#these buildings get hit by lightning so many times they have rods on them designed to keep them from being damaged by it lol

[lizardsfromspace]

Our TOP MINDS are out here asking, what is the meaning behind lightning hitting the highest point it can? This never happens...it must be a omen...

[greekgeek21]

Percy Jackson and the Avengers: Convergence - the avengers are humbled

Welcome back! I know it's been awhile but I hope I didn't lose too many of you. I just wanted to say thank you for all of the support I've been getting on all platforms. Honestly, I did not expect this story to take off the way it did.

Now that that's over, I'm gonna clarify something for SOME PEOPLE. I started writing this last October, which means that I have absolutely no interest in going back over already-edited work just to change a minor detail some people seem to find maddening. This chapter, I can say for certain, was written during December, so I don't always remember what happened. Okay?

This chapter is kinda just one big fluffy piece but I love it so no hate pls.

Now please remember to comment, like, follow me, and reblog!

- you author

Ω ♆ Ω

"Okay! Assignments...Annabeth and Piper, go with Widow, Frank with Hawkeye, Hazel and Leo with Tony, and Jason and Percy with Bruce and I. Everyone okay with that?" Steve said.

"Yep."

"Got it, Cap."

"This should be fun..."

The heroes separated into their groups and stood, waiting for more orders from Captain America.

"As I said before, this is just to further evaluate and document your abilities. It shouldn't take long. That's it, get to work," He ordered, turning and walking towards the sparring pads with Jason, Percy, and Dr. Banner.

They were back on the training floor for the evaluations, after an uneventful lunch break. Well, unless you count Frank's disgust with the attempt at proper Chinese food as eventful.

Ω ♆ Ω

Despite them being on the sparring mats, Percy and Jason would not be sparring. Even to someone who doesn't know the full extent of the sons of the Poseidon and Zeus' relationship, it's pretty obvious that they should not be allowed to fight each other. Their personalities are almost exact opposites; Carefree vs Serious.

"Just show us something we haven't seen from you before, and then we'll build from there," Bruce told the teens.

Percy and Jason looked at each other expectantly, waiting for the other to begin. Their powers were similar in the way that they could get out of hand quickly. Neither of them wanted to be the reason that the tower lost power or got flooded. Zeus knows it would be a mess to clean up.

After a whole two minutes of waiting for them to get started, Steve let out a sigh, "Oh, for God's sake! Jason, you go."

"Umm...let's see here," Jason muttered under his breath, looking around the room for inspiration, "Oh! I got it!"

He positioned himself a couple of feet away from a practice dummy and held his hands together in front of him. Taking a deep breath and imagining his goal, he let sparks fly around his hands. He let them grow for a couple of seconds before slowly starting to separate his hands. While doing this, he made sure a line of electricity was stable between his hands. He kept separating his hands until he couldn't anymore, and then he slowly released his grip on the line from his left hand. He made sure to keep feeding the lightning rod so that it held form.

Meanwhile, on the sidelines, Percy, Steve, and Bruce were all watching with equal amounts of shock. Percy had never seen or known Jason could do this, and Steve and Bruce were completely new to all of this. Then, Jason proceeded to shock them further.

He made the line of electricity into a whip. He made a lighting whip.

Percy was so proud of his friend's imagination. It was almost enough to make a grown demigod cry...

Jason readied his whip and struck the practice dummy, slicing it completely in half. Then, he turned to his group, smiling and making the lightning dissipate. It should've been illegal how easy he made it look, in Percy's opinion.

"Dude! That was awesome! I didn't know you could do that!" Percy exclaimed, slapping the son of Zeus on the back with a proud, blinding smile.

No matter what it seemed like sometimes, Percy was the big brother of the Seven.

"Yeah! That was pretty good, son," Steve said, nodding his head in appreciation, "Now we only need to get that process sped-up and it will be an amazing asset in a fight."

"This means you could do so much more with your abilities, including maybe providing infinite power, which we have been searching for for decades! You kids are truly lucky to have these powers," Bruce rattled off.

Percy whispered to Steve, "Does he get like this a lot?"

Steve nodded, "Yeah. I tend to tune-out the sciency rambling and just focus on stuff I can understand. He had Tony if he needs to bounce ideas off of someone, anyway."

"Got it," Percy said, "I guess this means I'm next?"

He had thought about this a lot during lunch, and had decided to go into the exercise with the comfort and ease he had possessed using his powers before Tartarus, and see where he got from there. Like Annabeth said, it was all in his head. He just needed to believe that he had control, and he would get it.

Simple, in theory.

"Yep. I want you to copy Jason, but with water," Steve said.

He gave more specific instructions to Percy because he felt like he needed that. He was a leader, and leaders need to notice and know what their troops need. Percy needed specifics because he was cautious with using his powers, and he wanted to know exactly what was needed of him before going in. That way there is no possibility of him losing control.

Once again, only in theory.

"Okay, Percy... you got this," Percy muttered to himself, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and cracking his neck.

He shook his hands out once before readying himself in a slightly-more relaxed version of Jason's stance. But this time, he did not hold his hands together. Instead, he reached his hands out towards the bucket of water the Avengers had brought to the sparring mats earlier. Taking a deep breath, he felt the barely-there familiar tug in his gut before a tendril of water was rising from the bucket and reaching towards his outstretched hands. Percy willed it to wrap around his arms and hands, and then he slowly put his hands together like he had seen Jason do (he wasn't quite sure how he planned to make the whip yet, so this seemed like the best bet). Taking another deep breath, he started separating his hands, but keeping a solid tendril of water stretched between them.

He tried to move slightly faster than his cousin did, just because of the ever present, unconscious competitiveness ingrained between them.

Finally, he let go with his left hand and let the water form into a whip in his right. It kept shape, but was more flexible than the rod had been. Percy turned to the other practice dummy and whipped it twice, forming two straight slices right through the rubber.

Everyone in their group stood in shock, including Percy after he had deposited the water back in the bucket. He hadn't known he could use a whip.

Must be another natural demigod thing, he thought. Most weaponry came easy to him (except archery, of course).

