Poem: "The City of Kittens"
Dec. 25th, 2022 04:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis poem is spillover from the September 6, 2022 bonus fishbowl. It fills the "Smith and Tinker" square in my 9-1-22 card for the Land of Oz Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by a pool with fuzzyred. It belongs to the Big One thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.
"The City of Kittens"
[Summer 2016]
After the Great Shaking
at the end of the spring,
Rain City was in ruins and
most of the humans had
died or moved away.
Amongst the rubble,
many cats and kittens
had survived, though.
The older cats were
easily able to walk away
and find a better place,
but for the little kittens
that was a long, long walk
so most of them stayed put.
Two of these kittens were
siblings with particular gifts,
fishcats descended from
great and wise explorers,
so they decided to make
a place for themselves.
Smith was a white female
with pale yellow-grey eyes
and polydactyl thumbs at
the sides of both forepaws.
She liked to make things,
especially from metal.
Her brother Tinker was
a brown tabby who had
bright green eyes and
dewclaw thumbs he could
use by curling his paws.
He liked manipulating things
the humans had left, especially
simple tools and machines.
Smith and Tinker settled
in the remains of a building
that still had three walls
and a roof in one place,
plus a bit of yard outside.
In the ruins it was easy
to scrounge for whatever
things they needed.
Smith found wire and
ribbon of metal, with which
she could fasten things
together, and which
made marvelous toys.
She made a bit of fence
around the yard to mark
their shared territory and
keep out the wild dogs
that prowled the ruins.
They discovered that
it was easier to move
things up the steps if
they pushed a flat board
over the staircase first.
A wedge was good for
knocking off bits of things.
A long stick shoved into
the crack of a door could
be used to open it up, and
the same stick pushed under
something heavy could lift it.
Tinker was the one who
figured out that the funny lever
which humans so often carried --
the kind with a sharp end and
a dull end -- could be used
to poke holes in cans or
pry caps off bottles.
So they could hunt
for canned food, now,
if they wanted it.
Fresh mouse was
better, but not always
available, and food in
cans would stay good.
Because Smith and Tinker
had thumbs, and were smarter
than average cats, soon they
had quite a nice place to live
with warm beds and fun toys and
high perches to survey the world.
Others came to join them, and
the pride grew powerful enough
that they no longer had to worry
about the wild dog packs at all.
It wasn't hard to roll rocks up
a board to rest on top of the fence,
where they could be pushed down
onto any dog that dared to approach.
The City of Men may have fallen,
but the City of Kittens rose to replace it.
* * *
Notes:
Smith -- She is a white kitten with yellow-grey eyes. She is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. Smarter than average cats, she is polydactyl with opposable thumbs at the sides of both front paws. She is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Graceful and observant, Smith has a knack for making things, especially from metal. However, she is fussy about hygiene and her white coat is hard to keep clean.
Origin: She was born with her superpowers.
Uniform: None. She goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Graceful, Good (+2) Making Things, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Hard to Keep Clean
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To make life better.
Tinker -- He is a brown tabby kitten with green eyes. He is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. He is smarter than average cats with dewclaws large enough to serve as opposable thumbs on both front paws. He is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Tinker is fast on his feet and adept at manipulating things left by humans, especially simple tools or machines. His coat gives him good camouflage to hide from predators or prey. However, his whiskers are shorter than average, which can make it hard for him to gauge spaces well.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers.
Uniform: None. He goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Camouflage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Mechanical Intelligence
Poor (-2) Short Whiskers
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To figure out how things work.
* * *
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes more including:
-- American Shorthair Polydactyl is similar to American Polydactyl but distinguished from other polydactyl breeds, some of which have long hair.
-- Bigfoot Cats allow registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color
-- Hemingway Cats were established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat.
-- Maine Coon Polydactyl is a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed.
-- Mitten Kittens are a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll.
-- Skookumcats are a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest.
-- Vermont Shag Carpet Cats are a landrace rather than a breed, often though not always longhaired and polydactyl.
Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories.
Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
Simple machines can be combined into more complex machines. Cats can operate some of these, as demonstrated in "Mrrrp the Magnificient and the Re-invention of the Lever."
Can openers come in many styles, of which the church key is basically a lever with a sharp end for puncturing cans and a dull end for prying off bottle caps.
fuzzyred. It belongs to the Big One thread of the Polychrome Heroics series."The City of Kittens"
[Summer 2016]
After the Great Shaking
at the end of the spring,
Rain City was in ruins and
most of the humans had
died or moved away.
