11/20/2012 [TDA #42] - The dragon didn't abduct the princess ...

[Eboreg]

The dragon IS the princess. Hoo boy I love this plot twist.

[Tapewolf]

The dragon IS the princess. Hoo boy I love this plot twist.

I remember the moment well.  Christmas 2007.  I was staying with my half-sister which I usually do, and on the kitchen wall was a picture my niece had drawn (she was about 6) in fuzzy-felt of a knight holding a dragon at bay while the princess stood behind him.  I looked at it and went 'What if...'
...and that provided the final piece of the puzzle in order to finish the story, which had stalled for a number of months.

[joshofspam]

Well I guess it makes sense why she's so small in dragon form.

Much like the first form they're born into, their dragon form also has to grow and mature when they finally get it.

[mithril]

this is an even more interesting plot twist than the one i've always wanted to throw at people (in a roleplaying game setting), where the Princess wasn't abducted by the dragon, she ran away with him/her willingly. either because something wrong/weird was occuring with the king, or because the princess and dragon had fallen for each other and were eloping.
and to be honest, that was the scenario i was expecting, that the Princess ran away from home to live with the dragon to escape an over bearing father or something.
but this is much more interesting. and now i've got another plot twist i could throw at people when using the old "princess kidnapped by dragon" plot!

[Tapewolf]

In the game which I have been developing but have never managed to build up enough interest to keep me working on it, one of the characters inadvertently slew the princess and rescued the dragon.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

In the game which I have been developing but have never managed to build up enough interest to keep me working on it, one of the characters inadvertently slew the princess and rescued the dragon.

Heh. I'm sure other twists could be done - for example, it turns out the "hero" is actually the dragon, the princess slays him, and runs off with the "dragon"...

Tropes are easily messed with, though. I mean, just think - play musical chairs, and have the hero, princess, and dragon changing places depending on the dice roll this round...

[mithril]

In the game which I have been developing but have never managed to build up enough interest to keep me working on it, one of the characters inadvertently slew the princess and rescued the dragon.

reminds me of this girl genius page
"...and thus the evil princess was defeated, and the wizard was saved!"   

[Gabi]

In the game which I have been developing but have never managed to build up enough interest to keep me working on it, one of the characters inadvertently slew the princess and rescued the dragon.

That reminds me of a coding joke I've heard a few times. That was what the assembly language programmer did.

[Eboreg]

You'll have to tell me that joke Gabi.

[joshofspam]

The game mentioned reminds me of a picture I saw on a art-site I went to.

It had a Knight, a chained to a post Maiden and a Dragon. So who does the knight carry off on his shoulder?

The stunned dragon, leaving the Maiden chained up.

Edit: Though for a dragon, she seems to change quite a bit in personality once she noticed Jakob had a camera.

[Gabi]

This is the most detailed version I have found ofthe joke, but it's in Spanish: http://www.juancho.eu/Humor/Informaticos/ComoMatarianUnDragonLosDiferentesProgramadores.aspx

If you want a translation for any of the languages, I can provide it. I'm not translating the whole page right now because it's very long.

[Fragmaster01]

Here's one. https://blogs.oracle.com/roumen/entry/how_to_kill_a_dragon

[Gabi]

Ah, thanks. Yes, that's pretty much it.