#fat necrosis

[fearecia]

Well, I learned something moderately frustrating today.

I had top surgery in July. Shortly after that, my MCAS started going nuts and I started reacting to the meds I was taking to help control the MCAS, as well as foods that had previously just been "mildly problematic." Came with a new set of reactions as well. Yippee!

I would have some complications during the healing process. I had fluid pockets develop at the surgical site, and these had to be drained. Then, the scar tissue would start to fill in, and it would just go crazy. Basically, the void that's had been full of fluid ended up full of scar tissue instead of laying flat back down. And it was extremely lumpy and full of nodules. I would later research this and discover that I was likely dealing with something called "fat necrosis." It's a side effect that can happen as a result of any surgery, is more common in breast surgery, but it's not really an expected side effect/outcome. Given that fat necrosis can come with ya know, dead tissue formation and lots of inflammation, I started wondering if it was linked to the issues with my MCAS going haywire. I also have multiple other similar areas in my body from other surgeries, so like, hmmm. Things are summing up suspiciously.

Well, go and see the GP today (whom is the primary hypermobility and MCAS doc) and when I bring it up, he just casually mentions that fat necrosis is a common issue in folks with EDS.

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?!

My supposition that the inflammation from the fat necrosis might be triggering the MCAS is "maybe, maybe not" thing. He mentioned that it's entirely possible that the stitches are setting off my immune system (since, ya know, if you have a collagen disorder your ability to actually break down dissolvable stitches is very much impaired). Removing the stitches might be an option, but unlikely to be a pretty one, and the risk of yet more fat necrosis as a side effect is high. So, pick your poison.

So, anyway. Tidbit for my folks of the bendy persuasion. You're at higher risk of fat necrosis anytime you get surgery (that damages fat layers, that is). And uhh, while fat necrosis usually resolves on its own, it most likely won't for us.

[jcmicr]

Breast DCE-MRI in long-term breast cancer survivors: What lies beneath dystrophic calcifications due to fat necrosis? by  Zorica Milosevic in Journal of Clinical and Medical Images, Case Reports 

Abstract

Breast cancer becomes a chronic condition due to advances in diagnosis and treatment. This fact emphasizes the awareness of late post-treatment sequelae, such as dystrophic calcifications due to fat necrosis. In the case of extremely numerous, diffuse dystrophic calcifications, a coexistent carcinoma can be masked on the clinical, mammographic and ultrasound examination. Breast dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) is a problem solving tool, allowing visualization of soft tissues and detection of angiogenesis.

Keywords: Breast cancer; fat necrosis; dystrophic calcifications; mammography; ultrasound; magnetic resonance imaging.

Introduction

Fat necrosis of the breast is a benign non-suppurative inflammation of adipose tissue that is usually caused by trauma [1]. It can develop after different surgical procedures (biopsy, lumpectomy, breast-conserving surgery, reduction mammoplasty, implant removal, breast reconstruction with tissue transfer) and different modalities of radiation therapy for breast cancer, including some novel techniques, such as intraoperative electron beam radiotherapy or fractionated percutaneous boost after breast-conserving surgery [2, 3]. The damaged breast fat, mainly localized in the subcutaneous compartment, undergoes painless, sterile autolysis or heterolysis. Healing occurs by fibrosis that starts at the periphery of fat necrosis. Depending on the degree of fat necrosis, the lesion is either completely replaced by fibrous tissue, or remains as an encapsulated oil cyst. Dystrophic calcifications can develop in the preformed fibrous tissue about three to five years after tissue damage [4]. Although their morphology on mammography is undoubtedly benign, they have a masking effect and can obscure soft-tissue lesions or microcalcifications. On ultrasound, the posterior acoustic shadowing of calcifications can mimic cancer recurrence, or can mask deeply situated breast lesions [5]. Here we show the correlative findings of different medical imaging modalities (clinical findings, mammography, ultrasound, DCE-MRI and histological image) of concomitant dystrophic calcifications and local relapse of breast cancer.

