#acid separation systems

[scanacon]

Learn About the Basics of Hazardous Waste Recycling

Acids are used in many industrial operations, including chemical manufacture and metal polishing, and they can eventually become polluted. By recovering and purifying used acids, Scanacon's acid separation systems enable industry to utilize them as opposed to throwing them away as waste. The system restores its purity and lowers waste production by removing impurities from the acid.

[velociraptortrick]

new freaks in the works

They don't have a proper name yet but I've been calling them soups

[acidseparation]

Achieving Optimal Results In Separating Acid Solids

Acid solids separation is a critical process in many industries, including mining, metallurgy, and chemical manufacturing. The process involves separating solid particles from acidic solutions, which can be challenging due to the corrosive nature of the acid. In this guide, we will provide you with expert tips and insights on how to achieve optimal results. To read more about visit https://scanaconus.com/acid-solids-separation-how-to-achieve-optimal-results/

[hellothisisangle]

This idea came from someone asking me about V’s internal organs and gastro/intestinal workings. I delved into a bit of bio/mechanical research that might make sense in the Cyberpunk world. Follow the jump below!

↓

SomaTek specializes in manufacturing synthetic organs designed to transcend our organic limitations.

SomaTek GastroPro™
In a world ravaged by toxic food chains, tainted water supplies, and unreliable agriculture, the GastroPro™ synthetic stomach- amply nicknamed “the iron gut”- is a feat of mechanical organ replacement. Capable of digesting virtually any hazardous or non-nutritive substance without harm, while mimicking and surpassing the core functions of a natural biological system.

The GastroPro™ environment utilizes a stabilized industrial-grade acidic solution (SomaTek’s trademarked confidential blend of fluorinated superacids exceeds the hydrochloric acid and pepsin present in an organic stomach) that is non-corrosive to internal components due to reactive smart hydrogel linings. This acid bath breaks down everything: from your home cooked dinner, to food past its expiration, to actual garbage- designed to adapt to a full range of ingested toxicity. After processing, the liquified matter proceeds to a secondary chamber which is programmed with enzymatic nano filters to separate and neutralize indigestible items versus actual processable materials. *Note that the GastroPro™ is incapable of operating in isolation. The following organic systems are required to be enhanced or replaced:

Esophagus (GastroLine™) is equipped with reinforced smart hydrogel lining to withstand both caustic substances and abrasive matter. Peristaltic actuators move matter regardless of shape or size, while micro-blade emulsifiers begin compacting particularly dense or fibrous materials. Anti-reflux valves prevent acid from backing up.

Liver, Pancreas, Gall Bladder (GastroTox™ Subsystem) further supports the GastroPro™ by processing even rarer or complex toxins, capable of converting them into an array of energy for the body dependent on specific inputs. For example: chemical, electrical, first and second generation biofuel, etc. (Optional but highly recommended)

Intestines & Appendix (GastroTract™) serves as the primary absorption and release unit. Lined with nutrient-binding nanites to extract usable calories, vitamins, minerals, or chemicals. Absorption channels direct these throughout the body via embedded villi structures to the bloodstream and lymphatic system. In users with further modifications, waste may be redirected to a bypass port location of their choosing. The most popular choice being via a urinary tract.

Oral Cavity (OraPro™ Subsystem) is a customizable sum of parts that further supports the GastroPro™ with an artificial tongue embedded with gustatory receptors, reinforced cheek/gum lining, and teeth strong as chrome. (Optional but highly recommended)

Brain Chemistry (CraveShard™) the neural implant designed to be installed into the cyberdeck to simulate, regulate, or even suppress cravings. (Optional but highly recommended) The user may override urges based on their schedule and preferences, as well as control serotonin and dopamine feedback. The implant works harmoniously with receptors built into the GastroPro™ to recognize the identity of consumed materials. It can even reproduce the effects caused by ingested alcohol, hallucinogenics, opioids, narcotics, etc.

Advantages over natural digestion include immunity to internal poisoning, pathogens, parasites, and contaminants. Zero indigestion, zero allergic reaction. Accelerated enzyme breakdown. And multi-source nutrition: users can derive sustenance from otherwise indigestible materials.

Please be aware the GastroPro™ is not without its complications. Over-reliance can result in malabsorption issues if the user abuses the capabilities of the GastroPro™. Care should be taken to continuously ingest products with beneficial properties. In the event of nutrient deficits, the user’s deck will receive periodic warnings regarding nutritional supplementation to prevent systemic decline. Psychosomatic disorders may also emerge as a result of losing sensory pleasure of consumption (“digestion dissonance'”- disconnect with satiety) if the recommended OraPro™ Subsystem and CraveShard™ are not installed.

Regular care encompasses monthly detox flushes, filter replacements, nanite reseeding, and pH rebalancing treatments. All of which can be accomplished via a doctor licensed to administer Somatek devices.

[strawberriesandroses52]

Miscalibrated

pt 1/?

---

JAZZ stares up at the blistering sun. It’s so hot out that he half expects some lone vulture to shriek. Or maybe someone to strum a guitar, like they do in movies and TV shows. To really top it off, perhaps a rattle snake hiding in a singular cow skull. Then it would really be like it was a movie. 

If only it was a movie. If it was a movie, then he would have some doohickey or secret plan to get out of this mess. Then he wouldn’t be stranded on some alien planet who knows how many lightyears away from earth, slowly overheating in his mecha. Bebop was a wonderful machine, but without power, she was just metal. Cool looking metal, but just metal. 

Jazz has long since stripped out of his assistance suit, down to his boxers, having sweat through it an hour and a half into being stranded. He was slowly sipping his water, trying to ration it while thinking of a solution. 

No power, no communication. No power, no way to tell if this atmosphere was breathable or not. Or if there would be any kaiju lurking about. No way to tell if the ground wasn’t made of acid or something like that. 

It was a circular train of thought. He can’t stay and die of heatstroke, but he can’t leave either. His only hope would be to wait it out, hoping that Bebop’s systems got the distress call out before powering down. He hopes someone gets his signal before a kaiju does. 

Jazz had been a pilot for seven years, and while that’s nowhere close to the record, it’s nothing to scoff at either. Bebop hadn’t been his mecha the entire time, but she’s been his for the last four years, and he’s gotten a little attached. There’s some stickers on her pilot seat, old and peeling off now. His boot scuff marks on her deck. His greasy fingerprints are on the array of buttons in front of him. They’re comrades, partners. 

But right now she’s killing him as much as she’s saving him. If he was baking in here, then it must truly be scorching outside her hull. 

“I guess there really is no way out, old girl.” He mutters to her, head thunking down on her console. He likes to think that if she could talk, she’d say something to cheer him up. 

But the metal around him doesn’t respond. 

Pilots are often told that being separated from their mecha means the death of the pilot. It usually means a kaiju has figured out where your pod was located and is about to rip you out of your mecha’s chest and kill you. But what about when the cause of death is the mecha itself? He doesn’t remember any talking about that at all. 

(except maybe the myth about a haunted mecha, which Jazz was disinclined to believe in.) 

Surely, it must happen from time to time? A failed weapons check, a miscalculation, a malfunction, a miscalibration of some kind.

Jazz takes another sip of water. It brings no relief to the heat, and is tainted with the taste of salt as well. He wrinkles his nose a bit at the taste. 

No power.

No way out.

He takes another drink, wishing perhaps that it was something a bit stronger. 

Bebop’s frame shudders around him.

Jazz sits up, looking around at the metal. Was Bebop caving in on him? Or some kaiju coming to pry her open, hoping to eliminate the pilot inside?

Instead, Bebop begins to move like someone or something is carrying her, and the swaying almost knocks Jazz out of the pilot’s chair. Whatever is going on outside of Bebop’s protective embrace, they–it? Is dragging Bebop somewhere. 

To help? To death? Jazz doesn’t know and doesn’t have any way to know.

Of all the pilots, of all the people that this could happen to– of course it’s him. Of course it’s Jazz. Lucky-unlucky Jazz. Jazz who can flirt with death and live to see another day only because it loves toying with him. Fate’s own personal chew toy. Being dragged off to an unknown location by an equally unknown thing to an even more unknown fate.

He kind of wants to scream, but that wouldn’t help his situation. 

So he sits. Listening, trying to see what the heck is going on outside of the pod. It doesn’t provide him with much information, a scuff here, and a dragging noise there.  

The unease of not knowing getting him, he slips his assistance suit back on, putting his helmet back on. The suit stirs to life, barely functioning without the connection to Bebop’s systems. It’s uncomfortably sticky, but he bares it with a grimace. Already, the helmet is making his scalp sweat. But sweating is a good sign. From what he remembers of the survival crash courses he’s taken, it’s when you’re not sweating is when you need to worry. 

The pilot’s chair is as comfortable as ever, it had to be, since pilots spend 270 out of 365 in it. The old guard likes to call the new generation soft, with all their fail safes and safety checks and comfortable pilot seats. Jazz thinks he’d rather die with the comfortable seat.

There’s a pause to the dragging. Muffled sounds float into the pod, and Jazz can’t even begin to decipher what is on the outside. 

The hairs on his arm stand up, followed by the ones on his neck. A sour, metallic taste fills his mouth. 

He barely has time to think what the fuck before every nerve in his body is alight with fire. His body seizes up as jolts run up his legs and up his back and across his arms. His mouth is open and making a sound, it feels like a scream but he can’t hear anything. His fingers and toes tingle and sting as he gasps for air. 

Again, his body seizes, less violently this time, but still aching with fire. He flops down onto the console in front of him, panting and heaving. His muscles dance of their own accord, twitching and spasming. There’s the distinct smell of burnt hair somewhere near his nose. His tongue feels numb. 

