@lilithsaintcrow @DialMforMara Spiracles (or something similar but not for breathing, per se) they can expand and contract as needed, maybe?

@hummingrain @DialMforMara I'm having fun thinking up battle armor for spider steeds now. Futuristic would have cooling systems, fantasy would have spikes...

@lilithsaintcrow @hummingrain How do you sit on one? Where do you put the saddle, and between which pairs of legs do you attach it?

@DialMforMara @lilithsaintcrow Maybe it's a kneeling saddle, so your legs aren't dangling between any of its legs?

@hummingrain @lilithsaintcrow This would require a culture where it’s normal to kneel for long periods

@DialMforMara @hummingrain You could shift between kneeling for battle/gallop and sitting tailor-fashion for walking/travel. But I'd still say standing would probably be better.

@lilithsaintcrow @DialMforMara @hummingrain Or go for broke on scale and plant an arachno-howda on its assignmen abdomen!

@hummingrain @DialMforMara @lilithsaintcrow *on its abdomen. No idea where the spare word came from.

@DialMforMara @lilithsaintcrow True!

@hummingrain @DialMforMara @lilithsaintcrow
@DialMforMara ok despite the fact I've got a bit of a spider phobia I'd *love* to see this
+1 vote for kneeling saddle.

@DialMforMara @hummingrain I'm thinking standing might be the best way to ride one. You don't want to sit at the thinnest/most vulnerable spot where attackers are going to stab.

@lilithsaintcrow @hummingrain Maybe elevate the saddle a little and put it farther back? But then the balance would be weird...

@lilithsaintcrow @DialMforMara The extra heat could build up in their backside so they have a butt cannon like a bombardier beetle but if they don't fire periodically, they have an adverse reaction like the guy who ate dirt in Artemis Fowl.

@mattamatic
@lilithsaintcrow
Yeah, but Mulch did it on purpose. The thing I liked least about Artemis Fowl, before the series went off the rails in book 5, was the Designated Walking Fart Joke.
(The best thing was that high school me had a massive crush on Artemis.)