#macrophage thoughts

[kingmacrophage]

someone drawing winnie with a big fat tail would heal me i think

[kingmacrophage]

So interesting thing about my first anime is that it's some of my actual first memories as a toddler. I still vividly remember my first... conscious(?) experiences as playing with a swing set in the basement of my first home while my family talked over One Piece, Naruto, Zatch Bell and Bobobo-Bo Bo-Bobo. So, any one of those 4 in particular. I was born in it.

That post about death note being "everyone's first anime" (untrue statement) made me curious and now I want to gather data for science

Can you reblog this and tell me where are you from and what was your starter anime?

[ace-detectiv3]

CaW! flower shop AU but it’s mostly centred around Memory and B

Inspired by that one fic on Ao3 except this AU is focusing on just platonic because my Aroace self is incapable of writing romance + I need more of just silly friends being silly friends

Memory is a florist who just recently opened his flower shop with the help of his friend, Shiro (U-1146 ) and the two of them run the shop together

B (No idea for human version of name ) works at a cafe the opposite of the flower shop with Mast, who owns the cafe

Also the three main RBC (AE3803, AA5100 and NT4201 ) also works there, I couldn’t think of a name for them so go ahead and make them yourself </33

Uhhhhhh basically both of the sillies saw each other and was like “Oh hey I kinda wanna be friends with him ” Idk about others but for this AU I just wanted for the relationship to be platonic or queerplatonic,,,, mostly just platonic though

Memory being an absolute idiot just sending flowers with flower language and B just being “?? Flowers?? Neat I guess ” while Mast was trying to tell him about flower language

Oh yeah this is not really important but the rest of the neutrophil squad runs a restaurant, the KTs run a tattoo shop, and the macrophages work at a maid cafe

Just decided to whip this up quickly as a distraction and to make myself feel better

[neverquiteeden]

looking over the relationship between natural killer cells and macrophages and going ah yes, like in Hannibal

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Can you write more for CAW-Macrophage!Reader?

YES!!! Let’s go!!

-You were one of the caregivers at the Valhalla daycare, watching over the younger children who all adored you, finding you so sweet and nice, as you were always smiling and talking with such a sweet voice.

-You were happy to do work like this, protecting children, as it made you feel so warm and cozy on the inside, and many others liked seeing you tending to children, seeing how maternal and motherly you were- they wanted to see that with their own children with you, if you would only give them a chance!!

-It was no secret that many did admire you for not only your delicate looks and kind nature, but you were a powerful warrior, one that could handle even the strongest of the gods! But you always refused any proposals or declarations of love!!

-You were so perfect! WHY DID YOU REFUSE THEM?!?!

-The answer was quite simple, you were already taken, but you were private about it, not wanting others to go after your lover, despite him being able to handle himself. He was the only man who approached trying to befriend you, not like the others who just wanted to immediately get with you.

-You didn’t mind those who approached wanting to spar with you, as they wanted to test their skills, which you had no issues doing, enjoying the workout, but that’s all they really wanted- to test your fighting skills.

-Buddha was your lover and he thought it was amusing to watch you refuse all who came to you, begging for your love, as he had it all to himself, except for the children you watched over and your own ‘son’ whom you adopted, Zerofuku who was in on the secret with Buddha, thinking it was funny that his mama was already taken.

-However, there was a day when one of your pushy suitors didn’t take kindly to your rejection and tried to attack the daycare you worked at.

-Your students stared out the window in awe as you pulled out a giant hammer with spikes and quickly went on the attack, all while smiling like normally, looking so bright and cheerful.

-When he was finally down and you were covered in blood, you turned, hearing your students calling your name, and you beamed brightly with a hand coming to cup your face, “Ara~ara~ looks like I overdid it again~~”

-Buddha had gone to intervene, as he had been passing by, going to drop off sweets to the kids, but he enjoyed the show, watching the awestruck looks of the other suitors who saw you easily put this cocky god in his place, and was quickly roaring with laughter.

-You weren’t to be messed with, especially with those you care about, unless if they wanted a major ass beating.

[kingmacrophage]

Modern capitalist ventures are toxic to everything they touch and you can FEEL it in the way everything is now based on infinite growth like gamers exist in some Hardy-Weinburg Equilibrium

And projects that don't meet these literally impossible expectations are taken out back and put down, screwing over the people duped into spending on their shitty live service games to begin with.

I see video games are still really fucking dumb

[wazzappp]

Retroviruses got me fucked up

@moosemonstrous are u ready for a dissertation? I hope so.

people who followed me for art I'm so sorry

ALRIGHT so we're gonna cover a couple areas.

General information about retroviruses.

Details about The Corruption and theories about how it works inside the body.

SPECIFICALLY ROBBIES viral weird shit. Cause what he has going on is even more fucked up than normal fucked up. Fucked up squared.

Me ranting about skin necrosis and why I shouldn't have just. Thown it in there because I thought it would look fucky wucky.

GENERAL INFORMATION ABOUT RETROVIRUSES:

As most people know, a virus is a cell that enters the body of a host and alters its DNA to turn that hosts cells into virus making factories. This is what allows viruses to duplicate and spread through the body so quickly. But whats that? 'What makes retroviruses different from other viruses?' I hear you asking? WELL EXCELLENT QUESTION THATS A PERFECT PLACE TO START. A retrovirus is different because its method of self duplication involves an enzyme called reverse transcriptase. This makes retroviral infection PERMANENT. Even if the virus is defeated by the immune system, those changes stick around. The phrasing used was 'ipso facto mutagenic' meaning 'by the fact itself/inevitable'.