But, Bebop’s arrays flicker to life. Stutteringly, the HUD comes back on, washing the pod with blue light. Several alerts pop up, proximity, damage and radar most notably. 

Jazz takes in a large, staggering breath. His heart is banging a gong inside his chest and his head, and his arms tingling with pins and needles barely respond to his commands as he moves to turn on all of Bebop’s sensors. He misses a couple times, reaching too far or not far enough before he can hit the right button.

Bebop comes to life. His helmet’s full visual display pops on, and Jazz is no longer human. 

Jazz is a twenty two and a half foot tall mecha strapped with knives, guns, and lethal precision. 

Being a pilot for seven years gives you wonderful reflexes. Jazz prides himself on having a particularly good reaction time, even among other pilots. Instinctively, before his sluggish brain registers that the shape above him is vaguely human-mecha shaped, he swipes wildly with Bebop’s built in knife. 

There’s the distinct shriek of metal on metal and a pained yelp that sounds too human for comfort. Jazz doesn’t spend long considering it, he just rolls away from the direction of the noise. Bebop’s systems are still booting online from the surge of power, meaning Jazz wouldn’t have access to her sonar navigation, his guns, or life support levels yet. 

When he springs out of the roll, he doesn’t look back as he sprints across the desert landscape. Bebop’s digitigrade legs barely touch the ground before launching him ever forward. As weird as this day has been, he has to admit he’s in a better situation than he was in earlier today.

There’s a thunder of footsteps behind him, echoing the same metal-on-hard-rock sound that Jazz’s own feet make. His jaw tenses as his eyebrows furrow in deep, quick thought. What to do? Something clearly wanted something to do with him. He had very little information to go off of. 

In a split second decision, Jazz launched himself forward with a mighty leap, landing crouched on the tips of Bebop’s metallic toes. He pivots, staying low to the ground as he faces whatever thing had just tazed and chased him.

It’s a mecha. 

Pearly white, black, a bright red. It’s a bit taller than Bebop is, and has very, very human-like proportions. And an even more human face, judging by the shocked expression. Whatever country or corporation that built this mecha must’ve been absolutely loaded to create such a human like mech. 

It opens its mouth and what the hell are those TEETH? Jazz takes a second look and, yes, yes those are teeth. What kind of mecha has teeth? One that bites kaiju? 

The mecha makes several sounds like dial-up internet, the error code of a printer, static, and various beep boop noises. Are their speakers damaged? Is Bebop’s audio receptors damaged? Or are they speaking some binary computer language? 

Bebop’s fins, functioning as both sonars and emotive display, flicker up and down. The strange mech pauses its sentence to watch as the fins move. Besides the electric shock earlier, the mecha has yet to attack. Based on its body language, it doesn’t necessarily intend to at the moment. It seems just as confused as Jazz.

Warily, Jazz stands up to Bebop’s full height, fins held at neutral. The mecha stands up a bit straighter as well, staring at Jazz consideringly. 

He takes two short steps forward as Bebop’s systems get a full visual scan. The mecha doesn’t move, but doesn’t back away either. Jazz flicks on his intercom. 

“Hi.” He says.

The mecha’s face morphs into confusion. “Hai?” It repeats with a strange accent.

Ah. So, a pilot that definitely did not speak english. That was odd. Most pilot programs, government or otherwise, required knowledge of English and one other common business language. Pilots weren’t just skilled monster hunters, they were engineers, scientists, inventors, military personnel, the best even among the best. 

“Konichiwa?” He tries, earning the same look again. 

English and Japanese were the only two languages he knew at the moment. But the pilot should’ve recognized at least one of them. Two of the most basic words from two of the most recognizable languages should’ve garnered some spark of recognition.

Is this even a pilot from Earth? 

[funnynumberofbeans]

That time you passed out (Dr. Ratio x gn! reader)

You’ve been forgetting to take care of yourself and the consequences of that is blacking out during an important research project. Luckily your lovely partner, Dr. Ratio is there to help you feel better.  Reader is gender neutral, hurt/comfort, established relationship, reader is slightly dependent on Dr. Ratio, about 2k words, Dr. Ratio is a bit ooc Trigger Warnings: mentioned disordered eating patterns (caused by stress), depression (implied), brief mentions of blacking out, use of a lab shower (a rather gross one), Dr. Ratio is kind of a dick to you (he insults you but in an affectionate way)

The alarm on your phone started playing, waking you from the light sleep you had drifted off to. Checking the time you saw that it was the equivalent of 7:30 am. You slept for about eight system hours, though you still felt exhausted.

You looked to the side where Veritas slept only to see it empty, placing your hand under the duvet, the temperature of the sheets told you he’d been gone for a while.

It’d been a while since you’d last spent meaningful time with him. The papers he was grading, and the project you were working on forced your schedules to become misaligned. When Veritas wasn’t grading his students’ work, he was sculpting the resulting stress away. This took up more time that could have been shared together. You didn’t mind having more time to yourself, it meant that you could sleep for longer. Though the stress of your project kept you continuously exhausted no matter how much sleep you got. 

Another unfortunate side effect of not having much time together was that you started to have your meals separately. Leading you to lose the motivation to cook balanced meals for yourself. You’d eat simple microwavable meals and energy bars to sustain yourself. Unfortunately you’d mismanaged your time and forgot to buy more energy bars, leading to your current problem.

Your second alarm rang noting that it was 7:40, and if you didn’t start hurrying you’d be late to the lab. You pulled off your sleep shorts and grabbed a clean? pair of pants. Grabbing your bag with your lab coat and putting your shoes on, you ran out the door. About five minutes into your frantic dash, you remembered that you didn’t grab your keys, phone, or breakfast, and that you had no clue the last time you’d drank water. It's fine, you thought, lack of water or nutrition hadn’t stopped you before.

You reached the lab around ten minutes later than the expected meetup time of 8 am. You wave to your research partner, Angel, and apologize for the delay. They shrugged it off with an understanding wave. You put on your lab coat and PPE and went to prepare the samples.

About thirty minutes later you weren't feeling great. It wasn’t too bad, just some shortness of breath and general dizziness. Deciding the safest option was sitting down you grabbed the stool near you and plunked down. Fiddling with your gloves as you waited for the symptoms to alleviate.

Unfortunately sitting down didn’t seem to help you much, your head felt hot and you began feeling distressed. There were too many sensations around you and you wanted everything off. It was fine you thought, maybe sitting on the floor would solve things.

As you sat on the floor pressing your google into your skull trying to stop the forming headache, Angel inquired why you were sitting on the floor. You explained that you weren’t feeling great, and that it was probably just that you locked your knees. They nodded to your explanation and began taking on more of the experiment.

You felt bad for not helping Angel in the experiment so you offered to take the acid you were working with to the fume hood to combine it with the sample. They nodded and passed you the beaker. You slowly got up and made your way to the fume hood. The latex gloves on your hands felt off, and your hands were sticky and sweaty underneath. As you approached the fume hood and began adding the necessary amount of sample for the trial, you started feeling faint. You began walking to your lab table to place the beaker down when you began to stumble. The low sound of electrical buzzing in the background cut out and your vision went dark. You tried to feel around to put the beaker down, but you bumped into something and toppled over.

“y/n!!” was the first thing you heard, though it felt like your head was underwater. Your vision cleared and you saw Angel kneeling down next to you, a puddle of liquid was seeping into your left lab coat sleeve and you felt a burning sensation erupt on that arm.

“Get to the shower station, you spilled the acid on yourself, I’ll clean the floor” Angel said pulling you up by your PH neutral arm.

You stumbled over to the emergency shower and pulled the handle. Ripping off your gloves and lab coat you were doused in gray water. As you stood under the freezing water it got in your mouth and nose, clogging it with the dusty taste of stagnant water. The shock of the water didn’t make you feel any better, only stopping the painful burning on your arm. You felt wrong, you were too hot and too cold, and constricted and all you could do was cry, fogging up your goggles. 

“I’m so sorry,” you cried, you fucked up, and Angel totally hated you for this stupid mistake.

“Y/N I think you should go home, I can finish today's experiment and share the results. Okay?” Angel offered, patting you on the back.

In response you burst into tears, you blubbered through an explanation that you couldn’t go home since you left your phone and keys behind and that you could still help out.

Angel nodded and suggested that you sit in the hallway since you weren’t wearing your PPE. You agreed and slowly walked into the white tiled hallway of the lab building. Sliding down against the wall you rested your head on your knees and continued to cry.

This entire situation was embarrassing, and you felt sick. The only thing keeping you from lying on the cool tile floor was your pride. You wanted to be in bed with Veritas, in something other than your soaked clothing, your hair to be dry and clean, and you wanted to have a long cry session until you felt better.

Angel seemed to be talking to someone, probably your research supervisor. Oh Aeons, this was going to be a write up for sure. You had ruined this day's experiment and pushed back the progress on the paper, you were going to be written as ETC on the paper weren’t you.

Your sobs had quieted down to soft sniffles and you were feeling slightly better. You were too distracted doom spiraling to notice the familiar click of heels on the tile flooring.

“Y/N? Your research partner called me to alert me of an accident you were in.” the oh so familiar voice of your boyfriend rang in your ears.

Looking up you saw a rather disheveled Veritas. His perfectly styled hair was slightly drooping, and a fine layer of dust covered his clothing. Sweat dripped down his neck and it was obvious that he had rushed here from his sculpting room. The alabaster sculpture he wore as a helmet was cradled in his left arm.

