Yes, it is gen. I think I forgot to label the rating entirely; I am so bad about leaving stuff off the heading! Please excuse me.
I really can't imagine Archie and Wolfe in any other kind of relationship than employer/employee and longtime friends of a very unusual, bristly, mutually respectful sort. I know there's a lot of slash on the web featuring them, because I blundered into some of it. It isn't my thing at all. Anything I write will be basically gen, even if it is rated higher because of language, violence, or suggestive scenes (usually for humor). You can count on it. I sometimes read other ratings, but I am far past the age of consent, and if the material offends me, I leave it quickly; some of it has an nc-17 rating just for language and violence, and that kind of thing doesn't bother me. It took me a little while to get my moral compass adjusted to this onslaught of storydom about some of my favorite fictional characters (I discovered fan fiction only a couple of years ago), but it's firmly in place now, and I'm much happier for it.
Thanks for your comment!
May I take this opportunity to ask what a good beginning to learning about dragons would be? I don't know much about them and would like to learn!
I'm definitely with you on not being able to see Archie and Nero in a relationship other than their own unique friendship/employee/employer dynamic. I've been so aggravated, trying to look for fic, because I know slash tends to be very common in most fandoms... but gen is essentially nonexistant when it comes to Nero Wolfe. It's so frustrating. :(
And it's also why I was so happy to see a fellow gen writer who's actually a Nero Wolfe fan! I'd definitely be delighted to see more in the fandom from you, should you ever feel so inspired. :D
May I take this opportunity to ask what a good beginning to learning about dragons would be? I don't know much about them and would like to learn!
Ooo! Now there's a big question! ^.^ The best place to start would rather depend on exactly what aspects you're most interested in - there's so much out there, and so many different interpretations... Are you more interested in art (i.e. learning to draw them), or reading? (Or movies/documentaries?) And if reading - are you looking more for facts/overviews/history of the myths, or fiction? Would you be more interested in classic fantasy-style books, or ones with a more quasi-realistic, science fiction bent?
Imbecamiel, you are wonderful. Yes, I'd love to write more Wolfe fiction if I can make my old brain work. I just hadn't considered that fandom!
I'm not much of an artist, but I have recently renewed my interest in drawing, partly because of your excellent art--and drawing is art, regardless of who says otherwise! I found one site showing how to draw dragons, so there are probably more. Do you have recommendations for some, or for a book or something?
Because I took up drawing again mainly to have an excuse to pass winter afternoons under bright lights, I am right now more interested in the mythology of dragons. Is there a science of them? Man, am I behind the times~! Of course some dinos surely were dragon-like, but I'd like to know where the fire-breathing myth came from, if it is a myth and not just severe indigestion, and how dragons came to play a role in medieval culture and literature. (I sort of unofficially concentrated in medieval lit in graduate school, but it was dragonless, alas.) So yes, thank you very much, some of the above, if you please! *Grins*
An overview or two of the origins and development of the myths would be good, and probably will refer me to some good primary sources. So I guess I'm mostly interested in the history of terrestrial dragons. I've read some Anne McCaffrey and love her stuff, as well as the writing her novels inspired, but right now that's not what I'm after. (Googling something, I find that Terry Pratchett's Diskworld also features dragons. I have it somewhere but haven't read it. Gotta! I know it is wonderful from what everyone has said.) I could just google l lot of stuff to order from Amazon--lots of it looks Oriental--but it might not be what I want at all, and anyway I'd rather have personal recs.
Just wanted to let you know - I have not forgotten about this. I've just been running around like crazy this week and haven't gotten to pulling out books and getting together author names and links for you. I'm planning to get to it over the weekend!
Also - thank you so much for the lovely v-gift! :D
Alrighty! *rubs hands together* Once I get started on dragonish things, I tend to talk a lot, so I'm afraid this is going to be rather long! *g*
As far as a good overview of the mythology and history of dragons... I myself got into it in a quite haphazard way. The biggest difficulty with coming up with any kind of introduction to them is that the myths have been around for so long, are present in different variations in so many different cultures, and have changed and been adapted over time. Different areas have seen dragons completely differently over the years: The classic Western dragons have almost always, until quite recently, been depicted as aggressive, antagonistic, devious, and threatening. Eastern dragons, on the other hand, tended to be symbols of wisdom, protection, and often portrayed as friendly toward humans.
