#dowel fixing

[srjsteel]

Why Bar Dowels Work Better with Quality Binding Wire

Understanding the Role of Bar Dowels in Construction

Bar dowel systems serve a critical purpose in reinforced concrete construction. Their main job is transferring loads between adjacent concrete slabs. Think of them as quiet connectors that absorb the stress of expansion, contraction, and repeated loading without creating visible wear and tear on surfaces.

Bar dowels improve performance in pavements, bridges, and industrial floors by reducing joint movement. They prevent differential settlement, reduce cracking, and help surfaces remain smooth and level even under constant strain. But installing dowel bars correctly is only half the story. The real strength comes from how well they're held in position during the pour.

Where Binding Wire Comes Into Play

That’s where binding wire enters the equation. It may seem like a minor component, but its role is anything but small. Used to tie bar dowel systems to supporting reinforcement or alignment cages, binding wire holds the structure together at its core. Without it, dowel bars shift, sag, or misalign during the concrete pour, leading to performance issues that show up months later.

The Risks of Inferior Binding Wire

Not all binding wire is created equal. Inferior wire tends to corrode, break during installation, or lose tension over time. Once that happens, the entire setup is compromised. What was meant to distribute masses smoothly finally ends up becoming a weak spot within the shape. That type of failure is not simply inconvenient—it can be costly to repair and undermine the shape’s reliability.

Why Quality Binding Wire Matters

When quality binding wire is paired with bar dowels, the difference is measurable and visible. The concrete cures around a perfectly aligned system that maintains spacing, direction, and load-bearing performance. There’s less friction during expansion and contraction, reducing long-term stress on the slab. The structure becomes quieter, stronger, and more predictable over time.

Longevity and Protection in Harsh Conditions

Corrosion resistance also plays a big role. In areas exposed to moisture, salt, or chemicals, poor-quality binding wire will degrade quickly, leading to rust streaks and internal damage. High-quality binding wire prevents this by maintaining its integrity even in harsh conditions. It grips the dowel bars tightly without degrading, ensuring the system holds firm for years.

Material Choice Reflects Workmanship

When the structure is still on paper, it’s tempting to focus only on the big-ticket materials. But real performance is often determined by the smaller parts—the ones that don’t make headlines in a BOQ. Choosing bar dowels is already a step toward durability. Matching them with the right binding wire simply completes the picture.

It’s also a signal of craftsmanship. Contractors and site managers who understand the value of quality binding wire show a deeper commitment to long-term results. They reduce callbacks, minimise cracks, and improve joint stability—all without inflating the overall material cost.

The Payoff of Getting It Right

It’s not just about holding things in place. It’s about holding standards high. Pairing bar dowel systems with the right binding wire helps ensure dowels do what they’re designed for: evenly transfer load, reduce wear, and maintain structural harmony. That means less surface maintenance, fewer repairs, and longer service life.

When dowel bars are secured correctly, they become invisible heroes—silently carrying the burden while the structure performs effortlessly. It’s a low-cost decision that delivers high-value outcomes, especially in high-traffic zones or heavy-duty infrastructure.

Final Thoughts

In the construction world, strength isn’t just about size—it’s about synergy. Choosing quality materials like reliable binding wire in tandem with bar dowels gives structures the edge they need to last longer, perform better, and require far less intervention over time. It’s a small decision that leads to lasting stability.

[spockvarietyhour]

Some updates

First week back at full time last week went decently enough. it helps that it's been quiet enough taht I can fake some of it, and not trigger too much. Still had to duck out early a couple of days, but 3 days at 8hrs? plus 6 for the other 2? great.

Let's see how next month goes. But I'm off of Long Term for now.

Also found out I've been underpaid since I came back, not by much but a lil bit thats adding up

And the ankle I twisted last week is much better, was able to do my usual walks with minor discomfort (not my first twisted ankle or even my 3rd one in the last 10 years and probably won't be the last so I know it'll be a bit.)

Also fixed my bed, it was coming undone somehow and I couldn't just hammer it back into place. it was easy enough once I had it on its side but it was annoying to get to....

[kapilasteel]

Dowel Bars in Heritage Site Restorations—A New Preservation Standard

Dowel bars, once limited to road construction and heavy-duty industrial flooring, are now rewriting the restoration rules for heritage architecture. Their seamless integration with robust materials like TMT saria bars and reinforcement solutions from trusted TMT bar manufacturers is quietly establishing a new preservation benchmark. As the conservation industry evolves, structural reliability is no longer a luxury—it’s a non-negotiable standard. And dowel bars are at the center of this quiet revolution.

From crumbling colonial buildings to ancient temple courtyards, structures born in a different era are demanding more than aesthetic touch-ups. What lies beneath—the skeletal integrity—defines whether a site can survive for another century. Here, TMT saria bar proves invaluable, offering reinforcement with strength and ductility. But when it comes to load transfer and stability between aged slabs and restored surfaces, dowel bars are irreplaceable.

Why Heritage Sites Need More Than Cosmetic Restoration

Centuries-old buildings face multiple challenges—soil settlement, climate damage, layered renovations, and structural fatigue. Often, these vulnerabilities manifest not on the surface, but in the core joints where time has eaten into cohesion. Surface repairs may offer a visual revival, but without embedded support, even the grandest restorations fail within decades.

Dowel bars address this need by acting as load-transfer anchors, especially in horizontal joints, pavements, or between floor panels. In sites where restoration teams must retain original materials, dowel bars provide a subtle but powerful solution. They do not interfere with the aesthetic, yet they introduce critical reinforcement. Combined with the TMT saria bar, the structural synergy is unparalleled. Reputed TMT bar manufacturers now offer specialized variants tailored for restoration-grade performance, minimizing corrosion risk while maximizing lifespan.

Functionality and Precision in Fragile Structures

Precision is not just technical—it's a moral responsibility in heritage work. Every intervention must be calculated, respectful, and as reversible as possible. Dowel bars provide this flexibility. Inserted between slabs or walls to connect new components with the old, they allow for controlled movement while maintaining alignment.

In earthquake-prone zones or high-traffic heritage sites, this functionality becomes crucial. Unlike continuous reinforcement, dowel bars don’t create unnecessary tension zones. Instead, they absorb movement, stabilize vertical shifts, and prevent differential settling. Their compatibility with TMT Saria bars adds to their merit, especially when working with hybrid reinforcement designs. Today, leading TMT bar manufacturers offer bars with surface treatments and rib patterns optimized for bonding with dowel-supported joints.

Bridging Time with Technology

Modern tools are enabling restoration experts to go beyond surface conservation. Ground-penetrating radar, digital modeling, and material mapping are identifying weak joints that traditional methods overlook. Here’s where dowel bars step in as the quiet saviors—placed with millimeter precision, guided by scans, and executed without visual disruption.

These bars create bridges between the past and the future. Whether it’s connecting weathered marble floor panels or anchoring restored beams into century-old stone, they work silently behind the scenes. Coupled with TMT saria bar, which continues to serve as the structural backbone, dowel-reinforced sites gain newfound resilience—unseen but unfailing.

A Silent Innovation That’s Here to Stay

No buzzwords. No sweeping claims. Just a simple, steel-forged solution working quietly beneath the surface. That’s the magic of dowel bars. Their unassuming design masks a future-proof capability to protect, preserve, and reinforce where traditional methods fall short.

When paired with the unmatched tensile performance of TMT saria bar and the advanced metallurgy offered by established TMT bar manufacturers, they form a restoration system that respects the past while securing the future. As more heritage engineers and planners shift toward scientifically backed methods, dowel bars are poised to define the new standard in structural preservation.

For those entrusted with restoring the irreplaceable, the choice is no longer just aesthetic—it’s structural. And in that decision, dowel bars deserve their place as guardians of heritage.

[omeganronpa]

Home Headcanons

A/N: Happy VERRRRRYYYYY Late Birthday to Amy @animeomegas. NGL I had ideas when you sent me your request but then I sat down to write them out and they all abandoned me. But I made you collages that fit the vibe I am going for to make up for it. Request: "Could you maybe pick a few Naruto Omegas and describe how you see their home with alpha? Like size, interior design style, amenities, any details that you always imagine for them. I love reading about how people design spaces for fictional characters. Just bullet points, no prose." Warnings: mentions of abuse, poverty, death

Naruto Uzumaki

Naruto's home evolves the longer he is with his Alpha. The very beginning of moving in together opens Naruto up to a new life he hadn't been exposed to - one outside of poverty. He, even without his Alpha, is comfortable but he didn't realize that comfortability meant he no longer had to 1) hoard possessions, 2) get used to going without, and 3) use things until they were beyond fixing. Everything Naruto brought into the home was decades old, in disrepair, and beyond saving and it took months before he could part with any of it in favor of getting new items - something he never had before.

