Quests & Challenges

[emoji=achievement size=1] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]thirty-seventh project: spittin' sparks[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vs4cf6to0puzhv9/lightningvs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol] [size=4][b]Started:[/b] December 19, 2023 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Coatl Male, Lightning[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Copper Boa[/size] [*][size=4]Cinnamon Malachite[/size] [*][size=4]Cyan Crackle[/size] [/LIST][/columns] Part of the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/4#post_56069157]abysmally stupid elemental project[/url]. Way back when I first started designing my lightning dragon it looked way, way different. What's a funny color name to use for a lightning dragon? Overcast, of course! What's a funny comic book style way of displaying lightning on a dragon? Ghost, of course! I believe it was some sort of XXY overcast iri/shim dragon with robin ghost or something - spiral, of course, to profit from the sheer amount of [i]b o n e s[/i]. The problem? I just didn't like it much. Sure, it reminded me a little of a storm cloud, but it.. wasn't really interesting. Not really something I believed I'd want in my lair for years and go "ah shucks this is such a nice dragon" every time I saw. When I revisited my scries I scrapped it, and started over. At the time I had a newfound love for the colors cinnamon and caramel. Chrysocolla and malachite were recently released, and I do believe boa and saddle might've been released since I had last scried these elemental dudes. So.. I clicked around a little... I believe I initially used brick for the secondary; it looked more muted. But cinnamon my love... so I tried... roughly the same hues, but so much vibrant! I normally don't like crackle. Here? [i]Love it.[/i] [columns][list][nextcol][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/vc2ysslsbffmmao/lightningf2.png[/img][nextcol][list][nextcol]The lightning dragons of the Shifting Expanse are engineers. They prefer to be quick and intuitive, so as to better harness the power of the tempest under which they make their home. Of all the dragons, Lightning dragons are the most ambitious, changing the world to adapt to them, rather than adapting to the world. Copper wire, tools, and reactors are their favored treasures.[nextcol][list][/columns] Okay.. that's... not a whole lot to go on. Engineers? Yeah. Storm things? Yeah. Tools? What [i]kind[/i] of tools? Any? Specialized? Can I name them Mallet and Hammer? It feels a bit too blunt, honestly. Reactors? These are funny little guys, alright. First I picked up Crates. BOX BOY!!!! He was a great-grandparent. Then I picked up another 4 great-grandparents, and 3 great-great-grandparent pairs. Charge x Whaitiri Frontinus x Tempest Faraday x Oya And for the next generation: Set x Lovelace Flash x Ayrton After a couple of nests, Frontinus x Tempest had Raijin, where I learned that copper faes have BLUE EARS!!!! He matched up with an older Faraday x Oya daughter. Raijin x Edith Which left Charge x Whaitiri with the rather thankless job to get Crates a girlfriend. It has been a long and ongoing process with no progress.