Amongst the rubble,
many cats and kittens
had survived, though.
The older cats were
easily able to walk away
and find a better place,
but for the little kittens
that was a long, long walk
so most of them stayed put.
Two of these kittens were
siblings with particular gifts,
fishcats descended from
great and wise explorers,
so they decided to make
a place for themselves.
Smith was a white female
with pale yellow-grey eyes
and polydactyl thumbs at
the sides of both forepaws.
She liked to make things,
especially from metal.
Her brother Tinker was
a brown tabby who had
bright green eyes and
dewclaw thumbs he could
use by curling his paws.
He liked manipulating things
the humans had left, especially
simple tools and machines.
Smith and Tinker settled
in the remains of a building
that still had three walls
and a roof in one place,
plus a bit of yard outside.
In the ruins it was easy
to scrounge for whatever
things they needed.
Smith found wire and
ribbon of metal, with which
she could fasten things
together, and which
made marvelous toys.
She made a bit of fence
around the yard to mark
their shared territory and
keep out the wild dogs
that prowled the ruins.
They discovered that
it was easier to move
things up the steps if
they pushed a flat board
over the staircase first.
A wedge was good for
knocking off bits of things.
A long stick shoved into
the crack of a door could
be used to open it up, and
the same stick pushed under
something heavy could lift it.
Tinker was the one who
figured out that the funny lever
which humans so often carried --
the kind with a sharp end and
a dull end -- could be used
to poke holes in cans or
pry caps off bottles.
So they could hunt
for canned food, now,
if they wanted it.
Fresh mouse was
better, but not always
available, and food in
cans would stay good.
Because Smith and Tinker
had thumbs, and were smarter
than average cats, soon they
had quite a nice place to live
with warm beds and fun toys and
high perches to survey the world.
Others came to join them, and
the pride grew powerful enough
that they no longer had to worry
about the wild dog packs at all.
It wasn't hard to roll rocks up
a board to rest on top of the fence,
where they could be pushed down
onto any dog that dared to approach.
The City of Men may have fallen,
but the City of Kittens rose to replace it.
* * *
Notes:
Smith -- She is a white kitten with yellow-grey eyes. She is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. Smarter than average cats, she is polydactyl with opposable thumbs at the sides of both front paws. She is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Graceful and observant, Smith has a knack for making things, especially from metal. However, she is fussy about hygiene and her white coat is hard to keep clean.
Origin: She was born with her superpowers.
Uniform: None. She goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Graceful, Good (+2) Making Things, Good (+2) Observant
Poor (-2) Hard to Keep Clean
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To make life better.
Tinker -- He is a brown tabby kitten with green eyes. He is a fishcat, descended from shipcats. He is smarter than average cats with dewclaws large enough to serve as opposable thumbs on both front paws. He is 3 months old when the Big One hits on Saturday, May 28, 2016. Tinker is fast on his feet and adept at manipulating things left by humans, especially simple tools or machines. His coat gives him good camouflage to hide from predators or prey. However, his whiskers are shorter than average, which can make it hard for him to gauge spaces well.
Origin: He was born with his superpowers.
Uniform: None. He goes nude.
Qualities: Good (+2) Camouflage, Good (+2) Fast, Good (+2) Mechanical Intelligence
Poor (-2) Short Whiskers
Powers: Good (+2) Fishcat
Motivation: To figure out how things work.
* * *
Local-America recognizes two polydactyl breeds, American Polydactyl and Maine Coon Polydactyl. Terramagne-America recognizes more including:
-- American Shorthair Polydactyl is similar to American Polydactyl but distinguished from other polydactyl breeds, some of which have long hair.
-- Bigfoot Cats allow registry of any polydactyl cat, rather like the National Pinto Horse registry based on color
-- Hemingway Cats were established by Ernest Hemingway and adapted to Florida's hot wet climate with a short thin coat.
-- Maine Coon Polydactyl is a subset of the long-haired Maine Coon breed.
-- Mitten Kittens are a long-haired breed similar to Ragdoll.
-- Skookumcats are a big hairy breed with a long coarse rain-shedding coat, developed for the Pacific Northwest.
-- Vermont Shag Carpet Cats are a landrace rather than a breed, often though not always longhaired and polydactyl.
