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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Unworthy," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Duende," "Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Byzantine Perplexities," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "What It Means to Me," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "When the Wheels Come Off," "Against His Own Shield," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations," "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day," "Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears," "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques," "Coming in from the Cold: Thursday: Digging for Answers," "Coming in from the Cold: Friday: Bug Hunt," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Revisiting the Past," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," "Rotten Fruit," "Trying to Find Prui," "Life in Quicktime," "Sunday Dinner," "Cafuné," "Fatherboards and Other F-words," "The Artists Among Us," "Cool Digs," "Keep the Homefires Burning," "Their Old Familiar Carols Play," "Fluffy," "A Leg Up," "Wabbit Season," "No Quarrel with a Boot," "And You Became Like Coffee," and "A Painful Process."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Hulk, Bucky Barnes, Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Betty Ross.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Past Trauma, Anxiety, Secrets, Flashbacks, Arguments.
Summary: Tony widens the doorway between the common room and the kitchen, so Hulk can fit through it more comfortably. The Avengers talk over what happened between Hulk and Bucky.
Notes: Renovations, Teamwork, Training, Hugging, Food, No Sex, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Asexuality, Friendship, Team as Family, Avengers Family, Artificial Intelligence, Intellectual Foreplay, #coulsonlives.
Here ends "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations." I hope that you've enjoyed it.
A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.
I also have a list of favorite photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations" Part 6
Meanwhile, Tony and Bruce both looked like they had exceeded their capacity of emotional drama for the day. Can we go now? Tony mouthed at Phil, giving him a desperate look.
Phil sighed. They hadn't managed as much discussion of Hulk's accomplishments as he hoped they would, but that wasn't going to happen now. "Meeting adjourned," he conceded.
The Avengers scrambled for the door. Tony and Bruce nearly got stuck in it together, then squirmed loose. Bruce headed for the lab, while Tony headed for the common floor, presumably to finish renovations. Steve and Bucky clung to each other as they left, still bickering quietly.
Shaking his head, Phil went to the gym. He could use something solid and practical after the ups and downs of team dynamics today. This time, he changed into workout clothes first. He started by stretching out. Then he ran the obstacle course a few times.
Phil was pondering what to do next when Happy came in. "Sparring match?" Phil offered, and Happy accepted. They had discovered they were pretty evenly matched if Phil kept one hand behind his back. Happy might not be as formidable as the Avengers, but he practiced with them, and it showed. Also his punches counted when he managed to connect with them, even wearing padded gloves.
By the time they finished, Phil was soaked in sweat. He had won two falls out of three, and he pressed an ice pack to his bruised ribs where Happy had landed a couple of punches. "Good match, thanks," said Phil.
"Any time," Happy said, grinning.
Phil showered off, then changed back into his suit. He was tucking a fresh ice pack under his shirt when JARVIS chimed for attention. "What?" said Phil.
"Clint is ordering pizzas and would like to know if you want some," JARVIS said. "The door is done, but the kitchen hasn't been fully cleaned yet -- the night crew will take care of that -- so the plan is just pizzas in the living room for whoever wants them."
"I'm in," Phil said. "No special order, I'll just have some of whatever shows up." The Avengers had diverse tastes in pizza, but there were always old favorites in the spread along with interesting new things to try. Phil toweled his damp hair one last time, then combed it into place. There wasn't much of it, so it dried fast.
Phil headed to the common floor. When he got there, he found that the new doors were done. They were made primarily of the same unbreakable material that Tony used to make dishes. The French doors were clear with frosted patterns, while the sidelights and transom window were frosted with clear patterns. The effect was charming.
Then Phil noticed that the couch was already occupied. Clint looked happy and relaxed in a way that Phil has rarely seen before. If it had been anyone else, Phil would have thought he'd gone out and gotten lucky. "What put you in such a good mood?" Phil asked.
Clint smiled, slow and sweet. "JARVIS. Well ... me and JARVIS. You know, together."
"Really?" Phil said, raising his eyebrows. "What about it?"
"We really like each other," Clint said. "JARVIS and I got to talking today, after the rainbow-costume remark. I hadn't thought about it much before, him being asexual. He is though. It's nice knowing another ace."
"I'm glad to hear that," Phil said.