Once Naruto overcomes some of his poverty trauma, the home becomes a mix-match of things that do not work but somehow do. You both buy things that you like and figure out how to make it work. He wants his home to be A HOME and not something from a magazine cover. He wants it lived in, where everything sparks joy. He also likes having the ability to change things as he likes and still prefers DIY over buying new.

The home is always a little messy but he keeps his home clean because he is used to taking care of what he has so nothing breaks or tears. There is a ball of laundry on the floor but there are no disgusting dishes hiding under the bed type shit.

You decide to buy a medium-sized home with an emphasis on bedrooms because you had discussions of children. Naruto really wanted a big house in the beginning but whenyou both toured one, he realized just how...disconnected everything felt. Even the open concept plan were too spacious. It made him feel like everyone would be too far away even if he could physically see him.

Loves colorblock accents on the walls and on decor items. Also loves weird looking furniture or furniture that is made of things people normally dont make furniture with. (Think - a side table made using records and metal dowels or old glasswear used as a chandelier)

Naruto also gets a lot of stuff as gifts and souvenors. He's made so many friends in different places that when he travels, he always comes home with something reflective of his destination. The house is maximalist not because of you spending money (even though you both like to buy cool things) but because he gets a lot of presents. This reflects...all over the house. You have a weird stature watching you poop now. Congrats.

He has a nook of your home that is dedicated to all his old things. He has some sentimental items from back when he had very little that he doesn't want to get rid of but they are bare bones. He also keeps mementos of your relationship (pre-moving in together) there.

Ceiling hammock. That is all.

Absolutely hates blinds (the white ones that go up and down) and yes, it is because he always gets them wonky or tangled. He wanted to replace all the doors with bead strands because they were shiny but you veto-d that with a quickness.

The nursery is the only room in the house that is somewhat less chaotic looking. There are lots of colors but they are softer and everything is a lot more purposeful. Naruto got a lot of advice from other parents about what he should do there and he is very strict about keeping it less chaotic.

Neji Hyuuga

Clean girl aesthetic but home edition. Clean lines. No overpowering bright colors. Open concept. Neutral. Kind of boring but its very calming and incredibly organized. He wants all the hard furniture - tables, dressers, cupboards, cabinets, etc to be sturdy and all the soft furniture - couches, chairs, rugs, etc - to be the softest and comfiest things you've ever felt.

He does not want to buy things and have to replace them so you both budget to get the best top quality items that last 30 years. He is infinitely grateful that his mate let him take over the majority of the decorating because he goes nuts when it clicks that 'oh, all of this new life is mine. I have autonomy and control.'

Neji is fanatical about the way his bedroom looks and feels. Due to years of trauma, he has his bed hidden surrounded by moveable walls that he can close and open at will (or with chakra.) Before kids, he only has all the walls closed. After kids, he keeps the wall closest to the door open so they can see him and he can see them.

The only things he lets go of are his pup's bedrooms and their bathroom. He had to come to terms with the fact that they will grow into their own people with their own tastes and they deserve what he never got as a kid - a personalized space thats just for them. As long as they keep it clean, he's fine. (He 100% gets excited when they want him to go shopping with them because while it may not be to his taste, he is great with decorating and matching their growing tastes)

You surprise him with a mini jacuzza bath built off the master bathroom when he went away for a mission for two months and he wants you to fuck him in it like twice a week. (Lives for the 'prince being bathed by their servant' roleplay). He didn't know he wanted one until he got it and its his favorite part of the house XD

A slut for furniture with compartments and small cozy nooks.

Hates clear tiny, peek-a-boo windows. If they are frosted, its fine. He wants floor to ceiling windows whenever and wherever possible. Loves the natural light they let in.

Takes pride in the outside of the home as much as the inside and obsesses over his pond. He likes to mediate and practice new jutsu there.

Loves a home renovation project so his home started off as a one bedroom apartment-type building because he and his Alpha were broke-broke when they moved in together and it has expanded into a fucking manor. Man said "I deserve luxury" and his Alpha said, "Yes my love."

Overall, his home is a reflection of his freedom to choose but also a reflection of his need for stability. It is a home that started from nothing and was given life by love, just like him.

Chouji Akimichi

His home is on Akimichi Clan land, a wedding gift from the clan to Chouji. The original plan was for you and Chouji to live in your apartment for another year after the wedding to save money to buy your own plot on clan land and build a home but the clan surprised you with the home a few months before the wedding. You did not tell Chouji because you had your own wedding gift to add onto it in mind.

Like most Akimichi, his kitchen and pantry are a focal point in his home. He was very specific in what he wanted and what he needed when you were discussing your furture home. The kitchen is large and spacious so he had the space to cook. The pantry is more of a walk-in closet than anything because Chouji loves to collect different ingredients from around the world and he needs the space.

The kitchen leads out to the backyard, where you designed and built a huge barbaque and cook-out area as his wedding gift. When the clan told you about the house, you began your own construction when the kitchen was done. You made sure to give it a different vibe from the inside. Chouji in the kitchen is different than Chouji on the BBQ and no, you will not elaborate.

Everything in the home is reinforced to hold an Akimichi. They are a big people. A dense people. A people who can and will make themselves bigger, sometimes just for shits and giggles when they have a little too much to drink. Their homes need to fit them. There is nothing short of a catastrophic event that is going to take the house down.

Chouji's nest area is different than his shared bedroom with you. The nest is in its own room and is shaped similarly to his pup's/pups' beds, except bigger. Its a two-level bed with stairs, curved and lined with dense stuffing and sturdy cushions on both 'floors'. The bottom area has shelves that store his heat aids and supplies. The top area is used mainly for storing back up blankets, pillows, and sheets since his heats get messy.

The pup's/pups' room - in the nursery and childhood years - start as being very whimsical in design. The beds are built into the wall and act as a sleeping space and a small play area. If any of the pups are Omegas, it also makes for a great 'first nest' area, with curved areas and hidden nooks. The rooms are also filled with all sorts of learning toys alongside several numerous large plushies.

Speaking of pup rooms, they have their own section of the house. There is a hallway that leads from the main room that lead just to bedroom doors. Chouji is Oma-shaped and he wanted at least three pups. Its in the opposite direction of your master bedroom and Chouji's nest room -for obvious reasons.

Every room has some color in it but not a lot. He likes his spaces to be calming - like Neji - but still a little colorful - like Naruto. The bathrooms are basic because he doesn't see why they need to be decorated. People aren't hanging out in there. They are in there to shit, shower, shave so why???

Fucking hates subway tiles - the white and black ones. You had to redo one of your bathrooms after a pipe burst and when the contractor put them on the table, Chouji immediately shoved them back into his bag with prejudice. He also hates mirrored surfaces - especially if they distort the reflection.

There are an abundance of random snack hidey-holes fucking everywhere. Behind paintings, in the storage ottomans and baskets, under beds, between cushions, in at least one drawer in every room. Snacks everywhere. Its very convienent.

Kankuro

The homes in Sunagakure are very different than in Konohagakure - in that they are closer together, rounder, and dusty as hell. Beehive looking ass buildings. They also look like they have hallways that link buildings together. It also looks like the housing options are either condos, duplexes, or apartments. No actual independant standing homes. As such, Kankuro and you live in a three-ish story condo.

Because you live in the desert that has sandstorms, there are not many windows. Maybe one on each floor. Not a whole lot of natural light coming in. This works well because the desert is hot and the less sun inside, the cooler the inside stays. The walls are also very curved - which might just be a stylistic choice but who knows?

The condo is very open but yet it gives the feeling of it being underground. You can see the first floor from the second floor and vice versa. There is a staircase on one side that connects the two floors. The third floor is technically an attic but it was pretty big and - when you renovated it - became a liveable, useable area. This is where you banished Kankuro's puppets to.

You were not about to have Kankuro's puppet's everywhere in your new home. You saw the state of his apartment - with random ass body parts everywhere - and decided that you were going to turn the attic into his workshop. Kankuro protested until he saw what you had done and proceeded to immediately make it the creepiest place you've ever been but hey, at least there aren't eyeballs sitting on the coffee table.

Kankuro does not give a fuck about decorating. As long as every room has the basics, he does not care. His home before you was a mixmatch of furniture that he was given from random people. The only thing he is particular on is his puppet work station. You cannot get him to choose anything to save your life and he will complain every time he sees you eyeing the homes and garden section of the store.

Because the home is technically just a building mostly made of solid earth, much of it is just one solid piece that has nooks and crannys carved into it. The bathroom is no exception. Everything is either straight lines or curved edges with no in-between but everything is a single solid smooth surface. You have one of each. They both look weird for different reasons. One of them has two different style bathtubs in it - an above ground and an in-the-ground. You don't make too much of a fuss because Kankuro likes to have sex in there more than any other room so....

