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rainbowfic2016-11-02 07:21 pm
bookblather) wrote in rainbowfic2016-11-02 07:21 pm
Color Party 30, David Bowie 6, Rain Cloud 15: Creating Life
Author: Kat
Title: Creating Life
Story: In the Heart - Mad Scientist AU
Colors: Color party 30 (Virid), David Bowie 6 (Their jealousy's spilling down The stars must stick together → The Stars Are Out Tonight (The Next Day)), rain cloud 15 (Same old thankless job)
Supplies and Materials: Eraser (Mad Scientist AU), novelty beads (“Now, that,” said Sophy, “I am very glad to know, because if ever I should desire to please you I shall know just how to set about it. I daresay I shan’t, but one likes to be prepared for any event, however unlikely.” - Georgette Heyer), beading wire (the cocktails are about this color), stain (Work is the curse of the drinking classes. - Oscar Wilde), brush (temerarious) (if this isn't a word that has Ivy all over it...)
Word Count: 1134
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Mad scientists! Surprisingly sexist. Who knew?
Warnings: sexism and some mild gender essentialism.
Notes: I am indebted to Narbonic for the idea of a mad scientists convention.
Apparently there was such a thing as a conference for mad scientists. The cocktails glowed a vivid blue-green and almost everyone wore a lab coat, and you could spot the significant others by the way they hung around the edges of the crowd, sipping straight liquor and looking nervous.
Hell, Gina was pretty nervous herself. She couldn't quite remember why she'd agreed to come to this thing. It probably had something to do with Ivy's sad eyes, which were legendary. And more to do with the conference's location, which was Hawai'i, while it was snowing in New York.
And-- Gina was shallow sometimes, she could admit it-- it probably also had something to do with the way Ivy looked in the short green cocktail dress and the galaxy leggings she wore underneath. It made her legs look literally out of this world, and Gina was looking forward to trying that line on her girlfriend later in the evening.
For the time being, though, she was hovering near the (bless mad scientists and their generosity) open bar, smiling at nervous non-scientists and watching Ivy progress through the crowd, shaking hands and getting sidetracked into animated, hand-waving discussions. Ivy never thought of herself as a people person, Gina knew, and she certainly didn't value her social skills much, but maybe it was just this crowd, these people, who made her feel at home. She behaved this way at home with Gina, too, and that... oh, that was a lovely feeling.
The current discussion looked as if it might be getting interesting. Gina excused herself from the bland, lab-coated gentleman who'd been talking in her general direction for the past ten minutes and went to her lover.
Ivy saw her coming, and smiled at her between the shoulders of the other scientists she was talking to. Gina always forgot how short she was. She had such an expansive personality-- and today, three-inch heels-- that it was hard to remember she didn't actually take up that much space. Gina wound her way through the scientists and slipped her hand through the elbow Ivy held out, just as a large, burly man's lecture wound to a close.
"...and that," he finished, in the bombastic tones of a professor who knew no one had been listening, "is why bringing the dead back to life simply isn't practical. I mean, the wear and tear on shovels alone."
"Not to mention the dry-cleaning bills," Ivy said, in an undertone. Gina laughed, and covered it with her drink.
The woman across the way was shaking her blonde head, and launched into an argument with the lecturer on the correct use of gravedigging equipment that almost everyone, Ivy included, tuned out. The group shuffled in silence for a moment.
"So how's your create-life program going?" somebody asked Ivy, apparently by way of breaking the ice.
Ivy snorted into her drink. "Don't have one. Why in God's name would I?"
There was a brief silence, and then the circle of labcoats paying attention to Ivy (mostly men, Gina noted idly) gasped more or less in unison. "But you have to!" another somebody said. "That's the basic mad scientist thing. Hell, you're a biologist, you're seriously telling me you haven't messed with something's genes?"
"Oh, I've totally messed with genes," Ivy said, and shrugged one shoulder. "But that's not creating life, that's altering it. Anyway, I don't get the emphasis on creating life. That's easy."
A wild-haired man rolled his eyes. "Oh, it's easy, is it? I've been working on it for three years, so please, enlighten me."
Ivy stared at him for a minute. Gina, in anticipation of a fight, pulled her arm away. "Uh, well, give me some sperm, some ova, some kind of uterus, and ten months. Boom. Life created. Problem solved."
"What?" The man snorted. "Oh, come on, that's cheating."
"Why?" Ivy demanded, gesturing madly with her drink. A third man, coat the pristine white of snowdrifts, stepped back hurriedly to avoid getting splashed. "How is that cheating? People have been making life that way for millions of years."