"You know what we like best about this?" Clint said. "There's no pressure. He knows I'm not going to ask him for things he can't give or doesn't want to. I know he's not going to bug me for sex, because he doesn't have anything to do it with."
"That's good to hear. How well do you match on what you want from a relationship?" Phil asked.
"Pretty well, I think," Clint said. "We're so different, it avoids a lot of potential conflict because he's a cyber person and I'm a primate person. But we want most of the same things. Friendship, contact comfort. JARVIS is still trying to figure out how he feels about romance. I can take it or leave it, so we're good either way."
"You've been reading Intellectual Foreplay together, haven't you," Phil guessed.
Clint's cheeks pinked. "Yeah, we have. It's great."
"Then I'm happy for you," Phil said. "Just keep an eye on what you're doing where, so Bucky doesn't wind up telling you to get a room. You know how he gets about public displays of intimacy."
Clint chuckled. "We'll try not to get caught doing it on the couch," he said.
Tony and Bruce came in from the back, freshly showered and still damp, arguing amiably over what movie to watch. Finally Tony held out a fist and said, "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock?"
"You're on," Bruce said, but he threw Spock to Tony's paper and lost.
Tony looked at Steve and Bucky, who had just come in with an armload of pizza boxes. "JARVIS, put on Jurassic Park. Bucky has been wanting to watch that ever since Clint mentioned the velociraptors."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Bruce said. "That move has an awful lot of triggers."
"So?" Tony said. "The dinosaurs are fucking awesome, and JARVIS can cut out the icky bits."
"There won't be much left of the plot if he does that," Bruce said.
"Who watches dinosaur movies for the plot?" Clint said, grabbing a pizza.
"He's got you there," said Tony.
"Bucky, how do you feel about this?" Phil asked.
"I'd really like to see the dinosaurs. Clint made them sound interesting. I don't care too much about the plot," said Bucky. "Tony's right, JARVIS can cut out the bad parts. He knows all of us well enough to do a good job of it."
"That sounds reasonable," Phil said as he claimed a slice of mushroom pizza and sat down on the couch. "Go ahead."
Bruce had been right, of course -- once JARVIS cut out all the lab scenes and other probable triggers, there wasn't much left of the plot. A few lines of narration replaced each deleted scene, though, so that helped. The dinosaurs were as amazing as they had been the first time Phil saw them.
Bucky loved the dinosaurs, and kept exchanging grins with Steve every time a new one appeared. They really were much more detailed and realistic than anything from the 1940s. Neither of them minded the fragmentary plot. Bucky just appreciated the velociraptors, even though the other Avengers couldn't stop kibbitzing about the best ways to kill them.
Phil smiled and snuggled a little deeper into the couch. For all its ups and downs, it had been a productive day.
* * *
Notes:
Asexuality is part of the acespec. Asexual people can have various relationships. Clint and JARVIS seem to be leaning queerplatonic, though indeterminate on romance as yet.
Intellectual Foreplay is a book of deep relationship questions. Note: for demifolk, romantic asexuals, and other less-carnal orientations, this often parses are hardcore pr0n. If you're really into emotional intimacy rather than squishing bits together, consider your environment before indulging. Everyone has things that really excite them, just not all the same things.
Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock is an expansion of Rock Paper Scissors. This version minimizes the chance of a tie, but is simple enough for most people to use and remember. Note Tony's canny strategy: when playing against a nerd, Paper is an excellent choice, as nerds often throw Spock by preference. Larger versions also exist. Of these, RPS-15 is a good set for gifted people, but more complicated than most folks would want to use. RPS-25 and RPS-101 are really for super-intellects.
Jurassic Park is one of the greatest dinosaur movies of all time.
Traumatic stress tends to leave people with triggers. Despite all the shrinks whining about how bad "avoidance behaviors" are, these are actually critical survival skills. So a key principle of PTSD is "You don't have to eat the eggplant." Anything you can avoid without serious consequences, you should just avoid, because you can't fight everything at once. It is essential that people with traumatic stress learn to identify, record, and cope with their triggers. There are other tools for managing traumatic stress and helping someone else with it.
~MISSION ACCOMPLISHED~
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Hulk, Bucky Barnes, Phil Coulson, JARVIS, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Betty Ross.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Past Trauma, Anxiety, Secrets, Flashbacks, Arguments.
