2015-05-21 - Dragon Cave's 9th Birthday

[Yliah]

Gotta confess: I'm not a huge fan of pygmies, drakes nor Two-headed, but the new release dragons are great! Thank you for the new release!

[VictorianVivian]

The Hooklalon is my favorite! I suspected it would be. Really dig the Pygmies, too. Then again, I kind of love ALL Pygmies, but the coloration on these is fantastic.

[maylin]

I Like all the dragons^w^

Thought my favorite pose from this group has to be the female Pygmy, looks so cute!

[Taintedtamer]

I like them all - a little pouty the Greater Spotted Drake male isn't actually brighter than the female like their description, but still love them all. Kind of tied in loving the Hooktalons or the Magelights more.

[Marrionetta]

Yeaaah, the Pygmies are my favs. Drakes in second, and two-headed in third.

 

Ooh, can anyone else imagine little kids putting their pet Pygmies in carved out pumpkins? Like little Jack-o-lanterns! They'd also be super useful during winter, they're little firestarters! Maybe the oil from their tails is collected and sold as firestarter! Marri look what you've done to me.. I've got Pygmy fever...

Oh, that was quick.

 

I made the original teeny sprite that would eventually come to be remade as the female magelight because I wanted a 'candle' to pair with pumpkins.

 

Good eye.

[DragonNighthowler]

Maybe they're more like spotted hyenas? :3

 

Has there been any additional info/art of the new dragons released yet?

I know there are matriarchal species (and other species where females are highly aggressive). It's not about that, but about the tendency I'm observing. I'd have to go through every dragon species in DC, but I don't recall reading a description where males are highly aggressive and live in patriarchal societies where females are submitted or thus the males lash out at them (apes are prone to living in such societies). I do recall descriptions where the specie as a whole is described as territorial, aggressive, etc.

However, there are two species now which are described as;

1- Living in matriarchal societies.

2- Females being highly aggressive.

 

Yet not a single specie where the dragons live in matriarchal societies and the female is a gentle, old, wise matriarch.

 

Males are usually portrayed as aggressive leaders, therefore in a matriarch it seems logical that females have to be aggressive. Yet that might be the case with some species, but not all. Wolves are not aggressive (dogs display higher intraspecific aggression than wolves, and lower levels of cooperation), they are highly cooperative. Daddy and mommy wolf are not the pack leaders because of their levels of aggression, but because they have more experience than the pups. Same with elephants. She's the matriarch because she's old, wise and experienced.

 

In hyenas the position is inherited.

 

I'm not against these dragons being like that. I'm just pointing this out just so we don't fall into a dynamic of aggressive matriarchal societies. Lets not make it seem as if the only reason females can be guides and leaders is when they become vicious and dangerous.

[shadowfighter]

Oh, that was quick.

 

I made the original teeny sprite that would eventually come to be remade as the female magelight because I wanted a 'candle' to pair with pumpkins.

 

Good eye.

Oh sweet! I thought it was just my active imagination making connections where none were. Awesomeness! Now I just need to make a 5th Gen EG before Halloween for my Fifth gen EG pumpkin...

[Odeen]

However, there are two species now which are described as;

1- Living in matriarchal societies.

2- Females being highly aggressive.

How many species are there on the site again? Two isn't what I would call a troubling trend.

 

Also, from only the cross-section of dragons I've created, Solstices live in groups led by an older, wiser female (granted, they are female-only, but that doesn't mean that they must be gentle as well). Of the rest, the ones that are not explicitly stated to be solitary (gemshards and howlers; I'm excluding the Avatars in this because they are not mine alone) are decidedly neutral with regard to sex. Howlers live in family clans which are necessarily led by the eldest and most experienced members of the clan, no matter what, and gemshards form autonomous collectives.

 

All that aside, these are dragons. They are not meant to make sociopolitical statements, and yes I absolutely would be okay with me or anyone else making a dragon or NDEG breed that featured abusive butthead males and meek, cowed females. Nature doesn't concern itself with social justice but rather with survival, and through the lens of survival many behaviors the average decent human being would find repugnant are absolutely going to show up. That in no way means a concept artist condones these behaviors.

[Predat0rs]

Thank you Marrionetta, Odeen, and JOTB for these wonderful dragons. I appreciate the hard work you put into these sprites and, IN MY OWN OPINION, they are just gorgeous! Well done.

 

Also, thank you TJ for releasing yet another Two-head, Drake, and Pygmy.

[Lexadin]

Ooh, the new dragons look awesome. Well done spriters!

 

Now to just get my 2nd pair of each... Well that was easy.

Edited May 24, 2015 by Lexadin

[DragonNighthowler]

How many species are there on the site again? Two isn't what I would call a troubling trend.

 

Also, from only the cross-section of dragons I've created, Solstices live in groups led by an older, wiser female (granted, they are female-only, but that doesn't mean that they must be gentle as well). Of the rest, the ones that are not explicitly stated to be solitary (gemshards and howlers; I'm excluding the Avatars in this because they are not mine alone) are decidedly neutral with regard to sex. Howlers live in family clans which are necessarily led by the eldest and most experienced members of the clan, no matter what, and gemshards form autonomous collectives.

 

All that aside, these are dragons. They are not meant to make sociopolitical statements, and yes I absolutely would be okay with me or anyone else making a dragon or NDEG breed that featured abusive butthead males and meek, cowed females. Nature doesn't concern itself with social justice but rather with survival, and through the lens of survival many behaviors the average decent human being would find repugnant are absolutely going to show up. That in no way means a concept artist condones these behaviors.

No, it deffinitely is not a troubling trend. The fact that it is two vs 0 in both stances is what worried me. That means, 0 patriarchal societies and 0 of other types of matriarchal societies.

