More body customization details

I wanted to add some more details on top of my post about customizing my body into a pseudo-bug-thing, so here I go.

First I want to note a correction: Originally I said that hydraulic musculature doesn't exist in nature, but I was wrong and had managed to forget that arachnids have it. I corrected the original as well.

Let's begin where I left off with color. In my mind I imagine a color like this skyish blue, although maybe with a little translucency where it is thinner. This would be the color for my armor; beneath would be the normal red of mammal flesh, or in some places the pink of mucous membrane, rather than any human skin tone. As previously mentioned, my eyes would be entirely black, with the hard transparent shell over them probably making it a shiny black.

Upon further reflection, I've realized my initial concept of tracheae that run to my neck would be a poor design. Air only goes through the neck at all because the lungs are branched off of the pre-existing gastrointestinal tract that forms the core around which animals are built. It would be more efficient and safer to have them terminate somewhere on the torso, and this positioning makes the idea of more than two more feasible; I favor six, though not for any specific good reason. For positioning I suspect the flanks would be ideal, potentially running through gaps in the ribs, which might cause them to flatten out and be longer than they are tall. As I would have a lot less body odor due to the lack of sweat, this would be less impactful to my sense of smell than a similar configuration would be in a human, though the dramatic increase in distance from the brain might be an issue.

I should be more specific about my ears, as I left it a bit ambigous before. My thought is of an ear shaped like that of a human, but actually composed of shaped armor; I am not sure how possible this is to grow. My understanding is that keratin (which I now lean toward over chitin) is formed through the keratinization of living cells, so it would probably be possible to grow the ears initially. Over time, however, the outer layers would have to flake (to make it possible to recover from damage without overgrowth), causing complex structures to erode unless the growth pattern beneath could be controlled properly, and probably making semi-detached ears basically impossible. So, my ears might be simplified into indentations in the side of my head, and the earring-holes would be unlikely. In other minor physical feature news, I think I would keep a small indentation to take the place of my navel; the armor would maintain a consistent thickness here, so the indentation would go all the way down and make my organs have to permanently squish out of the way a little. Just now I've had the concept that running a column of bone all the way front-to-back here might help to reinforce my body, though I am not the kind of engineer who could say whether this would actually be a good idea. If it were, I might have similar columns at other narrow points.

Assuming the hydraulic musculature concept works, my limbs, especially my legs, would probably be significantly thinner by default due to the lack of muscles. I would probably counter this by adding more fat, and possibly by putting hydraulic reservoirs and/or pumps in my thighs. I would want to modify my shins, forearms, knees, and elbows in particular to increase the amount of mass between surface and bone, as in humans these are excessively vulnerable, but I would try to maintain the overall shape despite this. Similarly, my neck would be thinner without a pharynx or larynx, though like all parts of my body, armor is thicker than skin, which would have some counteracting effect.

My overall body shape would naturally be humanoid and feminine, with pronounced hips and a narrow waist. I would probably end up stretching my torso some to fit my various extra organs, though maybe some optimizations to my digestive system could reduce how much space it takes up. My overall size would probably be a bit bigger than I am now, though I might make my legs a bit shorter so as not to be too much taller (right now I'm only slightly about average height for an American woman).

Personal maintenance in this body would involve washing like normal, which could simply be done with a shower, though I might need to use a different soap than normal body wash. I would need to be especially dilligent about cleaning my eyes, and I might also want to polish or sand my armor to keep it smooth and shiny. Considering that my teeth would be regularly replaced, I might not strictly need to brush them, but I would still probably want to clean my mouth frequently.

As a final note, I have thought about commissioning an artist to draw this design, though that would have to wait until my financial situation restabilizes and I can budget for it. I also don't know any artists who would be good at this specific kind of work. If you know or are one, feel free to get in touch and I may make a note for later.

P.S. I wrote another, hopefully final, update to this post.