“Oh thank Aeons you’re here Dr. Ratio. Y/N collapsed and spilled the sample we were working on, I'm unsure if Y/N sustained any chemical burns as I was too busy to check.” Angel supplied when you just silently stared at Veritas.

“Get up Y/N, we’re finding you medical care for your mistakes.” Veritas stated, offering you his hand, the annoyed look on his face was betrayed by the amount of concern in his voice.

You tilted your head to the side, not wanting to move from your spot. The idea of getting up when your head felt full of cotton was not something you wanted to do.

“Ugh” he scoffed, bending down to scoop your drenched form off the floor. “We’ll be taking our leave, I believe you can handle the rest?” Veritas said, walking away from Angel

If Angel said anything you were too out of it to hear. The familiar warmth of Veritas’s strong arms was enough to make you feel sleepy and safe. The alabaster head he was carrying rested on your stomach as you buried your face further into his neck.

“We will be discussing what led up to this event” Veritas started, “after you bathe. You smell dreadful and are quite drenched.” he finished, scrunching his face in disgust when he caught a whiff of your soaked hair.

You hummed into his neck and closed your eyes. Beginning to drift off to the slow rocking of his stride and familiar scent of ink, paper, and stone.

You vaguely recognized being placed down on a cold surface before the rumble of water gushing through pipes filled the room. A large hand carded through your hair and you leaned into the touch, humming in satisfaction from the comforting sensation.

The deep voice of Veritas sounded in your ears asking something about a bath and clothes? You nodded trying to grab at the familiar figure of your boyfriend. All of a sudden your soaked clothing was delicately peeled off and you were placed in warm water. Releasing a sigh you leaned against the hard planes of your boyfriend’s chest.

“Have you returned to your normal intellect yet, or shall we soak in silence for longer?” Veritas asked, lathering shampoo into your hair.

“Do we need to talk about something?” You asked, tilting your head backwards to better look Veritas in the eyes.

“You’re no simple minded buffoon, that stunt you pulled, collapsing while carrying a corrosive substance is new for you. So tell me, what happened?” Veritas asked, rinsing out the shampoo and grabbing the conditioner.

You stayed silent as he rinsed the conditioner out of your hair. Once he had finished you turned to face him, midway through your turn he lightly gripped your left arm and moved it on top of his dry shoulder. Looking closer you could see a rather large red burn stretching your elbow to your hand. It wasn’t painful but looked bad.

“I don’t know what happened, I was feeling gross and I passed out okay?”

“But how did it happen, have you been feeling sick? Was it the fumes from your experiment?” Veritas asked, looking you in the eyes.

“I really don’t know I just felt gross” you shot back turning your head away from him.

“I know this project has been causing you great stress, was it because of that?” he pushed further, concern seeping into his voice.

“Can we not talk about this” you whined, the incessant questioning was getting a bit stressful.

“We have to in order to diagnose the issue at hand.” Veritas pushed harder, lightly holding your face in his hand.

“I already said I don’t know”

“Then think”

“Veritas I don’t fucking know. I’m tired and I want to sleep. If you want a reason we can just chalk it up to stress. Just please stop asking.” You shouted, growing more quiet as you continued.

“Ugh” he groaned, “Do you need help drying off, or shall I fetch you your clothing?” He asked slowly stepping out of the bath and drying himself

“I can dry off and get dressed on my own” you stated, leaning over the lip of the tub.

“Glad to hear you’re feeling better” he replied, giving you a quick peck on the forehead.

You hummed in response, Veritas leaving the room to grab your clothes. He returned with some soft sleep shorts and a shirt handing it to you once you finished drying off. The burn on your arm was beginning to itch, taking note of this Veritas spread a soothing ointment on it and wrapped it in bandages. The two of you walked into your shared bedroom and got into bed.

“Can we eat dinner together?” you asked, burying your nose into Veritas’ neck.

“Of course, but first you’re going to sleep.”

“Goodnight”

“Its noon, but fine, good night”

You drifted off to sleep in his arms, the discomfort and anxiety you felt earlier had dissipated, and the only thing you felt was the excitement to have dinner together.

[chungledown-bimothy]

The Fix's Facts

The Big Guy:

-For every snake, there is one snake dick. Snakes have 2 dicks. (said thrice)

The Scattered Mind:

-The tails on a swallowtail butterfly's wings don't serve any aerodynamic purpose. They're there so birds will grab them, at which point they'll break off and the swallowtail can escape.

-Eyes can't be itchy. They, unlike the membranes around them, don't have itch receptors.

-More than half the bones in your body are in your hands and feet.

F For Freezer: (and for facts!)

-The urethra contains taste receptors

-When eagles grip onto something, they have to flex a muscle to let go. An eagle can hold onto something so hard that even after it dies, it never lets go.

-Most of the pyramids on Earth are in Sudan.

-Pelicans have three stomachs, one of which is just for bones.

-Acids are easy to detect, oxygen and carbon dioxide are not. But when carbon dioxide meets water, like it does in our blood, it creates carbonic acid. This means our bodies can detect the presence of carbon dioxide, but not the presence or absence of oxygen.

If we are deprived of oxygen, we have no idea that that is happening as long as we are breathing out carbon dioxide. If we are not breathing oxygen, we just go to sleep and die. But if we allow the CO2 to build up, we panic. We flail. We break. Until finally, we die.

Grappling With Death:

-People can have constipation so bad that it will back up and impact their vagus nerve. As they are eliminating that impacted stool, it can have an effect on the nervous system so great that they forget who they are. Constipation-related amnesia. A woman in Tokyo forgot who she was for 8 hours.

-Bones are living.

-The reason we produce blood inside of our bones is because it's one of the places that's safest from UV radiation.

-There are some birds that can produce a nutritious substance that's a kind of milk. It's almost like lactation, but it evolved separately (convergent evolution). Pigeons do it.

-There are some salamanders that feed their babies their own skin

BONUS ROUND: Brennan "Bird Facts" Lee Mulligan

-There are some species of birds that have a secondary pouch in their esophagus/digestive tract where they have what's called a craw, that has stones or other hard material to help break up food matter before it passes into the rest of their digestive tract.

-Woodpeckers have a tongue bone called a hyoid bone that wraps around their brain because it needs to protect their brain from the impact of pounding into trees to devour their common meal items, grubs and larval insects.

Emergency Powers:

-You can't hum while you're blocking your nose.

-The longest animal is the bootlace worm.

-There are some reptiles that have a light-sensing organ on the top of their head so they can sense shadows that might be coming from something that's coming for them.

BONUS ROUND 2: Brennan's Back, Baby

-The black mamba has been observed at top speeds of 12.5 miles per hour. At that speed, it would almost certainly catch even some of the fastest humans on the planet. Even faster people wouldn't have the stamina, because resting or average speed is 7.5 miles an hour, which is faster than the human average, which is 6, and that's for healthy adults.

-The reticulated python is the longest snake in the world. The biggest is the anaconda.

Case Closed:

-There's little creatures in the sea that make pretty little lights. Why would they do that? It attracts little fishes who suck them up, and the light makes the fish glow. This attracts more little fish.

-The North Pole is actually a South Pole, because when you look at a compass, it points north. But the north pole of the compass is what's pointing north, and north poles point to the south poles.

BONUS ROUND 3: Once More, With Feeling

-Diners originate from dining cars on trains. The first diners were the dining cars of trains that had been taken out of service and were used stationarily as restaurants.

[evolutionsvoid]

Anything can be an ecosystem, it is just a matter of nutrients and consistency. So often we think that habitats are things that only exist outside our walls, where civilization hasn't fully taken hold. Some folk think we sapient species live completely separate from the natural world, that our lands are omitted from everything else. To them, there is a clear line between what is "nature" and what is "civilization" and once you cross those boundaries, the other ceases to be. But in truth, it is all connected, and our homes are a part of the system like everything else. A city may seem vastly different from any other habitat on the planet, but it is still an ecosystem nonetheless. We are but the fauna running about within, and one of the species that thrives in it. And to the shock of some, there are other creatures that do incredibly well in these man-made habitats, finding living within them just as comfortable as we do.

Sewers and dumps don't seem like much but areas of pure filth, but there is still nutrients to be found. Just because we don't eat the stuff doesn't mean it is useless. Look at the dung beetle, an insect that lives off of fecal matter. While a sewer would be a vile land for us, it would be a paradise to such a coprophage. Things in the wild feed off of waste, it is a natural thing. So when we make areas that are nothing but filth, then some species flock to it, seeing an endless buffet. The Otyugh is one such creature.

When one first sees an Otyugh (probably in illustration over real life), it may be hard to wrap your head around what it actually is. The anatomy seems all over, with arms, legs and heads starting to blur together. Some would claim they are a three-legged species with two tendril arms and a large eye stalk, which is an understandable mistake. The Otyugh is hard to decipher as it moves and feeds, and its anatomy changes depending on the situation. In truth, it is actually a large echinoderm, one that possesses six limbs. Two of these arms are sensory, while the other four are designed for feeding, manipulation and moving. All six have sensory organs for smelling and tasting the world around them, but only two have prominent eyes. These organs are much stronger on these limbs, versus the crude eyes on the others that can only tell between light and dark. All arms work together to help the creature move and feed, though hunting for food isn't exactly a challenge for an Otyugh.

