Inkblot, an indie comics festival comes to Manchester this Saturday

Inkblot, an indie comics festival, lands at the St Thomas Centre in Manchester this Saturday, 24th February 2024

Inkblot, an indie comics festival, lands at the St Thomas Centre in Manchester this Saturday, 24th February 2024. The team behind the event describe it as an occasion “where creativity and originality come together under one roof”, offering a day full of comics, art, prints, and more. We’ve only belatedly learned of this event, sponsored by Lazarus Comics and Meraki Comics, but this year’s…

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Gnawholes! That scratching sound you hear in the walls or under the sidewalk, or under your pillow...that's giant rats from another dimension coming to visit. After I did the Reaper minis Stone Lurker I was inspired to work up these rocky ring portals from my son's unpainted pile of projects. He's not sure what happened to the upper gantry bits so I'm scratch-building those from balsa planks. Some pics of process;

Spray-primed black, tried frosting the highlights with a white spray, didn't have much effect. Next dry-brushed white over the black, heaviest on the top sides.

Brown inks on the stones, blue inks on the swirlies, then yellow inks on the lightnings and the runes carved into the rocks.

Then just a grey dry-brush on the edges and a nice matt spray.

Chapter 12

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness?

Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 3 parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

——————

Chapter 12

The night started out the same as the others.

Calina watched from her hidden spot as Matthew chose his vantage point, high above the city he protected. She watched as he scouted the night air, his head twitching in small movements as he filtered through the sounds travelling to him on unseen waves.

And she watched as he pinpointed his prey, and took off across the rooftops.

She followed at a distance, one that was considerably closer than the first night - the night he’d almost been shot. Since then, she’d been determined to always be within range, in case she ever had to call out a warning.

But it soon became apparent that this night was not the same as the others.

His pace as he ran across the city was slower than usual. His jumps not quite reaching as far. His gait…off. Not as confident as usual. She frowned as he mistimed a landing and staggered a couple steps, his arm coming up to steady himself against the wall to his left. He rested against the bricks for a few seconds before shaking his head as if to clear it.

Then he kept going.

Concerned, she increased her speed, getting closer to him than ever before. As he paused on top of an empty warehouse across from the pier, she was just one building over, crouched behind the massive billboard on the roof.

Then he disappeared from sight. Whatever he - they - had been chasing must be inside that warehouse. She backed up and took a running jump, bridging the narrow gap between the two buildings. She found the access stairs Matthew had used to gain entry to the building, and followed him inside.

She kept her footsteps light as she descended the darkened stairwell, her ears straining for any hint of what she was walking into. But she could hear nothing but the scurry of rats in the walls, and the distant screech of tires on the road outside.

She eased open the door at the foot of the stairs and scanned the corridor. A faint light shone from the far end, accompanied by a mechanical hum and the muffled sound of voices.

Bingo.

She followed the signs of life, securing the straps of her widow’s bites and cursing herself for not bringing one of her guns.

This felt reckless.

Dangerous.

She was entering unknown territory, with no clue what was going on, and no back up.

Yelena would kill her if she ever found out.

But Matthew was here somewhere, and he didn’t exactly seem at the top of his game tonight. She needed to make sure he was okay.

The light brightened as she reached the end of the corridor, which terminated in a T-junction. A narrow walkway branched left and right, forming a gantry that overlooked a vast open space below. By the looks of things, it used to be an open plan office space. A few desks and office chairs were strewn about, and some computer equipment was stacked in a pile in the corner, covered in cobwebs, proof of long neglect.

The light that she’d followed came from a few desk lamps that were plugged into a portable generator. They surrounded a pile of blankets in the centre of the floor. She squinted, trying to get a better look, but the angle was wrong, her view blocked by a large man dressed in black. She froze as another three men joined him, coming from a room at the other end of the open space.

“Did you make the call?” the man in black said.

“Yes,” one of the others replied. He came to rest against the generator and folded his arms. “Its just a matter of time now.”

“Good,” the large man said, pacing the floor now, his steps throwing up tiny clouds of dust as he moved. “The sooner the better. The package made too much noise on the way in-”

“And who’s fault was that?” the third man piped up.

“How was I to know the sedative would wear off so quick?”

“What’s done is done,” the fourth man said. His voice held authority, and the other three paid attention as he spoke. “But I agree with Jones. This place feels compromised now. I don’t like the feel of it.”

“You should always trust your instincts.” The threatening words came from directly below her. It was Matthew, using a tone of voice she’d never heard from him before - a harsh, menacing whisper.

The four men spun around and she could see them peering into the shadows beneath her hiding spot. Before they could say anything, a pair of sticks came flying out of the darkness, striking two of the men in the chests and sending them staggering back. The Devil appeared in the next moment, running at the other two criminals. He engaged them in a flurry of hits and kicks, dropping one of the men to the ground with a roundhouse strike to the head. The three remaining thugs surrounded him, but just like the night on the docks, he held his own.

No, not quite like that first night.

This time, the punches and kicks from the other men were landing.

She watched as Matthew stumbled back after one particularly brutal blow to his face, the momentary distraction allowing one of the other assailants to follow it up with a hammer-like hit to his kidneys.

He went down to one knee, and she had to bite her lip to stop herself from calling out.

Get up, Matthew!

He did, but too slowly. He took another fist to the face. A kick to the chest. She gripped the metal railing of the gantry, torn between protecting her identity and helping the struggling man below. 

The decision was made for her in the next moment. 

The fourth man - the one who seemed to be in charge - came at Matthew from behind, a metal tool in his hands. Before she could cry out a warning, he swung his weapon back and whacked Matthew in the side of the head with his full force.

Daredevil collapsed to the ground.

“No!” she shouted.

The men looked up at the sound, her cover blown. It didn’t matter. 

She was done hiding from this fight.

She launched herself over the railing of the walkway and rolled when she hit the ground. As she came to her feet, she fired one of her taser discs at the man with the wrench, dropping him with 30 000 volts. The other three came at her. She met the first with a spinning jump kick to the face, his momentum providing the force needed to knock him out.

She took the second down with another disc. The third managed to tackle her to the ground just as she fired, but she quickly slipped from his grasp with an elbow to his nose. She flipped him over, wrenched his arm behind him and shoved her bite into his neck with her free hand. He jerked and shuddered beneath her as the electricity coursed through his body.

As he flopped into unconsciousness, she stepped off him and cautiously approached Matthew. He was still sprawled on the ground where he’d fallen, a trickle of blood leaking from his right temple the only hint of movement.

He was still.

So still…

She held her breath as she got closer. Then shuddered in relief when she saw the faint rise and fall of his chest.

He groaned suddenly and started to stir. Not wanting to be caught by him, she took off across the floor and raced up the metal steps to reach the gantry again. She melted back into the shadows and tried to calm her racing heart.

He seemed to sense her anyway. As he staggered to his feet, his head whipped up to her location. He tilted his head, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to sort through the sensations flooding him. “Is there someone there?” he called. He clutched the side of his mask where his wound still leaked. He shook his head, and grimaced at the obvious pain.

“Dada?” a small voice croaked.

The blankets stirred. A small head popped up, long dark hair mussed and cheeks flushed with sleep.

It was a child.

Those bastards had kidnapped a child. A toddler, by the looks of things.

“Dada?” the child repeated, the words slurred this time. Calina remembered the talk of sedatives, and her fists clenched in anger.

They had drugged and kidnapped a tiny child.

That was why Matthew had come here, despite his obvious impediment.

The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen took a step towards the little girl. “Hey, there.” His voice was soft and calming, the polar opposite of the growled whisper from earlier. He stumbled into one of the felled kidnappers on his way to the pile of blankets. He frowned and glanced around at the other three, before shaking his head again.

He used his hands to guide himself towards the child. When he reached her, he crouched down and gathered her into his arms, blankets and all. The child started to protest, but the lingering sedative in her system made her too weak. Her head flopped onto Daredevil’s shoulder and she started crying pitifully into the red fabric.

“Shhh, sweetheart, its okay,” Matthew crooned as he carried her across the floor, one arm rubbing her back. “Let’s get you out of here.”

The two of them disappeared through the door at the other end of the open space. Calina retraced her steps back to down the corridor, up the stairs and out onto the rooftop. She jogged over to the edge and peered down to the street below where a large man dressed as a devil paced with a tiny child in his arms.

If she wasn’t still so terrified by what could have happened tonight she would have smiled at the strange sight.

As it was, she was almost shaking with fear.

He could have been killed.

If she hadn’t been there...he could have died tonight.

The thought echoed in her mind as she watched Matthew handed over the child to a policeman - a plain-clothes Detective that he seemed to know. And the fear plagued her as she followed him home. And luckily, he did go home; he didn't try to fight any more battles that he was obviously in no fit state to win.

What had happened to him?

The disorientation in the warehouse may have been due to the blow to the head, but before that, his reaction times had been off. His senses not what they should be.

What was wrong?

The question kept her up that night. Along with several others: should she have intervened sooner? Should she have intervened at all? Had she put herself and her sisters at risk by doing so?

Was she selfish to worry about that when Matthew's life had been at stake?

When a child's life had been at stake?

After several hours of contemplation, Calina was still none the wiser. She sighed and rested her head on her bent knees as she stared out of her bedroom window. The muted yellow glow of the sun bounced off the glass of the apartment building opposite; she could hear birds chirping from the trees lining the street below, and the sound of foot traffic and cars as people made their way to the market and the gym and wherever else normal people went on a bright Saturday morning.

All she wanted to do was go next door and make sure Matthew was alright. That he hadn't fallen into a coma from his head injury. That he hadn't snuck out to fight more bad guys and was right now dying in a ditch somewhere.

Why couldn't she have had a crush on a normal man? One who didn't court danger every night and make her worry like this?

But would she have felt this way towards a normal man? Matthew was handsome, funny and kind - like thousands of other men in New York City. But how many of those other men were as strong as Matthew? How many fought so well? How many risked their lives to rescue small children?

There was only him.

And her simple crush had blossomed into full blown obsession only after she had discovered his secret and found out that he was a hero.

Because she had discovered he was a hero.

Because he was the complete antithesis of her. 

She admired the traits in him that she lacked.

But she was trying to be a better person than the one she'd been raised to be. So she shoved on some clothes, tidied her hair, and grabbed the washed and folded sweater that Matthew had lent her a month ago when she'd stayed in his apartment. 

She needed an excuse to knock on his door, after all.    

 ———

 Matt lay curled up in bed, exhausted, but still unable to sleep.

The sounds filtering through his floorboards from the building below were too muffled. The voices drifting through his window from the people on the street too indistinct. He couldn't gauge the world through scent - his nose blocked and his tastebuds rendered useless.

He was blind.

Literally and figuratively.

And it made him feel vulnerable as hell.

He fucking hated catching a cold.

But he should have seen it coming. The past couple of weeks, he'd been burning the candle at both ends. Between the long hours at work, and his Daredevil activities, he wasn’t getting more than a few hours rest a night.

And it couldn’t exactly be called rest. He still wasn’t sleeping well; the last full stretch of uninterrupted sleep was probably the night Calina had stayed over on his couch.

He was run down, and running on empty.

And now he had a fucking cold.

He'd felt the first symptoms of it last night. He'd had to strain to hear the cries and calls of the city, the sounds quieter than usual. The scents on the air had been muted, and as he'd launched himself across the cityscape, he'd fumbled a landing, his senses failing to properly triangulate his position in space. The sharp scrape of pain at the back of his throat had clinched the diagnosis.

He should have turned back and headed home. It had been reckless to continue, when he knew full well how much a simple virus could incapacitate him.

But he'd heard the shuddering gasps of a child in distress; had picked up on her kidnapper's plans for the ransom.

So he’d gone to save her. There’d been no other choice.

Matt groaned as a sharp knock at his door penetrated the haze in his head. He thought about ignoring it, but if it was Foggy or Karen, they wouldn't let up until he answered. He forced himself out of bed and padded to the door, needing the brush of his hand against the wall to steady his stumbling walk.

He hated the way his senses could be so easily overpowered. He hated the way the fire dimmed on his world, and everything became a blur. He hated not knowing who stood two feet from him when he finally reached the door and yanked it open.

"What?" he said, his foul mood resulting in a harsh greeting.

"H-hi," a shy voice said. "It's Calina from across the hall."

Matt winced. He already felt guilty for the way he'd been ignoring Calina this past month, and now he'd snapped at her for no reason. "I'm sorry," he said, sniffing. "I'm not feeling great this morning."