Summary: Tony widens the doorway between the common room and the kitchen, so Hulk can fit through it more comfortably. The Avengers talk over what happened between Hulk and Bucky.
Notes: Renovations, Teamwork, Training, Hugging, Food, No Sex, Intimacy, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Asexuality, Friendship, Team as Family, Avengers Family, Artificial Intelligence, Intellectual Foreplay, #coulsonlives.
Here ends "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations." I hope that you've enjoyed it.
A note on feedback: While it's not necessary to comment on every post I make, remember that I don't know who reads/likes things if nobody says anything. Particularly on long stories, I've discovered that I get antsy if there's nothing but crickets chirping for several posts. So it helps to give me feedback at least once, even if it's just "I like this" or "This one doesn't grab me." First and last episodes are ideal if you rarely feel inspired to comment in the middle.
I also have a list of favorite photogenic scenes from the whole series for fanartists to consider, partly compiled from audience requests.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6.
"Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Renovations" Part 6
Meanwhile, Tony and Bruce both looked like they had exceeded their capacity of emotional drama for the day. Can we go now? Tony mouthed at Phil, giving him a desperate look.
Phil sighed. They hadn't managed as much discussion of Hulk's accomplishments as he hoped they would, but that wasn't going to happen now. "Meeting adjourned," he conceded.
The Avengers scrambled for the door. Tony and Bruce nearly got stuck in it together, then squirmed loose. Bruce headed for the lab, while Tony headed for the common floor, presumably to finish renovations. Steve and Bucky clung to each other as they left, still bickering quietly.
Shaking his head, Phil went to the gym. He could use something solid and practical after the ups and downs of team dynamics today. This time, he changed into workout clothes first. He started by stretching out. Then he ran the obstacle course a few times.
Phil was pondering what to do next when Happy came in. "Sparring match?" Phil offered, and Happy accepted. They had discovered they were pretty evenly matched if Phil kept one hand behind his back. Happy might not be as formidable as the Avengers, but he practiced with them, and it showed. Also his punches counted when he managed to connect with them, even wearing padded gloves.
By the time they finished, Phil was soaked in sweat. He had won two falls out of three, and he pressed an ice pack to his bruised ribs where Happy had landed a couple of punches. "Good match, thanks," said Phil.
"Any time," Happy said, grinning.
Phil showered off, then changed back into his suit. He was tucking a fresh ice pack under his shirt when JARVIS chimed for attention. "What?" said Phil.
"Clint is ordering pizzas and would like to know if you want some," JARVIS said. "The door is done, but the kitchen hasn't been fully cleaned yet -- the night crew will take care of that -- so the plan is just pizzas in the living room for whoever wants them."
"I'm in," Phil said. "No special order, I'll just have some of whatever shows up." The Avengers had diverse tastes in pizza, but there were always old favorites in the spread along with interesting new things to try. Phil toweled his damp hair one last time, then combed it into place. There wasn't much of it, so it dried fast.
Phil headed to the common floor. When he got there, he found that the new doors were done. They were made primarily of the same unbreakable material that Tony used to make dishes. The French doors were clear with frosted patterns, while the sidelights and transom window were frosted with clear patterns. The effect was charming.
Then Phil noticed that the couch was already occupied. Clint looked happy and relaxed in a way that Phil has rarely seen before. If it had been anyone else, Phil would have thought he'd gone out and gotten lucky. "What put you in such a good mood?" Phil asked.
Clint smiled, slow and sweet. "JARVIS. Well ... me and JARVIS. You know, together."
"Really?" Phil said, raising his eyebrows. "What about it?"
"We really like each other," Clint said. "JARVIS and I got to talking today, after the rainbow-costume remark. I hadn't thought about it much before, him being asexual. He is though. It's nice knowing another ace."
"I'm glad to hear that," Phil said.
"You know what we like best about this?" Clint said. "There's no pressure. He knows I'm not going to ask him for things he can't give or doesn't want to. I know he's not going to bug me for sex, because he doesn't have anything to do it with."
"That's good to hear. How well do you match on what you want from a relationship?" Phil asked.
"Pretty well, I think," Clint said. "We're so different, it avoids a lot of potential conflict because he's a cyber person and I'm a primate person. But we want most of the same things. Friendship, contact comfort. JARVIS is still trying to figure out how he feels about romance. I can take it or leave it, so we're good either way."
