video

[brainthingie]

Ah, yes, hello. This is your local doctor slash surgeon, Ryan Dalias, with an important reminder. You're in a new place, there are all sorts of interesting new people to meet and things to do. But remember, all humanoid species are not the same, and differing biology may not be apparent on the surface. Before interacting...intimately with the local populace, take appropriate prophylactic precautions. Just because you appear biocompatible doesn't mean you have the same immunities, resistances, and biome.

And when you don't bother with any of that, I am a doctor, so just contact me and we'll get that cleared up. I'm also available to treat more standard ailments and injuries.

Comments

[cargobay]

[ ryan will quite literally be able to hear akmazian laughing all the way in his own room across the hall. ]

[brainthingie]

[akmazian is going to get a short-ass surgeon opening his door and sticking his head in.]

I really dislike you.

[he really wishes he disliked you.]

[cargobay]

[ he's just laughing harder now. ]

So kind of you- lookin' out for your fellow man like that.

[brainthingie]

[jerk.]

I just don't want an infirmary full of people with sudden 'inexplicable' allergic reactions and genital infections. Unless you brought your supply of orphan tears?

private, text

[bulletbiter]

Have you solely treated humans so far?

[brainthingie]

No, I have experience treating a wide variety of species, humanoid and not. Usually with the help of appropriate guidebooks, but as long as I can figure out where the major organs are and eliminate the possibility of accidental poisoning, we can improvise.

[bulletbiter]

I see. Thank you, I will keep your offer in mind.

Were you in a world with aliens?

[brainthingie]

What species are you?

I come from a place where humans and many other species have developed space travel and formed a mostly peaceful intergalactic Alliance. My clinic is on a large space station that functions as a travel waypoint, amongst other things.

[theminotaur]

[ it's video as well, but the display is the fabric of a chair. very nice fabric though. a+ interior design. ]

Are you really trying to impart a safe sex lesson on strangers?

[brainthingie]

[when he wasn't in space, ryan grew up in paris. he can appreciate a good fabric.]

It would hardly be the first time. Plenty of folks off-planet for the first time aren't thinking too hard about that kind of thing when they're seeing an attractive member of a different species across the dining area.

[theminotaur]

[ abigail is off planet for the first time and she's mostly trying to figure out if this is more like aladdin or like oliver -- the one with the cat and the singing dogs. also wondering how she is meant to survive this heat.

the last thing on her mind is putting someone sweaty near her, that's gross. ]

Shouldn't you know your audience to be successful? A middle school health teacher knows who she is talking to.

[brainthingie]

[at least it's a dry heat? humidity would be much worse.]

It was a broad and fairly inoffensive message. I suppose some people aren't interested in sexual activity, but they should still be aware of potential reactions.

[moneytwin]

Is it really so difficult to use normal language to talk about having sex with people who don't share your species? I think I understood less than half of the words you used there.

[brainthingie]

That was normal language.

[at least, he seems to genuinely think so.]

When there's a possibility of many reproductive or sexual habits or preferences, it's best to cast a wide net.

( voice )

[insubordination]

[ lmao ]

He may be embarrassed.

Let's not tease.

[Video]

[tranquilforest]

[Oh, another doctor, how exciting! It's a little strange listening to the things that were usually not spoken of in polite company - the kinds of things that the Palace ladies would come to her privately to ask about rather than consulting the Royal Physician - being broadcast across the network so openly, but perhaps this was just another difference between what was her present, which happened to be almost everyone else's past, and the time period that most everyone had come from. She'd already told herself she'd just have to try and adjust.]

Honored Physician? Even if people brought...such things from home with them, [Which she politely doubts, knowing human nature] there is no guarantee that they would still be effective. And there does not seem to be a reliable way to replenish any supply of other methods.

[brainthingie]

[ryan dalias has been called many things in his life, but 'honored physician' is definitely not one of them. he blinks a few times.]

Barrier methods have proven almost universally effective, although I will agree that the types of protections I'm used to aren't necessarily available here. I'll have to speak to Astoria about that. The last thing we need is an outbreak of entirely preventable infections.

[tranquilforest]

[She has only very limited experience with STDs, though she's at least aware they exist.] There must have been a huge amount of advancement by your time if you're speaking so casually of - contact - with otherworldly species. Might one ask...?

[brainthingie]

Oh, I work on a space station. Humanity has been traveling between different planets for some time now, which I imagine might sound strange. Along the way to being able to do that, we've invented all kinds of things, and shared knowledge between species. People still get sick and injured, of course, but many diseases from Earth are preventable, or treatable if not, and we can replace parts of the body that are too damaged to heal.

Of course, I don't have any of the equipment that allows me to do those things, but they're all possible.

[bowtiedbones]

And keep allergies in mind! Allergies are important! Don't give somebody a rash because they don't have latex or nitrile where they're from.

[brainthingie]

[latex. there's a word he hasn't heard in a long time.]

You make an excellent point. Although in truth, I hope Astoria has made some sort of effort to prevent the spread of airborne diseases between populations.

[bowtiedbones]

You could ask her to be sure, but it seems like the kind of thing that should be covered. Make sure your 20 different people all understand each other's same language somehow, make sure nobody gets poisoned or gets scurvy in your kitchen, make sure we don't all get cocci in the desert.

Video

[lonered]

...are you...

[Okay. So. As the offspring of an alien who came to Earth and considered none of these rules apparently, Keith isn't sure how to react to the safe sex with the locals talk at all, but he oddly enough is taking it personally? Which is dumb, and he knows that. But.]

You are.

Okay. So... I've been to all sorts of planets, and I've never really seen this as an issue. Is this usually an issue?

[brainthingie]

...yes? Differences in disease immunity have historically been a problem even on the small scale of intercontinental travel, much less interplanetary. Bodies are covered in things other bodies may never have been exposed to that can cause all sorts of reactions.

[this is interplanetary travel 101, where ryan comes from. sorry keith.]

[lonered]

Huh. I mean, we meet aliens and eat their food and hang out on their planets all the time without any issue.

[Are they just lucky? Huh. HUH. And as for more, erm, intimate exposure.]

And my mother didn't... catch... anything... when she came to Earth and met my dad either.