"Oh! You have a cold." She said it as if it solved some great mystery.

He cocked his head, confused. "Um, yeah."

"And you're hurt," she murmured. He felt the whisper soft brush of her fingers against his temple. He raised his own hand to feel the area, wincing again at the deep bruise and the tacky feel of the dried blood.

Oh yeah. He'd been walloped across the head with a wrench. That explained the pounding in his skull.

But it could have been worse. So much worse. If it hadn’t been for his mysterious saviour, he could have died last night.

Who were they?

For the past few nights he’d had the vague sense of being watched. Nothing he could put his finger on, nothing tangible to investigate, just a feeling. An instinct.

Was it the same person?

He still had nothing tangible to identify them - by the time they'd gotten close enough to him in the warehouse, his senses were screwed up by the cold and the blow to the head. All he had to go on was a strange noise: the whine of an electric device, almost like the high-pitched crackling buzz of a taser. He'd heard it several times as he'd lain incapacitated on the concrete floor. 

“What happened?” Calina asked, interrupting his memory of the previous night.

“I got up early this morning to grab a drink and tripped.” He touched the wound again. Tried to downplay it with a smile. “Guess I didn’t notice the blood at the time.”

“Let me clean it up for you,” she offered.

“There’s no need. I can do it. And I wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

“I never get sick. And besides, you helped patch up my wound before. Let me help you. Its only fair.”

He nodded and held the door open for her, feeling too ill to resist the offer. He followed her into the living area and took a seat on the couch, sinking into the soft leather with a sigh. He listened as she rummaged around his kitchen for a bowl and filled it with water.

“Do you have any first aid stuff?” she called out.

“Under the sink.”

His eyes drifted closed as she gathered supplies. He breathed in deeply, trying to catch the scent of her as it swirled in the air of his apartment. He allowed himself to enjoy the subtle hints of fragrance after denying himself for so many weeks.

He’d missed her, he realised. He’d missed the way she smelled and her soft voice and the strange connection they shared.

It was dangerous allowing her back into his life, even just for a few moments like this. It made him want things. Things he was better off avoiding.

The cushion under him shifted as she sat beside him. He felt her knee graze his thigh as she hitched her leg up on the couch and turned to face him. He kept his eyes closed as she dabbed gently at his skin with a damp cloth, trying to remove the dried blood. “Is the water too hot?” she whispered.

“No,” he murmured.

“Let me know if I hurt you.”

He nodded. Then nestled deeper into the couch as she continued cleaning the wound. He had to suppress a shudder as she leaned closer and blew gently across his skin, drying off the area. He had to fight back a moan as she scraped her blunt nails through his hair, making sure she caught all the blood.

Then, as she placed the butterfly sutures carefully across the cut, he had to fight the urge to sleep. Something about her presence was so soothing - it always had been, from the first moment he’d spied her on the rooftop. She quieted something in his soul.

And he felt safe around her.

Which made little sense, given what he knew about her…and all the things he didn’t know.

But in his vulnerable state, with his bones weary with fatigue, and his abilities weakened, he somehow felt able to let his guard down…and rest.

----------

CHAPTER 13

Taglist: @hollandorks, @yanna-banana, @stilldreaming666, @tearosearts-blog

If you’d like to be added, let me know!

Analysis and evaluation of LONGER RAY5 10W laser engraver

There are many ways to celebrate a special occasion or promote your brand. T-shirts and coffee mugs are always a favorite. If you want something a little more professional, a custom pen or notebook might be a good idea. But T-shirts are a dime a dozen.

For a truly special occasion or an impressive branding campaign, you might want to step up the pace. As for mugs, pens and notebooks, we must have too many. They make great gifts, but no one thinks they're really special.

Printmaking, on the other hand, has a greater appeal to it. It has a timeless aura that nothing like a T-shirt can bring to the dinner table. An engraved plaque, badge or tumbler feels important while a simple print doesn't. As for branding, engraving is great for long-term signage. Sturdy engraved signs will last for decades without any noticeable degradation.

When most people think of engraving, they think of metal. But the truth is that you can engrave a wide variety of materials. With the right laser, you can engrave wood, plastic, rubber, acrylic, and other materials. You can also use a laser to make intricate custom cutouts for crafts. But to get high-quality engraving, you need a well-designed engraving machine.

LONGER RAY5 10W Laser Engraving Machine It's a powerful 10-watt laser that can etch almost any material, even cutting wood boards in one go. It also works very fast at speeds of up to 10,000 mm per minute. Coupled with a large work area, it was clear we were interested.

That said, a laser engraver is a complex machine with many different functions. To really get our hands on this device, we're going to have to dig a little deeper.

We'll discuss the physical design, and how the engraver is built. We'll discuss the laser module itself and how to operate the controls. Also, we'll look at the different ways you can print, as well as any noteworthy extras. After we've discussed all of these things, we'll have enough information to make a fair verdict. let's start!

Frames and Gantry Like most laser engravers, the Longer RAY5 10W laser engraver has a rectangular metal frame. It's made of matte black aluminum, which is both lightweight and durable. The frame sits on a set of metal feet a few inches off the ground. Overall dimensions are 23.07 inches wide, 22.95 inches deep, and 6.95 inches high, including laser module.

A gantry spans the top of the frame, extending from side to side. It rides on a set of sturdy wheels that clip into slots in the side rails. This allows it to move freely back and forth in the work area. There is a small motor at one end of the gantry that powers its movement.

The laser module is also housed in a motorized housing that sits on top of the gantry. It moves side to side on the gantry, while auxiliary rods below the gantry keep it stable. Between the gantry and the module housing, there are two axes of motion. The laser module can be easily moved to any position within the working area.

When sculpting, placement is key. If you're carving something off center, that's a problem. Luckily, the LONGER RAY5 router has some white markings on the side of the frame in centimeters and millimeters. There are additional markings on top of the gantry so you can precisely place whatever you want to carve.

Laser and Control When you use your LONGER RAY5 engraving machine, you must first calibrate it. This means adjusting the laser module so that it is just the right distance from the target. This may mean moving it up or down, depending on the thickness of your work material.

Place your circuit board under the head and find the small metal cylinder in the kit. This is your focusing post, and it fits in a small slot in the laser module. Unscrew the module and adjust it so it rests lightly on the focusing post. Then, retighten the screws. This is easy to do, but you have to do it every time you switch between materials. We do have some concerns about the tuning mechanic, as it might fail if you keep tuning it.

There is a 3.5-inch touchscreen on the front left of the housing. This is used to control laser speed, create manual offsets, or make other adjustments. There's even a small SD card in the slot, where you can access documents and print them directly. No computer or smartphone required!

There are also some security features you should be aware of. In the event of a fire, the fire protection will shut down the laser. If the laser engraving machine is tilted, the anti-tilt protection will be turned off. The motionless protection will turn off the laser if it is frozen in place for more than 15 seconds.

connection and setup There are several ways to print to the LONGER RAY5 10W Laser Engraver. First, as we discussed, you can use an SD card for offline printing. This is perfect for an industrial setting where you can make multiples of the same thing. It's also very useful if you're engraving somewhere without internet. However, this is only an option.

One way to connect is via WiFi. Via WiFi, you can control the printer through a dedicated smartphone app. Print any file to the app and it will be converted into a high-quality engraving.

You can also use your computer's WiFi connection. Using a computer, you can set up multiple RAY5 routers to run in parallel. Print it once and it will be sent to all engravers. This is the easiest way if you want to sculpt a lot of things quickly.

If you don't want to mess with WiFi, you can always use a USB connection. The kit includes a USB Type-A to Type-B cable that can be connected to any PC or Mac. It is even compatible with Linux systems where many engravers are not.

As for software compatibility, you'll have a lot of options. The engraver is compatible with all major engraving software, including LaserGRBL and LightBurn. Considering that over 90% of sculptors use one of these programs, you should be fine.

Plus, you can work with a wide variety of file formats. In addition to older standards like JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF, you also get support for newer formats. If you need to sculpt SVG, NC or GC files, here you go. You can even engrave images that have been saved as G-code.

engraving performance The working area of the LONGER RAY5 is 400mm x 400mm. That works out to be 15.75 x 15.75 inches, which is quite a large area. You can engrave large plaques or intricate artwork without the limitations of a small frame.

The laser is capable of engraving at 10,000 millimeters per minute, or about 32 feet. The exact speed will vary depending on how dark the image is. The deeper you try to cut, the slower the laser will move. The design is very stable, so you won't get any blemishes from working at maximum speed. Lines will remain smooth without any unexpected jagged edges.

The 0.6mm laser diameter is beautiful and compact, allowing you to create beautiful shadow images. Due to the small diameter, you can engrave fine details and they are practically visible. They won't get lost in the cleaning process like they can with a low-resolution laser engraver.

The 10 watt laser module is surprisingly powerful. A single knife can cut through 8mm thick wood. You can cut thicker materials with multiple passes. When it comes to materials, lasers are great for engraving just about anything. You can engrave wood, metal, acrylic, rubber, and even vinyl or leather.

If you don't need that much power, consider the LONGER RAY5 5W version. It has a similar work area and speed, so you can make large engravings quickly. It's also more affordable than the RAY5. That said, it only has a 5-watt laser.

Accessories and Support In addition to the RAY5 router itself, Longer laser has included some nifty accessories to help you. The most important thing is the second laser module, with a power of only 5 watts. You might think that a weaker laser would be a bad thing, but it's not. The 5 watt laser module is more suitable for engraving fine materials. For example, you can use it to cut complex shapes on paper, which a 10-watt laser wouldn't do.

In addition to that, you also get a 77-piece engraving kit. Most of these pieces are small wooden blocks and small metal tags. They are great for making small carvings. If you've never used an engraver before, they're a great way to gain basic experience. However, there are also some larger wood and metal panels. These can be used to create larger, more complex carvings. If you want a more powerful engraving machine, you can upgrade to Longer RAY5 20W laser.

As you can see, the LONGER RAY5 is one of the better laser engravers on the market. It has a powerful laser and easy-to-use controls, and is even capable of offline printing. It also offers excellent resolution and fast working speeds so you can quickly create detailed engravings.

✨BOOK REVIEW: THE GAMER BY MATT GANTRY✨

✨BOOK REVIEW: THE GAMER BY MATT GANTRY✨

Title: The Gamer Author: Matt Gantry Published: December 1, 2021 Read Date: January 5-8, 2022 Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ A beachfront hotel in Florida. Five hundred people have been taken hostage. Many of them are world leaders and government officials, including The President of the United States. A video gamer is working in the hotel. He learnt his skills playing first person shooters. Now he uses…

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Playlist Feels

*SHORT SERIES

Part 1: Church (smut)

Member: pilot juyeon without the strikeout :D

Genre: holy water smut idk pls send help

“I'll make you feel like never before”

“so what did happen after you got back to your place with your secret admirer?” sunwoo side-eyed you, trying his best not to completely turn his attention from the road to you. 

hyunjun was leaning forwards and sticking his head between you and sunwoo, arms resting on the top of the seats. 

“uh,” you fumble through your bag, pretending to make sure all the necessary items you needed were in it. “nothing... much.”

there was absolutely no way you could’ve told sunwoo or hyunjun what you were like when you were drunk and in the mood to play games with a stranger. 

it didn’t matter if you’ve been friends for so long; you knew they wouldn’t shut up about it once they knew. 

“‘nothing much’?” hyunjun scoffs, noticing the flush that was appearing on your cheeks. “what, did you two sit around and watch a movie while you retched? because i’m pretty sure you had a truckload of vodka.”

sunwoo snorted and pressed his foot against the accelerator when the green light appeared. 

“we just... hooked up, that’s all.”

hyunjun raises a skeptical brow at you, squinting his eyes as you struggle not to look at him. “hooked up or hooked up and smashed?”

“why does it even matte-- shouldn’t you be strapped to your seat?” you turn around and start whacking him on his head. “sunwoo literally just learnt how to drive. how are you so calm with sitting in his car without a seat belt?”

sunwoo opened his mouth in exaggerated shock, quickly glancing at you while you were shoving hyun jun back into the back seat by his head. “hey! i could’ve declined your request to drive you to the airport!”

“my request? you were the one who said you’d drive me without even giving me an option,” you turn back to face the front, glaring at him while you said it. 