It took a moment for them to recollect themselves, but Steve shook himself out of his stupor first, "That was...impressive, Percy. I didn't know you had such control over your powers."

The demigod in question shrugged modestly, "Yeah. I didn't really either, to be completely honest."

Jason surged forward and hung an arm around his friend, "Stop being so modest, Kelphead! That was amazing!"

Sure, Jason had done the same thing, but he hadn't gone through literal Hell and come back scarred forever, emotionally and physically. But mentioning that topic wasn't wise, so he stuck with just congratulating his older cousin.

"What else do you want us to do?" Percy asked Steve and Bruce, trying to move the attention off of him.

"Well...I guess just do a couple more small things with your powers and then we can be done. I think you've proved your point of not being newbies," he answered.

Percy and Jason smiled at each other once, then nodded at the Captain.

Ω ♆ Ω

"Okay, Frank, let's see what you got! Any special skills besides turning into animals?" Clint asked.

Frank shifted from foot to foot, "Well, I'm pretty good at archery, I guess. Better than my swordsmanship, anyways."

Clint smirked, "You guess? If you're going to be on this team, you need to be completely sure of your skills. So let's see what you can do."

Frank had grabbed his bow and magical quiver during lunch because he figured he would need it for something during this exercise, so he only had to sling the bow over his shoulder to be ready. The quiver was designed by Leo to never run out of celestial bronze and imperial gold arrows. The celestial bronze ones were normal, and the imperial gold were exploding. A combination of both metals would shoot out hardening foam (also designed by Leo) to stop monsters. Or in this case, people.

He set himself up on the first line on the archery range, and let the arrow fly. It hit the bullseye dead-on. Frank turned to look at Clint to find him raising his eyebrows in appreciation.

"Good. But I'm not impressed until I see you do that from a longer distance and on the move, so let's work our way up there, huh? I'm interested in seeing if we can finally have another good archer on this team," Clint said.

Frank smiled, "I've been doing this practically my whole life, so I'd hope I was pretty good by now. Plus, I've been in battle before, shooting on the move."

There was the newfound confidence that still baffled a certain son of Poseidon after a whole year. You go into the deepest parts of Hades with a shy Canadian Baby Man, and then miraculously you make it out and the kid is taller, buffer, and much more confident.

"Sounds interesting... Any war stories you care to share with the class?" Clint asked, intrigued.

Frank's happy expression steeled over, "I think I'd rather keep those to myself, thank you. Maybe another time."

Clint nodded, but you could see he wasn't going to let that go. Frank had made a mistake saying he had seen battle before. It was pretty obvious that the teens had, but he had just confirmed it, therefore furthering the Avengers' curiosity.

So, basically, he had screwed them over further and faster.

With a great sigh, Frank went aimed and shot another arrow, choosing to ignore the awkwardness that had formed between the two archers.

Ω ♆ Ω

Leo and Hazel were... unsure how to react to Tony's exercise, to say the least. They got over to their part of the room and their eyes immediately tunneled-in on the giant block of metal in the center. Nothing special about it besides the fact that it was black, and about four feet tall, and four feet wide. They weren't sure what to make of it.

Tony was beaming next to them, which was a sure sign of nothing good. It was pretty maniacal, too.

"Mr. Stark... what exactly are we doing with this?" Hazel asked.

Somehow, Stark's grin managed to widen even more before he answered with, "Oh, you know, a simple thing, really. I want to see something unique from both of you, so I brought this out of storage. I designed it years ago, not knowing what the hell I would be using it for, but it turns out my genius brain was just preparing me for this moment where I would evidently be training a bunch of teenagers... but anyway! This will mold to any specifications that I need it to, kinda like the LMDs. Just tell me what you're planning to do, and I'll program it to follow your needs."

Hazel raised her eyebrows at Tony's complete disregard for modesty. The others were not kidding when they said he was an arrogant mortal. She was even considering going all "I am your superior because of my divine blood" on him, but then she remembered that that would make her a huge hypocrite.

Leo, on the other hand, was starstruck. He was convinced that he could never come up with even half the stuff Tony invented. He was a true genius in every right. A role model of many Hephestus kids.

"So... who's going first?" Tony asked.

"I'll go!" Leo exclaimed, like an eager child vying for their father's attention.

"Great! That's the spirit! What're you gonna do?"

Leo thought about it, and then the perfect idea came to mind. It wasn't really using his usual extravagant and fiery powers, but it wasn't any less impressive. He wanted to impress Mr. Stark, and this was the way to do it.

"Make it the hardest safe to crack in the world," he answered, a, well, fire lighting up his eyes.

Tony was intrigued, that's for sure. It was pretty obvious what the kid was planning on attempting, but it would be just that: an attempt. Nobody could crack this safe. It was designed by himself personally to house some of his most secret projects for the Avengers. He was literally the only one in the world that even knew of its existence. There was no way Leo could pull off cracking that type of safe without years of preparation.

But, he still programmed the block to make itself into the safe. If anything, it would show these teens how not to underestimate Tony Stark.

"Okay, kid. Good luck," he said, and then whispered, "You're gonna need it."

Leo didn't comment on Tony's quieter remark, but he did smile wider at the prospect of a real challenge. Sure, he could come off as a little overconfident sometimes, but he really was smart and powerful when he tried. He just wasn't a serious child of Athena, he was a fun son of Hephaestus, and he would act as such.

Still, when the block turned into something he had never seen before, he took a deep breath, focused his mind on the task at hand, and got to work.

Tony was smiling wide over his shoulder, interested in seeing how far the kid could get, but little did he know, Leo had this under control. To someone who didn't know him, what he was doing would seem weird, but he was actually just listening to the machine. Yes, listening to it.

He had his ear pressed up against the safe, both hands pressed flat against it next to his head. Leo was already learning the mechanisms of it, and in no time, he would be able to tell the safe to open itself without even lifting a finger.

He was almost vibrating with excitement over how Tony would react. It was sure to be a show.

Sure enough, a little less than a minute later, there was a series of soft clicking heard before the light on the pad flashed green and the door was open.

Of course, it was empty, but Tony was still in shock. A sixteen year old kid had beaten his strongest security system besides JARVIS. It wasn't possible. There was no way that Leo had just cracked his safe.