"You've been reading Intellectual Foreplay together, haven't you," Phil guessed.
Clint's cheeks pinked. "Yeah, we have. It's great."
"Then I'm happy for you," Phil said. "Just keep an eye on what you're doing where, so Bucky doesn't wind up telling you to get a room. You know how he gets about public displays of intimacy."
Clint chuckled. "We'll try not to get caught doing it on the couch," he said.
Tony and Bruce came in from the back, freshly showered and still damp, arguing amiably over what movie to watch. Finally Tony held out a fist and said, "Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock?"
"You're on," Bruce said, but he threw Spock to Tony's paper and lost.
Tony looked at Steve and Bucky, who had just come in with an armload of pizza boxes. "JARVIS, put on Jurassic Park. Bucky has been wanting to watch that ever since Clint mentioned the velociraptors."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Bruce said. "That move has an awful lot of triggers."
"So?" Tony said. "The dinosaurs are fucking awesome, and JARVIS can cut out the icky bits."
"There won't be much left of the plot if he does that," Bruce said.
"Who watches dinosaur movies for the plot?" Clint said, grabbing a pizza.
"He's got you there," said Tony.
"Bucky, how do you feel about this?" Phil asked.
"I'd really like to see the dinosaurs. Clint made them sound interesting. I don't care too much about the plot," said Bucky. "Tony's right, JARVIS can cut out the bad parts. He knows all of us well enough to do a good job of it."
"That sounds reasonable," Phil said as he claimed a slice of mushroom pizza and sat down on the couch. "Go ahead."
Bruce had been right, of course -- once JARVIS cut out all the lab scenes and other probable triggers, there wasn't much left of the plot. A few lines of narration replaced each deleted scene, though, so that helped. The dinosaurs were as amazing as they had been the first time Phil saw them.
Bucky loved the dinosaurs, and kept exchanging grins with Steve every time a new one appeared. They really were much more detailed and realistic than anything from the 1940s. Neither of them minded the fragmentary plot. Bucky just appreciated the velociraptors, even though the other Avengers couldn't stop kibbitzing about the best ways to kill them.
Phil smiled and snuggled a little deeper into the couch. For all its ups and downs, it had been a productive day.
* * *
Notes:
Asexuality is part of the acespec. Asexual people can have various relationships. Clint and JARVIS seem to be leaning queerplatonic, though indeterminate on romance as yet.
Intellectual Foreplay is a book of deep relationship questions. Note: for demifolk, romantic asexuals, and other less-carnal orientations, this often parses are hardcore pr0n. If you're really into emotional intimacy rather than squishing bits together, consider your environment before indulging. Everyone has things that really excite them, just not all the same things.
Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock is an expansion of Rock Paper Scissors. This version minimizes the chance of a tie, but is simple enough for most people to use and remember. Note Tony's canny strategy: when playing against a nerd, Paper is an excellent choice, as nerds often throw Spock by preference. Larger versions also exist. Of these, RPS-15 is a good set for gifted people, but more complicated than most folks would want to use. RPS-25 and RPS-101 are really for super-intellects.
Jurassic Park is one of the greatest dinosaur movies of all time.
Traumatic stress tends to leave people with triggers. Despite all the shrinks whining about how bad "avoidance behaviors" are, these are actually critical survival skills. So a key principle of PTSD is "You don't have to eat the eggplant." Anything you can avoid without serious consequences, you should just avoid, because you can't fight everything at once. It is essential that people with traumatic stress learn to identify, record, and cope with their triggers. There are other tools for managing traumatic stress and helping someone else with it.
~MISSION ACCOMPLISHED~
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 12:42 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2020-12-30 08:29 pm (UTC)Thank you!
>> Interesting twist with JARVIS and Clint. <<
I'm glad you liked that. I think they're good for each other. Aside from being aces, they have other things in common -- they live together, work together, both have a rough past but still want interpersonal intimacy.
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 01:01 pm (UTC)Jurassic park really gets the "wow! dinosaurs!" part right, while simultaneously having dinosaurs that make paleontologists wince or laugh at the inaccuracies. But, they're constructed species, so yeah, they're made to look like what people think dinosaurs should look like. As the later films explain, they never were 'real' dinosaurs.
