#Material handling components

[samequipment]

Material handling components

Efficient movement of goods is crucial in industrial and warehouse settings. Material handling components include items like conveyors, rollers, lift tables, and hoists that aid in transporting, lifting, and storing products. These tools help reduce manual labor, minimize injuries, and improve workflow. Properly selected components optimize operations, increase productivity, and ensure a safer, more organized work environment.

[emergencyplumbingil]

Why Sewer Ejector Pumps Can Fail Sooner.

After conducting a thorough investigation into the premature failure of sewer ejector pumps, several key factors have emerged that explain why these pumps might break down sooner than the manufacturer's warranty period:

Improper Installation.

One of the leading causes of early pump failure is improper installation. If the pump is not installed according to the manufacturer’s specifications—such as incorrect pipe sizing, inadequate venting, or poor alignment—this can cause strain on the motor and moving parts, leading to accelerated wear and tear.

Power Surges and Electrical Issues.

Power surges or fluctuations in the electrical supply can damage sensitive components within the pump, such as the motor or control panel. Even if the surge lasts only a second, it can burn out circuits or compromise the motor's efficiency. Without surge protectors or proper grounding, this can lead to premature failure.

Clogs from Improper Materials. Sewer ejector pumps are designed to handle waste and certain types of debris, but when improper materials—such as feminine hygiene products, wipes labeled as "flushable," or other non-degradable items—are flushed, they can clog or damage the pump. Over time, these clogs can cause the motor to overwork, leading to an early breakdown.

Lack of Regular Maintenance. Routine maintenance is often overlooked. Failing to check and service the pump periodically can result in small issues going unnoticed until they become larger, irreversible problems. Sediment buildup, worn-out seals, or deteriorating gaskets can all contribute to pump failure, especially in areas with hard water where mineral deposits may accumulate.

Overworking the Pump.

Many sewer ejector pumps are not designed to run continuously. If the pump is overworked due to improper sizing, such as being undersized for the household’s waste output or running too frequently, it can result in overheating and breakdown. Ensuring the pump is appropriate for the expected load is essential for longevity.

Environmental Factors.

Harsh environmental conditions such as excessive moisture, flooding, or extreme temperatures can affect the pump’s lifespan. Excessive moisture can cause corrosion of internal components, while extreme cold or heat can affect the motor and seals. Additionally, if the pump is exposed to corrosive chemicals or gases in the sewage, it can degrade faster than expected.

In most cases, premature failure of sewer ejector pumps can be traced to installation errors, misuse, or lack of maintenance. To ensure a pump reaches its full lifespan, it is critical to follow manufacturer guidelines, perform regular maintenance, and avoid flushing materials that can cause clogs. These preventative measures can help avoid costly repairs and ensure the pump functions efficiently for its intended lifespan.

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[yueyimold]

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[mistercrowbar]

Supply & Command -- When the typical starting party is two clueless city boys and an amnesiac cleric it's really not hard to get the leadership position...

I know material component costs were removed from BG3 but "we might have to pay the healer" provides a good reason for going through that crypt despite believing there's a tight time limit. Aldiirn here is hoping that a Greater Restoration will do the trick.

I've been replaying the game as Aldiirn and doing an in-character journal, and I was thinking of what he would be doing at camp and I was like, counting everyone's inventory. And just doing that amount has everyone else thinking oh look this fellow definitely knows what he's doing he's got a handle on this! Meanwhile Aldiirn's just screaming internally.

swollen eyes all around because those tadpoles look BIG

[path-of-grass-and-leaves]

Bioregional Magic: Sustainable Ways to Work with Native Plants

Note: Post Contains Personal Anecdotes and UPG

As someone with a nature-based practice, I completely understand the desire to work with native plants. Many of us are deeply compelled to foster a connection with our land spirits and the local flora and fauna.

But with the normalization of consumption in witchcraft spaces paired with unethical wildcrafting and foraging practices, it's important to be careful. We don't want to harm the native plant populations and the wildlife that depends on them in our quest for a more localized practice.

Learning which plants are safe to harvest

By safe, I don't mean safe to handle or consume, though this is also crucial knowledge for anyone harvesting wild plants in general. I'm specifically referring to whether or not the collection of native plant matter will make a negative impact on the local ecosystem.

Think of it this way, if your practice is spirit-focused. Will the collective spirits of certain plants really want to assist you if you're devastating their population for your own gain? IME the answer is a hard no.

Take a look at a field guide and start identifying some of the native plants in your region. Are some of them listed as endangered, threatened, or special concern? Now you know which plants you should never disturb or collect materials from.

If not threatened, are some species generally harder to find? Are they present only in a certain type of environment? Do they take a long time to mature and/or have a very specific method of seed dispersal? Proceed with caution.

Example:

Common Blue Violets are one of the first plants to bloom in my garden during springtime. I also consider them very important in my practice and like to harvest them for certain rituals. But like I said, they're one of the first native plants to bloom during spring. Which means there are going to be pollinating insects, songbirds, and small mammals which rely on these plants for food. And predators who rely on those animals.

Since this is a hardy plant that usually grows in abundance, it's okay for me to harvest some from the garden for personal use. But I still need to leave enough to serve as a resource for wildlife and allow it to reproduce for the following year.

On the contrary, I never touch my wild Bloodroot. I only have two or three plants in the garden, their seeds have double dormancy germination requirements, and they take 2-3 years to reach blooming size. I have only ever collected seeds for propagation, and even then do it rarely because I know that the ants do a much better job at this than I could.

So when we can't harvest materials to use for tools and ingredients in workings, how do we utilize these plants in our practice?

Physical Representations and Symbolism

Images, objects, and symbols representing the plant can be used to substitute organic matter that you would otherwise collect and use for workings. Consider art pieces or photos, sculptures, sigils and seals, paper cut or folded into the shape of leaves or flowers, etc.

If the plant is your main component or energy source, consider designing the working to cater to this. For example, if I'm petitioning the spirit of milkweed, I might want to incorporate aspects of air and wind, since this is how their seeds are distributed. Or I may want to add some lunar energies knowing that this is the planetary correspondence for milkweed. This is would completely depend on my intent for the specific working and which physical or spiritual aspects of the plant I choose to work with.

If you're seeking a more long-term effect, try getting crafty and using symbols of the plant to decorate your own tools. I'm talking homemade oracle cards, painted jars or boxes for container spells, decorated offering bowls, ritual jewelry, and so on.

Working with Living Plants

This one is for the spirit workers. While it's entirely possible to petition plant spirits, especially collectives, solely using imagery, working carefully with a living plant can help establish a more direct spiritual connection.

This can be done by conducting your working outdoors, inviting the spirit of the plant into your space, and asking for assistance. During this time you would leave an offering, usually fresh water, but you can also offer things like soil or compost. Obtaining a working knowledge of certain plants can help inspire ideas for more creative, species-appropriate offerings, giving your spells and rituals an extra boost.

Now if this were a plant that was on a special concern or endangered species list, I would avoid offerings and actions that could potentially disturb the plant in any way. I may work within a few feet of the plant and present my offering in a bowl, removing it at the end of the working. I would definitely avoid touching it or say, pouring out water over the soil where it grows.

While we're on the subject of offerings, consider acts of service. Once again, we're going to use milkweed as an example. If I want to leave a nice offering for the spirit of milkweed and I know that Black Swallowtails feed on the nectar and pollinate it, I may offer a potted plant of dill placed in the wildflower garden. This is because Black Swallowtail caterpillars love to eat dill and will later pupate into adults, which will be beneficial for the plant. Consider different species and their relationship with each other. You may even get multiple spirit allies out of the deal.

Cultivation and Seed Distribution

Now, we've talked about ways to avoid harm when incorporating native plant species into our practices, but what about making a positive impact?

The Act of Growing Things is actually my favorite part of plant magic. Sure, I love harvesting my vegetables, fruit, and herbs to use in various recipes, and wild plants I find in the yard are excellent allies. But there really is something special about watching a tiny seedling grow into a full-sized plant, or seeing that delicate young native perennial thrive during its first year outdoors.

Whether transplanting or growing from seed, you're inevitably going to develop a strong relationship with that specific plant. You'll learn all about its growth rate, ecological benefits, soil requirements, and more. This will lead to folklore, correspondences, and later on your own UPG related to where this plant fits within your practice.

Another option, if you don't have the energy for more hands-on cultivation, is seed scattering. Disturbed areas like roadside ditches or even your backyard are perfect for this. Whether scattering or growing in starter pots, seeds can be charmed or enchanted with a specific intent and planted as a sort of living spell.