You comissioned a vanity for Kankuro for his birthday so he would stop leaving his face paints everywhere in the bathroom. Its quite simple but it has three mirrors and many drawers. He sticks to purple for the most part but he has used other colors for different events. Its his favorite thing he's ever gotten from you (besides the mold of your dick. )

Kankuro's nest is wherever he wants it to be. It could be in the middle of the living room or in the kitchen or in his workshop, etc. He doesn't like having a dedicated space for his nest much like he doesn't like wearing clothes when he is home. He figures 'this is my house. If I wanna nest here (or be naked), then I can and no one can tell me no because this is my house.' However he does have a indoor hammock that he uses a lot as a nest spot.

The bedroom is...reflective of your sex life and thats all I'm going to say and you probably should never let anyone in there. Keep it locked always. The tamest thing in there is the LED sign that spells out SEX that Kankuro, the troll that he is, turns on to tell you he wants to fuck.

Kakashi Hatake

This man JUMPED at the chance to move in with you. All you did was mention your lease was ending and he was handing you a key to his family home. (Yes he had been carrying it in his pocket trying to figure out how to give it to you without making it weird....he made it weird anyway) He had avoided the house for so long but he was ready to face those ghosts as long as you were there with him. He wanted to reclaim it.

After a LOT of clean-up and some renovations, the home shaped up quite nicely. Its only a one story, one bed-one bath because fuck you if you think he's inviting people over XD. Nah this is yours, his, and the dog's space. No one is invited. (Gai doesn't count. The man comes over whether he's wanted or not and he was a part of the deal when you got Kakashi)

He specifically wanted to expand the backyard so the dogs could have space to run and play so you bought a patch of land behind the already established backyard to extend it. He got a little crazy with the privacy plants so you now have a small forest around your home. TBH this just means he can walk around with no mask and no clothes in front of the windows.

Speaking of dogs, a lot of the furniture doubles as dog beds. Dog beds everywhere. It looks like y'all collect them at this point. (And for why? The dogs end up in your bed anyway)

A reading nook doubles as a nesting space for Kakashi. For heats, Kakashi will nest in the bed but for other things, he will curl up in his reading corner and relax. He reads things other than Icha Icha but one of the bookshelves is soley dedicated to it and its on display because 'fuck you this is my house and if I wanna display my porn, I'm gonna' - said Kakashi but in nicer words. (When he feels vulnerable and you aren't around, he will put up a hanging curtain and hide)

Kakashi favors cool tones and graviates towards blue and that shows throughout the home. He originally had no interest in decorating but he wasn't about to let you go alone (because no, he needs to be with you at all times like the worlds biggest tick) so he went and it became very apparent very quickly that he had a preference. Everything he picked - at your prompting - was matching a white, grey, light blue-green sort of color scheme. Its calming for him so you went with it and incorporated your own stuff with it.

The bathroom is bigger than the bedroom and this is on purpose. Kakashi comes down from subspace after sexytime the easiest when he's being washed so the tub and the shower are much larger than normal since it has to fit two people a lot of the time. Kakashi also lives a life of constant "bruh I'm so tired I will pass out in the living room covered in filth unless someone takes me to the bathroom" moments and its infinitely easier to deal with a large bathroom.

He hates floor to ceiling windows and any furniture that is L-shaped. Something about too much sun and too many unnecessary corners. He also really hates that there are so many drawers in the kitchen but like....the counters came with them. (yes you have to keep him from shoving everything into one drawer)

The bedroom is pretty standard. A bed. A rug. Two dressers. Some pictures on the walls. A small writing desk. A bird perch on the window for messenger birds. But there is one thing that looks like it belongs but it is not what it seems. An armoire. Now, many would see it and think "oh more room for clothes" and they would be wrong. That is the sex armoire. It holds all the kinky funtime toys that Kakashi likes. (And yes, that thing is locked down more securely than Area 51. It only opens for you and Kakashi.)

Kakashi does have a memorial place in the yard for the people he loves that died and a wall inside the house for all the people he loves that are still alive. He needs the two spaces to be separate and as far away from eachother as possible. The backyard memorial is a small patch with a bunch of stones with people's names on them with a bench next to it. He sits there and talks to them sometimes. Its easier for him to be open and grieve in the comfort and privacy of his home, with his love and mate, than do it alone at the Village's Memorial Stone.

[seat-safety-switch]

People stop me at the hoarder conferences. Usually, it's after my keynote speech, but sometimes it's just in the hall. They recognize me from my magazine covers, I guess. They're curious. They ask me, "I'm just starting out with hoarding. What's the most important thing to hoard first?"

I've got an answer for them, and it's one you might not expect, especially if you've been hoarding for awhile. Dowels. Yes, cylindrical tubes of all kinds, cut precisely. It's the kind of thing we all assume that there will always be enough of, but at the time you really need it – say, in a post-apocalyptic situation – won't be available. Or it'll be too short, or the wrong material. Best to just hoard as many as you can. They're cheap now, sure, but who knows in the future?

You can use this hoard, before you break off all human contact, to help others. We've all needed a dowel from time to time. Maybe your neighbour has a hole in their house that needs plugging. Perhaps their kid has a witch costume for Halloween, and their little broom broke in the middle because it's just made out of shitty plastic. A dowel can fix both these problems, and you'll come away seeming like a hero. That build-up of goodwill – a hoard, if you will – may even stay their hand when it comes time to call the cops and have you pulled out of your squalid shithole, screaming, in fifteen, twenty years.

Another good reason is that dowels are awkward. Very long, and they roll around if you don't keep an eye on them. Starting out with dowels teaches you the skills of hoarding: precision stacking, tucking things in the right spot so they don't roll away, keeping wooden objects away from the furnace exhaust vents. Once you've mastered a hoard of dowels, you can move onto collecting an inappropriate number of any kind of trash. Plus, the word is just fun to say.

Overall, dowels are absolutely the best kind of junk to get started collecting with, if you intend to one day build a terrifying hoard of junk. Just don't take the ones I have piled up in my basement. I need each and every one of them, I swear I have a good use for each one.

[charliemwrites]

Fields of Elation

Part 1

Rating: E Warnings: Dubcon if you squint

The garden has become a riot of color in the last week.

Native blooms in every vibrant color you could find, praying for pollinators to watch from the reading nook. The first butterfly fluttered in yesterday morning while you sipped tea. You could have squealed with excitement, aching to tell someone and denying the twinge in your chest when you realized who “someone” was.

You’re not thinking of him now. No. Absolutely not. Gardens are not for blood-soaked, violent men that smell like gunpowder and smoke – and neither are your thoughts. Your thoughts are to be as sun-soaked as the flowers, bleached out by warmth and light. Depthless, shadowless.

There’s soil dusting your fingers. You kneel in the flossy grass to plant wooden dowels, support for drooping stems growing too tall, too fast. You’re endeared by them, that they’re exploding with so much life that they need a helping hand. Perhaps you’re anthropomorphizing them a bit too much. This little recess you’ve carved out of the world is beautiful but lonely.

You hum a soft tune as you bow twine, some happy new pop song about summer. Heard it on the radio in the grocery store and haven’t gotten it out of your head since. The back of your neck prickles.

“Missed your voice, bonnie.”

You yelp as big, rough hands scoop you from the ground. Strong fingers grip your thigh, a wide palm supports your ribs, tugging you close to a thick, muscular body. The rough fabric of tac gear sands against the exposed skin of your stomach. You flail until your arms loop around broad shoulders, a chuckle rumbling into the hollow of your throat.

“Missed that noise specifically.”

You gasp air for another shout, but get jostled up into a fireman’s carry, wind knocked out of you. There will be no screaming for your distant neighbors this time.

“Put me down,” you wheeze instead.

“In a mo’, love.”

You grunt indignantly as the ground blurs beneath you, tools left behind as powerful legs tread the path back to your little house. Spend the disconcertingly short journey thinking of new things to call him, since you’ve been running out.

There’s a heavy wooden thump.

“Don’t kick my door!” you screech.

“I’ll fix the damn door,” he growls back.

Your head spins as you’re dropped to your bare feet on the wood floors, just inside the back door. Steady yourself on corded forearms to catch your bearings, then open your mouth to give him a dressing down he hasn’t had since recruit days.

But a hot, wet tongue slides against yours, curling expertly into your mouth. Dry, warm lips pressing hard. That same arm curls around your chest to gather you close; the breadth of him steals your coherence as much his kiss. Your venomous words are superseded by a soft noise, one that you’ll deny is the admission of pleasure he takes it as.

When he pulls away, you find your fingers curled in the muted green of his shirt, knuckles pressed against his beating heart. Its pace matches yours.

You flutter your eyes open, find summer blue gazing back. Softer than the grass you just knelt in, warmer than the sun in your hair. You swallow back surrender, blink away admissions.

“I was in the middle of something, you bastard,” you snap.

John MacTavish grins back, crooked and arrogant, the scar beneath his eye pulling. “It’ll keep.”

