Chapter 1 of my graphic novel, HERE BE DRAGONS! This is what’s been taking over my life for the last three months. The finished book is going to be around 300 pages long and I’m aiming to finish it and get it published in 2020. The next chapter should be finished at the end of June.
For Quen and Sparrow, have there ever been any upsets between them? Any ruffled feathers or butting heads? How did they smooth that over?
Sparrow is Very Opinonated (like every female steed ever, I’ve based her on Roro), so it’s not uncommon for her ideas of what they should do to differ from Quen’s ideas.
Since dragons are horse-sized predators, training is very positive-based and involves a lot of consent training (like how zoo animals are trained to present a limb for blood draws, since there is no way you can force a gorilla to present a limb for a blood draw). So if Sparrow really doesn’t want to do something, it’s Quen’s job to take a step back and look at what it is about the situation that is making Sparrow balk, and a) change the situation, b) do some conditioning training, or c) both.
Also, since Sparrow is a very intelligent and opinionated dragon with a strong sense of humor and love of practical jokes, there have been quite a few instances where Quen has fantasized about wringing her neck. He’s only human, and she’s not an easy dragon. XD
The scariest experience that Quen had with Sparrow was when he was still taming her. So he was about fifteen, and she was a young adult. He’d just started acclimatizing her to his presence by dropping fish where she liked to sunbathe and camping near her haunts. Normal stuff. Sparrow had been mostly avoiding him, really not sure what this two-legged creature was up to.
Then Quen was getting ready to climb down the cliff to leave another gift when Sparrow spotted him and swooped up. Think of how a dog rushes in on a small unfamiliar animal to investigate. She knocked him off his feet and was getting ready to take an experimental chomp to see if he was squishy when he yelled really loudly and scared her off. Sparrow was just being curious but she could have easily killed him. It’s how a lot of ushlings die on these rites of passage. This is why dragons are taught to respect the space around humans; they’re just so big and sharp and we’re so small and breakable.
She hasn’t done anything like that since. She ruvs her rider.
Juuuust a little warning before I set out to reinvigorate my dragon headworld (if i end up doing it at all):
My dragon headworld is by far the most complex of all my headworlds/headcanons/AUs. More so than the dragon!Frozen AU, more so than Blinding Ice, more so than OWTS. By a lot. I've been working on it since I was nine. It's never been dead, exactly, just dormant, and it ties in with a couple of my other headworlds (the dragoncopters one which I've never mentioned before on here; it happens in the past/present of the dragon headworld but the dragons ignore the humans for the most part, and a couple other small ones that are pretty dead now).
Singe's nestroom is bare, except for a nice cozy nest and a single large tallow candle. Well, "bedroom" is pushing it. "Bedcave" is more accurate. It is round and is really a dead-end tunnel off of the main network of caves owned by the clan leaders. There is a thick curtain of elk hide hung over the entrance. His nest is made of cougar and deer pelts.
Singe goes hunting every morning, as soon as he gets up.
3: Do they exercise, and if so, what do they do? How often?
He is very physically fit because he spends a good part of every day flying.
4: What would they do if they needed to make dinner but the kitchen was busy?
If there were too many dragons out hunting, Singe would wait for as long as necessary. He is very patient, and dragons of his size and age don't have to eat very often if they don't fly too much.
5: Cleanliness habits (personal, workspace, etc.)
Singe keeps his scales clean and shining. He is rather disorganized, and his nest is usually strewn around his bedroom by the time he wakes up, but he doesn't have enough worldly possessions to make a real mess.
6: Eating habits and sample daily menu
Oh, he is a messy, messy eater, but he eats everything. Everything. He even licks the gore off the ground when he's finished. Bones are not a problem. He eats one large animal like a deer every week or so, and eats smaller animals like rabbits every morning.
7: Favorite way to waste time and feelings surrounding wasting time
He likes to waste time flying far away from his clan, thinking. He finds them irritating. It's not a waste of time to him (Saba could disagree).