Case Report

A 69-year-old woman was referred to the Oncology institute due to tightness in her left breast. Twenty-four years earlier she was treated for bilateral, synchronous breast cancer with lumpectomy and radiotherapy (dose of 65 Gy, cobalt-60 teletherapy and electron boost), followed by ovarian ablation and tamoxifen. Meanwhile, she developed multiple comorbidities (deep vein thrombosis, hepatitis C, acquired antithrombin III deficiency, pulmonary embolism after hip replacement surgery). At the time of referral, clinical examination was inconclusive because of abundant breast radiation-induced fibrosis (Figure 1 A). Full-field digital mammography (FFDM) showed global asymmetry of the left breast and bilateral, multiple, coarse dystrophic calcifications, that caused posterior acoustic shadowing on ultrasound (Figure 1 B, E). Breast DCE-MRI revealed scarring in both upper outer quadrants. On the post-contrast images, several lesions suspicious for recurrence were found in the left breast (Figure 1 C, D). Core-needle biopsy was ineffective due to impenetrable breast tissue. After excisional biopsy of the dominant lesion, a grade 2, hormone receptor-positive, HER2-negative invasive lobular carcinoma with high Ki-67 values was confirmed (Figure 1 F). The patient refused any further cancer treatment, except anastrozole.

Figure 1: (A-F). Late radiation morbidity (A) includes marked skin hyperpigmentation and atrophy, gross telangiectasia, severe induration, loss of subcutaneous tissue and breast contracture. Medio-lateral oblique FFDM (B) demonstrates extensive dystrophic calcifications within both breasts, and global asymmetry in the left breast. Axial, T2-weighted non-fat-suppressed MRI (C) shows architectural distortions (scarring) in both upper outer quadrants (arrows). Contrast-enhanced 3D-FLASH MRI, axial MIP image (D) shows multiple regions of heterogeneous non-mass enhancement in the left breast (arrows), measuring up to 3.5 cm, suspicious for recurrence. Ultrasound image (E) demonstrates an ill-defined hypoechoic area with posterior shadowing. Histopathology of surgical specimen (F) shows invasive lobular carcinoma (asterix) and fibrosis (X) (hematoxylin and eosin, original magnification ×100).

Discussion and Conclusion

The pathogenesis of dystrophic calcifications following breast-conserving surgery and radiation therapy is multifactorial. Extravasation of blood after surgery induces swelling of connective tissue, ischemic and pressure cell necrosis, with subsequent disruption and fragmentation of fat cells. Radiation therapy induces occlusion of small vessels with ischemic injury of the parenchyma and leakage of tissue lipases into the parenchyma. The final biochemical process is an aseptic saponification of fat caused by blood and tissue lipases [4, 6]. Fat necrosis is a gradual pathological process that depends on the intensity and extensity of the primary breast injury. On this spectrum, extensive dystrophic calcifications represent an endpoint of initial severe fat necrosis.

Since extensive dystrophic calcifications on mammography or ultrasound raise concern that cancer recurrence could be missed, a supplemental breast DCE-MRI is recommended. Problem solving is based on the high negative predictive value (NPV) of breast DCE-MRI for cases that are not certainly benign, but where biopsy guided by conventional imaging guidance is not feasible. Generally, an absence of post-contrast enhancement at the site of calcifications is associated with a NPV of 93% [7]. The maturation of surgical scar and consecutive post-contrast enhancement on DCE-MRI usually last for approximately 12 months after the completion of radiotherapy. Fat necrosis is an exception to this rule, because enhancement can be found several years after surgery and radiotherapy. Finally, a hypovascular scar develops in place of fat necrosis, with little or no enhancement. Post-traumatic oil cysts can be seen as round, well-circumscribed hyperintense areas on pre-contrast images, sometimes with a typically benign, faint rim of post-contrast enhancement [4, 8]. Any post-contrast enhancement different from rim enhancement of the oil cysts is suspicious for breast cancer recurrence and requires biopsy.

For more details : https://jcmimagescasereports.org/author-guidelines/ 

[a-whiff-of-a-dream]

Davrin, a Grey Warden Warrior in Weisshaupt: I dont know if I can take much more!

My squishy Necromancer Mage Rook, out of mana, nearly out of health, being squished by a giant Orge:

[haberdashing]

new headline story: local introvert looks up medical information about a weird lump on google and becomes convinced by the results that it's not cancer or anything else worth worrying about

[kerosene-saint]

I hate how binding isn't ever really safe even with proper binders.

[lumpsbumpsandwhumps]

unpopular opinion but whump should and deserves to be messy

"Yeah duh there's plenty of scenarios with blood and tears--" no. I want more.

I want pink tinted spit dribbling out of Whumpee's mouth. I want strings of saliva connecting between their busted lip to Whumper's tongue. I want drool running down the corners of their mouths because of a gag that makes it difficult to swallow.

