#clear pvc pipe

[clearpipe1]

How to Cut and Connect Clear PVC Pipe Easily | ClearPipe.com

Learn the best techniques for cutting and connecting clear PVC pipe with precision. Discover tips for using clear PVC fittings and ensuring secure, leak-free connections.

[ledestube]

Clear PVC pipe and clear PVC conduit are used for plumbing and electrical. They have different sizes, codes, performance, costs. We will list it in the post.

[size-two-shrimp]

Hello mutuals. I have created a terrarium for each and every one of you. As a gift. They are not filled with bees.

[consortplastics]

More Than Meets the Eye: Unveiling the Essential Role of Plastic Tubing

We often overlook the simple things that make our lives easier, and plastic tubing is a perfect example. This humble product, often hidden from view, plays a vital role in countless applications, from the medical field to our everyday home appliances. But what exactly makes plastic tubing so versatile and indispensable? Let’s delve into the fascinating world of this unsung hero.

Beyond the Basics: A Material of Many Faces

Plastic tubing isn’t just one thing. It’s a broad category encompassing a wide range of materials, each with its own unique properties. This diversity allows us to tailor the tubing to specific needs.

Polyethylene (PE): A common and affordable choice, PE tubing is known for its flexibility and chemical resistance, making it ideal for low-pressure applications like irrigation and beverage dispensing.

Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): Rigid and durable, PVC tubing is often used in plumbing and construction due to its resistance to chemicals and weathering.

Silicone: Highly flexible and temperature resistant, silicone tubing is a popular choice for medical and food-grade applications.

Nylon: Known for its strength and abrasion resistance, nylon tubing is often used in pneumatic and hydraulic systems.

Polyurethane (PU): Offering excellent flexibility and kink resistance, PU tubing is ideal for applications requiring tight bends and frequent movement.

A World of Applications: From Life-Saving to Everyday Convenience

The versatility of plastic tubing translates into a vast range of applications:

Medical: From IV lines and catheters to dialysis tubing, plastic tubing plays a critical role in delivering fluids and medications, saving lives every day.

Automotive: Used in fuel lines, vacuum systems, and windshield washer systems, plastic tubing ensures the smooth operation of our vehicles.

Industrial: From chemical transfer to pneumatic systems, plastic tubing is essential for various industrial processes.

Food and Beverage: Used in beverage dispensing, food processing, and packaging, food-grade plastic tubing ensures the safe and hygienic transport of consumables.

Home and Garden: From irrigation systems to aquarium air lines, plastic tubing helps us maintain our homes and gardens efficiently.

Choosing the Right Tubing: A Matter of Matching Properties to Needs

With so many options available, selecting the right plastic tubing for a specific application is crucial. Factors to consider include:

Material: The chemical compatibility, temperature resistance, and flexibility of the material are paramount.

Size: The inner and outer diameter of the tubing will determine its flow rate and compatibility with fittings.

Pressure Rating: The tubing must be able to withstand the operating pressure of the system.

Flexibility: The required flexibility will depend on the application and the routing of the tubing.

Temperature Range: The plastic tubing must be able to withstand the operating temperature of the system.

The Future of Plastic Tubing: Innovation and Sustainability

As technology advances, we can expect to see further innovation in plastic tubing, including:

Development of new materials: Researchers are constantly exploring new materials with enhanced properties, such as improved chemical resistance and biocompatibility.

Advanced manufacturing techniques: New manufacturing techniques are enabling the production of tubing with tighter tolerances and more complex geometries.

Sustainable solutions: Efforts are underway to develop biodegradable and recyclable plastic tubing.

Plastic tubing, though often overlooked, is a vital component in countless applications that impact our lives daily. Its versatility, affordability, and adaptability make it an indispensable material for a wide range of industries. As technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see even more innovative applications for this unsung hero.

So, the next time you see a piece of plastic tubing, take a moment to appreciate its simplicity and the crucial role it plays in our modern world. It’s a testament to the power of simple solutions to solve complex problems.

[purseowner4thequalityanimation]

SMT Boardgame Kickstarter Smells Like Suspicious Fish

There's an SMT boardgame. Curb your enthusiasm, you shouldn't back it. And if you did, lower your pledge to like a buck until they clear things up, because as it stands it seems like an incredibly suspect product.

Checking through the Kickstarter comments and Japanese Tweets about the boardgame makes the entire thing seem poorly planned at best. I'll summarize as best I can;

The designer is incredibly infamous in the boardgame community

Naoki Matsunaga, a self-described "board game sommelier", is the designer. You'll find tweets lamenting that "the board game sommelier is involved". Why is he so hated? This thread goes into detail: co_boze on twitter. Part of it is they bashed Werewolf over one game they saw of it, another is they took on a kind of public-face role for boardgames appearing on late night TV shows to talk about them in ways that annoyed boardgamers. They seem to have designed a boardgame based on "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" which ripped off Sid Sackson's 'I'm the Boss". But it's what co_boze talks about next that's really bizarre. The game was apparently banned from most board game cafes and playing spaces. Seminars where people could play the game were hosted, but the venues that hosted these seminars all closed down.

If you keep looking through comments, you start finding claims that his company does multi-level marketing (ie pyramid schemes). To be honest, I don't know if this is true. But even if it isn't, it is really not hard to find people who know of this guy and would really really really REALLY prefer he was not involved.

"Oh fuck, it's THIS guy" is not a reaction that inspires confidence

2. Questionable development and presentation issues.

A regular collaborator with Atlus recently tweeted "The use of AI in Atlus works or derivative works is stictly prohibited." He responded to a reply asking if this was about a board game.

The staff running the SMT BG Kickstarter later clarified the actual -game- wouldn't use AI graphics... but from the looks of it, the promotional materials do.

Dig that... generic metal pipe aesthetic. Nothing screams MegaTen like black plumbing to nowhere.

In totally unrelated news, a board game manufacturer recently tweeted that a Kickstarter used their name without permission, and they're not sure why.