...Which is kinda metal honestly I want it on a tee shirt (definetly not thinking of Amadeus saying that to Robbie as he tries his best to explain theres no way to undo whats going on with him. nahhhh angst don't got a hold on me like that [<- vibrating])

'Ohhh but if those genetic changes never go away, doesn't that mean that those viruses will get passed on through peoples children?' ASKING SUCH GOOD QUESTIONS TODAY MY MUTUAL BECAUSE THE ANSWER IS YES. Once a retrovirus codes itself into a hosts gnome, its called a provirus (pro gamer move right there) Fun (not fun) fact around 8% of the human gnome is made of proviruses. These are called endogenous viruses, and for the most part they just kinda sit there and stay dormant. TERRIFYINGLY, other viral infections can trigger these endogenous viruses out of dormancy. As for what actually causes a provirus to go dormant uhhhhhhhh I dunno. Couldn't find an answer in my research someone make me look stupid with an answer please because I wanna know.

Ok now lets talk about the immune system a little bit. There are a few different kind of cells at work (hehehehehe) that help to fight viruses and other infections in the body. The first are Cytotoxic T cells or Killer T Cells. These are the cells that directly destroy cells displaying genetic patterns they recognize as bad. Next we have CD+4 Cells (Helper T Cells) which act as a library that stores information about how to identify an infected cell, and shares that information with other Killer T cells once one figures it out. Then there are the Regulatory T cells which suppress your immune responses to maintain homeostasis. They're what (USUALLY) stops your immune system from killing you while trying to clear a virus. Last there are Macrophage. CELLS AT WORK MAID MILFS- I mean cells that clear the debris that remain after the Killer T Cells are done destroying them.

Retroviruses have two primary ways of either side-stepping the immune system or just. Overwhelming it completely. Acutely transforming retroviruses do just that. They reproduce too quickly for Killer T cells to destroy them all and exhaust the system. The second type are called Non Acute Retroviruses. They camouflage viral particles as immune cells to suppress the immune system. For example, HLTV-1 is a retrovirus that disguises itself as a Regulatory T cell to artificially suppress the immune response thats trying to kill it.

HTLV-1 is really interesting because most of the time patients are asymptomatic, but 5% can graduate to HTLV-1 associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis, which affects the spinal cord and white matter of the central nervous system. This usually results in the weakening of lower extremities and sometimes total bowl/bladder control loss. It suckkssssss (but is also a retrovirus that affects the central nervous system so were circling back to it later 👀).

SPECULATION ABOUT THE CORRUPTION:

I've said previously that The Corruption has potential for a retrovirus that affects the central nervous system by degrading the brains ability to regulate muscular contraction, while also pumping out a ton of cortisol and adrenaline to encourage 'hysterical strength'.

Now I did a little more research about Hypoglycemia and combined with the nerve damage people would likely die from cardiac arrhythmia, which is a life threatening kind of ventricular fibrillation. Long and short, it means their hearts don't have the proper energy and stimulation to keep beating properly, so they stop beating in sync. This results in insufficient blood flow to vital areas like the brain, and combined with the inadequate blood sugar, this would result in very fast brain death.

Let's talk about the immune systems response to this Corruption retrovirus. We would most likely see lots of inflammation, and with the main focus being on nerve cell this would probably result in meningitis, which is inflammation of the tissue surrounding the brain and spinal cord. If left untreated this could result in a coma and then death. So we're seeing a SHIT ton of pressure on the brain and central nervous system. Which is like. VERY BAD for a person. We're talking brain death very very fast.

As for how the virus would target the nervous system directly we could look to real world examples like rabies (ahhhh rabies. can never get away from you). The virus would attach to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which are what turns chemical signals into electrical signals in your nerves. It would then spread through the axons of the central nervous system and eventually reach the brain. We could also pull a rabies with 'once you see symptoms it's too late' which I, personally, find fucking terrifying.

In terms of the virus losing its effectiveness once outside the body of a Demon/Kaiju we would likely need to look at the anatomy of a retrovirus itself. The outermost area is composed of envelope spikes, which tell the cell to let it in. After that is an envelope protein which plays an important role in complete virus particle (virion) assembly. Theres then a protein shell that contains reverse transcriptase and the RNA gnome that it will use to recode a host cell. If this virus evolved to survive in an environment that is always warm (hell. lol. lmao.) it might not be prepared to deal with these colder temperatures in our world. This could result in damage to the protective protein barriers and cause damage to the real important parts, the RNA and reverse transcriptase. This would mean that the virus would not be near as effective as a fully intact retrovirus cell.

The Corruption could be an endogenous virus thats embedded into the Demon/Kaiju gnome that wouldn't affect them, but would absolutely affect us because we haven't seen them before.

ROBBIES WEIRD FUCKSHIT:

alright guys this is where we put the FI into SCIFI cause your about to read a whole lot of nonsense sentences.

Robbie. Robbie is fucking WEIRD in EVERY universe and this shit is absolutely not different. Him being exposed to that previously mentioned damaged version of the virus from a young age might not give him true immunity but it would give him SOMETHING to work with. His immune system is at least slightly familiar with it and at this point whatever damaged version he came into contact with has already established itself as a provirus in him.

