Entry tags:
DRAGON MEME
I feel like my whinging about the world has already been far too indulged - but now there are DRAGONS, from the marvellous ![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
lettered, who should win a prize! With dragons in it. (In my pleased-as-punch embarrassment I'd like to apologise again for trying to shift all the rain from my parade to other people's, because that wasn't very cool.)
1) Do you dislike, tolerate or enjoy fiction in which there are dragons?
Enjoy. Lots.
2) Does this vary depending on medium or author?
There is a scale (heh) of enjoyment, but it pretty much stays enjoy. I do like well-done dragons on screen - though I think the best rendering I can think of is my distorted mini person's impression of the Knightmare dragon, which almost certainly looked like rubbish, but I used to have enough imagination to lap up Knightmare's CGI with a spoon. Computer games with dragons in are just better.
3) Do you have a preference for plots in which dragons are protagonists or antagonists?
Possibly antagonists? If they can interact with humans via speech or whatever, I like them to be sly and tricksy acquaintances of the protagonist, like the John Hurt slashdragon in Merlin; otherwise they should really be sly and tricksy antagonists. Slyness and tricksiness is the key, though. Also treasure. Or just being there.
4) Do you have a preference for the abilities that the dragons you enjoy in fiction have?
Flying, I think, is fairly necessary, and fire-breathing is very welcome. I do, however, have a massive fondness for the D&D familes of dragons, so swapping the fire for an elemental attack of your choice is also very welcome, especially when it implies there are sprawling communities of dragons across the globe who are laughing about where the best treasure is to be found. Also when it means the dragons are suited to their environment, because that's very cool. Dragons in icy mountains should have ice attacks - RPGs have taught me this and I believe it should be true. (Desert dragons should be acid or poison, for example in a jet stream of air or via barbs. Lightning's also good for desert dragons, but probably requires on broader magical powers. Holy dragons, if they exist, should be the scariest buggers of the lot, no question, with light, light and more light.) But, then, essentially, if there's some sort of lizard that can fly then I'm usually AOK.
5) Do you have a preference for the appearance that the dragons you enjoy in fiction have?
I have a preference for them being less cute and more serpentine, though cute dragons can get away with being cuter than many other animals. (Spyro, I'm looking at you.) Considering tendentious investigation into realistic wingspans that I remember reading in a magazine or something when I was younger, I also tend towards preferring sleeker, slimmer bodies as a nod to realism in them being able to get off the ground, but I'm hardly picky, in case that hasn't been obvious.
6) Do you prefer dragons to be written with a focus on animals/science/anatomy, or mystical attributes?
I don't really care about how dragons may or may not have evolved to be, but then I'm not really interested in them having every magical power under the sun either. I suppose I like them to be animals in the sense of having their own system of behaviours and community, but tend to like them in the context of mysical canons anyway, so definitely prefer them to be magical creatures with high levels of intelligence and power.
7) Do you prefer dragons to exist as a result of science or magic?
Either's fine, though I find magic more interesting if a story's going to tell me how dragons came to be (something I'm not sure is generally necessary, unless you're living in a world completely devoid of magical creatures anyway and someone asks).
8) Do you prefer dragons to be incidental to the story, or the focus of the story?
With my antagonist preference, I think incidental in the sense that they aren't the characters who are carrying the story - but if the story is just 'someone meets a dragon' and that means the dragon is the focus, then I am up for that completely.
9) If you are reading a fanfic with dragons, would you require the canon on which the fanfic is based to have dragons for you to accept the presence of dragons within the story?
Almost certainly not.lettered mentioned having a double-take if a dragon appeared in something like The Wire, but I'd be so up for that if I knew more about The Wire. The world is crying out for Legally Blonde dragon fic.
10) Do you prefer just one, special dragon in a story, or whole races of dragons?
Any, though I suppose, in terms of a story, I prefer one dragon to be interacted with as a character/beast, with a background of great races of dragons behind it, rather than a genealogical survey.
11) How do you feel about dragon death in fiction?
I'm OK about it, but prefer it to be at the end of a fight. Preferably a hardcore one.
12) Do you have a preferred way dragons die in fiction?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that dragon hide is highly resistant nay repellent of most mortal steel. Slaying of dragons should therefore be conducted with a very sharp lunging weapon aiming for the brain through an eye or for the heart through the belly. Dragonslayer weapons, specifically enchanted, are encouraged, though otherwise enchanted weapons or people of heightened strength may still be able to deal with the normal hide, since legends are never quite as exact as you'd like them to be. Though you'd better be damn tricksy to actually manage stabbing a dragon through the back.
13) How do you feel about dragon riding?
I'm OK about it, but tend towards thinking dragons cannot be tamed like horses, so prefer it, when it happens, to be as result of a mystical geas (generally by bad guys, because this is mean) or in a private (temporary) contract between dragon and rider.
14) Do you have any pet peeves regarding the treatment of dragons in fiction?
Only that there aren't enough of them. And that I don't write enough of them. And I never give them enough treasure.
15) How do you feel about dragon babies in fiction?
