Again with the no one caring...
Sent my drafts of novel to my first readers, and then decided to spend the next two days making a cover, which is terrible, but amuses me. It has pretty colors, even if half dead markers are the worst things ever for scanning.
( Read more... )
( Read more... )
Now, as I said, I know I want Emma to be a shape-shifting dragon, but I don't know whether to include her telepathic powers or not. Would it be overkill, ya think? I mean, I love strong, powerful characters (they're just so sexy), but maybe in this context of already knowing how to change forms (in more ways than one... >>; ) and with the inclusion of psychic powers, it may prove to be too much.
I still want Emily as a human though since I like the contrast there. A human what is more of the question, however. Princess? Normal, headstrong villager (I'm making this into a sort of medieval fantasy AU, by the way)? Some type of warrior/sorcerer?
Then there's the whole problem of thinking of a plot because this whole fic idea is just too epic to be a PWP. I mean, there's going to be political intrigue (maybe), interspecies warfare (definitely), semi gender-bending sex (oh, God, yes; that shape-shifting ability's far too interesting to leave alone!), which later leads to mating season/rituals (I had to include this; there are dragons about!), pregnancy (unsure about), and love (might be a possibility but I tend to associate the Emma/Emily relationship with much angst, so...)!
But, um, mind if I bounce some ideas off you sometime? ^^; I'm deathly afraid that I won't be able to do this pairing justice, especially with all the personal/mental problems our two favorite women have. I really want to get this fic off the ground and not just rot away inside my head for much of the foreseeable future.
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I do think it might be a bit overkill to have telepathy *and* shapeshifting... but then, in canon, they went there. But maybe balanced, like telepathy only in dragon form? Dragons usually have telepathy, right? And that would solve the ...complete lack of human speech sound production apparatus... problem.
Maybe Emily is the daughter of the king's highest advisor (vizier? Elizabeth needs to be a warmongering general in this, or something) and so she's aware of this possible political intrigue and interspeicies warfare with out an obvious route of affecting it, but many more subtle ways to influence events. The question is of course, who is the king?
Here is the big question: Emma is a dragon that can turn into a human, not a human that can turn into a dragon, right? That makes me want to ask about plot points, like, who does she pass herself off as when she's human?
Gender-bending sex? Take it all the way to species bending sex, please! I am so, so looking forward to that. And are you talking Pon Farr type stuff, because, um, yes, please, and thank you? Angst happens, but love is good too!!
I am getting soo soo excited about this. Get cracking!!!
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I'm fond of the balance of powers idea. I mean, other than the breathing fire thing, which is something that has to be included, it wouldn't make them too overpowered. That should be enough, right? Unless we want to include dragons being of different elements like water dragons, earth dragons, and whatnot? *blinks* Uh, I'm actually not too familiar with dragons myself. Don't get me wrong. I think they're wonderful, mythical creatures, but my ignorance speaks for itself when it comes to giving any factual information about them. I don't suppose you would be an passably knowledgeable about them, no? ^^; As for the human speech thing, I suppose the dragons (at least in my fic) could attempt such an endeavor in their true forms if they shifted some vocal... things... around. <<; ...I might have to get some better terminology if I'm going to include that in though.
A royal vizier... *snorts* Jafar! XD *coughs* My childishness aside, I like the idea, but I'm more fond of putting Elizabeth in the high-ranking general's position. I mean, with a war about to descend on them, I would think that the king would want the advice of an individual who has seen war and knows how to plan and defend for it. As for the king question, I didn't really have a set type of monarchy in mind. It can be patriarchal or matriarchal for all I care, so, with that said, we could potentially put Strauss up for position as the sole monarch. I'm not too fond of the woman to begin with. Any monarch without a plan of defending their people would no doubt be unpopular in the eyes of the common man, anyway. <<
Your first assumption was right, yes: Emma's a dragon that can shape-shift into a human. I'd like her to have this in-between form of both dragon and human though. It would include the wings, tail, horns, claws, and an exoskeleton-like armor, but with the humanoid shape, the dragons would have better mobility, especially on land. I need to show you sketches of what I had in mind later. That's how the whole fic idea got started, so I'm hesitant to scrap it. Anyway, they wouldn't be as strong, fast, or as agile like in their all-out dragon forms, but they would be understandably stronger than humans. As for who Emma would pass as when human, I haven't completely thought that far yet, but I would like to say that she's a noble of some kind. As my English professor once told me, education is power in the hands of the few who use it to rule over the many (I'm paraphrasing this, of course). Now, applying that view with what I learned in history class, those who were educated were generally those of the higher class, so, for now, let's just say the nobles were privy to more knowledge from their king than their lower counterparts. This could be a way for human Emma to get a grasp of what the humans are doing.
Oh. My. God! o.o Why didn't I think of that before?! Y'see, this is why I must bounce ideas off you! It's refreshing to have another perspective on this. Yes! Yes! We're bumping it up to species-bending sex! <3 I had to wikipedia this Pon Farr thing you were talking about. That should tell you that I had no knowledge of it being a Star Trek term, but yes, I love the concept! We're including it in the fic! X3
Do you IM by any chance? It would probably be a quicker way to get our ideas and plot points across. ^^ If not, I could send you a PM over LJ. Replying over comments tends to make the message boxes gradually smaller after time... >>;
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Considering vocal apparatus, and my recent phonetics class, the real trouble is creating the lip shaping that does modify the vowels quite a bit, and the vocal folds would probably be big and vibrate slowly so they would have very low pitched bumpy tones. Hmmm... and the shape of the tongue would have to have a large root, and would they be able to nasalize? If the fire comes out of their nose would it be a good or bad idea for them to have a passage from nose to mouth or should it be a closed circuit, and then just the shape of the mouth might create some odd overtones. The length of the soundwaves and the pitches would be all slightly different.
Oh, Jafar. Now I need to link something...
http://community.livejournal.com/disney_kink/361.html?thread=86633
and will let it stand for itself.
But definitely the general seems to be a good fit for Elizabeth. Strauss as king? O.o I really, really want to see these hybrid forms! They sound awesome! I had this image of Emma as presenting herself as some sort of wandering sorceress, so she manages to be a feared outsider wherever she goes, but I do not know what you are doing with magic. It does rather have similar educational implications though.
I would not have known Pon Farr except that I spent about 3 months reading pretty much every fic on P&P, at least where I had a tiny understanding of the source material, and it can be pretty popular, though personally I have a deep affection for Klingon mating rituals. :D Biting! Umm... not that I'm suggesting anything here.
These comment boxes are terrible to check over. I usually just IM though my gmail account. Why don't you just email me?
I have in fact forgotten my AIM password, so I may or may not ever be able to log in again. But my screenname is the same as my email if I ever do manage it.
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