Anyone who attempts to write a comprehensive description of what dragons are, or different dragon types, is really just trying to find some way of drawing from and making systematic sense of all those myths, usually adding in their own (either fantastical or scientific) ideas as they go along.
So that's both the fun and the difficult thing about dragons - it's very difficult to look at any particular interpretation and say "that's not the way dragons are" or "this is the right way to depict dragons", because there's already so much variety out there. So there's lots of room for everyone to emphasize different aspects and put their own spin on it all.
And yes, you're right there - it's considered very likely that dragon myths were originally inspired, at least in part, by various dinosaurs. As for the fire breathing... did you know that some people have speculated that certain dinosaurs might have breathed fire? Apparently the theory is that it would've worked something like the bombardier beetle. (There's a link to a short youtube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib9qT-pccI) Basically, they could easily have had glands that stored two separate reactive chemicals - and then spray those chemicals in such a way that they would combine outside their bodies, resulting in an explosive "fire breathing". An interesting thought, isn't it?
Anyhow - for some resources!
The A&E documentary "Ancient Mysteries: Dragons" - narrated by Leonard Nemoy - has some really good, interesting information about some of the traditional dragon myths, and the influence on ancient and medieval cultures.
There was another really fun sort of fake documentary that I watched a few years ago, that was done in a pseudo-scientific way - as if an actual dragon carcass had been found frozen up in the mountains somewhere and people were now studying it. It gave a lot of different possible scientific explanations for how different aspects of dragon biology could work, as well as interspersing some of the myths and cultural impact of dragons around the world. Alas, I don't have the title anymore... After some googling, I think that it was "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real", but I'm not certain of that.
If you'd enjoy a couple of just fun fictional dragon-related movies, "How to Train Your Dragon" is really sweet and funny. "Dragonheart" is an older one - been a while since I watched it. I remember the special effects being pretty poor sometimes, but still a rather fun story overall. "Reign of Fire" is more recent - again haven't rewatched it in a while, but I remember it having quite well-done dragons, and some very interesting aspects, though also being a bit more depressing and apocalyptic overall.
For dragon-drawing books, I have to say my absolute favorites are the ones by J. Peffer. I've got two - "Dragonart: Draw Dragons and Fantasy Creatures" and "Dragonart Evolution: How to Draw Everything Dragon". They're both excellent, and have been hugely helpful in improving and refining my style. There are a lot of other dragon-drawing books out there, some of which are really great, but at this point I'd say if I could only ever have two how-to-draw-dragons reference books, those are the ones I'd choose.
(LOL, and I guess it did go long, because now I have to divide this into two comments. XD)
For dragon-related fiction... Mmm, so much out there. You mentioned Terry Pratchett - I don't think I've read any the ones that had dragons, but I have read a few of his books. He's got a really fun style, so those might be good ones to check out.
Some of my favorite historical-fiction dragon books lately have been the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik - set during the Napoleonic wars. (I've heard them described as "Master and Commander" or "Horatio Hornblower", only with dragons instead of ships.) The first one's title is "His Majesty's Dragon". There are six books out now, and the last couple haven't been as interesting as the earlier ones, but the first few, especially, are just really, really fun. I've loved her take on how dragons might fit into the world more as if they were a normal fact of life, instead of creatures of myths and legends.
If you haven't read Tolkien, of course, The Hobbit is always a great place to start - it's all about a quest to retrieve an ancient treasure from a dragon. The dragon himself doesn't appear in much of the book, but there are some fun aspects of dragon mythology. And Tolkien is just one of my favorite authors all around, so. ^^
There's also some fun dragon stuff in one of the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, if you haven't read those - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'd definitely recommend the whole series, in any case, if you're not already familiar with them.