Quote tweets on the post would suggest it was the SMT board game. The comment they are loosely referring to is this:

In a follow-up post, they do specify "The product figures will be made of PVC." and "We will be manufacturing the games in partnership with a factory in China that has a proven track record... " "Figure director Kimura Yuzuru has over 10 years of experience..." and other boring development stuff that I have no issue with. What I do have issue with is how they can say things like they're "considering" which manufacturer to use and namedropping other companies that they're unrelated with. (While I was typing this post, they posted an update that clarified the CMON issue and literally nothing else: here.)

The boardgame is being presented with machine translated English printed on the same cards as the Japanese. But the actual game will have a translator check everything.

they hire translators to localize all game content

Additionally, there was a week long radio silence on the Kickstarter. For reference, Kickstarters are normally very active with the project planners dropping updates, responding to feedback and clearing up any concerns.

Some of the concerns were "How does the game actually play?", a question that would be best answered by dropping a rulebook for people to look at, or better yet showing them an entire run of the game. The SMT BG Kickstarter has boldly chosen neither. Devs have commented the game is on Version 11 and plays well, which makes it strange that they can't share any of it with anyone else.

Actually, when you compare this to how most Kickstarters are run, it becomes very clear the SMT BG Kickstarter is, uh, kinda failing in all possible regards. The first Backer Goal is "Jack Frost Dice" at 2000 backers (not funds raised, BACKERS). Despite getting 300%(!!!) of the initial pledge needed, there are no bonuses or unlocks.

Mind, this lack of information comes after they already delayed the start to supposedly improve Backer Goals and other aspects.

There aren't a shortage of issues - it's ICREA's first boardgame (but not their first tango with SMT; they made the SMT30th Logo, for instance.) The timeline seems totally wack. The staff have been incredibly slow to respond. Cards with tiny font and two languages printed on them. Etc, etc. Maybe individually these issues wouldn't be too concerning. But all of them combined make the product seem incompetently run at best, and at worst an actual scam.

I'm hardly a big influencer in the SMT scene (my biggest contribution is when that fucking succubus gif gets 36k likes on Twitter every 5 months) but I haven't seen any English speaking sources discuss this in detail, when there really should be at least some noise about all of this. Still. if just one of you end up saving 600 bucks on what ends up being a trashfire carcrash project because of this post, then that'll have made the past 30 minutes of typing this shit worth it.

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 38

part 1 | part 37 | ao3

"Sure thing."

"Can you go say hey to everyone, too? Please?" he adds. "I need a second."

He expects Eddie to tease him for being bossy, but Eddie just winks and says, "Do you one better than that, sugar," smiling playfully with his tongue out like a dog before he bounds outside and tackles one of the kids into a pile of snow.

Steve uses the distraction to clean himself up; towel the sweat from his face and hair and clean the blood off of his knuckles, and when he steps outside a moment later Eddie's shouting "no wedgies no wedgies!!" while Dustin tries to shove a snowball down the back of his pants.

"Steve!" Eddie calls out when he spots him. "Steve, help!"

"No, help me!" Dustin counters with a strained grunt as Eddie grapples him into a chokehold. Mike yells "Get him, Eddie!" and Lucas rolls his eyes and mutters, "This is what we get for not bringing any girls."

The trip is pure chaos right from the jump, which Steve anticipated the second he suggested packing five dudes into a van for a run to the hardware store (he had to sit through ten minutes of Mike, Dustin, and Lucas arguing over everything from girls to books to whether The Cure objectively sucks or not until Eddie finally hollered "shut the fuck up!" and drowned them all out with 'real music'), but it feels good to be in charge. To have a project to manage, even if he's the reason there's a project in the first place.

He bosses the boys around the aisles when they get to the store, gathering up supplies — tarps and tools and vinyl, a few sheets of plywood to repair the damaged subfloor, disinfectant spray and gloves; safety shit, too, just in case they need it — and it reminds him of that day in the junkyard. Hey, dickheads! How come the only one helping me out is this random girl?

"You talk to Max lately?" he asks Lucas when they get a minute alone.

Lucas dips his head and kicks at the wheel of their shopping cart, looking so much like a kid, even though he's almost taller than Steve now. "No," he says with a frustrated sigh. "I don't— it's like she's there, but she's not there. You know? I don't know how to reach her."

"Mm." Steve gets that. Felt it just this morning. He claps a hand to Lucas' shoulder. "Just give her time," he suggests, bending to grab a sanding block off a shelf and drop it in the cart.

In his periphery, he sees Eddie skipping at the far end of the aisle while Mike and Dustin chase after him. "Is she still with Eddie's friend?"

Lucas glares at the back of Eddie's head at Steve's reminder, voice sullen when he answers, "Shit, man. I don't know."

"Is he being cool to you?"

"Who, Gareth?"

"No, Eddie," Steve clarifies, remembering Erica's threat-request to look out for her brother.

"Oh." Lucas scratches the back of his neck. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, he treats basketball like it's the Dark Side, but-"

He breaks off with a little laugh, and Steve laughs with him. "Yeah. He's kind of dramatic. I'll talk to him about it."

"You will?"

"Sure. Jock solidarity and all that." He gives Lucas a fist bump, and Lucas gives him a long, thoughtful look, chewing his lip.

"So you guys are, like... friends now?"

Steve's heart gives an unhelpful flutter at the question. They are like friends now, he guesses, if friends kiss each other with tongue.

He clears his throat at that thought and looks away to hide his blush; sees Eddie using a cut of PVC pipe as a sword, lunging at Mike in a fencer's pose and shouting 'en garde!' "...Unfortunately, yeah."

