the consequences.” She stretched. “So, what’s the current verdict on Eligio’s suggestion?”

“Nathanael doesn’t like it,” Sonja said.

Berit looked taken aback. “I thought he’d be eager, given his insistence on stepping down.”

“He thinks it’ll be taken as a call not to accept our line as legitimate,” Sonja explained, then paused. “I did order him to forget about stepping down after our last fight. He was so insistent that he needed to tell someone and get the word out that I. . . Is that bad?”

Berit nodded, but more in understanding than agreement. “Don’t ask me if that’s bad,” she laughed, “but that explains why he wasn’t a fan. Yeah, I can see that happening. I was concerned Eligio was trying to bring us down in some way, too, before seeing things from his perspective.”

“And others might think that way, too,” Sonja said. “We can’t give them an opportunity to overthrow us.”

“Forget leaders, what about other roles?” Berit asked. “I think he’ll be insistent until you give him something else to do. Like, didn’t you give Philadelphus a special role? I’m sure Eligio would love to be an advisor, or advocate for the unmated outsiders. Or even just give them a chance to vote for their representative.”

Sonja cocked her head, considering. “I can see the logic in having advisors. You’re basically one as it is.”

Berit nodded. “Representing all two of us. And the pups.”

“We could have one for the unmated outsiders, and one for each family, maybe?” Sonja paced. “Or unmated outsiders, Fae wolves, descendants from past leaders, and the ones who’ve been in the pack for generations but aren’t descended from a leader? Four would be manageable.”

“Talk to Nathanael,” Berit said. “Talk to the pack. I think it’s a great idea. How each one is chosen is the biggest part.”

Sonja nodded, thinking. “It would make the most sense for each group to choose their own representative. Unless Eligio wants to be representative, then we can have it be us choosing.”

“You have your opinion. Awesome. Ask some others.” Berit looked at her pointedly. “His point is that he wants the pack to be more democratic. So get some other opinions.”

“Right,” Sonja said, turning back towards the main pack. Over her shoulder, she said, “Thanks for explaining,” before she ran back.

[ladala99]

Wolvden - Meet the Pack & The Story So Far

I've been going back and forth on posting the writing I've been doing to brain dump, but I still want to post about the important wolves and the current state of their stories. So here they are with their current situations and customizations!

Nathanael - Lead Wolf

Nathanael was voted in as leader, despite his reservations. While he was campaigning (as a young adolescent), his biggest and most controversial promise was to integrate the hypnotic power-wielding Fae wolves into the pack, and take one as his mate. While flirting with one, named Sonja, he ended up in a state where she can control him if she wishes, something neither of them intended. Thus far, she's only used her power to prevent him from withdrawing his candidacy, but he fears she might be tempted to use her influence again.

Sonja - Leader's Mate

Sonja is a Fae wolf, having the ability to entrance and potentially enslave regular wolves using her special powers. However, ever since almost accidentally killing the young Nathanael and putting him in a permanent state of obedience to her, she's become afraid of her own powers and refuses to use them. However, this has only made her powers more unstable, which has resulted in a pack member, Epaphos, becoming a Changeling after he startled her and she accidentally permanently erased his memory. Her sister Berit urges her to practice on prey animals just to get some control, but she's not sure she can bring herself to do even that.

Eligio - Innocent and Ambitious

Eligio is a wolf that joined the pack under the promise of democracy. He's impressed in some ways, but not in others - he has no desire to take a mate, and it seems the only way for a regular wolf to get adjacent to leadership is to be mated to the voted-in leader.

And he wants to rise the ranks as much as he can. He's older than Nathanael, so there's no way to reach leadership even with a change in rules (and he's far too law-abiding to consider assassination), but he wants to get as high as he can.

He went to Nathanael to formally request consideration for being on a hunting team, just so happening to do so shortly after Epaphos had startled Sonja and was rendered memoryless and frightened. He helped the situation by fetching Berit at Sonja's request, and became in-the-know about Epaphos becoming a Changeling. Perhaps to keep an eye on him, Berit offered a spot on her own hunting team, which he accepted.

Eligio is a kind wolf, but he has ambitions beyond merely hunting. Now that he is in the leader's inner circle, perhaps he can suggest some additional changes.

He's also the first wolf who will be intentionally befriending as many wolves as possible to spread his preferences to others.

Epaphos - New Changeling

Epaphos had little tact when it came to making his request - he barged right into Nathanael and Sonja's den as morning rose, scaring them both. What he wanted was to seek permission to take a mate, as his parents were retiring and thus a new pairbond slot was opening up.

His lack of tact awarded him with his mind completely erased to the point where all he knew was fear. Sonja didn't intend to do that, but her wild power was under no control.

After consulting with Berit, Nathanael and Sonja decided that, out of letting him stay in this pitiful state, mercy killing him, and turning him into a Changeling, which would restore his memory, that the Changeling idea was for the best. They did not want the rest of the pack to know what Sonja had done. It was bad enough the Eligio had had a request soon after and had witnessed it all.

Changelings take on their host's memory and personality, so he is in many ways unchanged. But now he follows orders from the Fae wolf Guide who brought him into the world: Berit. And unlike Sonja, she is not shy about using her powers.

Tiia - Epaphos' Mate

Tiia knows Epaphos is a Changeling, and agrees it is for the best that they keep going on as they always have. Still, she is a little uncomfortable with everything that has been going on with the Fae wolves and might not keep quiet if too much more happens.

Berit - Fae Power Expert

Berit is Sonja's older sister, and is in full control of her Fae powers. She regularly uses them on hunts to immobilize prey for the kill, and a lesser form on her packmates to make sure they aren't planning to attack her or her sister, entrancing them and having them speak the truth when she asks their intentions.

Nathanael has repeatedly told her to quit using her powers on wolves, but she insists that the other wolves scare her and she needs to defend herself, and that she would never actually harm them.

Still, her family had reduced to just her and Sonja before the unification with the main pack. She wants there to be more of her kind, and is glad both she and Sonja have found mates. Epaphos was an opportunity - a perfect excuse to bring a third Fae line into the pack, as Changelings can have Fae pups as well.

Consolvo - Berit's Mate

Consolvo is fascinated by Fae activities, and enjoys the sensation of being hypnotized, especially by one he trusts, which he does trust Berit. He'd even willingly be host to a Changling or a Fae wolf, but Berit refuses to allow that - she would no longer be in control.

Some wolves suspect he's had his mind altered, but Fae wolves have no such powers. He's just like that.

Ziad - The First Adopted Lostling

A Fae contacted Berit and asked if she was willing to take in lostlings - normal wolves who were lost in the Fae realm, but the Fae no longer find entertainment in keeping them.

Berit was suspicious of the offer at first, but learned that lostlings were normally left to die. She was being given this offer as her pack had both normal and Fae wolves, providing an accepting environment for the lostlings to start a new life.

She accepted, but made it clear that there was not and would not be any exchange or debt for this.

Ziad was the first to be offered. He was in a state standard for lostlings - no memory of his past life, and only a hazy recollection of his time in the Fae realm. He'll forget even that soon enough. But his time in the real world will stick, and he will be raised by the pack like any other pup. He will be given the chance to thrive.

[ladala99]

Wolvden Democracy Calculator - Influence/Campaigning

While writing something that I don’t want to be canon at this point, I thought up a new feature - influence.

When a wolf becomes Best Friends with another wolf, they both influence each other’s politics.

A wolf can only influence if they have a Strong opinion on the topic. They will influence their friends one stage in that opinion - a weak agreeing opinion will become strong, no opinion will become a weak agreeing opinion, and a weak dissenting opinion will become no opinion. Strong opinions can only influence—they cannot be influenced.

This influence can stack. Let’s say a wolf has a weak opinion of Hunt the Largest Prey.

Friend #1 comes along and has a strong opinion of “Hunt the 50% success rate prey.” The initial wolf will change their opinion to no opinion on hunting prey.

Friend #2 has the strong opinion of “Hunt the 50% success rate prey.” The initial wolf will now have a weak opinion to hunt the 50% prey.

Friend #3 has the strong opinion of “Hunt the 50% success rate prey.” The initial wolf has now gained a strong opinion to agree with its friends.

In the case of a social group that has multiple wolves with dissenting strong opinions, the influenced wolf will be affected by all of them in order of friendship gain or alphabetically if all at once.

If Friend #2 had 90% instead, that would make the influenced wolf go from Largest->none->90%->none.

If Friend #1 had 90%, it would make the influenced wolf go from Largest->none->50%->50%(strong)

If Friend #3 had 90%, that would make the influenced wolf go from Largest->none->50%->none.

And if Friend #1 had Largest, it would go from Largest->Largest (strong) and be unable to change past that.

This means that wolves can strategically decide to influence other wolves, creating a majority voting bloc for a particular outcome or candidate. They can also strategically influence a candidate into adopting new and stronger views, potentially even changing their Party.

Influence can only happen once per pair of wolves and will be marked. All Strong opinions will take effect.

This also applies only to Best Friend status, so wolves of opposing personality groups will not be able to influence one another. In fact, the opposite - they can influence each other away from their respective strong opinions, but not towards any particular alternative.

At the moment I’m not planning to create a program to automate this, as it should be something I adopt intentionally. Having a program that analyses the wolf’s current party might be something to put in the works, however.

My prediction is that some of the opinions will exponentially overpopulate, and make it very difficult for another idea to take hold, but only within a particular social category. Especially since I intend to have certain wolves intentionally and strategically spread their opinions.