Well, I prefer my dragons to be reptiles, so preferably they should come from eggs. I loved Norbert in HP, also, but I think I'd generally be wary that having baby dragons is a way of making them less dangerous, so would prefer to see the adults as well.
16) How do you feel about dragon erotica?
I have never encountered any and would probably be momentarily confused were I to, considering the false dichotomy I keep constructing between dragons and sex in order to indicate to fandom where my interests lie. Having said that, I'd probably read it just to see what happened next, though I can't see me writing it and would probably feel like a trick had been missed in terms of opportunities for riddles.
17) Have you ever written a story that features a dragon?
Yes. The Last Fingers of Leaf has a dragon and the Spikeid has a couple of dragons, though we've only met one so far. I have a massive urge, having filled this out, to write some proper dragony mythos Buffy stuff, complete with riddles and treasure, maybe when Spuffy are on a post-series holiday somewhere. There should be a Stone Dragon in the White Cliffs of Dover, with supersharp bladey wings, dry salt breath (but only if you get really close, since it doesn't travel in a stream) and big fixating eyes.
18) Do any of your friends in real life know you read fiction with dragons?
If they don't they have seriously missed something.
lettered, who should win a prize! With dragons in it. (In my pleased-as-punch embarrassment I'd like to apologise again for trying to shift all the rain from my parade to other people's, because that wasn't very cool.)1) Do you dislike, tolerate or enjoy fiction in which there are dragons?
Enjoy. Lots.
2) Does this vary depending on medium or author?
There is a scale (heh) of enjoyment, but it pretty much stays enjoy. I do like well-done dragons on screen - though I think the best rendering I can think of is my distorted mini person's impression of the Knightmare dragon, which almost certainly looked like rubbish, but I used to have enough imagination to lap up Knightmare's CGI with a spoon. Computer games with dragons in are just better.
3) Do you have a preference for plots in which dragons are protagonists or antagonists?
Possibly antagonists? If they can interact with humans via speech or whatever, I like them to be sly and tricksy acquaintances of the protagonist, like the John Hurt slashdragon in Merlin; otherwise they should really be sly and tricksy antagonists. Slyness and tricksiness is the key, though. Also treasure. Or just being there.
4) Do you have a preference for the abilities that the dragons you enjoy in fiction have?
Flying, I think, is fairly necessary, and fire-breathing is very welcome. I do, however, have a massive fondness for the D&D familes of dragons, so swapping the fire for an elemental attack of your choice is also very welcome, especially when it implies there are sprawling communities of dragons across the globe who are laughing about where the best treasure is to be found. Also when it means the dragons are suited to their environment, because that's very cool. Dragons in icy mountains should have ice attacks - RPGs have taught me this and I believe it should be true. (Desert dragons should be acid or poison, for example in a jet stream of air or via barbs. Lightning's also good for desert dragons, but probably requires on broader magical powers. Holy dragons, if they exist, should be the scariest buggers of the lot, no question, with light, light and more light.) But, then, essentially, if there's some sort of lizard that can fly then I'm usually AOK.
5) Do you have a preference for the appearance that the dragons you enjoy in fiction have?
I have a preference for them being less cute and more serpentine, though cute dragons can get away with being cuter than many other animals. (Spyro, I'm looking at you.) Considering tendentious investigation into realistic wingspans that I remember reading in a magazine or something when I was younger, I also tend towards preferring sleeker, slimmer bodies as a nod to realism in them being able to get off the ground, but I'm hardly picky, in case that hasn't been obvious.
6) Do you prefer dragons to be written with a focus on animals/science/anatomy, or mystical attributes?
I don't really care about how dragons may or may not have evolved to be, but then I'm not really interested in them having every magical power under the sun either. I suppose I like them to be animals in the sense of having their own system of behaviours and community, but tend to like them in the context of mysical canons anyway, so definitely prefer them to be magical creatures with high levels of intelligence and power.
7) Do you prefer dragons to exist as a result of science or magic?
Either's fine, though I find magic more interesting if a story's going to tell me how dragons came to be (something I'm not sure is generally necessary, unless you're living in a world completely devoid of magical creatures anyway and someone asks).
8) Do you prefer dragons to be incidental to the story, or the focus of the story?
With my antagonist preference, I think incidental in the sense that they aren't the characters who are carrying the story - but if the story is just 'someone meets a dragon' and that means the dragon is the focus, then I am up for that completely.
9) If you are reading a fanfic with dragons, would you require the canon on which the fanfic is based to have dragons for you to accept the presence of dragons within the story?
Almost certainly not.
lettered mentioned having a double-take if a dragon appeared in something like The Wire, but I'd be so up for that if I knew more about The Wire. The world is crying out for Legally Blonde dragon fic.10) Do you prefer just one, special dragon in a story, or whole races of dragons?
Any, though I suppose, in terms of a story, I prefer one dragon to be interacted with as a character/beast, with a background of great races of dragons behind it, rather than a genealogical survey.
11) How do you feel about dragon death in fiction?
I'm OK about it, but prefer it to be at the end of a fight. Preferably a hardcore one.
12) Do you have a preferred way dragons die in fiction?