Also, it figures Bucky would love velociraptors, just as long as he doesn't ask the Science Bro's, Tony & Bruce for one of his own...[Bruce would say no, Tony probably would say yes, and then bring Bruce around.]
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 03:44 pm (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2020-12-30 06:49 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2020-12-31 11:50 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-01-01 09:11 pm (UTC)Why is a +1 always assumed to be a crotch partner? Why can't people be known for always going out with their sibling, best friend, beat partner, dance partner, or other platonic otherhalf? There's so much more out there.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-01-02 04:42 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-01-02 06:12 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-01-02 06:36 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2021-01-02 08:29 pm (UTC)* Pips realizes that he can't live without the Tulls and offers to take the kids to a safe place so Joshua can help with the earthquake aftermath.
* Once they find Bennett and Jules, who got banged up a bit because they were farther west, Pips adds them to the safehouse.
The arc has been very much like a young man going from playing the field to settling down, only it's about finding a boss, not necessarily a sex partner. (Pips is happy to bang attractive bosses who are into that, like Contretemps, but not all of them are. Joshua is heterosexual as far as we know, but clearly bitractive.)
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2026-03-07 01:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 09:06 pm (UTC)http://thepunchlineismachismo.com/archives/comic/lets-get-down-to-business
Well ...
Date: 2020-12-30 09:12 pm (UTC)https://ysabetwordsmith.dreamwidth.org/11227271.html
But mostly when people make suggestions like this, all I can think of is, "They're chickens, man! Just optimize 'em!"
That's from a roleplaying game called After the Bomb, and explains why there are throwback raptors in the game. Because someone wanted to "optimize" chickens, but didn't give the gengineers any more specs than that. Some of the optimized chickens started laying huge blue eggs ...
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-30 10:29 pm (UTC)Here's a good question:
Given what we know about domestication, why don't any of these movies seem to involve folks trying to domesticate herbivores for battle steeds, or whatever?
A medium [aurochs-size] or small dinosaur could be used for labor, eggs, meat, leather, entertainment, craft supplies, companionship or transportation.
Domesticating ones that prefer marginal or unsuitable cropland would allow farming and settlements in swamps and river deltas. (To say nothing of Saami-style herding...and I bet the larger ones could carry buildings, tents, etc.)
Plus cold-blooded large reptiles would eat less per pound than warm blooded livestock. Choose some pre-dino reptiles that don't get much larger than cows or elephants, be sure they eat waste plant matter or trash, and you're golden.
If Pern started out as a retro-agrarian Luddite-esque colony, I'm surprised no one has tried that plotline with gengineered reptiles, instead of gengineered aliens.
And on that note, some more reanimation of Leviathans, Ice Age mammals, therapsids, extinct marsupials, giant monitor lizards, giant bugs, giant amphibians, club mosses taller than a person, pygmy mammoths and human species other than Neanderthals in literature would be nice too. (Why limit ourselves to dinosaurs?)
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-30 11:10 pm (UTC)It'd work with the guinea-raptors, if you could get them without the hen ripping your hand off.
I really want to write the poem about Stylet reviving the giant ground sloths. They were so delicious ... we ate them all. :D
>> Given what we know about domestication, why don't any of these movies seem to involve folks trying to domesticate herbivores for battle steeds, or whatever? <<
1) Most people who make movies, and even who write books, don't actually know much about domestication. Me, I'm fascinated by the gene complex surrounding it, which consistently produces white spots, floppy ears, neoteny, and a bunch of other features across multiple species. The white spots even appear across mammals, reptiles, birds, and fish.
2) Most people who make movies find civilization boring in comparison to hitting people over and over again. With books, however, this varies more and you can occasionally find mileu fiction and a fair number stories of ideas along with the usual plot-driven and later character-driven stuff.
3) When I built ecosystems for Torn World, I included carnivores, herbivores, often omnivores, and usually some of the more interesting plants. Every last one of the sea monsters had a reason for its conflict with humans, which ranged from trying to eat rope to trying to screw boats to defending territory. Old Roluma had a largely avian ecosystem and its cavalry rode deathbeaks. It came the closest to beating the Empire, and still retains more autonomy than most assimilated cultures. But they also had some herbivorous livestock, if I remember right -- I think their draft animals were big slow birds.
