un: theball | text

[stresstokens]

Hey. Hope everyone's recovering from that stupid maze okay.

I'll just get right down to my point of inquiry. For a place that claims that we're meant to save the universe, I've noticed a pretty dramatic human-bias around here that strikes me as kind of odd, considering how diverse the universe actually is.

So I'd like to get a show of hands. Who here is from a world where humans are the only sentient species around, and who here is from a world with more than just humans kicking around? What other sorts of species are around? I'd like to know how much of it is selection-bias based on who's running this place and how much of it is them drawing from places that just don't have any non-human populations. I wouldn't mind hearing about what sorts of non-humans you have around either, but that's probably less important, statistically speaking.

Lastly... what do you see when you look at this picture?

[ Inserted is a photograph of a suave looking goblin man in a tuxedo with a pencil-thin moustache. He's holding a champagne flute towards the camera with his arm around -- something. If you've been infected by the curse, you'll see the goblin man's arm is around a black tabaxi woman, but if not, his arm looks as though it's simply hanging in mid-air. ]

[ OOC NOTE: due to the extremely low likelihood we'll ever get kalina in-game, the picture is just for flavour! if you'd like your character to be infected by the shadowcat and thus able to see her image in the photo, it would be due to any circumstance in which any of riz's bodily fluids were absorbed into their own body in some way, i.e. blood or saliva. feel free to handwave a circumstance in which that could happen, even if it's riz's blood lingering on one of the labyrinth's traps that then got into an open cut of theirs, a glass in the labyrinth he drank from that they then used, etc., etc.! Please see this comment for more information! ]

Comments

un: deku

[wannasmash]

no one told me they weren't human, so i just assumed everyone i met was. my mistake. there aren't any other kinds of people in my world. however, there is now a greater variation among humans due to our quirks appearing. sometimes we have scales or cat ears or wings or whatever.

he looks very charming. is this you?

[stresstokens]

Some non-humans do look pretty human, but it's not such a bad thing to assume. I doubt anyone will actually get offended. Where I'm from, it's pretty obvious what species you are, so long as you look at people's ears.

No, that's not me. That's my Dad. Do you see anyone else in the photo? The person his arm is around?

[ Probably not. But he has to specify. The Quirk thing -- well, he can circle back to that in a second. ]

un: sandalphon

[prevail]

Humans are far from the only sentient life in the Sky Realm.

"Human" also encompasses various diverse races. Others are humanoid, as is that well-dressed goblin in the image.

[stresstokens]

Do you see who he's got his arm around in the photo?

But yeah, that sounds a lot more like what I'm used to. When it comes to sentient life where you're from, are they mainly 'humanoid', or are there others? And are you human too, or are you one of those humanoid species?

text — un: willa

[infirmiere]

[ do not tell the boy that the man who is probably his dad is hot as hell, bitch don't do it, don't do it! ]

Wow, what a DILF

[stresstokens]

[ Willa... oh no, he recognizes that name. Tragedy: that nice girl you met is just as horny as the rest of your friends. ]

I really wish people would stop saying that

[ When he shows the picture? There's about a 50/50 chance someone will say that. ]

un: blackhat | text

[equivo]

Humans are the only original sentient species on my world. There's some debate on if they're the only ones that still qualify on the 'sentient' and 'species' fronts. It depends on where you land on mutations and the validity of being grown in a lab.

I see a green guy in a tuxedo.

[stresstokens]

But nobody beside him, right? Cool. I kind of knew you wouldn't, but it's nice to get some verification.

I can't emphasize enough how weird it is to me that so many of you have humans as the only representative species where you're from, but at least that's making this place's population make a little more sense. Maybe people like me really are the minority.

[ One of the only Goblins in Elmville, now the only Goblin in this place. It's fine. He's used to it. ]

So what you're saying is that there are only humans where you're from, but people have been fucking around with cloning and that opened up a bunch of philosophical debates?

( text | un: kent )

[anewhope]

Do you mean world as in "universe"? Or galaxy?

[stresstokens]

Honestly, I'm a little stuck on what terminology is best here. World seemed like the simplest shorthand. I think the more accurate word might be 'realm' to account for interplanar differences as well as interplanetary differences?

Aliens have gotten a few mentions already. I'm guessing that's where you're going with this?

private; @everybodysoracle

[furiousfists]

I ought to start charging people a dollar every time they ask me why my ears are pointed.

Did you know there are worlds out there where elves only exist in fantasy novels and fairy tales?

[stresstokens]

I've gotten the opposite! Nobody's asked me anything, so I figured everyone just knew what I was until everyone spilled that they had no idea. Maybe they're more worried about looking impolite because it's more obvious with me???

I'm starting to learn that. Which I hate, for the record. I'd rather our species just not exist at all than be some human's fantasy. There's gotta be some planar bleed or something happening there.

un: Panacea | text

[ontologically]

Technically we had another species living with us but it was less sapient species and much more like... an alien virus that started immitating humanity so hard that it started having feelings. Beyond that there's just been mutations off of humanity.

[She's not going to bring up Nilbog given that this kid is probably an actual real life goblin? But she's also not sure it's relevant.]