I use Prarie Moon Nursery for my seeds, but there are plenty of other affordable online vendors. You can also check out what's available locally. There are a few native-focused nurseries in my area that have a nice variety of options depending on the season.

[ellysdreamworldd]

my wand ✵ hogwarts dr

aka the wand of a girl with severe main character syndrome

yew wood:

yew wands are amongst rarer kinds, and they're reputed to endow its possessor with the power of life and death, retaining a particularly dark and fearsome reputation in the spheres of duelling and all curses. they're often associated with dark wizards, however wands with this core have been found in the possession of heroes quite as often as villains. what is certain, is that a yew wand rarely chooses a mediocre and timid owner.

thestral tail hair core:

one of the rarest cores, which the elder wood is also made with. it is regarded as unstable and temperamental, and one of the hardest materials to work with in wandmaking as it comes from a creature which can only be seen by those who have witnessed death. it is powerful, but can be tricky to master if the wielder doesn't understand himself or isn't ready to face death.

phoenix feather core:

represents the opposite of thestrals: death and rebirth united in one thing. phoenix feather is one of the supreme cores, but also one of the rarest. wands forged with it are known to be capable of the greatest range of magic, though they might take longer to reveal it. these wands' allegiance is hard to win, and they are always the pickiest when it comes to choosing their owner. however, when they do find a witch or wizard worthy enough, they are deeply faithful and won't switch sides easily.

backstory:

this wand was forged in the late 17th century, in italy, by an ancient witch that came from the most feared and powerful legacy of dark witches at the time. her family had been terrorizing populations with their obscure powers, hexing and cursing entire generations as an afternoon hobby. the people were tired of it : after long fights and hunts , the entire bloodline was exterminated, with all of its components burned at stake one after the other. right before a group of chanting men with flaming torches showed up at her house, the wand maker managed to hide the wand in a crystal box sealed by a spell that could only be broken by someone that had the same blood and was worthy of such power. myths and legends were told in the wizarding world about the fearful legacy of witches and the lost wand that was supposedly hidden by the last of them that balanced the powers of darkness and light altogether. but no one ever believed the wand to be more than what it was told as: a legend. and after years, decades and centuries, people slowly forgot about it, the wand remaining unfound, the legend was only known amongst knowledged people. until an old italian wandmaker found the legendary crystal box during one of his travels, and without thinking much about it, he bought it, in the hope of finding someone who could break the spell and reveal the artifact . he never told anyone about it, but kept it on a dusty shelf of his shop, and everytime someone came in, he would hope that the box would react to their presence. but that never happened, and while he was starting to lose the hope of ever seeing the mystical wand , one day an 11 year old girl walked onto the shop, preparing for her first year at a wizarding school

and suddenly the box began trembling violently, until it finally fell from the shelf, like asking to be picked up. so that's what the shop owner did, and after he gave it to the young girl. one touch of her hand, and the box opened, revealing a wand of unique and elegant appearence - the wood was carved beautifully and intricately, decorated with delicate patterns, the handle was shimmering with crystals, and it ended with a moon-shaped moonstone. after recovering from the shock of witnessing such miracle, the old man warned the girl to never, ever tell anyone about her wand and its powerful cores, or else people would hunt her down and kill her while trying to steal it to benefit from its powers. he told her the wand was forged by one of the most powerful witches who ever set foot on this earth, whose bloodline was estinguished. what he didn't know , and didn't tell her , was the fact that the box could only be opened by a descendant of the wand maker, making the young girl the heir of a blooodline long gone.

but it wasn't safe for a child to carry such a legendary artifact. if word spread, she could have been haunted by people eager to obtain the wand and its properties. which is why she kept it a secret. it wasn't hard: only in some ancient books the wand was mentioned and its unique appearence was depicted, but only very few cultured people read such books, and even they labeled the existence of the wand as a myth- nothing more. which is how she managed to hide its true identity for three years, while developing innatural abilities for such a young witch to have. that was until she moved to hogwarts.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Excuse me, if it's not too much trouble, I was wondering if you could give me some tips or teach me how to introduce myself as an author? I have a serious doubt about how to start this since I'm new to this.

Writing Notes: Author Profile

Professional Bio - (short for professional biography) is a summary of your background, including details like work experience and education.

Serves to introduce you to the reader, usually to establish your credibility and forge a personal connection, like a mini-cover letter.

You can use a professional bio across many mediums, from social media profiles to resumes to blog footers.

They can range from a few sentences to a few paragraphs in length.

How to Write a Professional Bio

Whether you’re applying for new jobs or making a website for your small business, you don’t have to follow a template to write a compelling professional bio. Here is a quick guide to help you in the crafting process:

Determine the purpose. To write a stellar bio, you’ll need to know the exact reason you’re writing it. Identify your target audience and desired outcome. Knowing your bio’s purpose will help you determine its length, necessary components to feature, the ideal point of view (e.g., first person or third person), and tone.

Tailor it to your needs. You can include a short, memorable bio in your portfolio materials, along with any credentials that show recruiters you are a great employee. When crafting a bio for work purposes, writing in the third-person perspective is optimal to help you stand out to hiring managers. You can also include a brief bio on your personal website’s “about page,” which can tell your story and show that you’re capable of serving your customers. This type of bio can help you form a confident, personal connection with your potential clients and is often written in a first-person perspective to sound more personable.

Begin with the most important information. Identify the most important information and include it in the first sentence of your bio. Usually, the first sentence of a professional bio will consist of your full name, your current position, and length of service in the role. Try to keep this sentence clear and concise so that it serves as a clear hook—a long, wordy, opening sentence can run the risk of confusing or losing your readers’ attention.

Add in previous professional experience. Once you state the most important information, add a few more details about your professional background—for instance, previous work experience, job titles, professional accomplishments, schooling, or technical credentials. Keep this section focused and specific (for example, limit yourself to two or three bullet points of personal achievements), or it may seem too braggadocious. If you don’t have a lot of previous experience yet, mention a specific detail or two that shows your capabilities within the field.

Include personal details about your life. Your bio can include information outside of your personal work history. Some people list hobbies, personal interests, fun facts, or pets in their bios to show their personality.

Tips for Writing a Professional Bio

When writing your bio, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

Focus on vital information. The best bios include essential and interesting information. A biography weighed down by extraneous details can become dull or bury critical details. Your bio’s optimal length will depend on its purpose, so consider that before you begin the writing process.

Consider adding links or handles. In situations where you want readers to find you online or contact you, consider adding links for your website or professional social media pages at the bottom of your bio. Linking is especially common in biographies that accompany a writer’s byline on an online blog post.

Maintain a few different bios. Maintain a few different versions of your bio ensures that you’re ready for any situation that requires one. A three-sentence professional bio, a casual or humorous bio, and a more extended bio are all good options to have on-hand.

Profile - a written portrait of a person.

Often, a profile is published as a narrative non-fiction article in a newspaper, magazine, or website.

The story is based on facts discovered through research as well as interviews with the subject and their friends, family, or professional associates.

A profile piece is meant to be informative. It is a portrait of the person through a combination of stories, quotes, and photographs.

Tips for Writing a Profile of a Person

Capturing the essence of a person through words takes good observation and writing skills. Follow these 10 tips to learn how to write a profile:

Read other profiles. To know how to write a profile essay, read how other writers do it. Find feature profiles in the New Yorker. You can also find personality profiles throughout The New York Times, particularly in the Sunday edition of the paper. Look for what information the writer presents about their subject. At the end of the piece, see if you have any lingering questions about the person to make sure you fill those gaps in your own story.

Do your prep work. When you know who the subject of your piece is, start doing some prep work. Research the person. If they’re well-known, it will be easy to find information online. It’s important to use reputable websites in order to find accurate information—this will also save you effort when you or an editor fact-check the article before it’s published. The second part of your prep work will be writing out the questions you want to ask your subject. After doing your research and have read other articles, ask questions other writers haven’t asked yet.

Create an outline. Before you get started, create an outline for your story. Use bullet points to highlight the main points you want to make in your article. You should also figure out the angle of your story. When a journalist writes a story, they have some kind of news angle to their piece—a focus that pulls the article together. This will help you determine what information you need to find out from your subject.

Interview your subject. When you write a profile, you’ll meet with your subject and interview them at least once but usually several times for a big feature story. Be prepared with your questions but also be ready to follow the natural flow of the conversation. Ask questions during your meeting that you think readers will want to know. Pose questions that will encourage your subject to tell a story. Ask them to share anecdotes. Avoid yes or no questions. You want them to open up. Make sure to record and transcribe the entire interview. As you review their answers on paper or on your computer, highlight the best quotes.