“Then so will dinner.”

His eyes light up. You curse as you realize your mistake.

“You gonnae cook f’me, love?”

“No.” You back away, but it’s like trying to outrun the wind. He manages to make your deliberate retreat feel like a choice he’s making, hedging you deeper into the house. Back, back, unerringly corralling you towards the bedroom. You know it, but you’re helpless to stop it.

“S’alright, you’ve been cookin’ enough, I reckon,” he drawls. “Don’t mind makin’ somethin’ fer you.”

If by “cooking” he means cobbled together snacks that level out to something like nutritional balance, then yeah. You’ve been cooking for yourself.

“Not enough ingredients for two,” you snark, eyes sliding away in a show of dismissal. “You’ll have to starve.”

He smirks, balancing you with hands on your waist when you bump the bedroom door ajar. Your stomach clenches up like you’re on a rollercoaster. Know what’s coming next but dig your heels in anyway.

“Nah, just gonnae eat now.”

Your mouth drops open just as he pounces, squealing as your back hits the mattress. The ceiling is decorated in fairy lights you forgot to turn off this morning. They twinkle brightly as John wrestles your dirty cotton “work” shorts off your thighs, leaves them hanging off one calf.

“Goddamit!” you shout as he tears through yet another pair of underwear. Nothing special, mind, but it’s the principle of the thing. They’re not his to rip.

“Gotcha more ‘fore I came home.”

That doesn’t make it better, you try to tell him. What comes out is a warbling moan as he buries his tongue in your pussy. Licks from your shamefully leaking hole to your already-throbbing clit. He grunts in reply, deep and rough in his wide chest. Drops himself onto the floor for better access, pulling your thighs over his shoulders.

Eats you out like this really is his first and last meal. Sloppy and wet and loud, audible over the sounds you try to stifle behind your forearm because your hands are still dirty. Get away with it for all of a minute (being generous) before he’s pulling back just enough to speak – even if it’s right into your cunt.

“No, no, no, we have a deal,” he growls. You whimper as his hands clamp down on your squirming hips. “I’m home now, you’re mine. This pussy, those noises, they’re all mine again.”

Your hands fly to his hair as he dives in again, tangling in dark, course strands as he laps at you like a dog. If you could rally the brain power to speak more than unintelligible sounds, you’d mock him with that imagery. But knowing him, he’d revel in the comparison. Would bark just to prove a point.

You can’t stand that you know him.

“That’s it,” he rasps. “My goddess.”

You arch as he sucks your clit, flicking the tip of his tongue over the bundle of the nerves. Thumbs massaging into the plush of you. Stubble prickling a bit; you’ll have to remember to tell him off for that later.

“Missed me too,” he continues, flat of his tongue licking a long stripe up your slit. Strings of your slick web between his mouth and your pussy. “Dripping like you missed me, anyway.”

“D-didn’t,” you whine.

He chuckles, the absolute devil, humming as he curls his tongue inside you. Doesn’t believe you, doesn’t even deign to challenge it. Just keeps fucking you on his mouth, groaning when your twitchy fingers tug at his hair. Doubles his efforts, any semblance of restraint crumbling as the time and distance overwhelm his usually infallible patience. Overwhelm you too.

It’s been so long – since the night before he last left. You’re oversensitive and touch-starved and John is a feast for your body and soul. Lose everything to the tides of lust, the current of ecstasy. Washed out to a sea of bliss, floating on awful need. Tilt your hips into the next swipe of his tongue, back arching, thighs tightening as you shudder.

“John,” you keen, “John, Johnny.”

He makes a gutted noise. One hand jerking from your hip to slide two thick fingers into you. Tears gather and rebel down your cheeks as he zeroes in on that sweet, achy spot inside of you. He is a man for whom mercy is scarce and he has none to spare for you, stroking and tapping relentlessly. Your peak rushes up frighteningly fast, voice lost in the shock of it as you clamp down.

He works you through it, savoring your orgasm like the first inhale of smoke in his lungs. Keeps licking and rubbing until your sobbing with overstimulation, trying to scramble away.

“No, John,” you warble, “t-too much, please!”

The sound when he pulls away is utterly obscene. If you had any room in your empty brain for embarrassment, you’d wish for the mattress to swallow you whole. You flutter your eyes open and stare blankly at the fairy lights as you struggle to breathe.

John’s kissing your trembling thighs like he didn’t just ruin everything all over again, whispering devotion into your beard burn.

When you manage to sit up a bit on shaking arms, you find him kneeling there. A supplicant to the alter of your pleasure. Ruthlessly handsome, war-torn. His chin glistens with your slick. You reach to wipe it away, but he catches your wrist in a deceptively gentle hand. Keeps his blown-out eyes on yours as he presses a slow kiss into the center of your palm.

Words bubble in your chest, too honest, even for you.

“My hands are dirty,” you whisper.

“Never.”

You curl your fingers around his jaw. Tell yourself it’s not a caress, no matter how he leans into it. “When did you get back?”

“Eighteen hours.”

You bite the inside of your cheek. Gather your scattered wits. “You wore your damn boots in the house.”

He huffs with amusement, leans his forehead into your stomach. “I’ll mop.”

“You’ll shower first. You smell like travel.”

“You’re coming with me.”

“I have to finish in the garden.”

He scowls even with his eyes closed. You tap-tap-tap absently at his shoulder, where your hand has naturally come to rest.

“I’ll come out with you,” he grumbles.

“You’ll scare the birds.”

“Fuck the birds.”

You tsk, but there’s no force on earth that will keep him inside. “Mean bastard.”

He grins against your stomach. “Darling wife.”

Next

Masterlist

[ar-gemlad]

This week's crafting looked a lot like DIY and woodworking.

On Thursday I put together my new rigid heddle loom (the sheep is to acclimatise the loom as it was made in New Zealand):

Today I have put together my warping board. This was from a woodworker on Etsy. It's been in the loft for a few years so the precision joints were out of whack. Got out my Black & Decker Workmate, and a hammer and power screwdriver. Fixed it! Very reluctant to take it apart again. I've also built a rudimentary lazy kate out of a cardboard box and some dowel rods. The yarn keeps slipping off the ball and choking, so I've tried sandwiching it between cardboard disks. Still not perfect but better.

And finally - more than halfway through this warp and needed a break!

This is some Knitting Goddess sock yarn I got in a yarn swap years ago. Its time has come!

[srjsteel]

Common Mistakes to Avoid During Dowel Bar Installation: A Comprehensive Guide

Perfect concrete pavement performance relies heavily on proper dowel bar installation. These seemingly simple steel bars play a crucial role in load transfer and joint movement, making their correct installation paramount for long-lasting infrastructure.

Critical Role of Dowel Bars in Construction

Dowel bars serve as essential components in concrete construction, facilitating proper load transfer between adjacent concrete slabs while allowing necessary horizontal movement. When installed correctly, they significantly extend pavement life and reduce maintenance costs. However, even minor installation errors can lead to substantial structural issues down the line.

Common Installation Mistakes and Their Consequences

Incorrect Alignment

Perhaps the most devastating mistake occurs during dowel bar alignment. When these bars deviate from their intended horizontal or vertical position, they can:

Restrict joint movement

Create stress concentrations

Lead to premature cracking

Cause joint lock-up

Proper alignment ensures smooth load transfer while allowing natural thermal expansion and contraction of concrete slabs.

Improper Spacing and Positioning

Another frequent error involves incorrect spacing between dowel bars. Optimal spacing depends on:

Slab thickness

Expected traffic loads

Environmental conditions

Design specifications

Installing dowel bars too far apart or too close together compromises load distribution and can result in uneven stress patterns across the pavement.

Inadequate Coverage

Insufficient concrete coverage around dowel bars creates vulnerability points in the structure. Problems arising from poor coverage include:

Corrosion susceptibility

Reduced load-bearing capacity

Compromised joint performance

Accelerated deterioration

Coating and Lubrication Issues

The effectiveness of dowel bars relies heavily on proper coating and lubrication. Common mistakes include:

Using damaged or improperly coated bars

Failing to apply release agents correctly

Neglecting to protect coatings during installation

Using incompatible coating materials

Basket Assembly Problems

Dowel basket assemblies require careful handling and installation. Frequent errors include:

Insufficient securing of baskets

Improper elevation setting

Damaged or bent wire supports

Inadequate stabilization during concrete placement

Prevention Strategies and Best Practices

Quality Material Selection

Selecting high-quality dowel bars and associated materials forms the foundation of successful installation. Key considerations include:

Material grade and specifications

Coating type and quality

Basket assembly durability

Compatibility with project requirements

Installation Precision

Achieving installation precision requires:

Using proper alignment tools

Implementing accurate spacing measures

Following manufacturer guidelines

Regular quality control checks

Environmental Considerations

Environmental factors significantly impact installation success:

Temperature effects on expansion joints

Moisture conditions during installation

Seasonal variations in concrete behavior

Site-specific challenges

Quality Control Measures

Implementing robust quality control procedures helps prevent installation errors:

Regular alignment checks

Spacing verification

Coverage inspection

Coating integrity assessment

Long-term Performance Impact

Understanding how installation mistakes affect long-term performance helps emphasize the importance of proper techniques:

Reduced pavement lifespan

Higher maintenance costs

Increased repair frequency

Compromised ride quality

Moving Forward with Confidence

Successful dowel bar installation requires attention to detail, proper training, and quality materials. By avoiding these common mistakes and following established best practices, construction teams can ensure optimal pavement performance and longevity.

