southsamurai

@southsamurai@sh.itjust.works

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨day⁩ ago⁩:

  I am both frightened and aroused

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do werewolves shed? Or do they lose their whole coat when transferring back? Do Vampires have little holes in their K9s to suck up the blood after puncturing someone or thing?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, obviously it depends on which myth/legend/author is in play.

  That being said, vampire myths were not prone to syringe teeth. The bite opens an artery, or just tears a patch out, and the blood comes out either under its own pressure, or assisted by sucking (I vant to suck your blood).

  Typically, and I haven’t read every vampire fiction piece so ymmv, when syringe teeth are used, it’s for injection rather than extraction. Typically some kind of anaesthetic and/or blood thinner, with consumption still being via the mouth rather than the teeth.

  Werewolf (or other therianthropes) shedding is less clear cut. In myths, I never saw any mention of it at all. At most, shedding skin entirely, or otherwise leaving behind parts of one shape when transforming was involved, but that was in creatures far away from what could be called werewolf. So, shedding hair like a dog or cat does isn’t part of traditional lore.

  Unlike vampires, however, it does appear in modern fiction. Most often as a joke or aside, but it is present. The apparent reasoning being linked to how long the individual stays in their wolf/animal form.

  In other words, it seems most writers have an assumption that the “wolf” won’t shed unless it spends enough time in that shape to have hair reach the end of its growth cycle. However, I don’t recall any examples of that applying in reverse. When in human form, it’s rarely covered, but the default is that weres who only shift monthly do have normal human processes, including shedding hair as it cycles.

  But there are references to both here and there (please don’t ask me to remember which books, I have read way too many urban fantasy series to keep track of exactly which author uses what system). Wolves shedding when in wolf form even when only in it overnight does happen. As does humans not shedding hair, or regrowing hair they cut or otherwise lost, after returning to human form.

  When it comes to this kind of stuff, there can be difficulty sorting out older myths from those that get passed around now due to stuff like dracula, the old universal movies, etc. Most of the scholarly, historical information is hard to find nowadays. It’s buried on the internet, and local libraries are more likely to have secondary works interpreting old lore than direct translations of the small amount of written records of such legends. But it is out there, if you have reason and motivation to slog through shitty ai search results.

  ---

  Here follows geek/writer stuff, be warned.

  Now, personally, I’ve used both shapeshifters and vampires in both written fiction and rpg play. My choices tended towards a time based factor for shedding. Since hair takes time to be shed in humans or other animals, my default is that any hair or fur is “new” upon the shape change. Thus, shedding would only be a factor after extended time in a shape. Indeed, one version of were-being I use has reduced aging because of that. Each form ages slightly slower than normal by virtue of the thing that causes the power (in my main worlds, it’s a magically linked quasi-virus symbiote), and each change hits pause on the other form, leading to life expectancy into the two hundreds or more. However, they would also shed less because the symbiote prefers a stasis when possible. It’s linked to fast healing.

  Vampires in my main fiction and trrpg worlds are also symbiote virus based. Part of that is being able to inject a bolus of the virus through the fangs at will (and sometimes involuntarily), so fangs are essentially syringes in that setting. I have played around with the fangs being able to suck up blood, but it isn’t really viable on a “realism” level (yeah, it’s fantasy, but I try not to hand wave bullshit when it isn’t essential). The mechanisms for sucking parts in real world animals/creatures just don’t match what could work in human sized fangs, much less alongside injection.

  That being said, my main universe has a vampire planet. And there are things there that can both suck and inject via the same body part. Larger predators there, which originated before the symbiote got there, developed fangs capable of doing the job. Humans that arrived there were not dominant as a species for quite some time. The large arachnid-ish predators there were particularly fond of human juices. Even after alterations by the symbiote, it took time before the new vampires had the power to be on equal footing, and much longer before they got powerful enough to dominate the planet.

