#small pellet machine

[hermmachinery]

HMLH400 Feed Pellet Mill

Feed Pellet Mill Introduction The HMLH400 feed pellet-making machine is one of the indispensable pieces of equipment in the feed mill plant. It can be used alone or in the feed pellet production line. The feed pellet maker machine can make various animal feeds: pet food, such as pet dog food, cat food, hamster food, etc. Poultry feed, such as chicken feed, duck feed, goose feed, and bird feed;…

[charlieslowartsies]

FINISHED MY TOOTHLESS PLUSH!!

Materials, info and some comments under the RM!

Toothless' Pattern I purchased

Materials: 6 yards of black minky 1 yard red minky 5 yards of Poly-Fil extra loft medium quilt batting 18 oz of poly pellets (4 oz in each foot) 2 Mainstay firm bed pillows for stuffing 1 spool of purple thread for the top stitching details on his tail, hip and main wings 2.5 spools of black thread Dark green, lime green, goldenrod and light yellow embroidery floss black acrylic paint white fabric paint Velcro one very old, small and cranky sewing machine who somehow survived this ordeal several comfort shows, podcasts, and music to listen to

This was my winter break project! Granted I started bits and pieces of the process in early December, but once my two weeks off hit he really started getting worked on lol.

I know it's hard to tell from photos, but he is A BIG CHONGUS. Toothless is 5.5 feet from head to tail tip, and has a 9 foot wingspan. He weighs about 8 lbs.

He took about 60ish hours and was very complex. My budget was $200 and he came in at $202! That includes things like the bulldog clips that I bought when he was being pinned because the minky was so slippery! This cost EXcludes a sewing machine, or things like an embroidery ring which my mom had, so I was very lucky in several areas—but he still was not cheap, either by expense or by time and sweat/tears!

Of course, the minky was by far the most of the cost, coming in at $122. I’d say the batting would be next, but I waited and snagged a good deal at my local craft store and got the batting for $18. I HIGHLY recommend buying bed pillows. The original maker of the pattern used IKEA pillows I believe.

I increased his size by 20%, so I printed him at 120% and guesstimated on the minky amount. My WORST mistake was forgetting to mirror the WINGS, which meant I had to recut two of the four pieces of fabric. (I should have marked it on the pattern, which I did mark well for things like number count.) Had I not done this, I would have used a lot less minky. I bought 7 yards and only needed 5.5 before my error.

(Now I’ve got scraps and a whole yard left sitting there whispering that it wants to be made into a Krobus plushie…who seems much less of a hurdle than Toothless.)

I stuffed Toothy’s hip fins and tail fins with one layer of quilt batting. His wings however, are double layered with the batting for extra plush, warmth, and durability. His eyes are hand embroidered (my first time!) but stitched on with the machine. Toothless has poly pellets in his feet to help support his bulk, but most of his weight is in his body, hips and start of his tail so he actually sits up really well.

He was a huge labor of love for sure! The pattern was great, the instructions were…less great. But my mom helped me figure out a lot of the troubling bits. Some parts were easy to follow and others were basically "bing bong fuck ya life." Despite that, I do suggest this pattern. But this is definitely an intermediate or advanced pattern. They also sell the eyes for those that have access to an embroidery machine.

I followed the pattern closely as I desired. I did omit the back spikes on his rear legs, and I couldn’t embroider his lil nose by hand ^^; I also did not make his blue alpha fins because of expense and mistrust in my own skills...also, I kinda wanted HTTYD1 Toothless haha. I love the series as a whole but the og movie is literally one of the reasons I went to college, and it went into my thesis as well.

I want to remake his prosthetic at some point when I have time and energy, but for now I’m pleased with 99% of him, especially since this is my first plushie I’ve ever made. I do not regret any of my personal changes and I’m totally in love with him.

[appledew]

This is Rowan! Made for phinn_r0tt over on IG!

This is a much more recent project, putting a small hold on backlogged uploads to stay current. :)

Can you believe almost all but 2 colors were custom dyed? 😱

This little one is 17 inches tall from the bottoms of the paws to the top of the head. Details are machine embroidered and appliqued, but the nose detail is a piece of minky with heat n bond. There is a pouch of glass pellets in the rump to help them sit upright!

Rowan went through quite a few color swaps after I couldn't achieve the right dyes, purples feel notoriously difficult to get right. However I think the fiddling paid off in the end!

I did reach a few points of not dyeing enough fabric and having to use scraps, AS WELL as an uneven dye distribution. 😭 But reeling back in to talk about how adorable this little one is!

The bone details have to be my favorite! I dyed a minky with a different feel to it to try to show a different texture, though I wish I could have went with a 1mm pile minky for the bone details.

That's all for now! I'm working on taking and uploading final photos because I didn't get to project work when I was working on my update. 😮‍💨 On the bright side, final photos on this little one took much less editing than the video! 😅

-----------------

Commission info can be found here: https://linktr.ee/apple.dew

Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/appledew

Trello queue: https://trello.com/b/FZKSnMo7/plushie-commission-to-do-list

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AppleDew_

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/apple.dew

Tumblr: http://appledew.tumblr.com/

Furaffinity: http://www.furaffinity.net/user/appledew

deviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/appledew

[x-neurodivergent-reader]

Adoration Equation (Loki x Autistic!Reader w/ Dyscalculia)

Anon’s request: “Could you possibly do 'Loki with a S/O who has dyscalculia?' (And also autism, if you're comfortable with including more than one?) Perhaps they're on a mission and split up from the others, only for the reader to find themselves in a situation where math is involved (Idk, maybe a keypad equation to open something?), and Loki had no idea about their dyscalculia until right then?”