Polydactyl cats should not be confused with thumbcats (supercats based on having opposable thumbs regardless of how many digits they have), handcats (supercats with anything from longer toes and thumbs to fully functional hands), or shipcats (cats with Super-Intellect, sometimes Telepathy, Extended Lifespan, or other superpowers), although cats can qualify for more than one of these categories.
Fishcats are descendants with thumbcat, handcat, and/or shipcat ancestry; they tend to be more intelligent with larger brains, and they often have opposable thumbs, longer toes, functional hands, and/or extra digits. Various people have breeding colonies of fishcats or their relatives, but there isn't an established breed yet.
Simple machines can be combined into more complex machines. Cats can operate some of these, as demonstrated in "Mrrrp the Magnificient and the Re-invention of the Lever."
Can openers come in many styles, of which the church key is basically a lever with a sharp end for puncturing cans and a dull end for prying off bottle caps.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-26 03:40 am (UTC)and if humans ever extinct themselves, the fishcats will step up as their inheritors.
I really wish I had that gene lab and uterine replicators now... I don't know if race of tool-using sentient cats would do any better than us semi-evolved simians, but it would be hard to do worse!
Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-26 03:51 am (UTC)We can hope. While local-Earth cats aren't quite as far evolved as Terramagne ones (as far as I know), even L-cats are pretty smart and some do have thumbs. They could take over ... if they felt like it.
Also worth considering are squirrels and raccoons, both of which have handlike paws, and both of which are ingenious at getting into things.
>>I really wish I had that gene lab and uterine replicators now... I don't know if race of tool-using sentient cats would do any better than us semi-evolved simians, but it would be hard to do worse! <<
I wish that too.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-26 03:54 am (UTC)The phrase about eggs and baskets springs to mind... why engineer one sentient race when you can make several?
Hmm... wonder if one could make a general mammalian 'uplift' package of genes, then use a zootic pan-species vial vector to spread it, creating multiple species in a short space of time.
and then probably end up with them inventing all new forms of racial prejudice.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-26 06:39 pm (UTC)To start with, getting there wasn't on their direct path to where they were going. It required a substantial detour, which the matriarch led them on.
When they arrived, they gathered into a group around the skeleton. The matriarch went first, running her trunk over the bones and rumbling. No one else moved, aside from shifting weight and waving tails and ears, save a couple of very young calves. After the matriarch, every other elephant there came and touched the skeleton with their trunk, in order by age. At the end, one of the mothers herded the calves over in a group, rumbling and touching, until the calves also touched the skull with their little trunks. Then the matriarch turned and began walking away in a direction that would take them back to their original path. The whole thing lasted perhaps 20 minutes. It had such a sense of ritual about it, of respect and veneration. I know I'm anthropomorphizing, but it was still striking. The commentator said they left their path and "happened upon" the bones of a long-dead elephant, and investigated them before returning to their path. But it didn't look like that. It looked like the matriarch, at least, knew exactly where she was going and what she would find. I just wish I'd saved it.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-26 07:17 pm (UTC)Subsequent research upon that subject substantiates your hypothesis. Elephants will go out of their way, deliberately, to venerate the dead. Long after any sign of them is no longer visible.
Not only that but they will do the same with humans they've bonded with. link link
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:06 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:08 pm (UTC)Perhaps, they're something out of the ordinary anyway. Whatever it is they're using, it's outside normal human experience.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:15 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:22 pm (UTC)True, no-one is quite sure how far either, but it's in the high tens of miles and maybe further. It's conceivable they have a 'telegraph' relaying messages from herd to herd, that can span continents.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:29 pm (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2022-12-27 12:09 pm (UTC)I am amused that the man'o'war is spreading due to climate change. It's very rare to see a planet populated by communal lifeforms, because the singletons usually evolve first and lock up the niches. But every so occasionally, something breaks their hold and gives the communal ones a chance to take over. Go, you mad little bastards, go!
I've seen the end results, but I've never seen it start before. It's so cool to watch. I think they've got a real chance here.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-26 04:06 am (UTC)I... feel rather bad for the dogs, now, wild or otherwise. I bet at least a couple would attach themselves, metaphorically, to, say, humans who've come to the ruins of Rain City under contract or just because they want to assist, looking for someone's family heirlooms or actual relatives or both. Watch, the people come back with heirlooms, rescued family members, and oops, a couple waggy friends, too. And possibly a hitchhiking kittoon? :)
(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-27 06:54 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-27 12:11 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 01:34 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 02:01 am (UTC)* winter hardiness, which favors larger over smaller cats and long dense coats over shorter or thinner ones; hence the name
* hunting prowess, as these are working farm animals for the most part, although some humans bring cats indoors as pets
* dexterity, a later emergence as polydactyl cats, thumbcats, and handcats arrived
* intelligence, which has improved after adding a fishcat stud
It's up to the cats how much interaction they want with humans. Some are very friendly and get lots of stimulation. Others are more standoffish, but even some of these have made their own explorations.