I want sweat making Whumpee feel sticky and clammy to the touch. I want their skin to be slick and soaking into their soiled clothes. I want them to squirm in discomfort of a dirty shirt clinging to their back from precious fluids that are going to risk further dehydration. I want their hair to be continuously damp and hanging in thick strands in their face.

I want the scabs to turn white with pus and black with infection. I want old wounds to tear open and bleed a thick red. I want the pink flesh underneath to pulse and quiver, the sight of yellow fat and cartilage. I want blood vessels and capillaries to burst and spread over an area, I want burns to start brown and peel away to a tender pink.

I want Whumpee to vomit out of their nose because their mouth is gagged. I want bile to reek on their clothing and on their tongue. I want them to grow use to the taste of bitter blood and burning chyme forever in the back of their throat. I want them to have to snort and hack to be able to spit out whatever was still caught on their tongue or risk swallowing it down.

I want their tears to remain unwiped and crusting over their eyes. I want snot to smear over their cheeks and leave their lips uncomfortably tacky. I want their face to remain blotchy and red because they just can't get it clean. I want dirt and blood and skin to build up under their fingernails to the point they risk infecting their own wounds if they try and mess with it. I want Whumpee to only be sprayed down with cold water and an old towel, never any soap and never in all the creases of their body.

I want their bodies caked in grime and viscera and bodily fluids. I want Whumper to never give them the luxury of feeling clean and in fact actively making them more filthy each time. I want Whumpee's clothes yellowed and their hair matted and their skin sickly. I want injuries to never properly heal so that the only option is to amputate the necrosis. I want Whumper to force Whumpee to clean up whatever kind of mess they made by licking it off the floor.

I want arteries to spew like a garden sprinkler. I want the exposed roots of pulled teeth to dangle freely in their mouth. I want Whumpee's hair, including all of their body hair, to grow to unruly lengths that are constantly tangled and ingrown. I want them to find comfort in starving because it means there's nothing to risk throwing up. I want them to scrub their skin raw and bleeding, uncaring how much it aggravates their injuries or how the soap stings, the first chance they're given for a real bath.

I want it to be nasty!!!!!!

[thewolffairytaler]

What is Thomas Hewitt's disease?

_____________________________

Here's a question that has been bothering me for way too long. Does anybody actually know what Thomas's disease is? It has been referred to as an unusual/rare disease by multiple people and websites, but there hasn't been a direct answer.

I do know that Thomas has necrosis, that's an obvious answer, but what specific disease is it? It's not exactly skin necrosis (gangrene), it's not an impossible likelihood since it is possible, but it is a rare and highly morbid neonatal condition with significant mortality.

Malacia, perhaps? It has been mentioned that Thomas was diagnosed with neurodegeneration at the age of twelve, but that dosen’t sound right either since it only affects the brain.

I thought of subcutaneous fat necrosis (SCFN) since it may take months to years for fat necrosis to complete its cycle and break down in a body. Newborns can get it as a rare case because they are being delivered under traumatic conditions. However, keep in mind that it is said to be harmless and usually goes away on its own. And if it bothers someone too much, then it could get removed by doing biopsy.

There's so many possibilities, and I'm not a professional, if anybody has any slightest idea. Please tell me in the comments, cause this is a difficult one.

_____________________________

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

The Grand A-Z List of Whump 2/3

This list contains ~174 items listed I to Q

As always, I heavily encourage people to research topics thoroughly when writing as it is important to avoid stereotypes/misinformation. This list's intention is not to glorify/romanticise sensitive topics in any way.

This is a comprehensive list of injuries, Illnesses and tropes - including those from the Whumptober 2023 trope vote!

All submissions are listed in italics, and those who wanted to be tagged will be included at the end. If you have any more submissions: please send them via DM/my ask box.

[A-H] [R-Z] [NSFW List]

List below the cut:

I

ICU

Identity reveal

Ignorance is Bliss

Ignoring an Injury

Immersion foot syndromes (Prolonged exposure to damp and cold)

Immobilization

Immortal healed wrong

Immunodeficiency

Impalement

Improvised medicine/treatment

Indigestion

Infected (Blood, Wound, Tattoo etc)

Infested

Injured caretaker carrying an even more injured whumpee.

Injured whumpee instructs caretaker how to treat them.

Injury Discovery

Injury Revelation

Insecurity

Insomnia

Insults

Internal Bleeding

Interrogation

Interventions

Intimate whumper

Intubation

Involuntary whumper

Isolation

Isolation/Quarantine

Itching

J

Jailed

Jamais vu (The experience of being unfamiliar with a person or situation that is actually very familiar.)