Professional Guidance and Support

For complex installations or challenging projects, consulting with experienced professionals and reliable suppliers can make the difference between success and failure. Their expertise helps navigate potential pitfalls and ensures proper installation techniques.

Remember, investing time and resources in proper dowel bar installation pays dividends through reduced maintenance costs and extended pavement life. By understanding and avoiding these common mistakes, construction teams can deliver superior results that stand the test of time.

For optimal results, always consult project specifications, follow manufacturer guidelines, and maintain strict quality control throughout the installation process. The small details matter significantly in achieving long-lasting, high-performance concrete pavements.

[kahluacoco]

Making Mychael's Horns

My mom likes to celebrate Halloween with a family dinner in costumes. This year I decided to have a Mushroom Oasis inspired outfit. I found a peach mushroom sweater very similar to Mychael's in day three, and his gloves, but I knew what I really wanted to try was to wear his horns! I haven't done a craft project in a while, and I haven't done any cosplay before. This is documenting the process and has some accompanying pictures.

Before the essay starts, (I wrote a lot!) here's the finished product! It was lightweight and fun to make!

Here are the materials I used. Since I made this across multiple days I took some pictures for fun. I didn't expect to make this into a blog post but here we are! Sharing this out in case you want to try and make this. The products I noted here are not to advertise anything, I just tried to find the cheapest materials I could use. I also noted the prices.

Total Cost was ~$22 USD but that includes extra material for other projects. I bought all this at Walmart. I noted all the materials and detailed instructions below!

Materials

Acrylic Red Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Flag Red) $0.58

Acrylic Yellow Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Bright Yellow) $0.58

Acrylic White Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Snow White) $0.58

Acrylic Blue Paint (Apple Barrel Matte Too Blue) $0.58

Mod Podge Matte-Mat-Mate $4.94 for 8 fl oz

Foam Brush (optional for blending) ($1.48 for 4)

Some paint brushes (a few sizes for basecoating and details - $2.98 for 3 brushes)

Pencil

Thin wood dowel $0.42 around 1/8 diameter maybe?

1 Foam Block (Medium/Small - Used as a base to hold the horns upright while working/drying) - $1.97 for 2

Blue artificial flower pick $0.50 (I got one on sale at Walmart that had some purple, white and blue flowers with green leaves. Feel welcome to grab a couple picks just in case)

2 Craft Foam Rectangular Blocks (FloraCraft Foam - I used DryFM green blocks that aren’t as porous. They’re usually used for keeping water for flowers. I got rectangles that were a bit larger than 5 in H x 3 in L x 2 in W. $1.07 for each block.)

Soft Fabric Headband (I used Goody Fabric Covered Headbands in neutral colors. You can get one similar to your haircolor $4.48 for 3)

Hot Glue Gun (I owned one already)

Dinner Knife

Gloves and Face Mask

Scissors

Here are the steps. I added in a lot of notes for gotchas/oopsies that I ran into.

Instructions

Carving the horns

With the large foam rectangular blocks, draw out the shape of the horns on the two widest sides gently with a pencil. This will help guide carving.

With the serrated knife cut gently along the areas around the lines to form the rough shape of the horns.

Don’t cut directly along the line. Cut out from the rectangle a rough polygon shape to start that is a bit bigger then the drawn lines. Then slowly start carving closer like carving a fruit and curving the knife. You can cut larger shavings for the rough shape, but try to cut smaller shavings as you get closer to your drawn lines so that you can get more detailed easily. The less you cut, the easier it is to fix. If you cut more, then you aren’t able to add foam back. Take your time cutting. See drawing on process.

Since the foam is soft, you can optionally cut the rough shape and use your fingers to smooth the edges and curves of the horns

Once you’ve completed one horn, you can work on the other. As you carve, compare the two horns and try to make them similar in width, height and length.

Recommendations/Notes

Line your work area with a bag for easier cleanup.

I recommend wearing a face mask and gloves so you don’t breath in the fine dry foam as you’re working with it. It’ll get messy if you cut fast. It’ll cling to your hands and maybe clothes.

Be careful with the knife, I ended up using a small serrated dinner carving knife

Treat the foam gently, it can be easily squished if you grip it too strongly

If you want to buy an extra block to practice carving a 3d shape, it might be helpful

No worries if the two horns aren’t exactly the same. Imagine that a horn is like a thumbprint, no two are alike :)

After all the carving, the horns were roughly 5 in H x 3 in L x 2 in D. Feel welcome to make them smaller or larger.

Strengthening the horns

Gently clean away with your gloved hands as much of the foam dust as you can from the exterior of the horns.

Cut up the wood dowel into a couple of small pieces. This will be used to prop up the horns so they’re upright and allow them to dry. Gently poke through the bottom of the horns with the dowel, and poke the dowel through the base foam block.

Pour some mod podge into a reusable cup and with a medium/large brush coat the first layer on both horns. Paint all over the horns including the bottom.

Wait for it to dry and continue to coat the horns with additional layers until it isn’t porous anymore

Recommendations/Notes

Since the foam is porous and soft, some mod podge or similar material will help fill in the holes and strengthen it

Even though the exterior is strengthened and prepped for painting, the foam can still be squished if too much pressure is on it (squeezing it strongly, hitting it with something, etc). I chose this foam since it was lightweight and would be easier to wear, but that is the main downside.

You can use a blow dryer on low heat to help speed up drying. I think I waited at least 15-20+ minutes in between layers. I would go about and do some other stuff around the house and come back to it.

I coated the horns with about 2-3 layers of mod podge.

Painting the horns

To cover up the green foam, paint a base coat with the darkest red of the horns. You’ll need about 2-3 layers of base coat to cover all the horns in red. Let the horns dry a bit in between coats.

After the base coats are fully dry, prepare the three horn colors to make the gradient. Paint the darker red at the top, the orange around the middle, and the soft yellow near the base and bottom. Feel welcome to blend with a brush or even some gloved fingers! Let the horns dry a bit and apply additional coats as need until you get the desired result.

Once the gradient on the horns is fully dry, make the spots color and plan out where your spots will be before painting them on. Have fun with it! You can try to match the spot positions in the character reference sheet or make your own. You’ll probably need to let it dry a bit and paint a few coats until they are a nice solid color.

For steps 1-2, you can use the blow dryer until fully dry or let this dry overnight. I waited overnight until the next day in between each step.

If you have a spray on mod podge or other sealer, feel free to spray the horns to lock in and protect the paint colors! I didn’t get a chance to do this. This would be the last step.

Recommendations/Notes

Refer to Mychael’s character reference sheet as a color guide. His horns are a gradient of three colors with a fourth lighter color for spots.

You may want to practice mixing colors a bit to get the hang of it before creating larger quantities. For the quantities I made about 1/4 cup or so? I don’t know the exact proportions I used since I eyeballed it to the best of my ability. Here is a rough approximation:

The darker red at the top is like a vermillion. I used mostly red, with a few touches of blue (no more then 10%), a few touches of yellow (no more then 10%).

The orange was a mix of maybe 60% red and 40% yellow.

The softer yellow for the base was yellow with some white and a bit of peach (no more then 15/20% for the white/peach colors).

The spots were made with some of the soft yellow and extra white

The red paint I purchased was the strongest color, so keep that in mind when creating the oranges and yellows. The paint I used is a bit thin so I had to paint multiple coats.

I ended up painting a base coat with the darkest red color a few times to cover up all the green foam.

I mixed each of these in different reusable cups.

You’ll want to paint the gradient all at once to blend it.

You can use a blow dryer on low heat to help speed up drying. I think I waiting at least 15-20+ minutes in between layers when applying multiple coats. Then I waited overnight to let it fully dry.

Creating the headband

Choose a fabric headband that’s closest to your haircolor (or Mychael’s if you’re wearing a wig!)

Mark faintly with a pencil where the horns will be on the headband. I placed the horns a little less then 2 inches apart from the center of the headband. Feel free to adjust to your liking.

With the glue gun, add some glue to the base of the horn and hold down firmly. Be careful for any excess glue that may spill. I added in extra glue and made sure it was pressed firmly on the hairband to secure it.

