Shifting Stars

Shifting Stars is the third/final book in Pern. It is the Wings of Fire adaptation of Shifting Stars, the third/final book in L1quid's series These Alien Dragons. The book succeeds Shifting Storms and Rising Tides; Lance Carver is the main POV.
==Synopsis==
Lance Carver has been through hell. His homeworld has been destroyed by an asteroid and now everyone he knows is gone.
Now, he's one of the last humans of Pern saved by A.R.K. alongside its native dragons.
On A.R.K., endangered species are preserved until the artificial planet finds an actual planet for them to start over on.
So when A.R.K. dumps everyone on a seemingly deserted swamp-filled planet, everyone assumes they've been saved from extinction.
But that could be far from the truth. This planet holds more than life - secrets and death lie dormant in its core, and it's beginning to awaken.
----Lance Carver has been through hell. First, his family was killed in a war that the humans of Pern were dragged into. Secondly, he has lived through a dragon-run authoritarian nightmare when hope seemed to come back to him.
Now, he's one of the last humans of the planet saved by A.R.K. alongside its native dragons.
On A.R.K., endangered species are preserved until the artificial planet finds an actual planet for them to start over on.
So when A.R.K. dumps everyone on Burroughs 2, a planet dominated by swamps, everyone assumes they've been saved from extinction.
But that could be far from the truth. This planet holds more than life - secrets and death lie dormant in its core, and it's beginning to awaken.
==A Guide to the Universe==
===A Guide to Pern===
<tabber>
|-|=
Click on each tab to view the Guide to Pern.
|-|BeetleWings=
Description: a combination of SilkWings, HiveWings, and RainWings
Species Adaptations: can shoot a form of flaming silk known as "flamesilk", can shoot venom from teeth, can detect threats within surroundings with antennae, have stingers in wrists, can shoot acid from tail stinger, poisonous teeth
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern (formerly); continent Pantala, planet Pern (before extinction)
|-|Dragons=
Dragons are the native lifeforms of Pern. They were created when the human settlers genetically modified the original native lifeforms to be larger, stronger, and sentient for military purposes. However, this backfired, when the dragons thought for themselves and overthrew their creators in an event known as "the Scorching".
They are divided into eleven species - BeetleWings, HiveWings, IceWings, LeafWings, MudWings, NightWing, RainWings, SandWings, SeaWings, SilkWings, and SkyWings.
|-|HiveWings=
Description: scales in shades of yellow, orange, and red; four dragonfly-like wings; patches of black scales here and there on bodies
Species Adaptations: although many do not have any, some have differing "abilities" based on genes and environment, including shooting venom from teeth, stingers in wrists, shooting acid from tail stinger, and poisonous teeth
Homeworld: continent Pantala, planet Pern
|-|Humans=
Description: skin in all shades of white, brown, and black; bipedal (walk on two legs); two arms, hands, and feet; sexual dimorphism (males are taller than females); wear different forms of clothing, with material from surrounding environments
Species Adaptations: can create tools from surrounding environments
Homeworld: planet Earth (origin), all across the universe (after spaceflight technology development)
|-|IceWings=
Description: scales in shades of white, grey, and blue; forked blue tongues; serrated claws to grip the ice and other surfaces
Species Adaptations: can breathe smoke-like ice from their mouths ("frostbreath" or "freezing death-breath"); can resist all forms of cold and shades of light; very sharp eyesight
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|LeafWings=
Description: scales in shades of green and brown (accenting colors can be any known color); two leaf-shaped wings
Species Adaptations: can gain energy from sunlight, knowledge of plants, some individuals have "leafspeak" (a form of chlorokinesis)
Homeworld: continent Pantala, planet Pern
|-|MudWings=
Description: scales in shades of brown, with orange and gold scales seen occasionally; thick, armored scales; nostrils on top of snout like crocodiles and alligators; muscular and beefy stature
Species Adaptations: can hold breath for one hour (sixty minutes), can breathe fire if body is warm enough, can camouflage into the earth and the waters of swamps/marshes, exceptional strength, resistance to heat and fire if hatched from a blood-red egg
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|NightWings=
Description: scales in shades of black or darker shades of other colors; silver scales scattered on undersides of wings, resembling a sky full of stars
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can blend into shadows and dark areas, can foresee the future or read minds if hatched under any of the three moons
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|Proto-Dragons=
Description: a combination of all known dragons of planet Pern; were the size of birds-of-prey before being experimented on
Species Adaptations: varied, although the majority could breathe fire
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern (before extinction)
|-|RainWings=
Description: scales in all known shades and tints of colors in the universe; ruff behind ears; fangs in mouth; prehensile tails
Species Adaptations: can camouflage by changing the coloration of their scales with the chromatophores in their skin, can shoot an acid that degrades all organic matter from fangs
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|SandWings=
Description: scales in shades of yellow and light brown; scorpion-barbed tail; forked black tongues; rippling dune-appearing spine
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can camouflage into desert sand, heat-radiating scales, can go a long time without food and/or water, highly tuned sense of smell and hearing
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|SeaWings=
Description: scales in shades of blue, green, and purple; gills on neck; webs between claws; bioluminescent stripes all over body
Species Adaptations: can breathe underwater in all bodies of water, well-tuned nocturnal vision, can use tails to create large waves or to kill enemies
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
|-|SilkWings=
Description: scales in all colors of the universe; four butterfly-like wings with appear at age 6 during a process known as "Metamorphosis"; antennae on head
Species Adaptations: can shoot silk from wrists after "Metamorphosis", can detect threats within surroundings with antennae, some individuals can shoot a form of flaming silk known as "flamesilk"
Homeworld: continent Pantala, planet Pern
|-|SkyWings=
Description: scales in shades of orange and red; enormous wings
Species Adaptations: can breathe fire, can fly faster than an average dragon, high endurance and stamina, can resist all forms of cold
Homeworld: continent Pyrrhia, planet Pern
</tabber>
===A Guide to Yir===
<tabber>
|-|=
Click on each tab to view the Guide to Yir.
