#feathered dragons

[here-be-descriptions]

[Image Description: artwork depicting a woman and a dog standing at the edge of a forest, watching an angelic white dragon take flight. End image description.]

We'll meet again someday

[havenraven]

Dragons but if some variants had had feathers or fur…

I’ve based them on birds for the moment, particularly eagles, and dinosaurs like archaeopteryx. Defo going to look into feathered paleo art as well ~

[customcreatures]

Little feathered friends

[linaselandbasil]

Dimorphism in dragons

(Yes, this is eldarya content, I'm analyzing dragons. Don't worry we will talk about Valkyon and Lance. )

In a previous installation I proposed that the cause for different colored coats could be dimorphism. Dimorphism is the natural phenomenon of different looking genders, it is usually the result of $€xu@L selection.

For example: Peahens choose to mate with the male who has the most impressive tail feathers. This trait is linked to the y chromosome (I assume, don't quote me on this one) so every male offspring is guaranteed to have it (unless a genetic mutation occurs) and every female offspring is guaranteed to not have it.

The *nasty word* selection is so prevalent that the natural selection didn't reverse it. The big feathers of peacocks make it really hard to fly away when a predator is after them, so the sexier the peacock the easier it is to murk them. Despite this, peahens couldn't give less of a fuck, they don't like him that much. If he distracts the tiger while everyone else flees that's his problem to deal with!

Usually, in nature, when a male is very colorful and yassified it means that they're competing for female attention (there's exceptions). When the male is a gigachad compared to less gigachad females that's usually because they live in groups where the male specimen aren't as important socially and they're selected (or compete) to be a walking sperm bank, they basically get hella pussy (lion, deer, chicken), or it's simply a result of a coincidence (canids, felines). When the females are bigger that's possibly a coincidence too, but larger females are more efficient when the creatures are monogamous (only one partner. Humans are not monogamous by nature) because if the male is any bigger than it needs to be, that's a waste of resources on such a small scale. Usually bigger females occur in carnivorous animals, more often in birds and therapods. (Eagle, black widow, T-rex)

Alright, I'm not an expert but I think this is enough context. Let's get into it!

...

Tia remarked that her sons grew up to be really tall. (Father is also tall) This might be because she is small because of her phenotype or she's small simply because dragons mature differently and she was young. Let's say she's small because female dragons are smaller than males. That could mean that: a)dragons live in a social structure where one male is protecting his partners and offspring, most likely his adult sons as well. b)It's a coincidence and they live in a social structure like wolves where the oldest members protect and lead the youth. There was once a study that concluded that there's alpha wolves and they lead the pack, but that's simply not the case. In a follow-up study the research concluded that the "alphas" were the parents and grandparents of the pack and they were teaching and raising their pups even after they grew up. This is very similar to how humans function, must be why we get along so well.

I'll assume that the wolfpack theory is the case, since male dominance is kind of icky and young males getting thrown out because their father is scared that they'll fuck their mother is not the vibe. Very small shriveled up penis energy. Also, with this social structure, young males either become loners or stick together because being alone is hard for social animals. The fact that this doesn't go both ways and females can't have more than one male even breathing in their direction, one of them killing the other one might have been inevitable. I really don't get why Erika is so hot to them, she's literally living drywall.

Let's propose that male dragons are yassified like peacocks or deer. That would mean that they're physically bigger than females and they beat each other up to impress females. This would make horns make scientific sense and it would mean that Lance and Valkyon would be fighting each other to the bitter end every year for two weeks straight, but otherwise they'd be civil and they'd be allowed to live with the rest of dragon society.

They might just get groovy and do a little dance to impress their muse, they might sing, or, my favorite option:

They build a nest and fill it with pretty things! Aah, I'm getting the downstairs tingle just thinking about it! My my, what a mating ritual~

...

I headcanon dragons to be social creatures who function much the same way as humans, so they would live in communities with hundreds of individuals, the community contains several smaller groups with 20-30 individuals. Since they're large bodied predators, they'd need to live relatively far from one another to have enough food. That would mean that a community would occupy several hectares of land per mouth to feed, so their numbers are small and they need tight social bonds and complex communication to avoid inbreeding.

In a community, the young ones are raised and taught by all members, much like in humans. The young ones get taught how to socialize, and then to forage and hunt. Contrary to what people might assume, intelligence is not always an advantage. Brains consume a lot of energy and if there's no benefit to thinking, it makes the animal waste resources. Dragons would need to be pretty intelligent to understand social codes, learn from example and then find a way to teach too. Their intelligence benefits them, because it is a lot easier to survive together than alone.

Something that I thought up a while ago: Art separates people from animals and compassion separates monsters from creatures.

Dragons don't need to be like humans to be successful, but since humans are by far the most successful intelligent animal, I would assume we could see eye to eye with them. My favorite animal is a dragon, mostly because they're made up and anyone can imagine them however they think is best.

Let's look at some drawings:

this last drawig I made for a different post but I forgot if I ever used it. Look at it regardless, they're some beautiful specimens! (They're siamese dragons from the post about pigmentation)

@dragons-nest-black-dragon would you look at this, it's finished! (Mostly, I feel like I can add more but I'm tired)

I SUMMON THE COUNCIL!

@losyashkakus @lumen-anima @aide-falls @lunii12

And you, @little-frog-from-the-saturn, you seemed to like these so here you go. Another one to read.

[the-unicorns-of-nienna]

[Image Description: artwork of a serpentine dragon with eight pairs of wings, and pearlescent feathers, floating above a starlit desert. End image description.]

dream dragon 🌌

[disarmonia]

Here's a portrait of Dame Aylin from Baldur's Gate 3, started it a long time ago and finally got back to it last night. I miss playing BG3, wish I had more free time now to at least finally complete the third act. This one is just a little treat for myself while I try to finish all my commissions and charity projects. MY TIP JARS HERE ❤️‍🩹

[wayward-delver]

Trigger gave Velociraptor Falin Feathers.

[sunflower-rose]

works every time

[ellohcee]

Huevember days 16-18

[voidsoupz]

blue eyes, white dragon, jkjk. this dragon ended up looking kinda mushroomy tho i didn't plan on it.

[insp. words: peacock, white dragon, wyrm] kinda following @kmccaigue 's list:)

[nicopossum]

Gay dragons (festive) ❤️🐲

[the-unicorns-of-nienna]

[Image Description: artwork depicting a serpentine dragon with six wings, and white feathers like those of a swan. End image description.]

Feathered 🪶

[flawseer]

#15 - "Fluffy"

Smaugust 2024

Here is Princess Blaze.

I imagine for a royal Icewing like Glacier, who is always expected to carry herself with immaculate, stoic grace, being exposed to Blaze's unbridled, uncompromising hedonism must be very therapeutic.

[steamclouds]

Leyendecker-inspired fancy Jarlaxle!

[m4rs-ex3]

i love how callum's choice of "classic spells to demonstrate to a non-believer that i can indeed do magic" is always aspiro when it is least convenient, and fulminis that one time he was just pissed off

[here-be-descriptions]

[Image Description: greyscale artwork depicting a feathered dragon eagerly taking a slice from a pie on a plate. End image description.]

day 25

a dragon about to enjoy its pie