And before anyone makes a cheeky “what do you need this for 🤨” comment, I’m a writer. I’m not going to murder anyone I promise, I just want to write a scene where one guy gets poisoned.
I need something that doesn’t require modern technology to extract/produce, and would make sense to be avaible in a place with a temperate to mediterranean climate. The slower, the better. Does a plant or something like that exist or do I need to make one up?
Update: I looked into death cap mushrooms and they might be just what I’m looking for! Long reaction time, and being dried doesn’t make them less toxic! (the scene takes place in midwinter so no fresh ones would be avaible) If anyone has more info on them, please do share.
In almost every case in fictional writing it’s better to make up a poison then use a real one. That way you don’t have someone picking it apart later. Also you can give it whatever properties you want/need. Now excuse me while I continue to work on my immunity to iocane powder.
They’re gonna pick it apart anyway. A reader criticized the historical accuracy of a fantasy novel my sister wrote.
H-how does one even criticise something like that? Like, “you got this and that wrong about the world you made up”?
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Not even that, (in a medieval-fantsy setting) one criticized the use of archer for defense, another wanted for her to write the exact years the events happened… Another one asked why one nation had an italian-sounding name, while the bordering countries had foreign-like names, and different languages! (hello, ever been to Europe?) @monarch@lemm.ee (is this how I mention someone?)
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Yeah, best just to ignore pedantry, it’s a mental illness.
Mental illnesses are very clearly defined, for example in the ICD-10 puplished by the WHO. Pedantry is defnetly not listed in there.
And yes, this was an attempt of humour.
Bravo. Well done.
defnetly
That’s a new one.
And the commonly accepted authority on the definition of mental illnesses is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. The current edition is referred to as DSM-5.
The ICD-10 is used in Europe and the DSM-5 in America. In that sense we are both correct.
Who’s to say pedantry is useless? I’m learning new things!
I knew a guy I was working summers with in college. Said he did not like roger rabbit because it was unrealistic.
I do like Roger Rabbit because it’s unrealistic.
Technically, these are not new things, but things that you didn’t know before.
I’ve never seen anyone even think twice about the Tears of Lys or The Strangler. And after Milk of the Poppy, it’s established that we may expect some similarity to reality in this world.
Was milk of the poppy not obviously literally opium (unrefined morphine)?
That or just do the classic ones of arsenic or cyanide and just roll with it.
Alcohol. Sometimes it takes 30 or 40 years to be effective. Not very good for murder, but wildly popular for suicide.
Yeah OP needs to define what “slow” means to them. You could say that a one-week delayed effect is slow. Or you could say that it’s only slow if it takes months of exposure.
I’m neither a writer nor a scientist, but there’s a copy of this on my bookshelf and I wish I could lend it to you: Deadly Doses: The Writer’s Guide to Poisons
Holy shit. That’s the perfect answer, I think.
I’m a writer
“A writer” 😉
hey guys, i am looking to write an obituary for my ex husband…
I knew it. Come on.
Theoretically speaking… Do you need an alibi as well? Just for the book of course.
I’m partial to “I was writing my book, alone, at home, with no witnesses.”
Rookie mistake honestly, should’ve asked for your friend who’s writer
As a writter you should get enough details wrong that someone trying to follow your recipie fails. Ideally they are also caught.
That’d require someone to actually read my stuff.
See people? I told you that everyone on lemmy is one person! But noooo!
Here’s the proof. I can’t even buy readers. This has to be me.
What do you mean by slow? Time till symptoms? time till death? Hours? Days? Weeks?
Raw castor beans contain ricin its a cool looking plant that gets big. My neighbor grew on once accidentally.
symptoms commonly begin within two to four hours, but may be delayed by up to 36 hours.
Unless treated, death can be expected to occur within 3–5 days; however, in most cases a full recovery can be made.
Actually a lot of beans are toxic when raw, but not deadly. Raw lima beans are special though; they contain something that the human body breaks down into cyanide. No clue how long that takes or how many it would take to cause harm.
Heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead) are known for building up over time with many exposures. Think mad hatter syndrome, etc. but exposures can also be acute if high enough. IIRC acute arsenic poisoning makes you vomit and diarrhea until you die of dehydration after days or weeks.
Whole maybe not “poisons” by definition I have a couple scary stories of people working in damp, moldy office and basement environments and after a couple years getting rare autoimmune and neurological disorders that killed them. One being my uncle, my family tried to get his workplace to test where he worked because the doctors said that’s most likely where he contracted it, but they refused. We weren’t looking for money, just trying to save the next guy. I was fairly young when this happened so I don’t remember all the details.
Didn’t that happen to Brittany Murphy (90s actress), then her boyfriend/husband shortly thereafter?
So strange.
There’s a conspiracy it was ricin because she knew about Ashton and Diddy trafficking
I didn’t know there was a connection there. I thought Ashton was famous for being anti trafficking.
Yeah you know how priests aren’t usually really good guys? Turns out that 501c leaders are the same ig
Also there are a lot of weird Diddy/Ashton clips, REALLY WEIRD clips about what he’s said and done with Mila when she was a minor (don’t even get me started*), and other stuff on like Pranked about counting down until girls were 18 even when they were minors. It’s just a LOT of weird shit altogether.
- Sorry. That Mila married him after being groomed doesn’t absolve anything and further it should be considered soft core child porn, and illegal to produce, anything that involves physical romantic touch including “platonic” hugs. These kids are getting molested with pervy directors making them do scenes repeatedly that they can write themselves. Dan Schneider making Amanda Bynes do her first kiss ever, over and over again on set in front of everyone while everyone laughs - WHY?
Why must children be compelled to kiss in theater or TV? If it’s needed, do a shadow puppet thing or forced perspective where they aren’t actually kissing. It’s fucking weird and it should be outlawed. Just like how some old movies are ruined because it’s obvious animals were abused on set, I can barely stomach some of the shows from my childhood because I KNOW they took advantage. I don’t even want to link scenes to make my point or list many shows because I feel like it’s making a porn list. It’s just sickening to hear Ashton say some of the things he did about Mila. Ugh
Did she write a book? My parents had it and explained that it was similar to what happened to my uncle. It had her looking all sad on the cover if I remember but had to be nearly 30 years ago at this point
The book sounds familiar.
Yeah, in a historic setting, use something readers will recognize, as well. Arsenic, Mercury, that kind of thing. They’ve been used as a poison, and have accidentally poisoned, for so long that they’re tropes of their own. Both of those in specific were available in the region you’re using.
Plus, they’re going to be really easy to describe the actions of, and don’t require medical knowledge to understand the effects of. Well, the stuff that’s going to be useful to show on page anyway, the stuff that happens inside organs might take a little.
Mushrooms are a good option, and you can just make up a species if you want specific time frames/symptoms. Mushrooms can cause a lot of weird symptoms.
There’s also a brain eating amoeba or other sickness from still water (people back in the day were very aware of tainted water).
If you have access to polar animals, a unique poisoning would be vitamin A toxicity from their livers. It’s a horrific way to die, though (skin sloughing off).
Yeah look at the Death Cap
Ongoing case here in Australia with a lady accused of murdering her ex and ex-inlaws. Invites them to lunch of beef Wellington and death cap mushrooms.
3 died fairly awful deaths in the following days/weeks, 1 survived after intensive care.
Accused of trying to murder the ex 4 prior times too.
The “Mushroom lady” case absolutely captivated us for weeks
Ex-spouse: (on the phone with parents) My ex-wife has invited us over for beef wellington.
Ex-spouse’s parents: Hasn’t she tried to kill you like four times before? Why would you accept this invitation?
Ex-spouse: well her beef wellington is to die for!
Ex-spouse’s parents: Well that’s good enough for us, were in see you a 6
That and mushrooms often have great scary ass names like “Destroying Angel”
Was going to say that. They to go through the digestive track, so it needs a day or so to work. The toxin of amanita is heat resistant so you can make a stew of it, and when the first symptoms show up your liver is probably already beyond repair. If you want it to be more interesting, there are some species that are poisonous only with alcohol, like https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprinopsis_atramentaria , although the symptoms are less severe as in death cap, but maybe it’s not unimaginable to give a hearty stew a day before a known heavyweight drinking run to kill the dude(ette).