  Anyways, that’s the geek gush over lol

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Only 21% of Americans Support the United States Initiating an Attack on Iran⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  I might support it if they went ahead and took out all the religious leaders. Yes, that one too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Under the most ideal circumstances, how 'clean' is drinkable tap water by the time it reaches our taps?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Sterility isn’t necessary for safe water. You only need it to be pathogen free, and lack dangerous contaminants.

  So, beyond that, it kinda depends on what you think “clean” means.

  I took a quick gander at how Ireland’s drinking/tap water is regulated.

  Assuming whatever location is actually following regulations and standards, y’all got some damn nice water out of the tap. The EU regulations are great. There shouldn’t be anything pathogenic at any concentration to worry about. Since water there is treated, I doubt you’d have much of anything reaching your tap at all. You’d have more particulates than anything else, some trace minerals (which is a good thing), maybe some organics here and there (think bits of algae swept along).

  Think about it like aquariums. You don’t want sterility; you want a healthy, flourishing biome because all those bacteria eat bad things.

  It’s the same in water pipes; you get a good biofilm growing, and pathogens aren’t going to be able to set up shop, even if they do get past whatever treatment is going on at the source. I’ve even seen arguments against chlorination in water treatment because it’s indiscriminate. It can kill off the friendly stuff and make the system as a whole less resilient to unexpected blooms of something pathogenic.

  If you ever set up ponds, you actively encourage bacterial growth as part of the process. There’s aquaculture guides where between the right plants, fish, and bacteria, you can end up with water so clean you’d want to drink it, and can, even starting from sewage contaminated water.

  If you then slap a filter on to catch particulates, you’re left with something that’s more pure than if you sterilized the source water by chemical or other means.

  Anyway, the EU standards for drinking water are top tier. Go look them up, it’s a really comprehensive and science driven set of standards. If your locale is even half-assing things, you’ve got great water indeed

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Fat labrador topilogy⁩ ⁨⁨4⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Without getting in a fight. Why is it called coming out of the closest? Where did it begin? I mean why not a garagde or a bedroom or something? How did it become a reference to homosexuals?⁩ ⁨⁨6⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago⁩:

  Like the comment protist copied from Wikipedia, it’s generally considered to be a mix of coming out with the truth, and having skeletons in the closet. Back in the eighties, that was the explanation I heard most often when hanging out with gay folks.

  Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s absolutely factual, I’m not aware of anyone that’s really dug into it with serious historical rigor. But it is at least the accepted explanation. And it makes sense, so I’ve never gone digging beyond talking to people alive and active during the early gay rights era of the seventies.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, the key word is usually

  Late term vanishing twin syndrome is a thing. It comes with its own set of issues as well. Since its also extremely rare, you’d have to be some kind of nerd to know it exists unless you’re an obgyn or at least a maternity nurse. I am neither an obgyn or a maternity nurse.

  When it happens late term, and 7 months is very late term for it, you get an increased rush of complications, some of which can negatively impact the development of the remaining fetus. Hell, from what I remember, late term absorption tends to happen because there’s something going wrong already. Iirc (and don’t try to cite me on a test or anything), just being a little too cramped can trigger it, though it would be a very rare trigger for an already absurdly rare thing.

  So, my best guess as a non doctor with zero access to the records of the pregnancy in question is that something happened to put the pregnancy at risk, and either your mom’s body or yours set off the cascade leading to the failure of the other fetus. It isn’t something that happens that late without some triggering event that’s outside of a normal pregnancy. When it happens early on, it’s a different story, it can happen for no detectable reason at all. But late term? Something went wrong that made it happen.

  I’d have to go digging, and I’m currently brain fried, but one of the more common triggers worldwide is/was malnutrition. When the mother isn’t getting resources to grow both critters, either her body shifts to support one exclusively, or one of the two essentially cannibalizes the other. That one (again, I’m old and tired, so the iirc factor is iffy here) is most likely to happen when the twins share a placenta, or something like that (see, old man brain missing details).

  Since you’ve said in comments that you were placed in an unusual orientation and/or location, that would point to some kind of issue with the uterus not having enough room for both fetuses (fetii? I think I like that better despite it not being duet correct lol). I seem to recall a case in India where a woman prone to twins had a pregnancy where this happened because her uterus had lost the ability to stretch the way they normally do. Something about scar tissue maybe? Been ages since I read about this stuff.