Observe your subject in their environment. When you’re writing a profile of somebody, you need to spend time with them on their turf. Your profile piece should capture them in their environment and allow readers to see their world. If you’re writing about a musician, you might meet them at home but also go to the studio with them to watch how they compose a song. Make several trips to become acquainted with your subject—it might take a lot of time for them to let their guard down and be themselves around you.

Start with a strong lede. As you gather your information and write your profile, you must start strong. Your opening line and paragraph, otherwise known as your lede, needs to capture the reader’s attention. You’re setting the scene for your article and creating a first impression of this person, so make sure you hook your readers from the start.

Incorporate direct quotes. While you’re crafting this piece with your own words, you need to show your subject’s point of view. Quote them extensively in this piece. As a general rule of thumb, try to use a few quotes for every topic you cover in the profile. It can be a good idea to let your subject have the last word and end with a quote. On top of the subject’s quotes, you’ll be interviewing others who know this person, like friends, family, and associates. Their stories can contribute interesting information to your piece.

Tell a story. Like any other piece you write, good profiles have a beginning, middle, and end. Use a narrative writing style. Use descriptive language. Your subject is your main character, so develop them for your reader. Include any interesting tidbits and background information about their life, like obstacles they’ve overcome. This will help illustrate what motivates them.

Reveal new information. Write a unique, great profile that gives the reader fascinating takeaways about the person. If you’re writing about someone famous, they’ve most likely been interviewed before. Find additional information that hasn’t been published that makes them more compelling to your readers and gives your story a unique approach. If you’ve crafted great questions, you’ll be able to uncover fascinating information about your subject’s life.

Show, don’t tell. Many profile articles will include the writer’s experience of meeting their subject and conducting the interview. In that case, you’ll write the story in first person, including yourself in the narrative. Describe the experience using sensory details of the person and their environment. Capture what the person is like in real life to let readers feel like they know this person.

Examples of a Professional Bio

Here are a few short professional bio examples that work to establish the writer’s credentials and paint a picture of their professional identity:

Marketing bio: Sylvia Johnson has served as the director of marketing at Hardy & Jones International for four years. Previously, she ran the communications department at Marketing Incorporated and coordinated a team of copywriters at The ABC-Scribe Organization. She has a master’s degree in business administration from Great University and still cheers on its basketball team. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and photography.

Arts and entertainment bio: Adam O’Hare has a bachelor’s degree in art history from Great University. During his studies, he completed a one-year internship at the Museum of Art, where he led guided tours and spent time designing an all-new organization system for the archives. When he’s not enjoying works of art, you can find him at home spending time with his two dogs, Rembrandt and Picasso. Adam can be reached at ______________.com.

Entrepreneur bio: My name is Rachel Smith, and when I was four years old, my mother found me sneaking Brie cheese out of the fridge—it’s safe to say that I’ve always been passionate about good food. I went on to work as a sous chef in several Houston-area restaurants before getting my master’s degree in food science. After many years of cooking and eating in the city, I became frustrated that there wasn’t a reliable place to shop for high-quality ingredients near my home. That’s why I founded Rachel’s Food Company, an organization dedicated to helping you find the top-shelf ingredients you need in the kitchen.

Sources: 1 2 ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

Hi, this is perfectly fine! Here are some tips and notes from a couple of sources I found. So it depends on where you're posting/using your author introduction to help you determine how formal you want to be, what types of information you'll include etc. Definitely look at examples of your favourite writers' own author profiles as well to give you more ideas. All the best with creating your intro!

[scarlett-ggv]

Little daily flirtations

Wheeljack x reader

(I'm sorry if there is something that is not understood, the translator was never my friend.)

When you arrived at the Autobots' base, Wheeljack wasn’t the first to catch your attention. Not because he was easy to overlook, but because he was always buried in his lab, lost among tools, sparks, and projects only he understood. From a distance, you observed him with a mix of curiosity and caution. He seemed absorbed in his own world, his visor glowing as his large, skillful hands assembled parts with astonishing speed.

You thought he was the typical isolated scientist, the genius who preferred talking to circuits rather than people. But it only took watching him interact with others to know that wasn’t true. Wheeljack had a peculiar charisma, a spark of excitement in his voice whenever he talked about his inventions. He was kind and playful, yet he knew when to be serious. Even if his explosive experiments got him into trouble more times than he could count.

You didn’t have a real conversation with him until you were asked to oversee the progress of a crucial device for the Autobots' mission. When you entered his lab, he greeted you with a casual, "Hey," barely looking up from his project. His tone was relaxed, free of unnecessary formalities. Just a simple greeting, yet something in his voice carried the warmth of someone who, without truly knowing you yet, was already letting you into his world.

You smiled and glanced around before stepping closer to the large table where the half-built device rested. Its exposed wires and intricate mechanisms piqued your curiosity immediately. You leaned in slightly to examine it without touching, but just enough for Wheeljack to notice your interest.

What happened next caught you off guard. Instead of being annoyed or ignoring you, he started explaining. His voice brimmed with enthusiasm, his excitement tangible in every word. He didn’t look at you, but he spoke about its function, the materials, the improvements he still had in mind. And you listened. Without realizing it, the conversation flowed effortlessly, and from that day on, moments with Wheeljack became part of your routine. You enjoyed watching him work, the way his metal fingers handled tiny components with impeccable precision. Sometimes you helped by handing him tools; other times, you just sat nearby, absorbing the contagious energy with which he spoke about his projects. The image of the solitary scientist faded quickly when you discovered that, in reality, he loved sharing his knowledge especially with you.

It didn’t take long for you to realize Wheeljack wasn’t just brilliant in his lab. He was also a warrior. You had seen him in battle quick, cunning, using his intellect as much as his strength. He wasn’t just a defenseless inventor; he was a fighter with a spark of determination burning inside him.

And so, without planning it, without even seeking it, he became a part of your life. Someone you laughed with, spent long hours in the lab with, someone with whom the connection formed so naturally that no one at the base took long to notice the obvious.

By the end of the day, everyone knew Wheeljack already had his own human. As they liked to say.

You were no longer the newcomer at the base. You knew everyone, you had found your place, and if someone asked where you were, the answer was almost always the same: with Wheeljack.

You walked through the hallways with a lively step, already accustomed to the sparks and hums coming from his lab. You entered without announcing yourself, as always, with the confidence of someone who already belonged in that space. Wheeljack stood with his back to you, engrossed in a floating hologram filled with symbols and codes you couldn’t understand.

He barely turned when he heard the door close behind you.

—Oh, you’re here. Look at this —he said, his voice brimming with that endless excitement.

Without waiting for a response, he moved toward a corner of the lab, pushing tools and tangled cables aside with the ease of someone who worked in chaos as if it were order. He grabbed a stool and dragged it next to you. A silent invitation for you to sit.

He turned off the hologram and replaced it with another projection, this time focused on an object resting on the table. His movements were excited yet measured, his energy contagious as he arranged everything to show you his latest creation.

You sat down, watching him with curiosity. He placed the object in front of you, as if offering you a secret, then moved behind you. You smiled, slightly furrowing your brows. He wasn’t one to invade others' personal space, but this time, he didn’t seem to notice—too focused on his demonstration.

Without touching you, he leaned in and placed a glass box over the device. Instinctively, you looked up and found his face closer than expected. A blue glow flickered in his visor.

Then, with a light touch on your shoulder to get your attention, he gestured toward the device. He pressed a button connected to a tangled wire, and immediately, the small object released a cloud of purple smoke.

Your frown deepened as you tilted your head.

The smoke didn’t escape the glass box, contained in its transparent prison until, with a quiet mechanical hiss, a hidden vacuum in the table sucked it away entirely.

For safety, you assumed.

—What is it? —you asked, not taking your eyes off the strange device.

He looked proud. A lopsided smile appeared on his face as he took a few steps, picking up the object with the ease of someone who knew every piece as if it were part of him.

It wasn’t arrogant pride, but that vibrant spark that came when he talked about his creations, when he held something new in his hands with the certainty that it would work. His smirk, almost challenging, came naturally as he lifted the device, holding it with the delicacy of someone who knew all its secrets.

He tilted his head slightly to look at you, a mischievous glint in his optics.

—It doesn’t have a name yet —he said with a calmness that contrasted with the excitement in his voice.