Jealousy

Jet Lag

Jumping (to safety, forced to jump)

Just dying in general.

K

Keeping quiet because the enemy is nearby

Keeping the whumpee awake

Ketosis (body burning fat for energy)

Kidnapped by the opposing team

Kidnapping

Kidney Stones

Killed! (Again and again and again for the lovely immortal whumpees<;3)

Kneeling

Knife through hand and into wall/floor

Knocked Out

L

Lab Rat

Laryngitis

Late realisation

Left for dead

Leprosy

Lichenberg scars/Lightning strike

Limited Medical Supplies

Live-Streamed/Broadcast torture

Lobotomy

Locked Up and Left Behind

Losing a Bet

Loss of appetite

Loss of reality

Lost (In the woods, city etc)

Lost voice

Low Blood Pressure

Lumbago (lower back pain)

Lupus

Lured into a trap

Lying

Lyme's disease

Lymphoma

M

Magical exhaustion

Magical healing

Magic whump (using spells to harm someone)

Manhandling

Major Character Death

Makeshift Splints

Malaria

Malnutrition

Manhandling

Mauled

Measles

Medical trauma

Medieval Torture

Memory Loss

Meningitis

Menstrual Cramps

Mental illness after being kidnapping (and addressing it)

Migraine

Military lovers

Military whump

Mind control/Manipulation

Miscommunication

Missing

Missing Person

Mistaken Identity

Misunderstanding

Mono

Mopping a sweaty brow with a cool cloth

Mudslides

Muffled Scream

Mugging

Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple Whumpees

Multiple Whumpers

Mumps

Muscular Atrophy

Mute

Muzzled

N

Nailed to a wall or floor

Nails digging into palms

Nail marks left in the whumpees skin

Natural Disasters

Nausea

Near-Death Experience

Necrosis

Neglect

Nerve damage

Nerve pain

Nightmares

No anesthesia

No goodbyes

Non-responsiveness

Nonhuman whumpee

Not allowed to die

Not Realizing They’re Injured

Nowhere else to go

Noxious (gas/fumes)

Numb

Numbness/Paralysis

O

Obsession (with finishing the mission, the whumper obsessed with the whumpee etc)

Open Fracture

Orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure when standing)

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (brittle bone disease)

Outnumbered

Overdose

Overworked

Oxygen Deprivation

Oxygen Mask

P

Packing a wound

Panic attacks

Paralysis (this could be temporary or permanent)

Paranoia

Parent caring for sick child

Parkinson's

Passing out from pain

Passing out in arms

Permanent injuries that affect them long term

Phantom pain

Phobias (could lead to character stumbling and hurting themselves in an attempt to escape their fear)

Photographs/Polaroids ( Especially if they're of the kidnapped whumpee)

Physical Therapy

Piercing ripped out

Pinched nerve

Pinned Down/To The Wall

Plague

PMS

Pneumonia

Pneumothorax

Poisoning

Polio

Possession/possession recovery

Post-exertional malaise

Post-ictal confusion/any other symptoms (after a seizure)

POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)

Power Fatigue

Praise (especially if it's from the whumper)

Pregnancy (morning sickness, self-conscious, hot flushes, tired and sleepy, general malaise, swollen feet, weird cravings...)

Presumed dead

Prisoner Exchange

Protecting friend from the whumpees own team (bonus points if doing it while injured)

Psychological Torture

Psychological Whump

Psychosis

PTSD

Pulled Muscles

Puncture Wounds

Q

Q-Fever

TAG LIST: Thank you very much to the following people for submitting ideas! (I apologise if some tags did not work, I'm not sure why tumblrs not letting me tag you!)