—

part 39

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added tomorrow please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[clearpipe1]

How to Cut and Connect Clear PVC Pipe Easily – Clear Pipe

When you need to see clearly the flow of materials and liquids PVC is your go-to choice. In cases of a laboratory setup, an aquarium system, or an industrial process, clear PVC pipe SCH40 provides transparency and, at the same time, it won't break easily and it is also resistant to chemicals. The cutting and connecting

[the-janitor-esc]

((@ghost-esc-tacy ))

[The Janitorial Office's walls have been painted with bright blue, red, green and purple murals; some are more abstract than others.

A platform with a ramp/slide with a bed-like area at the top sits in one corner; the bed has a curtain with glow in the dark stars around it for privacy. The wall of the platform has fun shapes cut out of it in different sizes; a comfy pillow is hidden in the nook underneath.

Large, wide clear PVC pipe has been installed along the tops of the walls; they're enclosed to prevent any jumping. They can be accessed from the bed.

A small see-saw, swing, wheel, and climbing wall occupy another corner of the office. A mini fridge (with blood in it) and canisters of ink have been acquired and wedged in between the bookcase and filing cabinet.

A ream of paper lays on the floor for ease of access; more is in storage.]

*leading Spice to the updated office* I hope it is more entertaining and comfortable now.

[jellykittycatsmeowclarinet]

so pissed off by my coworker -_- usually hes good enough at his job to cut corners and be high all the time but i spent the whole week building this stupid pvc case for a fancy huge toy car that we are vecroing clear plastic to as a dust precaution and so his only job was to cut the plastic i literally went out and bought but when he came by with the plastic yesterday he forgot to cut a whole side abd the rest weren’t straight…

and i was like what and he was like yeah u know its really hard to cut perfectly straight

like bro yeah thats why theyre paying us to do it

and we get paid like actually well in a way where he should know how to cut a piece or plastic straight…

and its not even just about the fact that i did it well and now its ugly but it actually is affecting the way its coming together and may need to spend more time redoing it

UGH

also like fine being the only girl plus i love building shit but its like man ur lazy af because why are u leaving a woman thats less strong and shorter than u to put together and take apart this thing by herself while u sit inside and watch youtube videos. it should honestly hurt his ego more thsn it does.

sorry to be trad men are just so lame and stupid. if he had been there to give me a hand i promise i wouldnt have shoved that pipe into my face by accident and i wouldnt have that stupid bite looking cut on my face UGH

[growingwildgardens]

Winter Sowing Alternatives and Troubleshooting 🐛🪻🍂

If you're looking for alternatives specific to species that require cold stratification, I go more in-depth on those here

But if you're mainly looking to replicate the earlier sowing window - great for short growing seasons or plants that take a long time to reach maturity (like peppers) - and additional heating benefits of the winter sowing method, there's a few other ways to trick the seasons for those who don't have access to a greenhouse.

-Cold Frames 🪟: Essentially a mini greenhouse. Transparent box, or one with insulated sides and a clear upper half & roof, built around a short raised or ground bed. Can buy pre-built ones, find plans online, or rig your own up out of plexiglass, polycarbonate sheets, or even old glass windows. Make sure it's not too heavy to access to weed, prune, and water.

-Poly Tunnels🔺️: Low tunnels of made of polythene plastic and a steel framing, meant to sit a few feet above rows of in-ground plants. Can rig your own from polycarbonate sheets or plastic sheeting, wood, and pvc pipes. Make sure to have a soaker hose or other in-ground watering system, or be able to otherwise access the row to water.

-Indoor starts 💡: Starting seed indoors, either in a warm sunny spot or with the aid of grow lights and tray warmers. Check seed packets or local planting schedules to be sure you don't start things too early to put them out, and remember they'll need to be hardened off for several days when moved outside.

Troubleshooting:

-❄️🌙 These outdoor methods don't provide much insulation so will only raise the low temps at night by a few degrees, keep this in mind and prioritize cold-hardy plants until the very early spring

-🐛🐌 Slugs are the main pest in colder months, consider having other cover and winter crops around for them to target and using slug traps (recipe from OSU)

-☀️🌡When it does start to warm up, these outdoor options will get very warm. Make sure they have ventilation and, if the temperatures are hot enough, that the top of the tunnels or frame are removed for the day

[jinkieswouldyoulookatthis]

Growing

Just a little piece of gen domestichesters fluff about Sam taking up gardening and Dean adopting another dog. Set in season 15 during that unknown period of time between episodes 19 & 20, or maybe it's canon divergent and episode 20 never happened (whichever makes you happiest).

No pairing, no ship, just fluff.

Words: 2746

Read it on AO3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So I was looking into the history of the power plant.”

“Of course you were.” Dean deadpanned.

“And, turns out that it was never actually abandoned like we’d thought because it was never actually in use as a real power plant. As far as I can tell, it was built to cover up the mechanical equipment that runs the bunker and isn’t even hooked into the local grid.”

“Fascinating.” Dean said, with sarcasm so dry Sam completely missed it.

“That’s what I thought. So I came up to check it out, you know, see how the systems were set up, just in case something ever goes wrong… again. But what I found was,” Sam opened the double doors that creaked loudly in the cavernous space that they step into.

It was like a cathedral, vast and empty with a vaulted ceiling thirty feet high. It was saved from being gloomy, all that grey stone and dark ironwork rafters, by two of the walls which were striped with four sets of floor to ceiling windows and there were large skylights above. Most surprising to Dean was the fact that they were all, miraculously, unbroken. The rest of the space was mostly empty, with just a few bulky pieces of equipment that looked like they were part of the bunker’s various mechanical systems. That looked like all that had been there, at least that was all before Sam had gotten to the space. Now, there were two rows of what looked to Dean like black, plastic bathtubs standing near the south side of the room. And there were long fluorescent tube light fixtures suspended above them.

“That doesn’t look like mechanical equipment.”

Sam laughed. “It’s not. But the space was completely empty when I found it. But it had electricity and a sprinkler system and I think it’s actually heated. Or, at least, there’s ductwork that seems to come up from below.”

