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much have i traveled in the realms of gold

@meowdejavu / meowdejavu.tumblr.com

alicia. 30s. ultra nerdy cat lady. chaotic bi. she/her.
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hihiyas
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disappointingcake

Humans are unstoppable...Until they aren’t.

I’m not the most eloquent writer, but I’ve had this idea kicking around for a while and figured I’d put it out into the universe.

A lot of the basis for the “humans are space orcs” stuff is the idea that we’re pretty durable compared to many species, yeah? When it comes to physical trauma, we can bounce back from most things that don’t kill us outright, especially given the benefit of hypothetical space-age technology, and adrenaline is one heck of a drug when it comes to functioning under stress. 

But that doesn’t make us unkillable, and even though we can survive debilitating injuries and not die from shock, it doesn’t mean it’s fun. Dying of shock sucks, but at least it’s probably quick.

So - Imagine a ship, adrift in space, slowly being drawn into a star or something. In order to save the ship, someone has to repair the hyper-quantum-relay-majig on the hull or in the engine or whatever. Bit of a problem though- there’s a ton of deadly, deadly radiation (Wrath of Khan style) or poisonous fumes or, I dunno, electrical current, between the crew and the repair. Like, enough to kill most species instantly, so the crew is just like, ‘welp, guess we’ll die then’. But then.

BUT THEN

They ask the human. Because everyone’s heard the stories - you’re basically unkillable, right? Could you survive long enough in there to fix it? And their human goes real quiet for a second, but still says ‘Yeah, I could fix it’. And the rest of the crew is like, ‘Whaaaaaa, it won’t kill you?’ and the human repeats “I can fix it” (which isn’t an answer, but no one catches that, not yet at least), so they send ‘em in. And the human fixes it, they come back, the ship flies to safety, and the crew is thrilled to survive. If the human is a little quiet, well, they’re entitled after pulling off a miracle. Everyone else is just excited to get to the nearest station’s bar to tell their very own human story, cuz, ‘those crazy humans, amiright?’.

The good mood keeps up until the human is late for their next shift. At first it’s just faint unease, but- but they earned a bit of a lie-in, right? No reason to begrudge them some extra rest, even if it is a little weird for them to oversleep. They’ll be fine. Humans are always fine. 

(Right?)

(…Wrong.)

- What is… help. Help!-

- ake up! You have t-

- been days. You need sleep, you-

- nother transfusion. We could-

- out of sedatives!-

A week later, the crew finally reaches the station. They stumble into the bar, haggard and haunted. And over the next months and years a new rumor about humans starts to make its way through space. A rumor unlike any before.

‘Be careful with your humans’ it whispers. ‘Their strength is not always a blessing. Be sure they don’t do something they can’t come back from, because when a human dies… they die slowly.’

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agentladyhawkeye

The thing is, humans can be tricky. And if they’re sufficiently pack-bonded with a ship’s crew? And that crew is in danger? They’ll willingly offer themselves up to make sure the crew survives.

They won’t tell their crewmates that whatever danger it is will just kill them slowly, that they can endure the exposure but not the long-term effects.

But the idea that humans can be fragile? Can die later from exposure to radiation or toxins or electricity or even smoke inhalation?

It seems preposterous!

There are too many stories about humans surviving all sorts of conditions that would kill their other crewmates. A human dying slowly, later, lingering and in agony? It’s a creepy story but of course it’s not true.

But then… another crew shares their own story. Their human volunteered to go into the danger zone to fix what needed to be fixed. Or maybe she had to retrieve a critical component or resource. And she lingered. Wasted away. Later the human doctors told their medical team there was nothing they could do but make sure she was comfortable, ease her pain before the end.

And yet another crew, whose human plunged through smoke and ash to make sure his crew could escape. He choked and coughed and couldn’t get enough air. Their medical commander performed an autopsy and found his lungs and throat and sinuses all coated in black soot and blackened mucus and red blood.

So the stories spread. Just because they don’t die of shock, just because they don’t die right away doesn’t mean it won’t kill them. They linger in agony or unconscious or waste away slowly.

But what’s most horrifying of all?

When other humans hear the stories from the traumatized crewmembers?

They aren’t surprised or horrified.

They say “Of course”

They say “I would have done the same”

They say “it was the Right Thing to do”

And they’ll smile (what the crew’s human would have called a sad smile) and toast to the dead. For making “The ultimate sacrifice for the folks they loved” and every human listening will say the name and drink a shot of liquor.

#hi i adore this#human/alien species integration and other sexy things to whisper in my ear
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floweroflaurelin

I got the chance to road trip out to the path of totality! My phone camera didn’t do it justice, so I painted what I saw instead 🌞🌚

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floweroflaurelin

WOW, thank you for all the love on this!! I’ve gotten a few asks about prints, so let me answer them all at once by saying that prints are now available right here! 😄✨

Image
Total Eclipse 2024, an art print by Sabira Langevin
This is a gallery-quality giclĂŠe art print on 100% cotton rag archival paper, printed with archival inks.
INPRNT
Source: floweroflaurelin
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speak no evil 2024: a film about scoot mcnairy playing the most useless husband of all time. you're going to say nothing while your vegetarian wife is pressured into eating meat? "we're here to have a fun vacation" is your take on staying at a creepy dude's house in the middle of nowhere? your reaction to someone forcibly kissing her neck is a passive :/ ??? and what adult says "good thing there's a doctor here" when their spouse gets a minor cut?? you can't go get her a fucking bandage?

there's no way he doesn't die from a rock to the skull

#this isn't a real opinion this movie is very Not My Thing!!!!#but it's nice to see MD again
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I got to watch the total solar eclipse from my front yard, which feels like winning the lottery. Looking at the crescent sun through the eclipse glasses was fun but also made me feel like I was doing something wrong by looking at the sun at all. The tree shadows were also doing the crescent thing, and they got thinner and thinner as we got closer to totality time.

Right before totality, I actually got to see shadow bands flowing across the ground. I only learned afterward that no one knows why they happen; it's a total eclipse mystery. Holy shit! It reminded me of the way shadow and light move across the bottom of a river, like it was actually rippling like water, but across the entire ground. I yelled at my neighbor to look down!

I feel like there's nothing to say about totality that hasn't already been said, but it was fucking amazing to see in person. I was the first person to cheer for it in my cul-de-sac. Two minutes of night. Planets were visible. Someone's automatic sensor lights turned on. I heard some crickets start chirping. The syzygy itself was gorgeous. It vanished behind a cloud for a few seconds, but that was honestly worth it because it reemerged beautifully as a dim ring and grew back to full brightness. Stunning. I put my hand behind my head so I could keep looking up the whole time. As soon as the "diamond ring" came back, I put my glasses on, but they blocked it completely. There was another cloud, then, and it was gorgeously illuminated by the waxing sun. Soon it was time to put the glasses back on for real, and daylight came creeping back, bringing the crescent tree shadows with it.

#total solar eclipse 2024#total solar eclipse#mostly i just want to remember!
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