As I made clear, this species is one that feeds entirely on waste, finding poop and filth quite delicious. It isn't just feces, it is anything rotting, foul and discarded that they eat. Their central mouth is a complex arrangement of grinding plates, shredding teeth and potent acid, all designed to consume absolutely everything that gets shoveled in. They are the cleanup crew of the world, like all scavengers, and will erase any detritus or corpse that has been left behind. They are practically immune to poison and disease, devouring plague ridden carcasses without worry. They are essential creatures to areas rife with rot, which is why they have found their way to humanity's sewers.

Otyugh are a species that originally relied on dragons and other megafauna to survive. Their vast amounts of waste gave the Otyugh sustenance, and thus they were commonly found near dragon lairs. Small creatures don't offer enough for such large beasts, but that changed when some species started stockpiling their filth. When the Otyugh caught wind of humans creating places specifically for waste and trash, they were quick to move in. Here was another consistent source of food, in a place that seemed tailor made to them. At first, people were repulsed, but then they realized if they didn't want the Otyugh there, then they would have to go down there and drive them out themselves. Suddenly, no one was complaining anymore.

While most folk don't bother with these creatures, times do come where people do confront them. I know in some big fancy cities, they don't like the image of a giant poop eating seastar dwelling below, so they got the bright idea of getting rid of them. In other cases, their population gets out of control and they start looking for extra sustenance in face of all this competition. Whichever the reason, trying to drive one out or fight it will quickly make you regret your life choices. Otyugh may be sewage suckers, but they can be extremely dangerous. Their tendrils are dexterous and thorny, capable of whipping them with deadly force. Their limbs are many, allowing them to attack from many angles and continue the battle should they lose one or two. The maw in the center of it all is an "everything-grinder," which can reduce an armored warrior to juice if they get too close. On top of all that is the fact that they are dripping with filth and vileness, which can lead to nasty infections or sickness should one be exposed. Sometimes slayers will succeed in killing an Otyugh, only to succumb to a horrible rotting disease weeks later from a mere scratch they had received. In most cases, fighting them is straight up not worth it. It should only be a last resort, for when the Otyugh start spilling out from their sewer homes and begin eating "fresher" things.

To go back to that earlier mistaken description, of a beast with "three legs, two arms and one eye stalk," there is a reason that was a common belief. When Otyugh are feeding, they are laying down in the ocean of filth, positioned like any seastar you would see on the coast. Mouth down, arms out, just enjoying life. When buried in this waste, you can't really see them. Their bodies are colored and designed to fit in with piles of manure and disgust around them (as if anything would want to eat them), and thus folk miss them most of the time. However, when threatened, the Otyugh will rear up to look much larger and expose its pulverizing maw. This is done by using three tendrils for support, like legs. Two feeding limbs are flailed about in a threatening manner, while a sensory tentacle is held high for it to see its attacker. Now that it has made itself obvious and known, people start paying attention. This is why that description became commonplace, as these postures were how folk even got to see them most of the time!

A funny thing to note is that humans are probably way more familiar with the Otyugh than dryads. Honestly, it was a while before I even got to see one myself! This is because dryads collect and compost their waste at home, making sewer systems rare in our towns and cities. Due to large efforts to recycle and reuse, we don't have large areas of the stuff for an Otyugh to settle in. This isn't meant to be a dig at humanity, more just a neat observation. I will say that some dryads made a business of utilizing an Otyugh to rapidly breakdown substances and objects a normal household couldn't properly handle. It is like a rapid transformation of waste into fertilizer, for those who don't want to wait. Bring your junk to these places, let the Otyugh eat it and get its fertile expulsions in return. An odd business, but it seems to be working pretty well! Of course, there are also rumors that some of these establishments earn the real coin from folks who want certain "somethings" to "disappear..."

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

-----------------------------------------

"Otyugh"

While this entry is written by Chlora, it is one that I would say is not canon. Mainly because I know the DnD company is incredibly litigious and not fans of their stuff being used anywhere else. I mainly drew this thing up because I thought it would be fun and the entry was me exploring the "what if" scenario.

But hey! An Otyugh that is an echinoderm! Hmm. Like a big ol seastar! Hmmm! Perhaps like a starfish! HMMMMMM!

[nihilistem]

Hey! I read your study tips both posts regarding adhd . (Feel free to ignore )

I am still undiagnosed and I think it's adhd but i do not have the resources nor the environment or support system to do anything about it .I am a high schooler preparing for entrance exams and i really need to like get my shit together and i feel like i have wasted sm time already but i really do want to get better. When i sit to study i just can't focus if I keep my phone in some other room then also i would just sit and stare at my books without accomplishing something. I am trying really but it's feels like my brain is frozen and my body is moving .my brain keep screaming guilty and ashamed but i can't seem to do anything about it.your study post actually i related to a lot because pomodro kind of seems to be working for everyone but me and the you described the exact same things I do

I know this is a lot to ask for please feel free to ignore but how do I stop Letting my emotions take over and study consistently because I only have one chance at the exams

Oh my, first of all I’d like to say that, as cliché as it is, I know exactly how you feel. I was undiagnosed for so long (I was only diagnosed a few months ago) and I didn’t even know that the adhd things I experience on a regular basis wasn’t normal or neurotypical for so long.

first up : I know this is difficult, but please do not say such things about yourself. I’m not gonna get into the whole thing, (cuz I have done a post on that already) but it’s true that the more you drill that bad stuff into your brain, the more it’s gonna stick. We need our brains to be in the best condition possible to study efficiently and saying bad stuff about yourself that isn’t even true is just going to hinder your performance. You got this. I promise you’re not lazy. Your brain just isn’t motivated by the same things others are, but we can work with that simple difference.

I’ll make a separate post on how not to let your emotions take over, but for now …

adhd study tips for those trying to get into the habit.

— by a stem student with adhd.

here’s my first post on adhd study tips.

— don’t put your phone in a different room. Instead, download an app that prevents you from using other apps on your phone.

there’s plenty of apps that do this but the one I prefer is ypt because all its features are completely free and it stops your timer when you exit the app unless you enter ‘allowed app mode.’ I don’t know about you, but if I find that I’m just zoning out on my textbook then I end up stopping my timer and deleting the record because I know I didn’t actually study, and this motivates me to actually get some work done. The timer also gets me motivated to keep going for longer so I have physical proof of my focus time and studies. It will feel good to even have just 1 hour of study time on it, I promise.

— even if you’re not interested in your studies, try your best to find even one thing that interests you.

novelty, challenge and interest are some of the best motivators of the adhd brain, so use it. I know that sparking your curiosity for a subject you hate seems impossible, but hear me out.

ever since I was young, I was exposed to books and I drew everyday. This caused me to become very passionate about the arts, but since I had adhd and didn’t know, I failed all my classes and specifically hated chemistry because it was specifically designed to be everything that I can’t be good at due to my poor memory and the need to memorize a TON of concepts. Then during class one day, I was doing chemistry work with my friends and felt frustrated that they could easily balance equations and work out which compounds were acids or bases purely by its chemical formula. And that’s what sparked me to start reading my textbook to see what the big deal was. How was it possible for one to just know when something is a acid solely from looking at a bunch of letters? This started a chain reaction; I found my answer, and found that the process of finding my answer and learning this new information was fulfilling. So I looked at all the other chemistry topics, and it turns out chemistry was fun. I was supposed to be an art student but now I’m majoring in chemistry and biology, all because of that sense of challenge and curiosity I was given that day.

tdlr; I was bad at chemistry but I’m now majoring in it because I felt challenged by a friend and was curious to know how they could solve chem equations easily.

All it took was a bit of curiosity. It’s a very powerful thing to the adhd brain. And if you use this as a motivator for your studies it might even cause you to hyper-fixate on your work, which means you’ll naturally spend more time studying just to find all the answers you’re now dying to know.

— use the pomodoro timer, but think about the things that you have to do that seems a little impossible to do under 25 minutes.

This fulfills the ‘challenge’ category I mentioned in the previous tip.

Let me explain; I subconsciously started doing this to myself without anyone telling me this and it’s helped me a LOT. Here’s an example;

“This chapter’s too long, it’s impossible to read through everything and understand the key concepts in just twenty five minutes.”

is it, though?

So I was off to the races, genuinely reading through every page and taking note of every single heading or bold or italicized word so I will be able to summarize the entire topic by the time the twenty five minutes is up.

And it doesn’t even matter if you don’t make that twenty five minute mark, because you’ll feel a sense of defeat and try it again with another chapter/topic.

this accomplishes two things; one, the work you’ve been putting off or zoning out on is now probably 20% - 50% completed and now you feel motivated to continue. Two, this method will train you to be faster in learning or studying new material or even just completing work in general, depending on what you’re challenging yourself to do.

— dress up, do your hair, study at a library or cafe you love (and possibly make pretty notes.)

I’ve talked about interest, I’ve talked about challenge, and now I’m gonna talk about novelty.

Do this with purpose! But what do I mean by that?

I’m sure you’ve come across studious girls in media or even people on social media making videos and taking pretty photos of their day out to study. Usually they’re dressed the part and even if they’re not, there’s a certain vibe, aesthetic or aura about them that is just so desirable that it makes you wish you were doing what they were doing. And if you don’t feel this way, find content creators or media that do make you feel this way.

How will this help me? Well, there are actually a few reasons but the first one that comes to mind is that this is also an adhd tip used outside of studying. Combining a task you don’t want to do with a task you’d like to do is a faster and more efficient way of convincing yourself to do long, difficult or even tiring tasks. Another is that doing this would also mean you’ve technically gotten yourself to desire studying, something more commonly known as romanticizing studying. If you make studying look fun, glamorous or even desirable for yourself then you’re sure to get to the hideous parts of it. Think about being a straight A student, someone who’s always wearing nice clothes with great hair and such a focused work ethic. Once you desire to be that person and you dress like that person, you’ll start to do the things that person will do.

