Lone Star Dragon

--------- End + Q&A / Bonus Content

You have reached the end of what I have currently posted, but not the end of the story. So please check back later for new chapters.

But Lone Star Dragon is more than one story. It's a universe that I am always expanding on, so beyond this point is all the extra content that isn't directly related to Orion and Star-Fall's story.

- Short Stories or deleted scenes.

- A Glossary of dragon names and terminology.

- The unabridged version of Academia Drakonnica, if you want to know everything I know about my dragons. Everything...

- Any art I've done or received, or other in-world artifacts.

- Or wish to design a dragon that I might use somewhere in the LSD universe.

-x-x-x-x-

Q&A

But lets start with a Q&A. Not that I've received any questions yet, but I can think of some to get us started.

Q: Are feral or domesticated dragons a metaphor for another group?

A: They are probably a metaphor for many cultures, but I did not write them to represent any one group. Ferals do seem to represent Native Americans, but they don't because Native Americans exist in this world too, but in smaller numbers because of competition with dragons.  If they are not depicted yet, they will be at some point.

Nor do Orion's domesticated siblings mirror the Irish / Chinese / or any human nationality that was taken advantage of for the American cause.

I will acknowledge that a metaphor between Orion's crossbreed family and interracial human relationships was at least somewhat intentional.

Q: Am I a horrible person for having POV characters that support the Confederacy while portraying the Union as the villain.

A: I am a horrible person, but not for that reason.

For starters, in my research, I have found that the Union was not the bastion of justice that is often considered to be. For instance, Lincoln was considering adding a permanent addition to the Constitution protecting slavery in existing territories to preserve the country, but most of the southern states were on their way out by then. After realizing that compromise was no longer what Northerners wanted, did he begin pressing for abolition instead. (This does not reflect his personal feelings, only what he was willing to do as president.)

Neither were Northerners, as a whole, offended by slavery, but equally offended that the south would dare rebel and make a shameful spectacle of America to the world. For these people, war wasn't about equality, but about putting the spoiled child in the corner. There were other northerners who saw slavery not as a moral evil, but an economic one, and were afraid that the spread of free labor would cost them their jobs.

Secondly, it makes sense that ferals would feel at home with the South seeing how dragon colonies resemble plantations far more than do the chaos of independent living. The South is also a mirror or foil for ferals, who have been more or less enslaving each other, but by sex rather than skin color.

And lastly, it simply adds more tension and opens the future to new possibilities. Had the dragons sided with the Union instead, who were already destined to win the war, the South would have only been accelerated in their defeat.

Q: What inspired this story?

A: Foremost was the Temeraire Series. It's a historical fantasy with dragons based at the beginning of 1800 and set in the European and eastern nations where dragons are used as aircraft. But two things bothered and inspired me.

The first, America is barely mentioned in that series. Second, most of the series is from the human POV and focuses mostly on a human agenda. The dragons had little influence in that series, basically acting like giant house cats. This was adorable, but I wanted dragons who were more invested in their destiny and had a little more bite.

Secondly, was The Age of Fire series, which is a somewhat dark, Middle Earth style fantasy series from a dragon perspective that seriously considered dragon biology and mindset. This is what I am channeling when I write from Orion's POV.