The Corruption thats established itself in The Charger is different.

Like I mentioned in my first diagram, I think there was a chemical reaction that stabilized the corrosive aspect of The Corruption, but this reaction would also have had an effect on the retroviral properties of the Demon/Kaiju material. ESPECIALLY when we add Eli into the mix.

Now, I think generally the amount of radiation that these viruses would be exposed to would kill them (if you believe viruses are alive. there is some MEGA debate going on about that). But if the corruption was just stabilized/hardened on the outside and left squishy and organic on the inside, that would successfully protect everything. And whats that organic squishyness on the inside? EXCELLENT QUESTION AGAIN. If Eli died while inside The Charger then it's not a stretch to think his DNA would have been incorporated and stored via through the natural processes of the retrovirus as a provirus. And so you end up with the genetic mixture of a horrifying creature capable of heinous acts, and a Demon/Kaiju. WITH retroviral properties. Dear god.

Robbie would get exposed to this the very first time he enters the Charger. Because of his semi-immunity + genetic relation to Eli he would likely be able to overcome the more meatsuit damaging aspects of this mixture and just get right through the genome editing without much fuss from his immune system. We would still have a certain degree of damage to his nervous system which allows for that change in strength that would occur in usual examples of the virus (maybe some added aggression from mild influence in his amygdala), but not to a deadly degree. Honestly this shit would barely classify as a virus its just. A nightmare mutagen at this point. So while some of his gnome would remain fairly the same, a good 30% to 50% is megafucked.

Changing Robbies genotype to this degree will naturally result in a change to his phenotype! For the sake of fun were gonna ignore stem cells and their weirdness (for now. I just need to stew on it a little longer and I can make up some bullshit I'm sure). The damage his muscles would experience from less regulated signals would mean they experience muscle tears and subsequent muscle growth. For usual muscle damage from exercise this takes a few days, so if we wanted to keep with that timeline it could be interesting to introduce some minorly sped up healing. That would also be fun for reactivating the growth plates in his bones to allow him to become bigger and taller overall (boring body horror my beloved @cicada-candy that term is never leaving).

THEN you can get into some of the fucky wuckier traits like tapetum lucidum and TEEF. TEEEEEEFFFF. The teeth in particular could go a few different ways. You could just have growth and development of the canines resume until they become elongated and more prominant. OR. You could replace the teeth with bony protrusions from the skull that would push out the original canines and grow in their place. Because of the time it takes for bones to heal your looking at this happening around 20 weeks out. Literally any fun trait you want to take from Demon/Kaiju could apply here.

The most important part would be the nerve bundles on his spine that would be used to bluetooth to The Charger (<- this is a nonsense sentence. I am aware of this). These would provide faster communication with the charger and (theoretically) more intuitive movement, while also allowing him to eventually controlling the charger from the outside. Please note that this would cause EXTREME STRESS to his nervous system. It would be like a person trying to flex a muscle the size of another person for the first time. LEARNING PROCESS. TAKE IT SLOW OR HAVE AN ANEURYSM.

Which leads me to the youtuber apology part of this.

WHY I SHOULDNT HAVE JUMPED TO SKIN NECROSIS:

Skin necrosis is a result of the mass death of skin cells that is furthered by the damage to blood cells. This usually results in a blackened, leathery texture to the necrosed skin. I SHOULD HAVE NEVER EVEN MENTIONED THIS.

What I SHOULD have done is said 'hmm ah yes it would make more sense for some protective covering over these nerve concentrations to either come from materials in Robbies body or to mutate into the skin of the Demon/Kaiju'. This is why we do sufficient research before getting back on our bullshit, wazz (mental note mental note mental note mental note).

I am quite partial to the idea of that stronger/thicker Demon skin/armor growing under Robbies skin and it just itches and burns until he cant ignore it anymore. And then he can pull off. Whatever skin is on the top of it. HEHHEHEHOHOHOHO DELICOUS MENTAL IMAGE of him panicking because he just wanted to scratch his back but now theres blood on his hands and skin sloughing off and dear fucking lord how did he get to this point in his life (<- I daydream about normal things guys don't worry. very average things).

ANYWAY uhhhh if you made it this far I love you. Legit. Have a cookie. Take a nap. Have a happy holidaze <3.

[robinlmaoo]

SO I WAS PLAYING WITH A PICREW AND HAD A BRAINWAVE

i present to you…

cells at work ✨MAGIC AU✨

ok i know this may sound absurd (and not medically accurate at ALL) but hear me out

picrew link btwwww: https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/22819

ramble under the cut:

The Body

The Body is a vast magical kingdom inhabited by many different types of Cells (what the inhabitants of this world are called). The Cells work in tandem to keep their kingdom up and running, with each cell having their own unique role to play. Monsters sometimes come through rips in space-time that sometimes appear in the sky, or through the portals which the kingdom attains its fuels and nutrients its needs to survive. So, the Cells have to be ever vigilant against these foreign invaders lest they seek a bit of their flesh too.

Here are just some of the residents of this strange world:

B-Cells (also known as Plasma Cells)

(this is my oc, b-1808…)

B cells are magic warriors who shoot holy/magic water (antibodies) from their palms at monsters (bacteria) to vanquish them. basically hydrokinesis but antibodies! They are often seen with Memory Cells in battle, who I will elaborate more on in the next part:

Memory B Cells (or just memory cells)

(this is my other oc, N-1712)

Memory Cells are long-lived acolytes that dedicate their entire lives to studying past attacks on the kingdom by foreign invaders and remembering information on them to help the immune system (The Body’s defence force, basically) fight them off better in the future.