 

Anyways, you've already clarified, although not stated directly on descriptions, that there are other different type of societies out there. For that I thank you, as I didn't want to look through several dozens of dragon descriptions and encyclopedia entries.

 

And yes, I do agree nature and sociopolitics does not have to get intertwined. My worry was precisely that sociopolitics could be getting mixed up. In our lookout for equality, females seem to only be considered strong when displaying the same traits that make males "strong", that is, combativeness, aggression, etc, even when strength is not neccesarily there. A female can be strong and not know how to yield a sword, and a male can be a great fighter and weak of mind and personality. I'd rather we not fall into that stereotype of woman warrior=strong, woman princess=weak.

Edited May 24, 2015 by DragonNighthowler

[Odeen]

My worry was precisely that sociopolitics could be getting mixed up. In our lookout for equality, females seem to only be considered strong when displaying the same traits that make males "strong", that is, combativeness, aggression, etc, even when strength is not neccesarily there. A female can be strong and not know how to yield a sword, and a male can be a great fighter and weak of mind and personality. I'd rather we not fall into that stereotype of woman warrior=strong, woman princess=weak.

I think you're reading too far into how people decide their dragons will behave (I concede this might be presumptuous of me, since I only know how I and my close friends who also make dragons for DC operate). Since it's my dragons you're objecting to, just take comfort in the fact that these are dragons whose fractious personalities were modeled after hyenas, not some Action Girl trope.

[Naruhina_94]

And yes, I do agree nature and sociopolitics does not have to get intertwined. My worry was precisely that sociopolitics could be getting mixed up. In our lookout for equality, females seem to only be considered strong when displaying the same traits that make males "strong", that is, combativeness, aggression, etc, even when strength is not neccesarily there. A female can be strong and not know how to yield a sword, and a male can be a great fighter and weak of mind and personality. I'd rather we not fall into that stereotype of woman warrior=strong, woman princess=weak.

well said. I'll keep that in mind for my next concept

I'm glad that I like the female adult pigmy, I find it even prettier than the male.

[Melatte]

Hm, the two-headed and drake weren't what I was expecting, but as expected the pygmy is my favorite. The female Magelight in particular has a very appealing pose. It's cute, spunky, and you know what else? It reminds me of my bedroom! The color of my walls and accents is only a shade darker than the color of it's skin and tail.

[DragonNighthowler]

I think you're reading too far into how people decide their dragons will behave (I concede this might be presumptuous of me, since I only know how I and my close friends who also make dragons for DC operate). Since it's my dragons you're objecting to, just take comfort in the fact that these are dragons whose fractious personalities were modeled after hyenas, not some Action Girl trope.

All clear then. Thanks for the clarification.

 

Just want to state the dragons are amazing, really. I do like the sprite a lot, and I have nothing against their behavior. My concerns were more aimed at future concepts. I'd like to see more diverse societies as nature is very complex and gives a wide range of behavioral patterns.

 

well said. I'll keep that in mind for my next concept

 

Do want to see it.

[The Flash]

New dragons look awesome!

[Buttercup5]

Happy b-day! Will there be new releases all this year?

[shanique]

Oooooh I love the red ones! Totally a good decision to collect more of them than the others! !!

[shadowfighter]

Happy b-day! Will there be new releases all this year?

We don't know for sure if we'll have a release every month, but if anything, we'll have the Halloween and Christmas releases.

[FiveSix]

New releases put me in the very weird position of being scroll-locked but not egglocked - come tomorrow morning I'll have four egg slots but only room for one more growing thing until the new releases become adults.

 

Naming a two-headed for the first time is going to be a puzzle :3 I did a mass-breed of maybe 40 BSA pairs to the AP so my action log goes back less than a day and I don't even know how they're going to gender.

[Clya]

The sprites are simply amazing! (I love the Pygmy... it's so dazzling!)

 

Thanks for all the hard work you put into these sprites Marrionetta, Odeen and JOTB!!

 

And happy birthday again DC, and thanks for the release!

[Clya]

The female pygmy sprite looks great, I'm trying to find a mate but uh, few choices there. Maybe the Seawyrm?

I think Dark Mysts would look amazing in a checker lineage. Regardless of which gender you wanted to use for the Myst since they come in two different gender-specific colors.

[schmupti]

I haven't loved every sprite, but I also haven't felt the need to climb on the refreshments table and drop a turd in the punchbowl so everybody knows I didn't like the sprites. There's a difference between having a right to an opinion and having to shout it over everyone's heads in the middle of the release party, long after the work-phase when that criticism might have been useful and constructive.

 

That said...

 

I loved the 'raptors in the tall grass' vibe of the Greater Spotted juveniles, and wish it had carried over to the adults - but they look like they'll get along with my Harvests, who have been waiting for company. And if anyone reading takes that as a request for raptoriffic dragons... *whistles*

[dragontamer44722]

I haven't loved every sprite, but I also haven't felt the need to climb on the refreshments table and drop a turd in the punchbowl so everybody knows I didn't like the sprites. There's a difference between having a right to an opinion and having to shout it over everyone's heads in the middle of the release party, long after the work-phase when that criticism might have been useful and constructive.

 

That said...

 

I loved the 'raptors in the tall grass' vibe of the Greater Spotted juveniles, and wish it had carried over to the adults - but they look like they'll get along with my Harvests, who have been waiting for company. And if anyone reading takes that as a request for raptoriffic dragons... *whistles*

I actually think I'm going to breed them to Night Glories. Now I just have to get some

[moxiegraphix]

I really like all these dragons and more two-headed dragons is always great. Thanks to the sprite makers.