Summary: You and Loki started dating recently, but as seeing you struggle with a seemingly simple part of a mission will show him, there are still some things about you that he doesn’t know.

A/N: I don't have dyscalculia myself (I did research it, but that's not the same as experiencing it), so please let me know if any of my descriptions of it aren’t accurate, so I can revise them. Apart from that, enjoy!

The reader here is gender-neutral.

Content warnings: Slight insecurity from the reader.

The hallways of the facility you were infiltrating were silent, save for the distant sounds of gunfire and crashing as your teammates fought through anyone who attacked them, to allow you and Loki the chance to get to the main office. The USB stick that would be used to hack into one of the computers and download classified information about the organisation’s plans, along with the ID card you swiped from a higher-up earlier, felt heavy in your pocket, as you stayed alert to avoid anything that could compromise your mission.

You and Loki found that you worked together quite well in the field. Your respective skills matched up nicely, he made sure to communicate clearly with you, and you were often on the same wavelength. It was no wonder that the two of you would be grouped together for this mission – nor, perhaps, that you had become a couple about a month previously.

Just as you were about to turn down the next corridor, Loki stopped you, gently guiding you behind him as he checked around the corner for any guards. His eyebrows creased after a moment, as he slowly walked further down the hall, tentatively giving you the gesture you had both agreed on to follow him.

Surprisingly, despite the door to your destination being in sight, there were no soldiers near it.

“The coast looks clear.” You murmured, just audible enough for your partner to hear you.

“But why…?” He inquired, seemingly listening out for anyone trying to sneak up on you both. “Why would they not guard somewhere so important?”

You looked around for any hidden cameras, and sure enough, you saw a few – one at each end of the hall, and another that seemed to be embedded in the office door. You lightly tapped Loki’s arm, and silently pointed them out to him.

“They might be planning an ambush.” You whispered.

Loki nodded in response, before summoning a small pellet of green magic, and throwing it at one of the cameras at the end of the hall. Before you could process it, he turned, shooting another at the camera in the door and, finally, at the side of the corridor you had arrived from.

A thick silence fell over you both, knowing that someone was bound to come for you now that the cameras had been destroyed. Sure enough, you both heard footsteps, soon followed by a small group of soldiers rounding the corner in front of you, weapons ready to attack.

Being the seasoned warrior he is, Loki immediately had a plan.

“I’ll take care of them,” he murmured to you, “you open the door.”

“Right.” You agreed, turning back to the direction you were heading in, while Loki dove into battle behind you.

Approaching the door, you took out the stolen card, and looked around for a machine on the wall with a slot to slide it through. Your eyes stopped when you saw what appeared to be exactly that, except it had something extra alongside the card slot.

It was a keypad. You hoped that, perhaps, there would be a code on the card that you could enter without too much trouble – but when you used the card as required, the screen on the device lit up with an equation, an extra security protocol that had to be solved to enter the room.

‘Shit…’ You thought, a sense of dread starting to rise within you, as your mind blocked out the sounds of the fight happening nearby. You realised that this was going to be much harder for you than you had expected, if not outright impossible.

Regardless, you read the calculation, hoping it would be simple enough that you could at least make an attempt at it, perhaps by counting on your fingers. You just hoped that you could get it done before Loki finished fighting…

"8 x 2 x 5 + 750 =”

…and, not knowing where to even start in comprehending this, your mind immediately drew a blank.

‘Shit!’ You thought again, your panic increasing with the knowledge that you were absolutely not going to be able to do this part of the mission.

You weren’t sure of what to do now, the pressure from not being able to act on the job making you feel on edge. Should you help Loki finish his fight? Would he be mad at you for not opening the door? Would he think less of you for not being able to? Why did nobody check to see that this was how it needed to be opened-?!

Your train of thought was interrupted when a hand reached in front of you, catching you off-guard and almost causing you to attack on instinct, until you realised that it was Loki, having already finished his fight. You chanced a brief glance at his face – he wasn’t looking at you, focused on reading the equation, but his brows were downturned, like he was either confused or annoyed by your lack of action. You deeply hoped it wasn’t the latter.

Loki entered the answer into the keypad almost immediately, and the door slid open, revealing the dimly-lit office. The one window in the back wall seemed to pour daylight over the desk with the computer you needed to use, immediately drawing your attention to it like a spotlight on a stage.

Your partner stepped aside, silently gesturing for you to enter the room first, so you could use the USB and finish the job. Avoiding his gaze, you practically speed walked into the room, still feeling self-conscious about what had just happened – you hoped the download wouldn’t take long enough for the subject to be brought up sooner, rather than later.

You pressed the button on the monitor that lit up the screen, and plugged the USB into the tower next to it, the device releasing a virus that automatically broke into the computer’s security details, and collected the necessary information for you.

“We’re in.” you told Loki, as he approached the desk. The adrenaline from the mission up to that point caught up to you, and you cautiously decided to slouch in the chair until the download was complete. “Tony said it should take about five minutes, if no one interrupts us.”

Loki nodded, giving a small hum of acknowledgement. You still didn’t have the courage to look at him yet, but were at least grateful that he wasn’t admonishing you. You were dealing with enough mixed feelings about the situation as is, particularly with regards to whether you should have told him about your dyscalculia before all of this. Especially since you were now in a relationship with him, you were starting to feel guilty about not bringing it up.

“Do you have trouble with maths, by any chance?” Loki’s voice broke through the silence. His tone of voice was neutral, giving little indication as to what he was feeling.

Your leg started to bounce as you stared at the screen, internally cursing the fact that this conversation was, indeed, happening already. You still couldn’t tell whether he was mad at you – you never were the best at telling how people were feeling, especially when they were this subtle – and that fact, combined with the previous issue with the keypad, made you start to feel slightly frustrated. You felt like you couldn’t figure anything out today.