1196 and 1146 respectively! (i’m sorry they didn’t have black eye color so i had to settle for the darkest which was purple 😭

Neutrophils (more commonly known by the umbrella term White Blood Cells) are ghost-like warriors who can warp their body into a cloud of mist-like substance to engulf bacteria, destroying them from the outside in. This often grotesque process is known as phagocytosis. Many of them also carry with them blades to subdue their opponents before “eating” them. The morbidity of the way they fight leads many cells in the body to be afraid of them, and this is the reason why there is a lot of stigma and discrimination surrounding Neutrophils.

Red Blood Cells (also known as Erythrocytes)

aa1253 and ae3803 ^^

For a long time, it was thought that Red Blood Cells were just ordinary cells who just so happened to like the colour red way more than the average Cell does. Turns out, they’re the only race of Cell who can carry one of the most important fuel substances for The Body to sustain itself— Oxygen. Many other cells simply cannot even handle this curious substance, with it slipping between their hands like air, but only, and only Red Blood Cells seem to carry it with ease. That is why they run around The Body, delivering Oxygen that comes from The Lungs, to other organs who need this vital resource to keep running.

Not only are Erythrocytes couriers of Oxygen, they possess a curious ability to kill off foreign invaders using the oxygen they have on hand— if any Erythrocyte is brave enough to walk up to a bacteria to challenge it, anyway. This process has been coined Oxycytosis, though many Red Blood Cells dislike doing this as it robs them of their precious oxygen and they have to go all the way back to The Lungs to get another batch of it.

Macrophage

Macrophages live complicated lives. For one, you can see them caring for and raising young blood cells in the nurseries of the Bone Marrow, but then you can also find them around the body ruthlessly killing off any foreign invaders who dare to harm the body they reside in. They have the ability of phagocytosis too, though it is not as well known as Neutrophil’s phagocytosis.

Dendritic Cell

These kinds of cells are kind of like messengers, relaying information between the active and innate immune system, like from Macrophage to Helper T Cell. They can be activated using Polysaccharides made from Lactic Acid Bacteria, and that allows them to in turn, activate other cells, releasing cytokines to “motivate” them to fight harder.

It is noteworthy that they also possess some fighting capability themselves, as immune cells, so they are not one to be kicked around!

Eosinophil’s phagocytosis and Bacteria/Virus fighting capabilities may pale in comparison to those of other immune cells, but don’t underestimate her. She eliminates a whole different kind of pathogen other white blood cells can’t eliminate— parasites, like Anisakis etc.

Ok that’s it i’m tired you get more another day bye

[ntls-24722]

originally the title for smallest MM in my roster went to this one DJMM that was literally just a peacock spider but the latest bot in town swipes that title right out from beneath all 8 of his feet

( i understand a macrophage would be significantly smaller than him, but)

he wins at a mere half a millimeter. so small

When he is not delivering medicine and getting beat up by people's immune systems he finds himself in his own moss patch, hanging out with other tardigrades. he talks to them but he doesn't realize that the other tardigrades are not quite as intelligent as he is.

[casually tears your face apart]

TEEHEEHEE THE ANTENNAE COILING <33333 WJSBRUWNSOFBWH

okay so 2 things

A. even though Volupe is named after the very pretty Chrysilla Volupe, Volupe is in fact not inspired off of that spider, but Giant Spider Fritz is

B. okay so. there is such a really unique bit of intimacy with the Giant Spider Fritz AU not just because Fritz is finally the perfect size for loving on Comet but also because Fritz has fallen in love with Comet partially because of what Comet is.

Being near Comet, from Fritz's perspective is a very interesting experience to be around because Comet is just so massive that he can feel his heartbeat through the floor near him, the boom in his breath and voice and the melodies his body naturally produces that is also incredibly unique and alien to him leaves him fascinated even when he wasn't in love and now that he is, he has this appreciation for Comet's body that makes him find Comet very beautiful and getting to have and being those traits that he thought was utterly divine on Comet is an experience that is, erm, gonna make him stupid lovesick

that and Fritz just thinks giant spiders are cool and now that he's one, the planet is at his mercy. His larger than life body now holds his larger than life personality.

also, comet, despite being afraid of giant spiders would find fritz's bright colors very attractive. very conflicting emotions for my guy here

bonus loverboy

he looks exactly like his original sketch but younger and with little glasses on. clark kent method

[innocent-diamond-2090110]

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2024-06-11/live-action-cells-at-work-film-teaser-unveils-main-cast-december-debut/.211787

I'm not sure if a live action of this is a good idea...

After seeing the entire transport system from the trailer, I literally thought of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" (cue Joshua's codeswitching) & "Magic School Bus". Red Blood Cell's styling looks great! White Blood Cell's face still looks very pale in live action form. (Something about extremely white makeup gives me anxiety... like have you seen some of JxW's recent concept photos?) But here are other things to think about:

I NEED ANOTHER TRAILER JUST DEDICATED TO THE PLATELET KIDS! I counted at least 10 child actors in the cameo. Look at them runnning around & having fun like they're in Disneyland! XD

Speaking of Disneyland, these buildings don't look like your typical buildings. I wonder where this whole movie was filmed. CGI will be an absolute necessity (especially for the explosions & outer-space shots).

