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Disciple of Nagash

Oldblood
Staff member
Feb 12, 2008
27,732
So for whatever reason all other food has ran out. You are literally starving.

Your good old mate [insert name] is dying. You and he both know there is only one food source left.

So two questions:

Firstly, would you mind been eaten if you died, to save someone else?
My answer: Go for it. If I'm already dead I would be quite happy to know my body in some way helped another to live. Hopefully I would be nice and tasty. I would certainly hope someone takes the time to nicely marinate me, not some rush job xd

Secondly, could you eat someone else? It is literally eat them or die, no other choice.
Me....to be honest I think I would. If they was already dead, then its better than death.

So....what would you do?
 

Johnny-Crass

Vampire Ancient
True Blood
Jan 25, 2012
6,633
California
Well if it is my best friend I would not. Just because he makes most runway models look obese and there would be nothing to eat off him.

On the other hand if it was just one of my mates sure I would. Mans gotta eat dont he!
 

Chaos_Born

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jan 17, 2012
2,053
Omnipresent
My answers would be the same as yours DoN. I'm not really religious or anything, so I doon't care if someone were to do anything to my body once I've died (that sick thing you're thinking of now. Stop it) and if it were the only way to survive then I'd barely think twice about eating someone who'd died naturally. It's a much better usage than letting it rot)
 

Raizi

Vampire Thrall
Oct 16, 2011
999
I've sometimes pondered this same thing.

When I die, and someone could survive by eating me, then go on ahead.

I most likely would eat the other fellow too, but I don't think that would be easy as it sounds.

I think the hardest part mentally would be to actually cut the flesh from the body and consume it. I am living in a western society where we get all the meat on our table ready-to-cook. There's no buther's shops around the corner here and I've never cut the meat even from an animal.

Therefore I would have to be driven by my primal urge to survive. I would never casually barbeque anyone. Well, maybe Daoshi if he doesn't put more paint in his plog soon...
 

Lynks

Lord of RAW
True Blood
Dec 29, 2010
2,215
Sydney
Given the fact that I'm not really using my body when I'm dead I wouldn't have much of an issue with someone eating me if it mean't they could survive (and were the sort of person I'd want to live... not for instance the person who got me in this situation :tongue: )

However I don't think I'd eat the other person even if it mean't my continued survival... not sure why. I'd probably be pondering over it for a while tossing up the pros and cons (if a friend, don't really want to eat him... if an enemy, he's probably got rabies or something :tongue: ) and by that time the other person would have started to spoil.

Who knows really... I'm not in this situation currently, nor have i ever been in this situation so i don't know how i'd react.
 

Bishop

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Feb 5, 2009
2,683
Toronto, Ontario
Doesn't sound like a good idea to me. However, if the situation actually arose where it was actually life or death... yeah, I'd probably do it.

Having tried quite a variety of meats.. meat is basically meat! :D
 

Chaos_Born

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jan 17, 2012
2,053
Omnipresent
Weird that most of us have said similar things. Perhaps cannibalism isn't quite the taboo that we thought it was...or maybe this says something about CN members:devil2:
 

spineyrequiem

Necromancer
Oct 16, 2011
814
I would eat someone, except I'm not sure I'd be able to cook them properly out in the wilderness... I can barely cook with a whole kitchen's worth of supplies and appliances!

If I was dead, I'd be cool with someone eating my body, I don't want it going to waste. The thighs and calves are the most delicious parts!
 

hairyjeff

Crypt Horror
May 10, 2011
579
Well I'm a veggie, but if it's a case of absolute survival, we do what we have to. And if my banhus can save someone else, then tuck in.
 

Disciple of Nagash

Oldblood
Staff member
Feb 12, 2008
27,732
I think this shows that most of us at CN just have a strong will to survive......and not that we're all zombies just waiting for a chance :zombie:
 

Count Darvaleth

I <3 marmite
True Blood
Apr 26, 2010
3,407
I'd say a firm no to question one... it's also why I don't want to be incinerated when I die nor donate my organs from my dead body. The reason is for that slim chance of the future human race having the power to restore dead bodies to life. If that is possible, then I want it to have a s few complications as possible; a missing leg or lung being amongst those.

As for question two, again I say no. All food simply *can't* just run out, there's always an alternative. Besides, I don't know if human meat may prove dangerous to eat, as not many people (bar that recent crazy) have tried it.

I'm no wuss with meat, (I eat like a pig!) but human meat is crossing the line.
 

Chaos_Born

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Jan 17, 2012
2,053
Omnipresent
We know it's not dangerous, there have been whole generations of tribes that have eaten human meat and they didn't suffer any adverse affects (other than some really bad press!)
 

Raizi

Vampire Thrall
Oct 16, 2011
999
Count Darvaleth said:
As for question two, again I say no. All food simply *can't* just run out, there's always an alternative.

I think the question is that if you are deprived of your access to any other food source for a limited amount of time, enough to starve you out unless you eat your buddy. I can think of several occasions where someone might be temporarily without access to any sort of food whatsoever. Except the tasty looking carcass of the fellow traveller...