“Yeah, I…” You spoke under your breath, leaning forward to further avoid Loki’s gaze. You rested your forearms on your legs, one of which still jiggled as a nervous stim. Given that there was no other explanation, and you could never successfully lie to your partner about this, you supposed you might as well tell the truth. “…my autism isn’t the only, uh… neurodivergence I have. I also have a learning disability called dyscalculia. It basically makes it a lot more difficult for me to understand maths and numbers than it would be for most people. It doesn't matter if it's equations, telling the time, reading maps... I’ve just never been able to really comprehend it.”

Loki stepped forward, and placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. His voice was quiet as he spoke. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

You knew that he most likely felt guilty for unknowingly making you do something you weren’t able to, but the gentle tone in his voice made your stomach churn. You couldn’t help worrying that he was looking down on you, whether he meant to or not.

“I didn’t want you to think less of me for it.” You admitted. “I mean, look at how quickly you solved that keypad. It barely took you any effort! You’re one of the smartest people I know, and…” You finally looked up at your partner, seeing how his face softened at the implication, and you moved your hand to cover his, giving the same reassurance he offered you. “…I don’t necessarily think that I’m stupid for it, but I’m not always sure that other people will feel the same, especially since I joined a team full of people who can do maths so easily. I didn’t want you to think that I’m stupid, just because my brain works like this.”

You glanced back at the computer screen, seeing that the USB was close to finishing its download. You sat up against the chair, and let Loki’s hand move to hold yours.

“Darling,” he squeezed your hand, grounding you, “your dyscalculia doesn’t change how I feel about you. It would be preposterous for anyone to judge your intelligence based on a learning disability – you don’t need to be able to do everything to be worthy of respect.”

Loki looked at the computer screen, and with his gaze away from you, you took a moment to watch the way the monitor’s light emphasised the blue in his eyes. You wondered if he ever noticed that when there was no risk of eye contact, you couldn’t help admiring them, no matter how briefly.

“I love every part of you,” he continued, and your breath caught in your chest at what was his first explicit confession of love towards you, “and this is no exception. I simply wish I had known not to put you in that situation before. I’m sorry for causing you stress by doing so.”

“It’s okay.” You grinned up at him, your body relaxing at the knowledge that there was nothing to worry about. “We’ll know to have me be the one to kick their asses next time.”

Loki chuckled under his breath, looking back at you with that sweet, lovestruck smile, reserved only for you.

In front of you, the download window on the computer screen disappeared, signifying that it was complete. You stood up from the desk chair, pushing it backwards on its wheels while you disconnected the USB and stuffed it back into your pocket, and zipped it to ensure it wouldn't get lost.

You then turned to Loki, and gave him a quick yet heartful kiss on the lips. When you pulled away, he gave you that cheeky smirk that you adored so much.

“I love you, too.” You confessed sincerely, before you both made your way to the office doors, ready to face any threats that may wait on the other side together. “Now let’s finish this.”

[creations-by-chaosfay]

Quick question about a quick quilt...

I can finish a lap size rag quilt in less than a week, twin size in about a week, queen size in two weeks. It's three layers of fabric, quilt-as-you-go, minimal piecing, and they are heavy. Excellent for cold weather and folks who like the weight of blankets but not weighted blankets.* These quilts aren't as hot as layers of fabric plus beads/pellets, and they breathe much more effectively. For a heavier rag quilt, it's a layer of denim and two layers of quilting cotton or flannel. I have a rag quilt for myself that's three layers of quilting cotton. My house is drafty and winters are full of rain, which means the cold sinks into your bones with the humidity. My husband keeps stealing my quilt because his man-cave is the coldest room in the house. He doesn't care that it's very feminine colors "because it's warm."

As for why it's called a rag quilt, here's a sample:

The top is the fluffy side with the exposed seams. Instead of a quarter inch seam allowance the seams under the fabric, it's a one inch seam allowance and the seams are exposed. Said seams are then cut at one inch intervals. With every washing, the seams get fuzzier and softer. They're fun to touch and feel really nice. It's also why these must be dried ALONE or all the strings will end up on whatever else is in the dryer. Three layers of fabric also means two rounds in the dryer on high heat (which is why I like using flannel rather than quilting cotton) or one round of high heat and hanging to dry for a couple hours.

The back looks like a more traditional quilt top and is often the side with denim on it if denim is used. The one is three layers of flannel and was a giveaway prize earlier this year, to celebrate meeting a ko-fi goal.

These are a delight to make and excellent for cold winters and drafty homes. Did I mention they're pretty heavy? The one I have, once all folded up, weighs about six pounds, and knocks my husband out within about ten minutes of him laying over himself. It's why I plan on making a rag quilt for him. He keeps stealing mine.

For context regarding prices, these take significantly less time to make. This one, a lap size, took just 14.5 hours, and that included the quilting. A traditional style baby quilt starts at $2125 because I have a lot more cutting and sewing, and I do the quilting by hand (though it will soon change due to soon having a machine I can use on my Cutie frame and do all my quilting on it), and can take 70-80 hours start to finish. I charge $27/hour + cost of materials to come to the final price.

*A PT I know hates weighted blankets because they cause a lot of injuries. People rolling in bed with a weighted blanket on them have ended up in physical therapy because of soft tissue tears. Most especially dangerous for people with EDS and other connective tissue conditions. Other injuries they've seen are from the pockets with the beads/pellets in them tearing open. Pets and small children have been known to choke on those, and folks who are heavy sleepers can also be injured if the pockets near their face tear in their sleep. When the beads/pellets get all over the floor, people fall and end up with serious injuries from that. Not to mention overheating under all of them because the material doesn't breathe well.