"No. Not possible," he insisted, turning with wide eyes to stare at the demigod, who had a proud grin on his face.

"Yep, it is. I just did it. Were you not watching?" Leo said, channeling his inner-Percy for sass.

Tony so wanted to protest more, but he knew it was futile. Plus, having someone almost as smart as him around might be some fun. Bruce was always worrying whenever they worked together, and Leo gave off way different vibes.

"I was watching, still working on believing, though," Tony said, "That was some pretty cool shit there, kid. Care to tell me what it was?"

Leo said, "I just talked to the safe. It was a little harder to crack than some of the other ones I've done before, but I got through to it eventually. It was pretty strong. Good work on that design."

"Thank you... I guess," Tony said.

Tony couldn't remember telling Leo who had created the safe, but he figured he would get the same answer as before if he asked. Believing these kids' powers was a little difficult, especially when all of them defied the laws of any science. Tony was starting to think that they were Asgardians, with how they fought and everything.

"Well, let's move onto Hazel. We don't have all day," he said, turning to the daughter of Pluto, who had stayed to the side during Leo's entire turn, "What are you gonna do? It's gonna be pretty hard to follow up on that performance."

Hazel had had time to figure it out while she was waiting, so she answered right away, "I won't be needing the box for my turn. I just need you."

Tony gave her an incredulous look, "What do you need me for?"

"Just tell me a metal. Any metal in the world, and I'll bring it here," she answered.

Okay, Tony was done. There was NO WAY that was possible, and he knew it. He wasn't stupid. These kids were messing with him now.

"Seriously?! I'm not falling for that! You can't do that!" he exclaimed.

Hazel just gave him a knowing smile, "I get that a lot. But I always seem to prove those people wrong..."

Tony sighed, "Okay, sure. Let's do... Vibranium."

He kept a straight face on the outside, but on the inside he was smiling like a maniac. Vibranium could only be found in Wakanda, and they barely had any left. There was no way she could get it all the way here, even if there was any left.

Hazel nodded and closed her eyes, letting her powers search for the precious metal. She had heard of it before from some people in the Underworld. Apparently, it could only be found in a small country in Africa, so she had to widen her search.

It didn't take long to find some, but that was only because what she found was Steve's shield. She hadn't known that it was made of vibranium, and stored that knowledge away for future use. Then, she kept looking.

Soon, she found some and told a very small piece to come to her. You couldn't ask her how it reached all the way up through the tower, but she always just concluded that it was magic. It's the simplest solution.

When she opened her eyes, a content smile on her face, she looked up at Tony with expectation of a shocked outburst, only to find him looking expectantly at her. So he hadn't figured out what she had done yet, apparently.

"Look down," she instructed.

And Tony did. Only to find that a small rock of Vibranium was poking up from the floor. At first, he wasn't sure how to react, but then, he reached down to touch it, trying to make sure what he was seeing was actually true. But before he could put one finger on it, Hazel shoved him away.

"Don't pick it up! It's cursed, you idiot!" she yelled, but then her own face slacked in shock.

She hadn't meant to say that last part. It was the truth, but her powers could definitely be linked back to the gods. She was not going to be the one to let the secret slip. That was going to be Percy or Leo, if anyone.

"That's amazing," Tony breathed, openly staring in shock at the metal.

But before another second had passed, the rock popped back through the floor and was gone as quickly as it had come.

When Tony looked up at Hazel in question, all he got was a shrug in response. It wasn't safe to keep the metals lying around.

Tony physically shook the shock out of him, and said, "Alright. That was pretty impressive, I'll admit, both of you. We can be done for the day. I'm gonna go check out what some of the others are doing."

"Yeah, I'll do that too," Hazel said, turning to Leo. "What about you? What are you gonna do?"

"I think I'll try to help JARVIS find the bad guys," he responded. "I'm getting nervous just waiting for them to blow something else up."

While Tony was walking away, he yelled to Leo, "Don't break anything! Everything here costs more than everything you own!"

Leo wasn't so sure about that, considering the amount of celestial bronze he owned, but he didn't comment on it.

Ω ♆ Ω

Annabeth and Piper were hard to find an exercise for. Neither of them had very obvious superpowers (one didn't have one at all), in Natasha's opinion. She wanted to see how much the others would have to protect them if it came down to a fight of powers. Sure, she didn't have any abilities, but she had also been training how to make up for that almost her whole life.

So, if anyone could find a weakness in these two girls, it would be her, and Natasha was determined to find it.

"Okay girls, this shouldn't take too long. You're only throwing knives at moving targets. The trick is, you won't know when the targets will pop up. You'll be standing in the middle and holographic targets will form around you at random times, always speeding up. If you're as good as you say you are, you can handle this no problem," Natasha said, eyes piercing into Piper and Annabeth.

"Yeah, we got this," Annabeth shot back, standing proud. "I'll go first."

Natasha was not making it unknown that she didn't trust the demigods, and Annabeth was not going to let that continue. Only the "kids" knew what was really going on, so the adults needed to get in line with their way of doing things before somebody got killed. These people that they were hunting had already killed many people, so they knew they were capable of it. This makeshift group needed to be a well-oiled machine by the time they found the bad guys.

"Okay, just step into that square on the ground, and it'll begin. Piper and I will be stepping out of the range," Natasha said, grabbing Piper's arm and dragging her back about seven yards, "Let's begin!"

It seemingly came out of nowhere, the target. Annabeth had barely been able to grab some of the knives from the table next to her before it formed. It was an orange color, and very pixelated. As soon as she shot the arrow right through the bullseye, it exploded in a shower of orange pixels. She barely had time to let that sink in before another one popped up. They seemed to be stopping the knives, but as soon as they deformed, the weapons just dropped to the ground.

It was rapidly speeding up, but it was nothing to being overrun with monsters trying to kill you. Soon enough, the targets started moving, so she had to adjust her stance to hit them where they would be, not where they were.

It was exhilarating. She hadn't had this much of an adrenaline rush in a year!

Her five minutes of throwing seemed to end all-too-quickly. Soon, the targets stopped popping up, and Natasha was walking towards her with an almost-impressed look on her face.