@I-eat-worlds | @greygullhaven | @letsgowhump | @cyberwhumper @firapolemos05 | @originaldeerhottub | @whumpilicious | @drawing-dinos82 | @carenrose | @stellarinuscronicles | @gottheseasonalblues | @marvelflame2010 | @sowhumpful | @avamcu | @courtneygacha | @lordofthewhumps | @autismmydearwatson | @kuddelmuddell | @the-most-handsome-ginger | @whirls-and-swirls | @painsandconfusion

[therowdiestofshippers]

Made a zombie Rudey for @themarathonmen zombie au <3

-EXTREME necrosis across the body -is a fast moving zombie but has the trope of 'look at them and they wont move, take your eyes off of them and they'll move' except with her if you look away she will be RIGHT there -If you aren't in a large group you are dead. Lone survivors that come across her that aren't prepared will die -the muscles and tendons around her jaw extend- but the skin around her cheeks and jaw are ripped and torn due to her unhinging her jaw wide to bite skulls in half -her boobs rotted off :[ -so did a lot of her body fat. thank god for that belt -hands have formed into claws, feet have formed into claws as well -her and pete get separated while at con and she gets mauled but left alive in some storage room and the virus necrosis effects get worsened with her, and with her being left half mauled and in the dark for an undisclosed amount of time her mind isn't all there when shes a zombie. She's more aggressive towards Bill, tries to bite at Josh a lot (a lot of food in her eyes) and messes with the vines on Jerry like a cat toy. When she finds Pete (and the boys) again Pete is so mad that shes running but then they realize just how fast she is and how she's staring at them and get worried she's going to attack. She leans into Pete and her jaw starts extending before she just licks Petes nose/face and lets out a gargled giggle and now they're stuck with her <3

[frostedpuffs]

stayed up super late to binge the episodes last night so i got little to no sleep and the bags under my eyes are as dark as gabriel's future and as heavy as adrien's emotional state will be when he finds out that not only is he a sentibeing but felix and kagami are as well. the heavily-applied concealer under my eyes cannot disguise the fact that i have spent the last 13 hours doing nothing but letting my brain be infected by the Blorbo Disease. i am at work rn unable to function as a normal human being because adrien and marinette are Dating and in love. felix sang a little ditty and sobbed on a rooftop alone after snapping his sentisister out of existence. adrien changed into pajamas to make marinette more comfortable and they had a picnic date and almost kissed. they tell each other they love each other so freely. zoe is gay as fuck has a big fat crush on marinette. and best of all, gabriel is finally decaying into a crispy necrosis-fueled death. i am so normal (violently screaming) about it all. i cannot drink enough coffee to fight past the exhaustion but the Bug and Cat Show Blorbo Love will be enough to sustain me for a lifetime

[prettycottonmouthlamia]

A Quick Look at Logos

I wanted to write this down to get my thoughts on paper because, yes, Wish'adel is insane but she's the Chalter of Flingers she's got crazy numbers but Logos is a lot more interesting because what he does is more unique and honestly I think he fulfilled my prophecy a while back: they're inevitably going to power creep Eyja, and I think they did it.

First, module and talent. Logos has the same Delta module as Ebenholz, meaning he does Necrosis damage, and it improves his first talent. His first talent gives him a decent chance to attack another random target when attacking for less damage (importantly, this can be on the same target) with some slight crowd control and if they're under necrosis burst, it deals additional Elemental damage.

This talent is pretty good but not exactly stellar in most situations, and amazing in others. If you're fighting a group of enemies, chances are this will just results in some decent spread damage, but against one enemy this is big fat free DPS increase that makes Logos a lot scarier.

His second talent is a small flat RES reduction and a small flat Arts damage increase, which helps Logos a lot. Logos will always deal okay damage against most enemies.

Logos' Skill 1 is crazy. If you've ever used the Besieger Relic in IS4 and watched Typhon show off why she's IS4's incredibly special girl, this is Logos being Hypergryph's incredibly special boy. The instakill threshold for a maxed out Logos is 2,565 HP. That's pretty respectable on its own and puts a wide swath of enemies both in "instantly dies when entering attack range" and "will die upon taking any reasonable amount of damage", but remember, that's without buffs. If you use Skadi the Corrupting Heart's and Warfarin's S2 on Logos, that HP threshold jumps to 4,155.

Since the remaining HP is deal as damage to another enemy, it is VERY easy for large groups to suddenly have massive chain reactions where enemies instantly die, deal damage to another enemy, and that enemy also instantly dies. This skill is great, it's one of the most efficient skills at clearing out large groups of trash.

Logos' Skill 2 is deceptively powerful and his strongest boss killer kill on his kit. Due to the scaling damage increase and the insane attack speed triggering his first talent repeatedly, this skill ends up having a really high DPS that's all extremely compatible with attack buffs and Inspiration. It also gives Logos 90 RES, which essentially gives him 16,000 HP against Arts damage, and has good skill cycling time. I wanna see Logos and Mandragora trade beams.

Oh yeah this is also great for piling on Necrosis damage btw.