>> A medium [aurochs-size] or small dinosaur could be used for labor, eggs, meat, leather, entertainment, craft supplies, companionship or transportation.<<
That could work. There were horselike and cowlike dinosaurs.
>> Domesticating ones that prefer marginal or unsuitable cropland would allow farming and settlements in swamps and river deltas. (To say nothing of Saami-style herding...and I bet the larger ones could carry buildings, tents, etc.) <<
Ooo, landrace dinosaurs! WANT. I think you could also get good results simply from following the herds, like people have done with bison, mammoths, etc.
>>Plus cold-blooded large reptiles would eat less per pound than warm blooded livestock. Choose some pre-dino reptiles that don't get much larger than cows or elephants, be sure they eat waste plant matter or trash, and you're golden.<<
Good point.
>>If Pern started out as a retro-agrarian Luddite-esque colony, I'm surprised no one has tried that plotline with gengineered reptiles, instead of gengineered aliens.<<
Well, you have to bear in mind, reptiles are a lot slower than mammals. This is often a disadvantage. In a resource-poor environment -- especially a desert -- this sometimes outcompetes mammals.
Hmm, now I'm reminded of eyeball planets. A hot eyeball planet has a desert on the star side, an icecap on the space side, and a narrow band of temperate area in between. Something like a reptile could inhabit a much larger area than the mammals. Conversely, a cold eyeball planet is mostly icecap but with a liquid ocean in the middle of the star side.
>>And on that note, some more reanimation of Leviathans, Ice Age mammals, therapsids, extinct marsupials, giant monitor lizards, giant bugs, giant amphibians, club mosses taller than a person, pygmy mammoths and human species other than Neanderthals in literature would be nice too. (Why limit ourselves to dinosaurs?) <<
See above re: giant ground sloths. Terramagne seems to cluster around reviving extinct species for ecosystem repair or making combat livestock.
To see a really large-scale revival of lost megafauna, or a dinosaur-based civilization, would need new settings but would be quite interesting to write. One obvious scenario for the dinosaurs would be that they survived in some parts of the world but not others. Since the avian dinosaurs survived just fine, that's not as much of a stretch as most people think -- especially if we focused on other theropods.
Looking at the upcoming themes...
February 2 -- Cultural Differences (possible for either)
March 2 -- Alternate History (bullseye for the dinosaur-based civilization)
April 6 -- Because Science (bullseye for the megafauna revival storyline)
May 4 -- Cookbooks and Cooking (bullseye for Stylet reviving ground sloths)
June 1 -- I never thought I'd have to say that. (suitable for any)
July 6 -- Reality Is Stranger Than Fiction (suitable for any)
By all means, please save these lovely ideas and present them in future fishbowls. Everything is better with dinosaurs!
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-30 11:45 pm (UTC)Also, I have only found /one/ humans-as-alien-pets storyline that references humans with vitiligo and other unusual traits (i.e.e albinism) as being 'more desirable.' (The aliens never got much further than wild-caught humans though.) Realistically, that should come up more often in that kind of storyline.
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-31 12:25 am (UTC)Ha! I seem to recall large deer will sometimes try to duel cars during courting season...
Also check ot the fanfic A Thing Of Vikings (basically a How to Train Your Dragon crossover with a history book.) The main conflict between humans and dragons is set up as an agrarian-civilization species out competing a stone-age hunter gatherer species which is required by biology to remain at fixed geographical points. (Warnings for historical-period unpleasantness, mostly done by vvillains. Also has excellent worldbuilding.
>>Ooo, landrace dinosaurs!<<
Not so much breeds, more like farming ducks in the swamp vs turkeys in the woods.
Most modern domesticated animals need solid ground, usually either woods or grassland. While I've occasionally seen desert or mountain livestock, the only 'swamp livestock' I can think of are ducks...and maybe frogs.
>>...this sometimes outcompetes mammals.<<
Just choose livestock for the area you're in and restrictions you're under. Cold-blooded to the tropics, warm-blooded to temperate or arctic. Fish/amphibians/reptiles where there isn't enough feed to waste on inefficient mammal meat (especially as mammals don't produce eggs), but your coldblooded won't freeze.