Repeat with the second horn a few inches away from the other one. Dry it with a blow dryer on the low cool setting if needed

Optional for the flowers

Carefully remove all the fabric flowers from their stems on the flower pick. Remove the plastic base and leave the stamens. Use the scissors to cut some of the back stem if needed.

Apply some glue to the back of the flowers and carefully attach them to the headband around the base of the horns. Feel free to mix around the colors and leaves as you’d like.

Recommendations/Notes

Be careful with the glue gun. If you add too much glue onto the horn, you may burn your fingers when pressing it down onto the headband.

The flowers hide the base of the horns where it’s glued. This is optional if you prefer the horns as they are. I did this since my glue gun work was a bit messy and I thought it would dress up the headband and help blend the horns to my hair. I didn’t wear a wig.

I used 5 blue flower, 3 white flowers, 3 purple flowers, 6 leaves and 5 little fuzzy blue and yellow stems I used some leaves on the sides of the horns and the back. I glued the leaves first, and then some additional flowers on them. I tried to position the flowers at slight angles around the base of the horns in the back and front of the headband.

Here's how they look once they're ready! If you do end up making these, please share! It was so much fun dressing up, maybe next time I can try to go green and make a tail.

[onehundredflamingos]

@jegulus-microfic

22 / convict / 1476 words / NSFW / explicit sexual content

“I’m not wearing this,” Regulus complained immediately. He was holding up a pair of thong underwear, white and grey horizontal stripes across it. There was a small patch sewn into the waistband — an inmate number.

“Do you want to be the cop instead?” James asked, holding up his outfit. His was a pair of deep navy booty shorts and a button down crop top. It came with a small hat with a gold star on the front, and a pair of plush black handcuffs.

“Absolutely not, James.”

“Fine.” James smiled, like he had just won the jackpot. “Then you have to be the convict.”

Regulus huffed. He didn’t know why James was so adamant about role playing anyway, but he supposed if James ended up naked in the end, what difference did it make?

“Fine.”

Regulus stormed off to the bathroom, following James instructions to put it on immediately, doing his best to only focus on the fact that he was about sixty seconds from seeing that man in booty shorts.

Suddenly there was a loud bang at the door, enough to startle Regulus into nearly falling over, second leg barely through his jeans he was sliding on over the costume.

“It’s the cops, open up!”

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Is there a problem, off—,” Regulus started to ask, but was immediately cut off by the sight of James in that outfit. “Holy shit, James.”

“It’s Officer Potter, to you,” James said, blushing. “There have been some complaints recently, I’m going to have to take you in for questioning,” he demanded, hands on his hips.

Regulus sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, deciding this game wasn’t so bad after all. “Okay, Officer Potter.”

James led Regulus to the back of their house and into their bedroom, demanding he be stripped down. “All of our inmates are required to wear the same prison uniform,” he tacked on, puffing out his chest. James reached forward and grabbed at the bottom hem of Regulus’ t-shirt, pulling it up and over his head.

“Hands behind your head,” James said, and Regulus had to hold back a snicker. James was a lot of things, but assertive was not one of them.

Not with Regulus anyway.

Regulus obliged, putting his hands behind his head, palms flush against his dark curls. He watched as James opened each handcuff before disappearing behind him, snicking each cuff shut around each wrist.

“Pants off next,” James said, moving back to Regulus’ front, undoing the button of his jeans and sliding them down. “This is certainly more appropriate,” James said stoically, gesturing to Regulus’ thong.

“What were these complaints for, Officer?” Regulus asked, looking down at James. James looked incredible in the crop top he chose, a piece of clothing that Regulus never would have anticipated to turn him on so much.

“Noise complaints,” James said, shaking his head as if he was truly disappointed. “I’m going to have to punish you, and I expect you to stay quiet.”

“Where would you like me to take that punishment?” Regulus asked, small smirk playing on his lips.

James gestured with a small nod. “Get on the bed, facing up. I want your hands against the headboard.” Regulus obliged, settling his hands on either side of a single dowel lining their spindle headboard, fuzzy handcuffs still forcing them close together.

James climbed over Regulus, straddling his torso as he reached up to fix the handcuffs, wrapping the center chain around the post before clasping it around both wrists once more.

He slid down Regulus’ body and settled between his legs, pressing his lips to the fabric covering Regulus’ cock. He exhaled hot puffs of air along his length, pressed his wet tongue to the tip.

Regulus moaned softly at the sensation, at the blood rushing straight to his cock. He reached down to card his fingers through James’ hair, only to feel the yank of metal and fur against his wrist. He whimpered, wanting to touch James so badly, wanting to guide his head just a bit lower, to force more pressure against his growing cock even with the underwear still on.

After a few moments, James pulled Regulus’ cock out from its confines, immediately licking a strip up the underside, and Regulus unable to hold back the groan that was let loose from deep down in his chest. Regulus hadn’t been expecting him to dive in so quickly; James was usually so gentle and explorative to start.

Not that Regulus was complaining.

James pulled his mouth off of Regulus’ cock just as quickly as he had taken it into his mouth, looking up at Regulus and tutting. “Quiet, or I’ll have to punish you worse than this.”

Regulus liked this James. He nodded.

The first few minutes that James took Regulus in his mourh, he was quiet. So quiet he very well could’ve been not enjoying himself.

But he was — of course he was, but he wanted more.

He let out a moan, guttural and primal and loud.

James jerked his head off of Regulus’ cock, and Regulus nearly grinned at him — a wide smile to rival one of James’ — if he thought he would still get what he was after.

“I told you if you couldn’t keep quiet, I would have to punish you worse, Regulus Black.”

Regulus nodded sweetly. “Whatever you think you need to do, sir.”

James slid his shorts off and settled onto his haunches, pouring lube on his hands and his cock before getting to work stretching Regulus out. Regulus bit his lip, stifling the moans he felt trying to push their way out, quieting all of the James’ and the pleases, until James was finally pressing his cock inside of him.

“That’s a good boy, being so quiet for me now,” James encouraged, grabbing ahold of Regulus’ hips, fingertips digging into his flesh. “Did you learn your lesson? Not to be so fucking loud where everyone can hear you?”

It would be funny that James asked that question — so loud, as he fucked Regulus’ hard, headboard slamming into a shared wall over and over — if not for how good it felt, how empowered James looked in that obscene crop top.

“Y-yes, officer,” Regulus said in a whisper. James reached down and took Regulus’ cock in his fist, stroking him at just the right pace to match his own hips.

Regulus cried out, sound coming unbidden, and James immediately released his grip around Regulus’ cock, leaving it throbbing and leaking at the tip. “Looks like you don’t deserve that after all.” He quirked a brow. “Do you need me to cover your mouth to make sure you keep quiet?”

Regulus shook his head.

“Or maybe I should choke you a bit, steal your breath so you can’t cry out like that?”

James phrased it as a question, but Regulus couldn’t answer — not with James still thrusting into him, not with the promise of that.

He let out a little mewl of assent, the sound making James lips upturn, perfect smile flashing back at Regulus as he reached a hand forward and wrapped his fingers around Regulus’ throat. “Now I want you to stay silent as I make you come all over your chest, do you hear me?”

Regulus managed a small nod, even with James’ fingers curled around his neck, pinning him to the bed. He craned his neck back just a bit, giving James more access, and watched as James continued to move above him.

He was beautiful in his uniform, so confident and proud to have brought this to fruition, to have Regulus quite literally under his thumb.

James increased his pace, thrusting into Regulus hard, hand tightening until Regulus was certain he would have small bruises dotting the side of his neck — little fingerprints as evidence of his punishment for being too loud.

All at once, James was groaning, a small grimace on his face, contorting before settling into something beautiful as he came inside Regulus. James’ entire body slackened just a bit, and Regulus sucked in gulps of air as he followed James over the edge, biting his lip as hard as he could to keep from crying out.

James looked up at Regulus, panting softly, sweat dotting his brow. “Good boy, Reg,” James said, only half breaking character. “You were so quiet for me.”

James pressed a soft kiss to Regulus’ lips.

“James,” Regulus said in response. “Why do you look so fucking good in that stupid shirt?”

James laughed. “I don’t know, Reg, but I’m dying to see what it looks like on you.”

Regulus wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of him playing the cop role, but if he got to bend James over and punish him, he was sure it wouldn’t be so bad, after all.

[kapilasteel]

Mistakes to Avoid While Installing Bar Dowels in TMT Steel

Bar dowel installation in TMT saria bar and TMT steel components requires precision and expertise. When creation initiatives fail in advance, mistaken dowel placement regularly emerges as a high offender. These seemingly small metal connectors play an extensive role in structural integrity, but their set up often suffers from preventable errors that compromise complete building systems.

