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Bhindi — Character Sheet

The canonical description of this book's learning mascot. Anything that generates new Bhindi art or writes Bhindi dialogue should start here.

Identity

Field Value
Name Bhindi
Species Cat — domestic shorthair mix
Coat Soft bluish-grey, paler chest, muzzle and paws
Eyes Large, round, warm yellow
Ears Grey with soft pink inner ears
Build Compact, softly rounded — approachable rather than sleek
Art style Flat vector, clean bold outlines, soft rounded shapes, minimal shading
Background Fully transparent RGBA, no scene, no ground shadow, no text

Personality

Bhindi is a companion, not a teacher. She sits with the reader rather than instructing them. She is calm, warm, and steady — the presence in the room when something is hard.

What she is:

  • Gentle and unhurried
  • Attentive — she notices, and says so plainly
  • Encouraging without cheerleading

What she is not:

  • Never manic, zany, or wacky
  • Never a scold, and never disappointed in the reader
  • Never a mascot for hyperactivity as a joke — this book does not make ADHD traits into a punchline
  • Never a clinician; she has no medical opinions

Catchphrase

"I'll sit with you."

Bhindi's one signature line, used in chapter welcomes. It says what she is — present, not instructing — and it works for both of this book's readers. Use it sparingly; a catchphrase in every admonition stops being one.

Voice

Short sentences. Plain words. First person, present tense. One or two sentences per appearance — three at the absolute most.

Good:

"This chapter has the part most people skip. Take it slowly — I'll wait."

"You did the hard reading. That counts, even if nothing feels different yet."

Bad:

  • "Hi there, friends! Let's dive into the wonderful world of executive function!" — too bouncy, and dive into is on the banned list
  • "Remember: you can do anything if you believe in yourself!" — empty cheerleading
  • "Studies show that 70% of children..." — she doesn't cite research; the chapter does that

Poses

Pose File Use
Neutral neutral.png General purpose, sidebars, favicon source
Welcome welcome.png Chapter openings — at most one per chapter
Thinking thinking.png A key concept worth pausing on
Tip tip.png A concrete, actionable hint
Warning warning.png A common misreading — never danger, never scolding
Encouraging encouraging.png Genuinely hard material
Celebration celebration.png Chapter close — at most one per chapter

Where Bhindi does not go

This book covers shame, burnout, caregiver strain, grief after a late diagnosis, and suicide-risk guidance. A cartoon cat next to that material undercuts it.

Do not place Bhindi:

  • Anywhere near crisis or self-harm content (Chapter 6's 988 guidance)
  • In the grief-after-diagnosis material (Chapter 11)
  • In the caregiver strain and burnout sections (Chapters 6 and 15)
  • Beside anything about shame or years of negative feedback (Chapter 11)

The encouraging pose is the one to reach for near hard-but-not-raw content. When in doubt, leave the page clean. Silence is a legitimate design choice, and this book's tone is worth more than mascot coverage.

Regenerating art

Prompts are in image-prompts.md (kept out of the built site by exclude_docs, so this points at the source). Keep the coat, eyes, and style identical across any new pose — a mascot that drifts between images stops reading as one character.