[flock-talk]

Every now and then to keep my bird hyped about foraging we have safflower seed day where her forager just has small groups of safflower seeds in each part or maybe a nutri berry. She recognizes me putting them in there and gets VERY UPSET if she’s not let out right away lol.

I hope this isn’t too unhealthy but it’s not very often, just when I decide it’s a good day for a special treat. She eats her pellets and veggies first in the morning anyway.

Nah that’s essentially what’s called a variable ratio reinforcement schedule, reinforcement occurs at after an unpredictable amount of behavioural repetitions (same concept as how slot machines keep people coming back loss after loss because that potential for a big win is so motivating)

It can be a very effective way to create durable consistent behaviours when it’s implemented the right way!

Getting a special day of safflower seeds every now and then is really unlikely to cause any problems provided the rest of the diet is great and they don’t have underlying health concerns.

Sounds like a spectacularly exciting day!

[the-shy-artisan]

After months of work, Proto-Beastos is finally complete!

I've been attempting baby sized Beastos plushies for a couple years now... but it never once occurred to me to use the original plush's pattern scaled down.

This guy is entirely hand-sewn, made of shaved faux fur and minky fabric. He's stuffed with a mixture of polyfil and weights filled with plastic pellets and small glass beads. He has shiny plastic gold eyes with a touch of copic marker under them to give him eyebags, and his face has been thread sculpted with an embroidered nose and mouth (hard to see 'cause of the fur, but it's there I swear!). Proto-Beastos sits at about 10.5" tall, is around 19" long, and has a wingspan of 15". Each Beastos (including this one) will a heart inside of them that looks like this.

I do have plans on making more to sell in the future, more information under the cut:

Each Beastos has an adoption fee of $85 USD. I take payments via Paypal (to be shared later).

Because I do my sewing by hand and I have a job where the hours fluctuate without warning, it will take some time for me to sew these guys up. Remember: I am a person, not a machine. Please be patient with me as I make your Beastos.

Also due to my hand sewing, no two Beastos will be alike, there will be some slight differences. I will match them as closely to the prototype as best as I can.

These guys come from a smoke free, pet friendly home.

I will try to give daily updates on my progress here or Discord! (DM me for my username). I will post when I am about to begin my work. There are no guarantee due dates.

[weirdbeancurd]

Yield

@yarnprism another fic :0

I am also taking requests for any of the fandoms in my bio (including ultrakill lol)!

Shotgun pellets whizzed by his head, grazing the side of his helm. In response, he threw Justice and Splendor (his beloved swords) at the machine's sliding form. If only one of them landed, he'd be able pin it to the ground, effectively immobilizing them and-

Gabriel's thoughts were interrupted by a coin launched (parried) at the speed of light, hitting him square in the face. Momentarily stunned, he drew back and was immediately tackled by a blood-sucking freight train. For something built to be quick and nimble, V1 was surprisingly heavy. He groaned when he hit the ground, helmet scraping the dirt. V1 was perched on his back, knee pressing down on Gabriel's spine, pinning him to the floor, his wings splayed out on either side. It let out a mechanical growl, causing him to roll his many eyes. Apparently it had taken the words "fight me like an animal" to heart.

The two were enjoying their time on the surface, taking the time to spar every once in a while (every day). This was the fourth time in a row that V1 won that day. Gabriel on the other hand, was getting a bit frustrated, determined to win at least one round. While he was ruminating under the machine's hold, its knee drove itself into his spine, causing a yelp. Still, he didn't want to give up just yet.

"Ack! N-no. I do not yield." V1 just growled again. He squirmed against its hold, almost managing to throw it off balance, but it grabbed his side with the knuckleblaster to steady itself. He jumped like he was electrocuted.

"AAH! R-release me, machine! You will not-" V1 tuned the rest of his words out. It had an idea: a devious one. Gabriel was about to regret his stubbornness.

It used an arm to pin a flailing wing to the ground, gently but firmly. Gabriel froze.

"Machine? What are you-hey!" V1 grabbed one of Gabriel's arms and pinned it behind his back using its knee. He spun his neck around to glare at V1. His heart dropped when he saw two free hands wiggling their fingers towards him. 

"Wait! I-uh." The machine cocked its head as if asking "do you yield?" Oh absolutely not. It's not like a little bit of tickling was going to defeat him, he was the righteous hand of- 

Apparently he took too long to answer, because V1 started tracing patterns on his exposed sides. He cursed his armor for being so revealing.

He would deny the sweet giggles that spilled from his mouth (the judge of hell does not giggle) until the heat death of the universe. He grasped at the foliage beneath him to keep his composure, or at least what was left of it. That was unacceptable to V1; if Gabriel wanted to be stubborn, then he would have to beg for mercy. It reached a hand back and vigorously squeezed at his thigh. 

"Snrk-nahAHA! Nohohoho!" He hated the sound of his laughter, but hated losing even more. And so, he held strong. Or at least tried to. It became really difficult when V1 started clawing at the small of his back. 

Gabriel produced peals of laughter, kicking out his legs behind him. The tickling suddenly stopped, making him glance back at the machine. It signed with its free pair of hands. Yield? It asked. He shook his head adamantly. V1 flicked his helmet just to rile him up before it leaned over, fluttering its fingers on his neck. Gabriel squeaked like a mouse.

“Stahahap thihis foolishness! I wohohn’t give ihihin!” He growled through cackles. 

To V1, that sounded like a challenge. And boy, did V1 like challenges. It paused to figure out what spot to target next, but not before flicking his helmet once more for good measure. Gabriel made a frustrated sound. Ignoring him, its optic wandered over his back and settled at the base of his wings. They had smaller feathers, soft and wispy. For no other reason than wanting to touch them, V1 sunk its fingers into the downy fluff. It had to dodge a wing to the face when Gabriel screamed. Jackpot.