[ladala99]

Wolvden Democracy Calculators - Progress

Keeping a log for myself for what progress I've made with the personality generators this generation, and my goals.

Goals

Manually add Focus Stats to data for existing wolves

Build August voting before August

Build generic voting code that will simulate instant runoff regardless of how many rounds it takes to find a winner

Implement above generic voting code into already-existing voting systems

Build code to assign Independant wolves to their closest Parties

Accomplishments

Successfully implemented Focus Stats into Personality Generator

Fixed bugs in existing voting systems so they point to the right file again

Removed rank check in the mate finder because I don't remember why I had that criteria

[ladala99]

Wisdom's End

Lioden narrative.

The pride stared in shock as the to-be-sacrificed lioness bolted, the still body of Wisdom laying in the ritual grounds circle. The glow of the runes faded. His body was not taken.

“That’s it?” Destiny asked. “Is he. . .”

“Maybe I can get him,” suggested Thunderclap. He, as a descendant of Lightning, had the power to summon his dead ancestors. He’d been practicing for months since his mother had given him the object infused with the power and was quite good at it.

He focused, searching the spirit world and was quickly able to identify Wisdom, who was quite close. He grabbed onto the dead lion, pulling his spirit into the living world.

Wisdom’s transparent form first looked dully forward, then gradually seemed to regain his wits. He stared at his own body, flicked his tail, then observed the crowd, who were all staring at him.

“I don’t see any signs of battle,” Wisdom growled. “And all three heir potentials are still here. You just plucked me back for, what, to embarrass me?”

“I. . .” Thunderclap trembled. “I just wanted to make sure the ritual grounds didn’t destroy you.”

“Might have been a mercy if they did,” Wisdom mumbled.

“What was happening to you?” Moonblight asked.

Wisdom huffed. “I was greeted by some of the lionesses from the pride who recently passed. Ashes was queen before, and she took the lead, telling me to follow them and hypnotizing me like Ilere did. And then Thunderclap plucked me out before anything else could happen. I know how our ancestors looked. I know what was—is—coming.”

Everyone was silent, not sure what to do or say.

“Just let me go, I don’t need to see the fight,” Wisdom said.

Thunderclap bowed. “May you have peace,” he said, out of feeling like he needed to say something. Though he wasn’t sure Wisdom would see peace.

Wisdom faded, sinking back into the ground. Everyone was silent for a long moment.

“We’d best prepare a battlefield,” Moonblight said. “Let’s see which of us will lead the pride.”

“Right,” Destiny agreed. “It will be too big of a battle for the ritual grounds.” He gestured to Luna’s Legacy. “Find us a good spot.” And to Sunrise’s Legacy, “Tell the ones who stayed home what happened. Everyone who wants to participate should.”

———

Lightning stood alert as she learned what was about to happen. She needed to support Thunderclap, and started towards the battlefield when she spotted Destiny.

He was looking at her, eyes flashing. She knew she had to resist—this wasn’t the first time a lion of Sandy’s line had tried this—and tried to look away, to steel her mind against his power.

But thoughts crawled in: was Thunderclap really going to be all that better? Did she really want to fight against all the young lionesses? If she just let go, she wouldn’t even be aware of the fight, of the guilt of hurting her pridemates. It wouldn’t be her actions or her fault.

She didn’t want to hurt the young lionesses. That thought—that real thought—echoed in her mind. She tried to bring herself back, to protect Thunderclap, but that conviction sounded feeble compared to her desire not to willingly hurt adolescents.

All she had to do was let go, let Destiny take control.

So she did.

———

The combatants gathered in the open field that Luna's Legacy had found. Destiny stood with his army of young lionesses. Thunderclap had managed to summon and solidify a few ghosts so far back the family tree no one recognized them, and also naturally had Lightning on his side. Moonblight stood alone—Eclipse did not have enough thoughts in her head to even consider helping him.

Lightning made the first move, slashing at the unprepared Thunderclap. She hadn’t looked mind-controlled before, but Destiny was getting better at it. Now he could clearly recognize the glaze in her eyes.

Thunderclap tried to fight back using his ghosts, but it was an even fight. Lightning was very powerful, and had fewer qualms hurting him than he had hurting her.

Meanwhile, Destiny’s army of lionesses swarmed Moonblight. He easily tossed a few aside, but more came from every direction. He was quickly surrounded. He tried to leap over them to get to Destiny, but was intercepted by Lightning. Thunderclap lay on the ground, defeated.

Moonblight scratched at her, leaving a mark, but she didn’t even flinch. She bit him hard on the leg, causing him to stumble, then the young lionesses swarmed him. Their blows were too much, and he weakly said “I surrender.”

Destiny stood triumphant, but his job was not yet done. He ordered his lionesses to drag his fallen rivals down to the ritual grounds.

———

Thunderclap was fully consumed by the red energy, leaving only his power’s item. Lightning, still under Destiny’s control, took it. He’d let her wake up back in the cave and find out what happened later.

Moonblight was still awake, but was unable to resist being dragged. He looked helplessly and almost resolutely at Destiny as his form melted into red energy.

Destiny roared in triumph. He was king. The pride was his to control, and he was only getting stronger the more lionesses he infatuated.

Demonic energy rose from the earth, but it empowered him, transforming him into a more powerful, more primal form.

His lionesses looked at him admiringly, obediently.

The world was his.

[ladala99]

Lioden Fight Calculator - New King!

Is it going to be an easy Destiny sweep, or will there be some surprises? I'm writing this intro before doing any calculations, so let's find out!

The Competitors

Destiny: A Fiery-based boy of Sandy’s legacy. He has the power to control one lioness completely, alongside the ability to permanently infatuate as many lionesses as he wants. He has had free reign and gathered a loyal army of lionesses in his generation.

Moonblight: A Primal boy of Eclipse's legacy. He doesn't have any powers other than natural Primal strength and resistance to demonic powers. He is motivated to change the pride for the better and move away from the demonic influence that currently controls the pride.

Thunderclap: A Maltese-based boy of Lightning's legacy. He has the power to summon and control his ancestors, but has no resistance against Sandy's power so may very well be unable to use it. He spent a lot of his cubhood controlled by the Sandy of his generation, but she was forced to free him as he could not use his power while under her control. He hates her, but she is prepared to reclaim him if he wins.

The Teams

Let's first see if Thunderclap is going to be a competitor.

RNG chooses a fair fight and Thunderclap as the winner. Ooh, this could be interesting! This also means it'll be a lot more complicated on my end. Time to build Thunderclap's team!

Thunderclap always has Lightning (see below), and gains control of: - Snowfall - Bailey - Belle - And the Sandy of his generation will fight for him, too.

The pride's demonic power is stronger than it was before, so while before the rule was that he'd have to do another round to keep them, that's no longer the case. Whoever he gets, he keeps.

Destiny first attempts to get a mainline lioness on his side: - He takes Lightning from Thunderclap, losing Thunderclap an ally! - Sandy (his mother) will also fight for him willingly And he has all the young lionesses minus Sandy: - Sunrise's Legacy - Eclipse's Legacy - Luna's Legacy - Ember's Legacy - Ashes' Legacy - Luna's Legacy 2 - Lightning's Legacy - Eclipse's Legacy 2 - Sunrise's Legacy Primal - Ashes' Legacy 2 - Luna's Legacy Primal

Moonblight has no allies since Eclipse is mindless. His only advantage is that he has the Primal modifier - all Primals will fight at full strength and all non-Primals at full handicap.

The Fight

You know, I really need to update this thing to maybe have a separate document it saves to, so if I mess up on inputting any of the 20 competitors I don't have to start all over again (I pressed enter one too many times on the 18th competitor. Ugh!)

Looks like: - Team Destiny: 62% overall winning chance. Will win if calculator chooses based on Team Stats. - Team Thunderclap: 21% overall winning chance - Team Moonblight: 16% overall winning chance. Will win if calculator chooses based in individual stats.

The Winner

And the mind-controlled Lightning takes it all for Destiny! I think something like that happened earlier this generation, too.

It was a closer fight than it could have been, but in the end, Destiny fulfilled his destiny of becoming king!

After today, I'll be heading back to Wolvden for that game's next generation!

[ladala99]

Wolvden Reminders

As this is my last full weekend on Lioden before the king, and thus game, turnover, I looked back at the Wolvden posts to see where I was with that. As I usually do, I will make this post a reminder of various story events and gameplay rules.

This is mostly for my own reference, but does show an insight into my gameplay rules if you're interested in that. And there's a story recap at the top.

Story

The Temporal Pack is a group of wolves that usually settle things by voting, instead of force. There are divisions, but so far it has been pretty civil.

There are four basic political parties, named by the map regions/difficulty. They form a political compass so that each wolf is a part of two parties.

Easy vs Challenging - Wolves of the Easy party tend to be more group-oriented, helping everyone, while the Challenging party wolves are more individualistic, emphasizing the superiority of the best members of the group.

North vs South - North party wolves care more about pack survival and stats, while South party wolves care more about decor and aesthetic genes.

These combine in various ways depending on the individual, but usually Easy North=prey/supply gathering, Easy South=decor emphasis, Challenging North=wolves with higher stats get more protection/privileges, Challenging South=wolves with more/better genes get more protection/privileges.

In addition, there is the issue of the Faelcu wolves. A couple of generations ago, the leader succumbed to the Faelcu. Several members of the pack were born with strange powers, and these wolves were separated into their own sub-pack away from everyone else. Most wolves are afraid of them and want them gone, but no one has actually tried to pull the trigger yet.

