taste_is_sweet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
taste_is_sweet) wrote2011-05-24 02:17 pm
taste_is_sweet) wrote2011-05-24 02:17 pm
Entry tags:
Well I'm Hot Blooded, Check it and See...
For them's what might be interested, there is a multi-fandom commentfic meme going on at ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ariadnes_string's LJ (don't know her, but the woman has good ideas).
This particular meme is all about fevers, which as we all know tend to be awesome in fiction and kind of horrible in real life. (My mom got Dengue fever right after a Habitat for Humanity trip to Haiti many, many years ago, and at one point her poor brain was so fried that she honestly thought she'd been a victim of a voodoo curse. Definitely not fun to witness at the time.)
I've gone through all the comment prompts and read almost all of the finished fic(lets), and I've been grinning like the wicked, H/C junkie fangirl that I am. Except for one little thing that I just don't get.
So far, every writer who's actually said what temperature the suffering, delirious woobie has reached has written it as being no higher than 102 Fahrenheit (about 38.9 Celsius). Now, I've had a fever that high and let me say in no uncertain terms that it sucks balls, but that's nowhere near high enough to cause delirium.
Generally, people don't start hallucinating or thinking they've been cursed until their fever hits 104 F (40 miserable degrees Celsius). Temperatures of 105 (40.5) and up are where you drag your raging teammate outside into the blizzard so you can bury him in snow before the brain and organ damage starts.
Now, it is true that the faster a person's temperature rises, the more likely they are to have febrile seizures. But a normally climbing fever that gets to 102/38.9 will probably make you want to die, but it won't make you see the Grim Reaper and his flying monkeys coming through the window to help you get right on that. There's a good rule-of-thumb chart right here.
Obviously not everyone will react to a higher-than-normal body temperature in the same way, but it still struck me as odd that a temperature 102/38.9 would be considered dangerous. Have any of you guys had different experiences? Am I wrong? Enlighten me, FList! :D (Passes out the Tylenol and Paracetamol.)
ariadnes_string's LJ (don't know her, but the woman has good ideas).This particular meme is all about fevers, which as we all know tend to be awesome in fiction and kind of horrible in real life. (My mom got Dengue fever right after a Habitat for Humanity trip to Haiti many, many years ago, and at one point her poor brain was so fried that she honestly thought she'd been a victim of a voodoo curse. Definitely not fun to witness at the time.)
I've gone through all the comment prompts and read almost all of the finished fic(lets), and I've been grinning like the wicked, H/C junkie fangirl that I am. Except for one little thing that I just don't get.
So far, every writer who's actually said what temperature the suffering, delirious woobie has reached has written it as being no higher than 102 Fahrenheit (about 38.9 Celsius). Now, I've had a fever that high and let me say in no uncertain terms that it sucks balls, but that's nowhere near high enough to cause delirium.
Generally, people don't start hallucinating or thinking they've been cursed until their fever hits 104 F (40 miserable degrees Celsius). Temperatures of 105 (40.5) and up are where you drag your raging teammate outside into the blizzard so you can bury him in snow before the brain and organ damage starts.
Now, it is true that the faster a person's temperature rises, the more likely they are to have febrile seizures. But a normally climbing fever that gets to 102/38.9 will probably make you want to die, but it won't make you see the Grim Reaper and his flying monkeys coming through the window to help you get right on that. There's a good rule-of-thumb chart right here.
Obviously not everyone will react to a higher-than-normal body temperature in the same way, but it still struck me as odd that a temperature 102/38.9 would be considered dangerous. Have any of you guys had different experiences? Am I wrong? Enlighten me, FList! :D (Passes out the Tylenol and Paracetamol.)
no subject
But, clearly, this is something I'm fascinated by, and while I have absolutely no desire to police the content of comment fic fills, I have to say I agree with you!
I am the least fever prone person--I don't think I've run a temperature over 103 in my life (hence the fascination, maybe), so I don't know anything about it personally (and my immediate family is the same) but I do know I've never heard of a real life person actually hallucinating at a temp. under 104.
And since our pediatrician's office basically says not to bother them with anything under 104 (barring other issues, like severe sore throat, etc.), that's the cut off I usually use for fic (though as you say, brain damage won't happen under 105/106). So, I do find it somewhat bewildering when people in fics freak out over a temp of 102 or 103....rush people to the emergency room, etc.
That said, I do think that even a low-grade fever can make you extra emotional or give you crazy dreams. And that's usually how I get around the issue in writing--because I do love it when fever can break down barriers to emotions or memories. But those things can happen through fever dreams you can wake up from (as opposed to delirium, which you can't).
But, of course, the great thing about fever is that it's a symptom, not a disease, and so can effect people in idiosyncratic ways. I get totally weepy with any kind of fever, for example, but my older son can still play a mean game of chess with a temp over 102....
I'm tempted to link the excellent rule-of-thumb chart you have up there to the meme--but, like I said, I hate the idea of policing these mostly super casual fills...
anyway--great post!
no subject
It really is a great meme. I've been zipping over and refreshing the page every chance I get. I'm looking forward to more of the H50 prompts. Fictional fevers rule. Thank you for thinking of it. ♥
I don't think I've ever gone over 103 either, and probably lower than that, which has certainly been bad enough. My doctor down here doesn't mind if I come in for a temperature lower than 104, but then again I live in a smallish American town with lots of doctors and private insurance. :) But they certainly wouldn't send me to the hospital if I was still functional.
In other words, I totally agree with your assessment. ::high fives:: I think you could post a link to that chart if you wanted, just as a resource in case anyone was interested. I'd check it. ;->
no subject
Fictional fevers are a blast--though in rl, as you say, they a) hurt and b) are a pretty much a black hole of time, as you spend endless hours either sweating it out yourself or fetching innumerable cups of gingerale for your kids *iz not the most maternal of caretakers*
no subject
I'm very pleased that you posted the fever link. :D I hope other authors start using it.
By the way, I might have, totally by accident, written a fic for the sole Stargate: Atlantis prompt in the comments. It would be here, hypothetically. And I was thinking of you when I wrote it. ;-> I even wanted to add in stuff about fever dreams, but it was getting too long as it was so I decided I'd better not.
Thank you again!