The instinct to survive is pretty strong in everyone of us. People do insane and amazing stuff when they tap into it in times of need.
 

spineyrequiem

Necromancer
Oct 16, 2011
814
I don't think much of the 'we might work out how to revive corpses' argument myself. Why would they want to revive us? As it is, we have problems with an aging population and similar, why would they want to wake up half-decomposed people with totally the wrong skillset? PARTICULARLY as we didn't put down the deposit for revival treatment...
 

Raizi

Vampire Thrall
Oct 16, 2011
999
I have been considering about doing the George Clooney prank when I die. It includes that my cremated remains are baked into the cake that is served in the wake party to the attending people. After the cake is gone, my last words will be read out loud and the prank revealed.

"You probably mourn me so much, that the cake tasted like ash in your mouth. Fear not. It was just me. :trollface:"
 

Monkey's_Uncle

Black Knight
The only problem with that Darvy is that I don't think the human race would ever get to the stage when they can reassemble a brain after it has decomposed...

They could bring back your skeleton, and use it for all sorts of things, but it wouldn't be YOU.

In terms of eating somebody else, I've no idea how I would react as I've never been in that situation, I suppose I probably would, but it probably wouldn't help me at all (I've been a veggie all my life, and as a result my digestive system cannot handle meat at all...)

I think the problem with it being a taboo is partly religious (Christianity the dominant religion in the west isn't too happy with it), and partly legal (There wouldn't be much evidence left of a murder if you ate the victim for example).

EDIT: I don't think the fact that most of us would do it is any reflection on the personality of Carpe Noctem as a whole, I think you'd find that if push came to shove most people would.

EDIT 2: I'm also the kind of person who if it was me or the other guy would probably give him a hand on the way out...
 

Sanai

Stylish Deviant
True Blood
Oct 30, 2009
5,193
Behind Darvy
I'd say a firm no to question one... it's also why I don't want to be incinerated when I die nor donate my organs from my dead body. The reason is for that slim chance of the future human race having the power to restore dead bodies to life. If that is possible, then I want it to have a s few complications as possible; a missing leg or lung being amongst those.

As for question two, again I say no. All food simply *can't* just run out, there's always an alternative. Besides, I don't know if human meat may prove dangerous to eat, as not many people (bar that recent crazy) have tried it.

I'm no wuss with meat, (I eat like a pig!) but human meat is crossing the line.


1# A dead brain and body would have to properly be preserved.
2# There is no reason to revive you whatsoever Darvy. You are just another person among millions, what about you could possibly justify the expense? (No offense intended).
3# Food runs out all of the time. In a desert or on a mountaintop, the only source of food a person has easy access to is his dead companions and whatever supplies he has. Even in somewhere fertile like a forest or plains area, most food is way to fast or strong for a human to catch, and a few days living on berries or roots will leave you starving to the point of exhaustion. You get too exhausted/starved, when you lie down to take a nap, you wont wake up.
4# The human will to live is the most powerful instinct we have. Say you told a person they had to drown themselves in a sink or 1000 babies would die- they would try to drown themselves, but after a few moments of holding their own head under the water they ALWAYS pull up out of the water out of sheer instinct to breathe. I doubt any person can resist the need to eat to live, in the same way no one can resist the urge to breathe.

5# If it is some moral or ethical thing holding you back, think about this- The person you are eating is dead anyway, or will die of starvation soon. If you eat their flesh, one of you survives. If you dont, you both die. Then someone has to tell your family and loved ones that you didn't come back to them because you were too proud or too righteous to eat human flesh. The right thing to do is for you or your companion to eat the others flesh so that at least someone survives.
 

hairyjeff

Crypt Horror
May 10, 2011
579
Eating human flesh in the short term will not damage you, but as your main, long term food source it will cause certain neurological breakdown and deterioration.So the idea of ghouls isn't completely wrong. However, even tribal cannibalism was usually a special event, not an every day occurence- generally, part of a conquered enemy was consumed to absorb his courage/ strength/ bravery etc. In Europe, the druidic nations were believed to eat their dead kings- but that might be roman propaganda. As for Christianity being opposed to cannibalism-" this is my blood you drink, this is my body you eat", I believe it says. Now, don't get me wrong I'm not slating christians, but there is a bit of a gap between the dogma of the mass and the ethical stand point. Sanai was right- normally, humans will do everything possible to protect their life or their offspring. It is a basic instinct, although I agree that some people have stood apart and resisted. But they're mostly dead.
As for food running out- several well documented cases have occurred, and cannibalism has resulted. I'm thinking particularly of the Chilean plane crash several years ago. So the bottom line is always "depends on the circumstances."
 

Count Darvaleth

I <3 marmite
True Blood
Apr 26, 2010
3,407
Sanai said:
1# A dead brain and body would have to properly be preserved. - Depends how good we get at reviving them!

2# There is no reason to revive you whatsoever Darvy. You are just another person among millions, what about you could possibly justify the expense? (No offense intended). - I intend to become worth reviving. And if we are good enough at it that it's cheap and some unforeseen problem occurs I may not even need to be worth it.