[emoji=achievement size=1] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]thirty-eight project: METAL BANANA[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/lcio6ut6d6nga98/lightvs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol] [size=4][b]Started:[/b] December 19, 2023 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Guardian Male, Light[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Metals Ripple[/size] [*][size=4]Flaxen Facet[/size] [*][size=4]Banana Smirch[/size] [/LIST][/columns] Part of the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/4#post_56069157]abysmally stupid elemental project[/url]. My original light dragon was something else entirely - I think it was like maize skink/some kind of yellow secondary/grapefruit soap, imperial. Looked good enough. Second version was also an imperial, but it had some kind of yellow harlequin. Also looked good enough, but I didn't really like it... "Guardian males are nice" I thought. And I'm sure there's a bunch of genes that would look great for it. Ripple is a favorite of mine, but I feel like it's fairly under-used, one of those old genes that aren't much on people's radar. I wanted to go for something that felt a bit like it was playing with optical phenomena rather than just being "lol warm, pale hues". Metals is a lovely color doing lovely things, facet - while I tried to get away from it for a while - brings in even more of that "glittery light and sparkles" vibe. And since I like using under-utilized genes.. well. Smirch. Smirch does a lot of heavy lifting on this one, brightening up the torso and head while not being overpowering. [columns][list][nextcol][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/wd4c7babdce0s3l/lightl.png[/img][nextcol][list][nextcol]The light dragons of the Sunbeam Ruins are philosophers. They prefer to be unbiased and logical, revealing the nature of the world as do rays of the sun's light. Of all the dragons, Light dragons are the most scholarly, holding the pursuit of truth as the highest virtue a dragon might aspire to. Scrolls and relics are their favored treasures.[nextcol][list][/columns] I think, if I had actually gone with Light back when I joined Flight Rising, I would still be there. They're just.. me. Me dragons. My partner would argue that I am whimsical and emotional, but at the end of the day I value truth and honesty [i]very[/i] highly and I always want the truth. I always want people to be honest, even if they've messed up. But I digress. For this project I was lucky enough to pick up an entire great-grandparent pair, as well as an extra (and adorable) great-grandparent. Joining them were, of course, five great-great-grandparent pairs. Magec x Glitter - for Photon Moondog x Hypatia Fizeau x Refraction Tyndall x Alpenglow Wollaston x Luminosity Photon - the mateless great-grandparent - was originally named "FruitLoop", I think - and with colors as adorable as his, who could say no to keeping him in their lair?! I already had a nice scry lined up for him, but it turned him into a banescale, so unlike Lambent he had to wait. Melvill x Lambent In their first nests, Tyndall x Alpenglow hatched a boy who matched up with a girl from Fizeau x Refraction. Verity x Qumran

[emoji=achievement size=1] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]thirty-ninth project: the survivor[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xyh2b6lcz0v9jy9/plaguevs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol] [size=4][b]Started:[/b] December 19, 2023 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Spiral Male, Plague[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Coral Chrysocolla[/size] [*][size=4]Crocodile Foam[/size] [*][size=4]Radioactive Flecks[/size] [/LIST][/columns] Part of the [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/4#post_56069157]abysmally stupid elemental project[/url]. In the end, I couldn't resist using radioactive for Plague. They are, after all, aberrant survivors of a kind... But to back up further: my original Plague design was a wildclaw. The primary was still coral, but she had slime, because it kind of made her look like she was melting. It was paired with some nice vibrant red alloy wings, and some flesh-colored opal. Not bad, but I didn't really like it. Version two kept the red wings but changed the primary to something gray, and added ghost. Just bones. Still not bad, but I didn't really like it. Third version somehow became known as "the meat-eating butterfly", because sometimes beautiful things (like butterflies) do slightly unexpected things (like eat dead things). She was coral slime/honeydew butterfly/cottoncandy opal. Kind of charming, but not It. I gave it a rest, and when I came back to it, Chrysocolla and Malachite had dropped. Not only did they save the lightning design, but now they were going to save plague, too. I redid it from scratch, but ended up keeping coral because it's just got this nice fleshy vibe. So, this guy is a survivor: he got dunked in some nasty goop(TM) and he's all scarred and pustule-y but he's still going strong! What is that, if not the spirit of Plague? [columns][list][nextcol][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/kx6th2g4cnnlamp/plaguef2.png[/img][nextcol][list][nextcol]The plague dragons of the Scarred Wasteland are survivors. They prefer to be as strong and adaptable as the disease they spread. Of all the dragons, Plague dragons are the most savage, and celebrate the cycle of life and death by constantly pitting themselves against the other elements. The bones and armor of their enemies are their favored treasures.[nextcol][list][/columns] Survivors.. I like stories of people surviving harsh, messed up stuff - not necessarily inflicted upon them by other humans, mind, but rather nature itself. Them "constantly pitting themselves against the other elements" brought Gladiator games to mind, and what were the gladiators if not survivors? I started this project with only four great-great-grandparent pairs. Justinian x Cocoliztli Shackleton x Rib Erra x Ada Mawson x Legionella And one great-grandparent pair, as well as two mateless girls. Ruohtta x Tularemia Very, very quickly I managed to finish that generation though. Sopona was hatched from Erra x Ada, Iyarri from Mawson x Legionella, Varicella from Justinian x Cocoliztli, and finally Achillia from Shackleton x Rib. Sopona x Rubeola Iyarri x Yersinia Ruohtta x Tularemia Varicella x Achillia Then I encountered the great irony of this project: Varicella x Achillia hatched a one-off girl, Violet. Sopona x Rubeola had hatched a nice enough boy. So I had a grandparent pair... with 1 in 28 odds... but it still felt like they were a pair put together to produce a slightly more mediocre version of Violet. Sigh. Lacrimal x Violet