His long, metal fingers slid over the circuits as he dismantled a piece with precise movements. He wasn’t looking at you, but his presence surrounded you, a palpable energy in the air, charged with the faint metallic scent of his lab.

—Its function is to release a smoke that can disable enemies —he continued, expertly turning a tiny mechanism as if it were part of him.

You raised an eyebrow, a playful smile tugging at your lips as you narrowed your eyes fondly.

—The mechanism already regulates the amount of smoke it releases in set rounds —he murmured while grabbing a screwdriver and adjusting a valve with a swift motion—. Now I just need to test its quality and effectiveness.

You watched him in silence, but he already knew. With every slight tilt of his head, with the way he moved around you without invading your space but still staying close, Wheeljack made it clear how comfortable he felt with you there.

—Tell me, Wheeljack… can you really make someone weak and unable to move with just one round of that?

Wheeljack nodded, focused on adjusting a component.

—Yeah, if the energy is calibrated right and applied at the right moment, I can make sure they don’t get up for a good while.

You smirked, your gaze trailing up and down his frame as you arched an eyebrow. He was still leaning over the table, completely oblivious.

—Mmh… and can the device do that too?

Wheeljack froze for a second. You could see the exact moment his processor made the connection, when the subtle trap in your words caught him. His optics flickered, his gaze shifting between you and the device in his hands. You smiled with the purest innocence.

He let out a brief, nervous laugh but tried to compose himself immediately. A failed attempt. His body language betrayed him—the slight stiffness in his servos, the way his fingers gripped the device a little too tightly.

—Yes, uh… well, also… —he muttered, looking away, suddenly very interested in anything else.

He tried to regain control, to pretend your comment hadn’t affected him. He pointed randomly toward a table cluttered with tools.

—Pass me that.

He didn’t specify what. A desperate attempt to change the subject.

You followed his gesture and saw a screwdriver. Narrowing your eyes in amusement, you moved with deliberate slowness, smiling even more.

—Of course.

<-------------------------------------------------->

The Y/N in his mind:

When I learn the verb to be I won't say anything but there will be signs JAJAJAJAJ I LOVE U WHEELJACK - EL TRADUCTOR ME TIENE HARTA MALPARID,

SHOULD I PLACE ORDERS!??!?!??!!?!?

[bonefall]

Ok, im back with more names. The bog was hard to find, so I’m basing it off of the area of Carrington Moss, which is in the area I think BB takes place if I’m reading the maps right

Also bc we’re talking about Shadowclan

Ok, so the names

First of all: Fen, Bog, Mire, and Peat, all names for this biome. There’s also marls, a rock found in the area

Again, I’ll only be using names I don’t remember being in the series (the obvious one being moss. It’s all moss)

Asphodel (bog asphodel), rosemary (bog rosemary), cranberry, cotton (cotton sedge), blackberry, bluebell, foxglove, iris, a plant called Mad-dog weed, also known as a water-plantain, admiral (red admiral), pipit (meadow pipit), partridge (gray partridge, but very rare) bullfinch, and bunting (reed bunting)

Close but you're a bit off-- Carrington Moss is, confusingly, an example of a moorland!

Specifically it is a lowland peat bog. Upland peat, lowland peat, blanket bog, dune heath, upland heath, lowland heath, maritime heath... all of these biomes are completely different, but all of them are referred to as moorlands.

Also, those names for the biome are not interchangeable. Those all have more specific meanings;

Fen: An alkaline wetland. Fed by fresh groundwater or runoff, these biomes are a lot richer in nutrients and the water is higher in oxygen. Because of this, they often have a much larger diversity of plant and animal species. Fens can sometimes become bogs over time.

Bog: An acidic wetland Thick moss, lots of dead matter, mostly a result of still water building up over many many years. Since the water is low in oxygen, you won't find many fish in these, and generally bogs are home to specialists who can handle the conditions.

Mire: Wet, muddy land that's hard to walk on Only synonymous with "bog" if you're using it in the informal sense of "being bogged down," not in the ecological sense-- a bog is a mire, but not all mires are bogs. You could have a mire made out of glue, tar, or caramel, if you were writing a really cool fantasy series.

Peat: A dark brown material formed from partially decayed plant matter. Essentially what happens when the top layer of moss or grass dies in a really wet place, is quickly grown-over by living plants, and then rots slowly underneath. A VERY important component of a bog, extremely useful as fuel.

For ShadowClan I'm actually modelling wetlands in and around Delamere Forest, specifically, because I ran into the issue you did of the British-English dialect having a lot of "overlap" in region names and scientific terms. If you want to go scouring for cool prefixes to suggest, you can check out Blakemere Moss, Black Lake, Mouldsworth Gap, and Abbots Moss.

Most of the plants you mentioned still grow here, though! Some other fun prefixes I've been thinking of though;

Lime (type of tree, no relation to citrus!)

Linden (another name for lime, which there are two types of)

Sphagnum (Important type of moss)

Snipe (type of bird that picks up its babies and flies away with them)

Coot (funny name bird)

Chaser (type of dragonfly)

Podzol (ashy soil found in places where plant decomposition is inhibited)

Quiver or Quake (Describing the movement of thick moss that has formed over the surface of stillwater, Q is a really rare letter in WC names)

Vetch (Common type of plant with a name I think is really cool)

Nymph (Baby dragonfly)

Skater, Skimmer, or Strider (Bug that hunts by gliding across the surface of water)

[bellesdomain]

Hi hi!

So I'm planning on making a CB cosplay to enter into a contest this year. I'm basing the cosplay circa 2013-2017, think Daniel Ellison, and I'm on the struggle bus with some of the garments. I could really use your help figuring out the materials they used for the jacket/shoulder boxes, the legs warmers, and the belt. I have so much love for this character and I want to do him justice. If you have any idea on how to help I will give you credits in my build book.

Red Caboose! Love the boose! And it just so happens most of my photos are 2014 or 2016, so right on the money for you.

This was at the open day 2016, I believe the guy in costume is one of the dressers, demonstrating how it all goes together. So useful!

It still blows my mind that materials are just - marketed for cosplayers now! I've not used this particular company, but as an example of ease of access of EVA foam.

The torso and shoulders are made of EVA-type foam, covered with vinyl, something like fablon... I'm sure somewhere I got better photos on how the shoulders attach to the top, pretty chunky hooks.

What I love about these photos is that the costume doesn't really fit him, it's too big, and that shows us all the details that would be so much more subtle normally!

Here's two refs from 2014, with the shoulders on a stand. I'm pretty sure the white we're seeing is the stand, not part of the costume. And here's a display from 2005 - can just make out the heavy duty snaps inside the shoulder straps. Also got a look inside the belt - but it's not very revealing! also the glare on the glass was so annoying...

The belt - well, we can't see a whole lot. I will guess that the black part is leather, for strength, with mouded latex decoration on the front - and probably painted EVA foam top and bottom? Then lined with canvas, that much we can see for sure, with the D rings for attaching the jacket - those also riveted through. the handles are on a separate back panel, buckles on both sides, just plain black leather.

Caboose's legs are much softer than some others, coaches or components for example. It'll be spandex, stretch satin, and I think just quilted over something like filter foam! the satin is glossy enough to still give some definition to the shape. Filter foam rather than batting, as it is much better to wash and dry quickly.

Hope that helps! I can't find much more on his legs I'm afraid. Good luck with the cosplay!

[theangrycomet-art]

Sparks and Optics, What the heck do they have to do with an Alien Robot’s Health: A Minor Set of Headcannons on how Sparks work in TFA

A long winded and doodled brain worm that has been haunting yours truly because I got an ask about optic colors :)

This takes @paradimeart orbabies au/"how were more bots built without the allspark" headcannon/au into account so check that for some context on the exact details of Protorbs/Protomechs and the whole “Vector Sigma is now in charge of repopulating cybertron in place of the Allspark”

Alright, enough dilly dallying, let’s dive into this headcannon turned into a Chapter in a high school science textbook

First Off, Sparks

Each Cybertronian requires their spark to live, it powers their bodies and serves as a “soul”. Basic Transformers lore there.

Though with the whole Headmaster thing, there is evidence to argue that a transformer of any faction can theoretically survive being separated from their spark chamber for some time, as Bulkhead, Sentinel, and Starscream all were able to operate and function just as heads. I believe that there IS a time limit for this determined by how much power their heads can store. There is also the fact that some bots such as Blitzwing, Lugnut, and Wasp (and maybe Bumblebee- I don’t remember 100% for him) have more “modular “ frames that allow them to move their body parts independently when seperate d drone them. Both of which aspects are another interesting topic to explore but THAT’S a topic for a whole ‘nother post.