"..."

Time stood still for Gabriel, anticipating his most ticklish spot being relentlessly exploited. However, nothing happened.

"..."

"...Uh, are you- WAH! FUHUHUHUHUCK!" 

Oh, that sneaky bastard. V1 had waited until he let his guard down before scribbling deviously at the sensitive patch of skin guarded by feathers. His wings shot out, extending fully out of pure instinct, flapping under V1's hold. It felt like his nerves were being assaulted with hundreds of tiny shocks, leaving him in an uncontrollable fit of laughter. Scratch that, he was practically screaming at this point. 

Uselessly, he pounded his fist on the ground to hold out a little longer, but the tickling seemed to be sapping his strength. By the time he tapped out, tears were forming at the corners of his eyes. 

"OKAHAY OKAY! I GIHIHIHIVE! MERCY PLEHEHEA-" 

The torturous fingers drew back immediately, ending their reign of terror. Gabriel found himself wheezy, despite not needing to breathe. His wings shivered from lingering sensations. He felt a weight lift from off his back, but was too tired to flip over once V1 got off of him.

The machine crouched down near his head, lightly tapping his helmet as if asking if he was alright. 

"Ihihim fine. But mark my words, machihine. I will claim victory one day." Though, that day was not today. Gabriel felt as if his bones were jelly, his armor being the only thing giving him form. He yawned.

"...That day will have to wait."

He took V1's extended hand and pulled himself up. After taking the short walk to the base they called home, he settled on their makeshift couch. V1 insisted on curling up beside him like a cat, to which he reluctantly allowed. Gabriel smiled as he drifted to sleep, encompassing them both in his wings. When he woke, he was the most rested he'd felt in ages.

[dingusbalingus]

Olimar's Voyage Log: Day 1

My name is Captain Olimar.

While traveling through space on an interstellar vacation, my ship was struck by a meteor. The collision had knocked me out, but when I awoke I found myself on the surface of a strange planet. Though I appear to have been mostly unscathed from the impact, the same cannot be said for my ship, the S.S. Dolphin. My diagnostics indicated the Dolphin had lost 30 of its most critical parts across this planet's surface upon entry into the atmosphere. To put it simply, I've been stranded here.

To make matters worse, my atmospheric sensors indicate this planet's environment contains high levels of poisonous oxygen. The life-support systems in my suit are able to keep me alive for now, but without a means to recharge them they won't last for much longer than a month. If I can't repair the Dolphin by then....

....There is hope in this dire situation, however. Shortly after I came to, I discovered a curious bulb dormant in the ground. When I approached it, the thing shot up from the ground as if it were waiting for me, and firmly planted long, slender struts into the soil below. Though I haven't a clue as to what this object even is, whether its alive or simply a machine, it resembles a vegetable on my home planet of Hocotate that we call an onion, thus I've taken to calling it an Onion, as well.

After this discovery, a second discovery immediately presented itself. The Onion had sputtered a seed shortly after its awakening. This seed took root in the soil and, after a brief moment in time, rapidly grew into a developed sprout. This sprout emitted a soft glow, and it swayed back and forth without benefit of wind. I don't know what exactly, some instinct or gut feeling, but something compelled me to uproot the plant from the soil. And when I did, I discovered something most extraordinary....

....what came out of the soil was a living creature, not a plant. It sported a leaf on its head supported by a long stem, and featured a pointed proboscis at the end of its face. The shape of this creature resembles the Pikpik brand carrots on my home planet that I adore, so like the Onion before it I've taken to calling this creature a Pikmin.

Despite my harrowing circumstances, I could not help but be intrigued by this Pikmin... It stared at me longingly, as if awaiting my beck and call. I quickly surmised a few key things about these Pikmin. The Onion seems to act as an incubator for Pikmin seeds. A local variety of flower near our location yielded a nutrient-rich pellet, in which the Pikmin seemed to instinctively know to harvest by the Onion. This is how the Pikmin reproduce; soon enough, I found myself with a small army of Pikmin under my command. The Pikmin seem to have a natural inclination toward cooperation, they form groups to perform tasks that would be impossible for an individual. Using their skills, I was even able to retrieve the Main Engine, the single most important part of my damaged craft. It was a stroke of pure luck I even found it nearby.

Nightfall on a foreign planet frightens me a bit, so I decided that the safest thing for me was to head for the sky. Though I obviously did not expect escape from this planet to be feasible at this point in time, I can at least hover in low orbit above the planet's surface. What I did not expect, however, was the Pikmin to follow suit. The Pikmin's Onion miraculously followed me into the stars. Perhaps the Pikmin cannot survive overnight on the surface, or maybe they've decided to join me for other reasons. Regardless, It seems they will help me again, tomorrow.

A dense forest is visible on the surface below. As it holds the keys to my survival, I name it the Forest of Hope. I explore it tomorrow.

[pokemoncaretips]

Hello I have a friend who has recently gotten a Snom that he calls Martini, is there any tips in case I have to Poke sit Martini?

General notes: The snom. An excellent and adorable bug type with a stunning evolution. Though ice types are often finnicky, the snom is fairly easy care.

General care: Being ice types, snom like it cold. In fact, snow and ice make up the vast majority of its diet. Snow cone machines are considered standard equipment when owning snom. Ideally, the ice should be as pure as possible.

The crystalline spikes on its back are in fact, ice crystals, which serve as a useful indicator of health. If the spikes are long and broad, the snom is thriving. If they're short and shedding condensation, the snom needs help.

If it's a hot day and your snom is in distress, there is a simple, if somewhat unorthodox solution.

The fridge.