“‘you were the one who said you’d drive m--’ ow!” he winced when you punch him in the arm. 

the scent of the airport wafts through your nose the way waffles would smell to anybody else. travelling has always been something you enjoyed, and now that you were finally going overseas for a job opportunity, it made the wait and the effort all the more worthwhile. 

hyunjun helps pull your luggage and sunwoo becomes your mobile clothes hanger while he carries your coat and you triple check to make sure you’ve got everything you need for the next year in new york. 

you reach the departure hall, and the familiar sight of the immigration officers at the gantry checking the passports of other passengers was so comforting. but you turn around, only to see hyunjun giving you a little pout and sunwoo looking away, trying not to become emotional. 

“i’ll be back in a flash,” you whisper, pulling hyunjun into a tight hug. the ankle boots you were wearing boosts you up about two inches, so you were able to wrap your arms around his neck without much effort. 

“call us when you touchdown, okay? no matter the time,” he instructs, pulling you away from him and ruffling your hair. you nod and give him a bro-fist, turning to sunwoo, the man who has an ego the size of a horse. 

“aw, come on~ don’t cry...” you tease loudly, grabbing his arm and shaking it like you were trying to wake him up.

“ah, ah, okay, okay, stop it,” he waves his hand infront of you before raising his arm. you shove yourself into his chest and tighten your wrap around his torso. “don’t come back with a baby, please.”

“i’m there for work, not to fuck around,” you snort and remove yourself from his warmth. he hands you your coat and you wrap your fingers around the hard plastic handle of your big, bulky luggage. passport in hand and constantly looking your shoulder back at them, you let the immigration officer check your identification in your passport and he lets you through. 

“bye!” you mouth to the two of them once you were in the hall, aggressively waving while they try to wave you off. you give them one last smile and turn, dragging your heavy luggage behind you while you walked to the designated gated. 

you look out the glass windows on the other side of the departure hall and the lights from all the planes outside looked like stars hanging too low from the night sky. the airport was one of your favourite places to be because there was never a moment this place was asleep. there was always a flight somewhere, and there were always people waiting around. 

just knowing that mankind had come so far to let ourselves travel the world to the most magnificent views of the world was just so endearing to believe. 

it was a little difficult to believe you were going to new york yourself, to be part of a production company that you’ve been working so hard and long for. 

you were about to shove your earpieces into your ear canals when your train of self-reflection broke off due to a conversation you overheard.

but it wasn’t the content of what they were talking about. 

it was someone’s voice. 

you look up, only to see a group of air stewards and stewardesses dragging their small luggage behind them, all fit in their uniforms. 

then you eyes catch sight of the lone pilot amongst them. 

you would’ve tripped over something if you didn’t abruptly stop in your tracks. 

“ah, he’s here already?” 

“yeah, he said he was sending off a family member here anyway.”

you could feel your throat drying up like the sahara desert as they walk past you, a safe distance away. 

it was him.

the stranger who...

you deemed a worthy opponent...

in bed. 

he’s a pilot?!

you suck in a deep breath and proceed to stick your earpiece into your ears, trying to mount your attention to your phone and your music of choice while you awkwardly trail behind the group of them. 

but you couldn’t handle walking behind them like this, not when you just had a one-night stand with the pilot. what were the odds of even running into him for the second time in less than 24 hours?

you break away from your path and head for the nearest cafe, grabbing yourself a cup of coffee to keep you awake on first few hours of the flight.

that was what sunwoo told you to do anyway, to help you adjust to the time difference and prevent jet-lag. 

you find yourself seated in the lounge meant for the business class ticket holders, and there weren’t many passengers around. most of them were in suits and blazers, not to mention caucasian. it made you feel a little out of place, your white turtle neck and jeans with the coat draped over your forearm made you look like you were going on a holiday. 

the coffee finishes in your stomach, and the book you were reading becomes a little boring when the idea of going to new york was becoming nothing short of reality. you tilt your chin to the ceiling and let your neck ache from the constant looking down, and your attention naturally gravitates to the movement in the lounge. 

a stewardess had just come out from one of the lounge rooms to talk to the officer manning the gate for the business class, and you realise she was one of the stewardesses in the group you saw before. 

you frown to yourself, shaking the ignorant, unrealistic thoughts out of your head as you try to continue your book. 

but the coffee rushes through your digestive system a little too quickly and you pull out the earpiece, grabbing all your belongings and searching for an empty private room where you could leave your things before running off to look for a bathroom. 

the hallways look a little like hotel rooms and the smell of diffused aromas were slowly getting to you. you turn around the corner, eyes digging into the words of your book with your hands full. 

you step on someone’s shoe, and your left shoulder rams into someone’s arm, the impact causing you to drop the book on the floor. 

“oh, sorry! my apologies, miss.” 

you took a step back, feeling a little sorry about being so engrossed in your book. “oh, crap-- no, i wasn’t--”

your entire body turns to stone as you immediately register the face in front of you. the book was held out to you, your hands balled into tight fists and you could feel all the blood rush from all over your body to your face. 

it takes him a second to realise who he’s bumped into, and a look of pleasant surprise pulls a smile across his lips. 

what the hell is he doing in here?

“are... you here for a flight?” the book was still held out for you, and he raises a brow in curiosity. you swallow in attempt to dampen your dry, hoarse throat at the sight of him. he was in the pilot’s uniform: navy blue blazer, tie and white dress shirt. all he was missing was the cap.

“are you alright?” 

his small laughter pulls you away from your thoughts, and you realise you had been scanning him from head to toe. he traps the book between the side of his chest and elbow, eyes never leaving yours. he reaches out to your passport that was messily stuck in the pocket of your coat, careful not to fold or tear any of the small documents stuck in its pages. 

he flips it open and his eyes widen ever so slightly when he checks your boarding pass, and he looks up through his lashes at you with a look of satisfaction plastered on his face.

oh, no.

“nice to know that i’ll be your captain for the next 16 hours or so,” he neatly stacks your ticket and boarding pass back into your passport, gently placing it back into the pocket where he took it from. “well, the flight’s about 14 and a half hours so, give and take.”

it was so difficult to believe that the man who completely ruined you last night, and beat you at your own game, was standing right in front of you. nicely fitted into a professional uniform, and you were going to be on the same flight as him for the next 16 hours?!

he removes the book from under his arm and waves it next to his head, already used to you standing there like a statue for the last few minutes or so. 

“do you still want this book? or am i going to need to keep it until you’re done being an iceberg?”

your mind yanks you back to the previous night, when he asked you different questions in the exact same tone. 

“can i have their permission to bring you elsewhere? or are they responsible for sending you home safely?”

“you don’t happen to still be thinking about last night, are you?” your vision comes back into focus and the smaller gap between the two of you was now apparent. your pupils flit around him, noticing that there was nobody down the hall, because everybody was in the waiting area, too busy working on their laptops and ipads to even think of coming to the private rooms.

the hell does he mean ‘still’? how does one forget such a night so easily?

“judging by the lack of vocabulary you have right now, i guess you are.”

you blink in embarrassment, gulping and looking away in hopes that the dimmer lighting the hallway had to offer was going to mask your reddening, burning face. 

he straightens himself, hand still holding onto your book. 

this could not get any worse.

“well,” your urge to pee has long gone, and you were already turning on your heels to back away from him. “i’m gonna go and--”

“whoa, whoa, wait,” he grabs you by the arm, and he gently tugs you back towards him. “so, are you?”

his face was so disgustingly innocent, you wish you had your book to whack him across his face.

but that wasn’t you, that was you when you’re drunk. 

it was difficult to come to terms with how different you were with a little alcohol confidence, but you’ve learnt to live with it once you realised you were your own champion.

that is, until this guy came along.

“you’re awfully quiet right now, don’t you think?” he looks up above you where a digital clock was hung. watching only his eyes shift but his entire body doesn’t sends a dangerous signal to your head. “especially with whatever you were saying last night.”

your heart was about to rip itself out of its cage and you purse your lips, trying to writhe out of his grip. but his hold reminds you of him yanking you to the edge of your bed by the ankles, and you mentally berate yourself for even thinking about it in this moment. 

he holds the book with only his thumb and index finger, the rest of his hands looking for the handle of the nearest private room and pushing it open. 

your eyes widen when the realisation hits you in the gut, and before you knew it, the door swings shut behind your luggage. he locks the door and pries your fingers off the luggage handle. pushing it into the corner of the room by the sofa, he places the book down on the cushion with caution. 

“if it makes you feel any better,” 

his large strides make it easy for him to reach your feet in just a few steps. you grit your teeth and feel your rear hit the small dressing table in the room. the lights lining the mirror were the only source of illumination, and since it was coming from behind you, it did nothing but highlight all his features. he cages you with both his hands gripping onto the edge of the table, and your constant shifting back into the furniture pushes it further into the wall as if it wasn’t already placed against it. 

“i can’t stop thinking about it either.”

his leans forward and presses his lips into yours, the taste of him dangerously intoxicating. your eyes flutter shut, the kiss sends chills down your spine and into your fingertips.

the previous night, you could taste the alcohol he had been drinking, not to mention the vodka that you were mercilessly pouring down your own throat.

but now all you were tasting was the fresh mint of what smelled like toothpaste. 

his hands travel up to your waist and he hoists you upwards, high enough for him to place you on the table. he pushes your legs open by your knees before resting his palms on your thighs. 

the surface of the table wasn’t very wide, so it was easy for you to feel the material of his blazer brushing across your inner thighs. your hands were gripping onto his forearms, his warm hands pressing on the material of your pants while you enjoy the taste of mint lingering on his tongue. 

he breaks the kiss and huffs, licking his lips and offering you a laugh through a smirk. “you really took me by surprise when you didn’t say anything outside,” he grabs your hands and rest them on his belt, the bold move struggles to anchor itself into your logic. “for a moment, i thought you were a twin sister or something.”

he dips his nose into your neck and to your ‘unfortunate’ dismay, he remembers your sweet spot. your eyes seal shut and a gasp gets sucked down your throat, but the sound was so sharp and apparent, even you felt awkward.

his palm flies up to your face and covers your mouth, turning your head so you were looking at him dead in the eye.

“there are no cameras but this room isn’t soundproof.”

his voice was so lustfully low, you hated how needy you were getting, even in the fucking airport.

“so do me a favour and try not to make a sound.”

his hand slowly leaves your lips and your blood starts to rush south when he starts fiddling with the button on your pants. 

burying his lips between yours again, your fingers instinctively start to undo his belt, the cold metal sending little shocks through your hands. 

he aggressively pulls your pants off from under you, and he pulls it over your boots so that they were now on the floor in a crumpled mess.

the amber lighting of the room paired with the diffused scent of wormwood was only alleviating every sense in you. goosebumps erupt all over your legs upon the contact with the cool air. 

you undo the button on his pants and the zipper slips down easily with the growing bulge under his boxers. he pulls away and snakes his left arm around your waist in attempt you pull you nearer to him, and your hands push down the material of his underwear to free his length. you attach your eyes to his as your hands now pressed flat against the back of his neck, begging him to kiss you again. 

he complies, tasting the remnants of the coffee you previously drank. you feel his fingers push your underwear aside and your wetness gets exposed to the cold air, sending shivers up through your gut. 

he breaks the kiss for a moment to wrap your legs around his waist and over his long blazer. lining himself with your entrance, he lets you swallow him inch by inch. 

a strained moan slips out through your lips, and he decides to tame it by wrapping his fingers around your throat. he doesn’t apply much pressure, but you know it’s a reminder for what he told you before. 

his lips find your sweet spot on your neck again as he picks up the pace. every thrust was so well controlled that the table doesn’t ram itself against the wall. the only sounds that were audible were the soft grunts in the back of his throat and the light mewls that were spilling out your mouth. 

your hands grip onto the edge of the table, and you feel them start to whiten with the strength you were investing. his pelvic bone begins hitting your sensitive nub, and you harshly bite on your bottom lip to prevent any lewd sounds from spewing out. 

the wrap on your neck starts to tighten against your skin, and for a moment you felt as high as you did last night. 

this man was making you feel drunk even when you were not.

the heavy breaths that were escaping through his lips were landing on your neck where his fingers didn’t cover, and he starts hitting you in places inside your core that you didn’t feel before. 

you could tell he was worried he was choking you, for his grip loosened and the palm of his free hand flattens itself against the curvature of your hip. 

continuous thrusts and bucks of his hips against yours was producing a heat that was beginning to fog up the mirror behind you. you could feel your fingertips getting numb from holding onto the edge of the table so violently, and the tingling sensation in your heat comes back in less than 24 hours. 