Transcript: The default color of a Cybertronian’s optic is determined on their spark. Pre-War, when customizations were more readily available, there were far more Optic Colors. This trend , however, has all but died in present day. End of Transcript.

As read on the tin, the optic color of a bot is shown to match the colors of the charged lining of the interior of a bot, blue for Autobots, red for Decepticons, purple in Wasp’s case. Given the the uniformity of eye colors in TFA, the inverse explanation I believe is that getting Optic Mods is considered a faux pas.

Between the strained resources from the war, Autobot propaganda, and the Decepticons’ limited access to such amenities, wasting materials on such minor modifications would not only seen as wasteful but highly suspicious. Those outliers with optic colors outside the typical hues of their faction likely face scrutiny from their peers on both sides.

But what is the difference between an autobots and a deceticon’s spark?

I believe that the critical difference is their ability to process and store energon.

Spark Anatomy

The spark is built into three major components, the shield dome, the outer core, and the inner core. Each is critical to maintaining a Cybertronian’s health and ensure their long lifetimes.

Transcript 1: a Healthy “Autobot-Typical” Spark. Shield Dome -serves as defense for the spark, EXTREMELY sensitive. Inner core: -extremely dense,innermost energon, made of multiple spheres contracted together, individual spheres CAN be removed. Outer core: -CRITICAL FOR SPARK STABILITY, keeps inner core safely in place.

Transcript 2: a Healthy “Decepticon-Typical” Spark. Shield Dome -serves as defense for the spark, EXTREMELY sensitive. Inner core: -larger energon deposits, tho (avg) the same amount, red tint indicates (here there are three upward facing arrows indicating “increased”) endurance. Outer Core: - more prone to breaking down but recovers quickly.

As shown above, the concentrations of energon that build up the inner cores of a transformers spark are significantly larger in Decepticons than in Autobots, allowing them to handle larger frames with ease, but also generate greater forces of strength without tiring themselves out as easily. It’s’ built for higher endurance and energy out body, which allows them to carry heavier duty tools (and weapons) naturally without easily exhausting themselves.

However, this comes at a cost, as the outer core, or this sparks “lining” is at a higher risk of warping or or worse damage.

Which leads us to OverCharged Sparks.

Overcharged Sparks

Overcharged sparks, or O.Sparks, have occurred for as long as the Allspark has been granting life, a minor glitch in the system. They are varied, but they’re all sparks who generate high maintenance cores with very limited outlets for the excess energy they generate. They come in two major types, depending on the source of their “overcharge”.

Transcript: Overcharged Sparks: Type 1. -sparks creation had too much energy output -> hence the name, excess charge cases the inner core to be over stimulated and lash out, bashing into the outer core, warping it, or worse tearing it.

Type 1 O.Sparks’ inner cores are permanently disrupted. They cannot stabilize nor can the individual energon spheres concentrate together on their own. There is very little treatment for grown frames with this condition, with protorbs/protomechs there is a limited window during which one can encourage the spark to concentrate its excess energy into developing an outlier. HOW one is supposed to go about this is completely unknown, and though Yoketron had some theoreys, his focus was more on making sure the protorbs/protomechs in his care survived into adulthood.

Due to this fact, there was an attempt made to force more outliers out of the latest batch of Protorbs by overstimulating their Sparks at creation. This experiment forced a generation of “experimental frames” to acquire with O.Sparks.

The experiment was a complete failure.

With 60% of the frames not surviving outside the proto-mold (so many little puddles of shiny melted baby goo to mop up), only half of the remaining batch not making it past the Protorb stage. Out of the surviving batch- a little more than a 200 grew to full maturity. With all that carnage, only 7% of the survivors developed any desirably outliers l.

The rest continue to suffer a lifetime of symptoms that few doctors could diagnose, much less treat with no gain. Most of these models aren’t expected to life so much as a fraction as the average expected lifespan for an autobot.

This was done without Yoketron’s knowledge, as he did not directly interact with the Vector Sigma when it was doing its thing and left the maintenance of VS to it’s keepers. But when he found exactly WHY so many of the children in his care kept suffering… let’s just say few have ever had the misfortune to see the cyber-ninja master terrifying fury. The already limited amount of outsiders allowed access to the “Daycare” went down to exactly 1 (and it certainly wasn’t Ultra Magnus or any of his lackeys) and the bots selected for “babysitting” were run over with a fine toothed comb.

After this, the Autobots focused on standardizing models. Two of the selected models were the smaller, more energy efficient, “scout” protoform model that Bumbleebee has and the sturdy, reliable truck model that Ratchet and Ironhide share.

Hence why there are so many younger bots share frame types.

The “Success” Stories

Despite the tragedy of the Council’s meddling, there are a few notable survivors success stories of the Outliers Experiment, some who even live with minimal symptoms and some desirable outliers.

Transcript: Notable Bots with O. Type 1 Sparks: Blurr. Blurr’s spark channeld his excess “charge” into his speed. Since his spark figured this out as a protomech & stableized some, his optics were able to settle closer to a healthy cyan.

Most well known amongst the Elite Guard would be Blurr, with his outlier being, of course, his speed. His spark used the excess charge to increase his processor efficiency and in turn encouraged charge release through movement. Holding still for extended periods of time is not an option, leading to limited and short recharges, which in turn lead to increase in irritability.

Transcript: Notable Bots with O. Type 1 Sparks: Bulkhead is an anomaly amongst the O!Sparks. His spark addressed his excess charge by enforcing his frame to a heavy duty build and "grow" until his frame could better handle it. He literally "broke the mold".

Bulkhead is the only bot with an O!Spark who's excess charge was directed to re-enforce his frame. According to his specs, he is supposed half his size (and a quarter of his weight). With this re-enforced frame, he is also the asymptomatic O!Spark.

Transcript 1: Moonracer is an atypical O!Spark. Her spark tuned her excess energy to a gravity manipulator. However her small frame still struggles to compensate for the remaining charge, resulting in her going into stasis at random.

Moonracer, like Blurr, proved to be an outlier with her built in Gravitic Adjuster. However, like Blurr, her spark does not allow Moonracer to stay still for long periods of time. Her charge builds up and leads to forced reboots to re-stabilize her energy levels. (ie if she stops moving for too long than she passes out) While not the worst of the potential side effects, it has impeded her desire to be a pilot.

Transcript 2: Most Cybertronians with O!Sparks don't adapt to the excess charge. These unlucky frames life spans are much shorter due to their sparks literally burning out their frame. Their lives can be extended through extensive modding and in some cases a complete frame change but their symptoms will always remain.

Most of the survivors of the Outlier experiments do not make it to 10,000. In fact, their lucky to make it to 3,000.

Typical Side Effects for Type 1 Overcharged Sparks

Eye Rings/cracked optics

poor vision

insomnia

higher core temperature

joint stripping (can be treated with regular oiling)

chronic pain

slow self-repair nanite response (can be supplemented)

Type 2 O!Sparks

Transcrpit: Type 2 is the most common type of O!Spark, and is typically the result of severe physical trauma, whether from combat, medical procedures, just plain bad luck.

These are the result of an Outer Spark Core failure, damaging the inner core and resulting in instability. As such, Type 2 O.Sparks are rarely found in Decepticons.

Most importantly, they are Treatable.

There are 3 sub types; 2-a, 2-b, and 2-c.

Type 2-a

Type 2-a O!Sparks are typically the result of poor mental health.

Long-term emotional distress can cause the Outer Spark Core to breakdown and weaken, causing instability within the Innermost Spark Core.

The most obvious symptom is a yellow tint to the Optics. The stronger the yellow tones, the worse state the Inner Core is.

The spark must repair itself on its own but in order for that to occur the patient must address the root problem. Treatment focuses on restoring the Outer Core and minimizing stimulation of the Inner Core.

Though uncommon, many veterans of the great war have develop some degree of Type 2-a O!Sparks.

Side Effects

memory purges

poor recharge cycles

lethargy

limited EM Field extentsion

chronic fatigue

Type 2-B

Type 2-B is the result of the Spark Chamber being damaged, BUT the spark core remained intact.

Research in Type 2 Overcharged Sparks began anew when the ailing Ultra Magnus's spark stability was under question.

In his case, his Innermost Energon was severely destabilized within the InnerCore, but the cores themselves remained intact. Until the cores are stabilized and the Innermost Energon stabilized, it is best to keep the patient in a medically induced coma.