8: Favorite indulgence and feelings surrounding indulging
He has none, and views dragons who indulge in things like smokeroot and rich food as weak-willed.
9: Makeup?
Lord, no. Dragons need no makeup! They are perfect such as they are!
10: Neuroses? Do they recognize them as such?
He has none.
11: Intellectual pursuits?
He enjoys the study of magic, and makes a point to read scrolls about it whenever he can. He dislikes smithing, but recognizes its usefulness even though he does not wear armor himself.
12: Favorite book genre?
Nonfiction.
13: Sexual Orientation? And, regardless of own orientation, thoughts on sexual orientation in general?
He's straight, and he doesn't care who others mate with as long as they don't bother him.
14: Physical abnormalities? (Both visible and not, including injuries/disabilities, long-term illnesses, food-intolerances, etc.)
Hoo boy, this is going to be a long list. Let's start at the top. He's got some funky teeth and a slight bone growth under the skin on his chin. He has very well-shaped horns, which are classified as abnormalities but are so common among dragons that they ignore them most of the time. His are positioned lower down than on most dragons, and they stop his mouth from opening farther than 45 degrees (most dragons can open their mouth to around 60 degrees, with a few exceptions like Blaze being able to open it further). His front limbs never grew very big, but they are still very strong and he has better dexterity than most dragons, though still not as good as a human. This resulted in his spine being bent oddly and his hind legs adjusting to be able to carry his weight (as opposed to Irascor, who still uses his front limbs to walk). Two of his three wing-fingers are almost nonexistent, and his middle wing-finger is much larger and stronger. Finally, he has keratinous spikes along his spine from his wings to the tip of his tail.
15: Biggest and smallest short term goal?
Biggest: keep the clan running more or less smoothly. Smallest: fly more and eat more deer.
16: Biggest and smallest long term goal?
Biggest: secretly find a way to escape being the leader without abandoning the clan. Smallest: raise Spike to be a better leader.
17: Preferred mode of dress and rituals surrounding dress
Butt nekkid aside from his head-plates. He always wears those head-plates, and keeps them beside his nest when he goes to sleep.
18: Favorite beverage?
Deer blood. Yup.
19: What do they think about before falling asleep at night?
Going back to the desert, or memories of his time in the desert.
20: Childhood illnesses? Any interesting stories behind them?
None. He's one of those people who never get sick.
21: Turn-ons? Turn-offs?
On: sexy-lady-dragon-smell. Off: rival males.
22: Given a blank piece of paper, a pencil, and nothing to do, what would happen?
He would set fire to it and watch it burn. Fire is fun.
23: How organized are they? How does this organization/disorganization manifest in their everyday life?
He is totally disorganized, and impulsive as hell. If he feels like skipping a clan meeting to go flying, he will. Saba is frustrated with him.
24: Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?
He enjoys fighting, and aerial fights are the best. His favorite fight he was in was him against two large, wild desert griffins, a thousand feet above the desert. A close second was against a shadow demon on a mountain peak. . . . That's not really an intellectual pursuit, is it? Well, um, he likes . . . reading . . . a little bit. He actually is a very good leader, when he's not flying away, but he doesn't think he is.
25: How do they see themselves 5 years from today?
Stuck in the same place as he is now. At least Spike will be apprenticed by then.
26: Do they have any plans for the future? Any contingency plans if things don’t workout?
He is planning to keep the clan out of the war, and he is secretly trying to bring the fire and ice clans together and attempt to stop it.
27: What is their biggest regret?
Not staying in the desert. Of course, if he had done so, his father would still be leader of his clan, and Singe would still be in self-imposed exile.
28: Who do they see as their best friend? Their worst enemy?
The person who knows him best is Saba, and she is the one he trusts most. Fangrene, the leader of the neighboring ice-breath clan, is another ally. The high king of the fire-breath clans, Thoron, who is encouraging the war, is probably Singe's ultimate enemy.