They had been wandering closer to the tubs as Sam talked. As they got up to them, Dean could see that they were each filled with rich, dark soil. There was also a network of PVC pipes that ran along over the top of the tubs, with red, shut off valves and nozzles every so often.

Dean sneezed. It had come up so suddenly he hadn’t even had time to cover his mouth, just turned to the side. The noise echoing back to him from every corner.

“I’ve swept up, but it’s still pretty dusty, I guess.”

Dean sniffled and asked, “Did you do all this?”

“Yeah. I’ve been working on it for the last couple months. The tubs are 150 gallon stock tanks that I got from the Tractor Supply over in Smith Center. But I scrounged most of the rest of the supplies. I set up the lights because, even with all the windows, I just don’t know if the plants will get enough sunlight. And I flushed the irrigation system throughly and tested it for lead, since, you know the building was built back in the 30’s. But everything is clear and yeah.” Sam looked at Dean. “What do you think?”

“You gonna be growing pot in here or something?”

Sam laughed again and shook his head. “I was thinking more, vegetables and herbs.”

“Oh.”

“Try not to sound so disappointed.”

“Well, I’m not going to lie, I’d be more excited about pot. But this is impressive, Sammy.” “You think?”

“Yeah. You put a lot of work into this. Why didn’t you ask for help?”

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. I just started working on it and then it was just… something to do. Plus I didn’t want you trying to claim it and fill it up with cars or something.”

Dean looked into the tubs. “You plant anything yet?”

“No, I actually need to go pick up the plants and thought you might want to ride over with me? We can get lunch at Pete’s and then swing by the nursery?”

“Yeah, okay. Barbecue sounds great.”

They were almost out the door when Dean sneezed again. “Damn. I think you need to sweep again.”

Down in the garage, they both got into the Impala, doors squeaking and banging shut in unison. Dean had the key in the ignition and was just about to start her up when he stopped and looked at Sam.

“How many plants are you planning on getting?”

Sam narrowed his eyes, Dean could practically see him going through his mental list. They both turned and looked in the backseat at the same time.

“Uh…” Sam started.

“Why don’t we take the truck instead?”

“Yeah, probably a good idea.”

So they took the old pick-up truck. It was a 1946 Chevrolet 3100 in Morat Green. Sam thought the name sounded made up, but he knew better than to argue about classic vehicles with his brother.

It was an easy fifteen minute drive from Lebanon to Smith Center. By the time they got to Pete’s and parked, Sam had not only run through his list of plants he wanted to get, but had gone on a bit too long (in Dean’s opinion) about the merits of various varieties of tomato and lettuce. He’d also mentioned several herbs that Dean was about ninety percent certain weren’t used for cooking.

“Some of them are medicinal but the other have more…” Sam lowered his voice as the stepped into the restaurant, “esoteric uses.”

Dean gave him a look.

“We’ve depleted most of our supply of components. And I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there aren’t many suppliers of those things that are still willing to sell to us. So it would be a lot easier if I could just grow what we needed.”

“Okay, settle down. This is your project, you can get whatever plants you want.”

They changed the topic of conversation as they sat down, deciding without needing to discuss it, that they’d rather debate who would win in a fight between themselves and various comic book superheroes and villains. The lapsed mostly into silence when their food arrived, with only the occasional obscene groan from Dean around a mouthful of double bacon cheeseburger.

“Dude.”

“What? It’s good.” Dean asked still chewing.

“So is my salad, but you don’t hear me moaning like Meg Ryan.” “Yeah, ‘cause no one gets orgasmic over a salad, Sam.”

“Just, try not to get the cops called on us. And don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Fine, Mom.”

Shaking his head, Sam rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t quite stop the corners of his mouth from pulling up into a smile as they finished off their lunch.

It was a short drive across town to the greenhouse. To be fair, everything in Smith Center was a short drive, it wasn’t a big town. When they pulled into the parking lot there was a banner string up on one side of the entrance to the greenhouse. Several families with kids were gathered by it.

“Adopt-a-Pet?”

“Go, check it out, play with some puppies or something. I’ll just be a few minutes anyway.” Sam said as he wandered inside.

Dean made his way over and was having just as much fun watching the kids coo and squeal and beg their parents for a puppy or a kitten as he was looking at the baby animals.

There were older animals too, a bunch of cats and a few dogs. One of the dogs was laying down in its crate, and while its ears perked up at every loud sound, it wasn’t watching the chaos around it as much as the other dogs. Dean crouched down and peered at it through the bars of the crate. It was black and white with longish fur.

“Interested in adopting a pet?” a woman asked him when she was done handing a clipboard of paperwork to one of the families.

“I’ve already got a dog. I just thought I look while my brother’s getting stuff for his garden.”

“Well, each animal has a tag on their crate with information like breed, sex, age, and if they’re good with kids or other animals.”

Dean looked and saw the tag on the crate in front of him. “Otis, huh?”

The dog’s head perked up immediately.

“Guess that’s you.” Dean said. He read the tag and looked at the dog and then read the tag again.

It had taken Sam a lot longer than he’d anticipated in the greenhouse because they didn’t have a couple of the varieties that he’d really wanted, so he had to decide on what to get instead. But once he checked out, he had several packets of seeds tucked into his pocket and two long flats of young plants, and was feeling pretty good about his choices. Dean was nowhere to be seen when he carried the first group of plants out and slid them into the back of the truck, but when he came out with the rest of them, he could see Dean’s head through the back window of the truck. Plants safely stowed, he closed the tailgate and walked around to the passenger door.

A loud bark when he opened the door made him jump. Sitting on the bench seat next to his brother was a border collie.

“Dean?”

“Sam.”

“There’s a dog in the truck.”

“You always were observant.”

“Dean, why is there a dog in the truck?”

“His name is Otis. Otis, say hello to Sam.”

Otis chuffed.

“Okay.” Sam looked at the dog and then at his brother. “Did, did you adopt a dog?”