I want to say this is the kind of flashy S3 that won't really see use over his other skills, but it's really hard to argue with a skill that, at base, gives him 3,420 ATK and lets him hit 3 enemies at once. The primary gimmick of this skill is stopping and absorbing enemy projectiles, and I think this does probably have more uses than the funny showcases against Talulah, but this is just a good skill for having an on-demand mini Volcano.

There's a pretty reasonable chance this might be Logos's best skill in IS too, just because a skill that reads "quadruple your ATK" goes insane with literally any additional stage ATK buffs. Survivor Contract in IS3 already let's you do insane shit, and I genuinely wonder if getting to 6 digits worth of ATK is possible with Logos.

There's something to be said that Eyja's S2 is still really good, and I don't necessarily want to disagree. But I think what Logos brings to the table is both very powerful and very unique, and I think players are going to find that they edge much more into bringing Logos into squads than they do Eyja.

I mean you can also use them both, the cops can't fucking stop you.

[darkmaga-returns]

by gmwatch

New rat feeding study is further proof that GM soy isn’t substantially equivalent to non-GM soy. Report: Claire Robinson

A diet containing GM soybean oil damaged the liver and kidney of rats in a new 90-day feeding study conducted by Iranian scientists. The study provides further proof that GM soy is not substantially equivalent to non-GM soy, meaning that regulatory authorisations given on the assumption of equivalence are invalid.

The study, by Horyie Taheri of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences and colleagues, was conducted on 18 male rats in three different groups (6 rats per group). One group was fed a diet containing 10% GM soybean oil for 90 days, while the other two groups served as control groups, receiving either non-GM soybean oil or a standard lab diet, respectively.

The scientists carried out biochemical analysis of the blood and at the end of the experiment, microscopic tissue analysis (histopathology) of the liver and kidneys.

The scientists found that GM soybean oil caused several histological abnormalities in the liver, including congestion, necrosis, and bile duct hyperplasia (increased cell production, which may indicate a pre-cancerous state).

Similarly, congestion, haemorrhage, and glomerulosclerosis (scarring of small blood vessels) were found in the kidney analysis. Moreover, GM soybean oil significantly increased gamma-glutamyl transferase (a possible sign of liver disease or damage) and insulin (often associated with type 2 diabetes) levels compared to a standard diet.

Furthermore, urea and triglycerides were significantly higher in GM-fed rats compared to rats fed with standard or non-GM diet. These are respectively indications of kidney failure and a failure to break down fats, which can lead to hardening of the arteries and other diseases.

[thehousepatron]

A bit about how spiders eat their meals.

Soup is back on the menu boys! In fact, it never left the menu. Soup all day, every day. Which is something us autumnal folk and our arachnid friends have in common.

I’ve talked a bit about the chemical makeup of spider silk in another post (which you can find under my ‘spiders (and some other arachnids)’ tag), but for the purpose of this post, I’ll break it down:

Spider silks, scientifically, are categorised as ‘Spidroins’, of which there are many types, making the analysis very complex. There were originally thought to be two types of one MaSp (Major Ampullate Silk Protein - or dragline silk): spidroin-1 and spidroin-2, however with progression in research, there have been revealed to be many more.

Spidroins are part of a large group of proteins called Scleroproteins, of which we have a few, too, including collagen proteins and keratins.

There are seven main kinds of spider silk used to construct webs and snare prey, however in this post I’ll be talking mainly about AcSp2 (Aciniform Spidroin - the spidroin responsible for the webs constructed to wrap prey).

First, the spider wraps their prey in the AcSp2 spidroin (the snare). Then, they begin to digest the prey externally, their digestive fluids reducing both the prey and the AcSp2 web fibres to soup.

For the most part, the exact contents of spider digestive fluid is unknown, however one study of the Uloborus Sp. (Feather legged lace weaver, North America) examined the midgut protein content (I’ll link my sources below).

Proteins found in this spider’s midgut include peptidases (both endo and exopeptidases: cisteine, serine and metallopeptidases.), carbohydrases (alpha-amylase, chitinase and alpha mannosidase) and lipases.

Peptidases are involved in the degradation of proteins. Carbohydrases break down carbohydrates - chitinase is responsible for breaking down chitin (found in the exoskeletons of insects). Lipases break down fats.

Among these digestive enzymes, toxins were also identified: enzymes thought only to be unique to venomous spiders were also found in the guts of non venomous spiders, such as Sphingomyelinase D, suggesting a common origin between digestive enzymes and those found in venoms.