Insect pokemon tend to have slow metabolisms and require less oxygen. Setting aside a compartment in the freezer (or even sourcing a small one just for the snom) can be a lifesaver in heat waves. Around every half hour, open the freezer door to refresh the air. A distressed snom will attempt to aestivate (the opposite of hibernate) when its too hot, and will seek a dark cold place anyway.

They have a strong tendency towards gluttony, and will eat their own weight in frozen berries if you aren't careful.

Frosmoth are hardier in terms of what temperatures they can handle. A beautiful pokemon that requires a lot of trust to evolve, frosmoth often shine in contests.

Literally.

Their freezing, sparkling wing scales are easily shed, and though they grown back, they can cause issues. Beautiful but devastatingly cold, they're murder on delicate houseplants. Though they do warm up once shed, you'll find yourself doing a lot of dusting.

In the wild they prefer clean meltwater to drink, but will happily take distilled water from the fridge.

Snom and frosmoth are both strict herbivores, and eat mostly frozen berries and sturdy mountain plants. They do just fine on herbivore pellets.

Though ice types are often tough to care for, being fairly delicate, unless you live somewhere VERY hot, they're comparatively easy pokemon to keep. Care rating: Green

Training: Nothing much of note needs to be added here. Both forms tend to be friendly and pretty on the ball when it comes to training. Training rating: Green

Safety: These pokemon often reach dangerously low temperatures, and prolonged handling can lead to frostbite. I've also heard of snom trainers who've handled their pokemon with wet hands and become frozen to their pokemon, requiring defrosting, which led to distress for both parties. Ideally you should handle them with good quality gloves.

Frosmoth scales can be painfully cold on bare skin if it sheds them near you, and their presence lowers the temperature markedly. If you have health issues exacerbated by cold temperatures, this is a line to avoid.

Otherwise, they lack claws, fangs or venom, but do still need care. Frostbite is no joke. Safety rating: Orange

Overall ranking. A sweet, charming pokemon and a good start for those who love ice types, or a way for bug type keepers to branch out. Snom are just lovely.

[cyborg-hydra-girl-thing]

I love Warframe, so much.

The super fluid, only touch the ground to start another parkour sequence, the floor is lava, bouncing off walls and flying across rooms and down hallways style of movement.

The >utterly overwhelming< number of weapons available. Primaries range from bows (Paris, Dread) to rocket launchers (ogris) grenade launchers (penta, tonkor), a handheld laser cannon (opticor), spicy bows (Lenz and Bramma are both rocket launchers cosplaying as bows), an 18th century naval cannon (zarr), machine guns with a 200 round magazine (soma prime) and machine guns that get more accurate the longer you fire (Tenora my beloved), innately suppressed smg (baza). You want a chaining lightning gun that will kill the guy you’re aiming at, and the next two rooms of people via daisy chains? Amprex. if you need a tactical weapon for grouping enemies the Mutalist cernos shoots an arrow full of grabby tentacles that brings enemies together for group hugs. Do you need a rifle to hunt cthulu T-Rexes (eidolons)? Rubico (Prime) or, my favorite, Kuva Chakkhurr - a black powder musket that shoots moderately slow projectiles, high skill high reward, you land a shot, it’s gonna feel it. Here’s a goody - Tigris (Prime) - it’s a double barreled shotgun, with a duplex trigger - you squeeze the trigger, it fires one round, you release the trigger, it fires the second! really interesting to play with, though with the changes to shotgun status a few years ago it’s no longer the powerhouse it was, though quite potent. Phenmor is also one of my favorites, a precision semi auto rifle, land a couple headshots to charge it, and it evolves into an archgun (gun for mecha or exosuits, bigger, and badder) that’s basically a minigun. Corinth (prime) is cool, primary fire is crit based shotgun, alt fire shoots an air burst grenade you can manually detonate over enemies heads (prime version, regular corinth is locked at 20m detonation). Kohm is an auto shotgun that spoils up like a minigun, the higher the spool the more pellets it shoots, very ammo hungry, but man if it isn’t satisfying to point down a hallway and watch it fill with red mist. Astilla is a shotgun that shoots glass slugs that explode on impact. Arcs Plasmor shoots solid walls of energy. like straight up, point down hallway, and you shoot a bright blue (ur energy color) brick wall of plasma. you can’t miss. Simulor is a gun that shoots miniature black holes. Trumna charges it’s alt fire with the literal souls of the enemies you kill. Shedu and Bubonico are the weapon arm cannons of sentient (enemy robot faction) that we ripped off and stole.

secondaries are have a bit less variety, but we’ve still got oodles of goodies

Pandero, a pocket sniper rifle, this lil handcannon is hella accurate for reaching out to touch someone, and alt fire dumps the entire magazine in an automatic burst. Laetum is the cooler pandero, land a few headshots and it evolves into an automatic assault rifle. Lex (Prime) was my starchart clearing gun, back in the day. space deagle. Nukor (and it’s cooler older sister Kuva Nukor (Kukor)) are similar to the amprex in that they chain to enemies, however they also have the quirk of having the highest critical damage in the game, with the lowest critical chance. (there’s shenanigans you can do to force them to crit, making them devestating). Pyrana (Prime) is an auto shotgun, it’s got high spread and high rate of fire, but get in their face and drop mag and see the magic. Zakti (Prime) shoots small needles that explode in clouds of aoe gas after a moment, really good for priming status effects and swapping to melee or primary to take advantage of. Euphona Prime - look, i love it, it’s not great, you gotta build it exclusively for the slug firemode or for the shotgun fire mode. it’s really cool, you should try it if you can, but it’s solidly just okay. Sepulcrum feeds on the souls of its victims to power its alt fire, and it’s just a massive beefy fuckin pistol straight out of 40K. Tenet Spirex force procs impact, and with the hemorrhage mod you can guarantee you turn some of those impact procs into bleed procs for DOT damage. Athodai is straight up like retro sci-fi laser pistol, it shoots beams, and alt fire has a big burst of energy aoe in front of you. Twin Kohmak are like the kohm, but smaller, and akimbo, for pocket dakka. Twin Grakata MOAR DAKKA. A beloved meme gun in the warframe community. just two fuckin bullet hoses that will eat your ammo faster than you can find it. truly one of the guns of all time, and a joy to fire.

