After looking at ice age animals, I wondered who the survivors were. There were plenty to choose from, so it was hard to decide. I took a lot and some were oddly surprising. Enjoy.
North American Beaver
Bison
American Black Bear
Caribou
Cougar
Gray Wolf (Not a Dire Wolf)
Ground Squirrel
Humans (They did show for the end of the Ice Age)
Musk Ox
Reindeer
Salmon
Two full weeks of break and I’m dragging myself into it. Sort of. By the time this post goes live, I’ve probably woken up and headed out to the mall for some walking before the shoppers arrive. Might even get home before it goes live. No telling what will happen since I haven’t done it yet. All I know is that I’m writing this post, finishing the last February one, and crawling into bed after laundry. I definitely need it.
This week was grueling because a lot happened at work and afterwards. I won’t bore you with most of it, but there is a highlight I’ll mention later. A victory was that I finished hand-editing Darwin & the Demon Game. Finished it and felt like a fraud, but it’s done. There are some things that I need to fix in the beginning because stuff mentioned earlier in the story don’t really match up. It’ll take a long time to add the changes and make other ones as I go. Do I think I can finish before the break is done?
Honestly, I don’t know because the next two weeks are going to be busy. I’m also not going to touch the book until tonight or tomorrow. The reason is because today is a big Pokemon Go event and I’d rather be outside even if it’s cold. It’s really a weekend-long thing, but I’m going to use today to go hard on it and tomorrow will be a smaller outing in the afternoon. After being cooped up all week and only getting a few fresh air outings, I really want to get the cobwebs out. I dread being stuck inside all winter because that’ll lead to me gaining weight. Other health problems can return, so I need to get out more often. Don’t worry though. I’ll have 5 layers and a 22 ounce thermos of hot chocolate (with rainbow unicorn marshmallows) on my side.
The other reason I want to go out is because of the highlight. I had my six month follow-up with the sleep doctor. It’s to see how my numbers are and if the CPAP machine is helping me. Before he came in, the assistant (not sure of official title) took my vitals and threw me off with the blood pressure. I’ve had hypertension for a long time, so I braced myself for the high numbers. Instead, I got 112/50 . . . I actually had to ask him what the numbers were for and if he was sure. Seems my hypertension is gone because I’m getting good sleep and walking around a lot. Hence, I really don’t want to stay sedentary all winter. The fresh air helps too, which means the exercise bike wouldn’t be a great substitute.
Having two weeks off is going to be relaxing, but I will try to accomplish some things. That is when I’m not with family or sleeping. The hand edits are the big one, which will be easier when my son is working on his own creative projects. There’s that jigsaw puzzle I want to work on and finish ‘The Penguin’. Yeah, these aren’t all lofty goals like writing a new novel. I’m so burnt out and anxious that getting fun stuff accomplished will be a great end-of-year victory. Seriously, my anxiety got so bad that I ended up having false fevers one morning. It’s happened before where I get so stressed that I have 100 degree fever for a minute until I calm down. The term is psychogenic fever, which I’m going to make sure isn’t a thing during the break.
There’s really nothing else that I have planned beyond two special events with my son. I won’t say it out loud because they’re secrets from various people. It’s going to be tough jamming them in though. The first two days we have some appointments, but I can fit one outing in after them. The weekend has family and would be a bad idea for the second, which means I’ll have to do it a week from this Monday. Really hoping the weather holds since it’s an outdoor thing. I don’t have him for New Years Eve this year, so that will be an editing and binge-watching day. Thinking of it being this comedy called ‘Tacoma FD’ and I’ll type in hand edits while watching. New laptop means I can work on my bed in front of the TV again. We’ll see since the last 4 days of my break see me on my own, which opens the door for a lot of editing time.
Let’s get to the goals:
Google Image Search
Right before Holiday Break here, so things are busy. Figure it would be fun to try some Ice Age questions . . . Yeah, I’m not really sure where I’m going with this either. Consider it an end of the year adventure?
Vivi from FF9
(No reason for the picture. This is more of a prophecy I hope to use in a future trilogy that explains the reason Windemere’s magic works the way it does. Almost forgot it existed though. A side note is that Mylrix was the first fantasy world I made in high school and it was replaced in college by Windemere. The way the world looked is actually what I now call Pre-Great Cataclysm Windemere. The name was moved to the plane of magic ruled by Gola.)
On the day the four moons fall
The magic mistress will be free
Her saviors born of mortal femmes
And have risen above their fragile flesh
Gola of the magic realm will fly
As the plane of Mylrix crashes forth
And her power rains into the fields
Most people have heard about woolly mammoths and saber-toothed tigers. Those are the usual predator and prey animals you hear about with Ice Age stories. Thanks to the animated ‘Ice Age’ movies, people know a few others, especially if they have kids. So, what are some other creatures that an author can pull from? (All images taken from Google Image Search.)
Woolly Rhino
American Lion and Hagerman’s Horse
Teratonis
Irish Elk
Glyptodon
Giant Sloth
Giant Owl
Cave bear
Ice Age
The above characters are probably who many people thought of when they saw the title, but I’m thinking about the actual creatures. I’ve seen many posts over the years about dinosaurs in fantasy, but not about Ice Age mammals. They do make appearances at times and nobody bats an eye that much. Why is that?
Well, first thing we should do is make sure we are all on the same page as far as Ice Age mammals. Woolly mammoths, dire wolves, saber-toothed tigers, megatherium (giant sloth), and more fall under this category. They are the huge and hairy versions of some modern species. Perfect for cold weather and hunting the fledgling humanoids who really only showed up near the end of the Ice Age. I think we have a good enough picture right now.