— use the pomodoro timer but set it to even shorter bursts instead. (e.g. 15 minutes work, 5 minutes break.)

Or hell, on my worst days I set it to 5 minutes work, 5 minutes break.

The whole point of this exercise is to just start, because that’s arguably the hardest part about studying, you can’t get yourself to actually start or to actually focus. So promise yourself a five minute break after a very short amount of time of reading.

— skip straight to the questions of a topic, try to do them and identify the information you need to get the answer right.

For example, I came across a bio question that was rather simple but I didn’t know the answer to because I haven’t revised the topic for a while, and the question was, what is needed in the body for anaerobic respiration to take place? And the answer was simple, but I didn’t know because again, I didn’t study the material before answering the paper.

one’s brain can have the habit of being complacent especially when you don’t wanna do work, so diving head first into the questions and realizing that you don’t know jack shit would be a good wake up call for you and your brain—and this can connect to the second point that I made because you might find that you’d be eager to get the answer right all on your own, and become curious as to what the answer is.

important to remember …

erase everything bad that you were told or led to believe about studying. I promise that if you look for ways to make it engaging for you and form a habit, studying can be something you don’t dread or worry about everyday. You are capable. This is the start of your journey. Yes, the question of ‘what if I get distracted again’ will always be there but think about what could happen if today is the first day you’re not distracted. If you don’t at least try to start now, you will have zero chance of being able to actually focus and study. But if you try, the worst that will happen is that you tried. If you keep trying, it will happen. I promise.

If you need any more tips regarding adhd, (or being undiagnosed,) please do let me know. I’ll do my best to help.

[ode-to-arecibo]

I think this is a good place to start.

Timelike Empire is my main world, both worldbuilding project and place where actual novels will be set eventually. It's hard~ish sci fi with a timeline that diverges in 2020 and runs to about 2300... so far. So here's Timelike Empire's main sophonts and their sizes.

From left to right, you know this guy it's unmodified human. This one's Solenoid, from the 2050s. You'll see more of him later.

More importantly, Drakes, represented by Viviere Serasifi. Drakes were the first species to develop faster than light communication. Their societies arrange themselves into houses of close relatives which in modern times tend to act as countries or companies, ruling land or holding economic monopolies. Biologically they're hexapods evolved from an arboreal predator like a six limbed jaguar. Their feathers absorb the dyes they eat, which they use to distinguish house identity. Their head feathers are used to emote. Their society is a huge mess when humans meet them, as house Cezyra has taken power and done fascism and completely fucked everything up.

Kaledevids, or star crows, and all three of their sexes, represented by literally any kaledevid as they all look identical. Kaledevids were the second species to develop ftl communication, and the first that drakes contacted. They worked together to produce wormholes and Alcubierre drives. They have three sexes, bachelors on the left, herders in the middle and dispersers on the right. Bachelors were originally confused for crows and assumed to be the only sex, giving them the common but impolite star crow moniker. They're expert navigators and significantly more intelligent than humans or the average sophont, but only living 20-30 years. They're the only other species on this list where being naked is ever a crime and they're drawn here with scarves covering their anuses on their chests and their genitals on their backs.

Sapsippers, represented by a pretty average blue drone, are a hive mind or gestalt consciousness, to the point that after they developed an internet analog the entire homeworld could be considered one person. You would never actually see one alone like this, it would have no idea what's going on. Sapsippers form into thrums, groups which communicate through pheromones and tapping the ground. Thrums smaller than six aren't really functional as people. The race pictured here is translucent. That gave them a big head start on medicine, but more important was their biochemistry. They don't use a separate DNA analog/genetic storage system and proteins, they just have self replicating proteins (though not made of amino acids). This meant that as soon as they could isolate proteins, they could genetically engineer whatever they wanted. They started genetic engineering even before they had civilization, rubbing protein rich parts of other creatures in their wounds to make rough and often dangerous modifications. They're called sapsippers because they exclusively consume a sap secreted by a creature they ranch. If you bring a thrum to dinner you can order sugar water for them, they store energy with D-glucose like us. They often act as ship AIs for ships just a bit too small to carry a lect.

Raptors or raptorslugs or various unpronounceable buzzing sounds, represented here by a conventionally attractive male, were contacted 20 years after humans and are the most relatable to the average human. They invariably use cybernetics to speak English or Universal, as the only sound they can make is various kinds of high pitched incredibly irritating buzzing. Their second pair of wings is reduced to just the muscles they now use to pump their blood and lungs. Their main pair of wings is too weak to fly with, but is now used in semaphore and bird of paradise-eqsue mating dances. They're packhunters.

Moths, which I really should give a proper name to, pictured here sitting on the raptor's tail, evolved on the same planet as raptorslugs. While raptorslugs reduced the second pair of wings, got huge, and stopped doing alternation of generations, moths pretty much didn't change from their basal form except getting smarter. They're the sporophyte form of a common photosynthesizer. They're not always included on lists of the sophonts, mostly because they don't particularly want to be included and they're the least common of these, basically just sneaking in because raptors are so common. You'll never see a moth without a raptor, but plenty of raptors don't keep moths. There are hundreds of species of moth and they don't mind being selectively bred by raptors, as long as the raptors protect their gametophytes. Attempting to understand moth culture is a largely futile endeavor that not even raptors attempt.

Not pictured here, artificial intellects, usually referred to as lects. They're often massive godlike intelligences that shape history. Sometimes they're made of flesh. Distinguished from AI by being at least human intelligence and being able to go eccentric. Eccentricity occurs when a lect is given too much free time and infers that whoever told it to do it's job doesn't actually want that job done so much as they want to be happy. This usually results in them deciding that preserving sophont life is the most noble purpose and then accumulating as many resources as they can. Sometimes they go basilisk instead and the Silicon Hydra has to deal with them.

So there we go, there's the blog started. Coming soon: individual species references.

[nightmare-foundation]

Hero/villain batfamily swap AU

Okay so I really wanna infodump about my au that I've recently made, which puts the batfamily in the Gotham Rogues' places. I haven't thought through all of them yet, and I haven't accounted for all the batfamily (i.e. Kate Kane, Luke Fox, etc), but this is what I have

The Rogues

Bruce- The Penguin

Dick- Two-Face

Tim- The Joker

Stephanie- Black Mask

Damian- the Demons Head/Ra's Al Ghul

Barbara- The Riddler

Duke- Mr. Freeze

Cass- Lady Shiva?

The Heroes/good guys

Jason- Batman

Nightwing/Robin I- Jacob 'Jake' Grayson

Red Hood/Robin II- Thomas Grayson

Raven/Robin III- Jonathan Crane

Spoiler/Robin IV- [name] Brown (she hasn't been named yet, but she's Stephanie's daughter!)

Robin V- William Todd

Black Bat- Rose Wilson

The Signal- TBD (feel free to suggest ideas)

Seer- James Gordon Jr.

Harvey Dent

Edward Nygma

Jack Napier

Oswald Cobblepot

Waylon Jones

Jervis Tetch

Basil Karlo

Admittedly, the ones I've thought through the most are Dick, Jason, Tim and Damian. Some characters i haven't thought much about at all or I have an idea of what I want them to be (like Harvey having a role similar to Jim Gordon, or maybe Edward works with Lucius?).

BUT- this is an au where an outside force fucked with the timeline (haven't decided who/what or how) and, after regaining their past timeline memories, the batfamily (now Rogues... except for Jason lol) have to work together to figure out how to fix the timeline. The problem being their current states make that task much harder than it'd usually be, especially with their current history with each other, even despite their memories returning. So there's a whole slew of issues, not just internal, but with each other and dealing with heroes. And they have... very complicated histories with each other.

I'll explain a few of them under the cut :)

Dick Grayson aka Two-Face

What differs in this AU is that Dick is, of course, never taken in by Bruce and is instead passed around from abusive foster home to abusive foster home in Gotham. Thanks to a mix of the circus having been not a safe place and the abuse he endures in foster care, Dick develops DID, BPD and OCD from the trauma. He grows up with a close friend in Jason Todd, and while they separate for a while (Jason going to train to become Batman, Dick going into law school), they come back together as adults.

Dick becomes a lawyer because Tony Zucco had used legal loopholes to get out of facing the consequences of murdering the Flying Graysons, and Dick fully intended on trying to fix the legal system in some way and to try to prevent something like that from happening to others. At some point, Dick ends up having 2 sons, Jake and Thomas, who are 8 and 3 respectively when Dick eventually becomes Two-Face.

Since he's very close to Jason, he's actually aware that Jason is Batman. When Dick gets more unsatisfied with the justice system, he joins Jason in crime fighting as the vigilante Robin. Unbeknownst to both of them, Two-Face (not yet called that, but i haven't thought of a name yet lol) is not only unsatisfied with the justice system, but also how Jason and Dick fight crime. (Two-Face believes in the anti-hero kind of lethal justice. No, he's not 'evil')

One day, I imagine something happens and Dick, in his civilian form, tries to defend someone from someone else, but the fight results in the attacker slamming a glass container full of acid into Dicks face. This is obviously deeply traumatizing, and not only that, it solidifies Two-Faces belief that vigilantes should adopt a more lethal form of justice.

This is, obviously, how they become Two-Face :) they're deemed too mentally unstable to care for their two sons, so Jason is the person who takes them in and cares for them.

Jason Todd aka Batman

Honestly, I haven't considered exactly how he gets the idea of becoming Batman, but I'm considering that the catalyst is similar; he witnesses his father's murder. Essentially Willis got on the bad side of some mob boss and gets killed in front of Jason and Catherine. Eventually, after that, Catherine succumbs to a drug overdose.