Dean just smiled at him and ruffled the fur on Otis’ head as he started the truck up. “Yes I did. Come on, let’s get him home and introduce him to Miracle.”

There was much barking and vigorous wagging of tails and lots of butt sniffing. After a few minutes, Dean declared the introduction a success and went to help Sam carry the plants up to the power plant.

“I can’t believe you got another dog.”

“Sam, he’s blind and had been at the shelter for over a year. I couldn’t leave him there. Plus, look how happy Miracle is. Now he won’t be completely alone when we have to go out. He’s got a buddy.”

“Yeah, no, I get that, I–I do. But, I just… I just think this is the sort of thing that we should have talked about first.”

“Hey, I didn’t hear you asking me about turn the upstairs into a conservatory, but I’m okay with it. I think it’s great that you’ve got a new hobby.” He sat the flat of seedlings down next to the planters and sneezed. “Shit. Man, are there cats up here or something?”

Sam looked around and shrugged.

Dean sneezed again.

“There is definitely something up here that’s not agreeing with you. Go on downstairs, I’ve got this.”

“Yeah,” Dean sniffled. “I’m gonna go take the dogs for a walk before dinner. Don’t stay up here too late, There’s still, like, half a lasagna in the fridge and I think there’s even some salad left over from last night.”

He sneezed again before he got to the door.

Sam pulled the seed packets out of his pocket and flipped through them. There was yarrow, angelica, burdock, belladonna, chamomile, and catnip. He looked back at the door before glancing over to where there was a large cardboard box tucked between two pieces of equipment that Sam was about 80% certain were part of the air handling system. After a moment he started spreading the plants and seed packets around in the various tubs of dirt, plotting out what to grow where.

The next few weeks passed quickly. Miracle adopted Otis faster than Dean had, and it was rare to ever see one without the other. Sam took them out running in the mornings and Dean took them for rides into town or out to some field or another where they went on long meandering walks in the afternoons while Sam tended to his growing garden. He took careful notes and photos, and adjusted the timing of the lights and the sprinkler system. Dean, who still sneezed at least once every time he went up there, kept his visits short and mostly left Sam to his gardening. Meal times were when he was most likely to come up, looking to make sure that his brother was eating.

“Hey, Sammy. Lunchtime, come and get it! Wow! It’s looking lush up here. Got anything edible yet?”

“Uh yeah, there’s some lettuce over there but I just want to get this set… Shit!” He swore as the sprayer nozzle he’s been adjusting snapped off in his hand. Water started to gush out of the pipe even as he clamped his hands down tight over the opening. “Ah! Get the, uh, the thing... turn it off!”

Dean rushed over and followed Sam’s gaze to a red shut off valve a little ways down the line. “Yep! Hang on. Got it.” He cranked the valve down tight and the water pressure died.

Sam shook his hands, flinging drops of water into the planter. “Thanks.”

A tiny, high pitched, squeaky sort of noise came from between the tub where Sam was working and the one behind it.

“What…” Dean began as he leaned over to look between the tubs.

“Well, no point in trying to fix this on an empty stomach. Let’s go eat!” Sam said loudly as he wiped his hands on his jeans and then all but herded Dean towards the door.

“Wait, what was that?”

“It was just the pipes, you know how pipes are. What’s for lunch?”

“Stop pushing me!”

Sam stopped but stayed between Dean and his garden. There was another squeak.

“Sam?” Dean said, glaring at his brother. Before either of them could say anything else Dean’s attention was drawn to a tiny little ball of grey and black striped fluff that toddled out from around the tub that Sam had been working on.

“I knew it.”

Another tiny mewl came from the other end of the garden and Sam’s eyes went wide.

“Dude, how many kittens are in here?”

Sam deflated with a sigh, “Five.”

“Five?!”

“And the mom cat.”

“Were you seriously just going to keep pretending like you didn’t know what was making me sneeze?”

“No! No. I was just waiting until the kittens were old enough to find them homes.”

“But why not just tell me?”

“I didn’t want it to be a big deal, I figured you’re not up here much anyway and it’s a quiet, safe place for them and, well, they’re cute.”

“But I still don’t get why you were lying to me.”

“I didn’t really lie… yeah, okay, I lied. I’m sorry. I guess I was afraid that you’d want them gone.”

Dean looked offended. “I’m not a monster, Sam.”

“I know! But I also know how much you hate cats, so…”

“I don’t hate cats.”

“Yes, you do. You say it all the time.”

“I don’t actually mean it.”

Sam just looked at him, exasperated and at a loss. A squeaky mewl, louder and more demanding than before, sounded from their feet. The first kitten had reached Sam’s foot and was starting to climb up his pants leg.

Dean leaned down and carefully unhooked it’s claws from Sam’s jeans before standing up, holding it gently in his hands.

He looked at it.

It looked at him.

It cried loudly.

“Have you named them?”

“Pfft, no.”

“Cool, so I can name them.”

Sam sighed and looked closer at the kitten. “That one’s Doc.”

Dean scrunched up his nose and looked at him. “Like the dwarf?”

“No. It’s short for Burdock. It’s a plant.” He looked over to where the other kitten was sitting, still next to the tubs. “That one is Cam, short for Chamomile. And the others are Yarrow, Catnip or Nip, and Belladonna, like the plant, not the pornstar.” He added quickly at the hopeful arching of Dean’s eyebrow. “The mom is Angelica.”

“Uh huh. You big softy.” Dean smiled at him.

“Shut up.”

Dean chuckled as he handed the kitten, who had started to squirm, over to Sam. “They can stay, just, uh, up here, okay? Now, I’m going to go wash my hands and eat. Come on.”

Sam placed a quick kiss on Doc’s head before setting him gently down on the ground and following after his brother.

[bots-and-cons]

*not transformers but I hope you don’t mind I kinda really want to share my new aquatic buddy Spot.😅* I found out in like the first 20 minutes of getting Spot home that he does what he wants. 🤣 The brat had 15-25 minutes of acclimation time left in his clear container full of pet-store water to which I was slowly adding my aquarium tank water too. But he decided he was gonna suction cup climb his way up and out (didn’t know bristlenose plecos could do that to climb out of the water) and he yeeted himself into the 40 gallon aquarium.

