I want to talk a bit about plortonomics.
Particularly, I want to talk about the specifics of the more... Domestic use plorts. How are their properties affected by a slime's lifestyle? How are they used by each of the ranchers? And do they have any potential secondary uses.
Now, when I say domestic use plorts, I specifically mean the plorts that aren't used exclusively in industrial fields such as rad plorts, boom plorts and quantum plorts, etcetera
I mean the tabby plorts, the honey plorts, the puddle plorts, etcetera.
I'd first like to consider how exactly the plorts are used.
I always theorised that the actually important part of the plort lies mostly within it's outer shell. You crack open that shell and inside, you'll find a soft gloopy substance that carries most of the plort's unique properties.
However, this does not mean that the hard outer shell isn't important. It also carries a small portion of the plort's properties. A much lower concentration of it, but still very useful and valuable especially in the case of crystal slimes, rock slimes and mosaic slimes.
Again, this is just my theory, but I will be operating under the assumption that it's true for the rest of this post.
Without further ado, let's actually discuss the plorts themselves.
Beginning of course with the most basic plort, the pink plort.
They are not affected by what type of food the pink slimes eat to produce them nor what slime they form a largo with. Their plort is remarkably inert and mostly acts as a 'gap filler' in whatever it's being used in.
This is made clearer by how the ranchers use them. On top of aiding in the manufacturing of slime technology, the pink plorts also make for a great addition to meals to increase the ranchers' caloric intake.
See, the ranchers work gruelling days and their metabolisms are incredibly fast, so they need a lot of food ;however, they can't take frequent lunch breaks because of how demanding ranch work is. The solution? Break up a couple pink plorts and mix them into your meal. They're pretty tasteless and they add a ton of calories to their meals which they absolutely need.
When consumed on their own, again, they lack flavour. With the sparkly secret style, you may begin to feel glitter like particles inside the goop, but it still doesn't have a taste and if you try to find said particles, you will have no luck doing so. It's a big mystery.
Next we have the Tabby plorts. Otherwise known as a rancher's best friend.
They all have absolutely abysmal sleep schedules, so consuming tabby plorts definitely helps them keep their energy levels up.
Tabby plorts aren't really affected by the type of meat the tabby slime eats, though it is affected if the plort comes from a largo. When a tabby plort comes from a tabby rad, boom or quantum largo, it becomes inedible. The best largo to get your tabby plorts from, especially If you plan on using them as an energy source, is a pink tabby largo. The honey tabby is also a pretty good mix, but it may make you a little too hyper. Just crack open the tabby plort and add about two tablespoons of the contents into a glass of milk. It doesn't taste like coffee, it's actually pretty tasteless, but it'll work almost instantly.
Next up, Phosphor slimes.
You typically would not eat a Phosphor plort, but it wouldn't kill you. You will get a stomach ache though. Now, largo produced phosphor plorts do not shine as brightly, so if you'd like a dimmer light source, you'd opt for that as opposed to a pure phosphor slime made plort (side note: this is purely hypothetical. I'm aware this doesn't apply to the actual game.)
The ranchers all have unique uses for them. Beatrix uses one as a night light. It soothes her. Mochi uses them in decorative displays when she's not too busy. Viktor uses them to read when he can't sleep. They do go out periodically, but it gives his eyes periodical breaks. Ogden has completely switched out all his lights with phosphor plort lamps because they are much better for the environment.
They have also discovered that rubbing some of the goop in their hair makes it glow temporarily and look super cool. Beatrix always rubs some on her ends for fun. Viktor just always subconsciously smears a handful of the stuff onto his hair. He doesn't even notice he does it anymore. Mochi has tried it a couple times and uses it for cool styles. Ogden has tried it once and never again.
Then we have puddle slimes. A great thing to have in your vac pack if you're going to be away from your ranch for a bit. The water in the water tank is not always clean as it comes from random ponds and burst pipes most of the time. Puddle plorts are a very convenient source of drinking water. It's always clean, it's pure, and the outer shell isn't too tough, so you can usually bite it off easily enough and take a swig.
Of course, puddle slimes only rely on water for nutrition and they cannot form largos.
The same cannot be said for honey plorts.
When their outer shell is cracked, it reveals a substance very similar to regular honey, but it is very different to the stuff you'd find in earth. For one, it's a million times sweeter. The outer shell also makes for a delightful snack ranchers may carry around to munch on if they need some sugar in their blood to keep them from dropping.
The food the honey slimes eat does greatly affect the taste. Mint mangoes give the plort a more candy like taste with a light minty aftertaste. Cuberries make for a honey plort that is certainly too sweet. It still tastes lovely, but you probably wouldn't use it much. Phase lemons are a great fruit to produce honey plorts with. Some phase lemon honey plort goop could cure a sore throat in no time. Phase lemons tend to give the plorts a sparky sort of carbonated feel which some ranchers, not naming names (Viktor) find very pleasant. Pogofruit give the honey plort a sort of tart flavour that is absolutely amazing for sweetening tea. Prickle pears produce the mildest tasting honey plorts. If you're not a huge fan of sweet things, you'd opt for these.
I wouldn't normally include hunter plorts in this, but as they are technically edible, they get a quick mention. When eaten, they temporarily give an invisibility effect which is pretty cool. Viktor uses them the most when he's conducting experiments that involve feral slimes so they don't attack him.
Anyway, sorry that got a bit long. This is just a fun idea I was thinking about.