You're a goblin, I'm guessing?

[stresstokens]

Okay, the alien virus thing has me thinking of like thirty more questions. But I guess the most pertinent one is the 'alien' part. Do you mean that the other species came from another plane or world entirely? How does a virus manage to imitate humanity?

[ And... huh. ]

Not me in the picture, by the way, but I am a Goblin. Which seems weird that you're able to guess that much if my species doesn't even exist where you're from.

un: finaltara

[spinoff]

Nothing but humans where I'm from. If there's aliens around, it's still science fiction.

And that looks...straight out a fantasy book.

[stresstokens]

That's a tick for the 'humans-only' box. Which I'm starting to see is surprisingly common with you guys, but not vice versa. Weird.

So you don't have any non-humans around, but you do have stories about non-humans? Is that right?

text; un: Storm

[agoddessonce]

I do not strictly identify as human, but I suppose that would also depend on how we define human, genetically speaking.

May I ask for what you are basing this "human-bias" on? I'm interested in the numbers myself.

[stresstokens]

I haven't really considered alternative definitions of 'human'. Where I'm from, it's considered to be pretty cut and dry, even accounting for the differences between humans. If you don't consider yourself human, then what do you consider yourself?

The human bias is solely based on personal observation. Which is that most people I've met have been human, or are able to pass as human. Which isn't a thing I'm able to do, for the record. So it stands out.

un: e. thawne

[projected]

1. My universe houses sentient life beyond humans. Earth is largely human populated, in the same way many other planets are dominated by sentient beings that aren't human. There are also cases where humans mutated into non-human beings, to such an extent that they can no longer be considered human.

2. I only see a man with his arm hanging in the air. Was this photo taken with a vampire?

[stresstokens]

1. Okay, this whole 'what defines a human' part wound up being a bigger philosophical debate than I expected. But that's good to know. So, your planet is mostly, but not entirely, human-dominated or at least human-derived. Even if they're the minority, what non-humans do you have around on your planet? Are you a human, or are you one of the mutated humans and/or non-humans?

2. Not a vampire. More like a local curse. I just wanted to see if anyone was from my plane without my knowing, since the likelihood of anyone else being able to see it is pretty low.

text; un: shadowheart

[tocastashadow]

Worlds where humans are the only sentient species? I wasn't aware such places existed. Sounds monotonous.

[stresstokens]

That's what I thought! I figured no way did that many people come from places where there are only humans kicking around, but it turns out I was super wrong. I can't even begin to imagine it.

What kind of species are common where you're from?

un: yuuki

[neverleave]

All I knew in my world is humans, but that's just one planet. Doesn't mean anything about others. I don't know how yours is called but there seems to be a planet Earth bias on top of a human bias.

[There are also the vampires, but he's not about to discuss them on a public post, even if they DID turn him into one.]

I see a green guy hugging someone who can't be caught on camera.

[stresstokens]

That's what I'm beginning to learn. Earth is almost always exclusively human as native species, but that doesn't mean that humans can't mutate into other species, or that there can't be extraterrestrial contact that diversify it a bit. Sometimes by force. Are aliens a thing on your Earth too?

Cool. The word for the green guy is Goblin, by the way. We're not the only green species where we're from, but I'm definitely the only green guy here.

un: biānfú

[pangzi]

My world is, as seems to be common here, mostly human. But there are other sentient beings, whether they are extraterrestrials who have come to Earth, beings from the demon or ghost realms, or animals who have cultivated their qi to become human.

[ He's actually dating one of the latter. It was... weird, to find out his girlfriend is actually a giant snake in disguise. But he got used to it. ]

Are we supposed to be seeing something in the photo other than a green-skinned man in a tuxedo?

[stresstokens]

Is your world called Earth, or does it have a different name? Because most of the people I've seen talking about human-dominant worlds have been from Earth, but you're the first to mention the fact that beings from other planes exist.

And no, you're not. It's just from a case back home. If you saw anything else, that would actually be more worrying, so you're good.

un: coffeefiend

[ichoosefight]

I think humans are the only officially sentient species native to Earth.

the photo is weird though is this some kind of psychological test or what

[stresstokens]

I keep hearing that about Earth. I think it might be less of a human-bias in selection and more of an Earth-bias.

Not a psychological test. It's connected to a case we're figuring out back home. If you don't see the cat, that's normal. If you do see the cat, then we've gotta talk.

I'm assuming you don't see the cat.

text; un: MAXIMUMLEGEND

[maximumlegend]

[ Not even as a direct reply to the text, and sent like.. a few hours after this post went up and Riz has been messaging with all sorts of people.. ]

the ball, why can't i get into our apartment??

[ Do you know how desperate Fabian is? He's texting. That's how desperate he is!! ]

THE BALL THE DOOR WON'T OPEN

[ Apparently Riz's theory noodling has gotten out of control enough that he may have expanded his theory board enough that it's currently actively blocking the door.. ]

[stresstokens]

[ It's a good thing that Fabian didn't try texting Riz privately first, on account of the fact that he would not answer. The only reason Fabian is getting an answer here is because this is the post where the clues live. ]

Promise you won't get mad.