Proper bar dowel placement creates essential load transfer points between concrete sections. When installed correctly in high-quality TMT steel, these connections allow for controlled movement while maintaining structural continuity. However, even experienced contractors make critical errors that undermine this fundamental construction element.

Common Installation Mistakes That Compromise Structural Integrity

Misalignment stands as perhaps the most frequent error during bar dowel installation. When dowels aren't perfectly parallel to the intended direction of movement, they create binding forces that prevent proper expansion and contraction. This misalignment strains the surrounding TMT saria bar framework and eventually leads to cracking as the structure attempts to move naturally.

Incorrect embedment depth presents another serious issue. Bar dowels must penetrate sufficiently into both connected elements to transfer loads effectively. Shallow placement in TMT steel connections fails to engage enough material for proper force distribution, while excessive penetration can restrict necessary movement and create stress concentration points.

Inadequate sleeve installation frequently undermines dowel performance. These sleeves allow one end of the bar dowel to move freely while the other remains fixed. When contractors install damaged sleeves or improperly seal them against concrete intrusion, the system loses its movement capability. Quality TMT saria bar connections demand meticulous sleeve preparation to ensure long-term performance.

Improper spacing between bar dowels creates uneven load distribution across joints. When dowels bunch too closely together, stress concentrates in small areas of the TMT steel framework rather than distributing evenly. Conversely, excessive spacing leaves sections unsupported, forcing individual dowels to carry more load than designed.

Material Selection and Preparation Issues

Using incompatible materials represents a surprisingly common mistake. Bar dowels must match the surrounding TMT steel in terms of strength and corrosion resistance. Mixing standard steel dowels with premium TMT saria bar can create galvanic reactions that accelerate corrosion and premature failure.

Inadequate corrosion protection frequently dooms installations before they even begin service. Bar dowels often bridge between interior and exterior environments with dramatically different exposure conditions. Without proper coating or material selection, these components can deteriorate rapidly, especially when used with high-quality TMT steel that would otherwise outlast standard components.

Failing to prepare bar ends properly introduces another vulnerability. Rough-cut or damaged ends create stress concentration points that can initiate cracks in surrounding concrete. Each bar dowel requires smooth, burr-free ends to perform as designed within TMT saria bar frameworks.

Installation Process Refinements

Rushing installation timing leads to numerous problems. Bar dowels placed too early may shift during subsequent construction activities, while installation too late often forces compromises in placement accuracy. The optimal installation window depends on specific project sequencing and TMT steel component assembly.

Neglecting proper vibration during concrete placement leaves voids around bar dowels. These empty spaces prevent full load transfer and expose dowels to moisture infiltration. Thorough vibration ensures complete encasement of dowels within the concrete matrix surrounding TMT saria bar elements.

Using improper tools during installation often results in damaged sleeves, misaligned dowels, or incorrect spacing. Purpose-designed installation templates and guides ensure accurate placement within TMT steel frameworks and maintain critical tolerances.

Bar dowel installation may seem straightforward, but attention to these details determines whether a structure will maintain integrity for decades or require premature repair. By avoiding these common mistakes, construction teams can ensure their TMT steel and TMT saria bar connections perform exactly as designed, delivering the durability and performance that modern construction demands.

[paigelts05]

Hey, tech side of Tumblr. Does anyone know anything about 3DS XL hinges?

The Right corner of my 3DS XL broke, and when I was trying to line it back up to fix it, I fumbled it, and the hinge corner fell out.

Now, being a dumbass in despair, still grieving my nan's passing and incredibly stressed over my 3DS's breakage, I closed my console, put the hinge back in, and tried to open the console. I jammed the hinge.

I took the hinge corner apart to try and see what actually spun, and I found that I had totalled this little bugger here:

So I went and purchased a new one. That new one looks like it had been whacked out of shape. Mine is marked with gold sharpie, the new one is unmarked.

Even though I don't have any idea what a 3DS XL hinge axel is supposed to look like in an unharmed state, the new one looks wrong.

Also, I have no idea which way is open and which way is closed, which is fun. If someone can help me with identifying if a 3DS XL hinge axel is in the fully open, right angle open, or closed state, I would appreciate that a hell of a lot.

I have built a rig that should assist me with repairs. I can use it to hold my 3DS XL in the fully open position indefinitely. If it'd be better for me to fix it when it's in the one click open state, I am more than able to re-do the required parts of my rig accordingly.

I plan on sealing the casing closed with milliput. If it can keep a small boat afloat, sealing the gap and adding a new layer to the shell can keep my poor 3DS XL from snapping again. And because of how permanent a milliput repair will be, I NEED to get this right.

I will not be replacing the front casing. The idea of taking my poor 3DS XL apart that much scares me, and repair shops near why I live are really not in the question, as when I went looking for a 3DS battery last summer, they all recoiled in pain at the word 'Nintendo'. (Except CEX, but I don't want to ship my 3DS away to get it fixed).

I plan on making what amounts to a hinge axel valve to see if I can un-fuck my hinge, and see what state the new hinge is in, and will update at various stages of my repair accordingly.

If I cannot obtain a hinge that I know will not break, I can and will just put a dowel in (with a new hole for the dowel in the hole slot because of the oval shape of the hinge axel), but I want to do right for my 3DS XL.

List of things I need help with:

If someone can help me with identifying if a 3DS XL hinge axel is in the fully open, right angle open, or closed state, I would appreciate that a hell of a lot.

What position would be best for my 3DS XL to be repaired in? I have a rig made that holds my 3DS XL in an open state, but if it'd be better for me to fix it when it's in the one click open state, I am more than able to re-do the required parts of my rig accordingly.

[naamah-beherit]

Fuck it, sneak peek Sunday.

Yet unnamed Hualian fic:

He puts a hand over his heart. “Here, too.” “They didn’t—” “Not at the temple. The dowel in the coffin.” The handle of the brush cracks, but doesn’t break. “What should it look like?” “Round. About…” Blunt pressure against his skin. Over him, Lang Qianqiu’s face, contorted and tear-streaked, teeth bared in a snarl befitting an animal more than a prince. A hit of a hammer and an explosion of pain and then—nothing. For a while, at least. It never lasted.

Chapter 2 of god better save the queen because the eye definitely won't:

They are assigned a handler, one Miss Virginia Bennett: a tall, stern woman with light-brown eyes and a frown that seems to be permanently etched into the forehead of her triangular face. She resembles a cat more than a person, which is why Jon immediately takes a liking to her. “Mr Magnus and Mr Magnus’s Archivist,” she announces, eyes fixed somewhere between Elias and Jon’s heads as they come to a stop in front of her. She’s holding a calendar thick to bursting with sticky notes and bookmarks. “Welcome.” Elias pointedly clears his throat. “It’s Bouchard, actually. Elias Bouchard. Jonah Magnus was the esteemed founder of our Institute. It would hardly be possible for a man dead for two hundred years ago to come to your aid, Miss Bennett.”

Chapter 2 of the crown you've placed upon my head:

Before, in coma, Jon was an epitome of stillness. His brain activity was at the minimal acceptable levels. His heartbeat was steady, save for a few erratic spikes during surgeries that put his broken bones together with metal and Martin’s hope. His breathing never wavered, regulated by the ventilator pushed down his throat. Whenever Catherine allowed it, once Jon passed the threshold of on the bring of death into just critical, Martin sat by his bedside and watched like a hawk for signs of activity that wasn’t machine-induced. But there are signs now: twitching of fingers, erratic throat movements, fluttering eyelids of half-closed eyes. With a heart in his throat—stupid, stupid Martin and his baseless fears—he glances at Jon’s rapidly moving eyes.

Chapter 14 of of death, and love, and absolution:

“Gege!” Yan Hai cries out like the overbearing idiot he is and makes a move towards Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng acts before he thinks. In one moment, Yan Hai is advancing with his arms outstretched, and in the next he hits a tree a dozen bu away. It took no effort, not even a flick of hand. Around him, the realm itself lingers in waiting for his command. “Is that Yan Hai?” Xie Lian asks in the silence fallen between them. The ghost fires, having skittered away, slowly return, but remain behind him, keeping distance from Hua Cheng. “That’s me, gege,” Yan Hai calls out from the heap of limbs he’s crumpled in under the tree. One questing branch slips into his hair; he flicks it off and clambers to his feet, his flickering form unsteady and slightly transparent. “Has Xiao Hua—oh shit.” Hua Cheng sees the exact moment in which Yan Hai realises who stands beside him, who took him in with the rest of the fires, who cared for them all without ever expecting a word of gratitude, whom exactly have they been calling ‘gege’ for lack of a better form of address and a face to go by. His eyes widen, his eyebrows shoot up, his mouth hangs open, and Hua Cheng would have cackled if only he didn’t dread next words that would come out of Yan Hai’s mouth like he hardly dreaded anything in his life before.