I'm pretty sure the outfits will cost at least a third of the budget. Not only do you have to duplicate the same uniform for all members of cell type or body part, but the "enemies" (especially the nastier bacteria) have weird appendages. Now they make me think of all the aliens from various Ultraman seasons. @_@

I need to know who will portray Macrophage & NK Cell (watch the girl power intensify—IYKYK).

[giulliadella]

WE HAVE SOLVED THE MYSTERY OF WHY CELLS HATE NEUTROPHILS SO MUCH IN CAW

So, last night, my boyfriend and I got into some random discussion about programmed cell death and some new breakthroughs in medicine, you know, the usual things you talk about with your boyfriend at 1 AM. It is well known that leftover bodies of dead cells are phagocytosed (literally consumed) by macrophages. And that’s why I always wondered why aren’t cells scared of macrophages as much as they are of neutrophils, since neutrophils don’t consume the dead cells. With my limited understanding of immunity (which we technically don’t learn a lot about in biology) I thought that neutrophils only consumed invader bacteria and fungi.

And OH BOY was I wrong about that.

Because (and yes I have spent whole night researching this, I’ll provide the links to papers in the end lol) neutrophils are little freaks and not only do they phagocytose leftovers of cells they actually cause them to die in the first place. This happens during infections, especially with viruses that cause the excess release of cytokines (like Coronaviridae). Cytokines activate neutrophils who basically just follow the signal towards the infection site and there all hell breaks loose. Neutrophils phagocytose bacteria and virions (those are viruses that haven’t infected a cell yet) which is fine, but they also degranulate and NETose. I’ll explain this in simple terms to my best ability.

Degranulation is when granulocytes (neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils and mastocytes are all different granulocytes) release their granules which are kind of like little sacks inside their cytoplasm which contain various chemicals. Releasing these chemicals happens when the cell receives appropriate stimulus, the little granules expel their contents out of the cell’s interior. In the case of neutrophils, granules contain very toxic compounds that cause the formation of free radicals which damage DNA and proteins of the surrounding cells, as well as granules filled with digestive enzymes which, well, digest the surrounding tissues.

NETosis is a special type of cell death specific to neutrophils in which they literally degranulate pieces of their own, or their mitochondrial DNA together with more toxic compounds. This creates a net of DNA strands called chromatin which entangles invading bacteria and severely damages them and also marks them for phagocytosis by macrophages. But this process is not well controlled and some of that chromatin and toxic compounds can land onto neighboring cells which is, as you can conclude, very bad for them.

With these two abilities at hand, neutrophils are very well equipped to kill cells and destroy tissue. Which is good in cases when the cells are infected and the tissue is damaged, but their quite aggressive methods can damage healthy cells in the area as well, some of them will die and neutrophils will phagocytose their dead particles. 

Basically, to neutrophils every infection is a huge kill and eat all you can buffet. They literally phagocytose until they physically cannot anymore and then go to the spleen or bone marrow to die. They also allow macrophages to consume them and thus pass on the antigens for antigen presentation which influences further immune response. But they can also cause a lot of damage, especially if cytokine storm happens and they completely lose control. This is what causes SARS and it can kill you if it’s severe enough. 

Biologically speaking, neutrophils are very important because they are the first ones to come to the sight of infection and their crazy methods usually finish the things before they get too severe. They themselves produce cytokines that mobilize macrophages and dendritic cells so that more immune cells can join and help them. They also have a role in repairing the tissues they damaged.

However, other immune cells, including macrophages and killer T cells, simply don’t cause as much damage. Neutrophils just go all out, which is why they live for such a short period of time compared to their colleagues (they live for only few days, compared to macrophages who can live up to a month and lymphocytes who can live for months, even years).

So, yeah, my boyfriend and I have concluded (at 4AM this morning) that neutrophils are so feared because they damage tissue, go crazy and violently kill healthy cells by accident, then consume them and that’s not by accident, it’s a mechanism to repair tissues.

I can’t believe I wasted whole night just for this. My boyfriend is also disappointed. But I hope that we finally have an explanation for this mystery. Tell me what you think lol.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8589350/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nri.2017.105

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5820392/#:~:text=Neutrophils%20contribute%20to%20tissue%20injury,detail%20here%20(Kruger%20et%20al.

[kingmacrophage]

Do YOU have a slime? Do YOU wish to see licensed slime girls daily?? Do YOU wanna see Winnie doing something SPECIFIC??? If you answered YES to any of these questions, hit up my ask box! Daily Slime Suggestions are open, and I MAY do some. Possibly. If I feel like it AND remember to screencap the thing.

[centers-for-disease-control]

Hi!!! You help control diseases, right? I need advice! So I’m a macrophage, and earlier today I phagocytosed some bacteria I found near the intestinal epithelium. I thought I would be able to get rid of them no problem, but for some reason I can’t seem to kill them??? They’re just sitting there in my phagosome just—aaaaaaaah, I think they’re starting to divide now! Help!!!

Have you asked them to not?

[kirby-the-gorb]

reply roundup!