  Anyway, late term vanishing twin syndrome is the terminology I know of. If there’s another, more formal terminology, iam not aware of it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s a reference to a movie of the same name.

  The gist is that at one point, Sophie is forced to choose which of her children die.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨‘They All Tried to Break Me’: Gisèle Pelicot Shares Her Story⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Holy hell, that was a difficult read.

  What she went through, the pain she still lives with, it’s horrifying. I’m amazed she’s functional. I really don’t think I would be, not at all

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Westerners, what's your impression on the Chinese Diaspora? And what does the people around your area of residence think of the Chinese Diaspora?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Which wave?

  Or are you just talking in the general sense?

  I ask because I’ve heard the term applied specifically to the Chinese workers on the railroads in the late 1800s, here in the US, plus another that came between the end of the first World war and some time after the end of the second.

  In the specific senses, it’s too far in the past for me to think of it much at all. The more modern wave has essentially integrated and their descendants are just plain old americans for the most part; meaning they hang onto the parts of their ancestral culture to the degree they want, and otherwise may not have any connection in that regard. So it’s more a point of historical interest than something influential on current events. That seems to be the prevailing take I’ve run into with others as well.

  More recent immigrants, I don’t have enough experience to have formed an overall take. My area doesn’t run high to Chinese immigrants. We get more folks from the Americas and African nations. But I haven’t had any standout bad encounters, nor have I seen any patterns that would make it seem like a bad thing.

  Can’t lie, racism against asian folks in general is present here. It isn’t as prevalent as that against Latinos, Africans or African-Americans, but it’s there. Afaik, nobody thinks of it as an overarching “thing” at all. Folks here tend to look at immigration on a smaller scale than a diaspora. If there isn’t a significant inrush of a given group, nobody really notices.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨For Americans, what do you really think of Latin Americans?⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  I dunno, but the majority of interactions I’ve had with visiting, or immigrated, latin Americans has been great. I know that doesn’t necessarily indicate anything other than me maybe having good luck, but it has left me with a default stance of friendliness and welcome for folks from the rest of the continent/s.

  In terms of exposure, yeah, most of my interactions have been with Mexicans. We have a really big Mexican population in the area.

  But we also have sizable contingents of Nicaraguans, Venezuelans, Guatemalans, and a smattering of Brazilians, with a few from most of the other south American countries. Never met a Peruvian though. One of my best friends is a second generation Nicaraguan immigrant, and you’ll never meet a better guy.

  Now, in terms of deep exposure to the cultures of central and south Americas, it’s mainly Nicaraguan for me, plus Mexican for the North American contingent. I really love the experiences I’ve had with my friend’s family, so definitely a fan of Nicaraguan food and at least their iteration of the traditions.

  I also really appreciate how community driven the Mexicans in my neighborhood are. There’s almost always a gathering of some kind in a given week, and they’re all really open to neighbors dropping in and chilling. Great food, great music, and they don’t make fun of badly mangled Spanish. My neighbors next door were having a small get together today, so there was music going while I was in the yard working, and it was really nice. A mix of tejano, norteño, and mariachi. I dunno what they were cooking, but it smelled amazing at least.

  Are there some friction points? Yeah, of course. A lot of the machismo stuff can get old fast. There’s also a fairly conservative religious skew that can be difficult to navigate, what with me being a pretty damn staunch lgbtq+ rights proponent. But even there, I’ve not run into hatred often, more the kind of cultural prejudice that’s also present in us culture to begin with.

  But I can say this much for sure. If the cultures and people that still live south of the us match what I’ve experienced here, then I consider those folks good neighbors too.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Littering 🚯⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  You can get pellets and ball ammo in other materials. Might have to special order them, not sure how available they are over there, but they do make them. I have steel ammo for my air pistol, it’s my back yard pleasure shooting gun, so lead isn’t acceptable to me.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Send newts⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Sorry for this, but…

  sigh unzips

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨European Glow Worms⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’m not seeing a downside

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How long and how hard would it be to get a star removed on The Hollywood Walk of Fame? Asking for a friend.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I’ve got something long and hard for stars.

