To: Everyone

[speak_n_spell]

For those who identify as human: what's the worst injury you've survived?

I'm not just asking to be nosy - with everyone coming from different realities, I've been wondering if my understanding of Things A Human Can And Cannot Do is accurate? What if we're all operating from different baselines? It could be helpful to know before we get one another into trouble!

Comments

[cryptsleeper]

Am I obligated to respond?

[speak_n_spell]

I’m not here to tell you you can or can’t identify as human, but let me ask you this:

How many ACTUAL HUMANS do you know who can turn into mist, and then DIRECTLY into a wolf, both with a soul-summoned sword?

[cryptsleeper]

That was a yes or no question, not an opportunity to blurt out various sundry skills that I prefer to keep hidden for an opportune moment.

and you forgot the bats

[speak_n_spell]

That implies you have others I don't know about, so you'll be fine.

I've never actually SEEN you do bats! That one was hearsay only until literally just this second. Noted.

[cryptsleeper]

>[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[

ask jaskier about the bats

[itookashot]

Been shot a few times! Nothing serious. Though depends on what you mean by human, there's a nation in my world that doesn't consider my kind human because we've got powers.

[speak_n_spell]

Shot by a what? Bow, crossbow, wait, firearm?! [They're terribly rare where/when she's from, but known to blow sizeable holes through people.]

Hmm, that's a good point, I should establish my own baseline definition at the start! Powers don't make anyone less human in my mind - I have my own - I suppose I mean physiologically. All the same organs in all the same places. Similar strength, speed, and constitution. If one of us can shake off a gunshot, and another can't, that's the sort of thing we may need to know.

[itookashot]

Firearms, also with a bow, that was weird, been knifed. I'm a gunslinger myself, comes with the territory.

I definitely cannot shake off being shot, it hurt like fuck. But body wise I've got lungs, heart, eyes, liver, spleen, etc.

[speak_n_spell]

That's a fair amount of puncture wounds. What's your average recovery time look like?

Ten fingers, ten toes, etc? I've never been shot, myself, but I've seen the effects. They're horrific, like a miniature canonball.

[itookashot]

A few weeks for a deep blade somewhere important, longer for the shot depending on if it was a graze or not. It is possible I am subsconsiously using my abilities to heal though, I've been told that can happen. I've never intentionally done it that way.

Yes, they can be. They're very good at clean kills though, makes it quick and simple. If you're good at it, which I am, I'm the best.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

Human by whose standards?

[speak_n_spell]

By the standards of your world! I'm curious if there's a lot of variation between what we're all thinking of when we say we're human.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

My world has long since fallen to ruin. And the inhabitants of those which have risen in its wake are considerably reduced from what would have been considered normal by my people.

[speak_n_spell]

Are you considered a normal example of your people, then?

[unnecessaryflourishes]

As of the destruction of our world, yes. Provided being a mage of notably exceptional skill is not enough to bar someone from being 'normal'.

In the time since, I have managed to attain a form of immortality, though this, too, is typical for we few who were fortunate enough to survive the destruction of all we had known.

[earthborn]

I got spaced. That's... usually pretty permanent. But I got lucky, and somebody fronted a whole bunch of money to bring me back from what should have been dead.

So. I mean, technically I did die.

I've been shot a few times. Set on fire. Frostbite...acid? I'm not a great baseline. My life's too exciting.

[speak_n_spell]

I'm sorry, I think we've just stumbled into another of those interplanar cultural gaps: what exactly does 'spaced' mean?

[earthborn]

[There is a noticeable pause. Where do you even start? Shepard feels like she spends so much time explaining things these days; she's doesn't feel well equipped to be an educator.]

Alright, uh. Do you know what space is? As in, the space between planets, not just gaps between the furniture.

Big airless null-gravity void, out [For fuck's sake. She does want to be insulting, recognizes that impatience within herself, but it would be pointless. How do you say, how ignorant are you without just saying it.] ...out, beyond the sky?

Anybody who goes out there without protection, is going to die. There's a lot of boiling and freezing and rupturing of blood vessels and organs. Usually it's the suffocation that actually gets you. It supposedly takes about eleven minutes to die, and I'll tell you from experience, it's not a fun way to go.

[speak_n_spell]

I'm familiar with the concept of heavenly bodies and their orientation to one another, but to my knowledge no one in my world has determined what lies 'beyond the sky'. I admit I never thought it might a place lacking in air or heat, but I've created a few vacuums and can imagine the effect that might have on a person.

[Actually, that's something to keep in mind the next time she's faced with a nasty Night Creature - if she just shoves all the air around it away, would it simply implode? That's worth testing out on something that can't feel pain, like, say, an apple!]

I'm very sorry that happened to you. It must have been disorienting to come back from something like that.

[earthborn]

It's more that the default state of the universe is to be basically empty, and planetary gravity is what gives us the benefit of a nice, breathable atmosphere. [Thank god for scientists; or at least for the ones who knew anything at all about physics.] Sorry. You would not believe the number of people I've had to explain a hard vacuum to.

[Or maybe you would. It's a lot of folks.]

Disorienting is one way to put it. But part of my job is putting myself into harms way, so it's not like it was tragedy. Just a bad day.

[frontlinetitties]

Define survived.

[speak_n_spell]

Now, post-injury, you continue to breathe and have a pulse. It still counts if you lost those traits for a while during the recovery process - that happens to the best of us sometimes.

super late, I'm sorry ;;

[frontlinetitties]

Hmmm, we may have to rule mine out.
I mean, I've got a pulse and I'm breathing now, obvs.
And I once surivived a poisoning attempt that killed everyone but me.

I am literally the last rp person you ever need to apologize to for this sort of thing

[speak_n_spell]

It sounds like you have an unusually strong constitution even among what your universe considers 'humans'.

I'm definitely starting to see a trend among the Summoned. I'm not sure I like what it's pointing towards, though.

[lackingtalent]

𝒪𝓃𝒸𝑒, 𝐼 𝓈𝓊𝒻𝒻𝑒𝓇𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝓊𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇𝓁𝓎 𝒹𝑒𝓋𝒶𝓈𝓉𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓅𝒶𝓅𝑒𝓇𝒸𝓊𝓉.

𝑅𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒶𝓉𝑜𝓅 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓀𝓃𝓊𝒸𝓀𝓁𝑒, 𝓌𝒽𝒾𝒸𝒽 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒷𝑜𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝓃𝑜𝓉 𝒸𝓁𝑜𝓉 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝒶𝓁 𝑒𝒻𝒻𝑒𝒸𝓉𝒾𝓋𝑒𝓁𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒶𝓊𝓈𝑒𝒹 𝒶𝓃 𝑜𝒷𝓈𝒸𝑒𝓃𝑒 𝒶𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝒶𝒾𝓃. 𝒜𝒹𝒹𝒾𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎, 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇𝓎 𝓂𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉 𝐼 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝑜𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓉- 𝑒𝓍𝓅𝑜𝓈𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓂𝓎 𝓃𝑒𝓇𝓋𝑒𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒶𝒾𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓆𝓊𝒾𝓉𝑒 𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝑜𝓇𝒹𝒾𝓃𝒶𝓉𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝓃𝑔𝓉𝒽 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒.