Rule Updates: Strict Canon, Dragonrider Sexuality, One Goldrider

[Estelle]

Hi Triad Members!

Thank you for all your comments on the proposed rule changes and your suggestions for new ways to make the group more active. We have made several updates to the FAQ on the website, which are described below. Please do let the webbies or council know if you find anything that's unclear or looks like a mistake on the website. Hopefully this will provide some new opportunities for writing and plotting - we are looking forward to seeing what new characters this inspires!

We are working on the other ideas that have been proposed - in particular on opening up positions held by members who are no longer active, and on our next Hatching. There will be more updates to come - watch this space



Strict Canon Rules (http://www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=692)

Rule 4 is now:

There are no absolute restrictions on dragonriders' sexuality, but please be aware of our FAQ on dragon color and sexual orientation when creating and writing about a dragonrider or candidate character's preferences. Any issues with mating flights which would cause a rider or their dragon serious distress must be approved by the Council. Otherwise, mating flight situations are up to the participants; stand-ins are not allowed.

Rule 8 is now:

Personas with a disability that would prevent them from fighting Thread will usually not be allowed to become a Candidate, and any such Impression must be approved by the Council (if you are not sure, please ask). Injuries which happen after Impression are allowed (with approval from the L1 if they happen in a post and are serious) and are much more likely as we are in a Pass. Please see our FAQ on the Healer Craft for information about the state of medical care on Pern.

Sexual Orientation, Gender, and Dragon Color (http://www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=679
This has been updated to replace the restrictions on dragonrider sexuality, with the points that you need to consider when deciding your dragonrider's preferences.

At Triad we only allow the traditional five dragon colors, with the gender of the rider depending on color as described in the books:

GREEN - Any gender
BLUE - Males, rarely females (as a Member Reward)
BROWN - Males
BRONZE - Males
GOLD - Females

There is no absolute rule on candidate or dragonrider sexuality, but there are a few points to be aware of when deciding on your character's preferences:

• As described in our Strict Canon Rules you need to be aware of the potential outcomes of your character's dragon's mating flight when deciding on their sexuality. For example, goldriders are usually heterosexual, as a gold's flight is always won by a bronze or brown, which are always ridden by men - although they may also be bisexual. For similar reasons, male greenriders are usually homosexual.
• For most of Triad Weyrs' history as a club, we followed the "strict canon" rule that gold, bronze, brownriders and female greenriders are heterosexual and male green and blueriders are bisexual or homosexual. Although this restriction has now been loosened, in-character assumptions about sexuality and dragon colour still exist socially in the Weyrs and Holds on Pern. Anything that differs from the "strict canon" will be unusual - and has potential for interesting storylines as our characters challenge these assumptions and stereotypes!

If you're planning to write a character outside the "strict canon" definition of dragonrider sexuality and are not sure what's allowed, it's a good idea to discuss with your mentor (for new members) a council member or writer of the Weyrleader/Weyrwoman for the location, so we can work out how best to fit them in with established club history.

This was quite difficult to write, as we wanted to balance being consistent with the club's history and the decisions writers have had to make about their characters in the past, with making sure everyone has the chance to create characters that interest them or feel represent them without being restricted from roles (such as wing rank) that depend on dragon colour. We found the input from members in the discussion thread about how this is going to work in-character very helpful on this - thank you!

As we don't want to rewrite the club history, in-character assumptions about what a dragon's colour says about the rider's sexuality still exist and any changes will be noticed (which may lead to some interesting storylines) - although this may develop over time as we write about it! For now, if you want to do something different we may have to work together to understand how your persona fits in to that history and with how the Weyr as a whole is responding to the changes, so we don't end up with contradicting stories. This is likely to be easiest for new Impressions, but we don't want to completely exclude adult dragonriders if we can agree on a storyline that fits.

If you have any questions or want to run an idea by someone, feel free to ask a council member or your mentor if you have one!

Other related FAQ updates:

• Male and Female Personas (http://www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?q=persona_sex - updated to add female blueriders
• My female candidate is bisexual or lesbian, can she be an candidate and Impress? http://www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=833 - deleted as now covered by the FAQ on dragonrider sexuality

One Goldrider Rule (http://www.triadweyrs.org/faq.php?fq_id=21)
This originally stated that writers of goldriders in Triad Weyrs can't have any other goldriders in Pern fandom. Due to changing times, we have modified this to only apply to Triad.

No member may have more than one goldrider within Triad Weyrs. Once you have a goldrider character you can no longer participate in contests for goldriders or apply to Impress gold at a Hatching.

If you have a goldrider in another club, congratulations and feel free to enter contests for one here - that is no longer an issue!

[halyonix]

thank you for the update! my only question is about current personas -- can a brownrider or bluerider change their sexuality (through in-character discovery/RP) to be bi/homosexual?

[Estelle]

If it would be allowed under the new rules, would make sense IC and doesn't conflict with what's already been written about the character or their history, then that is possible.

However, as this will be a change that's noticed in-character (IC), if it's something that wouldn't have been allowed under the previous "strict canon" rules (like a bisexual brownrider) then you should have a discussion with the council and/or the writers of the Weyrleaders at the dragonrider's location before making any changes, to work out how this will fit with the situation at that Weyr and with any planned storylines. For example, it might be that the Weyrleaders are planning on this change leading to some unexpected Impressions at a Hatching, so want to have any changes for existing riders following on from that and may ask other writers to hold off on any changes until then (at least outwardly!)