Rey

Happy 2nd Anniversary In Stars and Time! And happy one month anniversary of me finishing playing it with a friend :3

I originally wrote the text here as a possible intro to an ISAT zine I'd like to make but it got real long as I got increasingly sentimental and introspective about it. So I decided to repurpose it into a comic of sorts to celebrate the anniversary which I didn't realize was so soon!

Playing through In Stars and Time helped me affirm some things about myself. I’m still not where I want to be, or where I used to be, but I have a lovely group of friends and am ready to just accept how things currently are and make the most of what I do have.

And that’s weird to me.

Because I don’t think that’s how we should be framing the impending fascism.

When the show just premiered, Crunchyroll labeled Japanese as the original audio. The Chinese audio is also listed at the very bottom of the audio options for some reason. These have led to a lot of people not knowing that Chinese is actually the original and causing reuploaders to only post the Japanese/English dubs. So if you don't have access to official channels because of region-locking or whatever reason, then you’ll have a hard time googling for the Chinese version.

But fret not! I will download each episode as they come out and share them with you.

Here’s a folder link to the Chinese episodes.

To access the folder, you need to enter this key:

XQRXPfDB9jUAgZYflCFrMg

And to watch the video, you need to open it in a media player that supports .mkv files, like VLC Media Player.

If you can pay to watch TBHX in official channels, then please do so to support the creators of the donghua. This link is really more for those who are region-locked from accessing the Chinese versions.

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Official channels with the Chinese audio

BiliBili Chinese site (for mainland China only)

BiliBili YouTube (for Asia)

Crunchyroll (I can’t access Crunchyroll, so idk its region limits. But I’ve heard that the Chinese audio is available here)

BiliBili YouTube is available for the following regions, specifically:

Bhutan, Timor-Leste, China, India, Indonesia, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Singapore, North Korea, Cambodia, Thailand, Macau, Myanmar, Laos, Philippines, Mongolia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Maldives, Malaysia

-Human saliva has an average pH of ~6.7 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3800408/), which is pretty neutral.

-Monster energy has a pH of ~2.7 (https://patientconnect365.com/DentalHealthTopics/Article/Energy_Drinks_and_Your_Teeth_Should_You_Worry), which is quite acidic but not dangerous, except to your tooth enamel if consumed in large quantities.

-Rainbow sour belts contain malic acid (a common food additive as a potent acidifier and sour-flavor agent), citric acid (another common sour flavoring in pretty much everything) as well as ascorbic acid (aka vitamin C, used here mainly as a preservative). (https://candypros.com/products/sour-belts-bulk-rainbow)

-All of these acids when added to water would normally release their protons (H+ ions), thereby making the water solution more acidic. However, a chemical constant of these acids called the acid dissociation constant (pKa for short) indicates the pH of a solution at which acids are most likely to keep or release their protons. The pKa's* of these acids are higher (3.4, 3.1, and 4.2 for malic, citric, and ascorbic acids respectively) than the pH of the solution (2.7), which essentially means that the acids can't release their protons and all that acidic potential is trapped in the solid formulation of the candy.

-There's also some evidence that sugar decreases the solubility of acids in water solutions (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3411471/ only sorbic acid is discussed here but it's relatively structurally similar to the acids in discussion). The undoubtedly high sugar content of both the Monster and the candy therefore may contribute to the accounts of the sour crystals bubbling/floating on top of the solution instead of dissolving.

-Malic acid in particular is notorious for causing mouth irritation when eaten in high quantities.

-Thus, I can imagine that upon consuming the battery acid spaghetti, not only is the mix itself quite potently sweet/sour, but also the solid malic acid coming into direct contact with your mouth quickly becomes painful, and as the solution mixes with your (pH neutral) saliva the trapped acidity of the malic/citric/ascorbic acids is dumped into your mouth and esophagus, creating a sensation that I can only imagine is similar to consuming actual battery acid (pH = 0.8).

"My liege, that was a rhetorical question you just heard. Do not answer it."

Source

Phenomenal choice

As a former teacher, MN Governor Walz has:

Signed legislation protecting abortion rights

Signed an executive order protecting gender-affirming care

Banned conversion therapy

Restored voting rights to Minnesotans who are on parole, probation or community release due to a felony

Signed voting rights legislation

Signed legislation legalizing recreational cannabis

Signed legislation guaranteeing free school lunches to students