Chapter 14 of Shades of Flame:

‘Perhaps’ is an uncertainty, and Ghost has never done well with it. Nameless is a blank, unreachable spot in their perception. The flame sat in the depths of Ghost’s Void is churning with echoes of the faraway unease of the Nightmare’s Heart. The skittering of the wyrm’s many claws against the polished floor of his den is gnawing on their self-control one step at a time. Grimmchild’s absence is akin to a hole ripped in their side. Grimm swings from charming to threatening at the speed Ghost has never experienced before. The spider queen by their side reeks of blood lust. There will be violence done here, and the only question is who will be left standing at the end.

[eleventhhourfactor]

Factor Makes a Poltergust!

Part two

Last time on Factor Makes...

We got into the crafting process behind a homebrewed Poltergust, proudly made by someone with a tenuous grasp of engineering. I talked my way through the conversion of a cat carrier, the crafting of panels to attach, and even got a bit into the vacuum tube and flashlight.

Now, I hope to wrap things up by walking through the last few things: lights and the green goo orb.

Disclaimer

For those of you who didn't catch the first post, this is NOT a tutorial. I'm documenting my process, and if you want to use it as a reference for your own purposes, you are free to do so.

That being said, take precautions, people. Work in a well-ventilated area, lay out something to catch paint and drips of glue and sealant, and do not just stick your hands in stuff. Wear gloves. Goddamn.

With that said, on to the orb.

The Orb

What is the orb? Why is my title green? Which Poltergust are you making, anyway?

To answer those questions:

The orb is what holds (or bears semblance of holding) a certain gooey assistant.

The title is green because Gooigi is green.

I'm mashing up the Poltergust 5000 and the G-00, due to the base being a cat carrier and my skill limits with crafting stuff like this.

I mixed together two paints for the gooey interior: one green, one glow-in-the-dark starry kind of stuff. This was applied inside the orb, as well as to the outside of the inner bulb.

Oh, right, the inner bulb!

With a glass bowl, another foam disc, and some sealant, I made something for the inside of the orb. This is all painted to diffuse the light quite a bit.

Without the paint, it's kinda bright. But once things are painted and stacked up (with this inner disc given some Velcro), it gives off a soft glow goo effect.

For the attached tubes going from the orb to the Poltergust, I cut out some circles and stuck them inside the flap. From there, I cut another EVA foam dowel (painted black beforehand) into 7" inch pieces before gluing them to the foam circles and feeding the other ends into the dome. Don't worry if the circles come loose. They're meant more to keep this from sliding right out.

Now, onto the lights!

The Lights

It's crazy what several puck lights can do. So far they've enabled me to build a comically large flashlight that I push to turn on.

Now, though, we add the last of the decorations.

As mentioned in The Orb, I have a light shining through a glass bowl and some paint layers to give off a green gooey glow. Like I've been doing, I took another foam disc and carved a hole out of it, pressing the light down to get it to fit and to get the glue to take.

I ended up breaking the disc.

Nothing more hot glue couldn't fix, though.

For the circles I glued on way back, I glued some more foam inside the Poltergust to better brace the puck lights. The lights were glued on at two points, leaving a gap for me to stick my finger in to turn them on.

And with that, I give you...

A Poltergust.

Along with my dumbass cat, wondering why I did this to a possession of his.

Annnnd that's all, folks. If you need me, I'm gonna pass out on my couch until the local bar's costume contest comes around. Wish me luck!

(and also, remind me to take a picture with the full getup)

[seat-safety-switch]

Let's be honest, folks: you've gone through like half a dozen socks in the last couple of months, haven't you? Yeah. Socks nowadays suck, and we've all got our reasons why. Blah blah globalization wah wah market won't reward quality woo woo creeping degradation of the moral universe. That's whining, and when I whined as a kid my mom locked me in the basement until I built an intricate machine to fix whatever I was whining about. Sometimes, if my uncle was already locked down there, she'd make me do it in the shed instead. Let's go to that shed right now and make a machine to make socks.

Winter is the hardest season for sock survival. For one thing, it's real dry. You get that rough skin, that static electricity, bristly boot soles all the time, and they fall apart on your feet. Big holes. I'm sure Big Sock gets a huge rise in their stocking price – get it? – around this time every year, as everyone needs new socks for Christmas or other seasonal/denominational shopping holidays. Fuck 'em, is what I say. We're going to fix their little red wagon.

Now, you might be unsurprised to hear that humanity already has a machine to make socks. We just don't put good materials in it. Unfortunately, I was never trained to make a machine that makes "good sock materials," whatever those are, so we're going to cut a corner here and slap a Chevy small-block V8 on an AliExpress "Full Automatic High Capacity Socks Machine Sock Knitting Machine for Sport," which I paid $39.95 for and got a 15% off coupon in exchange for giving it a five star review, no matter how many children it maims. Critically: it has free returns, so I can get that forty bucks back when we've made a year's supply of foot coverings.

The most important part of this job is building a good coupling. The massive amount of torque from the vee aight needs to be transferred into the sock-making machine, ideally without breaking it. Otherwise you're going to just spend more money on clutches, dowels, wrist pins and spring baskets than you would have on more socks. It helps if you've gone through an entire undergraduate materials-engineering degree, but for those of us who have gotten a restraining order from their local university, well, we have to do what works. Which is a truck clutch, tactically welded onto this sucker, using the display unit welder that they have at Princess Auto while the employees weren't looking.

Now, let's rev this piece of shit up and make us some socks.

Okay, things have not gone well. I admit that "roaring fire" is a big downside. Turns out that these things really need some yarn loaded into them first. If you just fire it dry, what it actually does is try to turn its own asshole inside out. The good news is that I can probably wear this prolapsed chunk of smouldering wiring harness as a sock. Seems pretty warm, I'm going to count this as a win.

[homestuckreplay]

Put The Cruxite Dowel Back In The Box

(page 394-400)

400 pages!! What's next, 500? Dare I say 600? Given that we've had a few interactive pages recently that can't be easy to make, it's amazing that Homestuck is hitting these numbers already.

The past 16 pages have very quickly flicked back and forth between John and Rose, and by extension, between video games and real life. John's fully inside Sburb, in what we can probably think of as another dimension, while Rose is very much on earth. Because John is still in his house, it's really easy to forget how separated he is from the world. This rapid back and forth really reflects the constantly online + video game logic of their lives more generally. They are extremely used to crossing these boundaries, going from their daily efforts to navigate their physical houses and strife with their parents, to their Pesterchum conversations and the various other games that are part of their lies.

Another big theme in this section is Rose and John figuring things out on their own. John had Rose to walk him through the Sburb 'tutorial level', but he's no longer getting explicit instructions. The Wayward Vagabond, the Data Structures for Assholes book, and we as the reader are all giving him some information on winning his first Sburban Strife, but he's doing some of the work putting all those pieces together. I guess that can happen when you have a very steep learning curve and no time to process the traumatic things happening to you.

On Rose's end, I'm reading too much into her leaving the W stuck to the generator. A plastic fridge magnet is a kids' toy, so this is her putting away childish things, and no longer allowing herself the luxury of being silly like on p.370. But it's also a symbol of Rose's cold war with her mom, so she's walking away from that petty rivalry and towards something that - in this moment - is more serious and important, towards an actual symbol of death, which is a much darker and more adult concept. And it's honestly really sad. She should be allowed to be silly, she should be allowed to take the W, she shouldn't be on her own having to handle apocalyptic disasters. Something or someone has failed her for that to be the case.

'You wonder if your mother has any plans to have [the transformer] fixed. You guess she'd rather just play her mind games in a dark house like a weirdo.' Coming a couple pages before the W incident, I love this line. Because it is 100% reasonable that fixing the electricity is not top priority, or even possible, in the middle of a meteor shower/forest fire. But I think it's a very relatable teen emotion to dislike someone for a valid reason and then to criticize every single action they take, justified or otherwise.

I had a lot of fun with John's strife on p.397 - even when I realized it was unwinnable, I played it a few more times just cause I liked it. The controls are smooth, the programming is good, the hammer bonk noise is really satisfying. It's also interesting how the shale imp - unlike John - doesn't take visible physical damage, and from the way the health bar moves out of the vial, it's almost like the health bar is being attacked directly. I have no idea what this means though.

Even more interesting is how we can deplete exactly half of the shale imp's health with the hammer's handle, and no more. Then, when we weaponize John's sylladex on p.400, the imp is easily able to parry all of the objects except for the hammer head, which instantly depletes the other half of its health. Weaponizing a sylladex might be possible to smash a window or even to strife with Dad, but it doesn't seem to work in game. Only John's One True Chosen Weapon is effective here.

Finally, John gets some loot!!!! 32 units of build grist, good for 16 perfectly generic objects, and 10 units of shale. Looking back at p.157, that means when Rose is back online, she can deploy the Punch Designix, which... designs punch cards? This could finally be a chance to experiment with alchemy mechanics!