Queer Who Loves Stories

How many leaves an oak tree has, on average

The difference between aquaponics and hydroponics

The mechanisms of action and side effects of conotoxin-based experimental analgesics

What a particular speech impediment that I have encountered but never had defined to me is called

The Opportunity rover's scientific achievements

The nesting habits of scarlet macaws

The governmental structure of Honduras

And, thanks to a lively discussion in the comments section, basic orbital mechanics

Things I refuse to let myself get into the rabbit hole of researching because it is beyond the scope of the fic and I don't have time:

Linguistics

The dimensions of the Golden Gate Bridge

Linguistics, a little bit (despite saying I wouldn't)

Including the linguistic origins of the semi-ubiquitous false cognate of "mama" and related words

How fire alarms/smoke detectors in schools work

Archeological evidence for prehistoric people living with disabilities

More about aquaponics

Like so much about aquaponics

A brief detour into tilapia skin being used in vaginoplasty (irrelevant to the fic it just kinda. Came up?)

Algae as a food source

Seriously so many tabs open about the nutritional content and growth rates of different species of edible algae

So much math about algae as a food source

Psychological and physical recovery from food insecurity

Gardening :`)

Sigh. Lyrics to songs by the Beatles, which is the most annoying thing I've had to look up (unfortunately, it was necessary AND it did make me emotional against my will)

Things that remain beyond the scope of my fic:

Space elevators

It's all the [music-note emoji] Eridian names & Eridian speech in The Chronicles of Terra's Grace by @hopefulqueer, so far (most recent chapter as of today is Chapter 10)!

Also includes some names for characters where a name in Eridian was bestowed, with its meaning explained, but the actual "notation" was not spelled out.

Honestly the fact that I've only doubled up on notation for one word is shocking akdhdgshks hell yeah, I was trying for that but wasn't putting a huge amount of effort into checking. Absolutely, Joey and Geordi's Eridian names both have the same name-ending diminutive chords, that is canon now.

That last one, 🎵🎶🎵, means "overprotective" or, probably connotatively more accurate, "overbearing" or "helicopter parent-like"! And the word in "freeze up like a 🎶🎵 in a storm" is a small flying creature that rarely lands except for when they get disoriented by a loud storm and grab onto a rock face to cling until the winds die down. The idiom is comparable to English's "like a deer in the headlights"!

“Wish I could help Grace,” says Rocky’s voice in my headset.

It’s slow going. I have never been accused of being nimble even without the lumbering Orlan. “Wish you could too, Rock. You’d be five times faster than my primitive human hands can manage. I’m giving this my whole ass and it looks half-assed at best.”

“Half. Assed. Grace referring to his posterior orifice, question?”

I giggle. It’s become a kind of competition, seeing how thoroughly we can confuse each other with our native idioms. “Hey, it’s like I always told my students, half a bum is better than none. What I wouldn’t give for an Eridian-sized Orlan,” I say wistfully. “You think you could fit into Ilyukhina’s?”