“oh, shit--” the words were hoarse and comes out almost like a whisper, your eyes rolling so far back into your head your vision flashed white. 

he provides you a few more thrusts to let you reach your high, his lips finding yours just before you could let your orgasm expose itself through your lips. 

without breaking the kiss, you feel him empty your entrance and he shoots his load onto your legs like the previous night. 

the kisses were sloppy and slightly exhausted, your chests were heaving up and down with ecstacy and satisfaction, but it doesn’t last very long when he pulls away and your eyes begin to focus on the blazer he still had on.

the uniform he had on while he was fucking you in a private room of a business lounge in the airport. 

he gulps, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down under his skin on his throat, and you lean your head back towards the mirror. he pulls out a drawer next to your legs (that were now dangling limply) at the edge by the table, and he finds an elegant, silver box with little napkins in them. 

the airport logo was printed on it, and you couldn’t help but marvel at yourself and how huge of a whore he’s made you. 

without a word, he cleans you before he cleaned himself, and within minutes that you felt like seconds, he was already patting down the creases of his pants and blazer. looking at the mirror behind you, he fixes his hair and straightens his tie, eyes travelling to you, who you know looked utterly ruined, even without seeing yourself in the mirror. 

a smirk appears on his lips, but it suddenly -- abruptly -- turns into a service smile. 

his ability to switch back and forth was nothing less than demonic.

“later when you reach the gate, tell her you know the captain.”

you scoff, wearily rolling your head against the mirror and shaking it against the ceiling.

“and how the hell will she know i’m not just messing with her?” you eye him with tired eyes, watching him gently tug on his collar around his neck. 

“because i know yours now, y/n.”

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

Part 3: No Mercy

A/N: DRINKING MORE HOLY WATER

Keeping Me Alive

Chapter 10: Get Out Alive

by @dracusfyre​

    Now

“Save who you can,” Tony said to himself as he splashed water on his face.

He blindly grabbed for a towel and dried off, meeting his eyes in the mirror for what felt like the first time in years. “Don’t look back.” He straightened his shoulders and took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and went out into his bedroom. He picked up the photo that sat on his bedside table and took it out of the frame, tucking it into the pocket of his pants. Glancing around his bedroom, he nodded once, and went down to his workshop. He saluted the painting of Howard on the wall then dug out the photo of the Winter Soldier from his desk and set it on fire, dropping it to the concrete floor and watching it burn.

 “Ready, JARVIS?” he asked. He ground the last bit of embers into the concrete to put them out.

 “Are you ready, sir?”

 “Yep,” Tony lied. “Let’s rock and roll.”

“Let it Burn Protocol initiated.” As JARVIS spoke, Tony felt the first explosion rock the house, rumbling through his feet as he stepped into the matte black suit in the gantry in the middle of the room. The facemask closed over his face as cracks appeared in the walls of the lab, and as the ground fell away from his feet he was already in the air.

36 days ago

Once he was sure that Stane was gone for good, Tony went down to his work shop and said, “Wake up, JARVIS, we have work to do.”

Sitting down at his workstation, he opened up the master file with the suit schematics and eyed the hologram critically. The hardest part of the suit to master was going to be the flight system, so he isolated and magnified that part from the diagram, studying the repulsors built into the gauntlets and boots with stabilizers along the back. “Start machining the parts I’m going to need for these,” he said. “Circumstances have changed and we are going to need to hit the ground running, so to speak."

“Yes, sir,” JARVIS said, and the whirring of machinery became a low hum, punctuated by sharp bzzts as parts were cut and de-burred. Tony studied the prototype, exploding the diagram, moving it around, and after a while came up with a short list of non-critical design items he could spoon feed to Hydra to show his ‘enthusiastic’ cooperation. An hour later, the whirring stopped and the sudden quiet broke Tony out of his concentration. He sat up and stretched, wincing as his back popped. Standing, he went over to the coffee maker and started a new pot, then dug under the counter for his emergency stash of scotch, splashing a fingers worth in his mug while he waited for the coffee.

He had realized two very important things today. The first was that the Soldier needed saving even more than Tony did; the knowledge that the man was Hydra’s slave, kept ignorant and locked up until Hydra needed an attack dog, had shifted Tony’s world view like a kaleidoscope, shaking up everything he thought knew and making an entirely new pattern. The second was that he couldn't keep waiting around for a chance to escape, he was going to have to make one.

This suit, he knew, was the key to both of those realizations. But this half-baked, insane plan to rescue the Winter Soldier was going to kick the anthill big time and Tony also knew he needed to have some kind of plan for dealing with Hydra in the aftermath. This wasn’t going to be like Afghanistan, where he thought he was out and got pulled right back in again. The stakes were way too high this time.

With that thought in mind, when the coffee was done, he filled up his mug and went back to his desk. He pulled up the operating program for the suit and created a subroutine to overload the reactor, ignoring the flash red warning that said that this would result in a critical core breach and an uncontrolled chain reaction, and set the activation code as “Last Resort.”

One way or another, he thought as he sipped on his doctored coffee, this suit would be his way out.

  32 Days Ago

Tony stared tiredly at the news as he took a swallow of stone-cold coffee. The breaking report was about the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist. Iran was already blaming Israel, who was of course denying it, but in response Iran was threatening to pull out of the treaties against nuclear enrichment and swore they could split the atom within the year. Political and military analysts were seeing storm clouds on the horizon unless someone backed down and talking about how another war would tax America's already overstretched military. Tony, meanwhile, could tell that this assassination had Hydra's fingerprints all over it, and knew that this was almost certainly the work of the Soldier. "JARVIS," Tony said, muting the television. "I need you to break into Hydra’s servers and find everything you can on the Winter Soldier. Cross reference it with the name James Barnes.” There was a chance that Stane had made the name up, but it seemed unlikely – from what he could tell, the Soldier would have responded to anything, and ‘James Barnes’ was a lot more specific than a simple ‘John Smith’ or ‘Joe Blow.’ “Actually, while you’re at it,” Tony said, having a sudden thought, “I want all of Hydra’s files. Copy them to one of SI’s remote servers.”

Hours later, Tony was just finishing up the wiring assembly for the repulsor system when his computer dinged. Setting down the soldering gun, Tony rubbed his eyes tiredly and turned on his monitor to see what JARVIS had found. To his dismay, there were thousands of files on the Winter Soldier; as he scrolled down the list, he realized that they went back decades. “Fuck,” he said aloud as he looked at the dates and the file names, most of which were a string of letters and numbers that no doubt made sense to someone in Hydra but gave no clue as to what the file contained. He buried his head in his hands and tried not to cry at the enormity of the task in front of him. He was so tired that his eyes were blurry and his head was pounding, but every time he tried to close his eyes he kept seeing James’s body arching with pain and hearing his screams.

“Sir, it has been twelve hours and thirty-six minutes since you last ate,” JARVIS said. “And you’ve made four mistakes in the past fifteen minutes. You need to rest.”

“I have?” Tony pulled his magnifying glass back over to the circuit board and saw what JARVIS was talking about. “Shit. Alright, fine.” He pushed away from the desk and went to the bar sink next to the coffee pot and ran his head under cold water for a second. He came up and wiped his face and the back of his neck, shivering as water dripped from his hair down his back, and went upstairs to look for food. Leaving his work shop felt like he was crossing into hostile territory, like he could be attacked at any moment. And he could, he thought as he opened the refrigerator. Stane had made sure that he always had free access to Tony’s home, because a locked door meant secrets and the only secrets Hydra allowed were their own. He wished he could just walk away from this place, blow it up and find a place to live that Hydra had never stepped foot in, a place that would feel like it was his –

He froze with a jug of orange juice in his hand. He stood there, thoughts racing, for so long that the chiller on the refrigerator came on with a hum. Then Tony said “Huh” to the boxes of leftovers and absently shut the fridge door, OJ still in hand.

25 Days Ago

“JARVIS, this doesn’t make sense,” Tony said, rereading the file for the fifth time. “This thing is saying that the first Winter Soldier was James Barnes, but the current Winter Soldier is James Barnes.” It was hard to think that it was a clerical error, since the earliest files went back to the 1940s and consisted of paper files that had been scanned into a computer sometimes in the 80s. “Is it an alias? Are all Winter Soldiers called ‘James Barnes’ as a security precaution?”

“Facial pattern analysis indicates that it is the same James Barnes,” JARVIS said, and it flashed up an image that looked like a scanned-in polaroid; in it the man was unconscious on an operating table, face dirty and bloody and pale. Next to it JARVIS pulled up an image from Hydra’s own security footage of what the Soldier looked like without his goggles and mask on. There was a vague resemblance to Tony’s eyes, but as the facial recognition algorithm measured the features in each photograph, the conclusion was mathematically precise – there was a 99.7% chance that it was the same man in each photo.

Tony’s face went slack with shock. “How is that possible? He’d have to be almost 100 years old!”

“That part I don’t know, sir.”

“Holy shit.” Tony went back to the original file, reading it more carefully. “James Buchanan Barnes,” he read. “Born 1917. American POW.” He paused at that and sat back in his chair. “Why does that sound familiar?”

In response, JARVIS pulled up a Wikipedia page on Tony’s screen. As he read it, Tony was speechless; for a long moment, he flipped screens between the dead-eyed man from Hydra’s surveillance footage and the smiling man with his arm around Captain America, but this time he didn’t need JARVIS to tell him that it was the same man. The implications made his stomach turn, and as he stared at the screen he exhaled shakily and covered his mouth with his hands. 80 years. James Barnes had been in Hydra’s clutches for 80 years.

He stood suddenly, sending his chair rolling backwards. “We’re doing another flight test. Right now.” 80 years was already far too long, and Tony wasn't going to let it be one more day longer than it had to be.

19 Days Ago

“Tony!” Ms. Potts said with surprise. “I didn’t expect you in the office today.”

Probably because Tony had been dodging Stark Industries for a while now, only coming out of his lab long enough to get her to leave him alone before burying himself in work again. It had occurred to him as he got in his car to go to SI headquarters, blinking in the bright sunlight, that this was the first time he had been outside of the house since Stane’s forced excursion. “Yeah, I wanted to meet with you,” Tony said, shutting the door behind him.  He set a stack of papers in front of her as he sat down.

“What’s this?” She said, flipping through the papers. There was a line of confusion between her eyebrows which only deepened as she started reading them.

“I’m making you CEO of Stark Industries,” Tony said. “Effective two weeks from now. Should be an easy transition, you do most of my job anyway.” He grabbed a pin from her desk and clicked it, the sound loud in the sudden silence. “Sign on the highlighted line, please,” he added, holding the pen out to her, and despite everything he had to smile at the stunned look on her face.

  11 Days Ago

Tony put a hand on Rhodey’s arm and met his eyes, willing him to understand. “I’m saying that Afghanistan wasn’t a random attack,” he said urgently. “I think I was being targeted, and I think whoever did it might try again.” He palmed a thumb drive from his pocket and slid it across the table. In the Hydra files, JARVIS had found that a senator named Stern had been behind the Afghanistan attack, apparently trying to get Tony out of the way so that his good buddy Justin Hammer and his company Hammer Industries could take over SI's lucrative military contracts. There was all of that and more on here, just enough information that if Rhodey put all the threads together he would start getting the bigger picture. Pierce, the STRIKE teams, all of it. “If anything happens to me, I need you to finish what I’ve started.”

“Tony, if you are afraid for your life-“ Rhodey started, still looking dubious but starting to get alarmed.

“Not just me. You. Ms. Potts. Anyone I'm friends with. I can’t do anything to make these people suspicious,” Tony insisted. It was strange to feel like he was lying even though every word he’d said was true. “No unexplained bodyguards, no sudden trips, and absolutely no cops.”

“I don’t like this,” Rhodey said emphatically. “You’re asking me to sit back and wait to see if someone kills you!”

“I know what I’m doing,” Tony said. That part was a lie. He had a plan in the broadest definition of the word; mostly he was making it up as he went along and praying he could handle the fallout. “I need you to trust me.” Rhodey’s mouth was a grim line and his jaw was tight, and Tony knew he wasn’t convinced so he pulled out his trump card. “I can’t do this unless I know you are safe,” he said, lowering his voice and leaning forward. “I won’t risk you.” It took a long minute, and Rhodey looked like he was swallowing something unpleasant, but he finally nodded and put the thumb drive in his pocket. Tony exhaled and sagged with relief. “Thank you."

“When this is over, you better have a good damn explanation,” Rhodey said threateningly, and Tony barked out a humorless laugh.