"Not bad, Chase," she conceded.

"Thanks," Annabeth responded, going and helping Piper pick up the knives lying around their area.

When she got to her, her friend looked up, "That was pretty good, Annabeth. I don't know how I'm supposed to follow that, though."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Oh, shut up. I could've done better. And you'll do great, Pipes. I trained you, right?"

She had a light twinkle in her eyes that always came when she was joking around (and that wasn't often). Piper had been trying her very best to see it out as much as possible after Tartarus. Percy and Annabeth put on a strong front, but the Seven could all see they were still recovering, and probably would always be. Nobody just jumped right back into things after something as traumatic as that trip through Hell.

But Piper didn't let it be known how proud she was of Annabeth for making a joke; that would only stop the fun right in its tracks.

"Thanks," Piper said, picking up the last knife before replacing Annabeth in her previous spot in the square.

In her opinion, she wasn't doing as good as Annabeth, or making it look as easy, but it wasn't too difficult. She had been practicing all the time on her fighting skills, and she especially focused on daggers. Knives were balanced a bit differently, but it was the same concept. She just had to compensate for the loss of weight.

Soon enough, Piper found the flow and could slightly anticipate when the next target would pop up.

Annabeth knew Piper would be fine doing this exercise. Sure, it got the blood flowing, but it wasn't the hardest thing they had done. They had fought in actual wars.

Before Piper had known what happened, the targets stopped showing up, and the five minutes were up. She was breathing a little heavily, but a giant grin was taking up her face.

"Not bad, either," Natasha complemented, "You will probably be able to take care of yourselves in a fight."

"Probably?" Annabeth glared.

Natasha returned the glare, "Probably."

Annabeth wanted to say more, but a shout from Leo, who had just sprinted back into the room, interrupted her.

"Guys! Guys! We got a hit!" he screamed, eyes wild with excitement.

Ω ♆ Ω

Everyone but Hazel and Tony stared at Leo in confusion and concern. They didn't know that he had gone to work with JARVIS on tracking the bombers.

Tony ran up to Leo, "What? Where?"

"In Las Vegas," Leo answered.

The rest of the heroes had all formed a group around Leo. Percy and Annabeth had naturally gravitated next to each other. At Leo's answer, they clasped hands and shared a look. They knew why Las Vegas was chosen: The Lotus Hotel and Casino. Flashbacks to zebras and old games flashed through their minds.

"What would they want in Las Vegas?" Steve asked.

"Who cares?! We're going to Vegas baby!" Tony exclaimed, pumping his fist. "JARVIS? Prepare the jet."

Tony was the only one who hadn't noticed the oldest demigods' reaction towards

Las Vegas. He didn't realize how bad this could really be. The demigods didn't have the time to make sure the Avengers didn't get stuck in the casino, if that's where they were going (which it probably was).

"Um, care to share what's bothering you two?" Steve asked Percy and Annabeth.

"We've been to Vegas before. If we're going where we think we might be going, this could be bad. You need to listen to us exactly, okay? It's important," Percy answered.

Tony gave him a confused look. "What are you talking about, kid? We'll be fine. I don't need a teeanger telling me how to do what I'm best at."

Annabeth glared at the billionaire, "And what is that; what you're good at? Because I thought it was being lazy and never taking anything seriously."

"Annabeth, just let it go. We'll just have to watch him closer." Percy said, resting a hand on his girlfriend's shoulder.

With one last glare at Tony, and a warning look to the other Avengers, Annabeth stormed out of the training room, heading back up to her room to prepare without another word. Mortals were so stubborn, she thought, especially when you're trying to protect them. It's literally their birthright to protect mortals, and they never let them!

Storming into her room, Annabeth grabbed a duffle bag and started stuffing supplies into it: weapons, spare clothes, ambrosia and nectar, armor, and a couple other things. She was so distracted by her anger that she didn't see the shadows fluctuating in the corner, or the black snout poking out.

She didn't see it until it was too late.

Ω ♆ Ω

"Are you going to tell us what that was all about back there?" Jason asked Percy as the rest of the demigods were walking back to their rooms.

Percy sighed, exhausted with the day but knowing it was not even close to being over, "Las Vegas is where Annabeth, Grover and I went during our first quest together. We got stuck in the Lotus Hotel and Casino. It's the home of the Lotus-eaters. They trap you in there and you don't feel time passing. We were in there for a week without realizing it. It's dangerous, man."

Piper and Jason shared a worried look, and Piper said, "So... we need to keep a close eye on the mortals on this mission, right?"

"A very close eye," Percy nodded.

When Percy reached Annabeth's door, he decided to go check on her. "Go get your stuff. Let's meet in the living room."

"Okay, Aquaman," Leo said, dashing into his soot-stained room.

Percy wasn't sure what he was expecting to find, maybe Annabeth crying, screaming, or angrily throwing things into a bag (that's the most likely), but he was NOT prepared for nothing. Literally nothing; the room was empty. There was an open duffle on the bed, along with a couple of weapons lying around it, but no Annabeth.

He wasn't getting worried yet, though. She could just be in the bathroom. That was a viable option. He would not allow himself to freak out yet. At least not until he checked the bathroom...

... And the bathroom was empty! Now he allowed himself to freak out. He started storming around the room, tossing things around looking for a clue as to where she went, anything!

"Annabeth! Wise girl!" he called, though he knew it was fruitless.

In their lives, nothing was ever as easy as simply calling for someone and they came back. Annabeth was missing, and he had no idea how to find her.

Unless someone was stupid enough to leave a trail of shadows, that is. Looking in the corner, Percy saw that the shadows in the right corner were moving around unnaturally, a lot like what happened after they were used for shadow travel. He had spent enough time around Nico to understand what it looked like.

So this meant that someone with access to shadow traveling took her, and that wasn't a long list. It was probably a hellhound that took her! Oh, were they going to pay.

Percy could feel his powers slipping, and the walls were giving scary creaks. No matter how much he wanted to just explode, he knew that he had to take a deep breath and focus on recentering himself. He would be no help to Annabeth if he wasn't in control. Some part of his brain was telling him that maybe letting off a little steam WOULD help get his powers under control, but no, he promised Annabeth. And Percy refused to break that promise if he could.