For more of a lighthearted, kind of silly read - I've read the first couple books in Patricia Wrede's YA series, and they're quite fun. (First one's title is "Dealing with Dragons".)
"Dragonology" is another nice little book. And of course there's Beowulf, for classic medieval literature containing dragons.
Hmm, I think there was at least one more I was going to recommend, and I feel like I'm leaving out a lot of really obvious things, now, but... that should give you a little something to get started with, at least? :3
I really can't imagine Archie and Wolfe in any other kind of relationship than employer/employee and longtime friends of a very unusual, bristly, mutually respectful sort. I know there's a lot of slash on the web featuring them, because I blundered into some of it. It isn't my thing at all. Anything I write will be basically gen, even if it is rated higher because of language, violence, or suggestive scenes (usually for humor). You can count on it. I sometimes read other ratings, but I am far past the age of consent, and if the material offends me, I leave it quickly; some of it has an nc-17 rating just for language and violence, and that kind of thing doesn't bother me. It took me a little while to get my moral compass adjusted to this onslaught of storydom about some of my favorite fictional characters (I discovered fan fiction only a couple of years ago), but it's firmly in place now, and I'm much happier for it.
Thanks for your comment!
May I take this opportunity to ask what a good beginning to learning about dragons would be? I don't know much about them and would like to learn!
Reply
And it's also why I was so happy to see a fellow gen writer who's actually a Nero Wolfe fan! I'd definitely be delighted to see more in the fandom from you, should you ever feel so inspired. :D
May I take this opportunity to ask what a good beginning to learning about dragons would be? I don't know much about them and would like to learn!
Ooo! Now there's a big question! ^.^ The best place to start would rather depend on exactly what aspects you're most interested in - there's so much out there, and so many different interpretations... Are you more interested in art (i.e. learning to draw them), or reading? (Or movies/documentaries?) And if reading - are you looking more for facts/overviews/history of the myths, or fiction? Would you be more interested in classic fantasy-style books, or ones with a more quasi-realistic, science fiction bent?
Reply
I'm not much of an artist, but I have recently renewed my interest in drawing, partly because of your excellent art--and drawing is art, regardless of who says otherwise! I found one site showing how to draw dragons, so there are probably more. Do you have recommendations for some, or for a book or something?
Because I took up drawing again mainly to have an excuse to pass winter afternoons under bright lights, I am right now more interested in the mythology of dragons. Is there a science of them? Man, am I behind the times~! Of course some dinos surely were dragon-like, but I'd like to know where the fire-breathing myth came from, if it is a myth and not just severe indigestion, and how dragons came to play a role in medieval culture and literature. (I sort of unofficially concentrated in medieval lit in graduate school, but it was dragonless, alas.) So yes, thank you very much, some of the above, if you please! *Grins*
An overview or two of the origins and development of the myths would be good, and probably will refer me to some good primary sources. So I guess I'm mostly interested in the history of terrestrial dragons. I've read some Anne McCaffrey and love her stuff, as well as the writing her novels inspired, but right now that's not what I'm after. (Googling something, I find that Terry Pratchett's Diskworld also features dragons. I have it somewhere but haven't read it. Gotta! I know it is wonderful from what everyone has said.) I could just google l lot of stuff to order from Amazon--lots of it looks Oriental--but it might not be what I want at all, and anyway I'd rather have personal recs.
Again, thank you!
Reply
Also - thank you so much for the lovely v-gift! :D
Reply
As far as a good overview of the mythology and history of dragons... I myself got into it in a quite haphazard way. The biggest difficulty with coming up with any kind of introduction to them is that the myths have been around for so long, are present in different variations in so many different cultures, and have changed and been adapted over time. Different areas have seen dragons completely differently over the years: The classic Western dragons have almost always, until quite recently, been depicted as aggressive, antagonistic, devious, and threatening. Eastern dragons, on the other hand, tended to be symbols of wisdom, protection, and often portrayed as friendly toward humans.