"We're trying to make life from nothing!" someone objected. The voice was male, but Gina couldn't spot the speaker. "Not... I don't know, from sperm."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "From women, you mean," she said. The blonde woman broke off her argument and turned toward Ivy with an interested expression. "Let's be real, this isn't about changing the world or anything. Creating life is chump change unless you can figure out how to make women unnecessary."
The wild-haired man laughed at her. "Always making things about gender! It's not that."
"Really?" Ivy demanded. "How exactly is creating life in a test tube any different from creating it in a uterus?"
"Yeah," the blonde woman joined in, unexpectedly. "It's so much easier. You don't have to create the welcoming environment and you don't have to nurture it and watch every second to make sure the thing's still safe. The hardest part is making an artificial uterus."
Ivy turned towards her, ignoring the wild-haired man's sputtering. "That did take me a while," she admitted. "I finally had to swap favors with Dr. Lozada, you know, the nice tech guy down in Arizona? I made him a pet Rhamphorhynchus and he figured out the logistics of the thing. I still had to put it together, but way less work."
"Oh yeah," the blonde woman said, grinning. "I know Dr. Lozada. He and that boyfriend of his ever get their act together?"
Ivy grinned back. "Why do you think he's not here? I'm Dr. Hirschfeld-Kendall, by the way, and this is my girlfriend, Gina Caravecchio." She tugged gently on Gina's arm to pull her forward.
"Hi," the blonde woman said, and offered her hand to shake. Ivy didn't move, so Gina took it, after a moment just slightly too long. "Dr. Garrity. Dave's around here somewhere but he's probably busy talking to the techheads."
"I'm bored already," Ivy said, and Dr. Garrity laughed, then turned to Gina.
"You must be pretty bored too," she said, sympathetically. "I think you're not a scientist?"
Gina nodded. "Book editor," she said, tucking her hand back through Ivy's elbow. "But I actually find all this fascinating. I mean, mad scientists! Surprisingly sexist. Who knew."
"Just like any other male-dominated profession," Ivy said, and sighed. "We really ought to form some kind of mad scientist women's support group."
Dr. Garrity looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," she said, after a minute. "I should be able to get you something for next year, though."
"Cool," Ivy said, and put her hand over Gina's. "But since that's not until next year, want to get drunk?"
"That sounds fabulous," Dr. Garrity said, and off they all went to the bar.
Title: Creating Life
Story: In the Heart - Mad Scientist AU
Colors: Color party 30 (Virid), David Bowie 6 (Their jealousy's spilling down The stars must stick together → The Stars Are Out Tonight (The Next Day)), rain cloud 15 (Same old thankless job)
Supplies and Materials: Eraser (Mad Scientist AU), novelty beads (“Now, that,” said Sophy, “I am very glad to know, because if ever I should desire to please you I shall know just how to set about it. I daresay I shan’t, but one likes to be prepared for any event, however unlikely.” - Georgette Heyer), beading wire (the cocktails are about this color), stain (Work is the curse of the drinking classes. - Oscar Wilde), brush (temerarious) (if this isn't a word that has Ivy all over it...)
Word Count: 1134
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Mad scientists! Surprisingly sexist. Who knew?
Warnings: sexism and some mild gender essentialism.
Notes: I am indebted to Narbonic for the idea of a mad scientists convention.
Apparently there was such a thing as a conference for mad scientists. The cocktails glowed a vivid blue-green and almost everyone wore a lab coat, and you could spot the significant others by the way they hung around the edges of the crowd, sipping straight liquor and looking nervous.
Hell, Gina was pretty nervous herself. She couldn't quite remember why she'd agreed to come to this thing. It probably had something to do with Ivy's sad eyes, which were legendary. And more to do with the conference's location, which was Hawai'i, while it was snowing in New York.
And-- Gina was shallow sometimes, she could admit it-- it probably also had something to do with the way Ivy looked in the short green cocktail dress and the galaxy leggings she wore underneath. It made her legs look literally out of this world, and Gina was looking forward to trying that line on her girlfriend later in the evening.
For the time being, though, she was hovering near the (bless mad scientists and their generosity) open bar, smiling at nervous non-scientists and watching Ivy progress through the crowd, shaking hands and getting sidetracked into animated, hand-waving discussions. Ivy never thought of herself as a people person, Gina knew, and she certainly didn't value her social skills much, but maybe it was just this crowd, these people, who made her feel at home. She behaved this way at home with Gina, too, and that... oh, that was a lovely feeling.