  It’s a telescope.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How come in movies tv shows books etc at court they make it seem like swearing on the bible prevents you from lieing? If my family or I was in danger I would lie my ass off to get out of it..⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s a social more, nothing more ;)

  In other words, it doesn’t matter what you swear by, it’s the open swearing that matters in terms of legality. See, the oath is what makes perjury prosecution “acceptable”. When a witness is sworn in, the process isn’t so much about them actually promising to tell the truth as it is a warning to them that truth is expected and will be enforced.

  Yeah, historically, there’s more to it than that, but it boils down to everyone involved knowing that truth is expected, and lying comes with consequences (well, if you get caught at it, and can’t avoid those consequences in some way. The system ain’t perfect at its best, and is rarely at its best).

  Swearing on a bible is just tradition based on centuries of christians and christianity being in power. You can opt to “affirm” instead, giving an non religious oath that is just a binding.

  But, in any real terms, an oath isn’t necessary to begin with. When the system/state/government/people have the power to punish you for lying, they don’t even really have to notify you that lying will come with consequences. Doing so is a nicety that at least prevents anyone from being able to say they didn’t know they couldn’t lie. Not that trying it in the absence of an oath would be worth spit, but it saves time.

  But having an expectation of truth under duress is a cultural thing. And it can be a form of duress. You can be compelled to appear and give testimony, with consequences got refusing. In other situations, being under duress can be a defense against a charge, though the standard for what degree of threat serves to meet that criteria is pretty steep. But it’s an understood thing that you aren’t supposed to lie during legal proceedings. It doesn’t have to be that way, but it certainly does make it easier to have a degree of conformity to the truth among people that might otherwise lie.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Kate Mulgrew Defends ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ And Captain Ake From “Disrespectful” Online Attacks⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Beeeeelzebub has a devil put aside for meeeeee!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Kate Mulgrew Defends ‘Star Trek: Starfleet Academy’ And Captain Ake From “Disrespectful” Online Attacks⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Damn, what has you so aggressive here? The other comment wasn’t venomous. Hell, it wasn’t even a little snarky.

  Something going on you want/need to vent about? Legit asking, I’ve had days where I got shitty to people that weren’t doing anything, and having a quick vent would have helped.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Is it normal to be mildly exhausted after talk therapy?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Mildly?

  My mental health homie, full on coma inducing exhaustion wouldn’t be unusual (well, it’s hyperbolic but you get the point).

  There is very little more taxing than the kind of intensive wringer that a serious therapy session can be. Even less challenging sessions can leave people numb, wiped, or otherwise just burnt out.

  If you’re doing the work, therapy will at some point be stressful. At the very least, needing nap or a cuddle is totally normal

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨How do you cut a cucumber so that the round slices don't roll all over and off of your cutting board?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  A few ways you do it.

  First is for bigger cukes only, really. You cut it in half first. Seems like it isn’t answering what you actually asked, but there is an upper limit to how big a slice can get before it’s too big. So once a cuke is much bigger than maybe an inch and a half (a little under 4 cm) wide, cut it in half first.

  Second is to sacrifice a slice length wise. Take your knife, cut a ribbon off of one side,and you’ll have a flat part thru not only reduces/prevents rolling slices, it also makes the job easier. It’s a little less pretty maybe, but effective.

  Third is to slice at an angle. The rounds then fall over before they can roll. It’s also visually appealing, if maybe not better than standard slices.

  Fourth, use a barrier. Some damp paper towels (or cloth ones) placed on the edge of your cutting board will stop the slices from going past. Yeah, you can use dry ones, but they tend to move easier, so paper towels will blow away (and cloth ones get knocked away by errant elbows.) But any barrier will do tbh. A long handled spoon, your honing rod, whatever.