From what I can gather, Sphingomyelinase D (a phospholipase - it hydrolyses phospholipids into fatty acids (liquifies shit)) is responsible for inducing dermal necrosis (which basically kills the skin tissues / causes cell death).

Anyway. Spiders regurgitate this digestive cocktail onto and into their prey in a process known as EOD - extra oral digestion (because it happens outside of the body).

Other enzymes present in spider venoms include hyaluronidases, astacins and serine peptidases.

Hyaluronidases degrade hyaluronic acids (hyaluronic acids are commonly used in skincare and are proven to help wound healing, reduce scarring and aid the skin’s elasticity).

Astacins help with the degradation of polypeptides - so again, they help break down proteins.

And that’s the bite size version of how spooders eat. Enjoy your soup.

Refs:

[cannibalhellhound]

Selkie AU

More selkie stuff because I am obsessed and very proud of my worldbuilding with actual words

SO.

These are some physical facts about my selkies:

-Their limbs are dark, Fading to a human-looking skin tone around the elbows and knees. The colors range from purplish, dark gray, darker brown and black, regardless of the color of their pelt as adults (usually a soft, white one after birth).

When diving, blood is shunted away from tissues that are tolerant of low oxygen levels, people think their coloring is a result of necrosis on said tissues over lack of oxygen.

-Their teeth are sharper looking and stronger than a human's, because they will still feed on their raw diet in that shape if needed.

-Their human shape is dependent on their sea shape; bigger pinnipeds will have a bigger human body and reversed, their hair will be a similar shade, etc.

-Depending on the season selkie-folk may develop a layer of bubbler; this will be seen as gaining some weight in their human form, seemingly getting softer on the body parts storing fat. It warms the body since when on seal form the pelt hair provides no insulation. 

When the pelt is off it keeps part of the bubbler and then it does act as insulation when worn as a coat.

Selkies will let their human partner wear their pelt as a coat or blanket when the weather gets too cold. Those are very intimate moments

 Tummy :D

-The bubbler also functions as an energy reserve so the selkie can draw energy during periods of fasting.

-They have a great sense of hearing underwater, being greatly reduced on land (to basic human hearing).

-Their vision under water is better than a human's, being adapted for sight in dark and murky water. It's also inferior on land.

Under water, the pupils dilate into a full circle and in bright light, the pupils constrict to a slit.

Their eyes also glow when reflecting light at night.

Pinnipeds lack a tear duct so their eyes secret a mucus to protect them. 

Both hearing and vision impairments happen because sound and light waves travel differently through air and water, not because shifting between forms.

-Higher core temperature than humans, but the limbs are colder.

[weirdfoxdreams]

Maggot Plague Modern Part 2: FoulLurkers and a body reference.

Fan dragon jumpscare!

That’s right! I finally finished the ref sheet…for the male variant of this specie at least lol. What specie you say? Well, I named them FoulLurkers! (When I explain more about these guys, the name will make more sense)

First, the head looks a bit different than the one in the previous part. Well, I decided to change the head shape a bit because it was getting too complex and difficult to draw (specially from different angles) and there were some unnecessary details. So I decided to simplify it without getting too far from the original idea, so simpler horns and bigger teeth!

Second, about the body. As I said before, FoulLurkers are fat and wingless. I decided to go with this part of the concept since the main idea is for them to be based on maggots, so it would make more sense if they didn’t have wings and weren’t thin. But giving them a flat maggot body without anything else would make it look like I slapped a dragon’s face on a…maggot. The solution I found for this was to make the arms and legs more evident (as if the body was like a turtle shell) and adding these big spikes. Wait, why are there spikes?

This brings us to the next aspect of the design: how these guys hunt/fight. Flightrising doesn’t have the possibility of feeding our pretty and beautiful dragons rotten food, so I unfortunately had to make FoulLurkers carnivorous (meat only in this game), instead of necrophagous (animals that eat decayed dead animals). So these slow guys have to hunt the food themselves, instead of only eating the remains of other dragons’ food. However here’s the catch: the spikes, claws, and saliva of these dragons produce a powerful venom that on NON-SENTIENT Beastclan initially causes the affected area of their body to be in intense physical pain. However the area then starts to show a duller color and the blood flow on it starts to get harder. After some time, it starts to release a strange fluid with a strong putrid smell. (“This is basically necrosis-” yes but I don’t know if I can mention something like this in a game like flightrising so let’s call it the Foul Venom instead) This smell attracts FoulLurkers to the poisoned prey and since the Beastclan would be too weak to fight due to the amount of pain they would be feeling, the dragon is able to easily kill it. However this hunting method is only used if the FoulLurker’s prey escape initially but got harmed by them. Therefore the name FoulLurker: “Foul” relating to dead or putrid stuff and “Lurker” because of well…they go after things affected by their poison. (Another thing to specify: on other dragons and sentient Beastclans, the Foul Venom only causes the intense physical pain for an unknown reason).