And right now, they’re unlikely to. Nathanael, who was voted leader, decided to take one of them as a mate to prove there was nothing to be afraid of. Only he was wrong - in his interactions with his chosen mate, she accidentally almost killed him, and he’s now permanently, though unnoticeably, under her control.

Faelcu wolves have two main powers: 1) to entrance their victim by maintaining eye contact and control their body. Potential victims can resist this if they know what’s happening. 2) “the shadow,” a power that freezes, then sucks the soul out of the victim. Faelcu wolves are not allowed to use the shadow on other wolves by their own family rules, but there isn’t anything actually stopping them.

Sonja was young when she accidentally used the shadow on Nathanael while only trying to entrance him while he resisted. He stopped resisting the entrancement at a crucial moment that left him in a strange limbo—he didn’t lose his mind or soul, but he also can’t refuse anything Sonja asks. Only the Faelcu wolves and Nathanael himself know this happened, but he’s powerless to tell anyone. Luckily, Sonja thus far does not seem inclined to abuse her hold on him, and he’s immune to anyone else trying to entrance him. (And unlike the demon-lions on Lioden, the Faelcu wolves are not inherently evil.)

Finally, the last bit of conflict is regarding the rule that only direct descendants of the previous lead wolf can become lead wolf themselves. This is something that I don’t want to change because I like being able to trace the genealogical line back to my first lead wolf, but in-universe it doesn’t really fit the democratic philosophy, so it comes up.

Gameplay rules

Calculators/External Data

I keep my own data sheet for my wolves that my calculators use for various pack management decisions. Because I’ve made this way too complicated to keep track of on my own!

The data I keep is as follows:

Name: Wolf’s name Rank: number of votes they get. Leaders=4, Leader’s mate=3, Leader’s pups=2, Everyone else=1 Pack: Which cave they’re in. Birthstats: Their stats at birth Personality: Their personality group (Romantic, Stoic, etc.) Hunt/Biome/Lunar/Aug/Nov1/Nov2: Their preferences for these types of votes. HuntStr, etc.: Whether they are always going to vote for their preference or can be swayed in each category. Party 1/Party 2: Their political party (for leader eligibility) Sex: Their game-functional sex Gender: Their gender identity (may differ from sex) Prefers male/Prefers female/Prefers Nonbinary: Which genders they are interested in forming a Pair Bond with Family: Basically a last name Mated: Whether they currently are in a Pair Bond

Mortality

The most prominent one is the mortality system. Every week, I check whether the pack is over the “safe” threshold maximum population. This is calculated by the number of hunting teams times 7 plus 5 to account for every role in the pack, and also the number of pups and mentors is added manually each week. If it is higher (and it usually is), RNG will determine a random number of wolves to leave the pack one way or another that week. For each wolf that needs to leave, two individuals are rolled, which I can choose between. My choice is usually based on who is less important, so gradually the pack’s quality improves.

Voting/Parties

Oh yeah. More prominent than mortality is voting. Each wolf has their own preferences for various factors (hunting, buying from the lunar shop, choosing a side in the events with sides, etc.) and combinations of those are assigned political parties. There are two dichotomies that make up a political party, named after areas on the map:

Easy/Challenging: Whether a wolf is community-focused (Easy) or individual focused (Challenging)

North/South: Whether a wolf cares more about stats/survival (North) or looks/decoration (South)

Breeding/Sub-Packs

There is also a minimum number of families amongst the non-royal wolves (non-royal being any wolf that is not related to any lead wolf), which is calculated by number of living royal wolves divided by 3. Family names are saved to an external chart (I really should put them in the wolf bio) and follow the female line. Why female? For legacy reasons, basically - Wolvden originally had the same breeding system as Lioden with one breedable male and that’s when I started keeping track.

The number of breeding pairs is also calculated based on pack size, it being the number of royal wolves divided by 4. There are three types of pairs - 1) Main-line royal: the lead wolf and their direct descendants, 2) Alternate-line royal: wolves related to previous leaders, and 3) Non-royal: those unrelated to any leader. Breeding Pair slots are evenly split between these three categories, and if it’s not evenly divisible by 3, then Non-royal gets highest priority, followed Main-line royal.

Breeding pairs are formed between wolves of different family names and sub-packs (aside from the Singles sub-pack, which is entirely unrelated non-royal wolves) who have compatible sexualities. I have an external tool that lets me know what wolves are compatible. Breeding pairs will create their own sub-pack for themselves, their pups, and extended family.

Breeding may also occur when mandated by a daily quest. If no wolves in breeding pairs are able to fulfill that quest, a non-mated wolf may breed with the Breeding Male. Priority goes to wolves that are of different family and sub-pack to the Breeding Male, but if none are available that fit that criteria, whoever is available will be bred. These pups are kept, but are lower priority than other pups.

The new Breeding Male is selected whenever the last one dies, and is the highest-statted non-royal male wolf.

New to this round - I will be including Adopted wolves in their respective sub-packs rather than shoving them in the non-canon space to be taken out as needed. They will still have their own family name to indicate that they are unrelated, which should limit the need to pull new wolves into the pack.

In fact, I will be retiring the non-canon space entirely outside of its original “Emergency Raffle Girl” purpose (to ensure I have a wolf in heat if I win a raffle stud breeding), and will pull a few wolves into the Singles pack every week until I don’t have any more there. Any new Chased NBWs I wish to keep will also be put into the Singles pack.

Roles/Stat Focus

Up until this point, what role a wolf is assigned and what stat boosts they’re given was determined somewhat arbitrarily. Basically I just assigned them the role that corresponded to whatever stat their personality boosted. This is inefficient and does not encourage stat gain over generations, nor does it provide the amount of each role that is needed.

Going forward, I will be adding the Focus Stats to each wolf’s external data, and a check during new wolf generation.

The calculator should first load whether any particular stat is needed. Here are the minimums based on my current number of hunting teams:

6 Strength 12 Speed 12 Agility 7 Wisdom 5 Smarts

If any of them are needed, the calculator should randomly assign one of the needed ones. The secondary is based on the first. Speed and Agility go together, and both Smarts and Strength go with Wisdom. Wisdom primaries should randomly choose between Smarts and Strength.

If there are sufficient wolves for each stat, then the calculator should ask for the wolf’s highest and second-highest stats to assign as the focus stats.

Herbalism

Illnesses as they are are a bit too easy to deal with for me, so I limit how much my Herbalist can do. They have 10 energy per day, and can use that to heal wolves. Each illness takes 10 energy the first time it is healed, 9 energy the next time, and so on until it only takes 1 energy to heal. So inexperienced Herbalists can cure less per day, and unusual illnesses can be healed less - leading to some spread in the pack if I’m unlucky!

Scouting

I may only scout areas that the pack is located right next to, meaning I need to move to scout out the map and I can’t scout both halves of the map at once.

I am allowed to rescout anywhere, though, so once I finish that phase of gameplay, I can train my scouts as efficiently as possible.

Hunting

Hunting strategy each season can be voted on, but if the leader has a preference, it’s the leader’s preference all the time. Nathanael likes to hunt the largest prey available, so that’s what the hunting groups will seek to do.

Deputy(?) - Deciding Who Fills Empty Slots

A new role I’m thinking about introducing, based on the Deputy role in the Warrior Cats series. This would be the wolf that decides who to assign as part of each Hunting team. This would be relevant because the Deputy would favor certain wolves over others, particularly ones that might vote for them. Because the mortality system favors keeping wolves that have a role over ones that don’t, this could shift the pack dynamics to favor a particular party.

While it makes the most sense for the leader to be making these decisions, there’s no motivation for the leader to favor a particular party since, well, they’re already leader. Unless they have a favorite child or something. I suppose it can be a “keep the party in power” sort of thing, but at the same time, it’s always going to go to one of his pups. What direction they take the pack isn’t his concern unless we have some severe good vs. evil thing going on.

We do have the fae wolf vs. natural wolf dichotomy right now.

The more I think of it, the more I want to do something different.

Leader decides Scouts. That’s always been the case. These tend to be the Leaders’ mate and best Looks pup, but I can make adjustments per Leader. This is a Mainline Royal-exclusive role.

Herbalist decides Backup Herbalist. This is also a Mainline Royal-exclusive role.

Each Hunting Team, aside from the Mainline Royal one, should decide their own members. Mainline Royal should be decided by the leader, while the others should have their own team lead. The team lead will be the highest-ranking wolf that the others vote to be their leader. This leader can choose based on their own priorities - probably focusing on personality, but also with the standard mated-pairs-get priority (within their own hunting group only this time), as well as having their politics be similar to the team lead or other plot factors (such as excluding or specifically seeking out fae wolves).

And everybody else is a pupsitter. Perhaps prioritize having wolves pupsit within their own sub-pack, but everyone works together to keep as many pups alive as possible.

Is that too complex? I’ll probably need to build some programs to show me which wolves fit certain criteria, like I have the mate finder.

Goals to Work Towards?

I kind of want to, within my ruleset, still be working towards something. I abandoned the White Merle Sky Base Ice Eyes wolf thing a while ago (last generation?) and have kept up a “propagate rarer eyes and higher-tier bases” priority. I want to continue that, but also have some direction.

First off, I do not like how the plot is falling into being the same plot as my Lioden pride. Yes, the fae wolves aren’t evil-by-definition like the demon-lions are, but I really don’t need mind-control in both game stories. It was fun drama at first that Sasha became a Changeling, but now it’s just having a subgroup of mind-controlling wolves that threaten to take over the pack. And actually have succeeded, since the mainline ones will be descended from a fae wolf.