I remember a movie long ago that had mammoths helping to create a pyramid, which got people to learn that both existed. Not that mammoths helped build the pyramids at Giza, but they only went extinct about 10,000 years ago. Smilodons (saber-toothed cats) went extinct 8,000-10,000 years ago. Compare that to the dinosaurs who went extinct 65 MILLION years ago and you can get an idea as to why we might be okay with Ice Age beasts in fiction. Our ancestors were alive alongside them, so they don’t seem as unnatural and bizarre as giant lizards with spikes for thumbs.
We also see modern versions of these animals and they look closer to these beasts than the dinosaur descendants. So, we can believe and understand them more, especially if they are in fiction. A reader might not question why a modern elephant is in one area and a mammoth is still in icy areas. We know how the fur was an adaptation for survival, so it makes sense that they would still be in there. Perhaps our world not being that different from Ice Age times is another factor to how this works too. We can see how both versions can live in a world that might be like ours and have really cold regions too. It’s just how we learn about things, I guess.
It’s interesting how Ice Age animals are accepted in fiction similar to a dog or cat showing up. Here we have another possible reason for why readers will just accepted that they are there. Real world animals existing in a fictional world is fine. They’re the ‘real’ beasts while the monsters are still treated as abnormal even if they are regular aspects of that world. Mammoths would fall into the ‘real’ beast category because we are used to seeing something like them. Could be a residual memory of humanity about living alongside them as well, so we don’t feel as removed from their existence as we would about dinosaurs.
Guess a final possibility is that dinosaurs have to compete with dragons for being giant lizards. Ice Age animals don’t have fantasy counterparts to fight for niches, so they can just be there. Even robotic versions of themselves in science-fiction don’t really fill the gap that they can step into. I’ve heard a lot of people ask why have dinosaurs when you can have dragons. Nobody ever said ‘why have a saber-toothed tiger when you can have a griffin’? Might just end up with saber-toothed griffins, which doesn’t really work.
Did you see it? The spelling mistake in the tilte of this post? This is my last post of 2024, and soon Story Emprie will be signing off for a break …
Why We Can’t See Our Tpyos
Figured I know enough tea drinkers to make this post with an audience. Also, it’s getting cold, so the holiday works. Wish it was hot cocoa day, but cold beggars can’t be choosers. So, what’s your favorite tea? (Mine is currently a Rose Lemonade tea.)
Panic attacks were the theme of the week. All happening around 3 am and preventing me from getting back to bed before work. I could have used Zzzquil to help, but I’m trying to not go back on that after using it for 22 months. This meant a lot of exhaustion during a week where I needed energy.
That isn’t to say I didn’t accomplish anything. Darwin & the Demon Game hand edits are almost ready to be typed in. Got 7 pages to go, which I could have finished if Sunday went smoothly. Around the time I finished making my lunch, I got a call that forced me to abandon my food and editing. So, I managed to finish the final battle chapter, but the closure one couldn’t be completed. Tried a few times during the week with only a single page getting edited. Might have time tonight to complete it though, so we’ll see if I can start printing Darwin & the Beast Collector.
The rest of the week was rough because it was really rainy, which set off my sinuses and made me tired. This meant the 4 appointments for my son, 1 appointment for me, my son’s winter concert, and a field trip took a massive toll on me. Managed to get out early on Monday, Thursday, and Friday to try mall walking before work. It wasn’t bad for 30 minutes or so. Helped me get the daily Pokemon Go stuff done and have a quiet period at the start of my day. As quiet as it can be when you’re in a relatively empty mall with Christmas music still playing.
Can’t say anything else really amazing happened. Didn’t even get to finish watching all of ‘Arcane’, which I might do this weekend when my son is asleep. This is making me realize that I never picked a series to watch during New Years Eve since I’m on my own. Only reason I’m going to make sure I make it to midnight is that I might get a call from my son afterwards. As for the show, I’m leaning towards another anime, but I’m finding that I have no urge to watch anything. For that matter, I don’t have an interest in doing anything either. Just worn out and mentally shot, which will change after 6 days of resting and 6 days of having my son. I’ll probably have finished watching ‘Penguin’ by New Years Eve too, so that’s out.
I did finish all of my holiday and December birthday shopping. Now it hurts whenever I buy food or gas since I know my accounts took a hit before they could recover from the car repairs and new laptop. Bought a bunch of cheap lunches that I can heat up during the break to avoid hitting up fast food every day. This will allow for more editing and Pokemon time too. Keep thinking something else is going to come up during the 6 days I don’t have my son. Probably not important or just minor things.
Next week is the last week of school before the break. I already know I’m entering it fairly battered. Really hope the panic attacks stop because I don’t want to take a day off at the finish line. Came close this week, but a few work situations made me suck it up and not make things worse. Got a sleep doctor appointment this week, which could help with the situation. Still, I’m going to keep an eye on how I’m feeling and not push myself to the point of collapsing as soon as break starts. Lots of edits to type in, Pokemon to catch, and . . . Whatever else happens.
Think I’ll take some time to look at the ‘end of year’ posts I made and see if I have to add anything. 2024 is continuing the body blows and haymakers, so I don’t know if I should bother adding to the ‘this sucked’ list. Really just dragging myself into 2025 and praying it doesn’t decide to be a darker sequel. There are ways things can be worse and I know of a few events next year that are going to prove challenging. Maybe the 2020’s are just a nightmare in general.
So, what are the goals of the week?
Legends of Windemere 