3# Food runs out all of the time. In a desert or on a mountaintop, the only source of food a person has easy access to is his dead companions and whatever supplies he has. Even in somewhere fertile like a forest or plains area, most food is way to fast or strong for a human to catch, and a few days living on berries or roots will leave you starving to the point of exhaustion. You get too exhausted/starved, when you lie down to take a nap, you wont wake up. - I suppose I could find myself in a position where I'm foodless; but I like to hope I'd have the ingenuity to try and move on by surviving on my body's natural "storage" energy for as long as possible, and then hopefully find some food.

4# The human will to live is the most powerful instinct we have. Say you told a person they had to drown themselves in a sink or 1000 babies would die- they would try to drown themselves, but after a few moments of holding their own head under the water they ALWAYS pull up out of the water out of sheer instinct to breathe. I doubt any person can resist the need to eat to live, in the same way no one can resist the urge to breathe. - I think that there is a difference between coming up for breath and eating somebody. The first is instant and immediately solves the problem, whereas the second takes longer and is more horrifying for the cannibal. I think by the time I am hungry enough to eat another human, I may have already died.

5# If it is some moral or ethical thing holding you back, think about this- The person you are eating is dead anyway, or will die of starvation soon. If you eat their flesh, one of you survives. If you dont, you both die. Then someone has to tell your family and loved ones that you didn't come back to them because you were too proud or too righteous to eat human flesh. The right thing to do is for you or your companion to eat the others flesh so that at least someone survives. - But what if you just finish eating your friend when help arrives? What if, as your friend's last breaths leave him as you tear through his skin for food, you notice fridge filled with food, or a water supply? Could you live on if you had to tell your friend's family and loved ones that he didn't make it because you ate him before help arrived? Even if no help arrived and you finally survived, could you ever overcome the sense of shame?

I feel that perhaps we're getting too theoretical. It's easy to say "sure I'd rip my friend's face off to eat" but what if it was a family member? What if it was a brother or a sister, or a mother or father? I'd sooner cut pieces of my own body to feed a family member than eat them to "end their suffering". Yes, you might say that it's human survival instincts, but could you do it?

Whoever is reading this post and supports cannibalism for survival, could you eat your mother or father? Stare me in the eye (across the internet) and tell me that you could, and I will run away. Far, far away.
 

hairyjeff

Crypt Horror
May 10, 2011
579
Start running. I would never kill a person just to eat, but if they had died and I had NO ALTERNATIVE,, I would treat it as a last gift- even my family. But I wouldn't like it. For the rest of my grateful, guilty life.
 

Monkey's_Uncle

Black Knight
I would have no more of a problem eating my family than any other person.
Once I'd got to the level that I could eat another human being, I don't think it would matter to me who it was (unless they were a fatty with leprosy of course, then I'd probably rather starve to death...)
 

Zephyr

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Mar 3, 2008
2,522
Rotterdam
Interesting debate.
I would say maybe to both but ONLY when there is absolutely no other option. I am religious you guys know that(if not sorry for the shock)but I am also from a life affiriming religion ie. you can only do good things whilst amongst the living.

Not to make it too dramatic or cry for attention, but my family members who survived the death camps did things to stay alive that were not pretty.
Do they feel guilty? You can bet, but at least they are still alive and can do something about it. We believe that if you die you exist in a sort of metaphysical stasis; only here on earth do your actions really matter.

We do believe it is best for the body to be left alone and buried as that is better for the soul and also part of the physical resurrection we believe will happen in the Messianic Age(however that happens, could actually be a DNA thing) but those whose bodies were burned in an accident, go missing on sea etc. have a back-up plan. As we believe in Divine justice and compassion it cannot be so that these poor souls are just royally you know what. So if somebody ate them to survive they would still partake in the world to come(no not logical at all for how can they without a body but that is religion for you, deal with it).
It is just that if we have a choice we need to choose for the proper body intact burial, all strings attached as it make things much easier and less traumatic.

Cannibalism to me is repulsive and I would have to be pretty close to death before even considering it. Even then I just do not know if I could do it, I cannot honestly say that I will or won't.
I would ask they save my body as a last resort only and even then still treat it with respect as in do not rip me apart like some piece of meat and gorge yourself. Simply cut off some strips of meat you need and leave it at that.

And now everybody thinks I am a moron : P
 

Monkey's_Uncle

Black Knight
To be honest, the only real way you could eat somebody and have it benefit you in some way would be to cook them. AS that is a process that takes time and care, they wouldn't really be tearing up your body in a fit of blind hunger.

I'm sure you'll be in safe hands buddy... :tongue:
 

Zephyr

Master Necromancer
True Blood
Mar 3, 2008
2,522
Rotterdam
What if they aren't able to cook? I recall the plane crash wherein they cut off strips with broken glass and ate it raw and almost frozen...

And well okay ripping apart sounds dramatic but just some respect would be nice.xD
 

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