I've done basically nothing but lay down and be exhausted since kirb2k over 2 months ago, but I did at least get the kirbox orders fulfilled. I have an immunology appointment in another 2 1/2 months and maybe they might do something to help me feel better. (it's a bad time. I know it seems to be most of what I talk about, but it is kind of all-consuming. even this roundup wore me out.)

also there are sometimes comments that make me smile but I don't have anything to add to them so I just read them and smile and don't put them in the roundups, but I promise I do see them all, like the many yeehaws (and yes haws and heehaws) for [cowboy kirb] <3

on [the last roundup] @hive-heart said: Hope things get better, kirby guy 💕 thanks for the reply :) also yeah! Sitting by the window during a storm is quite nice

they haven't lol, but thank you!

on [kirb2k] @ceylonsilvergirl said: HAPPY Y2K EVERYBODY!! I am joke, but it did give me serious “turn of the century’’ vibes. oof… that sentence hit me like I drank out of the wrong grail

that was intentional, that's also why we started with the macarena in the 1990s :>

on [errands] @crypptiid said: ME! MY ROLLATOR IS BLUE AND EVERUTHING @sunflowerinthemidst said: oh look it's me only my walker is hot pink 1😅😂

nice! I should really repaint mine if I'm ever feeling well enough lol

on [the last roundup] @gudetamalover said: :O!!! I’ve been noticed! My surgery went very well btw, thank you! [details removed for privacy.] I love your art so much btw, it brings me and my mom so much joy! I love this little pink dude, he’s got a permanent place in my heart ❤️ 

man that sounds rough, good thing it got ironed out quickly! and I'm glad it brings you both joy <3

on [errands] @pilcherthegreat said: oooo might add this one to my Kirby brigade tattoo 👀

oh hell yeah that sounds so cool! (for anyone else wondering, tattoos on your own body count as personal use and are totally fine by me!)

on [screaming] @persimmonlions said: i always forget how much i do not like the chaotic cacophony of a crowd until i am in a mall, like ‘oh yeah i DO get overstimulated no wonder i constantly skipped classes when i was 10’. anyway i got back home at 3 and proceeded to sleep for 6 hours

ugh omg yeah especially when you actually reblogged this 2 months ago and there were still holiday crowds and all the extra decor and stuff, the mall can be So Much.

on [macarena] @unconventionalvoidaxolotls said: holy heck, go kirby go! oh yeah this is a great first post. beautiful

ehehehe it's an honor :3

on [plushies] @the-void-is-a-disappointment said: finally getting around to reblogging this but thank you bunches for the commission!he looks so comfy and cozy i love it, he deserves this

he does! he does deserve to be so cozy and cute! (and thank you again for the support!)

on [bloodstream] @lord-chiopet said: Kirby in my blood could fix me

well he certainly wouldn't make me worse lol (fun fact: you kind of already have a bunch of kirb-likes in your blood! macrophages are a type of white blood cell that engulf and isolate or destroy foreign matter like splinters, viruses, and even tattoo ink! they're basically eating anything that tries to get into your blood that's not supposed to be there -u- )

on [fire] @jupiterlandings said: kirby I am hurrying to you with blankets and a tent and a warm meal, we may be in the wilderness kirby but we can still look at the stars even when the night is cold. and even if we can’t see them they’re still there and they’ll send the sun to look after us tomorrow. it’ll be ok kirby we’ll be ok

waah this is just such a sweet thought ;n; thank you for sharing it.

on [frown] @shapeshifterwithafez said: get well soon OP :c <3 this kirby nevertheless brings joy to my dashboard thank you!

I will not but thank you! I'm glad he brings joy regardless :)

on [worm] @thecosmickitty said: Hey fam just wanna say i love your art. Thank you for sharing (:

aww thanks!

on [mcas] @untoldsoup said: Im sorry about the health issues 😞 hope you get the treatment your looking for

I appreciate it <3 it's still gonna take a while one way or the other, but hopefully eventually someone will do something.

on [float (up)] @ceylonsilvergirl [added] a ufo to abduct him, then on [rainbow] they [added] an alien kirb to greet him, and on [freckles] they [added] the view out the ufo window :) this little saga was very cute and did cheer me up a bit, thank you <3

on [float (down)] @angst-and-fajitas said: Ah he's floatin away

the kirb's not made for helium balloons! (a reference to [this vine], and good news this upload is actually from the person that made it!)

on [sacrifice] @joekingv1 said: *sits next to baby and waits to see what happens*

I really wanna draw a short comic for this but it seems like I'm not gonna feel up to it anytime soon -n-

on [stars] @gidkog said: *GASP* at world’s ass…

oh no you're right :x that was not on purpose lol

on [earring] @roboticutie said: yay!!!! he's here again today :D thank you!!!

your enthusiasm is sweet! he will be here every day! :)

on [sora] @ducksandlemonsandbigoldfish said: Kiev Kernel Kirby I hate autocorrect

this made me laugh lol

on [sora] @canvascoloredin said: congratulations! I've played all the kingdom hearts games (except Melody of Memories, Sorry Kairi), and started when I was around six but haven't had the time to buy a console I can play 3 on. Have fun for me!