The current discussion looked as if it might be getting interesting. Gina excused herself from the bland, lab-coated gentleman who'd been talking in her general direction for the past ten minutes and went to her lover.
Ivy saw her coming, and smiled at her between the shoulders of the other scientists she was talking to. Gina always forgot how short she was. She had such an expansive personality-- and today, three-inch heels-- that it was hard to remember she didn't actually take up that much space. Gina wound her way through the scientists and slipped her hand through the elbow Ivy held out, just as a large, burly man's lecture wound to a close.
"...and that," he finished, in the bombastic tones of a professor who knew no one had been listening, "is why bringing the dead back to life simply isn't practical. I mean, the wear and tear on shovels alone."
"Not to mention the dry-cleaning bills," Ivy said, in an undertone. Gina laughed, and covered it with her drink.
The woman across the way was shaking her blonde head, and launched into an argument with the lecturer on the correct use of gravedigging equipment that almost everyone, Ivy included, tuned out. The group shuffled in silence for a moment.
"So how's your create-life program going?" somebody asked Ivy, apparently by way of breaking the ice.
Ivy snorted into her drink. "Don't have one. Why in God's name would I?"
There was a brief silence, and then the circle of labcoats paying attention to Ivy (mostly men, Gina noted idly) gasped more or less in unison. "But you have to!" another somebody said. "That's the basic mad scientist thing. Hell, you're a biologist, you're seriously telling me you haven't messed with something's genes?"
"Oh, I've totally messed with genes," Ivy said, and shrugged one shoulder. "But that's not creating life, that's altering it. Anyway, I don't get the emphasis on creating life. That's easy."
A wild-haired man rolled his eyes. "Oh, it's easy, is it? I've been working on it for three years, so please, enlighten me."
Ivy stared at him for a minute. Gina, in anticipation of a fight, pulled her arm away. "Uh, well, give me some sperm, some ova, some kind of uterus, and ten months. Boom. Life created. Problem solved."
"What?" The man snorted. "Oh, come on, that's cheating."
"Why?" Ivy demanded, gesturing madly with her drink. A third man, coat the pristine white of snowdrifts, stepped back hurriedly to avoid getting splashed. "How is that cheating? People have been making life that way for millions of years."
"We're trying to make life from nothing!" someone objected. The voice was male, but Gina couldn't spot the speaker. "Not... I don't know, from sperm."
Ivy rolled her eyes. "From women, you mean," she said. The blonde woman broke off her argument and turned toward Ivy with an interested expression. "Let's be real, this isn't about changing the world or anything. Creating life is chump change unless you can figure out how to make women unnecessary."
The wild-haired man laughed at her. "Always making things about gender! It's not that."
"Really?" Ivy demanded. "How exactly is creating life in a test tube any different from creating it in a uterus?"
"Yeah," the blonde woman joined in, unexpectedly. "It's so much easier. You don't have to create the welcoming environment and you don't have to nurture it and watch every second to make sure the thing's still safe. The hardest part is making an artificial uterus."
Ivy turned towards her, ignoring the wild-haired man's sputtering. "That did take me a while," she admitted. "I finally had to swap favors with Dr. Lozada, you know, the nice tech guy down in Arizona? I made him a pet Rhamphorhynchus and he figured out the logistics of the thing. I still had to put it together, but way less work."
"Oh yeah," the blonde woman said, grinning. "I know Dr. Lozada. He and that boyfriend of his ever get their act together?"
Ivy grinned back. "Why do you think he's not here? I'm Dr. Hirschfeld-Kendall, by the way, and this is my girlfriend, Gina Caravecchio." She tugged gently on Gina's arm to pull her forward.
"Hi," the blonde woman said, and offered her hand to shake. Ivy didn't move, so Gina took it, after a moment just slightly too long. "Dr. Garrity. Dave's around here somewhere but he's probably busy talking to the techheads."
"I'm bored already," Ivy said, and Dr. Garrity laughed, then turned to Gina.
"You must be pretty bored too," she said, sympathetically. "I think you're not a scientist?"
Gina nodded. "Book editor," she said, tucking her hand back through Ivy's elbow. "But I actually find all this fascinating. I mean, mad scientists! Surprisingly sexist. Who knew."
"Just like any other male-dominated profession," Ivy said, and sighed. "We really ought to form some kind of mad scientist women's support group."
Dr. Garrity looked thoughtful for a moment. "I'll see what I can do," she said, after a minute. "I should be able to get you something for next year, though."
"Cool," Ivy said, and put her hand over Gina's. "But since that's not until next year, want to get drunk?"
"That sounds fabulous," Dr. Garrity said, and off they all went to the bar.