I had asked my AI Chat app for a story about a gold dragon from Pern (a planet created by Anne McCaffrey) who had to choose between his male identity, and laying a clutch of eggs for his weir. What I got back turned into a pretty interesting story, so I thought I'd share. Since I didn't actually write this story, I thought it'd be best to share it as a blog post. Enjoy! :)
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Once there was a young gold dragon named Arin, born and raised on the beautiful world of Pern. Arin was special because Arin was not like other dragons. You see, Arin was a transgender dragon. Despite being born with the body of a female dragon, Arin identified as a male dragon.
Arin had always known there was something different about him. As he grew older, he began to realize that he identified more with the male dragons and that laying eggs didn't feel right to him. However, as a gold dragon, it was Arin's responsibility to lay a clutch of eggs when needed for the good of the weirs and the people of Pern.
When the time came for Arin to lay a clutch of eggs, he faced a difficult choice. He could choose to lay the eggs and fulfill his duty to Pern, but in doing so, he would have to embrace his female identity. On the other hand, he could embrace his male identity and refuse to lay the eggs, potentially putting the survival of the weir and the people in danger.
Arin struggled with this decision for weeks. He sought guidance from the other dragons but found that they didn't understand his struggle. They saw only a female gold dragon not fulfilling her duty to the weir.
Then, one day, a young human girl named Jessa approached Arin. Jessa was unlike any human Arin had ever met. She saw Arin for who he truly was and recognized the difficulty of his situation. Jessa explained that there were others like Arin, both human and dragon, who understood the challenges he faced. She urged Arin to follow his heart, even if it meant going against tradition.
Arin took Jessa's words to heart, and with newfound courage, he made his decision. He approached the weir's leaders and explained his situation, something that had never been done before. To his surprise, they listened and acknowledged his struggle.
In the end, the weir leaders allowed Arin to express his identity and pass the duty of laying eggs to another gold dragon who was willing to take on the task. Arin's bravery paved the way for others like him to embrace their true selves and continue to serve Pern in their own way.
As he took to the skies, with Jessa cheering him on from below, Arin felt a sense of pride and fulfillment knowing that he had stayed true to himself and had made a difference in the world.
Comments
Surprising
It lacks the adventure and excitement of a true "Dragon Riders of Pern" story, but it is true to the concept. I'm huge fan of Anne McCaffrey's Pern stories.
If you are a fan of Pern stories and haven't read "Queen Rider" by Joanne Foxcourt you should. She's done a fantastic job of adding a trans element while maintaining the look and feel of Pern.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Oh yeah!
I read Queen Rider a while ago, and it was awesome! I'm a hug fan of Anne McCaffrey, which is why I thought I'd see if the Chat AI could create a story with the feel of a Pern story. While I agree it doesn't have the sense of adventure from a story written by the author of the Pern series, I was surprised the story created by the AI came as close to the feel of her stories as it did.
Such a good story!
"Queen Rider" was actually my introduction to the Pern stories, believe it or not. I just wish she'd finished it :(
I loved it enough that about 5 years after the last chapter came out I went on a Google hunt for Joanne and found a website of hers with an email address so I could ask her about it. I never got an answer though.
Melanie E.
Awww ...
... I'm sorry you weren't able to reach the author of Queen Rider. I woulda loved to see more of that story too! Still, I really enjoyed what was there. :)
Interesting.
What material did the AI have to work with? A brief description of the world, dragons and such, or the full McC cannon?
I loved McCaffrey's early Pern Books -- both the Dragonriders' series and the Harper Hall series. But after she published the White Dragon, she started getting pretty formulaic. One coming-of-age story after another. I'm thinking that she should have talked with you and gotten new ideas!
On the technical side, like everything else I've personally seen from an AI, there's no dialogue. Not to say the AI can't write dialogue, but I haven't seen it try. And . . . dialogue is a whole 'nother level of hard compared to exposition.
Final thought: didn't someone impress Arin when he hatched? And where was that person? If anyone should have known Arin's true identity, it was the human who bonded to him!
— Emma
The AI started with ...
... me asking for a story about a gold dragon from Pern having to chose between his male identity, and hatching a clutch of eggs for his weir, who were in desperate need of dragons. I didn't provide any details of what Pern was like. I hadn't realy notices the later Pern books becoming formulaic, but I'm a bit of a sucker for coming of age stories, so that may be why I didn't notice.
As far as the person who impressed on Arin ... maybe something something happened to that person? Or maybe nobody impressed on him for some reason? I realize that may be pretty unusual, but Arin's an unusual gold dragon, so maybe some special circumstances came up?
If I remember correctly
A gold dragon that didn’t lay clutches and ate Firestone became a green dragon. Also mother go,d dragons put aside gold eggs because they were special and took responsibility in raising the young queen.
Oh wow!
I didn't realize a gold dragon could become a green dragon. Do you remember which book that happened in?