This is relevant to the genes discussion since my only real definition of a fae wolf is that it has Fae eyes. Others of that line do not have any special powers. Thus I want to move out of applicator/unnatural eyes and back to more natural colors - stuff that doesn’t look possessed, demonic, or otherwise magical. I actually want to start working on bringing in Raffle eye colors instead, but that’s going to have to come through new wolves!

I’m still going to let this plot play out, though, and would not mind in the slightest having a Fae wolf as lead next generation. But I am not going to purposely add unnatural eyes to the pack this generation.

Assuming no hiatuses, I should be playing from May 11-October 25, which currently means August event and October event. I’ve never been on Wolvden in October - I looked it up today and man it is creepy! I don’t know if I want to be on Wolvden in October. Is there a “disable event” toggle like on Lioden? Well, except that the breeding items seem very interesting. I’d like to get Albinism or Melenism into the pack if I can. It doesn’t look like there are any other particularly desirable mutations that aren’t lethal yet, unfortunately, other than the Black Friday mutations. Maybe I’ll just ignore the implications of the October event like I do the Lunar event. But it would be the first time my pack comes across it so we’ll see how I feel at that point. According to the February page, October has a storyline? But the storyline isn’t on the October page, so I’m confused.

Anyway.

I think my biggest breeding priority will be Tier III. And I think I want to push my pack to be in the Monochrome color group. I initially wanted Cool and Monochrome, but Cool just has too much variation. I want black and white wolves. I don’t need them to be purple or blue or green. Color can be added through genes.

And I’ll make these pushes through picking up natural-looking pups from the Enclave as needed, prioritizing natural-looking pups when choosing which to keep, and saving more natural-looking wolves when given the choice on which wolves to chase each week.

[ladala99]

Lioden - Next Generation King Choices

Since I'm nearing the next generation turnover, and we probably have our final options (there might be more, but there won't be less - there isn't enough time for them to grow and face each other), I decided it's time to flesh out the designs for the next possible kings!

Option #1: Destiny

Anyone who doesn't have a mutation is getting Primal Ennedi Vossoko applied, and Destiny is one of those lions.

Destiny is of Sandy's line and has the power of infatuation. His customization shows his power with the smitten lionesses, but also shows how it's not actually in charge with the dark figure behind him. Everything is ethereal.

Destiny is the most likely to be king at this stage, as all of the lionesses of his generation (other than Sandy) will be fighting for him.

Option #2: Moonblight

As a Primal younger than Destiny with a worse set of natural looks, Moonblight will be using Destiny's looks. First with a full generation as a normal lion, then in his true Primal form.

Moonblight would be a healing force. He has some of the corruptions of being a demon-lion, but he's only been hurt by what's going on and as a Primal is resistant to demonic power. He doesn't know who or what he's supposed to be, but he's trying his best to figure it out and heal.

He's not particularly likely to become king, but I've gotten a bit attached to him. I'll be sad to see him go. His only advantage is the Primal modifier - he'll be at full strength while everyone who is not Primal gets maximum handicap. But he will be outnumbered by a lot.

Option #3: Thunderclap

That may or may not end up being his name. He's Lightning's cub, born recently, and I haven't fully fleshed out his personality yet.

I've depicted him here using his power to summon his ancestors to fight on his behalf.

He's also not particularly likely to become king, but if he makes it past the Sandy-controlling-him check, he'd have a shot through the ancestor-summoning thing. With enough luck, he could have the advantage.

[ladala99]

Lioden - Moonblight

Same warnings as usual. This time the protagonist isn't evil, though.

The last part was written separately because of course that happened after I started setting up for the next generation.

Lioden - Moonblight

Moonblight knew the odds were against him. Destiny had practically the entire pride under his paws, and there was only one of Moonblight. At best, the younger Sandy might be on his side, as Destiny would surely chase or perhaps sacrifice her once he gained the pride, but the odds weren’t much better.

So Moonblight’s only option was to get as much training as he could while on patrol. Challenging himself to be faster, stronger, while not getting injured or exhausting himself to the point where he had to take a break.

He leapt over a log. Did he go higher than last time? He wasn’t sure.

But all that wouldn’t stop the nagging in his mind that something was missing in his life. No matter how he tried to fill the void with training and determination to win, it always remained. Something wasn’t right.

He suspected it had something to do with what happened to his mother, Eclipse. She had been made mindless by Ilere long before he was born, and thus she was emotionally absent. She should have taught him her goals and passions and helped him find his own, but the only example she set was one of silence. Her actions never were her own ideas—she no longer had any—they were always orders and always done in a cruel, efficient manner.

Wisdom wasn’t much better. Sure, he seemed to have thoughts of his own, but his highest priority always had been to maintain the demons’ control over the pride, which never felt exactly right to Moonblight. It wasn’t until the other day that Wisdom had seemed any different, and even then, that hadn’t lasted long enough for Moonblight to speak with him. That incident only further cemented that the current cruel Wisdom was not actually who he was.

The corruption wasn’t genetic. Moonblight was unaffected. Holding powers seemed to cause corruption, as seen with Destiny’s recent obsession with holding every lioness under his power, even messing with them to cause them to suffer before wiping their memory. He hadn’t originally been like that. He’d even originally said he wanted them to be happy despite how terrible things were in the pride, and he had seemed to mean it.

Moonblight sighed. It was about time to head back to the pride. He’d keep an eye up for anything to hunt on the way.

He wanted to know who his parents really had been, especially Eclipse. Maybe he’d get a hint of what was missing. What his thing was. Then he’d actually have a goal. Some drive. Because as it was, he almost didn’t feel like it was worth fighting for the pride. He’d inherit this broken system and wouldn’t even know what he wanted to do with it. He only had to fight because that was what male lions did. He wouldn’t get any answers - there was no undoing what had been done to Eclipse, and Wisdom had to be dead before the fight happened. And then everyone would be looking to him to lead, and he’d have no idea what he was doing.

That also was assuming he had an injured zebra’s chance of winning the fight.

The stone lookout loomed above him, and he heard a “hey Moonblight!” before the thudding of landing paws. Sandy, the one of his generation, padded forward to greet him. He noticed she was wearing a necklace that her mother normally wore.

He nodded in greeting. “Sandy. Is something up?”

Her tail rose. “Oh, nothing much. But. . .” Her tone became serious. “I’ve been thinking about my chances in this pride. The fact that they hang on you. And how aimless you always are. Moonblight, I think you need some motivation.”

He huffed. “I train all I can. My chances hang as much on me winning as yours do.”

“Yeah, but you’re, you know, hopeless. You don’t seem like you’re planning for the future.”

She hit the meerkat right on the neck. He cringed internally.

“I don’t know who I am,” he blurted. “Eclipse and Wisdom both had their true selves stolen before I was born. I don’t know who they are. I don’t know what thriving looks like. All I know is everyone being demonic slaves, and I can’t continue that!”

He shouldn’t have said that. Not so loud. Not to Sandy, or anyone.

She looked off to the side, tail twitching indecisively.

“I think that’s exactly the issue,” she said slowly. “Ilere and her crew messed everyone up. We don’t know who we are, so we need someone who won’t make things worse.” She looked back at him, her eyes glinting eerily. Her necklace seemed to glow, too. “I might be the biggest hypocrite for doing this, but I need you to keep going. You don’t have a motivation, so your motivation must be me. And I don’t think you like me enough for it to be a strong enough motivation.”

She stepped forward. “Please,” she continued, “look into my eyes and let me in. I’m borrowing the power, but Primal Luna told me how it works. How to make it self-renew. Please.”

Moonblight backed away. “I don’t want to be hypnotized. You’ll enslave me like Destiny does the girls.”

“I. . .” Sandy did not drop her gaze. “I don’t see any other way. I need you to need to win. I can’t let you falter. I don’t want to enslave you, Moonblight. But. . .” Finally she looked down. “Wisdom was supportive. I phrased it a little differently with him so he’d let me borrow the power. Destiny got some of the Primals by torturing them. . . Please let me do it the easy way.” She rose her gaze again. While her eyes were glinting, there was a genuine pleading in there.

He knew this Sandy. She was always very upset by the other girls getting essentially mind-controlled by her brother’s power. Yes, she wouldn’t resort to this unless she had a good reason.

He still didn’t want it, though. He looked into the pride lands, and sure enough, he spotted a couple of the lionesses from the older generation prowling. Including Eclipse.

Sandy looked back a moment and Eclipse started to approach. She moved as if she were about to herd some prey into a trap. This wouldn’t be pleasant, and he’d lose. There was no way out.

“Fine,” he said, first lowering his head in subservience, then remembered he had to meet her gaze. He looked into her glinting eyes, trying to ignore the instinct to run. Eclipses stopped her approach.

“Now reach out with your mind and pull me in,” Sandy said. She was also shaking.

He noticed a tickle in his brain and focused on that, latching onto it mentally.

Sandy’s eyes became brighter, and everything in the world other than her seemed to fade away. She was all that mattered. And she was scared.

It seemed it was just the two of them, in a void. Memories played in the background. Moonblight’s memories. Eclipse’s coldness. The loneliness. The void.

Sandy looked around in awe. He wanted her to see this. To see all of him. To know him and to take everything he was, reshaping it as she pleased. Because he was the most important lioness in the world and he wanted to do anything for her.

“Our powers must be connected—this is way stronger than he said it was when he started,” Sandy said. “He said it’s now really easy. That the lioness becomes his without him doing much, and that. . .” She looked at him. Why was she so frightened?