I’ve heard something about writers writing about guns – if you describe a specific gun they’ll come at you for being wrong, but if you say something like “a modified Kalashnikov” you’re conveying the image you want, and the nerds will do the work for you in figuring out how it could have been modified.
how slow acting? As in months, or as in time to get the fuck outta dodge?
Ricin will kill you in a couple of days, was first extracted in 1888, and the plant grows in the mediterranean.
Like takes at least a day or more for the poisoned character to notice.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanita_phalloides
you also get points for historical accuracy, as it was used as far back as ancient rome
also, how low tech is low tech? Litvinenko was dying for three weeks after polonium poisoning, and radium will have similar effects, first extracted 1898
Low tech in this case would be similar to antiquity. I think I’ll look into the amanita phalloides thing!
Dimethylmercury.
Two drops will kill you in a few months and nothing can be done. It penetrates clothing, regular latex gloves, and skin very easily and unnoticed.
Pretty terrifying stuff. Not sure you’d be able to figure out availability or production in your plot, but as far as poisons go you’d be set for time between dose and death.
I’m thinking metal poisoning over time. Lead or copper, for example.
No that’s pretty obvious and can be easily treated, doctors keep an eye out now.
it’s absurdly easily detected and somewhat easily treated today, not in op’s setting
Wait, can copper be poisonous?
all metals that bind to sulfur well are to some degree poisonous. these are lead, mercury, thallium, some platinides (in salt form), arsenic, and also copper, but less than others. some metals have other mechanisms of toxicity, like nickel, hexavalent chromium, cadmium, beryllium or barium. some of these accumulate in brain or bones, and some don’t. some are more toxic when inhaled like zinc or chromium
Yes. Here’s a video describing a copper poisoning case: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saxga-xm0Rk
Yes, but not as much as many other metals. We’retalking large amounts over a long period of time.
On sidenote, everything is poisonous, it’s just a matter of dosage.
On sidenote, everything is poisonous, it’s just a matter of dosage.
That’s a terrifying way of viewing it, thank you.
Over time most metals can build up in your body if they’re not in a compound your body can process.
Copper, lead, cadmium etc - it’s difficult for your body to expell them so they build up in your tissues
Mercury, Silver (will cause blue skin)
Depending on your setting and desired outcome for the poisoner, uraninite (aka pitchblende) might be an option. It has historical uses in glass making and pottery glazing, which could provide justification for why someone would have it.
It contains Uranium, which is radioactive, but I don’t believe will bioaccumulate, but can build up on surfaces, tools, and clothing providing a source of long-term radiation exposure. In addition, it contains lead, which does bioaccumulate, providing a source of gradual long term poisoning as well as radium which also bioaccumulates and is radioactive, providing an additional source of longterm radiation exposure.
Mistletoe berries i think. Otherwise mercury depending on dosage.
Ok I looked into mercury and it might be what I’m looking for. Any idea how long it’d take before the effects become noticeable?
A lot of detailed information on the Wikipedia page. There are a ton of different ways people can come into contact with mercury, and a ton of different formulations of mercury with varying effects. For what symptoms adults may exhibit from the most common form of organic exposure, look no further than RFK Jr., who himself has stated he has mercury poisoning from eating too much tuna:
Due to the body’s inability to degrade catecholamines (e.g. adrenaline), a person with mercury poisoning may experience profuse sweating, tachycardia (persistently faster-than-normal heart beat), increased salivation, and hypertension (high blood pressure).
It also causes memory impairment and reduced IQ. RFK Jr. seems to really fit the bill here.
But for something truly terrifying, try dimethylmercury. People can get one drop on their skin, then several months later start developing symptoms, and die within a year. It even soaks right through rubber and latex gloves: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethylmercury
For full symptom progression, check out Minimata Disease.