"JARVIS!" he yelled, already rushing out the door, "Call everyone to the living room! Now!"

"Right away, sir," JARVIS responded.

Percy ended up just running to the living room, not wasting any time being careful. Annabeth was missing, and he needed to find her and get her back NOW.

His emotions were running high, so he could sense all the water and liquids around him (it was a lot), and it was becoming distracting.

When he got there, only Steve, Clint, and Natasha were waiting so far. Though Hazel and Frank walked in right after him, probably having heard him scream before JARVIS had even called everyone.

"What's going on?" Steve asked, concern filling his eyes.

Percy paced and said, "Wait until everyone else is here. Then I'll tell you."

His mind kept flashing pictures of all his and Annabeth's enemies. Years and years of fighting monsters and wars were playing on his brain. There were so many possible people, even if it probably was the current gang that they were searching for. He didn't want to let himself believe that mortals could be so messed-up that they worked with monsters, monsters that they couldn't even begin to understand. It was so far-fetched, and yet it was his life!

As these thoughts were going through his head, the rest of the team had finally made it in. They were all sporting confused and concerned glances. Natasha seemed to have figured out that one of them was missing, and that it wasn't normal for that person and Percy to be separated. Annabeth was missing.

"Percy, man. Stop pacing and tell us what's wrong," Jason laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.

Percy's eyes got a little misty as he told them, "Annabeth is missing. Taken. She's gone, and I don't know where to find her."

Hazel gasped.

Nothing was right with this. Percy without Annabeth was wrong. So wrong. They needed to be reunited soon, and quickly.

Percy started pacing again, absentmindedly twirling Riptide around his fingers. He had decided that it was best to start in Las Vegas and go from there. There was a good chance that it was the gang who had taken her, and that they were holding her there. It was his only idea.

The others had just been sharing worried looks and a few whispered thoughts before Tony suddenly jumped up, holding his phone like it might explode.

"Guys, I think I know who has her..." he said, making a few hand gestures before his phone screen was projected in front of them.

It was a picture. Of Annabeth.

She was hanging from celestial bronze chains, with a leather gag in her mouth, and shackles on her ankles. Her hair was a matted mess, and she was unconscious. Even so, Percy could see that she had a black eye, probably from struggling. She wouldn't go without a fight, that's for sure. But still, this was not the Annabeth they knew. The Annabeth they knew was a strong force to be reckoned with. This...person was not her.

Percy let out an almost animalistic growl at the sight. They were going to pay, whoever had taken her. All of them.

"It has a note," Tony said, throwing up another picture.

It said:

We are The Truth Seekers. We have your blonde bitch, and she will be dead in the next 24 hours unless you reveal yourselves. The world deserves to know! It is our right to know the monstrosities that go unseen, right beneath our noses! 24 hours, or she's dead. We're at the Lotus Hotel and Casino, another one of the hidden monstrosities in our world. Tell the truth!

Percy was going to kill them. He didn't care if they were mortals, they were going to die. They hurt Annabeth, he hurts back. Worse.

"We need to suit-up, and then we can get going and rescue her. But first, we need a plan," Steve started to speak, but before he could, the world flooded in.

Screw control, Percy thought.

He let the pipes and burst and break the windows. Standing on the very edge of the empty window seal, he let out the loudest taxi whistle the Avengers had ever heard. Waiting only a second for a black blur to show up on the horizon, Percy jumped.

Ω ♆ Ω

other chapters :)

[mach-speed-spin]

Special moves as human fighting moves (Part 1: original season 1)

Beyblades have special abilities, ranging from pretty normal to really weird. Many of these were designed with the bey’s parts in mind. But what if they were like superpowers the bladers could use

Storm Attack (Dragoon Storm): Tyson creates a small tornado at his feet. When he moves, the tornado moves as well. It’s short range so he has to get very close for it to work on others

Vanishing Attack (Dragoon Storm): Tyson moves too fast for the eye to see, making it look like he’s teleporting as he delivers a series of strikes from all directions

Final Attack (Spin Cutter): Carlos dashes towards the opponent at great speed. Getting hit by it feels like getting tackled by a man made out of swords

Phantom Hurricane (Dragoon Fighter): A stronger version of Storm Attack

Fire Arrow (Dranzer Spiral): Kai covers himself in fire and dashes at the opponent. The drawback is that it’s hard to turn tight corners while using it

Spin Fire (Dranzer Spiral): When Kai is in the air, he sets his feet on fire and performs a diving kick

Spiral Survivor (Dranzer Spiral): Kai creates a circle of fire around him. While active, he can’t move so he uses this either to block attacks or to stall for time

Flame Saber (Dranzer Flame): Kai sets his arm on fire and hits you with it (as a jab, backhand, whatever he wants at the time)

Black Flame Saber (Black Dranzer): Flame Saber, but the fire is black and when it hits you, instead of burning it drains some of your life force. When active, Kai can’t use black fire on any other part of his body, leaving him vulnerable

Tiger Claw (Driger Slash): Ray dashes at you quickly. It’s faster and more controlled than Fire Arrow. He can zig zag or do full 180′s in no time

Tiger Fang (Driger Fang): Stronger version of Tiger Claw

Metal Ball Defense (Draciel Shield): Max turns several points in his body into metal to block attacks

Fortress Defense (Draciel Fortress): Max temporarily turns his whole body into metal

Hop Attack (Hopper): Kenny jumps really high to dodge attacks or to perform a diving kick

Nunchuck Shooter (Bruce): Bruce uses nunchucks as a ranged weapon by throwing them like a boomerang

Dark Lightning (Galeon): Lee electrifies his hands and hits the opponent

Black Thunder (Galeon): Lee shoots lightning from his hands. It’s not very accurate and affects a large area (acting more like a bomb than an arrow), so he doesn’t use this if he’s worried about someone getting caught in the crossfire

Cat Scratch (Galux): Mariah temporarily grows claws on her fingers and attacks the opponent with them