  Fifth, use a jig. I’m not aware of any brands, but there’s veggie cutting jigs with even slice sizes. They have the side benefit of holding things like carrots, cukes, or zucchini and keeping the slices in place. Haven’t used one in ages, so I’d have to go searching for a link, and you can do that just as easily; but if you can’t find anything, holla back and I’ll see what I can find. But you can make your own with a little ingenuity and access to a band saw or even the right hand tools, but the plastic ones are cheaper and lighter.

  Sixth is using a damp towel on your cutting surface. I wouldn’t do it, but if you pay attention to what you’re doing, you won’t fuck up the towel and it does work. Has to be damp though, something about that makes the skin grab better than on a dry one.

  Seventh is using your hands and speed. If you’re feeding the cuke along with the ol’ claw finger technique, and slicing/chopping fast, they don’t get a chance to roll.

  As an alternative to that, the eighth I’m aware of is to partially slice through on your first pass, then come back and finish. The slices don’t roll. Won’t work on more fibrous veggies, but stuff like cukes or zucchini will stay in place just fine. Takes longer though.

  Tbh though, I’ve always had more trouble with carrots, even with very thin knives that don’t wedge much. Which, that helps too, btw. If you pick up a cheap Kiwi nakiri (kiwi is a cheap brand of stamped steel knives, but they rock for some jobs better than the fanciest and most expensive knives. Try one with onions and you’ll see what I mean for sure), you’ll have way less wedging, so there’s less force applied along the side of the slice, meaning they don’t roll as much.

  Shit, you could probably just push the end of the cuke/zucchini against something weighty as you slice and as long as you don’t push hard, it would at least reduce the force the slices would roll with, meaning they wouldn’t go far.

  Sharp knives also reduce the problem because they go through with less force, leading to less motion as the slices part from the body of the veg.

  Legit though, doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll have some escapees with thick slices. Cukes are much rounder than most similar shaped veggies, and often have smoother skin. So they roll easier than most. Like I said, I had more trouble with carrots, until I got my techniques down and knives that let me do the job smoothly. A decent knife with a thin profile, kept sharp and used appropriately to the design of the knife tends to apply the force in a way that slices fall laterally rather than roll. Plus, if you slice conservatively, the force you’re applying across the veg doesn’t have enough energy to get the slice moving much. That’s easier with a well maintained knife.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Do you ever feel guilty for trying to sign up for government assistance programs?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Fuck no

  Every paycheck for twenty plus years, I calmly and without complaint saw taxes and fica taken out of each check because that’s how you have a social safety net.

  I sure as fuck didn’t pay in because I could afford it, I paid in because it’s mandatory.

  So you, me, whoever, is 100% justified in using the social safety net we all paid and pay into because that’s what it’s for in the first place.

  Never, ever feel guilty about it brogham.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨A Pakistani muslim man found a woman crying and heavily intoxicated. The good samaritan offered to drive her home. She later falsely him accused of rape.⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Yup, my down vote was because of the source. The mail is essentially digital toilet paper.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨So Deep⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I tell you hwat

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Wise choice!

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  It was about ants having different smells, caused when either threatened or injured for the most part.

  Specifically, as an example I remembered because I’ve smelled it, the most common upper of ant you’ll find in houses (here in the US anyway) smells cheesy. It’s even called the odorous house ant. That’s because of a type of chemical called methyl ketones. Ketones are basically really volatile organic compounds; acetone is a ketone.

  Now, regarding what some people can’t smell vs those that can, reports were mixed. But, it does seem that formic acid can’t be smelled by everyone, and some ketones can’t be smelled by everyone. You either have the right genes active or you don’t. But, apparently, tiktok has yet again caused problems with inaccurate info spread, so people think that you either smell ants, or you don’t, which isn’t the case, it comes down to the chemicals they produce, and those vary.

  That being said, there is still the possibility that the reason any given individual hasn’t smelled ants is because they’ve never gotten close enough, or run across large numbers of the little ladies in one place. Most people aren’t going to get close to a bunch of crushed ants, and if ants are alive chances are you aren’t getting close enough to take a sniff unless you’re a real weirdo.