Often times the circumstances of this kind of spark damage are in an unsalvageable frame, so there is not much research in long-term treatment, but First Aid believes it to be curable with the right treatment. How much of that assessment is First Aid being overly optimistic and under a lot of pressure is left to be decided

Side Effects

Optic Cracking (permanent)

lethargy

limited EM Field extentsion

chronic fatigue

chronic pain (though this could be due to the frame damage associated with such injuries)

Type 2-C, a recent discovery

Type 2-c O!Sparks have only recently been reclassified as a separate subset with the Autobots Aerial project.

Not much is known about them, and with only 2 known surviving holders of 2-c sparks, the data pool is extremely limited.

Type 2-c damage seems to be the result of the spark overextending itself to it's breaking point. It is believed to occur during medical procedures or extreme physical trauma, or in the Jettwins cases, both. The running theory is that the sparks are so desperate to live they open themselves up to any possibility of survival.

As a result, Type 2-c sparks can be artificially stimulated into developing outliers.

Optic notes: a second pupil ring developed in the optics after the Spark is manually/medically stabilized, geometric cracks are develop. A case of nearsightedness has developed in one of the subjects though this has easily corrected with a visor.

Symptoms: None. Then again 2-C overcharged sparks typically result in short but extremely painful deaths.

Medical Notes: The Jettwins have shown none of the typical symptoms associated with Overcharged Sparks outside their optic color changing and their inner core scattering. This requires more research, but Wheeljack's running theory is that the decpeticon coding taught their sparks outer core to repair itself, and in the process somehow stabilized the center core.

Waiting for comparisons with Blurr's Spark (one of the only "stabilized" overcharged sparks known) for comparison.

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[yueyimold]

two colour plastic handles mold

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[sifu-kisu]

Parts of a Chinese Sword: The Jian and Dao Anatomy

Chinese swords are very beautiful and dangerous weapons that have played an important role in Chinese history and culture for thousands of years. Their intricate design and construction are a testament to centuries of Chinese swordmaking tradition.

One must be familiar with the complex workings of Chinese swords to fully appreciate their lethality and beauty and use them more effectively in Wushu or Kung Fu Chinese martial arts. In this article, we’ll introduce you to the various components of the Dao or Jian, the traditional Chinese swords, and their use.

Parts of the Jian / Straigh Double Edge

The Parts of a Jian Sword – Credits: Mandarin Mansion Antiques

The Jian is a type of ancient Chinese straight, double-edged sword that has been valued for over a thousand years. Its blade is long and narrow, while the handle is straight and slim. Soldiers, martial artists, and academics employed the sword in ancient China and surrounding regions. Together with the staff, spear, and Dao swords, it is one of the four key weapons in Chinese martial arts.

1. Jiantan – Pommel

The Chinese word for the pommel of a Jian sword is Jiantan, and it is there that the sword begins. It’s a metal weight at the end of the handle, and its purpose is to balance the blade so the user can have a firm hold. First only available in ring pommels, Jian pommels eventually evolved into more complex designs like the metal cap, ball, or teardrop shapes and the common disk pommel known today.

2. Jian Sui – Tassel

A Jian sword’s tassel is a decorative accessory that can be fastened to the pommel or scabbard. The Chinese sword tassel is often constructed from silk. This sheath beautifies the Jian and adds a few features that may or may not improve the sword’s effectiveness in battle.

3. Jianba – Handle

The different possible edge features on the Jian sword – Credits: Sword Buyers Guide

The Jianba is the sword’s handle, and it is always straight and slim, measuring somewhere between 6 and 10 inches (15 and 25 cm) in length. For ceremonial and combat purposes, it may be crafted from various materials, including bone, wood, horn, and even jade. The majority of Jianbas have a shorter handle designed for use with one hand, although there are also longer versions used with both.

4. Jian Ge – Guard

Traditional Jian sword guards are thin, tapered pieces of metal that can be angled in either direction relative to the blade and handle. In some cases, it can be round or square that goes between the blade and the handle. Its purpose is to shield the user’s hand from the oncoming blade and to stop the enemy’s weapon from sliding down the blade onto the hand. In some cases, it only serves as a beautiful ornamental piece.

5. Shaungxue – Hamon

A hamon is the visible line on the Jian sword that is sometimes on the blade but not always. It is a result of the differential hardening used throughout history to make the edges of the blade sharper by using clay. It is a feature most known today on the Japanese Katana.

6. Jianti – Blade

The blade of a Jian sword is narrow and long, normally measuring 23 to 31 inches (60 to 80 cm) but reaching as high as 47 inches (1.2 meters), and always tapers into a sharp blade tip. It is the only straight Chinese sword, one of just a few in the arsenal of Chinese swords, with no curving variant. The blade is forged from bronze, then iron, and finally, high-quality steel, and it is optimized for speed and accuracy when cutting.

7. Jian Ren – Edge

The straight Jian scabbard –

The sharp edges on both sides of the Jian’s blade are called Jian Ren. This Jian Ren has three sections and parts, mostly seen in the combat or martial arts type of Jian sword.

Top – razor sharp and used primarily for hacking, slashing, thrusting, but not blocking

Middle – semi-sharpened part of the blade but much thicker, which is used for slashing and blocking

Bottom – very thick, sturdy, and usually unsharpened for defensive or unorthodox offensive movements

8. Jian Jian – Blade Tip

The very point of the Jian sword is called Jian Jian. It is sharpened on both sides and made to be deadly when used for thrusting and piercing, but it can also be used for slashing.

9. Jianqiao – Scabbard

When not in use, a Jian sword is stored safely in its scabbard, called the Jianqiao. It’s usually crafted from wood and covered in luxurious materials like silk or leather. Metal fittings and tassels are two examples of possible embellishments for the scabbard.

Parts of the Dao Sword (Knife/ Saber)

The Parts of a Dao Sword – Credits: Mandarin Mansion Antiques

The Dao sword, often called the Chinese broadsword, is a renowned blade that has served Chinese warriors for millennia. Its defining feature is a single-edged blade, which can be straight or slightly curved and may be gripped in one or both hands thanks to the long, slim grip. The Dao sword has a long history of use in numerous Chinese martial arts traditions, but it was primarily a sword of the soldier thanks to its ease of use and simpler design.

1. Daoba Dingshu – Pommel

Usually, the Dao sword has a smaller metal cap of a pommel which can be ring type, as seen in the 20th-century use of the Dadao. However, the most common type is a round or wider disc shape. It serves as a back support to the user’s hand as well as a possible blunt attack tool.

2. Lanyard and Tassel

Like the Jian has the traditional Chinese tassel, so does the Dao. But most of the time, the Dao swords have a lanyard, which is meant to have a better grip on the sword and make this curved blade more effective in mounted attacks.

3. Daoba – Handle

The handle of the Dao, which can be as small as a person’s hand or the size of the blade itself, is called the Daoba. Its most common length is 8 to 13 inches (20 to 35 cm), and it can be used with one or two hands for powerful slashing attacks.

4. Daoba Shu – Ferrule

The small metal piece just under and between the guard and the handle is called the Daoba Shu. These are often circular metal rings made for extra joining and fastening of the handle and sealing and reinforcing the wrapping material.

5. Dao Hushou – Guard

The metal piece that protects the user’s hand between the blade and the handle is the Dao Hushou. The most common type of guard seen on a Dao sword is round or disc-shaped. It offers protection to the user’s hand but is fairly limited. It makes for an excellent marching or cavalry type of guard. However, It is also featured in the parts of a Katana known as tsuba.

6. Dao Cao – Groove

The early types of Dao Ren on the straight Dao swords, which curved with time – Credits: The Scholar General

The Dao Cao translates to saber groove and can be found in almost all types of Chinese Dao. They are sometimes referred to as blood grooves, but their real purpose is to lessen the weight of the blade so that it can increase the saber’s handling and speed. In addition, they make eye-pleasing aesthetics.

7. Dao Ren – Blade (Edge)

The sharpened side of the Dao swords, which makes them single-edged, is called the Dao Ren, which sets it apart from the Jian. This edge makes for an effective slashing tool that benefited from the curve added onto the later Dao types of swords. Thanks to the Dao Ren, these blades were easier to master and cheaper to produce, but still very effective in combat and became the main type of military sword for Chinese soldiers.