She shook her head and gazed at him intensely. “One more to make it self-sustaining. I-I’m guessing you won’t object this time.”

“Take all of me forever,” he said dreamily.

Her eyes widened, but shined again. He eagerly let her in further. He felt something in his mind change. Then, the void faded into the real world again. But she was still beautiful, commanding, and everything to him. He loved her. He would certainly fight, even to the death, to protect her. But he knew that if he died in the fight that mattered, she would quickly follow. So he had to survive.

She took off the necklace. “Are you still feeling it?” She asked. Even without her having direct access to the power, he still loved her. Wanted to serve her.

“Nothing changed,” he said blissfully. “You’re still the most important lioness.”

“I see.” Why did she seem so unhappy? “And if I say ‘cease thinking and do as I say?’”

His body went to attention as he awaited her order.

“It is just like them,” she said in awe and a little horror. “Go back to normal!” she ordered, and his thoughts returned. There was a small drop of fear in his mind—her being able to control him like that was not good—yet he fully trusted her. She knew best.

She picked up the necklace with her mouth. “Come, I need to prove that I did it, and return this.”

He readily did so. Nothing else mattered other than to please her.

Various lionesses watched as they marched to the cave where Wisdom and the elder Sandy were, along with Destiny. Both young, who seemed mostly curious, and old, who seemed to still be waiting on an order to attack.

“You succeeded,” the older Sandy said. “I’m jealous. I could never get it to work.”

“I keep telling you,” Destiny said, “it only doesn’t work because you want them dead. She got it to work because she wants him alive. Right?” He looked at the younger Sandy.

“I do and it worked,” she said, shrugging. “Even after taking it off.” She seemed to have a hard time meeting anyone’s gaze. “He’s. . . It worked just like you said. I wasn’t expecting it to be so easy.”

Destiny snorted. “The hard part is convincing them to stand still. And to keep them from spiraling if you decide to renew the energy with them. But I’m sure you’ll have plenty of lionesses to farm misery from if somehow you win.”

“Yeah,” the younger Sandy agreed, almost too readily. Of course, Moonblight knew she didn’t mean it.

Wisdom nodded approvingly. “From his complete lack of fear, I know you have him under tight control. You should head into the wilderness and practice your command.”

“I can grab a lioness and show some of the things you can do,” Destiny said eagerly.

“I’d rather be alone with him,” the younger Sandy said. “Come, Moonblight.”

She didn’t even have to tell him once. He would follow her to the ends of the earth.

She led him out to a pond a ways out, still on the territory but the hunting was bad so no one really ever came here.

“I’m very sorry,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d get it this bad. I didn’t imagine I’d really be able to. . . that I’d unintentionally. . . Moonblight, is the real you still in there?”

“I want to live now, with you,” he said, not fully understanding what she was getting at. Something pricked in his mind. Maybe she wanted him to be a little uncertain? He didn’t want to be uncertain, though.

She sighed, seeming distraught.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

She looked into the water. “I wanted to give you a little push. I didn’t want to control your whole personality. Your whole self.”

The thing in his mind pricked again. He grabbed onto the thought, then realizing it was in response to her, said, “In this pride, there are only masters and slaves. We couldn’t be the exception.”

“There’s no real masters, there’s just slaves who think they’re masters,” she said, and seemed to calm down a bit. “I guess you are in there, huh?”

He let the prick grow. It seemed to make her happy. His absolute delight began to fade as he started to become conscious of what had happened. Soon the absolute desire to be with her and serve her, while still there and strong, faded into the background.

“I think as long as you keep being upset at me being like that, I can be me again,” he said once he felt more normal.

She leaned against him. His heart fluttered. “I’m glad I didn’t. . . Well, you know. Leave you with nothing but thoughts of me. Kill your original self.”

He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what the right thing to say was. Even the horror of knowing that she could control him with a single command felt so much less intense than his desire to please her. She wanted him to be normal, probably honest, but she didn’t want to know the extent of what she had done, so all he could do was lean in.

Eventually, she righted herself. “I shouldn’t be taking advantage of you like this.” She gazed back towards where the pride lived. “But they also need to think—know, I guess—that I have you under control. Wisdom was concerned that you might not be dedicated to the demons. That, in the small chance you win, you’ll start undoing the layers of control over us.”

“He was right,” he said. “I didn’t like how everyone is changed. Either controlled by another lion, or corrupted by the power they wield. Now I’m changed, though, and it doesn’t seem to matter.”

“And I used a power and. . . I don’t think I’m corrupted. At least not yet.” She sighed, seemingly wanting to lean I on him again, but resisting. “I’m probably going to eventually fall. Especially since I need to act like it. I can’t have them suspect me, and what’s the difference between doing it only when they’re watching and actually doing it?”

“What are you going to do?” he asked.

“I think we’ll find out together,” she said. She got up. “As we go back, I need you to be back to completely smitten.”

It was easy to slide back into that. His worries went away as everything centered on Sandy. “Of course.”

———

Moonblight and Destiny started their patrols around the same time of sunrise. Destiny was, as usual, trailed by a lioness. This time it was the newest Primal, one not of any of the current lines. Moonblight, as usual, was training alone.

“Why don’t we go together, Moonblight,” Destiny suggested.

Moonblight wrinkled his nose. This might be a trap. “Leave your follower behind.”

“Nah,” Destiny said, flicking his tail. “Get Sandy. Then we’ll be even.”

The mention of Sandy made Moonblight’s heart leap, though a part of him still wanted to refuse the offer. Still, Sandy. That part won. “I’ll be back.”

Sandy was wary enough for the both of them, but agreed to come along.

“What is this about?” she asked Destiny as they left the main territory.

“Can’t we go together?” Destiny asked. “I actually want to talk to Moonblight. Only interrupt if you have to.”

They reached a flat part of the plains. Destiny urged his lioness to hunt, and tried to do the same with Sandy, but she refused.

“Moonblight,” Destiny said, “You know, it’s weird. We’ll be the ones fighting for the kingship, but you’re not really going to be in charge if you win, are you?”

“That is out of my control,” Moonblight said.

“Yeah. You wouldn’t be alone with me without her,” Destiny taunted, gesturing to Sandy. “You’re so submissive.”

“You weren’t going to be alone,” Moonblight said. “I wasn’t going to be outnumbered. We’re not fighting yet, but I don’t trust you. Even if I hadn’t been forcibly infatuated, she’s still the only lioness on my side.”

“I saw how your expression changed when I mentioned her,” Destiny said.

“So what?” Moonblight challenged. “I like her.” I want to be with her and serve her forever. “Are you just going to make fun of me for what she did to me? You know I didn’t have a choice.”

“I just think the king should be the one actually in charge, you know?” Destiny said. “You know how much control she has over you?” He called for his lioness, and ordered her to clear her mind and take orders. Her expression dulled. Destiny looked at Moonblight expectantly.

“My opinion is that a king shouldn’t treat his pride—his family—like playthings,” Moonblight growled.

“But you wouldn’t have a choice if she told you to,” Destiny sneered. “You could commit atrocities. At least with me, I will ensure they don’t remember anything bad that happens. With you it can be a reign of terror, and you could do nothing about it. You might not even know.”

It looked like Sandy wanted to step in, but Moonblight waved her off with his tail. He had this. “I don’t know what you’re trying to achieve with this conversation. I cannot be demoralized—our lives are at stake. You think less of me because I don’t have a power and am subject to Sandy’s. Fine. But—”

“Kill him,” Destiny said. There it was.

The Primal lioness sprang at Moonblight, but he was quickly able to throw her off. Destiny followed up with his own attack, going for the hind leg, but Sandy’s sharp claws to the flank distracted him.

“Run, Moonblight!” Sandy cried. It wasn’t quite an order but neither was it merely a request. He was not forced to obey, but felt strongly that he should.

Destiny was fighting dirty, and Moonblight knew he wouldn’t in return. Sandy was right.

To not look like a complete coward, Moonblight made his expression neutral and tried to run as rhythmically as possible. He headed back to the main territory. He needed to inform Wisdom.

“Yeah, obey your master!” Destiny taunted. He did not follow, allowing for Moonblight to slow just enough for Sandy to catch up.

“This way,” Sandy said, redirecting him. This time it was an order, so he couldn’t refuse, despite it taking him a slower way to the territory. She led him to a group of bushes. “Let’s take a break here,” she said. Maybe that was best.

After a few moments, she realized he was waiting further orders. “Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to control you. You can be normal again.”

He nodded, feeling his mind clear. “I wasn’t actually controlled until you told me to change where I was going. I just wanted him to think I was. We need to let Wisdom know what happened. There’s no way he’d want me dead before the actual fight.”

“Good idea,” Sandy said. “But I think I need to be the one to tell him. And I may need to prove I’m controlling you.”

Whatever she thought was best, was best. “Let’s do it.”

She still looked at him apologetically before saying, “Be under my full command, then.”

He could feel his thoughts quiet as he listened for her every word.

“Let’s go,” she said, and they were off.

———

Sandy led the fully compliant Moonblight back to the main caves. Wisdom, luckily, was in his usual spot, but the older Sandy was with him.

“May we speak with you alone?” the younger Sandy asked.

He nodded, shooing the older Sandy away. Thankfully, she only looked reluctant, and left. He let them into his cave.

“What do you wish to speak about?” Wisdom asked. His expression was impassive. He was the Wisdom she knew well, rather than the other, more agitated one that sometimes came out lately.

“Destiny tried to kill Moonblight,” she explained. “He led him out deep into the wilderness and ordered that Primal girl to kill him.”

Wisdom looked over Moonblight. “It seems he failed.”