It is a truth universally acknowledged that dragon hide is highly resistant nay repellent of most mortal steel. Slaying of dragons should therefore be conducted with a very sharp lunging weapon aiming for the brain through an eye or for the heart through the belly. Dragonslayer weapons, specifically enchanted, are encouraged, though otherwise enchanted weapons or people of heightened strength may still be able to deal with the normal hide, since legends are never quite as exact as you'd like them to be. Though you'd better be damn tricksy to actually manage stabbing a dragon through the back.
13) How do you feel about dragon riding?
I'm OK about it, but tend towards thinking dragons cannot be tamed like horses, so prefer it, when it happens, to be as result of a mystical geas (generally by bad guys, because this is mean) or in a private (temporary) contract between dragon and rider.
14) Do you have any pet peeves regarding the treatment of dragons in fiction?
Only that there aren't enough of them. And that I don't write enough of them. And I never give them enough treasure.
15) How do you feel about dragon babies in fiction?
Well, I prefer my dragons to be reptiles, so preferably they should come from eggs. I loved Norbert in HP, also, but I think I'd generally be wary that having baby dragons is a way of making them less dangerous, so would prefer to see the adults as well.
16) How do you feel about dragon erotica?
I have never encountered any and would probably be momentarily confused were I to, considering the false dichotomy I keep constructing between dragons and sex in order to indicate to fandom where my interests lie. Having said that, I'd probably read it just to see what happened next, though I can't see me writing it and would probably feel like a trick had been missed in terms of opportunities for riddles.
17) Have you ever written a story that features a dragon?
Yes. The Last Fingers of Leaf has a dragon and the Spikeid has a couple of dragons, though we've only met one so far. I have a massive urge, having filled this out, to write some proper dragony mythos Buffy stuff, complete with riddles and treasure, maybe when Spuffy are on a post-series holiday somewhere. There should be a Stone Dragon in the White Cliffs of Dover, with supersharp bladey wings, dry salt breath (but only if you get really close, since it doesn't travel in a stream) and big fixating eyes.
18) Do any of your friends in real life know you read fiction with dragons?
If they don't they have seriously missed something.
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I had never heard of Knightmare--it is worth watching, then?
I agree dragons come from eggs. The thought of live birth dragons is actually kind of wigging me out right now.
I actually almost left the dragon erotica question out, considering the origins of this meme, and then I realized that your problem with the erotica seemed to be fandom's preternatural obsession with sex, to the exclusion of all else. Which I agree is annoying, since sex is a part of everything just the way that babies and death are a part of every. And the way dragons should be a part of everything, and yet somehow aren't. What is wrong with our world? I ask you.
I'm looking forward to reading your dragon stories some day!
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Re Knightmare - hahahahahahaha, erm, possibly? But probably not. It's a late eighties/early nineties children's television gameshow, where one child (who has a helmet over their face, so can't see) quests their way through a (very basically rendered) blue screen castle, while a few of their friends, watching on a screen, direct them and tell them what to do as they interact with actors pretending to be jesters/trolls/random people. If they manage to get so far, they get to ride on a dragon to the next 'level'. Oh dear, here's a very embarrassing video that shows the dragon. (And also a cringeworthy gypsy-woman character; sorry about that.) Essentially, it was quite terrible, but there wasn't much CGI around at the time and I had a child's ability to extend my disbelief to extreme levels (I used to get invested in Mind Maze), so it was absolutely gripping at the time. I never saw it for years after it stopped airing, so then my memory smoothed the edges even further.
Which I agree is annoying, since sex is a part of everything just the way that babies and death are a part of every. And the way dragons should be a part of everything, and yet somehow aren't. What is wrong with our world? I ask you.
*nods nods nods* Especially on the dragons.
I hope you like the stories! I know our Buffyverse shipping interests don't align exactly, but The Last Fingers of Leaf is very much Buffy&Illyria, if you can grit your teeth through the Spuffy premise. ;)
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hahahaha I didn't realize it was a game show. Thank you for the explanation; it sounds amazing.
ha, I don't have to grit my teeth to read Spuffy. Particularly if it's well done, which considering stultiloquentia's frequent comments, my guess is that it is so :o) B/A or A/S, like dragons, make shitty stories more palatable, but Spuffy does not make good stories bad. :o)
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Awesome! You are clearly much more mature in your shipping than me. (Not that I think good stories are made bad by shipping choices contrary to my own, just that my likelihood of reading them becomes rather swiftly negligible... I'm far too partisan for my own good.)
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That said, it'll probably be a while before I check these out. Right now I'm knee deep in Harry/Draco and Lizzy/Mr. Darcy, wtf. Where's all the good modern Pride and Prejudice, I ask you.
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Hmm... I don't know. Though I suppose it depends how AU you're happy for it to go, because I feel like Bridget Jones fic with (some of) the names changed could fill some sort of gap! If there's any of that of course. (Also, now I really want to know if there's a Bridget Jones Regency AU...)
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I do love stories about humans who turn into dragons - like American Dragon: Jake Long, a surprisingly cool Disney cartoon I can sorta recommend.