  And yes, I’m one of those weirdos that has gotten up close to both living and dead ants. Not to sniff them, but out of curiosity. Hence why I have smelled them in small numbers as well as larger groups. Some ants are really unconcerned about something the size of a human, particularly when it moves slowly enough not to seem like an insectivore coming in for a meal. So you can, if you’re careful, get up close enough to use a magnifying glass to get better looks at them doing their thing (and don’t burn them, it’s not at all okay).

  When you get that close, even though there’s no alarm pheromones, every ant type I ever got close to had that pungent, acrid smell of formic acid. It’s similar to vinegar or other acids that you might use around the house, but definitely not the same. Like I said elsewhere, it’s earthier and more pungent.

  My area has some red ants, and if enough of those die, they smell like pepper. As in standard table pepper.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I went and read up on it, was going to edit in , but I’ll just do it here.

  Apparently it isn’t the formic acid, it’s other chemicals, and not all ants produce them. I have smelled what they’re talking about, or at least three descriptions of one kind of ant smelling like funky cheese is something I have run into.

  So you’re totally right, and my assumption was wrong.

  But damn, formic acid, even dilute, really is pungent. Nose wrinkling, sneeze inducing for me.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Has to be, it’s got that same “bite” that other acids have, only a little more earthy

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  I had no idea it was a genetic thing that not everyone has. It’s pretty awesome that after fifty years slogging through life, I still run across cool new shit like this

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨What is up with the trend of naming pets after food?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  My chicken, Sesame, would like a word with you.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨I crock pot some stuff an usually takes between 10 to 12 hours. I have seen people smoke a pig which takes about 1 day. What were the rules of sacrifice in the ancient gods or the new one?⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  You don’t ignite the sacrifice, you place it on a pyre.

  Those can burn hot when well constructed. Not quite the kind of heat a modern crematorium can produce, so it is slower. But it wouldn’t have been a full day of burning.

  Cooking can take longer than burning. If you threw your steak directly into fire, it would be inedible in the same amount of time it would be medium rare on the grill above the fire (as a rough example, don’t expect precision here), and burnt into a brick in maybe fifteen minutes at most. I’ve lost meat in just coals before, and that’s about all it took, so an open fire would likely be even faster.

  Waaay back in the day, to the best I’ve ever read, most sacrifices that were burnt weren’t single sacrifices. This means the fires were also bigger, more intense, than what you might have in your home fireplace. So, once the sacrifice was on the heat, it would ignite relatively quickly. Then, you’ve got fats rendering and burning, which burns pretty damn hot; hot enough that you’d only need an hour or two for the bones to fragment.

  Think about it (or look it up if you have a strong stomach), people and animals caught in house fires aren’t in them for massive amounts of time, but they’re essentially carbonized well down towards the bones, and sometimes the bones are “falling apart” (there’s fancy terms for that, but I can’t be arsed to pull them from memory) in the time it takes for the structure to collapse.

  Anyway, the rules of sacrifice really varied. In some cases, they weren’t actually burnt, they were cooked. It was the taking of the life that was the sacrifice, so burning wasn’t always part of it. Iirc, it was mostly sun, fire, and similar gods that fire sacrifice to destruction weres the norm. But general purpose sacrificed animals were sometimes cooked and eaten. It really varied a lot over the millennia across the world.

  One aspect was though, the burning of the sacrifice was so that it could “rise” to the god/s. A form of transubstantiation, destroying the earthly form and sending it to the divine in its constituent essence. In other aspects, the fire was the god or gods consuming the sacrifice.

  Fwiw, if you stack the pyre right, with enough fuel, a human body is reduced to ask and bone fragments in maybe six to eight hours. Something with less mass (a lamb as an example) will be faster.

  Plus, some of the really big sacrifices were done en masse in huge fires. Literally tons of wood, often resinous woods that burn hot enough to damage stone at that scale. Can’t recall where, but there’s sacrifice spots that had stone show some melting, which is fucking hot.

  To sum up, I guess the answer is that it depends on when and where the sacrifice happened, and why.