Spot my Bristlenose pleco and my outdoor, 18 inch almost 11 years old, common pleco Snowflake have the same idea about hiding. I can’t see you or my face is covered means you can’t see me. 😂

It isn’t like they don’t have places to hide there’s a huge (10 inch in diameter) pvc pipe in the pond Snowflake could go in but he likes his arch and Spot is literally on the edge of a fake coral reef arch in which he could go in not to mention a ton of other places in that aquarium. *sorry for the ramble but I love my scale babies😅*

I don't mind, it's pretty fun to you guys' pets and stuff. Also like what the hell, that fish just yeeted itself into a bigger tank? Impatient little guy it seems. Also Snowflake's pattern looks really pretty btw, and he seems to be great at hiding lol :D

[vaimetanyx]

Much later than I thought it'd be done, it's Stygius v2! Not absolutely perfect, but much better than my first attempt

(Full process under the cut)

[Skull pauldron] [Belt] [Greaves] [Toga + sash] [Wig + Laurels] [Armbands] [Flaming feet] [Satyr Sack] [Stygius v1] [Stygius v2] [Nectar]

For Stygius v2 I kept the blade the same, and used the same base pattern as v1 - the main change was the hilt, which I made shorter and adjusted the skull and pommel accordingly. To reduce the hilt diameter I also used some sort of shrink rubber (that I believe is meant to be used for electrical work) instead of covering the PVC pipe with foam like I did with v1

From there the process was much the same - cut away most of the bevel for the edges, then sand down to a smooth finish. I used a hand sander immediately instead of trying to get an even edge with a dremel, but even then I had some issues and decided to do the whole edge with foam clay for the smoothest finish

Before that though, I got to work on the pommel and skull! I used the same process for the resin gem at the end, but hated the colour so decided I would paint over it this time. I also made sure to pack the aluminum foil extra tightly when crafting the skull so it wouldn't have the slight give that Stygius v1 has, and caused a few minor cracks in the finish. The actual pommel was designed to be much shorter and with a smoother curve, though I was kinda making it up as I went to once again it became an area I had to fill with foam clay

Foam clay my beloved <3

After cleaning up the blade edges with foam clay and letting it set I could get started on the leaves. I used the same process as v1, though I changed the placement slightly and added a few on the sides. I also wasn't super happy with how easily the runes got lost on v1, so I cut the patterns into the foam instead of pressing them in for v2.

I used flexbond to prime the foam this time since plastidip is expensive and I have terrible luck with aerosols, especially since I don't have a dedicated spraying area and Australian spring and summer weather is all over the place which makes for a terrible outdoor spraying experience. That being said, I did use a base spray paint coat of ivory to get the sword a uniform colour before painting the colours and details

...by hand. all of it. Each colour needed a minimum of 3 coats

Then the only thing left was to spray the clear protective coats! Matte for the hilt and skull, gloss for the blade and pommel

While the edge isn't perfect and I would have liked the gem to be more glossy, I'm incredibly happy with how v2 turned out, and v1 now gets to live out its retirement sitting over my window watching over my room

[thoroughlysaucedsparrow]

AAAAAAAAA ITS DONEEE

I measured it and this thing is fucking 6’6-

(materials and process underneath vv)

Materials used:

-3 pvc pipe segments with the screw adapters

-Eva foam : 2mm, 5mm, 10mm

-Foam clay

-Thermoplastic beads

-Metal wire

-Various superglues

-Spray paint

-Acrylic paint

~~ The Pvc Segments:

I started off with three 2ft pvc segments and glued the cross adaptor on the top, then proceeded to hack off and move around pieces as I saw fit. For the top segment I believe I cut off 5in, then glued 3 to the top of the cross pipe and tossed the remaining 2in. I also cut off 8in on the bottom to make way for the spike which is around 5.5in.

(The original pipes, I didn’t really have any other progress pics of this part)

~~ The Main Blade:

I started by going into FireAlpaca and separating the halberd from Sinclair’s sprite, then broke it up into various pieces and used Rasterbator to size up the blade. After that I printed it out, assembled it, and transferred it to freezer paper to adjust it as I saw fit.

After that I cut out two pieces of 10mm foam and glued them together as the main blade, then added the details with some 2mm foam I got from Walmart I think? I proceeded to hack away chunks of foam with Eva foam with a box cutter (and almost sliced my hand open in the process) before sanding the absolute crap out of it)

Once it was all sanded and I was content with it I took my heat gun and sealed all the foam and got rid of the fluffy texture created by the sanding and filled some of the gaps with foam clay.

After the blade I was done I stuck some wire into it, then shoved that wire through some thermoplastic beads I had melted and put in the pipe, and superglued it. It really wasn’t wanting to stay so I added more thermoplastic around the outside and proceeded to add more superglue (Gorilla and Flex Seal glue if I recall correctly) which has seemed to help it stay on. It’s not 100% stable but as long as I’m careful with it I’m ok.

~~

The Spikes:

Just like the blade, I made the pattern based the sprite itself. Using the line tool in FireAlpaca I traced over the top spike and the side spike and got the pattern from that. I resized and reshaped them in a Google doc before printing them out. After that I traced two of the spike pieces, cut one in half vertically and glued them together. After that I used small triangular pieces of foam to connect the corners and with that the skeleton was done (I added wire into the bottom spike for support as it is going to be bashing the floor a lot). i then filled the skeletons with foam clay, making sure to get all the sides even and filled completely.

(I forgot to add the triangle pieces in the bottom spike until later)

Once I sanded them and attacked them with the same method as the blade the base was done!

~~ Painting:

In order to create a stable base to paint on I shoved three wooden dowels into a fertilizer box and hot glued them down. I then broke the halberd down and put each piece on the spike before spraying it with multiple coats of plastidip.