Feel free to prompt for more if you'd like to read about the Vermont Shag Carpet Cats.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 04:10 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 12:30 pm (UTC):D Make a note, and you can request it in any relevant prompt call. We just did "Cats" as a theme, but "Animals" or "Pets" etc. would be something you could suggest for the theme call in January.
>> MY son and his wife have always owned lesser-known breeds of cat. THeir first was a Devon Rex they went out of their way to adopt. After that they got another Rex, and now they recently got a Sphynx cat. Rex and Sphinx cats have paws with extremely long toes; maybe they can evolve hands?<<
It's possible. Polydactyl cats often have much higher dexterity, and some have opposable thumbs that allow them to get into all kinds of things.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-30 08:15 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-30 08:52 am (UTC)It's a lot easier to get a serval cross, or several others, than Scottish wildcat as far as I know.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 02:21 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 02:55 am (UTC)Terramagne still has a thriving if mostly-hidden Pictish culture. I suspect they have both Kellas cats and Scottish wildcats in their territory.
So there's a possible hookup, if you chain it a bit ...
Zipper, a teleporter, likes eating in Rutledge.
Pips, a Pict, knows Zipper; and also one of Pips' cousins, Mishla, is a mistwalker.
Everyone in Rutledge knows the Vermont Shag Carpet Cats, and more than a few have been adopted in town. They're around.
If Pips sees a big, fierce-looking cat then he is likely to call it a Kellas cat, which will lead to a comparison between them and the Shags. Then later ...
Pips: "Could I interest you in a ferocious momma cat her litter of bloodthirsty kittens?"
Hippie: "Yeah, probably. Why?"
Pips: "My cousin HAD a flock of chickens. Which are now inside the cats, or spattered all over the barnyard. Help?"
The Kellas cats would be a better match than the Savanna Cat was. Those with a more-wild temper will self-select out of the commune gene pool, while those who tolerate people will should stay and contribute.
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 04:51 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 05:09 am (UTC)The male Scottish wildcat has a head-to-body length ranging from 578 to 636 mm (22.8 to 25.0 in) with 305–355 mm (12.0–14.0 in) long tails and of females from 504 to 572 mm (19.8 to 22.5 in) with 280–341 mm (11.0–13.4 in) long tails. Condylobasal length of skulls of females varies from 82 to 88 mm (3.2 to 3.5 in) and of males from 88 to 99 mm (3.5 to 3.9 in).[8] Males weigh 3.77–7.26 kg (8.3–16.0 lb), while females are smaller at 2.35–4.68 kg (5.2–10.3 lb).
Compare with Vermont Shag Carpet Cats, who often resemble Maine Coons:
The male Maine Coon is larger than the female usually. The size of a full-grown male Coon cat is typically 15-25 pounds, while the female averages between 10-5 pounds. The height of the male cat is 10-16 inches and be about 40 inches long. The female can stand at about 8-14 inches tall and be the same length as the male (these averages vary greatly).
At the larger end of the spectrum, a coon cat can easily measure 45 inches plus long and 30 lbs. The most recent record for the biggest cat is for Stewie the Maine Coon (48 inches long and 33 lbs)! His tail alone measured 16 inches.
A female Shag can thus outweigh a male Kallas, who is very unlikely to succeed in mounting her without her assistance, or else she's likely to rip his face off.
If we are starting with a queen and her litter of kittens, then likely some of those are male. If the queen is half-domestic and half-wildcat, then the kittens are either 3/4 domestic, 3/4 wildcat, or some other mix depending on the father.
By all means, ask for this in any relevant prompt call. It would be so much fun to write! :D
Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 08:11 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-31 08:45 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2023-01-01 05:39 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2023-01-01 04:23 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-27 06:58 am (UTC)Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-27 12:12 pm (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 01:32 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 02:14 am (UTC)Re: Yes ...
Date: 2022-12-28 04:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2022-12-28 06:47 am (UTC)Well ...
Date: 2022-12-28 12:30 pm (UTC)