“You won’t even believe me when you hear it.”

  8 Days Ago

After Tony hit save on the final design of the suit, he stumbled over to the couch and landed on it face first, exhausted. He was laying on the couch, eyes drifting shut as he went over his plan for the hundredth time trying to figure out if he’d missed anything when the lab went dark. “What the hell, JARVIS?”

“Sir, it’s been 56 hours since you last slept,” JARVIS said. “I’m turning off your systems for a minimum of twelve hours.” The light in the stairwell going up to the main floor turned on, its glow just enough to let Tony get from the couch to the door without running into anything.

Tony stayed stubbornly on the couch. “We don’t have twelve hours to waste,” he said. “Turn my power back on.”

The lights stayed off. “Sir, you are a hazard to yourself and others.” Tony scowled and wondered if he had actually programmed JARVIS like this or if he was channeling the man himself. "Also, there's nothing for you to do while I assemble the suit."

“Fine. Ten hours.”

“Ten hours," JARVIS repeated. "I will be monitoring the situation while you sleep,” he added, and Tony knew that he meant not just monitoring Stane and James, but also Tony’s vital signs to make sure he actually slept.

“You’re insufferable,” Tony accused as he made his way up the stairs.

“Yes, sir.”

 2 Days Ago

“Sir, there’s something you should see.”

Tony looked up from the fine-tuning he was doing on the suit’s shoulder-fired weapons to look at the computer screen. JARVIS had maximized the window where he was constantly monitoring Pierce’s communications and highlighted a text that had just been sent. It was to an unknown number and all it said was lvl 10, CovJer10131973 nlt 200810162200Z. The first part was clearly a target identifier and Tony knew enough about the military to recognize the latter as a date time group, set for five days from now. “Bring up the camera feed,” Tony said, and sure enough when Tony looked at the video surveillance of the room where James was kept, he could see that the lights in the room were on and a technician was already in the room powering on computers. They’d found out a while ago that what Tony had taken for a hyperbaric chamber was in fact a cryostasis chamber, which partly explained why James was almost a hundred years old but looked younger than Tony.

“Shit." Tony exhaled long and low, feeling his heart rate spike with nervousness. "How long it takes to thaw him out? Was that in his files?”

JARVIS was silent for a moment. “Evidence suggests approximately 24 hours from the time the procedure is first initiated,” he said.

“Right,” Tony said grimly, turning back to his work with a new urgency. “Guess it’s time.”

 Now

Tony flew north along the coast as his house collapsed into the Pacific Ocean behind him, throwing billowing clouds of dust and smoke into the air as carefully placed explosives reduced it to a smoking ruin. It was thrilling and terrifying to know that for all intents and purposes Tony Stark was sinking to the bottom of the ocean. He'd become a dead man after all, and now the only thing left was this suit and his mission: rescue the Winter Soldier then burn Hydra to the ground.

“Pull up James' video feed for me," Tony said as he flew. Since he was over water, he set the suit to autopilot and shifted his attention to the small window at the corner of his HUD.  James was out of the cryostasis chamber, sitting on a chair as a medical assistant appeared to be taking his vitals. Every now and then he shivered, still shirtless. Other technicians were milling around, tending to the computers, and standing guard were was two members of the STRIKE team, hands on their weapons as they kept an eye on him. His records had indicated that he was prone to ‘erratic violent outbursts,’ which Tony figured was code for “periodically tries to fight back.” Tony had actually been happy to read that, because it meant that Hydra hadn't managed to break him completely. Right now, though, James just seemed willing to numbly submit to whatever the technicians were doing, his long hair a curtain in front of his face as he stared at the floor.

“Sir, we are approaching the facility,” JARVIS said, and minimized the video. Tony flew lower to the water, navigating around the giant cargo ships at dock. Even for a twenty-four hour facility it was late, and there were only one or two ships that had people still unloading shipping containers. He landed close to the Hydra facility but out of the line of sight; he had managed to camouflage the suit to the best of his ability, but he couldn’t hide the bright lights of the repulsors so he made the rest of the approach on foot.

JARVIS’s scanners found four total guards around the building, patrolling in pairs. By sticking to the deep shadows cast by the stacked shipping containers and the orange-yellow glow of the sodium-vapor security lights, Tony got within hearing distance and hit them with a pulse of high-pitched wave frequency. They both stiffened and fell over, paralyzed, helmets bouncing off the pavement hard enough to knock them unconscious. Tony bound them with their own zip ties and hid them out of sight, then used his backdoor access to the security system to unlock the doors and set all the surveillance cameras on a one hour loop. As he strode through the door into the lab, all eyes turned to face him, and before anyone could even speak there was a brrrt noise and they fell to the floor, killed by the precision targeting system Tony had built into his suit.

When JARVIS confirmed they were all dead, Tony took off the helmet and looked down at one of the bodies; the one closest to him had been here a month ago, monitoring James’ vitals as they wiped his mind. This was the first time Tony had killed anyone and he expected to feel..something, sad or upset or even vindictive, but he didn’t really feel anything. It all felt too easy, and Tony knew it was because he had designed a suit that had made it that easy. All the more reason that Hydra couldn't be allowed to get their hands on it.

James was still sitting in the chair, watching Tony as he approached; he hadn’t even gone for cover as everyone around him had died. Tony wondered if it was out of surprise or indifference. “Do you know me?” He asked, coming to stand in front of him. James studied his features for a moment and shook his head. “My name is Tony Stark. You are James Buchanan Barnes, and I am here to rescue you.” Tony offered him a hand to get to his feet, but James didn’t move, he just stared at Tony with those glacier blue eyes. There wasn't blankness in them now, only a narrow-eyed look of consideration. “Come on,” Tony tried again. “We’re escaping. We have to hurry before more people show up.”

James didn’t move. “There is no escape from Hydra. The only way out is-”

“Death, I know.” Tony kept his hand out but gestured expressively around the room with the other. “But they never said whose death.”

James studied him again, then turned his gaze to the dead bodies. Finally, after a long moment, he took Tony’s hand and let him pull him to his feet.

Barry X Ball (American, b.1955) after Antonio Corradini (Italian, 1668-1752)

Purity - Pakistani ‘Bella Fi’ Onyx - 2012

Barry X Ball is a sculptor who employs digital scans of his subjects to create a digital virtual model. The virtual model is either digitally manipulated (stretched, scaled, etc.) or left as-is. The stone, in blocks and boulders of up to 8 tons, is shipped by boat, rail, and truck to the Digital Stone Project facility near Trenton, New Jersey where the stone is cut to size at the DSP with a Pellegrini robot diamond wire saw and Löffler diamond circular bridge saw. The cut stone is drilled with diamond core-drills on a massive Carlton drill press to form a milling axis for the completed sculptures. Digital data from the virtual model is used to program CAM (computer-assisted-milling) software that drives the three custom-built Omag CNC (computer-numerically-controlled) stone-milling machines at the DSP: a massive 5-axis gantry-style mill, a 4-axis large-scale lathe, and a 3-axis lathe for small-scale sculptures. The drilled stone block is mounted on one of the CNC mills. The block is CNC-milled for several days with multiple passes by progressively finer watercooled diamond tooling. The final milling passes are specified so that the surfaces of the finished sculptures have a dense web of parallel micro-flutes – longitudinal, circumferential, or diagonal – of various widths.

After CNC milling is complete, a team of specialists commence to hand-carve and polish the form to refined completion (a process of requiring several months). The computerized machines cannot carve undercuts (e.g. backs of ears, mouth interiors, undersides of chins) and fine details such as eyes, lips, sharp edges, etc. - those areas are carved by hand with pneumatic, rotary (dental-style) grinders / diamond burrs as well as traditional stone-carving tools.  Sections of the sculptures (eyes, neck-recess viscera, sagging lips, impalement-stretched protrusions, etc.) are hand polished to a mirror finish. The heads are finally masked, sandblasted, and oil / silicone / wax - impregnated.

Below are excerpts from a letter Ball wrote to a Collector who “was particularly interested in where I thought my new sculptures stand in relationship to ‘Appropriation’ and what makes my works more than ‘copies’.

Purity: some differences between this and it’s historical 'starting place' antecedent, Antonio Corradini's La Purità.

In general, I have set for myself the difficult task of making new sculptures that are ‘more perfect' than the 'perfect’ Corradini, a masterpiece of Baroque sculpture. Here is a partial list of the ways I have gone about attaining that goal:

1. The substantial additions I have effected and the way I have carved / polished my works have made mine true sculptures-in-the-round, not frontal portraits intended for placement in niches or against walls.

2. I have employed non-traditional (for sculpture) stones for my works, not stereotypical white Italian Marble. My translucent stones (e.g. onyx and calcite) render the veil, shawl, and drapery diaphanous. . . .

3. My sculptures are mirror images of their sources. The mirroring, a feature of many of my portraits, is intentional. It is the view that the subject 'sees' in a mirror. . . .

4. I eliminated the Christian Latin cross from the bodice area of the veil. By so doing, I intend to make the veil more universal. . . .

5. I eliminated the lace border from the veil to freshen its appearance and enhance its smooth, sensual liquidity.

6. My sculptural treatment of the veil and drapery is intentionally softer, more flowing, less sharp than that of the Corradini. In my works, the veil has become more than a covering - it is the form itself. . . .

7. I have corrected several of Corradini's sculptural errors. Corradini not only didn't finish the bottom, sides, and back of his sculpture, certain passages of his work are confused. In particular, the layers of his drapery sometimes don't make sense or were not completely resolved. I fixed those problems in my works.

8. I subtly enlarged the breasts. For a sculpture ostensibly with devout "purity" as its subject, the Corradini woman is quite sexy. By my breast enhancement, I have tried to gently tip the pious / sensual balance a bit farther toward the latter.

9. I have polished the small patch of exposed flesh to differentiate it from the matte finish of the cloth. The entire lower back of my sculpture is also mirror-polished. The Corradini has a dull surface finish throughout. . . .

10. The Baroque-era Corradini has suffered damage in some areas over time. Its carved surface also has several rough, chipped, unfinished passages. . . . My sculptures are completely finished and damage-free. . . .

11. My pedestals are fitting accompaniments to the sculptures. The Corradini is displayed in a corner at Ca' Rezzonico on an unfortunate, too-large, too-dark wood base, to which it is crudely attached. My pedestals are refined, multi-part, carefully designed-and-constructed ensembles that I believe present my sculptures far more elegantly. They permit my works to be seen from all sides. They are beautiful pieces of furniture, but they don't interfere with the 'Purity' of the sculptures.

I hope this list answers your sincere inquiry about my intentions and adequately addresses the subject of 'originality’. I want my works to induce questions, not dictate answers. While almost forcing a type of refined viewing, of connoisseurship, the sculptures should seduce. Ultimately, the analytical approach I have employed in the creation of these pieces doesn't feel all that different from the one I have used to make my portraits. Yet it is undeniable that the net result is quite new.

There is a long tradition of artists making works 'after' the works of their forebears. Although utilizing an unprecedented, advanced, complex technological armamentarium, I am, in a way, working in that great tradition. I don't think, however, that my project owes much to appropriation and the contemporary artists who's works have been labeled as such. Fueled by love, I'm reaching way back to a time centuries before the Modernist Revolution, searching for a way to make something equally revolutionary.

www.barryxball.com

More about the process:

https://www.barryxball.com/process_cat.php?cat=1&process=1

This is the next part of my Plance fanfic series. There’s hints of Plance, Kallura, and Hunay in this chapter, plus loads of action!

This is the link to the previous chapter: https://truegryffindorforever2.tumblr.com/post/188911292170/i-had-fun-writing-this-chapter-lance-and-pidge

Chapter 9: The Morning Workout

At 0800 on Monday morning, the Paladins met at the Garrison’s training deck for a mandatory combat simulation. The Altean technology from the Castle of Lions was the foundation of this enormous new training area that the Garrison had built, not just for the Paladins, but for the future trainees of the Defenders Project that the Holts were developing. Even though Pidge had helped her father design the platform, the scenarios were so varied that even she would be surprised by most of them. She had asked Matt to do most of the programming for their training so that she would not know what kind of dangers they would face. Coran and Shiro had also given Matt some suggestions on the specifics.

Keith had arrived early, and was in the control room with Coran, who would be operating today’s simulation. Shiro and Matt had arrived shortly afterwards to observe and evaluate the results of the exercise.