[font=georgia][size=5][i][b]fortieth project: astral zap[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/g5z17jtubxlqke2/shadowvs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] January 20, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Imperial Male, Shadow[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Parameter Secret[/size] [*][size=4]Parameter Secret[/size] [*][size=4]Parameter Secret[/size] [/LIST][/columns] This is a secret. But all the dragons came from the AH. And for being "a cute little project" it's been A REAL PAIN!!!!

[font=georgia][size=5][i][b]something fishy: trufflesnout & snuffletrout[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/q78dr87k5hd313c/watervs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] February 11, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] May 22, 2024 [b]Blueprint:[/b] Aberration Male, Water[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Tan Orb[/size] [*][size=4]Cornflower Saddle[/size] [*][size=4]Oilslick Polypore[/size] [/LIST][/columns] One day I said: "I want an aberration named Trufflesnout & Snuffletrout". Where did this come from? I don't know. I just felt .. inspired, I guess. I like swapping letters from the beginnings of words. Someone said that would be amazing. I went to scry. Polypore for truffles. Water for trouts. Tan because it looks good. And eventually cornflower for the wings, after trying out some reds. "But I don't need another breeding project" I said "However you do need more truffles" someone said So I picked up a couple of dragons. One of them .. I probably couldn't exalt even at gunpoint. First of all, his parents names were Sporporple and HrophleMlorphle, so of course I named him Hoppledopple. Secondly, I bought him off a user with [i]trout[/i] in their username. What were the odds?! I had two nice grandparent pairs. - Hopple x Kei - - Gunvald x Kamalia - Kamalia and Hoppledopple were found through the search; I felt a bit bad for Kamalia because she was initially a fully gened gaoler, and quite nice, but I needed her. ([s]or so I thought[/s]) Their odds were 1 in ?? and 1 in ??, which I would say were very nice grandparent odds. After a few nests I was able to put my first final pair together. - Blue x Spirit - Their odds were 1 in ??. However... they never got to nest. Why? Hoppledopple saved the day!! Now all I needed was to commission an accent of Snuffletrout holding a trout. [center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/95198308][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/951984/95198308_350.png[/img][/url] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/q7bzkdkcca4yban/waterbottom.png[/img][/center]

[emoji=rainbow star 2] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]this project doesn't exist: sandcat[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nvu9r9a2vtf6kcr/icevs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] May 7, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Veilspun Female, Ice[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Sand Leopard[/size] [*][size=4]Umber Clouded[/size] [*][size=4]Caribbean Branches[/size] [/LIST][/columns] I wasn't going to start any new projects until I had caught up on "dragon paperwork" (this log, essentially). Maybe there was also some real life paperwork I needed to get caught up on as well. I didn't have six empty project tabs in my hibden (which I do today, June 24), but I had a few. Then some projects needed reassigning aaaaand there I was, with the wish I wasn't going to take. In my defense, it looked like relatively smooth sailing, because rather freshly hatched in a Dragonwish nursery tab sat a dragon named Cletus, who just happened to be like.. the perfect father. And that's half the project just nixed from existence. Getting the other parent, however, proved slightly more tricky. By which I mean there existed lots of great dragons, but they were inaccessible. Aka, in the lair of the former breeder. Oh welllll. I found myself four great-great-grandparent pairs. Or rather, first I found three, and then I had to wait a few weeks, because there just weren't any other suitable dragons laying around. Flux x Peacock Portofino x Yippee Uriel x Edsinette Ellbert x Lotta Flux was a stud; Portofino, Uriel, Lotta, and Yippee were bought privately; which leaves little Peacock, Edsinette, and Ellbert as having been bought from the AH. Not a bad start. Flux x Peacock started off by giving me a 0/0/14 girl, which I thought was interesting. Some time later I decided to pair up an Uriel x Edsinette boy with an Ellbert x Lotta girl. Emil x Zynic