(Note- I taped off the parts that would be screwed down as I was afraid that the paint would interfere with the threading. I don’t know if it would actually cause any problems but I didn’t feel like risking it)

Once that was completely dry I sprayed it with three coats of Rustolem Black High Gloss paint.

Finally, I dry brushed everything with silver paint and added the lettering, using some black paint to mimic the paint chipping.

Once I added two coats of Rustolem clear sealant it was done!! The overall process took about two weeks and I’m quite happy with how it turned out! I may or may not have injured myself a lot during the process because I’m stupid but it was quite a fun project, and I do have more Project Moon props planned for the future such as Don’s lance and Argalia’s scythe. Once I finish my full cosplay I’ll make a post similar to this one :)

[ivoryminitower]

Echoes of Home: 77 - Steve ("classified")

Echoes of Home: FFXIV AU OC – WoLs on Earth

I woke up to the sight of my wife developing a case of qwertytis.  As delectably nerdy as she looked, lying on her tummy with her cheek resting on her laptop's keyboard, I really hated to wake her, but she should probably have some time for the key imprints to smoothe out of her face.

"Good morning, my love."

"Mm."

"C'mon.  Pry your face up and get a shower.  I'll make pancakes."

She lifted her head, peered at me blearily, rubbed at her cheek and looked at the computer with growing comprehension.

"So, comics, huh?  What got you started on those?"

"Sam told me about Superman."

"Ah.  Superhero comic books are quite the rabbit hole, you know."

"What is a rabbit hole?"

"A hole a rabbit digs to live in.  It's also something complex and interesting that gets more complex and interesting the more you look into it."  I smiled.  "Comic books are culturally significant, but please add the following to your required reading list: Alice in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and, just for grins, toss in The Hunting of the Snark.  All by Lewis Carroll."

"I can find these on Amazon?"

"They're over a hundred years old.  You can find the full text on Wikipedia."

We went down 51 to the hardware store to look at materials.  I got a roll of mylar, a can of spray foam, a length of PVC pipe and a plastic lawnmower wheel.  The plastic pipe was more of a good idea type thing, figuring we might need it eventually, but some more research suggested it wouldn't work in my project as I thought it would, so I also got a piece of aluminum.

Eorzea has aluminum, after a fashion.  It's only available from a vendor in Eulmore for battle currency.  There's no mining of aluminum ore over there, so I don't know where the vendor supposedly got it.  Further research shows there's no mining of aluminum ore here either; aluminum comes from refining bauxite, which is mined in this country but not actually used to make aluminum.

Nearest significant source of bauxite I could find is in Arkansas, about 150 miles east of us.  That's six hours by bus or three hours by goobbue to get material we'd then have to figure out how to reduce to the metal we actually want.

Or, we could, like, you know, whatchacall, buy it.  Stranger things have happened.

We got lunch nearby and went to the workshop to try to make recipes.  Tsu'na is much better at coming up with materials recipes than I am; she seems to have a knack for the visualization needed, and she doesn't have my preconceived notions.  I, in turn, have been working up recipes that use her materials, research into where we can gather, and networking in town.

Now that hunting season is starting, I plan to talk to Sam and maybe Mr. Hartman about making it known that we'll buy venison.  It'll be a bit of out-of-pocket, but we can make that up by selling venison pies.  And, as long as we're buying some venison and not keeping obvious records of it, there's no way for anyone to know we're stockpiling on our own, way above what the deer bag limits should allow.

Tsu'na tore herself away from comics to work on reproducing mylar.  From her earlier work on plastic she was able to make clear material, but making it thin, flexible and strong eluded her.  Her most promising efforts turned out to be too stiff and brittle or too thin and fragile.  I told her what I knew about surface tension and we spent some time poking holes in sheets of mylar to see how it tore.  She said she'd revisit "stringiness".  But after a couple hours she took a break to read again.

We had leftover pizza in the workshop before heading to the bar for my evening shift.  As we walked in, I saw Sam giving us a Look.  It was very similar to the look Master Shen gave us the last time we came into Flying Tigers…an "aw hell, what am I gonna do with them" look.  It wasn't a look I wanted to see on Sam.

"Evening."

He nodded back.

"You okay?  You look kinda tired."

"Yeah…didn't sleep too well after yer wife lifted my truck."

Tsu'na had set up her laptop on the bar and was sort of burying herself in it.

"Sorry, did you just say Tsu'na stole your truck?"

"No, she didn't steal it.  She lifted it.  Picked up the back end."

I stared at him.  He was totally not kidding.  I glanced at my wife.  "We need to talk."

"We need to talk," she mumbled.

"Did you really pick up the end of his truck?  Why?"

"He said Superman can throw cars.  I wanted to know if I could."

I sighed.  I tried to keep it light as I turned back to Sam.  "Well, that makes sense.  I'd wonder about that too."

"...What, yer sayin' you can pick my truck up too?"

"Dunno.  Never tried.  Have you?"

"Course I haven't tried!"

"Really?  After seeing her do it, you didn't even try?"

"I…That ain't the point!  How the hell'd she do that?  She a robot or somethin'?"

"What is a robot, Husband?"

"Like a mammet."

"Do they make mammets that look like people?"

"They're getting close."

Tsu'na considered this, then turned to Sam.  "Do you think I am a machine?"

"I don't know what you are!  What kinda people can lift trucks?"

"People with training," I said.

"Training?  What kinda training teaches people to lift trucks?"

"The kind we had."  Sam was looking agitated.  "Do you want to see my wife bleed, Sam?"

"What…?  I…"

He looked from me to her and back, not articulating the word "no" at any point.

Tsu'na scowled at me.  "Are you asking me to cut myself for him?"

"Sewing needle should do."

She pursed her lips, but brought out her Weaver embroidery hoop and pulled loose the needle.  She grimaced as she poked her thumb, then held up her hand for Sam to see a drop of blood.