And that’s it! Here’s most of the things about these guys! Next posts will be about sexual dimorphism and how Secondary and some Tertiary genes will work on these guys

[pickledclowns]

Alright so for pride and the sake of visibility I thought I'd share my chest. I had top surgery February 14th 2023 and my surgical recovery was finally done September(ish) 2023. A lot of stuff online has a lot of trans masculine people, or any trans person who goes through any surgery, represented with very neat very subtle top surgery scars and I wanted to share my "not ideal" results. So, how did this happen and why? My mom died of breast cancer so I wasn't able to keep any breast tissue to resulting in what is called a large crater deformity that caused my chest to be literally concave. If you have a potential risk of genetic breast cancer this will likely also be suggested to you. I promise no amount of vanity is worth breast cancer. Within the first 48 hours of my recovery I ended up having a hematoma (blood pooling under the skin) due to not being informed I had to stuff my compression vest with towels to increase compression outside of just the vest, because my chest was literally concave. Blood filled the cavity and caused pressure to build behind my skin turning a 6 week recovery into a 6 month recovery with VHS sized hole in my chest. This happened because a small square of skin had died and couldn't be saved. Ultimately one of my nipples was in that square of dead skin and had to be removed. I also have large dog tags and hormonal acne scars. All of these things are considered not ideal and unattractive.

So do I like my body? Ultimately I feel like there is so much pressure to conform to a certain aesthetic so that cis people will find us valid so that cis people could find us attractive (more like everyone has to find us attractive). That isn't even touching on being a fat trans dude. I was confined to a binder for my 8 hour work shift and I was unable to do anything else for the rest of the day so long as I wanted to pass (which i do and did at the time). Regardless of how it looks I can go wherever I want and do whatever I want without fear of injury and that is HUGE and has made a HUGE impact on my life and my ability to enjoy myself. I can't say this is the ideal form of my body but I don't think I dislike myself. My results aren't perfect but in the reality of my life I wouldn't go back and change things. I don't consider my surgery botched, I don't consider my surgeon bad she did everything she could for free post surgery to help me recover from this including giving me medical supplies for my recovery. Why share this? Can you change how you look? I haven't shared these in the past because I feel like not being the most attractive trans person, or your surgery going into places you weren't expecting gives a lot of trans people anxiety like we are giving cis people and TERFS ammunition to be cruel to us. Part of the reason I tagged my photos with my URL is because I didn't want someone to steal my photos and start larping as a detrans regret story. But I don't think my body is inherently unattractive because I had surgical complications I just think we've been conditioned to see results like mine as unattractive. You will find similar sentiments amongst any group with body differences. Regardless of all of these potential problems the lack of representation for people like me who have had surgery and you don't come out looking like a skinny/hunky cis passing dude that all the girls swoon over is evident. Other people like me exist and I need everyone cis and trans alike to acknowledge the existence of "non ideal" surgical outcomes. From my research ultimately 5-10%~ of people who undergo any surgical breast augmentation will deal with necrosis (dead skin). [1][2] Ultimately necrosis and any other type of complication is something that needs to be weighed before you have surgery. For me I couldn't enjoy my life with giant sacks of fat on my chest and I couldn't do anything outside of work. For me the surgery was worth it and I'd do it all over again even if it meant having worse aesthetic outcomes than I do now. I also maintain control over my body. Once my nerves stop freaking me out and finish regrowing I plan on getting tattoos to help enhance the way I feel about my chest. Further this isn't what I looked like in September of 2023. I've been hitting the gym to put it lightly and my chest has filled out and will continue to fill out over time. Won't get rid of my scar but I'm looking forward to sharing more photos once I get what I want from my efforts. So yeah there it all is. I didn't have to share this but I wanted to. I wanted other people to feel not as alone as I did in recovery. It was worth it and I am happy in my body. Go forth and be free. Happy pride everyone!