|-|MoonWings=
Description: black scales; crescent-shaped white spikes and horns; twin tails; translucent wing membranes
Species Adaptations: have some form of telepathy which can be used to read minds, and telepathically communicate with non-MoonWings
Homeworld: planet Yir (before it's destruction)
|-|Yir=
Description: skin in all shades of white, brown, and black; bipedal (walk on two legs); two arms, hands, and feet; sexual dimorphism (males are taller than females); wear different forms of clothing, with material from surrounding environments; eyes in shades of blue and green
Species Adaptations: can create tools from surrounding environments, have some form of telepathy which can be used to read minds
Homeworld: planet Yir (before it's destruction)
</tabber>
==Trivia==
*L1quid considers Shifting Stars to be their most violence- and gore-heavy novel they've ever written, due the amount of realistic injuries in the plotline and because many characters die in the book. It is also the most emotionally-charged book, as it deals with picking up the pieces when everything's lost and that this is the finale of their trilogy.L1quid's notes and outlines for These Alien DragonsL1quid's notes and outlines for Wings of Fire: Pern
**L1quid does not plan on writing anymore books in the Alien Dragons universe, due to them not wanting to "milk" the series for money, and will instead move onto Archai, an epic fantasy series, after Shifting Stars is completed.
*L1quid chose Carver as the main protagonist to ensure that the series wasn't just in the perspective of dragons. This role was previously given to other characters (human, dragon, alien) before they settled on the final perspective.
**The initial candidates for book 3's main protagonist were Jonah, a male human who was isolated for the majority of his life and raised by dragons before being reincorporated due to the series' events; Nicholas Adamson VI, a male human and the physical/spiritual leader of said humans; and Peak, a male MountainWing (Argil the MudWing in WoF) who becomes part of the main team. Nicholas Adamson VI was the semifinal protagonist, as the book deals with losing everything and learning how to rebuild from that loss. Since Carver was heavily focused on throughout the books (as L1quid wrote them), he was made the protagonist and Adamson was demoted from "main protagonist" to "side character". Despite this, Adamson still plays a large role in the books.
*Many scenes in the book that occur on the new planet were inspired by scenes within the science-fiction/horror subgenre of media, which L1quid is becoming a fan of. (L1quid is a science-fiction fan, not a horror fan.)
**The films that inspired these scenes were Pitch Black (2000) and the Quiet Place franchise. Additionally, the book improves concepts seen in 65 (2023), which L1quid felt could have more potential than the film actually showed. (L1quid considers themselves to be an author that improves concepts that were previously improperly handled in various media.)
*The A.R.K. (Artificial Refuge for Kinds) was inspired by Noah's ark, and was also created as a way to keep the book's characters alive before putting them on a new planet.
**This concept was originally going to be used in a scrapped sequel trilogy to "FeatherWings" (the rough version of These Alien Dragons), wherein the remaining dragons and humans would reuse old spaceships to get off the planet before a black hole devoured it.L1quid's notes and outlines for "FeatherWings"
*The technology featured in the book in similar to that seen in The Orville or Star Trek. Both of these series influenced this book, as L1quid is a fan of them.
==Notes==
On 04/13/2023, even though L1quid is currently writing the final manuscript for TAD's first book (Turning Tides) currently (alongside it's WoF adaptation), they are getting "blocks" while doing it due to lack of energy or inspiration (even though the outline has been finalized). To combat this, they are doing the outline for Shifting Stars, which they have already imagined fragments of it in their head (specifically the A.R.K. and Burroughs 2 scenes), even though they have to finish Raging Fires' outline first. (L1quid's main method of writing a series involves doing it chronologically. Because L1quid was having a hard time on Raging Fires' outline, they skipped it (for now) and decided to do Shifting Stars' outline.)
----On 04/16/2023, L1quid added the overviews of chapters from their TAD outlines to their respective WoF adaptation so that they're pages on the fanon wiki aren't always empty. (The overviews of chapters from books 2 and 3 will change, since their outlines have not been finalized yet. The only exception to this in book 1, whose outline has been finalized.)
Spoilers for These Alien Dragons will be present on these pages!
----On 11/30/2023, the author is redoing the entire series' plot, as the plot during that time could not work plot-wise and realistically. Furthermore, the first two books will be changed, as the third book will be affected by this development.
The adaptations of the first two books will not be changed and kept on the wiki. The new adaptations will be on two different pages.
----As of March-April 2024, L1quid has merged These Alien Dragons with their other series Archai to create Strangely Dim (because both series' plots were dragging them through the mud).This means that Pern (as a series) is discontinued.
==Gallery==
File:Shifting Stars (front cover (text), wings of fire-these alien dragons).png|Front cover (text), by L1quid.
File:Shifting Stars (front cover (textless), wings of fire-these alien dragons).png|Front cover (textless), by L1quid.
File:Shifting Stars (full cover (text), wings of fire-these alien dragons).png|Full cover (text), by L1quid.
File:Stars (65 (2023)).png|Filler cover (screenshot of stars from 65 (2023))
File:Shifting Stars (graphic, These Alien Dragons).jpg|Original novel graphic by L1quid using Inkarnate
==References==
==External Links==
*Named Pern characters, unnamed Pern characters - Wings of Fire fanon wiki
*These Alien Dragons: Shifting Stars - L1quid's Wattpad page
*These Alien Dragons: Shifting Stars - FeatherWings wiki
Category:Content (L1quidMarbl3)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Completed)
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Inspired by Fiction