I haven't played melody of memories yet either, the rhythm for all the rhythm minigames was always so janky that I'm kind of worried about how it might play tbh. but I am having lots of fun, I'm sure it's enough for both of us!

on [tattoos] @theraphos said: high five kirby i just recently resolved to finally get myself a tattoo this year also

nice! I hope it goes well :)

@turpial-thoughts asked: hi

hello!

on [worry] @graycoin said: I hope the wait is worth it.

yeah me too :s (thanks. and for all your other sympathetic comments whenever I complain about it as well <3 )

on [float (side)] @joekingv1 said: *asks baby what they think about when they go floating*

probably very little I imagine. even less than usual lol

on [bread] @joekingv1 said: *asks baby what they got while secretly hiding some extra treats for baby, Bear and Cake*

this one is just very cute, I had to read it aloud to my partner when I saw it.

on [sea] @graycoin said: This gets across the vibe very well. I get why you'd feel that way, I think. It's understandable. I'm glad people are trying. You deserve it.

thanks. I've always had a hard time conveying like, internal stuff for some reason, so it's nice when it seems to make sense to someone else.

on [sea] @ceylonsilvergirl said: Kirbo is in the storm, tossed by the waves, threatened by lightning at any moment in the dark. not even the stars to shine through the clouds. but he’s still floating, and that has to count for something

surely it must count for something TnT <3

[averinna]

What I like to imagine more about NKT/Kuraenu is Killer T falling for NK without having to see a more "feminine" side. He find her cool from afar but as soon as they talk together it have to end in bickering

One time Macrophage made her wear lolita fashion and he see her in it he's like... "Huh... Did Macrophage force you to wear this?"

And it doesn't mean "wow you look so bad in it" but more like "you sound uncomfortable"

Like he'd mock her if he thought about it but it's the only thought that come out of him because he never saw her that embarrassed.

So surprisingly he doesn't tease her like she expected because "That wouldn't be a fair fight" (huh excuses again? We know he wouldn't hesitate lol)

And wether is Killer T or NK, they're both troubled by how this moment have gone

[deadmomjokes]

How do you navigate raising a precocious child? Asking as someone who wants to be a parent

The short answer is: Carefully

The long answer is pretty long, and only my personal experience, but here goes:

1. Patience cultivated out of a sympathy which is born from perspective. What I mean by that is that you have to understand both the psychology and physical development of children, and constantly remind yourself what is and isn't appropriate to expect from them.

Especially in the case of intellectually precocious children, you have to remember that they are still little kids. Their emotions and ability to control them are only so developed, even if their vocabulary and intellect are ahead of their peers. My daughter is 3. She has the intellect of a 6 or 7 year old according to the professionals in her life, but her body is three years old. She has emotional outbursts and mood swings. Her brain physically isn't ready for the theory of mind. That's just how she is. She might know all about macrophages and the formation of exoplanets, but she also still cries when she's scared, and screams when she can't think of words to express her frustration. She's a lot of big thoughts in a tiny body, and that conflict results in a lot of outbursts, meltdowns, and stress. That is to be expected. That is normal. It's my job to understand that, and handle myself accordingly.

I've got 26 years on this kid, and I'm living in a body that isn't changing on a daily basis. I have the stability, and she doesn't. It's on me to keep my cool, because there are a lot of times that she literally can't. It can be very, very frustrating when I know what needs to happen, but she is doing the exact opposite. But the thing is, she's just doing the best she knows how. I get to teach her how to do 'better'. I can't do that if I'm looking at her as my enemy, or having a me-vs-her mentality. We're on the same side-- me and her vs whatever problem is causing her to shriek like a banshee at the moment. (Kids scream as a last resort, and until their list of first-resorts grows sufficiently, that last resort kicks in very frequently. I'm sorry in advance, they just scream sometimes. Invest in some noise reducing headphones or earplugs, it helps A LOT.)

The point of all that is this: I have to remind myself frequently that she's doing her best, and I have the perspective to handle this whereas she doesn't. I have to consciously put myself in her position and think about what it's like for her instead of focusing on how it's affecting me. That's how I get the patience to deal with the tantrums, meltdowns, and bothersome behaviors. I consciously remind myself that she's only been on this planet for 3 years, her body is dumping all kinds of hormones into her brain, which has the capacity to understand a lot more than she has ability to process. That's a painful, stressful, unwieldy combination, and she literally doesn't know any better than what she's doing. She will always try her best; if she's doing something undesirable, it's because she doesn't have the ability, knowledge, capacity, or self-control to deal with it in a better way yet. I have to teach her that, and I have to do it as much by example as by explanation.

2. Humility. A lot of humility. We're people. We mess up. We don't always know the right way to do things. I have to be honest about that with myself, and with my daughter. I have no reservations about apologizing to her when I don't handle something the right way.

I feel like a lot of us go into parenting with the mentality of wanting to be the person we needed when we were younger. And that's great! It's a perfect place to start. But you have to realize that your child is NOT you, and sometimes what you needed at their age or in their situation is not what they would need.

My child, for having come up in the pandemic, is a social butterfly. She's a people person. She's the opposite of a homebody. She LOVES going out and seeing people and doing things and being anywhere but home, and when she is home she wants friends around to play with. I was and am the opposite. Where I needed people to NOT push me into social interactions before I was ready, and to give me time to myself and teach me how to respect my introverted tendencies, that's not what my daughter needs. What she needs is for me to help her know when she's getting overstimulated and needs to take a break. She needs me to help her find things to do with other kids. She needs me to demonstrate appropriate kindness and interpersonal behaviors so she learns how to interact with other people in a way that is respectful, and ends with everybody having fun. That's different than what I needed, and that's okay. I have to be able to accept that my child is not me, and that de-centering can be hard. You do a lot of it consciously at first. It just takes a willingness to admit that not everything is about you-- not your child's behavior, not your child's challenges, not their needs, not their preferences, successes or failures.

