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@writercatherine @steward-of-the-pen

In regards to the question about physics, science fiction and fantasy both work along similar lines; the audience agrees to go along with a narrative conceit that does not match up with reality, so long as internal consistency is maintained. Consider faster-than-light travel; we currently are nowhere near the ability to get to any star system within a reasonable time frame, and it may or may not even be physically possible. And yet, in stories such as Star Wars and Star Trek, FTL is a concept of the setting along with other similarly out-there ideas (laser weapons, droids, lightsabers, etc.). The chief concern is consistency; that if we establish rules for something, we must adhere to those rules and any deviations must have a convincing reason. For example, if your warp drive doesn’t need fuel, and the plot of a story/episode has the ship coming down because it ran out of fuel, there’s a consistency violation unless a compelling reason was given (“It’s an older model/prototype/etc.”)

Where does this apply to our setting? Well, turns out giant robots can get a pass (see: The Transformers series) typically because the assumption is “They’re super advanced”. So maybe for the mechanical dragons, the reason they can fly is due to a combination of advanced:

• Material Sciences (lightweight enough to fly but strong enough to not crumple when dropped- or perhaps only for heavy-duty dragons?)
• Propulsion or lift generation systems – maybe Hatcheries have blueprints for a magnetic levitation system?
• Flight mechanisms- are the aerial dragons always wing based? Or maybe some are propeller based (Or maybe even in rare cases jet based- now that sounds exciting).

As for magic, we’re going with a setting of “post-sci fi” right? We could have the justification for magic be “Because of [reasons involving technology] some people have the ability to do [x].” Maybe the vampire character I had in mind earlier would be helpful as an example- the idea for him was that he fell in a sealed container of nanomachines that were originally designed to make surgery and organ transplants easier by physically manipulating tissue on a nanoscale level- for example, a region of dead tissue could be more precisely excised without damaging live tissue. However, this guy abuses it by straight up stealing what he needs from people- if he’s gravely injured, he could steal blood from other people with his nanomachines. Thus, we have the fantasy element justified with our established background- plus it puts a nice spin on things (instead of fangs, a red mist appears. Instead of being repelled by garlic, he’s repelled by strong magnets. Also, most people wouldn’t know HOW he can do these things, just that he CAN). This could be extended to other things- a staff that shoots lightning has in it a device that stores up an electric charge and recharges quickly.

What’re you guys’ thoughts/likes/dislikes about that idea? Granted, this may mesh with a “natural” magic system.

EDIT: Also in regards to flight, the function for lift is mostly dependent on air speed, air density, and wing geometry. A change in gravity would reduce the amount of lift needed to equal weight, which means for an object of constant mass on the earth and a planet with lunar gravity you’d need less speed to get airborne on the moon. Also, it turns out thrust in engines is driven by thermodynamics, whereas thrust due to propellers is basically lift but turned 90 degrees towards the back.