Allura and Pidge were on the deck by 0750, and when Lance and Hunk arrived, Lance saw that the princess was helping Pidge with her unruly long hair, braiding it tightly so that it would fit under her helmet. “Good morning, Ladies!” Lance called cheerfully. Pidge made a little wave and smiled at them.

“Good morning, boys!” Allura replied as she finished helping Pidge with her hair.

“Good morning!” Hunk replied.

“Thanks, Allura. My hair is so much trouble. I am thinking about cutting it again.”

“Aw, don’t do that. Your hair is so pretty, Katie,” Lance said, never taking his eyes off of her. She blushed a little as she averted her gaze and smiled. Hunk gave Allura a knowing glance, and the princess lifted her eyebrows at him, looked at Lance and Pidge, then back towards Hunk. Hunk knew what the princess suspected, and he gave her a little nod. Allura looked happily surprised.

Keith walked out onto the deck. “Good morning, team. Today’s combat training exercise is an infiltration of a Galra pirate vessel. It’s the flagship of a large fleet of destroyer drones that are maneuvered in tandem by a slave circuit, which is controlled by a computer system that Pidge must hack before the flagship’s main reactor goes critical. Our coalition fleet is engaged in battle with the pirates and they have managed to partially disable the flagship, so our time is limited. To complicate things further, we have discovered that there’s also a small group of kidnapped citizens of the coalition worlds that are being held for ransom, and we must find them before we escape. If we fail, the fleet of destroyers will attack one of the coalition colony planets nearby, killing millions of colonists. We will have 25 doboshes to get through the maze of corridors to the brig and the main control room, complete the mission, and escape to our lions before the ship explodes. Reprogrammed Galra sentry bots will be playing the role of the pirates, but there are a few surprises onboard the ship, so expect the unexpected. Ready?”

“Ready!” they all replied. The plain white platform was transformed into the grey corridors of the pirate flagship, dimly lit by an eerie purplish glow. Klaxons blared and there was the sound of running metallic feet as the sentries charged, firing their energy rifles at the Paladins who drew their Bayards and activated their shields as they charged into the onslaught. Lance took out half a dozen sentries with his rifle, and Hunk incapacitated half a dozen more with his canon. Allura and Keith defended Pidge with electro whip and sword as she ran to the nearest terminal to find the location of the kidnapped citizens. When she found them she transmitted a map to everyone’s wrist displays.

“There are three of them. I’ve sent you their locations.”

“Great work, Pidge. Hunk, Allura, come with me to rescue the prisoners. Lance, go on with Pidge to the main control room,” Keith ordered. Lance was the most logical choice to defend Pidge while she worked. He could strike the enemy from a distance with his rifle and defend her in close quarters with his sword.

“Twenty doboshes remaining,” Coran’s voice announced over their helmet coms.

“Let’s move!” Keith shouted, and they went their separate ways.

Keith, Allura, and Hunk had to fight their way through a corridor full of sentries who were dressed in pirate gear and wielding both energy pistols and swords. After making short work of this obstacle, they entered a larger room consisting of several levels of gantries and cells. The area was filled with guards, one of whom was a huge, troll-like creature who carried a massive club. He swiped at Allura just as Keith pushed her out of harm’s way. Hunk opened fire on the creature, distracting him as Keith attacked the sentry guards, slicing the several bots to pieces, but just then even more sentries poured into the detention area brandishing their weapons. The Paladins were vastly outnumbered. Allura rushed to locate the three prisoners and release them from their cells. Romelle, Shay, and Axca soon emerged from the cubicles that Allura had opened. “I think we have some more allies in this fight,” Allura called to the others.

“Shay!” Hunk shouted. “Get her out of here!”

“I want to help,” the Balmeran girl said as she moved toward the battle. Axca and Romelle had already picked up fallen energy pistols and were combating the sentries nearest them. Shay used her size and strength to her advantage in the conflict, hurling sentries left and right, while Allura ran towards the troll-like monstrosity. She leaped onto its back and encircled the creature’s thick neck with her whip. It screamed in agony as she sent electrical currents through its artificial hide and android body. The pirates opened fire on Allura, knocking her down from the monster’s shoulders. Her armor protected her from the worst of the blast, but she fell to the deck, stunned.

“Allura!” Keith screamed. He ran towards her.

The troll-like creature was still disoriented from Allura’s attack. Hunk spotted a row of gantries and empty cells above the monster’s head and opened fire with his most powerful missiles, collapsing the structure on top of the monster.

Keith had lifted Allura’s unconscious body from the deck while Axca and Romelle provided cover for them. “We have to get to the hangar now! We are running out of time!”

“But what about Lance and Pidge?” Hunk asked, running after the others.

The corridor ahead of them was blocked by four pirate sentries with energy swords. Lance shot the first one who changed at them, but dodged as the second attacked with its sword. Lance’s Bayard transformed to its Altean broadsword form and he engaged in a furious duel with the bot. Pidge had managed to short-circuit the third sentry with her Bayard, but the fourth pirate sentry seized her, picking her up from the deck and holding its sword to her throat. She screamed. Lance heard her just as he had just sliced the second sentry in half, and while his sword was still in motion, his Bayard transformed back into a rifle. In one fluid movement, he aimed and fired at the pirate’s head, blasting it off of its shoulders. Pidge jumped down from its embrace as it collapsed. “Way to go, Sharpshooter!” Lance grinned at her.

“Ten doboshes!” Coran announced from the observation deck. Sam and Colleen had come by to watch the training exercise, unbeknownst to the Paladins. They watched as Lance and Pidge ran through the corridor towards the control room.

Keith helped a very groggy Allura down the passageway to the hangar where the lions were protected by their particle barriers. “Will you be able to fly?” He asked.

“I think so,” she straightened to her full height and saw that Hunk was already leading Shay aboard Yellow Lion. Romelle took Allura’s arm and led her towards Blue, and then Axca quickly followed Keith towards Black Lion.

The control room was filled with sentries, but Lance and Pidge took them out in a matter of moments. Pidge ran to the main terminal as Lance opened fire on the sentries that poured through the open doorway. Pidge’s fingers flew over the key pad as row after row of data scrolled up the display screen. “Hurry! Pidge, there’s too many of them!” Lance continued to pick them off.

Pidge didn’t answer him. Even if the flagship was destroyed, she had to send out the signal to disable the destroyer drones, or they would continue on their predetermined plan of attack on the colony. The program that she was trying to hack was one of the most complex she had ever seen. Her brow was damp with nervous perspiration. She began to panic.

The last of the sentries had been taken down by Lance’s sword, just as Pidge yelled, “I’m in!”

“Five doboshes,” Coran announced.

“Red and Green just took off without them, Keith,” Hunk’s voice announced over their comm channel.

“Lance, Pidge, report in. What’s your status?” Keith asked from Black Lion’s cockpit.

“She’s reprogramming the destroyer drones now,” Lance replied.

“Keith, Red and Green have flown away from the battle, far beyond the blast radius. The coalition flight group has disengaged as well. The destroyers are almost to the planet’s surface!” Allura cried, despair in her voice. “They will never make it out in time.”

“Red and Green would never abandon them like that, would they?” Hunk asked. “How will they get to their lions?!”

“Pidge, we have to go now!” Lance yanked her from the terminal pulling her towards the corridor.

“There’s an airlock to the left side of the next corridor,” she said, and they ran towards it.

Just then a sentry opened fire on them from behind. Pidge fell to the deck. Lance turned and blasted the robot to pieces. “Pidge! Are you alright?” He knelt beside her, then helped her to stand.

“My suit’s Okay, But my jetpack isn’t.” Lance opened the airlock and pulled her inside.

“Then you’ll just have to hold onto me. Don’t let go.”

“I won’t.”

Lance opened the door to the hull, and they were pulled into the vacuum of space. Pidge was holding on to him with her arms and legs wrapped tightly around him, and Lance clasped her to his chest with all of his strength. Screaming, they tumbled through the void.

Allura was monitoring the drone attack. “The destroyers...they’ve stopped!”

“Pidge’s hack worked!” Hunk exclaimed. “But where are they?!” Hunk and Allura both had tears streaming down their faces.

“Keith?” Allura called.

Keith didn’t respond. His eyes went blank, and he glowed with quintessence. Black was communicating with him, telling him what he must do. He inserted his Bayard into its port, and suddenly Black Lion was no longer there.

Lance had activated his jetpack and was flying away from the inevitable destruction of the flagship. He held Pidge close to him. She was sobbing. “We aren’t going to make it.”

Just then, Black Lion appeared out of nowhere, his mighty jaws open to catch Lance and Pidge, then teleport away to where Red and Green were waiting for them. The flagship exploded, bright as a nova.

“End simulation,” Coran said, and everyone in the control booth stood in shocked silence. The Paladins, along with their rescued “hostages” were once again standing on the white floor of the training deck: Hunk and Shay, Allura and Romelle, Keith and Axca... But Lance and Pidge were floating in midair, still clinging to each other as the antigravity field lowered them to the deck. They were both breathing heavily, and when they landed, they took off their helmets.

“That was terrifying,” Pidge said weakly. Lance hugged her.

“It was so realistic. I thought we were going to die,” Lance admitted. They were both shaking.

“Well done, team,” said Shiro, who had just come down from the observation deck.

“Keith has unlocked Black Lion’s ability to teleport,” Allura said proudly.

“Hunk and Allura managed to take down the troll by working as a team,” Keith added.

“And Lance’s combat scores are the highest he’s ever earned,” Shiro added. “His Bayard transformed from rifle to sword and back again, and he used those transformations flawlessly. I have never seen him fight like that.”

“I had the right motivation,” Lance said. “My mission was to protect Pidge.” Lance had his arm around her shoulders, and he gave her a little squeeze. She blushed and smiled shyly.

“Pidge, That slave circuit program was designed to be unhackable in the time you were given. What you did was nothing short of astonishing,” Shiro said with admiration for the youngest Paladin.

“She saved the entire colony from the destroyer drone attack,” Hunk added.

“Outstanding work, everyone.” Keith had his arms around Allura and Hunk. He gave them each a side hug, then moved to hug Lance and Pidge. “I’m really proud of you two,” he said while hugging them both simultaneously.

“You saved us, Keith,” Pidge said.

“Yeah, man. You were amazing.” Keith smiled, then gave Lance a little pat on the shoulder.

“The whole team was amazing. Let’s hit the showers and meet up at the Paladins’ lounge for lunch.”

Last night I dreamt I was Pidge in a bizarre MCU/Kidge crossover.  Tony Stark lost his shit with me for being able to hack into his system.  Shiro was constantly grinning at me as he gave Keith little nudges.  Matt was my accomplice.  I also kicked someone off what I can only describe as a huge metal gantry with a drop that would kill you.  I don’t know who it was but they were HUGE compared to me.  

I don’t know how I would even begin to translate this into a fanfic, but goddess knows I’m trying!

Oh, also I was wearing jeans and an orange and red plaid shirt.  I don’t own one in those colours, but it was cute as fuck!

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Electric Power Trowel Machine

Compact blades (made in steel): Made for use on floor where you scatter the sand into the floor of a slurry after which trowel the floor to a easy and good floor. Steel blades are sooner than plastic, but the noise from the blades is higher and there's a risk that you'll get thin “trowel-roses” within the floor when the flooring is prepared. White flex: Made for use on if you combine the sand and epoxy to a mortal and produce the coating on the ground with a screedbox. Works also very nicely on scatter-system if you place a compact blade in steel behind every White flex. http://trimixmachinery.com with the mixed trowel blades or change your device to complete blades to finish the floor, sealing the porous materials. Stroll behind power trowel to function at its top velocity, this time with the blades absolutely pitched downward onto the concrete. Doing so will give the slab that highest stress. To get that matte, gleaming or mild gloss finish, create as many passes at proper angles. Handy operating. Excessive reliable. Easy to restore, straightforward to equip. 1 set of transferring system at front of the gantry body, 1 set of plasma torch on the moving object for groove slicing. Does this product help customization? How do you ship the merchandise? What is the guarantee for the product? The intention of these and other modular design and standardising methodologies is a significant reduction in fabrication prices. A wider objective is to drive down floating wind’s levelised cost of power (LCOE) to deliver it into par with state-of-the-artwork fixed-backside technology. A key function of the SelfAligner’s integral floater and tower total design is the application of shipbuilding principles by way of standardised modular steel constructions. This means utilizing flat and bent steel sheeting as base parts, supplemented by T- and P-shaped "weld-on" stiffeners. Combining these in field-shape and different structural sub-assemblies permits an optimised use of material by creating sturdy and inflexible lightweight buildings, while providing a excessive degree of production automation and robotised welding. Such price-efficient production strategies are already common at shipyards the world over, explains naval architect Jens Cruse of Hamburg-based Cruse Offshore. A power trowel is used to create a smooth end on a large, flat space of concrete, such as an inside flooring, or a poured patio slab for a deck. They use multiple blades that rotate in a security cage. Have the concrete poured a few hours before utilizing the power trowel. VELOX can also be used on new placement finishing. Production charges of 10,000 s/f per day minimal. MOST price-effective method to make the most of compared to traditional mechanical sprucing methods. Same square footage, same grind and polish process, identical man-power…LESS gear and less working days needed for undertaking completion. NO electric energy wanted equals NO cords to trouble with. VELOX Power Trowel Sprucing System makes use of the science of SILEX Silica StackingTM flooring treatment expertise, high-quality abrasive tooling and a profilometer (surface roughness meter). Using a power trowel isn’t very troublesome to do from a beginner’s standpoint - but it does take hours of expertise to grasp them and use them like an artisan (which is what number of skilled operators use them). But for those of us who might not be so conversant in them - this weblog provides you the fundamentals you want to understand and properly function a power trowel. Pulling up on the handle strikes the unit to the left, pushing down on the handle transfer the unit to the right. Another steering technique for a stroll behind trowel could be to palm down on proper handle and palm up on left handle with slight down pressure on the best handle will transfer the unit proper. Palm down on the left handle and palm up on the best handle, with slight down pressure on the left handle will move the unit left.