3. Professional support. You may have seen me talking about my daughter's therapist. That's because at a grand ol' 3 years of age, she is in therapy! For anxiety! Because it turns out that taking in the world on the level of a 7 year old while only having the faculties of a 3 year old can generate a lot of stress that your body and brain are unequipped to deal with.

As her doctor and therapist both have said, smart kids stress more.

And in my daughter's case, there's a massive genetic predisposition for clinical anxiety problems and other mental illnesses. So as soon as my daughter told me that when she lays down at night, the nervous gets in her brain and she can't sleep, I knew right away this was something that needed early intervention. I am not a professional when it comes to anxiety management. I am still working on it, myself. So I knew we all needed help to get a good handle on this before it made her life miserable like what happened to me and my husband.

Kids think differently, and they process things differently than adults. Having a professional on your side to help you learn about how your child works is invaluable. And they can help you find the methods, skills, and interventions that work best for your child as an individual.

You as a parent need professional support, too. You need someone in your corner helping you out, even if it's just a yearly check-in with a therapist to learn some new meditation and mindfulness techniques. For me, it's dealing with my own anxiety and depression so I can be in the best state of mind and body to help my daughter learn how to regulate herself, which I was never really taught. So I'm having to learn that, too, on top of teaching her.

Professional support can also come in the form of social and educational programs-- in most cases, finding the right preschool. Just as an intelligent dog will become destructive if not properly stimulated, so too will an intelligent child get wild, stir-crazy, and emotionally explosive if their intellectual needs aren't being met. If you're about that homeschooling life, power to you. For me, I knew my daughter, a pandemic baby/toddler, needed the socialization with other kids, and needed a professional educator.

I was very picky about her preschool, opting for one that focused on holistic and values-based education instead of pure academics. They go over real-life skills, they make time for physical activity, they teach and practice mind-body awareness techniques (deep breathing, meditation, biofeedback, etc) on a level the kids can understand and use, and each week they have a different value and affirmation that all their lessons center around. They also do academics like letter recognition and sounds (pre-reading skills), numbers and counting, science, and so on, but everything loops back around to mental and emotional wellness. I knew that would be super important for her, and didn't want her in a high-stakes, high-pressure, competitive environment.

Sometimes being that picky is not possible depending on where you live. But if there's a way to get your kid engaged in something that flexes their thinking-muscles, and helps them learn to interact with others, that's going to be super important. Otherwise, take them new places when you can, even if it's just to the mall, and talk about what you see and experience there. Check out your local library (some even have educational resources parents can borrow, including developmentally encouraging toys!). Look for local museums and public/community educational programs. And find a local playgroup for that social interaction. Speaking of which....

4. Don't neglect their social development. Being "the smart kid" can make you Weird. I know, I was that kid. I was WEIRD, y'all. I needed to learn how to be a child my age, because my best friend was my also-advanced older sister, followed closely by my mother. Smart kids tend to hang out with older children or adults, and it's hard for them to relate to their age group. They need practice before they hit real school.

Weird isn't bad, but it can sometimes hide a lack of social and emotional health. Humans are a social species. We need social interaction to feel and function our best. It's how our brains are wired. Teaching children how to deal with other people is a big honkin deal, because it sets up how they interact with people for the rest of their lives. They need to learn to take turns, to share, to be aware of how their actions affect others, how to ask, how to say no, how to set boundaries, how to work together, so on and so forth. They can get good practice with you, but they need more than just you.

5. Tactful, appropriate honesty. The biggest challenge of a precocious child, after the emotional regulation issues, is balancing their intellect with their capacity to handle it. As I mentioned earlier, smart kids stress more. They notice too much sometimes. So you have to explain enough to satisfy their curiosity--which is CONSTANT and almost always surprising in its complexity-- but not so much that you give them new things to worry about.

For instance, when my daughter started fussing about her car seat and asked why she had to sit in it instead of sitting in the big seats like us, we explained that everybody wears a seatbelt to be safe. But she is too small for the big-seat seatbelts to fit her in the right way, like they do for mom and dad. So until she’s big enough for it to fit her the right way, she has to use a special seat that fits her just right.

We did NOT jump to “We need to be safe in case of a crash, and that’s why you need a special seat.” But we explained the reasoning thoroughly at a non-stress-inducing level.

Answer the question they ask, but ONLY the question they ask. If they ask follow-ups, great! If not, leave it where their curiosity took a break. It’s overwhelming being so small and noticing So Much. Kids love to learn, but their brains need time to log all the info, and concepts that are too big can lead to stress just from the gears turning, so to speak. But at the same time, don’t underestimate their capacity to understand, and to be totally cool with things we have been conditioned to stress out about or fear. My daughter has no issues watching surgery videos, because it’s not something she’s been taught to be grossed out by. She’s also very aware that meat comes from animals that are dead, and used to be alive. Her only issue with that was trying to figure out which animals become meat and which don’t because to her, it was totally arbitrary. (No, baby, we do not eat butterfly meat.)

It all sounds daunting when I put it like this, all over-written and wordy. But honestly, it’s all about following your child’s lead, which is what parenting is in general anyway.