Jason grows up close to Dick, with them supporting each other throughout their childhoods and helping each other escape foster care. Eventually Jason comes under the care of Oswald Cobblepot (who is the surprisingly kind but tough CEO of Cobblepot Industries) after attempting to steal the CEOs tires. Through him, he gets into training, and he supports Dicks lawyer endeavors financially.

After he comes back from all of his training, he refamiliarizes himself with Gotham and then becomes Batman. There's a lot of stuff he's way more lax about than Bruce is, like killing or temporarily working with criminals if it yields better results, but he still has his limits.

Jason also has his own Robins, but his relationship with them is far more healthy.

Tim Drake aka The Joker

Tim wasn't actually all that unique prior to becoming the Joker. He grew up in and out of boarding school with somewhat absent parents, in a middle class then upper class household. Tim became a photographer and journalist as an adult.

How he became the Joker is simple: he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of who he was, he was framed, and dropped into a vat of acid.

What came out just... isn't Tim Drake anymore.

Misc.

This is essentially what I have for the others that I haven't fully figured out yet:

-Duke becomes Mr. Freeze not long after his parents are hit by a lethal form of Joker Venom. He keeps them frozen so that they stay alive while he tries to search for a cure.

-Barbara becomes the Riddler not long after Jim Gordon dies. There's a bunch of stuff that causes her to go villain mode, but her father dying is the catalyst, or the straw that broke the camels back so to speak.

-Damian is not centuries old like Ra's is, but he is on the older side (50s? Maybe older?). Really, a lot of characters are aged up lol. He is still related to Bruce and Talia. He has kids too! William (<- placeholder name, I'm having trouble naming him, I might give him a name that reflects his heritage. He's gone through several iterations already LOL) Todd is his grandson.

-Edward Nygma works under Lucius Fox and helps make things for Jason! He also totally makes escape rooms on the side. Cringefail malewife vibes, as he should always have

-Harvey Dent has a role similar to commissioner Gordon, though I'm debating if he's actually a police commissioner or a Private Investigator.

-James Gordon Jr. Is Seer, and i imagine part of the reason he became a vigilante was to prove people's assumptions of him wrong. He's physically disabled (not sure how yet, but he uses forearm crutches) and is diagnosed with ASPD. He works as a hero both in the streets and behind a screen. I'm not sure yet what kind of day job he has tbh.

[moonsglare]

uhhh tw. biology rambling about avian reproduction and speculation on tengu physiology utc

bird reproductive system overview

so from what i've gathered the cloaca (also known as a vent) of female birds specifically isn't all too dissimilar in function or general structure to the vagina in placental mammals EXCEPT for the fact that cloacas in birds are multiple use in the sense that it's used for reproduction (egg laying in females), excretion and defecation. the cloaca is connected to the oviduct which is connected to the ovary, again similar to regular human/placental mammal biology.

(really interesting how so many different multicellular organisms share the same "format", as it were.)

tengu biology speculation

internal organs & reproductive/excretory system -> for no other reasons beyond personal all i'd really change is just separating the waste line from the reproductive line. the waste line can still be a singular line with no urine/feces distinction given that birds naturally just expel them together (also interesting new thing learned today was that bird 'urine' consists of uric acid as opposed to urea, hence the white colour).

diet -> not too different from humans, but tengu would likely have a far higher calcium intake than regular humans for healthy egg production. female tengu still produce and need to lay an egg once a year (average for crows), and the lack of calcium can result in eggbinding which can be fatal. tengu can get their extra calcium by snacking on seeds, drinking milk, or eating certain fruits and vegetables. this is going into cultural territory but i think it'd be possible for tengu to have some unique high-calcium dishes incorporating bones or snail shells. rip kjsr though she probably doesn't know these exist

how would sex even work -> so a vast majority of birds copulate via what's called a 'cloacal kiss'. the easiest way to put this is that they kinda just scissor (touch cloacas) and that's how the sperm from the male is transferred to the female, given that males in this scenario do not have an external sex organ (dickless). for the bird species that DO keep their dicks, copulation is pretty much straightforward from what i've gathered in (insertion, insemination, etc.). however, crows are not part of the bird species that still have phalluses so they copulate via cloaca. interestingly this could mean f/f, m/f, and m/m sex between tengu in theory shouldn't be too different from each other beyond the lack/presence of sperm production. (maybe there's something to be gleaned here about tengu society as a result but i don't think i'm knowledgeable enough on sex and gender and its interactions and effects on society as a whole to comment on it. but it could also be interesting!). penetrative sex would still be possible for tengu, but it would probably take a lot of prep work and building up to, especially if involving any kind of phallus as opposed to fingering. i couldn't really find any concrete yes/no info on 1) if birds have the capacity to self-lubricate when aroused or 2) if birds (or in a broader sense, animals) can experience an orgasm. but for the sake of Fun and Whimsy and Horny i have decided the answer to both questions as they pertain to tengu is yes. the only major L for female tengu is that they don't have a clit (at least, externally) as it is something female birds lack, although the early-development phallus seen in most female vertebrates are seen in female birds, however they are not present or at least, identifiable in adulthood. so in theory i could argue that female tengu maybe have something like an 'internal clitoris', which could function as a g-spot equivalent, making penetrative sex for tengu a little more desirable.

eggs? -> generally speaking bird egg sizes are proportional to the size of the bird itself (with exceptions, re: the kiwi). i couldn't find an exact catch-all number so i'm gonna have to do some really sketchy math. the large billed crow (native to east asia) has an average mass between 400g-1000g, the midpoint being 700g. the average mass of an egg from what i could find is 11.8g. therefore on average the egg is 1.68% of the crow's body mass [(11.8/700)*100=1.68%]. in specifically kjsr's case since i hc her as 6ft the average mass of a 6ft human female is 68-73kg, so i'll take 70.5kg as a midpoint. therefore kjsr's egg would be 1.68% of 70.5kg which is a surprisingly small (relative to the average human baby) mass of only 1.18kg. the average crow egg size is 3.68cm x 2.67cm, and the average length is 52.5cm. using these numbers you can calculate out the dimensions of the egg itself using ratios and proportions which measure up to be a 12.8cm x 9cm egg. i'd like to note however that these are all just averages taken from midpoints, therefore an egg can be larger or smaller than this base measurement (12.8cm x 9cm, 1.18kg). however, it is possible that tengu eggs can even tend on the larger side, just slightly smaller than a full formed human baby, because eggs have a fixed capacity once the shell is formed and the above numbers are quite small. (that being said, a tengu hatchling being very, very small and highly vulnerable would also in a way explain why tengu have both eggs and the capacity to produce milk, which so fucking interestingly makes them physiologically and behaviorally more closely related to monotremes than birds). the egg itself is blue-green in color, an almost coppery shade. in addition, i do think tengu can have clutches of eggs, maybe 2 at a time, with a maximum of 3, although 1 is already a lot of work hskdfhk

gestation and incubation -> the gestational period in birds is a lot shorter than i ever expected before going down this rabbit hole. after fertilisation occurs, an egg can develop in roughly 24-48 hours or 1-2 days in most species, and are laid immediately after being fully formed. however, in monotremes, the gestation period is (technically) 11-12 days. i'd settle on a number somewhere in the middle, maybe 5-6 days, for no other reason than I Think It Would Be Interesting. when it comes to incubation though, monotremes and crows specifically have an almost similar duration with 10-11 days for monotremes and 18 days for crows. this would have to be stretched out a lottttt more for tengu given the need for the development of more highly complex structures like hands and feet, as well as a lot of other organs that is responsible for the human gestation period being 9 months long. i'd say the tengu incubation period is going to be roughly the same because of that.

milk production -> the fact that female tengu have breasts imply milk production. as a general rule birds don't do this ALTHOUGH some birds like pigeons and flamingos do produce 'crop milk' which is similar to regular milk but apparently tastes ass and also has a different composition to mammal milk. in any case, since this is not crow behavior or physiology i'll default to humans instead. human babies (in an ideal scenario) are breastfeed for about 12 months, with the first 6th months being exclusively breastfed and the remainder 6 months a mix between breastfeeding and soft foods. tengu could follow the same duration (especially in the unique case of a possible human/tengu hybrid child) or have a far shorter overall breastfeeding duration, given that the hatchling does get somewhat juiced up by the yolk while they develop in the egg.

parental care -> based on everything in the previous paragraph, parental care will be a must for tengu, especially during incubation and as a new hatchling. egg care goes into behavioral and maybe even cultural territory, so i'll try to keep it brief because i'm mainly focused on biology/physiology here. the egg itself is likely placed in the safest area of the home, with maybe some yokai enchantments (or human technology) to keep it at a steady temperature. parents take turns watching over the egg, and maybe 'egg slings' are developed that allow a parent to bring their egg around with them for comfort and security. hatch day would be the equivalent to a birthday. now onto the fun part: hatchlings. hatchlings would require immense parental care given their exceedingly small size, which makes them a lot more fragile than human babies. the first month would be the most critical, but afterwards i'd say that tengu hatchling development outpaces human baby development. after that critical month feathering of the hatchling's wings start to occur, and they'd be fully feathered by around a year old. throughout this time hatchlings would have pretty much the same needs as a human baby, so not much difference in parental care during this time.

[meepetteoneonly]

Raphael and Tiamant (the DND dragon goddess and archdevil) theory

So I will once again refer to all the pieces of the puzzle already discovered and shared by @certifieddilfenjoyer and another layer of theories and questions about Raphael...