Anyone who attempts to write a comprehensive description of what dragons are, or different dragon types, is really just trying to find some way of drawing from and making systematic sense of all those myths, usually adding in their own (either fantastical or scientific) ideas as they go along.
So that's both the fun and the difficult thing about dragons - it's very difficult to look at any particular interpretation and say "that's not the way dragons are" or "this is the right way to depict dragons", because there's already so much variety out there. So there's lots of room for everyone to emphasize different aspects and put their own spin on it all.
And yes, you're right there - it's considered very likely that dragon myths were originally inspired, at least in part, by various dinosaurs. As for the fire breathing... did you know that some people have speculated that certain dinosaurs might have breathed fire? Apparently the theory is that it would've worked something like the bombardier beetle. (There's a link to a short youtube clip here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pib9qT-pccI) Basically, they could easily have had glands that stored two separate reactive chemicals - and then spray those chemicals in such a way that they would combine outside their bodies, resulting in an explosive "fire breathing". An interesting thought, isn't it?
Anyhow - for some resources!
The A&E documentary "Ancient Mysteries: Dragons" - narrated by Leonard Nemoy - has some really good, interesting information about some of the traditional dragon myths, and the influence on ancient and medieval cultures.
There was another really fun sort of fake documentary that I watched a few years ago, that was done in a pseudo-scientific way - as if an actual dragon carcass had been found frozen up in the mountains somewhere and people were now studying it. It gave a lot of different possible scientific explanations for how different aspects of dragon biology could work, as well as interspersing some of the myths and cultural impact of dragons around the world. Alas, I don't have the title anymore... After some googling, I think that it was "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real", but I'm not certain of that.
If you'd enjoy a couple of just fun fictional dragon-related movies, "How to Train Your Dragon" is really sweet and funny. "Dragonheart" is an older one - been a while since I watched it. I remember the special effects being pretty poor sometimes, but still a rather fun story overall. "Reign of Fire" is more recent - again haven't rewatched it in a while, but I remember it having quite well-done dragons, and some very interesting aspects, though also being a bit more depressing and apocalyptic overall.
For dragon-drawing books, I have to say my absolute favorites are the ones by J. Peffer. I've got two - "Dragonart: Draw Dragons and Fantasy Creatures" and "Dragonart Evolution: How to Draw Everything Dragon". They're both excellent, and have been hugely helpful in improving and refining my style. There are a lot of other dragon-drawing books out there, some of which are really great, but at this point I'd say if I could only ever have two how-to-draw-dragons reference books, those are the ones I'd choose.
Reply
For dragon-related fiction... Mmm, so much out there. You mentioned Terry Pratchett - I don't think I've read any the ones that had dragons, but I have read a few of his books. He's got a really fun style, so those might be good ones to check out.
Some of my favorite historical-fiction dragon books lately have been the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik - set during the Napoleonic wars. (I've heard them described as "Master and Commander" or "Horatio Hornblower", only with dragons instead of ships.) The first one's title is "His Majesty's Dragon". There are six books out now, and the last couple haven't been as interesting as the earlier ones, but the first few, especially, are just really, really fun. I've loved her take on how dragons might fit into the world more as if they were a normal fact of life, instead of creatures of myths and legends.
If you haven't read Tolkien, of course, The Hobbit is always a great place to start - it's all about a quest to retrieve an ancient treasure from a dragon. The dragon himself doesn't appear in much of the book, but there are some fun aspects of dragon mythology. And Tolkien is just one of my favorite authors all around, so. ^^
There's also some fun dragon stuff in one of the Chronicles of Narnia, by C.S. Lewis, if you haven't read those - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'd definitely recommend the whole series, in any case, if you're not already familiar with them.
For more of a lighthearted, kind of silly read - I've read the first couple books in Patricia Wrede's YA series, and they're quite fun. (First one's title is "Dealing with Dragons".)
"Dragonology" is another nice little book. And of course there's Beowulf, for classic medieval literature containing dragons.
Hmm, I think there was at least one more I was going to recommend, and I feel like I'm leaving out a lot of really obvious things, now, but... that should give you a little something to get started with, at least? :3
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