and don’t think for a moment i’m going to forget about melees lmao.

we got Nikanas (space katana - nikana (prime) , skiajati ), we got greatswords(Gram (prime), Galatine (prime)), we got throwing glaives(Glaive(prime) Xoris), we got gun blades (like think those bizarre renaissance era swords with guns built into the hilts? got it? yeah, those, but space-y. redeemer (prime), sarpa), we have claws (venka) , we have sword & board (silva & aegis) scythes (reaper prime), hammers (heliocor, jat kittag), dual blades up the wazoo, single daggers, dual daggers, fist weapons, fist and feet weapons, war fans (quassus, arum spinosa), staves (Bo, pupacyst), tonfa (kronen), a gigantic saw (ghoulsaw), rapiers (endura, ), blade & whips (atterax, lacera)

[hermmachinery]

HMLH420 Feed Pellet Mill

Feed Pellet Mill Introduction The HMLH420 feed pellet-making machine is one of the indispensable pieces of equipment in the feed mill plant. It can be used alone or in the feed pellet production line. The feed pellet maker machine can make various animal feeds: pet food, such as pet dog food, cat food, hamster food, etc. Poultry feed, such as chicken feed, duck feed, goose feed, and bird feed;…

[firearmkind]

What do these gun types mean?

Many games and movies talk about gun types willy-nilly without explaining what they are exactly! So that'll be my first post.

Pistols A "pistol" generally means any kind of handgun (i.e. a gun you can use with one hand). While movie and game characters often do just that, realistically you do want to hold them with both hands for accuracy. Some definitions exclude revolvers or derringers, but people generally include them in the definition.

Revolvers Revolvers are guns with a cylinder that holds multiple cartridges. The cylinder revolves (spins) to fire each bullet in turn. While most revolvers are handguns, there's long guns too, such as revolver shotguns, rifles, and grenade launchers.

Rifles What distinguishes a rifle is rifling — grooves cut into the barrel to make the gun more precise. The first rifles needed to be reloaded after each shot, but modern rifles can keep firing. Even fully automatic rifles are not designed to keep firing a lot though; they're made for firing in short bursts.

Machine Guns A machine gun is a fully automatic rifled gun that is designed for sustained fire. Machine guns come in several varieties which are basically weight classes; a Light machine gun can be used by one person, a Medium machine gun is better used with a tripod and assistants, and a Heavy machine gun needs a weapon platform.

Submachine Guns (SMGs) These are not considered machine guns proper; while they are also designed for continuous fire, SMGs use handgun-sized bullets instead of rifle-sized ones.

Shotguns Shotguns are designed to fire shot: small pellets contained in a shell. This means they hit a broader area, and are easier to use. Shotgun barrels are generally smoothbore, with no grooves or cuts; this works better for firing shot, but worse for solid projectiles. Most shotguns can also fire slugs, big solid projectiles, for when you need.

[boburnhamhistorian]

Hi, everyone!

BIG news on the YouTube front—Welcome to the Internet just hit 99 MILLION views today! 🥳

In other news, I was reading about the Ennui Engine, and this author must have seen Inside or just agrees with Bo about the IV drip of mediocre content that is slowly ruining our lives.

We scroll through Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit, vaguely hoping to find something with which to amuse or inform ourselves before getting up in the morning or going to bed at night. We favor videos that either are very short or don’t require dedicated focus, confident in the knowledge that we can move on to something else whenever we want to. We ignore thoughtfully composed “walls of text,” but we electronically applaud memetic image macros and single-sentence references that aren’t inherently entertaining or insightful (yet are somehow still poorly written). When we amplify these things – using our likes, upvotes, retweets, and shares – we encourage the creation of more low-effort content, and in so doing, we send the message that higher-quality offerings are unwelcome and unwanted.

Even when “difficult” pieces of content do get seen, they still share the stage with everything else, marking them as being no better than equal to things that require minimal care and effort to create and consume.

Therein lies the real problem, however: We don’t enjoy the low-effort content… at least not as much as we’ve tricked ourselves into thinking that we do.

Really thought-provoking and well-written article, and it makes me rethink my entire relationship with the Internet—what exactly DO I get out of scrolling for hours on end? Sigh

All we can do is view everything online critically and with a grain of salt. As the author optimistically concludes, we CAN make things better:

The Ennui Engine keeps roaring, and we’re left with tiny, stale pellets that we tell ourselves are satisfying. Beneath the lie, though, we only feel depressed, disconnected, and frustrated.

There is a solution to all of this; a way that we can reclaim our lives, help both people and online entertainment improve, and escape the endless churn of the Ennui Engine. It doesn’t begin with turning to legislators or forum-administrators, though, and it doesn’t involve a retreat from the Web, but it does require that we stop encouraging the ritual. As unpleasant as it may be to admit, we are each individually to blame for this slump-inducing cycle’s persistence, and we are each responsible for halting it.

Whenever we feel ourselves getting listless, we should step away, then challenge ourselves to find (or create) something new, original, and requiring of a bit more effort than we might initially want to expend. We need to remember that five minutes invested in reading an article – even a mediocre one – will almost always offer a better payout of emotional energy than five minutes of gambling on a slot machine with only one reel.