Bear Ax (Galzzy): Gary leaps in the air and smashes the opponent’s head

Crazy Monkey Attack (Galman): Kevin creates illusions around him. All the illusions move in unison with him (he runs forward and all the illusions run forward)

Fast Ball Attack (Trygle): Michael throws an object (usually a baseball) at super sonic speeds with impressive accuracy

Water Smash (Trygator): Emily summons water (no one knows how. It just appears) and throws it at her opponent in a large wave

Sting Shoot (Trygle): Eddy channels all of his power into one hand, then Eddy jumps in tha air and strikes the opponent’s head with his hand. When using this, he is vulnerable to attacks everywhere except the one hand he channeled all his power to

Stampede Rush (Tryhorn): Steve rushes forward destroying everything in his path

Tony’s unnamed ability: Tony moves around by rythmically jumping. This lets him dodge attacks

Psychedelic Psychout (Andy): Andy covers the environment in bright colors making him harder to spot by blinding the opponent

Wing Dagger (Griffolyon): Robert flies in the air and dives at his opponent

Earth Shake (Unicolyon): Oliver causes a small earthquake with him as the epicenter. If he moves, the epicenter of the earthquake does as well. This move only works if he’s touching the ground

Twin Head Attack (Amphilyon): Enrique temporarily creats a clone of himself and they attack together (it makes more sense that Enrique having 2 very long necks)

Fire Rod (Salamalyon): Johnny heats up his body. Unlike other fire based moves, this one doesn’t have visible effects besides the burning and melting of anything Johnny comes into contact with

Blizzalog (Wolborg 2): Tala creates ice spikes that raise from the ground. They create a dome. Inside the dome, there is a violent blizzard

Stroblitz (Falborg): Bryan manipulates the air around the opponent and envelops them in knives made of wind

Voda Impact (Seaborg): Spencer submerges underwater before quickly swimming to the opponent and striking them

Sand Bind (Wyborg): Ian crawls underground and attacks you from below

Wind Attack (Matryoshka): Like Tyson’s Storm Attack, Alexander creates a small tornado around himself. It’s stronger than Storm Attack but not as powerful as Phantom Hurricane

Drac Attack (Draculor): Sanguinex uses his vampire abilities to deliver a barrage of attacks from above. This only works indoors or at night

Wolf Storm (Lycanlor): Lupinex turns into a wolf and bites you in a way that can only be described as feral. This move is more powerful in a full moon

Unnamed ability (Shamblor): Zomb has superhuman strength and mild regeneration

Unnamed ability (Sarcophalon): Cenotaph can extend his limbs like Mr Fantastic

Triangle Attack (Blade Sharks): Casey, Trevor, and Stuart form an electric barrier connecting them. They trap an opponent inside the triangle and all shoot lightning at the opponent. This move can only be done if all 3 are fighting together

Yak Attack (Andre): Andre charges at the opponent while increasing both his attack and defense. When using the Yak Attack, Andre can only move in a straight line until he stops

Fever Attack (Waylan): Waylan heats up the air around him. This drains the opponent’s energy by dehydrating them from sweating too much. The downside is that Waylan’s heat resistance, while far above average, still doesn’t make him immune to his own attack

Muay Thai Kick (Tommy): Exactly what the name implies

Wool Defense (Bruno, Doug): They are covered in very durable wool. This helps absorb the impact of attacks. However, it only works for blunt force attacks. Cutting attacks go right through it and the wool is flammable making fire attacks very effective against it

Heavy Attack (Bobby): Bobby charges up a punch and delivers it with impressive force. The Heavy Attack focuses on knockback rather than damage (it’s not much stronger than a regular punch but it will easily knock someone across a room)

Big Kahuna Dive (Chucky): Chucky summons a wave that engulfs the opponent while he rides on top of it

Unnamed ability (Star Stripe): McSneeze, J-Heart, and T-Storm all attack the opponent at once. This move can only be performed if they’re all fighting together

Spintsenity (Canarias): If Mario’s opponent is in tha air, Mario will perform a bicycle kick and strike the opponent while they are in mid-air

Rapid Fire (Jose): He has a gun. He fires the revolver multiple times in wuick sucession. Due to Jose’s superhuman skills, the revolver can rival the fire rate of an automatic weapon

Matador Attack (Pedro): He has a sword. Pedro dodges his opponent’s attack and quickly turns to face them and stab them

Battle Ballad (Miguel): Miguel absorbs part of the impact of the opponent’s attacks and sends them back

Iguana Attack (Diego): Diego quickly runs around you and attacks from behind

Seal-Shark Attack (Fernando): Fernando hits you into the air and before you hit the ground, he hits you again. He keeps doing this until he wins or gets bored

Tortoise Grenade (Axel): Axel covers himself in a durable shell and can break out of it to hit the opponent

Decoy Attack (Pinharias): Frankie creats intricate illusions. Each one can move independently but it’s possible to tell which is the real one as long as you keep your eyes on it

Dancing Crash (Samas): Luiz hits you with a series of rythmic precision strikes. Individually, they’re not that damaging but the damage builds up over time. The downside is that by being rythmic it’s predicatble and the opponent can counter

[acephysicskarkat]

Chapter 2 is up. This one, for the Experiment prompt, is called “Through Their Paces”, and has Double Trouble in it.

“You know, darling,” said Double Trouble from inside the detector chamber, “you only paid for so much of my time. This whole routine seems…extremely overplayed. Was there a shortage on lightning rods at the depot, perhaps?”

The glowing green eyes of the mask studied them for a moment, and Double Trouble suppressed a shiver. Then Entrapta’s head tilted quizzically. “I don’t need a lightning rod for this test. I don’t even think one would help.” She lifted a sheaf of notes in one coil of hair. “Would a lightning rod help? Hmm…No, the power supplied by a lightning rod isn’t consistent enough, and anyway, the electricity test isn’t until next week.” She thought for a moment. “It is nice that you’re showing interest, at least; so many people don’t!”

The shapeshifter’s claws tapped on the glass.  “So did you have any requests, darling? My Catra is virtually indistinguishable from the real thing, of course, and little Flutterina has a solid record…”

“First, do someone really small! Is Flutterina as small as you can go, or can you shrink even further?”