Aluminum Foil Rolling Mill — Produce high-quality foils with high efficiency and low cost

As the requirements for aluminum foil output and quality continue to increase, the requirements for aluminum foil production equipment, such as aluminum strip and foils mill tools, are becoming more and more stringent. Today, rolling mills are required to produce foil products with a thickness of less than 6 microns and a width of more than 2 meters, and the speed should reach more than 2,000 meters per minute. In order to meet these requirements, the aluminum foil rolling mill is equipped with the most advanced high-speed rolling technology, and provides comprehensive process support, so that the rolling mill can be put into production at a record speed, and after changing the rolling mill settings, it can be produced from the first coil. The technical indicators of the qualified products for sale are better than the industry standards.

It’s a well-established question and one that we’ve been too afraid to ask our mothers: Should we use the shiny or the dull side of aluminum foil when we cook? And have we been doing it wrong this entire time?!

Concerned cooks, you can breathe a sigh of relief: As it turns out, there’s no “correct” side of aluminum foil to use when cooking so using it on either side is not one of the cooking mistakes that could ruin your food. According to the Huffington Post, they’re both equally effective at heating your food—so just choose whatever side you prefer.

If there’s no trick to it, then why, exactly, does aluminum foil have a shiny and a dull side in the first place? Experts at Reynold’s Kitchen say that the difference between the two sides is due to a manufacturing process called milling, during which heat and tension is applied to stretch and shape the foil. Two layers of foil are pressed together and milled at the same time, because otherwise, it would break.

“Where the foil is in contact with another layer, that’s the ‘dull’ side,” Reynold’s explains. “The ‘shiny’ side is the side milled without being in contact with another sheet of metal. The performance of the foil is the same, whichever side you use.”

But pay attention if you are using non-stick foil; in that case, there is a difference between the two sides. Since the non-stick coating is only applied to one side, you’ll want to use the dull side. Side note: There will be a label that designates the “non-stick side” in case you forget.

However, aluminum foil could pose a serious risk to your health—so maybe you should stop cooking with it altogether.

Aluminum foil might be one of our favorite inventions ever. Whether we're grilling up some fresh veggies in a neatly-wrapped parcel or folding a leftover slice of pizza to save for later, it's the perfect solution to pretty much any kitchen situation. Seriously, our list of uses for this shiny staple is endless.

We noticed that the handy tool comes with two distinct sides: a shiny, reflective side and a dull, matte side. That got us thinking. Is there a purpose behind the two different textures? Should we be using different sides for certain reasons? Have we been doing everything wrong for years?!

"Regardless of the side, both sides do the same job cooking, freezing and storing food," Mike Mazza, marketing director for Reynolds Wrap, told TODAY Home via email. "It makes no difference which side of the foil you use unless you're using Reynolds Wrap Non-Stick Aluminum Foil."

Non-Stick foil actually has a protective coating on one side, so the company recommends only placing food on the side marked "non-stick" for maximum efficiency.

Aluminum foil, or tin foil, is a paper-thin, shiny sheet of aluminum metal. It’s made by rolling large slabs of aluminum until they are less than 0.2 mm thick.

It’s used industrially for a variety of purposes, including packing, insulation and transportation. It’s also widely available in grocery stores for household use.

At home, people use aluminum foil for food storage, to cover baking surfaces and to wrap foods, such as meats, to prevent them from losing moisture while cooking.

People may also use aluminum foil to wrap and protect more delicate foods, like vegetables, when grilling them.

Lastly, it can be used to line grill trays to keep things tidy and for scrubbing pans or grill grates to remove stubborn stains and residue.

Aluminum is one of the most abundant metals on earth.

In its natural state, it is bound to other elements like phosphate and sulfate in soil, rocks and clay.

However, it’s also found in small amounts in the air, water and in your food.

In fact, it’s naturally occurring in most foods, including fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, grains and dairy products.

Some foods, such as tea leaves, mushrooms, spinach and radishes, are also more likely to absorb and accumulate aluminum than other foods.

Additionally, some of the aluminum you eat comes from processed food additives, such as preservatives, coloring agents, anti-caking agents and thickeners.

Note that commercially produced foods containing food additives may contain more aluminum than home-cooked foods.

The actual amount of aluminum present in the food you eat depends largely on the following factors:

Absorption: How readily a food absorbs and holds on to aluminum

Soil: The aluminum content of the soil the food was grown in

Packaging: If the food has been packaged and stored in aluminum packaging

Additives: Whether the food has had certain additives added during processing

Aluminum is also ingested through medications that have a high aluminum content, like antacids.

Regardless, the aluminum content of food and medication isn’t considered to be a problem, as only a tiny amount of the aluminum you ingest is actually absorbed.

The rest is passed in your feces. Furthermore, in healthy people, absorbed aluminum is later excreted in your urine.

Generally, the small amount of aluminum you ingest daily is considered safe

Seamless steel pipe production line is mainly single-chain type cooling bed cooling bed, a double-stranded cooling bed, the new chain cooling bed, stepping rack cooling bed, screw-type cooling bed.

1, single-chain cooling bed More use of single-chain cooling bed climbing structure. Cooling bed and fixed by the forward rail transport chain composed of a set of transmission. Placed between two steel dial grip forward transport chain, fixed steel rails bear the weight of the body. Single chain cooling bed transport chain finger means of the forward thrust friction of the steel pipe and the fixed rail to generate rotary motion, while relying on the weight of steel and the angle of lift, the steel pipe is always abutted against the forward transport chain finger, achieve a smooth pipe rotation.

2, double-stranded cooling bed Duplexes cooling bed transport chain from the forward and reverse transport chains, positive and negative chain of transmission of each set. Placed between two steel dial grip forward transport chain, the reverse chain bear weight steel body. Duplexes cooling bed transport chain use the forward thrust of the steel pipe pulling claw run forward, using the inverse chain steel pipe friction generated continuous rotary motion. Reverse chain movement also makes steel always leaning forward transport chain, finger, smooth rotation and uniform cooling.

3, the new chain cooling bed A combination of single-stranded and double-stranded cooling bed features cooling bed, cooling bed into the uphill sections and downhill sections. The uphill sections of the transport chain by the forward and reverse transport chain consisting of a double-stranded structure, positive and negative together to make steel continues to rotate forward, doing sport climbing. Downhill section of the forward transport chain and single-stranded structures arranged in parallel steel rails, relying on weight to achieve rotation, do landslide movement.

4, stepping rack cooling bed Stepping rack cooling bed bed composed by two racks, assembled in a fixed beam, called static rack, another assembly in moving the beam, called the move a rack. L The agency action, moving the pipe rack will hold up the rise, due to an inclined angle, steel rolling when it is lifted once along the tooth. Move up to the highest gear position, stepping body movements so that the moving direction of the rack to the cooling bed one step away from the output. Lifting mechanism continues to operate, drive and move the rack dropped into a given rack alveolar steel, steel toothed rack along a fixed rolling once again, after moving back to the initial position of the rack, complete a cycle.

5. Screw the cooling bed Main drive screw is cooled by means of the screw and fix the cooling of the gantry and other components, the screw including a screw rod and screw helix. Face fixed cooling gantry above the spiral rod above and below the spiral, steel body weight is borne by the fixed cooling stand. Main drive screw driven synchronous rotation, spiral screw driven steel roll forward on the fixed bench cooling, cooling. Single chain does not fit the cooling bed continuous operation, better cooling bed duplexes, the new cooling bed chain effect and low cost, stepping rack cooling bed is generally used in large or high profile production line, screw-type cooling bed are generally smaller diameter seamless steel pipe for cooling.

Heat treatment services for stainless steel and metal alloys

Solution annealing (also referred to as solution treating) is a common heat-treatment process for many different families of metals. Stainless steels, aluminum alloys, nickel-based superalloys, titanium alloys, and some copper-based alloys all may require solution annealing.

The purpose of solution annealing is to dissolve any precipitates present in the material, and transform the material at the solution annealing temperature into a single phase structure. At the end of the solution annealing process, the material is rapidly quenched down to room temperature to avoid any precipitation from occurring during cooling through lower temperature ranges. The single phase solution annealed material will be in a soft state after treatment.

The solution annealing treatment is required prior age hardening / precipitation hardening. The single phase microstructure created during solution annealing is required prior to age hardening, such that only the precipitates formed during age hardening will be present in the final product. The composition, size, and quantities of those precipitates formed during aging will determine the final product's hardness, strength, and mechanical properties after aging. It is critical that the structure be properly solution treated prior to aging in order to meet all of these requirements.

High-quality solution heat treatment

We recognize how important it is to our clients that the finished product we create demonstrates exceptional quality, and purity. To achieve this goal, we have invested heavily in our machinery, as well as implemented rigorous quality-control standards that ensure your work is completed to the very highest standard at every stage of solution heat treating. Our experienced team is able to successfully undertake heat treatment solution on a wide-variety of projects.

Definition of Cast Roll and Forged Roll

We will introduce cast roll and forged roll.

Forged rolls offer outstanding internal and surface soundness and meet customers’ requirements for strength, hardness, and reliability. Manufacturer produces forged rolls on advanced liquid forging hydraulic presses and heat treat by means of double and progressive induction to guarantee that our products have excellent levels of chemical pureness, solid metallurgic structure, and high resistance. The Reinosa steel plant’s latest developments in forged back-up rolls produces a superior product compared to cast back-up rolls. The structural homogeneity of forged rolls enables optimal performance in the mill.

The twin-roll plate casti roll is not completely equivalent to the roll on the twin-roll plate and strip casting machine. It is a deformation tool and also functions as a water-cooled crystallizer in the process of casting the roll. When working, the outer surface of the roll sleeve of the casting roll is in contact with the hot molten metal, and the inside of the roll sleeve is washed by powerful cooling water to quickly take away a large amount of heat, and there is a strong heat exchange between them. Casting rolls not only bear the rolling pressure of deformed metal, but also bear huge heat exchange stress. Therefore, special requirements are put forward for the cast roll sleeve material and the cast roll structure. The selected roll sleeve material can withstand the alternating heat. Load, have sufficient heat transfer capacity, do not chemically react with molten metal, and have sufficient strength and rigidity to ensure the smooth progress of the casting and rolling process.

THESE MINIMAL 3D-PRINTED GANTRI LIGHTING DESIGNS CAN BRING YOUR HOME TO LIFE.