“Well, yes. I was there and helped fight off the attack before ordering him to run.”

“Did Moonblight do anything to initiate the attack? Or you?”

Sandy bristled at the accusation. “Of course not! Destiny was hostile from the start, accusing Moonblight of being unworthy of being king because I control him. Moonblight was explaining that he disagreed when Destiny attacked!”

Wisdom huffed, and did actually seem annoyed, his tail tip twitching.

Just in time, too, as Destiny ran up as well.

“What did she tell you?” Destiny asked accusingly.

“That you tried to get rid of the competition outside of the ritual grounds,” Wisdom said, growling. “Will you contradict her?”

Destiny noticed that Wisdom was not messing around. He swallowed. “I. . . He said. . . They’ll try to tear down everything you’ve built if they lead! Sandy doesn’t like controlling him—”

“I don’t want excuses,” Wisdom growled. “You would have wasted extremely potent soul energy if you succeeded. You’re only as powerful as you are because of the last pure soul who lost. I will not tolerate wasting these two.”

There was a long stretch of silence. Sandy was shocked not only to find out that Wisdom knew their true intentions, but also that he was purposely keeping them around, and willing to say it aloud in front of them. She suspected Destiny had similar thoughts running through his mind.

“Now go,” Wisdom told Destiny. “Train for the proper fight.”

“What if he wins?” Destiny asked. “If you know he’ll betray—”

“—Go!” Wisdom roared.

Destiny went.

Wisdom turned his attention back to the stunned Sandy.

“You’re raising us for slaughter?” she finally squeaked. “You knew all this time and you. . .”

“I’m not blind to your feelings,” Wisdom said. “No one gets corrupted as fast as you want me to think you did.” He nods to Moonblight. “But he really is out of it, isn’t he?”

“You’re ignoring my question.”

“Let’s just say, I don’t expect you to win. And innocent souls are extremely potent. But even better are innocent souls who get corrupted over time. The only way to lose is if you get killed outside the ritual grounds.”

Or if they don’t get corrupted, but Sandy didn’t dare say it aloud.

Instead she bowed. “I can’t say I understand, but. . . I don’t know. Thanks for protecting us.”

Wisdom nodded. “Just keep watching your back, and his. I don’t trust Destiny to understand, either. Ilere didn’t like to spare innocent lions like you while she was here, so those influenced by her probably won’t see it my way, either.”

That just confused Sandy more. He was doing this against Ilere’s wishes? He could do that?

There was so much she didn’t understand, but perhaps she didn’t need to. Moonblight was alive. Wisdom wanted him alive. And that, perhaps, was all that mattered.

———

The younger Sandy kept her head high as she was guided to the ritual grounds. Destiny stalked around her eagerly.

Only the youngest and best of each line would stay to the next generation, and a worthy daughter of Wisdom’s Sandy had been born the previous month. Now that she was growing well, it was time for the previous one to go.

Moonblight knew she was more afraid than she looked. He knew she didn’t want to die. That was why she had entranced him, after all. But she wasn’t going to fight this. She’d have no support amongst the rest of the pride, and Moonblight would die, too.

One last order. Don’t interfere with my sacrifice, no matter what you feel. Save your strength for the final fight. Survive.

That was what she had told him before Wisdom came to take her. Nothing she had requested had felt as much like dragging chains as this order. He wanted to fight. He didn’t want to live without her. But every time he started down that train of thought, his mind got fuzzy. To the others, it probably looked like he was in a trance, but in reality he was fighting against himself every pawstep.

It was ironic. He only wanted to save her so badly because of her hypnotism. And that very same power was preventing him from doing so.

“It’ll be interesting to see what happens to him,” the young Eclipse said to the primal Luna. “Once she’s gone, will he be back to how he was originally?”

“It’ll certainly let us know what might happen to us if Destiny falls,” Luna replied.

They were acting like he couldn’t hear them. He wished that were true. Then he wouldn’t have to experience the agony of watching her die.

The procession reached the ritual grounds, and Sandy entered the circle willingly. The symbols glowed as she entered.

Wisdom started forward, as it was his duty to perform the sacrifices. But Destiny chimed in.

“May I do the honors?”

Wisdom tilted his head, then backed off. “If you wish.”

Moonblight’s mind fuzzed more as he wanted to pull Destiny out of there by the tail. But he couldn’t interfere. But he had an idea. He didn’t know if he could do it, but. . .

“Let me,” Moonblight said.

Everyone stared at him. He locked eyes with Wisdom, who looked genuinely confused.

"He can't be capable of killing her," Destiny protested.

"I can," Moonblight said. "I can't interfere, but I can make sure it's quick. And if this frees me, I’d rather do it myself than be in any way beholden to Destiny.”

Wisdom gave a nod. “That is acceptable. Moonblight, you may perform the sacrifice. Destiny, if he fails to act, then you may.”

Destiny growled, but backed away from the circle, allowing Moonblight to step forward.

Sandy looked up at him resolutely. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I’d rather it be you.” Still, she was trembling. She didn’t want to die. He didn’t want to kill her. But he had to do this.

It only took one swift bite, but it felt as if he was ripping his own soul apart. The demonic energy took her body faster than it took for the sting to subside.

Most of the red energy flowed into the soil as usual, but he felt some sear into his paws, coursing up his legs, entering his heart and mind. That sensation, too, faded. He wasn’t sure what that was. Sandy wanting to still be with him? Or a reward from the demons for performing the sacrifice?

He grit his teeth and exited the circle. The symbols on the ground faded back to merely dark scars.

“Huh, you did it,” Destiny commented. “Are you free?”

“I am,” Moonblight said. He wasn’t going to say otherwise. But he wasn’t actually sure. His heart ached. He still loved her, and he hadn’t before. But could he have naturally grown to like her those few months? Once he realized how they were on the same side? That she passionately wanted out of this cycle of violence, and had the determination to use it to further her goals of ending it?

Maybe. Or maybe the second, self-sustaining layer of infatuation and thought control she planted was still running. It wasn’t like she had even had any powers after the initial infection.

But maybe it didn’t matter. His missing her wouldn’t control his life. She wasn’t around to give him orders. It wasn’t a lie to say he was free.

He walked down the path back to the main territory, leading the procession.

Survive.

He had to survive. So that this meant something. So that future generations would live as lions should.

[ladala99]

NC pet styles are the first thing I've bought any internet money for in a long time, for what it's worth. They're a bit too expensive to get lightly, though, so I'm not buying as many as I would if they were, say, 500 NC each. I keep going "I want that! Oh, $14. Not now." I bought a multipack when they first came out and have been slowly using that, and now I'm starting to slowly adding more NC until I can afford another multipack.

I do not as a rule pay for gacha stuff where there is any chance I get something I don't want, which repeats would be a disappointment, so at most I will only ever get one of a gacha pack. So anything in a set that I like but is gacha is losing purchases from me, since I'll be buying one at most instead of 3 or whatever. This has also made me not get the Prismatics if there are any I wouldn't really use.

Stuff that I'm most likely to buy is stuff based on established characters/site events and looks good. My most recent purchases other than NC pet styles included that TVW countryside background (which also worked well for a fan-pet) and the black Kadoatie transform item.

I can't really think of any non-wearables I'd buy that aren't already available. It'd have to be something that I can keep or gives me access to something I can keep. Like how pet slots are. Or how Lutaris could be created through the paid-for mobile game. I don't want forever paywalls for types of pets, though - I think what's going on with the Varwolf is good and I've been more tempted to get Premium since then (just don't currently have the spendable cash to drop all at once on a subscription) (If I got like 300 NC or so per month from having a Premium subscription, it might push me over the top. I keep choosing between Premium and NC and NC styles>Premium right now so NC gets the choice).

Hope that helps - but keep in mind I'm generally not a big purchaser of online currency. I've started to do so lately, but like once a month at most and $25 on one game at most.

Can we all just agree to stop buying the gacha shit on Neopets? I'm fine with paid content. I know running the site isn't free. But it's scummy to put the majority of items in gacha capsules, especially since they don't disclose the odds of getting each item (this is illegal in some places iirc). If the site is really intended to be family friendly, they shouldn't have predatory shit like that.

[ladala99]

Lioden - Destiny's Future and A New Sunrise

Getting back into writing these. As usual, warning that it's dark, with themes of fear and mind control, and inspired by Christian depictions of demons.

Lioden - Destiny’s Future

Sandy’s Legacy sat on a high rock, watching out at the surrounding territory. She could see her brother Destiny out there patrolling.

Wisdom was getting old, and Destiny was taking on more and more responsibilities. He had used his power to infatuate all of the young lionesses, aside from a few that he couldn’t. Sandy he hadn’t tried since if he became king, she was going to leave. So it was getting lonely for her.

She’d noticed the Primal girl from Luna’s Legacy had gone to his grove today. Primals were immune to his power, so she wondered what Primal Luna was up to. Perhaps she should ask.

Sandy’s Legacy turned to scan the territory, quickly spotting the large lioness. In fact, it seemed Primal Luna was heading for the rockfields, too. Sandy’s Legacy leapt down to meet her.

The two lionesses lifted their tails in greeting.

“Sandy! How’s it going?” Primal Luna asked. She seemed happier than usual, and something in her eyes was slightly off.

“Usual,” Sandy’s Legacy replied. “Just thinking about the future. And wondering what you were up to, earlier. I saw you enter Destiny’s grove. What did he want to talk to you about?”

Primal Luna’s gaze softened in a way that made Sandy’s Legacy’s hair raise. It was just like how the the girls Destiny infatuated often looked when thinking about him. But that was impossible, right?