Double Trouble’s tail twitched. With a grin, they said, “A challenge, then. You know, I’m not actually sure how far I can push it. This could be a learning experience for both of us, darling…”

***

“Okay,” said Double Trouble. They were wearing Flutterina’s face as they said it, but they’d managed to shave off at least six inches from her height. “Any further, and I can’t hold a form steady.” With a theatrical sigh, they added, “I shall clearly have to practice some more. Now, was there anyone else you had in mind?”

“Yeah! Now try someone really big! Scorpia, maybe?”

Of course. This wasn’t just a chance to make some money; this was a chance to get paid for showing off, and to one of Etheria’s foremost sources of chaos as well. The only possible way for this to be further up Double Trouble’s alley would be to have it include all the bugs they could eat. “I can go larger than her, darling. How about Huntara?”

Three seconds later, they added, in a somewhat muffled tone, “Of course, Huntara might require a slightly larger chamber.”

Entrapta’s hair tendrils danced over the computer’s controls, and she added, “And…got it! Okay, you can come out now, if you’d like.”

***

Back in their normal form, and idly rubbing the various parts that, in Huntara form, had been pushed right up against the glass, Double Trouble joined Entrapta at the bank of monitors. “Did you find anything interesting, darling?”

“You bet!” Entrapta gestured to a screen that was displaying a selection of numbers that, to Double Trouble’s untrained eyes, could have meant literally anything. “Your mass changes as you transform, and the new thaumic detectors are working! There’s a surge in magical energy whenever you change, and I can even detect minor shifts in the background magic depending on what form you take – at least while you’re actively transforming. You’re converting the natural magic of Etheria into mass and back, just like how the EKS design did, but way more efficiently!”

Double Trouble knew where this was going. They’d heard of some of Entrapta’s greatest hits: self-repairing robots, for example, or that time she nearly broke the world. (To be fair, she was probably only the third most successful world-breaker just in Double Trouble’s contacts list. The last few years of the war had been weird.) “So what kind of weapon are you planning to build out of it?”

The princess’s forehead wrinkled. “I don’t know. Did you want one?”

Double Trouble did a double-take. “You’re not planning some sort of weapon? Then why are you spending so much money for this?”

“Because what you can do is amazing!” Entrapta’s motions were definitely getting a little mad-scientist for Double Trouble’s tastes, but hey, she paid well, and you couldn’t buy this kind of from-the-heart enthusiasm. “Your shapeshifting is so unique and I wanna find out how it works! Is it really true that nobody has done this kind of study before? Just think of how much they could have learned!”

“Now that you mention it…no.”  The shapeshifter’s eyes narrowed. “I’ve never met anyone so interested in my talent for its own sake. What they can get me to do with it, always, but…never just to find out how it works.”

“Does this mean we’re friends now?”

“I wouldn’t trust me if I were you, darling. People who trust me too much tend to regret it.” They smiled slyly. “But I don’t object to continuing to work as your research subject, at least for now…”

[frozenoj]

Stardew Valley Mod Rec List

Since I’ve been playing modded Stardew Valley for a while I decided to make a list of some of my favorite mods! I’ll break them down into two categories: Cheaty and Not Cheaty. Only slightly cheaty mods will be in italics because I can’t figure out how to do the different colors thing on my computer. They are in order of most recently updated, not preference.

Not Cheaty

UI Info Suite - This was designed to give you info without actually giving you an advantage. So you can see how long crops have before being harvested, your current XP, things like that. It also does the same thing as Better Ranching, I just prefer the look of that one better.

Lookup Anything - An ingame wiki! My favorite part of this mod is that not only does it tell you what gifts people like, but also if you have any.

Free Dusty - Let’s Alex’s dog Dusty roam around town, or even your farm if that’s who you marry.

Better Artisan Good Icons - Changes the icons of artisan goods to reflect the crop they were made with. 

CJB Show Item Sell Price - An inventory tooltip that shows how much an item (or stack) can be sold for.

BetterCrafting - Organizes the crafting menu so it isn’t so cluttered. 

Hobbit Hole for Content Patcher - Turns your cabin(s) into a Hobbit Hole.

Unlimited Players - Have as many farmhands as you want! I’m saying this is not cheaty because you still share resources.

Cheaty

Walk Through Trellis - Pretty self-explanatory; lets you walk through crops with a trellis (such as hops, green beans) as if they didn’t have one.

Stack Everything - Again, pretty self-explanatory. Everything can be stacked up to 999 items.

Self Service - As long as you can get into the building you can buy stuff from shops, even if the owner isn’t behind the counter.

NPC Map Locations - Shows where villagers are on your map!

Better Ranching - Shows icons above animals heads if they can be petted for harvested from. I’m only putting it under cheaty because it also prevents failed harvesting attempts.  

Price Drops - As you build your friendship with shopkeepers they give you discounts on their products. 

Level Extender - Changes the level cap of skills from 10 to 100.

TillableGround - Make any tile tillable! This can be super cheaty or only slightly depending on how you use it. I only do for those random areas outside that keep me from using a full 3x3 grid. 

Safe Lightning - Lightning now only hits lightning rods.

Rented Tools - Let’s you rent the basic version of a tool while yours is upgrading so you can still get stuff done.

Time Speed - Speed up, slow down, or freeze time! I usually double the vanilla time from 7 to 14 secs per 10-minute interval. 

[magiciaa]

Welcome to Magicia chapter 8: A Losing Battle

((I’ve been having a bit of art block recently, but at least I’m finally on the chapter I’ve been waiting to write for a while))

“Alright, Lu, we’re going to have to figure out a disguise for you” Kat shuffled through her closet “since you don’t exactly look like a magical girl”

“Is this really necessary?” Lu asked

“Yup, ah, found it, try this on” Kat took a purple and black outfit from her closet and handing it to Lu before leaving the room

Lu looked at himself in the mirror, and he immediately hated it. Although, the outfit fit him almost perfectly, except for the sleeves on the jacket being slightly too long

“Thanks, I hate it.” Lu slammed open the door

“Looks great, now let’s go, the others are waiting for us” Kat transformed and grabbed Lu by the wrist and dragged him out the door “see you losers later, we’re going to go defeat the mafia”

“Just don’t die” Cleo didn’t look up from her book “that would be inconvenient to explain to your teachers”

“Have fun” Zapp shouted out the door

Ace sprinted out the door towards the park, with Lu and King following not far behind. When they arrived, there were so many magical girls walking around that it was hard to find her friends.