29: Reaction to sudden extrapersonal disaster (eg The house is on fire! What do they do?)
Fight his way out, but then realize that he has a duty to save his subjects and turns back to rescue them.
30: Reaction to sudden intrapersonal disaster (eg close family member suddenly dies)
He'd fly for days without rest, letting the wind take his thoughts away.
31: Most prized possession?
His crest plates.
32: Thoughts on material possessions in general?
Fewer possessions are easier. He doesn't really bother with collecting things. He is required to maintain a treasure hoard, though.
33: Concept of home and family?
He is conflicted about where his home is. When he was a hatchling, it was by his mother's side, and he continued to long for her during his years in the desert. When he came back to find his mother dead, that dream keeled over and died. Now that he is clan leader, he longs to be back in the fairy cities in the desert. Saba tries to comfort him. She is more family-oriented than he is, and she and Spike are very close. Oh yeah, Singe killed his father, and doesn't regret it.
34: Thoughts on privacy? (Are they a private person, or are they prone to ‘TMI’?)
Singe is a very private person, and holds everyone at a wing's length. The only one he is beginning to trust is Saba, and only opens up to her in the privacy of their nest-room. He knows that she would never spill his secrets, and she is not one to spread rumors.
35: What activities do they enjoy, but consider to be a waste of time?
He loves to fly aimlessly for hours, thinking.
36: What makes them feel guilty?
Dragons do not usually feel guilt. Singe can kill without a second thought, and abandon the clan for hours on end with no regrets. He does feel that his dreams of leaving his clan forever are shameful; however, he will not actually follow through with that.
37: Are they more analytical or more emotional in their decision-making?
Emotional. Like I said before, he's very impulsive.
38: What recharges them when they’re feeling drained?
A good long nap in a quiet place.
39: Would you say that they have a superiority-complex? Inferiority-complex? Neither?
Dragon clan leaders are prone to feelings of superiority, and Singe is no exception. He is the strongest, most beautiful dragon in the clan, and his word should not be questioned!
40: How misanthropic are they?
He actively dislikes other dragons, though Saba is starting to grow on him.
41: Hobbies?
None.
42: How far did they get in formal education? What are their views on formal education vs self-education?
He lasted four years before he ran away. He taught himself how to fight and survive. He believes that while the smiths and flyers have much to teach hatchlings, more can be learned by working it out for yourself.
43: Religion?
Non-religious. All dragons are.
44: Superstitions or views on the occult?
Magic is very real, of course, it's how the dragons breathe fire. I'm sure there are a few dragon superstitions, but I have yet to figure them out.
45: Do they express their thoughts through words or deeds?
Deeds. Actions speak louder than words, according to Singe and most dragons.
46: If they were to fall in love, who (or what) is their ideal?
He doesn't believe in true love. He doesn't trust anyone enough. Saba is enough for him, though he would like it if she could fly.
47: How do they express love?
He shows affection towards Saba by grooming and curling together with her at night.
48: If this person were to get into a fist claw fight, what is their fighting style like?
Fast and brutal. He prefers to fight in the air, where he can dive at his opponent teeth-first. He hits heavily and when he bites, he takes flesh with him. He uses his front claws for gouging at the eyes and nostrils of the enemy, and can rake at the enemy's stomach with his back claws. He will rush his opponent, hit it as hard as he can several times in a row, and then dart away before the enemy can hit back. DO NOT attempt to fight him, especially if you are a human.
49: Is this person afraid of dying? Why or why not?
He fears death, but is more concerned with the moment. He does not take elaborate measures to try and prolong his own life. He will die when he will die, whether it be by old age or an enemy's claws, and his body will return to the earth.
A quick note about the magical deformities caused in the dragons: if you can see it, it's either incurable or the dragon likes how it looks and wants it to be there. Irascor's bony growths, while non-cancerous, would just regrow if they were removed by magic. They act a bit like neurofibromatosis, only with bone.