“I wanted to go there myself,” Primal Luna said. “I was. . . You know what it’s like, feeling left out, right? All of the other lionesses get to be a part of something, and I wanted to, too.”

Primal Luna had mentioned it before, feeling left out. But Sandy’s Legacy hadn’t really given it any thought.

“But you can’t,” Sandy’s Legacy said.

“I was shielded,” Primal Luna said dreamily. “But I could reach out and pull his power to me. It was wonderful. More wonderful than I ever imagined. He’s wonderful. I wish you could experience it, too.”

Sandy’s Legacy tensed. The Primals could be affected, if they wanted to be. At least they had a choice. Several of Destiny’s harem had been resistant before being forced into the grove.

“I don’t want to experience it,” Sandy’s Legacy said.

Primal Luna sighed. “You’d think differently if you knew what it’s like. But I guess since you’re his sister, it’s just as well.”

Sandy’s Legacy shook her head. One less lioness she could talk to. All of them always brought up how wonderful Destiny was at every turn of the conversation. It was maddening.

Primal Luna looked to the side, and her whole countenance lit up. Sandy’s Legacy looked, too. Destiny was approaching, holding a bone he had evidently found on his patrol. He dropped it and padded over.

“Hey Sandy,” he nodded politely to her. He looked intensely at Primal Luna, grinning at her absolute delight. “Luna, are you still feeling it?”

“As intensely as ever,” Primal Luna replied, looking at him with adoration.

“Good,” he said. He looked at Sandy’s Legacy. “Turns out Primals can be affected, so long as they allow it.”

“She told me as much,” Sandy’s Legacy said curtly.

“She wanted it, you know,” he said, sensing her displeasure. “She came unprompted. I wasn’t even preparing to capture anyone today.”

“Like that matters to you,” Sandy’s Legacy said. “You take all of them, no matter how they feel. And now I have one less friend to talk to!”

Primal Luna looked hurt. “What do you mean?”

“You’re his possession, like the rest,” Sandy’s Legacy growled. “I don’t know how any of you are going to function if he doesn’t become king.”

“Do you really think any challengers can face up to us?” Destiny asked. “They’re happy. You’ve seen what Wisdom’s generation is like - half are unhappy, half are mindless. And Wisdom doesn’t even have a power. He didn’t make them that way. These girls would be that way, too, if I didn’t do something.”

“I’m not mindless and I wouldn’t be miserable if I actually had friends,” Sandy’s Legacy said. “You captured them so young you don’t know what they’d be like if you let them be free.”

“We’re not dead,” Primal Luna protested. “Nor are we mindless.”

“I don’t want to hear about Destiny all the time, and that’s all you want to talk about!” Sandy’s Legacy growled.

Destiny stepped in. “Let’s test something else, Luna. Please, forget this conversation. Forget everything that was discussed since I arrived.”

Primal Luna’s eyes unfocused and her tail drooped to neutral. She then shook her head, and noticed Destiny. Her tail raised again in delight. “I’m sorry, I must have spaced off. What?”

“Go back to the territory. I need to discuss some things with my sister,” he said.

Primal Luna looked a little disappointed, but swished her tail in ascent. “Anything for you, Destiny. See you around, Sandy!” She bounded off.

“You just proved my point,” Sandy’s Legacy said. “You have enslaved their minds.”

“You reminded me to test that. I wasn’t sure it would work,” Destiny said. “I think that’s enough proof that I should get the rest of the Primals, too.”

Sandy froze, her heart sinking. “Don’t they have to be willing?”

“They have to let me in. That’s all. And I have enough of an army willing to do my bidding that it’ll be easy to force the matter. I’m sorry to take away more of your friends.”

Sandy’s Legacy huffed. “If you don’t win, there’ll be a huge mess to clean up.”

“If I don’t win, my soul will be destroyed and I won’t have to deal with the aftermath,” Destiny replied. “But I’m pretty sure I will win.” He paused. “The infatuation isn’t necessarily sexual. Do you want to be happy?”

“How dare you even suggest that?” Sandy’s Legacy snarled. “I will not be your slave!”

Destiny shrugged. “You will leave once I am king, so it is your call how you want to feel in the meantime. Suit yourself and be lonely if you wish.” With that, he stalked off towards the main part of the territory.

A New Sunrise

Wisdom watched the goings-on of the pride from his cave. It seemed more and more that Destiny had already taken control of the pride. The younger generation of lionesses were all smitten by the young lion of Sandy’s line, and even the Primals had fallen for his charms somehow.

It was somewhat comforting that the next generation likely would not start with bloodshed and division. Sure, there would be at least one challenger, but Destiny had enough of an advantage that Wisdom doubted anyone would match him.

But also something in the back of Wisdom’s mind was alarmed. This wasn’t true peace. Wisdom had wanted to step away from the demonic powers, yet Ilere had reinstated them all the more forcefully. He had wanted the truth and knowledge to be available to the pride for later generations, but Ilere had taken that from him, with his lionesses mindless, confused, or confounded.

And the next generation. . .

Destiny and the younger Sunrise walked past the cave, talking.

“Well, the truth was inconvenient to our purposes,” Sunrise said. “Of course my mother had her memory scrambled. But I’m going to be deliberate. I already have some ideas on what our new history should be. Our cubs will be proud to be Demon-lions.”

The truth would be lost. Wisdom sighed. He was too old to make a difference now. Had he ever had a choice, though?

The two younger lions continued talking.

“If they’ll be happy, though,” Destiny said slowly. “Our power comes from causing suffering. Won’t that make us weaker?”

Sunrise scoffed. “Doesn’t your power contradict that? You’ve made all of us glad to be with you, and you’re not weaker.”

The pair had sat down near the cave, uncaring that Wisdom might be nearby.

“Eh, some of you are truly happy in this state,” Destiny said, “but others are in a constant internal battle. They are suffering, even as they feel the pleasure of doing my bidding. But when their mind wanders from me, they are all the more aware of how they are helpless to resist my will. That is how my power still works.

“So Sunrise, I think future cubs do need to know what freedom is like. They just need to have their hopes of gaining it crushed. You may invent a history—you should, even—but it needs to be one where the best choice we have moving forward is to obey. To perpetuate the cycle. Because if we don’t, well, look at what happens. Anyone having any outwardly good intentions will need to be made an example of. So no one will ever trust anyone.”

Even Sunrise seemed taken aback. “Do you really think that’s necessary? I thought . . . You wanted us to be happy, right?”

Destiny rose, then looked at Sunrise in the eyes. “Sometimes you need a little reality check. Sunrise, freeze your thoughts and alter your memory as I say.”

The lioness froze, staring blankly at Destiny.

“Forget everything we discussed about torturing your true selves and leaving the next generation hopeless. Feel confident in your plan to change history, but remember your plan to be to make us feel superior and protected in our powers, and for dissenters to feel as if they will leave us exposed. Determine the details yourself and recall that we discussed it. Wander over to the cave and nap, and when you wake, you will be refreshed, pleased, and back in your right mind. You will not recall me freezing or ordering you to alter your memory. Now go.”

Sunrise walked dully into the cave and curled up. Destiny watched, then noticed Wisdom. He looked a little guilty.

“The future is in your paws,” Wisdom said, looking down. “That you are this way is my failure. You know I cannot stop you.”

“You tried to resist our nature,” Destiny said, seeming a bit more confident. “That was your mistake.”

“Trusting that I had to summon Ilere was my mistake,” Wisdom said. “Believing that I could keep my pride safe by appeasing her. But she took the minds of my lionesses, alongside my own will to fight her, and renewed the evil she represented to the next generation. It seems you’ve all but won already, so all I can do is request - please do everything you can to help the pride. Do not torture them.”

Destiny looked sympathetic. That was good. At least he had some heart.

“If you, all-knowing, made the wrong decision, perhaps it was the best you could have made,” Destiny said. “I’ll keep the pride as happy as I can, but I have noticed my power has been stronger the more I make them have these flashes of despair. And I need to keep my power strong for the final fight. I have one more already-grown Primal to turn—“

“Is your greater power the reason you can control Primals?” Wisdom asked. Primals were supposed to be immune. Except to Ilere, of course.

“The Primal Luna’s Legacy wanted to be turned,” Destiny said. “She showed me it was possible if they mentally reach out, just a little, while I’m trying to turn them. I tried it with the next, less-willing, one, and as soon as she felt she had no choice but to let me in, I was able to turn her.” He was smiling. He enjoyed this too much. Wisdom’s heart sank.

“Are you unhappy with this?” Destiny asked, evidently sensing Wisdom’s despair.

“You’re enjoying enslaving your future queens,” Wisdom said. “They will be the mothers of your cubs and you delight in breaking their minds. I sought to learn how to break this curse. I. . . forgot that for a while. I think Ilere is loosening her hold on my mind now that I no longer control the pride. And now you are using your power almost as badly as Omen used his.”

“When I was a cub,” Wisdom continued, “my father kept everyone in a trance. Everyone but the Primals, who were immune. I was one of them. Life was easy, but hollow. No one so much as moved without Omen’s command, so it was a lifeless existence. Once he died and the trance broke, no one knew what to do. So many had lived their whole lives under his spell. I had to rebuild—try to regain what we had lost over his rule. Our skills. Our independence. Don’t leave the pride like he did.”

“My power isn’t that severe,” Destiny said. “I couldn’t if I tried.”

Wisdom flicked his tail towards the sleeping Sunrise. “The way she moved under your command is exactly how everyone was under Omen’s. Your power is that severe.”