8. Dao Bei – Spine

The sturdy part of the Dao sword, which can hold off the flexibility of the edge, is called Dao Bei. This isn’t a sharpened part and can be either straight or curved based on the type of sword and can be used for defensive purposes too. Sometimes the blade can be made broader and wider, and there are instances of a spike on some Dao Beis.

9. Blade Rings

There are some cases of Chinese swords with rings placed on the Dao Bei or the blade’s spine. They are mostly for entertainment and ornamental reasons, but some say they are also beneficial in combat.

10. Tunkou – Blade Collar

An unsharpened piece of metal, usually on top of the guard of Dao swords, is called a Tunkou, which is a blade collar. This is placed for decorative purposes, mostly with traditional Chinese elements, but it also holds the blade tightly inside the scabbard, keeping it safe from the elements. 

11. Dao Feng – Blade Tip

The very end of the blade is called the Dao Feng, the blade’s sharpened tip. There are cases where only one side is sharpened, but on some Dao swords, the tip is double-edged, making it ideal for both slashing and thrusting.

12. Daoqiao – Scabbard

The P-shape curved scabbard of the Dao sword – Credits: Mandarin Mansion Antiques

The Daoqiao, or the scabbard for the Dao blade, has the same features and materials as the Jian, except that it is curved.  It protects the blade from outside elements and is a nice resting piece for carrying the Dao around.

13. Dao Shu Liang – Scabbard Suspension

The Dao Shu Liang is how the scabbard is different from the Jian. This tradition came from Persian influence on the west during the Tang Dynasty and is basically two ropes swinging from the blade that hold the swords in a horizontal fashion

[catboybiologist]

Alright I can't finish this all in one sitting, but here's at least a bit of.... something? A word vomit? A prelude to smut about the eroticism of the machine? For all you robot, mecha, and spaceship fuckers out there. @k1nky-r0b0t-g1rl that means you

Pappy always said that manufacturing biological transportation was nothing knew. I mean, shit, humanity's been breeding horses for how long? To him, not much was novel about what was going on in the shipyards way out by Neptune when I was a kid.

But Pappy didn't know a lot of things. And he certainly didn't meet Roseanna.

The Federation Navy had experimented with biologics for decades. The idea was to create self regenerating ships- something to interface with the hull, move the new titanium plates and particulates into place, have a living, growing mass interfacing with the steel so that the ship didn't have to head all the way back to the yards to patch up after every dogfight.

The first generation... worked. With a full time crew, that is. Full time people on deck jabbin the rigid, chitonous interface with the hull full of growth hormones to get them to set just right. Full time onboard bioengineers to compute what signaling cocktail ya need to hit 'em with to get it to grow back right. Skilled onboard technicians to shave back the chitin when it tried to overgrow the titanium, and slap some new cells in to seed the process in heavily damaged areas. Less input material, less time in the yards, but far more manpower. Great for a Federation cruiser on deep space peacekeeping missions. Far too complex for small craft. Right?

Until some bastard put brains in 'em.

Well. A lotta suits would say that they weren't brains. They were a diffuse network of sensory neurons and ganglia, living inside the body of the ship, integrating signals from a skin of alloyed metal and fibrous protein, calculating power draw too and from various components, and integrating with the mechanical and electrical components of the ship to precisely manage the "wound healing" process of the vessel. And of course, it just so happened that one of those ganglia was larger and more complex than the rest of them, and it just so happened that the computer interfaces with this ganglia exhibit complex, thinking behaviors on the level of human cognition, and it just so happens that most pilots and navigators reported them developing their own personalities.....

But of course, the Navy didn't want anyone to have some kind of pesky empathy in the way of their operations. And they certainly didn't want anyone side eyeing the rate at which they disposed of the damn things, and let them suffer and rot after disposal. So as far as the official record was concerned, they didn't have brains.

Like most people in the belt, I found Rosie on a... unsponsored field trip to the Neptune scrap yards. She wasn't a ship then. She wasn't much of anything. Not much more than a vat with the central ganglia and just barely enough of the stem cells needed to regrow a network. But I took her all the same. Brains were valuable. Few pilots outside the Navy had them back then. Nowadays, a black market for "brain seeds", a cocktail of neuronal stem cells and enough structural stem cells to grow your own into the chassis of your ship. They were pumpin' em out, and leaving them to die. It was cruel. They may be vehicles, but they're a livin' being too.

But I digress. I'd never do that to Roseanna. I make sure she gets proper care. And for a good, proper, working ship? That includes some good, proper work.

The asteroid we were docked in was one of my usuals- good bars, nice temp quarters, nice views of the rock's orbiting twin, and a spacious hanger for Rosie to rest in. The chasiss I had imprinted Roseanna to was a 40-meter light skipper, with some adjustments for handling deep space trips. It was pretty much the smallest thing you could actually use to live and work for long periods of time, but it got the job done. The angular design made the entire ship look like a wedge, or the blade of a bulky dagger. It didn't hurt that each bottom edge was fortified with a sharpened titanium blade, turning the entire sides of the ship into axe-like rams.

Those would probably come in handy today.

I approached Roseanna on the catwalk above her, marveling her alloyed scales. I could almost see her shudder in anticipation as my footsteps vibrated through the air above her. I took the steps down, and hit the trigger to open her top hatch.

When the news got out of the Navy scuffling with a rebelling mining station, an electric air raced across the station. Some went about their day as normal. Some resigned themselves to picking at the leftovers after the dust had settled. And some, like me, knew that they could get the finest pickings.

I strapped in to the pilot's seat like it was an old boot.

"Welcome, Captain Victoria."

Rosie could talk, but more often than not, she chose not to. But she understood me just fine. Most of our communication took place using her three prerecorded lines- her welcome statement, affirmative, and negative- as well as the tiny screen showing a small, emoticon face. Many pilots chose to give their ships an elaborate render, but Rosie preferred it this way. It was the first face I gave her, from somewhere out of the scrap heaps, and she refused any offer I made to upgrade. Secretly, I was overjoyed. To me, that was her face. That was her voice. And it was beautiful to see her true self through them.

I brushed my hands across her paneling. Across the switches, the hydraulic controls for the plasma fuel, the steering, the boosts, the comms channels. The thing with biologics was that you were still the pilot. For whatever reason, they hadn't quite gotten to the point where the brains could take over their own piloting. My personal opinion was just that their personalities lacked the ambition to. But whatever reason that was, the best pilots were still the ones that knew both their ship, and the ship's brain. And me and Rosie? We knew each other well.

As my fingers touched the brushed aluminum controls, rimmed with chitinous layers rooting them into the ship, I could feel the walls around me holding their invisible breath. "Do you know what we're doing today, Rosie?"

Her tiny panel flickered on. ...?

"We got a scrap run."

^_^

:)

^_^

Her panel flicked between various expressions of excitement. My finger quivered on the main power, holding for a moment before flicking it on. The primary electronics of the ship hummed to life, and what Rosie controlled pulsed with it. My hands moved across the main functional panels- main hydraulic plasma valve, exhaust ports open, and finally, flicking the switch the start the plasma burner.

My hands gripped the steering. The hanger's airlock doors opened in front of me. My neck length hair started to float as the station's gravity shut off. I hit the switch to unlatch from the supports above. For a moment, we hang there. The dull crackle of the idling plasma burner is the only sound that resonates through Rosie's hull.

Go time.

I punch the boost.

[justsalpals]

Jace knew pain. He could handle that.

No, the worst part of dying was the fear. That split second before the end when pain took a backseat, a fluttering consciousness latching onto the only thing he knew for certain.

This was the end. This was it. No more. Over. Dead. Gone. Finished.

His chest spasmed in wild aborted half-breaths, choking on bloody phlegm his body wanted desperately to expel but lodged in his ragged throat. Fingers twitched as if to form the somatic components for a spell he lacked the energy to cast. The world shifted and sputtered, fading no matter how tightly he tried to grasp it close to his chest.

For all the world it almost felt like being back in high school again, desperately willing his eyes to stay open as the teacher droned on and on about material components even though everyone in class had an arcane focus. Just as he had back then, Jace was powerless to resist as his eyelids drooped and he finally dropped down into the long rest waiting for all adventurers in the end.

Pathetic.

End of the line. So where did that leave him? Caught between divine domains, having never pledged himself to any one divinity. The astral planes, the pits of hell, or even following the innate magic in his blood back to the feywilds of his ancestry?

End. The end. It was the end of him.

Is this all you are?

Was this his legacy? A young and powerful sorcerer, the potential of the universe sparkling at his fingertips, all the world open to him.