(Sorry for spam, I just wanted to add it to my theory collection but I also want to make a separate post, because I am so excited!)

We already know, that Vlaakith made a deal with some devil in order to carry out the coup against Mother Gith, i.e. mother of Orpheus. However, the important information is also what Lae’Zael tells us after we are attacked by Githyanki at Wyrm’s Lookout the night before we reach Baldur’s Gate.

Once we successfuly defeated Orpheus’s protectors and Emperor uncovered himself, Lae’Zael tells us, that what we know about Orpheus is only half of a story and that Gith managed to defeat Illithids because she made a deal with Archdevil Tiamant. Also, she explains that it was Tiamant who gifted Githyankis their red dragons.

Furthermore, she tells us that Mother Gith stayed in Hells and that Tiamant’s envoy helped Vlaakith with her mission to become the queen.

Tiamant’s enovy. A devil with wry charm who did a deal with Vlaakith (according to the disk we find in Astral Prism near Orpheus). I wonder, who that may be… 

Now - who is this Archdevil Tiamant? I didn’t know either, but Forgotten Realms wiki had my back again:

Tiamant was the lawful evil dragon goddess of greed, queen of evil dragons and, for a time, reluctant servant of the greater gods Bane and later Asmodeus.

Do we know how Gortash become chosen of Bane, btw?

Tiamat was a unique chromatic dragon, who had one head for each primary color of the most common species of chromatics (black, blue, green, red, white). Each head was able to operate entirely independently of each other and had the powers of a member of the respective race of dragonkind.

Primary colours are subtle theme that is common to Orpheus’s bubble, the bubble we can see inside Astral Prism for the first or so time we get inside.

Also, „Astral Prism… or Prison“, as Gortash put it in his notes… Prism is triangular piece of glass that disperse the light into primary colours.

Tiamat had three manifestations in Avernus as well, one of which never left the gate to Dis. She also had a lair in Avernus, on the Nine Hells, known as Tiamat's Lair.

Tiamat's Lair was the divine realm and prison of Tiamat in Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells, according to the Great Wheel cosmology. The realm was a large cave system within a tall mountain, hidden in the hills of Avernus. It held the only known portal that led to the second layer, Dis. 

Avernus. Here we are. Interesting, isn’t it?

The lair was also inhabited by Tiamat's mates and their descendants. The realm was generally avoided by demons, who were aware of Tiamat's lack of interest in the Blood War.It was, however, occasionally visited by devils offering gifts, hoping to seal bargains with Tiamat.

Do we know anyone who is always up to a bargain?

Tiamat wanted to take control of the Realms, and even as she was thwarted again and again by her enemies, she didn't give up. As of 1491 DR, however, her primary goal was to break free from the Nine Hells.

Having once been an archfiend living on Avernus, Tiamat was loosely allied with Bel and lent him many Abishai to fight in the Blood War. She resented Mammon for converting some evil dragons away from her. She helped Asmodeus forge his Ruby Rod.  She developed an enmity with Asmodeus and the archdevil Bel after they betrayed her.

The crafting of the rod required the shard of evil and a huge ruby to be soaked in the blood of a thousand sacrificed mortals, quenched in Tiamat's acidic saliva, and polished with 777 angel tears.

That’s a little weird but I guess it is better to have a ruby quenched in super-powerful dragon goddess’s saliva than to have no ruby at all.

Also, Orphic hammer is decorated with red gems as well. And infernal chains binding Orpheus and Hope are attached to some red rocks. Rubys, prehaps?

Finally, Raphael doesn’t seem to be someone into crafting and forging, so there has to be someone who forged the shackles and muzzle for Orpheus and Astral Prism. Given that Astral Prism was probably created at the same time Tiamant was doing business with Gith, maybe it was her… Or maybe she helped Raphael? 

As regards the blood of secrificed mortals, I wonder, was Mephistopheles up to something similar with the Rite of Profane Ascension? 

Ok, let’s continue… 

The church of Tiamat was regimented by a strict hierarchy of ranks and titles. Her clerics were occupied by the twin tasks of acquiring an ever-increasing hoard of wealth for the faith and sabotaging the faiths of other deities. As a result, they occupied most of their time with an unending series of thefts, assassinations, acts of vandalism, and arson. In Unther and Chessenta they were primarily concerned with seizing as much power as possible, while in western Faerun, the cult's agents were focused on subverting the Cult of the Dragon.

Which is interesting. The Cult of Dragon attacked Baldur’s Gate and when Wyll came to the rescue, he end up being tied to Mizora. If you speak with Wyll about the event, he tells you that Mizora didn’t care for the city, but Zariel sent her for some reason.

The Forgotten Realms wiki provides: … However, to avoid disappointing Asmodeus again and to prevent a conflict with Bel, Tiamat refused, instead offering to be Asmodeus' champion and devouring all who opposed him (and offering covert aid to Zariel to prevent Bel from becoming too powerful). So, did Zariel sent Mizora to help Wyll with Cult of the Dragon to do Tiamant some favour? 

This was everything I managed to put together after I rushed to research this Tiamant lady right after Lae’Zael spoke about her in the game. 

So my theory is that Raphael somehow serve Tiamant (or served) or that he has some kind of bargain with her. But the only weak proof is that Tiamant’s envoy helped Vlaakith and that this envoy had wry charm… That’s not much.

I also found this super cool fanart of Tiamant by an artist Jexion and in my opinion, I could see Raphael on his knees for someone like that...

[mariacallous]

In the kitchen, an ingredient’s taste is sometimes less important than its function. Cornstarch has rescued many a watery gravy; gelatin turns juice to Jell-O. Yet the substances that make bread fluffy, hold mayonnaise together, and keep the cream in ice cream have, according to the new stance of the United States government, “no culinary use.”

These natural and synthetic substances, called emulsifiers, are added to processed foods to give them the textures that Americans have come to love. They’ve also become targets in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s push to remove many food additives from the American diet. The “Make America Healthy Again” report, published in May, groups emulsifiers with other additives, some of which it says are linked to mental disorders, metabolic syndrome, and cancer. Online, the MAHA crowd echoes claims that emulsifiers are helping drive America’s chronic health problems.

Like seed oils and food dyes, emulsifiers have raised some real health concerns, particularly about gut health. But distinguishing their ill effects from those of the foods they’re in is challenging—and probably a distraction from the diet changes that would really make Americans healthier.

To anyone who’s attempted (and failed) to make a smooth vinaigrette using only oil and vinegar, MAHA’s assertion that emulsifiers have no culinary use is an affront. Any recipe that calls for blending two substances that don’t mix well together requires emulsifiers’ magic touch. Their molecular structure is drawn to watery substances on one end and fat-based ones on the other, bridging ingredients that would otherwise separate. In a vinaigrette, a dollop of mustard does the trick. Mayonnaise, essentially a blend of oil and a water-based acid, such as vinegar, is spreadable thanks to a natural emulsifier: egg yolks. Similarly, adding eggs to milk prevents ice cream from separating into solid milk fat studded with ice shards (yum).

Not all emulsifiers are as recognizable as eggs and mustard. Many commercial ice creams swap eggs for cheaper synthetic emulsifiers. Cake mixes are foolproof because chemicals called propylene glycol esters prevent powdered fats from clumping. Monoglycerides and diglycerides add structure to and extend the shelf life of bread. Xanthan gum thickens creamy salad dressings. The MAHA report makes no distinction between purely chemical emulsifiers and those that are naturally occurring, such as egg yolks and soy lecithin. So far, studies have not definitively identified differences in their effects on human health.

Perhaps because they are so useful, emulsifiers are in about half of supermarket foods sold in the United Kingdom, according to a 2023 study of the country’s four largest supermarkets; one study in France found that they account for seven of the top 10 most-consumed food additives among adults. So far, their prevalence in the U.S. food system hasn’t been studied, but given the dominance of processed food in the American diet, it’s safe to say that we eat a lot of them.

In Kennedy’s view, that abundance of emulsifiers is at least partly responsible for America’s chronic-disease epidemic. In May, he promised to investigate and ban food additives that are “really dangerous.” But so far, the research on emulsifiers doesn’t justify such a label. In 2017, an FDA-led study concluded that seven common emulsifiers didn’t raise any safety concerns at the usual levels of consumption. The agency’s calculations have “a lot of safety built in,” says Renee Leber, a food scientist at the Institute of Food Technologists, a trade group. There’s no reason to expect that Americans would ever consume enough emulsifiers to spark serious health concerns.

Still, looking further into emulsifiers’ health impacts isn’t a bad idea. A growing number of studies suggest that some can harm the gut, perhaps by shifting the balance of the gut microbiome. They may also damage the gut’s protective mucus layer, leaving it more vulnerable to inflammation and bacteria. A few studies suggest a link between the inflammation that some emulsifiers cause and certain illnesses, including Crohn’s disease, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. But other research has turned up conflicting results; a study published last year linked a high-emulsifier diet to a better-protected gut.

Even emulsifier experts aren’t sure exactly what the substances do in the body. Research on how they affect intestinal health is “very much a work in progress,” Benoit Chassaing, a professor at the Institut Pasteur, in Paris, told me. It also still isn’t clear which ones, if any, have the most potential for harm. In a 2021 study, Chassaing and his colleagues used a model to test the effects of 20 common emulsifiers on the gut microbiome. Only two of them—the synthetic emulsifiers carboxymethylcellulose (found in vitamins and dietary supplements) and polysorbate 80 (usually in edible oils and cake icing)—were determined to have lasting negative consequences. Chassaing has also found that some people’s microbiomes are more sensitive to emulsifiers—which is to say, conceivably emulsifiers could have different effects on different people. Without large-scale human trials, none of the research on emulsifiers can be considered conclusive. As the authors behind the 2024 study wrote, “For now, do not feel guilty if you eat ice-cream!” (At least, not because you’re consuming emulsifiers.)