Destiny’s tail raised in surprise. “Well, I definitely don’t plan to keep them this way. As long as they stay loyal, I only need to do this to them when I need them to forget something. Why are you all that worried, anyway? You’re not going to care when you’re dead.”

Wisdom was silent for a moment. It was true that he hadn’t done enough to escape the clutches of hell—he was going to become one of the kings trapped under Ilere’s command, all goodness burned away. He had seen how his ancestors were. He wasn’t going to care. He’d either be corrupted into indifference or hollowed into mindlessness.

“Just because it won’t affect me, it doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter,” Wisdom said eventually. It took him an embarrassing amount of time to think of that. “I am not the only lion that matters, and neither are you. The pride as a whole. . .” He trailed off as his Sandy entered the cave. How much had she heard?

“Go on,” she said. “Don’t mind me.”

Wisdom nodded. “The pride as a whole matters. Every lioness. Every cub.”

“I’ll do my best to keep them happy,” he said. It wasn’t a good answer, but Wisdom didn’t think he was going to get a better one. They were just going to talk in circles.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you so lively,” Sandy commented to Wisdom.

“I think Ilere knows I don’t really have power right now, so she’s letting me live with my failures,” he said.

“Failures?” Sandy asked.

“What else would you call the state of Sunrise, Ashes, Luna, and Eclipse?” Wisdom asked. “They didn’t get to live because I let Ilere in.”

“And if you hadn’t, where would we be?” Sandy challenged. “Chaos. Perhaps rebellion. Because if you hadn’t chosen to allow Ilere in, she would have found her way into the pride elsewhere. Staying neutral or siding with the angels would only have brought more unrest.”

“You can’t know that,” Wisdom said. “I wasn’t even warned of that.”

“I know that she was already visiting Burnout. Perhaps she would not have been as powerful, but I would bet I would have been on her side anyway,” Sandy said. “Wisdom. You are worked up regretting things you can’t change. I don’t want the last years of your life to be miserable.” She glanced at Destiny. “I understand it is possible for a Primal lion to be. . .” It seemed she couldn’t find a good euphemism.

“I don’t want to be mind-controlled,” Wisdom said sharply, “if that’s what you’re suggesting.”

“Was it so bad before Ilere let go?” Sandy asked.

“Yes,” Wisdom growled. “I stayed quiet and content while my world fell apart. I stayed uncaring while your son mind-controlled every lioness of his generation, and only now that I. . .” He felt the passion drain out of him. “. . .am powerless. . .” He tried to finish his thought. “. . .she let me go until I got mad.” He felt empty. And he knew it wasn’t Sandy that had done it.

Sandy exchanged a glance with Destiny. Neither seemed to fully understand what had happened.

Why had he been so upset, anyway? He remembered the words he had said, but they no longer rang true. In fact, he felt the opposite way - so long as the pride continued to serve the demons’ purposes, all was well. And Destiny would serve them well.

“Are you okay?” Destiny asked.

“Disregard everything I said,” Wisdom said. “I hardly know what I was thinking. My mistake was giving up on having a power, and Ilere fixed that with you.”

Destiny looked confused, then his eyes went wide. “Ilere, let him go. Let him have his say.”

Wisdom didn’t want to go back to his irrational self, but felt his unease return, followed by intense relief and gratitude that he was back to normal.

“Thank you, Destiny,” Wisdom said. “But why save me?”

“Well,” Destiny shifted. “You probably won’t like the reason.”

Probably because he is unhappy. “Well,” he said, “Sandy, I don’t want you to deprive me of my full thoughts, either. I can’t do much to affect the future, but at least I’m me again.”

“Suit yourself,” Sandy said, and found a spot to curl up.

Wisdom didn’t feel like sleeping, so he got up and headed out, Destiny following. As he left the threshold of the cave, however, he started to feel different. Back. . . to how he should be. Proud if Destiny’s use of his power. Secure that the pride would continue down this path.

Both selves felt right in the moment. What Wisdom didn’t like, though, was Ilere obviously toying with him, switching between one and the other on her whim. He’d have to determine what, if anything, he could do about that.

[ladala99]

I'm back on Lioden for the first time since mid-December. Spent all morning refreshing myself on what I was doing with my pride and the news posts that have happened since (yay Raffle Studs! And new Adventure!).

Updated my calendar and it looks like Wisdom has until mid-May before he retires. That means easily getting through the April storyline and maybe getting some Groupies? It looks like the Primordial Spring is already open - unfortunately I started Wisdom last April so he's already had a drink!

The two current heir choices are Destiny and Moonblight, and I have Destiny set up for success due to his storyline power of being able to control all of the young lionesses and one lioness of the previous generation. It looks like I'm still shifting the next generation of lionesses down in age since literally none of them are two years younger than him (which is what they need to be to guaranteed be fertile his entire life). Moonlight is a plain Primal so he has some advantages, but not nearly as many.

I think I'm going to use the Ennedi Vossoko applicator I got on him if he wins, rather than wait out a different Primal form. I seem to be in the process of trying to get as many Primals in the pride so I can actually have more than one generation of it.

And it looks like I can no longer ignore Equip to Impress, as there are some very pretty fairy wings in there. I still would rather just vote for minimal points rather than actually put a ton of effort in. It takes me way over an hour to come up with something I am happy with, and that's just limited to my hoard - it'd take way longer to make the perfect outfit using the entire site database. I put effort in once per generation to dress up my lionesses - I am not putting in a bunch of effort for something that I won't look at after an hour. So slightly-modified outfits from my lions it is, I guess.

[ladala99]

One Spyro Level a Month Until the Next Spyro Game Releases - April 2025 - Wizard Peak

Intro/Rules

Previous Level

Next Level

Wizard Peak. That kinda describes every level in Magic Crafter's, doesn't it? Oh well, time to fly in!

Entrance

Our landing pad is the entrance to a series of building-like caves. Heading in, we see a large blue wizard (like those in the secret area of Alpine Ridge) enchanting blue Gnorcs to life. It's been a while since we've seen Gnorcs!

The Gauntlet

There are a lot of rooms with a lot of enemies. The blue Gnorcs are pretty much identical to the large green Gnorcs from all the way back in Dark Hollow. They're accompanied by green-outfitted storm wizards that throw lightning at you - they're the same ones that can be seen in the ending area of Magic Crafters Homeworld!

Jarvis

After the gauntlet, we find our first dragon - Jarvis. He is standing next to a Supercharge ramp, and tells us that it is his favorite Supercharge spot, encouraging us to use it to "bash those wizards!"

And sure enough, there is a crowd of large blue wizards down there. Time to start bashing!

Distant Islands

After two Supercharge ramps, we find two areas that have distant islands to get to. We have to realize that chaining Supercharge ramps makes us go faster in order to jump high enough to reach them.

The first has a hidden thief behind the back of the island. Good thing this one doesn't run - that'd be a tricky chase!

Hexus

Hexus is located out in the open along a wizard- and Gnorc-infested path, looks near-identical if not completely identical to Jarvis, and just thanks us for releasing him. About as filler-y as you can get.

The Climb

Beyond Hexus is a zigzag path up a mountain filled with large blue Gnorcs, large blue wizards, armored druids from the homeworld and Alpine Ridge, and green lightning wizards to fight. In fact, some are fighting each other! There is also a thief next to a pool. Very similar to two other thieves we've seen.

Top of the Mountain

We finally reach the top with the exit portal, and get a nice purple 25 gem for our efforts!

Lucas

Lucas tells us a secret - something special might happen if we jump on the stones in Artisan Homeworld. Perhaps we should try that!

Think Outside the Mountain

We're not done, though! We're still missing a lot of gems, so it's time to look for secrets. I can imagine this would be very frustrating the first time playing it if you don't see it right away - you have to look left at the entrance to see a secret path.

Following that will lead us to the final gems, though it takes two tries and a careful look around the mountain to find where to glide for the last one.

With those last gems, the level is done! These last two eggs fill up our egg counter completely - there are no more eggs in the entire game! But we are only 52% of the way through the game - a whopping 5% more than last time, but still showing we have a ways to go despite having all the eggs.

Lore Talk

I'm not sure what there is to say other than this is another location in the Magic Crafters realm. This time it's a mountain range.

As far as the events of this game go, I believe Gnasty's army of wizards is using this place as a spawning ground. Making new enemies and servants of Gnasty to spread throughout the Magic Crafters world, and possibly beyond. The reason the green lightning wizards are in the homeworld only near this portal is the fact that they have figured out portal technology and have started to invade the homeworld. Things are getting serious, and they'll only get worse from here.

Next Stop

We'll head back to Artisans to find out what Lucas was talking about. (Spoiler: it's the portal to Sunny Flight)

Concurrent Spyro (Hopefully) Events

YouTuber Canadian Guy Eh got another interview with Toys for Bob (link), who dropped the info that their current project is not only a collaboration with Xbox (which we already knew) but also Activision. That TFB likes to makes games that take place in "whimsical worlds with colorful characters." That their current game is big and ambitious. He also chose to reply in purple.

Since the three colorful and whimsical Activision franchises are Crash, Skylanders, and Spyro, that narrows the possibilities without reading into cryptic hints down substantially.

The fact that radio silence has been broken at all leads me to believe that TFB will be announcing what they're working on officially in the next few months. Which is very exciting. Even if it isn't Spyro for some reason, they've made good games lately. I think. I still need to get/play Crash 4. (My N Sane Trilogy progress has been slower than this project and I WILL beat that first)