Spent the prime of his life getting heckled by fourteen-year-olds who only cared about learning how to cast fireball.

(I can't teach it to you, he always had to explain to the new ones, with their dead eyes and dumb gaping fish mouths. More of a coach. We're just spitballing back and forth what it might Feel Like to have the option of summoning a giant sphere of fire to raze down one's enemies.)

Is this what you're dying for? A handful of self-centered, idiotic, ungrateful brats?

Beyond the veil of death, every nerve in his body dulled to utter numbness, something in Jace's chest pulsed.

For a boss who'd fuck a flaming pigeon out on the bloodrush field before he considered giving you an ounce of respect?

In the darkness of the in between, caught in the steps before final death, the air turned hot and tacky. Blond hair curled limp against his forehead, drenched in sweat, heat clawing across his skin like a furnace trying to burrow its way back home.

The sort of heat that made it hard to think, hard to move, for fear that the slightest twitch would cut through the atmosphere and sear your skin straight from the bone.

Something crimson crackled through the darkness. A feverish crescendo crawling in every direction, hateful and ferocious in every shattering shower of red.

It didn't have to be the end. Not if he didn't let it be.

Get up.

And really, what had the goddamn gall to keep him here? What universe thought he would just roll over and stay down like a good little corpse?

He just had to. Reach out. Had to. Take it.

Get the fuck up, Stardiamond.

A fistful of rubies sparked and flared in Jace's palm, before he tilted his head back and poured them down his open maw.

On the material plane, Jace Stardiamond's eyes snapped open.

Jace thought he'd known what pain was. A lifetime of arcana, adventuring, of teaching highschoolers, he'd taken his fair share of hits over the years. Not like this. Nothing like this.

Jace thought he'd known pain, and he was a goddamn fool.

This

was

agony.

Writhing on the classroom floor, his back arched into an unnatural contortion of joints and limbs. The feral thing tore from Jace's throat could hardly even be called a scream, mangled as it was with a century's worth of rage buried in the name of a paper thin mask. It bubbled from his mouth as limbs thrashed about, eyes rolling back into his head with the anguish of it all.

"There you are."

A hulking fifteen foot shadow loomed over his twitching corpse, greedy eyes simply watching as Jace's fingers began scrambling across his own chest. A spellcaster's fingers, ordinarily so nimble and precise, nails once filed to a perfect smooth arch now ragged and bloodstained as they clawed through the layers of his own scarf and shirt.

He tore and mangled the flesh underneath until fingertips hit jagged gemstone.

"I knew you had it in you, somewhere under that bone deep smarmy front you put on."

Ruby splintered across Jace's skin, crystalized in his collapsed lung, sparkled in the lining of his throat.

"Bitterness, frustration, jealousy, hatred, judgement, call it what you want, but you've always been bursting at the seams with rage. Just waiting for the right person to come along and break the seal."

Flecks of ruby crusted to Jace's lips, pulled back to bare his teeth in a rabid snarl. The giant above only chuckled, the sound of his laughter like the grinding of stone when a whole mountain collapsed inwards.

"Why?" The word barely scraped free from his raw throat, lingering in the palpable heat clogged air.

A large hand gripped Jace's chin to force his gaze upwards, the bones in his jaw straining and cracking with the force of the gesture. Yet above him, Porter just clicked his tongue as if reprimanding a misguided child.

"Because, Stardiamond, you piss me off more than I can even begin to describe." His grin was too wide, too clean, a little too sharp at the edges. "That's holy, in its own sort of way."

[wisteria-lodge]

hi op!! hope you're doing well. genuine question, but do you think lucius pays his taxes? he makes public donations and associates with the ministry to a rather personal extent that i imagine he at least forks over some to whatever department at the MoM handles taxes but he does strike me as the person who'd at least find ways to evade being taxed (writing off business dealings as personal purchases to avoid getting taxed for them, donating to charity to get a write-off for the money, having some under the table deals so what taxes he has to pay for wiltshire are rather minimized) but what do you think?

Now I'm thinking about how taxes work in the wizarding world.

Okay, so one of the interesting things about HP is that pure-blood wizards are sort of stuck in the 1700s. There are a few aesthetic/fashion details from the 1800s, but in terms of tech level and the way the world is set up, we're still pre-industrial revolution. Which makes sense! The wizards never had an industrial revolution, and split away from the muggle world in the late 1600s.

(Phillip Pullman was also doing a psuedo 1700s-1800s thing for his children's fantasy series at around the same time. Cannot prove that JKR has any knowledge of His Dark Materials, but another English author writing a similar kind of book? Stealth-setting a book in the 1700s isn't such an out-there choice.)

That means a lot of the issues people have with the HP world building are really just issues with... life in the 1700s. Why is there no mental health care? 1700s. Why is the Hogwarts curriculum so weird? 1700s. Why is slavery okay? 1700s. Why is there no drinking age, and you can just purchase drugs (love potion) over the counter? 1700s.

In a similarly 1700s way, the Wizarding World seems to be composed of semi-autonomous fiefdoms, which report back to the Ministry of Magic. On paper, the Ministry has has control over Hogwarts, St. Mungos, the various pure-blood estates. Whether or not that's that's totally true... I mean the Ministry tries and fails to take over Hogwarts in Book 5, and in Book 2 they clearly *try* to prosecute the Malfoys for holding dark contraband, but never get very far.

Here's what I would do, if I were writing something political based in the Harry Potter universe. The Wizengamot seems to be the oldest ruling body (its name is a pun on the Wittengamot, which is from the 7th century.) So probably those seats are inherited (House of Lords style) possibly with a magical component involved. New members can be added, but only by existing members voting them in. The Wizengamot serves as the High Court (as we see - more normal cases are processed by the Council of Magical Law, and Arthur is really wrong-footed when he hears Harry is getting a *Wizengamot* trial.)

They also probably have some sort of pass/veto power, and the power to elect/replace a Minister of Magic. (the position was "offered" to Dumbledore multiple times, but he turned it down. So he's definitely not campaigning in a general election.) I doubt they actually *write* laws - that seems to be handled by the more bureaucratic-flavored Ministry members like Arthur and Percy, who do *not* sit on the Wizengamot.

I'd also have it so that taxes were handled in a more 1700s style. There'd be a lot of sales tax, which the Ministry would be able to enforce because I'm pretty sure they they oversee food production. There would also be a fee for the various Ministry-run procedures like booking overseas portkeys (and legal-social functions? the officiant at Dumbledore's funeral and Fleur's wedding is pretty Ministry coded.) "Pay a fine" seems to be a pretty common punishment in this world - which isn't a tax, but definitely a way for the Ministry to make money. I wonder if people like Ludo Bagman *bought* his position. It would be very 1700s of him.

Then there's property tax, and this is where the the old pure-blood families on the Wizangamot come in. I think the Ministry presents a budget to the Wizangamot, and *they* make up the difference, among themselves. At which point yes of course Lucius finds ways to weasel out of paying if he doesn't like the current minister, if he doesn't like the deal he's getting, if he's just feeling pissy that day, whatever. But at the end of the day, they collect their own taxes from the various spheres they control.

Now we're getting into headcanons, but I think the Malfoy money comes from primarily being landlords. At *very least,* Malfoy Manor has a magical satellite village (a la Hogsmeade or Ottery St. Catchpole) that they just own and probably low-key police. (they probably also just own a chunk of Wiltshire.) I also highly, highly doubt that the Malfoys gave up all their ties to the muggle world post Statue of Secrecy. If every new Muggle Prime Minister has a meeting with the Minister of Magic, then... I bet every time Lloyds of London gets a new CEO, Lucius Malfoy shows up to say, "We get 1.5% off the top. My bankers will be in touch." Goblins don't care about the Ministry's laws even slightly, and there's got to be an exchange rate if Hermione's parents can show up to Diagon Alley and buy her books.

All of the old pureblood families are going to have their own *thing,* their own under-the table agreements and sweetheart deals. The Blacks strike me as being big into shipping, probably because they're so based in *London.* But yeah, at least to me, this is the sort of thing that gels with the universe that we see.

(Hogwarts and St. Mungo's would be funded the same way, on a smaller scale. A huge part of St. Mungo's budget just seems to be the Malfoys. And Hogwarts has a board of governors who under normal circumstances raise money and make decisions on how to run the school... but they don't seem especially powerful these days. I'll bet it's because whatever endowment Hogwarts has/whatever funds Dumbledore has at his disposal *are* enough to run it... which is why Dumbledore can do whatever he wants, and becomes an almost independent political entity.)