[emoji=rainbow star 2] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]throwback [s]thursday[/s] friday: plague doctor junior[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xyh2b6lcz0v9jy9/plaguevs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] June 28, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Imperial Male, Plague[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4][s]White[/s] Flint Harlequin[/size] [*][size=4]Sanguine Sarcophagus[/size] [*][size=4]Garnet Glimmer[/size] [/LIST][/columns] This is kind of [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/83641796]Corium's[/url] ([url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/1#post_52838020]the imperial plague doctor[/url]) slightly more goth younger brother. I have a tendency to check out the Plague wishes every once in a while, and though this one had been placed just the day before... I couldn't resist! I had to take it! I knew that Corium's owner had some dragons of a similar vibe, and a quick perusal revealed two things to me: 1, flint harlequin is bloody amazing and 2, their dragon had capsule. Originally this wish was submitted for white harlequin, but I showed them flint as a "hey, by the way, have you seen flint harlequin?" and they liked it! It quickly became obvious that the dragon market liked two things: whitish dragons with red secondaries and tertiaries, and.. uh... [i]not[/i] harlequin and sarcophagus. I hadn't expected that, honestly, but it was reminiscent of the situation I'd found myself in previously with a few other projects (namely [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/2#post_54022445]cat's gold[/url] and [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/3#post_54919529]cold space[/url]): common colors, uncommon genes. What I had learned, especially from cold space, was to make sure I wasn't leaning too heavily towards one side of the color spectrum. That's a good way to paint yourself into a corner, and you basically just have to wait for RNG to throw you a bone. But, I was able to get a fair few pairs put together relatively quickly. It did have to start out in "oh gods no" territory, and due to my struggle to find suitable dragons I asked the DWF for some help. Sometimes, people have dragons - or pairs - up their sleeves, and this occasion was no exception. I got hold of a few more pairs and dragons, and slowly but surely this was starting to resemble a functional project. First of all, I chose a slightly unorthodox method to get rid of one great-grandparent pair, meaning I only had 3 more slots to breed for. Said method consisted of pairing two pretty decent dragons together, despite the fact that they didn't quite cover the goal nor have all the required genes. I figured that this early on I'd have plenty of time to rebreed them, and a near-miss grandparent with 2/3 gem genes? Perfectly acceptable in my book. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/MDcY28X.png[/img][/center] After a few nests together, their best child was a -1/0/1 imperial boy with harlequin and glimmer. Not bad. And I know that normally I go from the bottom to the top when I present my new projects, but this time I am not. So, on to the next generation: great-great-grandparents. While shopping around I - to my surprise and delight - actually managed to put one pair down there already. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/EVXbdZw.png[/img][/center] And then.. it was just The Rest. It took me a few weeks of scrounging, asking around, and hoping for new hatches and sales, but eventually I got all the pairs put together. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/zEfosBK.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/zP1Dvlh.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/xHfAlBw.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/HmJdfGT.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/AtD0a48.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/fAew4dx.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/AyeJjgX.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/3ej3CY9.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/lRzfazc.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/mA9YV8s.png[/img][/center] Looking at them, I managed to balance the colors [i]reasonably[/i] well. I still felt like I had way too much leaning towards certain sides - the white side of flint, for example - but being conscious of it meant I also had outliers in the other directions, like Fortune and Hope For Bronze. Scorpion x Nattbris were also weighted towards a darker primary. And some of the pairs had pretty good cover of the color range, but their genes kept them from being further up the pyramid. I also found it funny I ended up naming an XYY Asymmetry... It was just the best horse name I found at the time! Anyway, the sources for this project was quite, uh, varied. Artemis and Void were found pretty early on through the search, followed by Lehana, Fortune, Hope For Bronze, and Hyrum. Deon, Shadowflame, and Henhowl came from the AH. Orsino I picked up from the DWF nursery, Starfall from the triple library, and Haldana, Zelkova, Turf, and Moon x Blood were all kindly offered to me by DWF members when I asked for help. Moon x Blood were actually an STP pair, with [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90156151]Moon[/url] being one of many XXY rejects from my previous project [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3189527/3#post_54919529]cold space[/url]. Later, I padded out the project with Hurmos, Brynn, Scorpion, Nattbris, Featherstone, and Asymmetry, all from the AH. Funnily enough, I do believe I bought like three of the AH dragons from other DWF members.. and luckily, the only relation I had to contend with was a minor one between Henhowl x Haldana and Hurmos x Brynn. I never nested Moon x Blood myself, but they were nested for me specifically, and in their first nest they gave me a nice lad. Deon x Shadowflame hatched a suitable mate for him. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/h4Jm0Wj.png[/img][/center] [b]September 19, 2024[/b] I love it when I hatch a great mate for a dragon .. whose parents are already on a new nest. Love it. So much. Anyway! Starfall x Fortune - scroll up, [i]look at that range[/i] - decided to hatch a mad child. She was 7/1/-2, and inherited harlequin, sarcophagus, and glimmer. Thank you RNG! On top of that, she matched up nicely with a Vredebest x Joviality son, so let's hope that nest they're on is useless anyway. - Eldvide x Arabella -

