Flight Rising Discussion

So what I'm hearing is i need to finish watching Deep Space Nine ok.

Netflix took star trek off where can I watch it now?

[quote name="Delibird" date="2023-11-24 13:06:40" ] So what I'm hearing is i need to finish watching Deep Space Nine ok. Netflix took star trek off where can I watch it now? [/quote] Paramount+

@Istoki I mean, Undel's corgi is named Jean Luc and has a little captain's chair bed, that i(f memory serves) you can see on her user page. I think Trek is one of the safest inspiration guesses out there, ha!

(aaaand now I need to go borrow my brother's DS9 DVDs so I can, heh, engage with the rest of your points properly)

Star Trek Discovery has a huuuge thing (the spore drive) with the mycelium network. Biggest nerd easter egg is that the character who connects to it is called Paul Stamets.. the name of a real life mycologist.

[quote name="Istoki" date="2023-11-24 12:44:23" ] When I read the lore page for the auraboas, I was immediately reminded of Star Trek DS9 and the Changelings/Founders: -"constant state of communion with their fellows" while in The Loop -flexibility when it comes to living conditions -extreme vulnerability in the sleep state -little combat memories indicating an inclination toward pacificism -The Loop has a ton of parallels to the Great Link, including direct communication without need for speech, speech being imprecise as a communication method, and being almost undetectable when outside the presence of the Loop I'm not saying the FR staff are Trekkies, but this is a lot of thematic similarities. So many similarities that I'm opting to ignore the addition of the young Auraboas continuing to tend the Behemoth to the lore page following the apology notice. The theme of "can't escape one's heritage/history," in DS9 was recurring and came back to haunt just about every character throughout the show's run. It's not something that I plan on using heavily for my own clan lore. [/quote] This is absolutely what I first thought of. [i]Please note, though, that this does NOT erase the opinion and implications brought forward by native users.[/i] The Loop = The Great Link The Founders sent their children out to explore the galaxy, and yet when encountering Odo, were appalled that he didn't understand how to properly shapeshift (something the Changelings have been doing for centuries). They admonished him for being raised by 'solids' and not exploring what it meant to be a Changeling. They do not fight, and instead, enlist the Vorta and Jem'Hadar to fight their battles. They are vulnerable when regenerating/sleeping. When Odo finally experiences the Great Link, he emphasizes to Kira that it's not something she can understand due to the fluidity and way communication works without words within. The Great Link functions similar to a hivemind, yet with a "oneness" or singularity in feeling. Mix that with the non-linear time perception of the Prophets and the emphasis of an Ouroboros' circular nature, I can absolutely see the sci-fi implications meant to be portrayed through the Auraboas.

@Grune Definitely doesn't erase the opinions and implications brought up by various folks on FR, for sure.

Trying to get place this kind of lore with the Nature ancient was going to be difficult from the jump, and I agree with others that this may have been better received with Arcane or another flight with a stronger sci-fi inspiration. I'm interested to see the updated story and how staff will be implementing recommendations they've received.

Sci-fi isn't just about aliens! As a genre it can encompass all sorts of things, but most relevant here is the concept of the Loop. Ignoring the actual dragons themselves, the Loop is a non-linear experience of time, which I think is an incredibly interesting concept particularly when paired with the fact that these dragons can still be outwardly observed in a linear fashion. Technically, these dragons are in a way time travelling as they are experiencing the past simultaneously to their experience of the present. Even cooler is that it's established they're not also experiencing the future, which means they don't so much experience time as a line but more as an expanding bubble that infinitely grows to encompass more into what to these dragons is their equivalent of the present.

It also touches on themes of telepathy, the auraboas being a hivemind and all, but what I find particularly interesting is their lacking need to sleep when fully connected. This makes me wonder if connection to the Loop goes beyond a shared mind, to almost become a shared state of being. After all, once disconnected they develop the need to sleep, in which they become reconnected. This suggests that their rest is important not for the sleep itself, but rather the connection to the Loop. I have to wonder if an auraboa that became completely cut off from the Loop would survive?

I do think that the lore concepts behind this dragon are really cool, and I'm looking forward to seeing the context behind these expanded on. Hopefully it will go towards fixing the somewhat colonialist themes that came from the hatchlings' disconnection from the loop. Ideally I'd prefer to see a version where this is treated more as the horror that it would be - if our kids started experiencing time in a non-linear fashion, it would be truly terrifying. I also think realistically the kids would be more interested in trying to properly connect with their families than running off to join other clans.

(Also personally, I think it would make more sense for them to try to say too much at once when trying to communicate with dragons outside the Loop rather than saying so little in such simple ways. I mean, they're concurrently experiencing all of their past alongside their present, so I can't imagine they'd be used to putting things into such definitive, simple terms. It's also supposed to be cannon that the new generation still connect to the Loop during sleep, so I don't think they'd be seeking outside help to understand what is going on when, from what I understand, they can just pretty much experience it themselves once the kids reconnect. Perhaps even the Auraboas would be interested in studying non-loop dragons to better understand the new experiences being brought to them by their kids)

This is all of course just me word-vomiting adjacent thoughts because I find the core ideas behind the auraboas cool. I love weird sci-fi stuff, and it's such a shame that the concepts were essentially mishandled in a way that took them towards colonialist themes rather than a proper exploration of some very cool ideas.

As soon as I read the breed lore, my first thought on the Loop was actually, "oh! they're StarCraft Protoss." [img]https://i.imgur.com/YecXx7C.jpg[/img] Ancient mystic stewards with a communal psionic link? Knowledge preserved for generations in the minds of its subjects? Check, check, and check.