"You see?" I said.  "She's not a robot.  Nor is she Superman, because that wouldn't work on him."

"Then what is she?"

What.  Not who.  This wasn't looking good.  "She's my wife, who I love with all my heart.  She went through the same training I did, which conditioned our strength.  It's not like we were born this way."

"Well, how the fuck do I know?  You keep sayin' 'classified' this an' 'classified' that!  How do I know you weren't made in a lab somewhere?"

Same as how I do.  I don't.  "You really believe that?  We eat, we drink, we sleep, we breathe…" I gestured at Tsu'na's hand.  "...we bleed.  We're people, Sam.  People with specialized training."

"You keep sayin' 'training'.  What kinda 'training' makes someone that strong?"

"I can't tell you."

"Right.  'Classified.'"

Tsu'na looked at me.  "Perhaps you should give him an explanation, Husband."

I looked back at her.  I saw she had an empty doc open on her laptop.  Give Sam an explanation.  Clever.

I sighed, thought for a moment, and turned back to Sam.  "Look…it's like this…"

He waited, looking anticipatorily skeptical.

"There's what we know, and what we don't know.  What we know includes the fact that we received specialized training and skills that make us extremely able to kill people and break things.  We know that we used these skills to great effect in combat situations.  We never had any real metrics on what exactly we could do…we just knew that with training and practice we could do things better…"

He was still listening.

"But there's a lot of stuff we don't know.  We don't know, for example, with one hundred percent certainty, that you're not a Russian sleeper agent."

He snorted.

"Or coerced by the Chinese government."

He started to chuckle.

"Or an Al-Qaeda sympathizer.  Or an ISIS operative.  Or a domestic terrorist.  Or a religious fanatic.  Or a political extremist.  Or some other flavor of sociopath, maybe one who's just one belligerent drunk away from launching a bloodbath.  We can't read your mind, we don't know your heart…we don't know you any better than you know us."

His amusement faded as it became clear I was serious.

"We also don't know who you might talk to.  Or who might overhear you talking.  Or…and here's a fun one…who might grab you off the street and torture you to find out what you know."

His face changed.  These were thoughts he hadn't had before.

"What we do know is that anyone who goes through the same training as us, who acquires the same skills as us, can go a long way toward killing people and breaking things.  And the sorts of people who'd employ said skills for that would probably train like-minded people too.  Which kind of magnifies the concern."

Tsu'na was typing, occasionally pausing to switch tabs and look things up.  I leaned in a bit for effect.  "So we know that if we let anyone know about our training, we no longer have any control over the information.  And what happens as a consequence is our fault.  However many people die is our fault.  So we don't talk about our training.  To anyone.  Nothing personal.  And that's what I mean by 'classified'."

Sam met my eyes.  He wasn't happy.  He wasn't satisfied.  But he wasn't hostile.

I allowed a humorless smile.  "Oh, and I don't know if I can pick up a truck.  After closing, if it's all the same to you, I might want to give it a go."

He grimaced.  In the mirror behind him I glimpsed the first customers of the evening coming in.

"Do you want us to leave, Sam?"

"The bar or the town?"

"Either.  Both."

Tsu'na softly added, "Please do not make us unhappy, Sam."

He looked at her a moment, looked at me another, glanced at the guys that had come in, and shook his head. "Do yer damn job.  We'll talk later."  He headed down the bar to take drink orders.

The evening was largely incident-free.  There was a bit of shoving at a pool table, but when I started to wander over they waved me off and went back to the game.

Tsu'na typed and researched.  I occasionally stroked her shoulder.  She occasionally squeezed my hand.

When the last of the patrons had staggered out and Sam had locked the front doors, he came and studied us a minute.  Then he said, "Fine.  C'mon." and led us out the back.

If my wife had picked up the back of the truck, she managed it without tearing off the bumper, but I still reached past it for the undercarriage near the tow hook.  Sam and Tsu'na watched as I braced myself and heaved.

It was the heaviest thing I've ever tried to lift.  My inner voice was saying, "You're trying to pick up a truck!  You can't fucking pick up a truck!"  But hey, the numbers in my journal say I'm more than fifty times as strong as the average schmo, and it was time I put that to the test.

I got it up off the ground.  I shifted to get more under it and started pushing rather than lifting.  It got higher.  I kept pushing.  Eventually my arms straightened.

I was fucking picking up a truck.  Most of the weight was on the engine end, but still.

Letting it down gently rather than just dropping it was a different kind of hard.  They make it look so easy in the movies.  Guess we're not Superman-strength.  Yet.

The look on Sam's face had changed.  It bordered on wonder now, rather than suspicion and grim denial.  He was seeing something amazing, and not just my wife being some kind of freak.

On that note, I looked at my magnificent miqo'te, she looked at me, and without a word we took positions at either end of the truck.  I took the heavy end.  Because I'm a gentleman.

The heavy end was heavy.  Picking up the back end wasn't as much lifting the truck as it was rocking the weight forward onto the front wheels.  But together we were feeling the whole thing.  It was a strain, it was slow, it was a lot of creaking of the suspension.

But we got it off the ground.  Maybe a foot…I had my hands full and wasn't measuring.  Should've asked Sam.  Maybe next time.  I somehow suspect there'll be a next time.

Could we have thrown it?  Perhaps a foot or two.  Certainly not like Hulk throwing boulders into orbit.  Or even Spiderman throwing a car at the Rhino.

We got it down again without breaking it.  We came around and hugged each other hard.  This was something new we had done together.

Sam approached, shaking his head.  "An' you really never done that before."

"Never needed to.  Heavier weapons and tactical gear, sure, but we never had to lift a vehicle."

"Trainin'."

I nodded. "Training."

"Could I learn to do that?"

"Maybe.  Not from us."

"...So…what else can you do?"

"Classified."

"Maybe try not doin' it in front of anyone else?"

"Sounds like a plan."