The Internet was created with the intention of connecting exceptional people and sharing noteworthy content, and it can still fulfill that purpose today. As such, the takeaway here is not that we should distance ourselves from social media, turn off our screens, or reject the trappings of the modern era. Instead, we should remain self-aware and discerning as we traverse the Web, encouraging, applauding, and insisting on effort and earnestness from anyone who intends to contribute (no matter how small or substantial their contributions might be). The Ennui Engine will continue running, of course, but we can each make the personal choice to keep from sacrificing ourselves to it… and we can warn others against getting ground up in its gears.

I was also reading about how Google offered its suite of software for free—including YouTube videos as educational resources—to schools, planning on getting young children addicted to the algorithm (only benefitting the bug-eyed salamanders, indeed).

I just try to keep my kids informed and discerning about what content they are consuming (no easy task, but I think I made a breakthrough when my 11yo daughter got my point about how no massively popular Roblox YTers exist who are female AND American without an insane, ultra-feminine schtick...why is that?)

Hope you all are doing well, and I have lots more SUBSTANTIAL posts coming up (more interviews, analysis of Bill Bailey and Bo, plus my own curated IV drip of artwork for February...I did the mindless scrolling so you don't have to! Haha) ✌🏼

[fuzzimutt]

Mochi the saber, belonging to Mochi! Completed Autumn of 2019. There were a lot of new things done with this particular plush. And while it's not the first for some of these features, I am proud of how these guys keep evolving as I learn to use better tools. Sorry for the uncredited reference gif; it was provided as is! The deets:

Mochi is made from the standard FuzziPlush teddy-shape, which turns out is really great for displaying cute beans!

Re: beans! Mochi features machine-embroidered toe and paw beans.

Sits the usual 8" (20cm) tall, without ears. Her tall ears add a couple of inches.

Made from very soft polyester fleece machine-appliqued stripes. Nose is felt.

Mochi is the first FuzziPlush to feature gorgeous gradient eyes to match the OC's eye color.

Her hair is a tuft of long-pile faux fur. I only work with it for small details.

Characteristic large bottom for sitting, and pvc pellets in the feet to keep her balanced.

It was artistic choice not to include saber teeth. The mouth-less look is a characteristic of this plush type.

I'm aware the stripes are a little misaligned. XD Some of these oddities happen despite my best efforts, but practice makes perfect!

I am constantly learning new tricks with my embroidery machine and the combination of all these newer features was neat to try.

[flowers-of-io]

Read on Ao3

The knives glinted as they flew, spinning through the air on two arching trajectories, before they collided roughly half a meter above ground and jumped off in opposite directions. The hare made a small noise and lunged forward, disappearing in the grass.

“We’re terrible at this,” Sai concluded.

Omar gave her his best smile no. 5 and bent down to look for the weapons. The grass was still wet with morning dew, the fog barely lifted from the fields as the pinks and oranges of a sunrise were beginning to colour up the bland-grey sky. Somewhere in the trees lining up the edges of clearing birds were chirping. It was a cookie-cutter June morning, complete with a damp coolness in the air that seemed to seep through leather and cloth and settle directly on the skin. Sai pulled her cloak tighter around her shoulders.

“I really would like a breakfast.”

“We could always try fishing.”

“Why do I feel like your idea of it is literally throwing knives at fish?”

Omar found one of the blades and held it up triumphantly, the leather of his glove stained wet-dark. “Because you know me so well.”

“Traveler have mercy.”

He handed her the knife in an overly elegant gesture and returned to combing the grass in search of his own. “There’s this really cool spot nearby that has a weeping willow growing just over a creek, we could climb it and make a sniping nest there, the water’s very clear—”

“Sniping at fish,” Sai said.

“Yeah.”

“Have you ever even tried it?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Omar recovered his weapon from the grass and sheathed it in an entirely too fancy spinning manner. “You’re the one who complained about being hungry.”

Sai gave him a half-smirk, “How long was it that you were stranded in Arabia, again?”

“It’s not like there were a lot of fish, you know.”

“Right.” She offered him a hand as he shuffled to stand up, one he eagerly used to pull her into a quick kiss the moment he was back on his feet. His lips were cool and chapped, electric against her own.

“Give me better ideas, in that case,” he smiled and his eyes glinted golden under the curtain of dark hair. It could use a trim, Sai thought idly.

“Starving away long enough for Eriana to wake up.”

“That’s gonna be another two hours.”

“Breakfast deal at Sierra the Sandwich Witch.”

“Bland and unexciting.”

“Raiding Kauko’s kitchen while he’s at the morning Vanguard briefing.”

“Now you’re talking,” Omar kissed her again. “Living room balcony door?”

“Duh.”

He grinned mischievously, with that same spark in his eye he would have when he replaced Vell’s machine gun ammo with foam pellets or snuck a fart pillow onto Hideo’s chair in the Consensus Hall. He pecked her nose and now she was grinning as well, and for a minute they just stood there, foreheads pressed together, as the morning light slowly chased away the greyness and settled over the meadow.

Entirely too loudly in the quiet reverie, Sai’s stomach rumbled.

“Well, that’s a sign we should get going,” Omar released her from his arms and stepped back. “Come to think of it, I can’t believe the guy hasn’t changed his locks yet.”

Sai smirked, “What if we end up finding he actually did? Don’t know the rate of luck it would take to twice over have the Hunter Vanguard lock his balcony door with something you can open with a hairpin.”

“Babe, I’m a professional.” He reached for her hand and wrapped their fingers together, his glove still a little damp from the dew. “I’d go to any lengths to test our Vanguard’s security measures. If I can open it, so could a cold-blooded murderer.”

Sai chuckled and kissed his cheek. “How benevolent of you.”

“I knew you’d appreciate.”