None of this has deterred Kennedy from fearmongering about additives like emulsifiers. Instead, he’s continuing a pattern that by now has become a MAHA signature: In the health secretary’s campaigns against seed oils and food dyes, he has exaggerated modest scientific findings to justify grand allegations that additives drive chronic disease. Some skepticism of these ingredients may be warranted. But Kennedy’s critiques lack nuance at a stage when nuance is all that the current research can provide.

A MAHA-led deep dive into these questions could turn up some genuinely useful information. If certain emulsifiers are especially gentle on the gut, the food industry could use them to replace the ones that might be more irritating. Identifying what makes certain people more sensitive to them could shape criteria for prescribing emulsifier-free diets.

But what Kennedy plans to do about emulsifiers beyond investigating their safety is anyone’s guess. When I asked the Department of Health and Human Services about it, Emily G. Hilliard, a press secretary, told me that “Secretary Kennedy is committed to ensuring transparency in the food supply so that Americans know exactly what’s in their food.” Banning any emulsifiers that might be found to cause serious harm would be prudent, but then foods that contain them would have to be reformulated—a costly, time-consuming endeavor. For some foods, that might not even be an option: Without an emulsifier, natural or synthetic, ice cream “just wouldn’t be plausible,” Leber told me.

If Kennedy aggressively pursues bans or some other type of restrictions, it will be worth stepping back and asking what the administration is really trying to achieve. The health effects of emulsifiers haven’t yet been fully distinguished from those of the foods they’re in (which tend to have high levels of fat, sugar, or both), nor have those of seed oils and food dyes. In fact, the science points to the likelihood that emulsifiers’ potential harms are minor in comparison with more basic nutritional problems. But maybe ditching emulsifiers could act as some roundabout way of nudging Americans toward eating healthier, if Kennedy is prepared to rob us all of ice cream.

In May, Kennedy announced that food additives and processed foods would be the “central focus” of his health administration. But really, that indicates just how unfocused his movement is. The MAHA report rails against American overconsumption of high-sugar, high-fat, ultra-processed foods, yet so far, it hasn’t been able to do much to limit their consumption beyond eliciting a nonbinding promise from Kraft-Heinz and General Mills to remove dyes from foods like mac and cheese and Kool-Aid, and encouraging people to cook french fries in beef tallow. Removing or replacing emulsifiers could result in some health gains, but none that are likely to outweigh the health consequences of eating the foods that contain them.

[gingergofastboatsmojito]

The salt of life

Disclaimer: This makes no sense, it's just a list of Sydcarmy musings and analogies but I wanted to share it anyway.

In culinary metaphors

Syd is affecting Carmy like TABLE salt affects mixes in bakery. She enhances Carmy’s flavor, but does not change it. That’s not always a good thing. It all depends on finding the right balance and timing and ensuring the ingredients are correctly mixed because otherwise, the whole thing is ruined.

Salt is dangerous. As a matter of fact, it can kill you.

Salt is basically sodium. Sodium is poison when incorrectly used, but it also makes the ❤️ beat when its levels are balanced out with the potassium in our blood.

In medical terms

Syd is the heart.

Carmy is the circulatory system that would dry up and die unless the heart irrigates it.

The Bear, their place, is the blood. The family.

What makes the heart beat is electricity.

They generate this power. This spark. And it can get out of control, like all sparks, of course.

That’s the chemistry they create when they are together → Beating.

None make sense without the other, BECAUSE THEY FORM A SYSTEM, is you separate the veins and arteries from the heart and the blood, they are simply lifeless. Isolated they don't make much sense.

THEY ARE A SYSTEM. THE MAIN SYSTEM.

How that system works

She lit the spark in him and gave him a heart when he was used to being a robot who only worked and smoked the competition.

Sydney could definitely work without Carmy, but at this point, it wouldn't make sense for her. She would feel lifeless, even if she wins 100 stars elsewhere. Her place is The Bear, the restaurant and the chef. Because that's what she chose with her heart.

Carmy has worked and thrived without her and wouldn't do it again unless it's out of spite, just to show her.

However, I don't think it'll come to that like it once did with Michael, or his parents, he has learned that lesson the hard way by now.

Carmy works as a SYSTEM, as part of something bigger than him, if he becomes isolated, S3 Carmy takes the wheel. He doesn't work like that, he crashes and burns.

But during most of S3 the "spark" Syd ignited in him, the one that got the blood flowing again, gave him a heart, a purpose, where there was only a hurt man who felt so much pain that couldn't even express it and thus, sublimated it in the form of a work addiction and functional depression, and therefore couldn't overcome it either, got out of control.

The SYSTEM was broken, because the elements that formed it attempted to work separately. There was no synergy, just energy that was out of balance. Not completely, but mostly.

Back to the salt

I have already gone over the analogy between Carmy and onions, acid, etc. Most in the fandom have, but here's a reminder of what I think about that:

So, the result of mixing culinary purpose salt (table salt) with acid ingredients is a WEAKER ACID.

We can all agree on Carmy being "intense", right?

Well, when in contact with her he can calibrate himself better.

I emphasize "contact" because when they are OUT OF TOUCH, the effect is almost instantaneous and painfully obvious in Carmy, which has always been, and in S3 it started to become more apparent in her too, as you can see in these previous entries:

They belong together to balance each other out, when there's this distance between them, that we saw in S3, THEY ARE IMBALANCED.

Salt is the balancer ingredient in any recipe. It enhances what needs to be enhanced and neutralizes what needs to be neutralized if used correctly

But salt on its own is no good, it needs to work as part of a recipe, a dish, A SYSTEM.

She's the salt, his salt, the one that brought flavor back to his life, and that's why his story re-started the day she came into his life. Carmy and all that he represents, the restaurant he inherited, the family in it, the family business that Cicero keeps funding, the extended family now Syd found at The Bear, is the system. He is a system that needs to be balanced and sometimes neutralized. Salt is the main ingredient for him, because he lacks of it, he's acid.

Bonus track: Le Chatelier's principle

I have mentioned this before but it bears repeating→ When her dishes were out of balance it was always because of the "acid" ingredient, which means she's outta balance too. Carmy doesn't balance her, he doesn't have that effect on her. In chemistry, acids tend to dissolve salt BUT they can create NEW SALTS too (Le Chatelier's principle). She's fighting this because she knows that once she fully lets Carmy in, it's gonna be the end of the world as she knows it. She won't be able to fight it much longer after this breaking point ↓

Remember to follow my tag #Gingerpovs 💋

[montgumery]

okay i have so much to say about this guy, but this is the first ref from my big project! Maiq is the grand admiral (in charge of all fleet operations) of a group of star systems known together as the Conclave, which has been at war/very high tensions with another empire, the Imperium Arcana, for hundreds of years, ever since both nations reached the stars. (i have lore posts planned later but there are myths involved. like the rivalry predates most recorded history)

The Conclave uses a combination of magic and technology, whereas the Imperium only uses magic. (again, more details about it later but they are an even match) Maiq had been serving in the fleet as a ship captain, commanding a powerful battleship in defense of the Conclave, until he and the battalion of ships under his command were attacked by an incredibly powerful Imperium weapon, a lightning elemental. Attempting to save his crew as it ripped his ship apart, he attacked it by diverting the ship's arcane energy array, resulting in a blast that separated it from its core, but he was injured to the point of near death by discharging magic.

Somehow, he survived, dragging himself to an escape pod, where he's been in stasis for the last 20 years, believed dead. In the meantime, as the Imperium grew ever stronger, the Conclave's then grand admiral defected, leaving the fleet in shambles. Shortly after, his pod was found. (still need to work out these story details a bit lol) It's a miracle that he's even still really sane after that long in forced stasis, and even more so that he was able to (mostly) walk away from the elemental's attack, even if he is now permanetely injured.

in this world, magic has a definite effect on the user, and anyone used to being around/working with magic can "feel" it in the air. (so hyped for the magic explanation post guys) but Maiq gives off bad magic vibes. (the magic signature conclave sailors are used to is not there) the scent of ozone seems to follow him through the air, like a overheated plasma coil, or the moment before a storm. some of the newer recruits flinch during inspection if they stand too close, unable to shake the feeling of static crawling up their spines. As the highest ranking officer left after the former admiral's betrayal, and the vicious infighting that followed, (with a power vaccum and the fleet stranded, officers and sailors alike were forced to fight for resources) he's basically been tossed headlong into the deep end of a pool filled with acid. he knows he has to take up the mantle of grand admiral, he has to try and salvage what remains of his beloved fleet, the closest thing he has to a home, but is there anything left even worth saving? (spoiler alert the answer is yes, I don't like writing things that are 100% doom and gloom, the real world is tragic enough already lol) also for personality traits, he's an excellent strategist, that tends to push himself up to, or past the point of exaustion. pragmatic, sentimental, determined. at the heart of it, i'd call him an optimist. that might not be the right word for it (idealistic maybe?) but he is firm that things can and will improve, if he can put in the work to get it done. that does have a bit of a downside though since he tends to push himself and not like relying on others, especially now that he can't walk without a mobility aid. (his mindset will improve as the story progresses but for now he has opinions and not all of them are great)

if anyone made it through the absolute word vomit holy shit, thanks for checking it out! definitely more to come!