You might also find economic pressure relevent - if frog meat is cheaper pound-for-pound than beef, frog breeding will take off. Ditto if frog feed is cheaper than grass/grazing land. (Your space 'verse could do something with frogs, maybe - they eat bugs, are kind of pretty, visually and audially, and are good eating.)
Additionally, there are advantages that mammals usually don't have. Something like those frozen wood frogs might make a good winter food supply in a seasonal zone. A reptile or amphibian that could hibernate in dry conditions could be put in stasis for transport, then rehydrated for breeding or eating using a very low tech base (unlike mammals).
(A coldblooded companion animal would also be less of a resource drain. Harder to train though. )
Also, do keep in mind that while poisonous mammals are rare, the rate goes up with birds, and way up with reptiles and amphibians.
>>To see a really large-scale revival of lost megafauna, or a dinosaur-based civilization,...<<
- Reality-jump to a different dimension (possibly finding a hundreds-of-years old Lost Colony.) Or Time Travel.
- A Jurrasic-Park type setup, either as an island or a newly colonized planet. (A different planet might have particular stressors that allow reptiles to outcompete mammals.)
- There are occasional folk tales that might relate to still-extant or recently extinct megafauna - Ebu Gogo, mokele-mbembe, unicorns, Bigfoot... it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to imagine that some of them are still extant in Terramagne.
Incidentally, what is Terramagne's attitude toward cloning extinct humans and proto-humans? Or for that matter, extinct nonhuman persons (i.e. mammoths)? I'm not sure if that was covered in the reproductive rights legal overhaul...
Re: Well ...
Date: 2020-12-31 12:47 am (UTC)*[Context: post-zombie apocalyptic webcomic, zombie virus affects all mammals, excepting cats and rare immune individuals. Zombies are agressive, carnivorous, and immortal-unless-killed.]
I wonder if an avian/reptillian/etc agriculture based society would have fewer species-jumping diseases? Offhand, I can't think of anything other than salmonella that jumps clades...
Thoughts
Date: 2020-12-30 11:23 pm (UTC)Agreed. Alan Dean Foster dedicated one of his books with "I waited forty years for those dinosaurs." <3
>> while simultaneously having dinosaurs that make paleontologists wince or laugh at the inaccuracies. But, they're constructed species, so yeah, they're made to look like what people think dinosaurs should look like. As the later films explain, they never were 'real' dinosaurs.<<
Given extant resources, it is not possible to recreate the exact original dinosaurs. We can either do like the movies and start with dinosaur DNA then patch it with whatever else fits. Or we can retro-engineer dinosaurs from surviving relatives such as lizards or from the avian dinosaurs. See elsethread, another reader has suggested a dinosaur-based civilization that I would very much enjoy writing.
>> Also, it figures Bucky would love velociraptors, just as long as he doesn't ask the Science Bro's, Tony & Bruce for one of his own...[Bruce would say no, Tony probably would say yes, and then bring Bruce around.] <<
I don't think Bucky is the type to ask anyone to engineer anything in a lab.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2020-12-30 11:44 pm (UTC)Agreed, I can't see Bucy asking. Him and labs, bad combo.... but I can see him watching the film, and sighing.. followed by Tony getting this thoughtful look and Bruce mouthing 'No!' at him.
Although, if they end up facing off against Doctor Dino or somesuch, Bucky is going to be conflicted !
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 03:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 05:09 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2020-12-30 06:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 05:20 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-30 09:31 pm (UTC)I was going to ask whether Coming in from the Cold had reached novel length yet, then remembered that novel length spans a huge range!
Thoughts
Date: 2020-12-30 09:40 pm (UTC)You're welcome!
>> I was going to ask whether Coming in from the Cold had reached novel length yet, then remembered that novel length spans a huge range!<<
Yes it has. I use the Nebula standards:
Short Story (under 7500 words)
Novelette (7500 to 17,500 words)
Novella (17,500 to 40,000 words)
Novel (over 40,000 words)
The series total for LIFC is currently 468,573 words. To get the subtotal for Coming in from the Cold, visit the series page and add the word count for all the installments.
I have oopsed far more books than I have written on purpose. I'm actually quite proud of myself this year because I wrote a haiku collection on purpose. \o/
(no subject)
Date: 2020-12-31 03:54 pm (UTC)You're welcome!
Date: 2021-01-01 09:03 pm (UTC)