Home is where our heart is, 100% right now. The past year has taught us to look at this tiny space in a whole new light! While we can’t get rid of all the cables that snake across our desk or the random products that end up on our couch, what makes or breaks our interior is the gantri lighting designs we choose. In fact, the right light can make your clutter seem aesthetic too! My choice of aesthetics is the Japandi aesthetics – a mix of Japanese minimalism and Scandinavian design elements that emphasize a clean, clutter-free interior with mood lighting and warm tones. To find the perfect light setting, I came across Gantri lighting designs. The brand that connects with the best industrial designers of our time to create a lamp made from plants! Gantri uses the world’s first sugar-derived PLA blends that promise tough material that does not harm the planet. It ticks all your boxes, doesn’t it? To add a bit of minimal magic to your home, here are some of my handpicked lamp designs from Gantri that will elevate your work setup to a whole new level! The Art Deco movement of the late 19th century helped create new relationships between architecture and geometry. In a time that was certainly considered flourishing, just before the world wars, Art Deco beautifully combined European sensibilities with Eastern and South-American exotic styles while expressing itself through simple-yet-complex geometric forms and shapes… quite like Picasso’s Cubist art, but with arguably more attention to symmetry and composition. The Arintzea Collection from Muka Design Lab and Gantri lighting designs pays tribute to Art Deco’s influences within Basque architecture. With its jagged, low-poly edges, the Iceberg Table Lamp by Hannah Fink for Gantri lighting designs looks quite like its source of inspiration, although it promises not to disappear due to global warming. Made in corn-based PLA, using 3D printing techniques (Gantri’s specialty), the Iceberg Lamp comes with a warm LED light on the inside to give it a cozy glow as it sits on your desk or by your bed. The jagged edges on the Iceberg come with functionality too. The form allows you to dock devices such as mobile phones and tablets between its geometrically sculpted peaks, allowing the lamp to also serve as a stand for your smart devices. Part ambient light, part smartphone stand, and full heartwarming design! Meet the Palm lights, a light collection designed for working from home. The Palm is designed to help you channel your focus, creating a comforting workspace that boosts your productivity. Gantri’s wellness initiative, Reach, designs the Palm creation. Delivering 270 degrees of lighting, Palm’s design shines light directly on your desk without inducing eye strain; at the same time, the base occupies as little space as possible to keep your desk clutter-free. Aptly named Encore, this lamp, by Sam Does Design, is filled with visual metaphors. It comes 3D-printed in Gantri’s special Plant Polymer (GPP), and even though the body of the lamp’s made entirely out of hard plastic, its curtain-inspired form, combined with the material’s inherent translucency, gives it a delicate, fabric-esque appeal, allowing it to look less industrial and softer and inviting. Instead, the Encore is all about visual poetry. While the Weight flipped the ‘light’ aspect of the lamp, making it something that’s actually visually heavy, Encore is rich with an element of performance. Inspired by the curtains that separate an audience from the stage, the Encore lamp plays the very apt role of stage-lighting that brings the room to life when switched on. The Encore’s switch sits on its power cord, with a diffuser slider for you to adjust brightness. Still, cleverly enough, its top-view is a modern reinterpretation of the switch… designed to look like the digital icon found on touchscreen interfaces. Dieter Rams dictate that good design should be simple. The Cantilever lamp by Gantri lighting designs are the perfect example of this concept. Cantilever is a simple, spherical table light with a whimsical twist – the off-center globe sits on an elevated base. Washing its surroundings in a warm glow. The geometric design with its warm appeal will make you smile. Almost like a loved one inviting you home every time you walk in. Muka Design Lab’s Maskor fits comfortably. Be it your desktop or your bedside. The award-winning studio is a practitioner of the Slow Design Movement. A movement that focuses on sourcing locally, designing thoughtfully, and help people live in the present. Made from Gantri’s sugar-derived PLA blends, the Maskor (Basque word for seashell) takes inspiration from the texture found on the seashell. Wherever placed, this lamp gives you an almost meditative property and makes it perfect for helping cut out distractions. Suyo mixes light and functionality, making it a perfect fit for those uber-busy desk setups with no space to spare. Be it a plant, your stationery, or any other random knick-knacks you choose. Suyo will be the faithful assistant at your side when you need it. Designer McKay Nilson from NYC designed Suyo to create an emotional connection with the objects we share around us. Keeping that in mind, I would certainly double up Suyo as a planter. Making it my happy space! Float is the lamp with a story to tell. Inspired by the Japanese glass fishing floats. The lamp is designed to mimic the gently floating motion of these boats. This lamp can be hung by your desk setup or keep it on your table. The design is sure to attract the attention of everyone who comes across it. Designer Viviana Degrandi says, “When it’s on a table, it almost seems like the sphere is floating on water. I wanted to create a light that was flexible, gentle, and simple. That would fit in any room of the home.” Add a touch of retro with Nicholas Baker’s Pixel! The Brooklyn-based designer has a unique inspiration behind this lamp, and he explains.”While shining light through a 3D print, Baker noticed a unique illuminated effect from the print’s grid-like internal structure. Baker expanded upon this effect and drew further inspiration from the retro-digital world, and it’s 8bit iconography. Pixel features a diffusive grid where each square emits a different level of lighting – giving the appearance of a “pixelated” light.” Designing to help declutter your nightstand as well as help you de-clutter your mind. The TRAY gantri lighting designs serves as an ambient lamp that also holds and organizes your bedside items like your spectacles, water bottle, phone, etc. It features an accordion-inspired lampshade that glows with a fluted/banded design. Atop which sits an opaque tray that holds your belongings. At 9.25 x 9.25 inches. It fits comfortably on most bedside tables and offers enough surface area for all your belongings. When the lamp’s switched on, your objects are cast in a diffusing light that bounces around your room. Without creating any glare or appearing too bright. The TRAY Table Light lets you easily spot and access your belongings and even see clearly around your bedroom. The TRAY Table Light comes as a collaborative effort between Silvon and Gantri. Like all of Gantri lighting designs, the TRAY is 3D printed out of the proprietary Gantri lighting designs Plant Polymer (GPP) and treated with a matte finish. The inside of the lamp is fitting with a 6W LED bulb, and the TRAY also has a dimmer switch integrated into its TPE electrical cord. Read the full article

Longer RAY5 20W Laser Engraver

There are many ways to commemorate an event or promote your business. T-shirts are an all-time favorite. Mugs are always a hit, and custom pens are functional and inexpensive. Maybe you'll even enjoy some designer hats. But if you want to create something truly memorable, engraving is hard to beat. Unlike disposable pens or mugs, engravings have a long-lasting, durable aura. In order to create them, you need a good laser engraver.

Of course, branding and awards are just two applications of engraving machines. Engravers can be used to reproduce artwork. You can create plaques and other objects with text and images. Laser engravers can also be used to cut a variety of materials. This is often more reliable, efficient and repeatable than sawing or other traditional techniques. But if you want good performance, you need a quality engraver.

Today, we will be reviewing the LONGER RAY5 20W Laser Engraver. This is a powerful 20 watt laser engraver that is far more powerful than most publicly available laser machines. It can engrave and cut most materials, and can even create shadow etches on stainless steel. But does it meet all the requirements you need? We'll take a deep dive into this machine and evaluate all of its capabilities.

Frames and Gantry LONGER RAY5 20W laser engraving machine is mainly composed of black aluminum frame and gantry. It has a roughly square footprint, measuring 24 by 26 inches. Metal feet lay flat on any level surface. But they also have pre-drilled holes on the sides so you can attach them to your own custom frame. This makes the router installation very flexible as you can install it almost anywhere.

Working area is 375mm x 375mm. This is about average for a laser engraving machine, which typically ranges from 350mm x 350mm to 400mm x 400mm. White graduations are printed on both sides of the frame to easily locate whatever you want to engrave.

The side rails are also slotted in the middle to form a set of tracks. A black aluminum gantry spans the sides horizontally and rides on tracks. The wheels are clipped to the side rails from the top and bottom, and the gantry is motorized. This allows the gantry to move back and forth freely.

The gantry itself is also marked with a white millimeter scale for easy horizontal placement of objects. At the same time, the laser module is installed on the top of the gantry. The module is also motorized and can move side to side on rails on the gantry. Therefore, it can move from left to right, and forward and backward. This allows the laser to automatically move in two axes and complete the engraving.

The LONGER RAY5 comes with a 12-month manufacturer's warranty to cover any faults. You are fully protected against defective parts or labor.

Laser and Control The laser module itself is a vertical rectangular block. It's made of matt black aluminum that fits perfectly into the frame and is connected by brackets. The stand has a pair of slots with two set screws so you can move the laser up and down freely. Next to the slot is a set of millimeter scales that can be used to customize the laser height. You can adjust the focal length according to your needs to cut and engrave various types and thickness of materials.

The laser consumes 20 watts of power, which is very powerful. Most home routers consume 5 watts, and some more powerful models consume 10 watts. At 20 watts, you'll have a lot of power, but also a lot of heat. To this end, the top of the module is ventilated, with built-in fans to improve air flow.

There is also a dust cover with a built-in suction tube to suck dust out of the laser. If your engraver has a larger guard this will do a good job of keeping it clean. There is also a blue shield around the laser head to help prevent eye injuries. However, UV protection glasses should still be worn when engraving.

There is a 3.5-inch touchscreen on the front left for simple controls. You can open individual files and sculpt them, or adjust your settings. You can also use diagnostic tools to improve the performance of your machine. On top of the display is a large button that acts as an emergency shutdown. If you need to stop the laser immediately, just press a button.

connection and setup There are several ways to connect to the RAY5 and start working. The default method is to use the smartphone app. If your phone and longer laser engraver are on the same WiFi network, you can work directly from your phone. As long as you have a compatible image file, you can print without any interruptions.

Industrial Paint for Crane

When it comes to exceptionally demanding industrial users, such as cranes suppliers and manufacturers, quality coating ensures, above all, mechanical reliability. For outdoor-operated cranes, this requirement is complemented by the ability to tolerate corrosion and UV radiation. Reliable operations require coating solutions that you can still count on, regardless of environmental conditions or the scale of the load. Zigma Paints Pvt. Ltd. has been leading in manufacturing and supplying not only industry specific but even product specific coating solutions to our customer under the brand name of Zigmalac®, along with our technical service and assistance, that an ideal solution can be found for every purpose and situation.

Paint for cranes is a profession in itself and as an experienced crane painter we understand that. Because the basic machine and the equipment are separated from each other at the start of work and only come together again after the painting process, we are able to deliver machines that meet high quality standards. Our building is fully adapted to the painting of large and heavy equipment such as cranes. Paint a crane can take an average of 12 working days for us. Since all operations take place under the roof and we have our own means of transport, we will achieve an optimal process flow with all our painting jobs.

Best Solution For Cranes

We are having a large number of satisfied customers manufacturing cranes. Our vast customer range includes customers manufacturing Single Girder EOT cranes, Double Girder EOT Cranes, Gantry Cranes, Electric Wire Rope Cranes, Jib Cranes, Goliath Cranes, Underslung Cranes, Wall Travelling Cranes, Flameproof Cranes, etc.,

We are a highly trusted brand which offers a wide range of well established paint system for application on above product range, right from offering metal pretreatment solution like DDP Solutions for a wide variety of coating solutions from our Zigmalac® range of products such as primers based on various anti-corrosive pigments such as red oxide, zinc chromate, zinc phosphate, MIO, etc. Top coats in Synthetic, Fast Drying, 1pack/2 pack Epoxies, Aromatic and Aliphatic Polyurethane & Acrylic Framework. Topcoats are available in diverse finishes such as matt, egg white, semi-glossy and glossy. Self-priming varieties of top coats are also available in grades above. Thinners of all types, such as GP, Stoving, Quick Drying, NC, Epoxy, Polyurethane, etc., are also available based on paint system selected.

Zigmalac®  Is Most Trusted Liquid Paint Brand With The Following Benefits

Superior & Consistent Quality: All of our products are manufactured using premium quality, globally proven raw materials at our state-of-the-art manufacturing plant and then comply with strict quality standards to ensure consistent quality for the customer.

Ready Inventory: We maintain stock of all our standard products to provide unparalleled customer service.

Delivery at Your Doorstep: Our products are backed by efficient logistical infrastructure to give 100% on time deliveries right at your doorstep.

Customer Service: Our Customer Service Department takes great care to ensure that customers receive the right product at the right time, at the right place and at the right price.

Technical Support: Our technical staff is very involved in encouraging the consumer to choose the correct products and advice on best application and operating practises to get the most out of our products.

We can repaint for any crane that we sell to our customer’s specific requirements. We can paint for crane in one colour or a combination of colours and we offer a very quick turnaround time. Along with commitment to develop leading coating solutions, Zigma Paints Pvt. Ltd. Zigmalac® has established its own operations; we provide comprehensive technical service in local language. Prompt deliveries help us take the best possible care of our customers, no matter where their operations take place.

Visit us: - www.zigmapaints.com/paint-for-crane.php

Contact us: - (0253) 2381 429 / 660 2735