[emoji=rainbow star 2] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]forty-fourth project: sunset zest[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/9xvbzh0xieubupb/windvs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] June 29, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Skydancer Female, Wind[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Cantaloupe Fade[/size] [*][size=4]Radioactive Flair[/size] [*][size=4]Maize Soap[/size] [/LIST][/columns] I don't quite remember what I was shopping for when I picked up the batch of four wishes - the one above this one I know was because I enjoyed the aesthetic, and I suppose that has to be true for this one too. Which, I mean, it [i]is[/i], it's all sorts of vibrant and fun! But why did I pick up four at the same time? Aanyway.. I thought this one would be fairly forgiving to set up, but it absolutely was not. There were loads of good dragons in the color range, but they were all siblings. There was not a whole lot of soap. And then they all had the same colors, anyway, so forming pairs was practically impossible. I grumped around Flight Rising and somehow managed to set up a full pyramid start. Initially I chose to stick only to the correct breed rarity, but after a certain amount of frustration I included a snapper in there. I figured I could always slap a nocturne scroll on any snapling descendant further down the line if need be. [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/EOSwGbi.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/shQaCf7.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/mvkGBmK.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ZZb0o0E.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/z3dvgRE.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/Xetqm0k.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/3iPh5cC.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/dvPWQYX.png[/img][/center] ([url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/96577571]Kengil[/url] is drop-dead gorgeous, by the way.) All in all.. not too bad, right? Mishka was the one with all the siblings, Mizai and Qadir were somewhat related, and.. after roughly two months of breeding, I had not managed to put together a single pair for the next generation. [i]What[/i] on earth were they doing? I was drowning in good babies, but none of them were compatible with each other! Ahem. Anyway. Mishka, Eleonora, Coco, and Siona were bought privately. Hazelnut was from the DWF nursery. The rest came off the AH. Looking at the cards, I also realized I should probably give Mishka python or something. Woops.

[emoji=rainbow star 2] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]classy & elegant: cream & cakes[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nvu9r9a2vtf6kcr/icevs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] July 6, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Coatl Male, Ice[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Brown Pinstripe[/size] [*][size=4]Coral Bee[/size] [*][size=4]Cream Glimmer[/size] [/LIST][/columns]

[emoji=rainbow star 2] [font=georgia][size=5][i][b]coatl coatl coatl coatl: fresh jungle pear[/b][/i][/font][/size] [columns] [img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/xpyp7me3zebq5ql/naturevs1.png[/img][color=transparent]_[/color] [nextcol][size=4][b]Started:[/b] August 7, 2024 [b]Finished:[/b] [i]Working . . .[/i] [b]Blueprint:[/b] Coatl Male, Nature[/size] [LIST] [*][size=4]Jungle Vipera[/size] [*][size=4]Pear Peregrine[/size] [*][size=4]White Underbelly[/size] [/LIST][/columns] Why was I suddenly doing so many coatl projects? I still didn't like female coatls!