“Hey! Ace! Lu! Over here!” Fern yelled, startling several nearby magical girls

“Sup, dudes, you guys ready?” Ace asked

“Ready as we’re going to be” Nightmare got up and brushed some dirt off her dress “hope this plan works”

A short, orange and yellow magical girl with white cat ears stepped onstage and adjusted the microphone before speaking in the fakest customer service voice ever “Welcome to the MG348 audition, please line up at the stairs if you think you have what it takes to join us”

The magical girls all stopped chatting amongst themselves and lined up, Lu and Nightmare nervously joining them. The rest of the group sat in the audience a couple rows behind four magical girls, a wolf dressed all in black, some kind of elf dressed in blue with a large pink bow in her hair, a bug with white hair in a long green cloak, and a cat wearing a lot of pink and rainbows.

“We just wait for the audition to be over, and then we follow them back to the base” Doc whispered, sitting down on the bleachers with the rest of the group

“You, fish, state your name and power, and give an example of your performance” Bronze commanded

A blue fish magical girl stepped onstage and spoke extremely quietly into the microphone “Aquamarine, water manipulation”

One of MG348’s songs played on the speakers, and Aquamarine perfectly mimicked Bronze’s dance from the performances

“Impressive, Next!” Bronze shouted.

Aquamarine sat down in the audience next to Doc as the audition continued “There’s something suspicious about Bronze, I just have to figure out what it is” she whispered to herself

“I happen to know what’s up with her” Doc whispered “MG348 isn’t what it seems to be, do you want to join us in taking them down?”

Aquamarine nodded and scribbled something in a notepad. It read “I’m in. I’m not the biggest fan of talking, so I hope this is fine”

Doc nodded and gave Aquamarine a thumbs up “welcome to the Idiot Squad, name not final”

Lu was next in line, he was unreasonably nervous, considering that he didn’t even want to be there. King was floating around Lu’s shoulders, causing a couple magical girls to stare

“alright, bat, your turn” Bronze commanded

Lu stepped up to the microphone “Lu, shadow manipulation” and began to sing some anime song that Ace showed him a couple days back, which was the only thing he could think to do on the spot

“Unorthodox song choice, but not terrible. Next!” Bronze announced, as Nightmare stepped onstage and Lu joined the rest of the Idiot Squad in the audience.

Nightmare stood in front of the microphone “Nightmare Wonderland, sleep arrows and stopping time” and began to sing and dance to the cutesiest j-pop song that you would never expect someone like her knowing

Bronze stood there shocked for a second before continuing “unexpected, I like it. Next!”

Nightmare sat down with the rest of the idiot squad to watch the rest of the performances. The magical girl in the green cape kept turning around to look at the Idiot Squad in between watching the performances.

The sun was beginning to set, as the last magical girl completed her performance. Bronze stepped up to the microphone to announce who was going to join the idol group. She announced a long list of names, but towards the end of the list, announced that Lu, Aquamarine and Nightmare were selected to join the idol group.

“If you have been selected, please follow me” Bronze announced, summoning a glowing wand and holding it in the air while she walked off of the stage.

A crowd of magical girls excitedly followed behind Bronze, with Lu, Nightmare and Aquamarine near the back. The Idiot Squad followed stealthily behind, mostly by hiding in bushes and on top of trees and buildings, until Bronze stopped in front of the large abandoned school building across the street from the park, and on the same street as Ace’s house.

“You’re telling me that we could’ve just busted into the old school building” Ace whisper-shouted to Doc.

“Never mind that, look” Doc replied.

Bronze went inside the building, and the crowd of magical girls followed.

“Perfect” Doc whispered to herself and ran toward the door with the Idiot Squad not far behind.

Doc kicked down the doors, sending one flying and hitting Bronze in the face mid-sentence “Bronze” she pointed dramatically

“Kitten,” Bronze grinned madly “let’s show these newbies what we’re really about, kill them”

“Aye Aye, Nya~” the cat magical girl unsheathed her claws and charged towards the Idiot Squad

“NO!” Nightmare yelled, instantly appearing in front of Kitten “You’re not hurting Sprinkles”

“Mewve out of the way before I murder you too nya~” Kitten’s voice instantly changed “ugh, I can’t stand doing that neko girl voice, it just pisses me off to no end, now scram before I slice you into little pieces”

“I don’t care if you have to kill me, but just don’t hurt Sprinkles” Nightmare declared

Kitten thrust her paw forward, impaling Nightmare in the chest, and shattering the black gem on her bow. Nightmare went limp and fell to the ground, black blood spreading onto the floor

“You BITCH” Sprinkles cried, running to Nightmare’s side as her body dissolved into gray sparkles “Lynn… she’s dead… no… she can’t be…” Sprinkles grabbed the shards of Nightmare’s transformation device off of the ground

“So what, she got in my way, and you’re next” Kitten was inspecting her paw, stained black from Nightmare’s blood

“I’m not going down that easily” Sprinkles dried her tears and summoned her axe, dashing behind Sprinkles and snapping her neck with the handle, knocking her out “she’s not dead, I just bought us some time while she regenerates”

“GUARDS!” Bronze screamed.

The tall wolf magical girl in all black came to Bronze’s side “what do you need, boss”

“Treble Wolf, kill the spider and her troublesome friends” Bronze commanded

“As you wish” Treble bowed slightly and summoned a battle axe fashioned after an electric guitar before charging forward

Ace blocked the strike with her scythe, but Treble’s axe was too strong and snapped the scythe in half, dissolving it into red sparkles

Lu wandered to the elevator at the back of the room, and went to the basement. When he arrived, the atmosphere was far different than what was upstairs, the metal walls were rusted, and there were stains of magical girl blood splattered everywhere.

“Is someone there?” a timid voice rang out among the empty room “can you help me?”

“Who’s there” Lu answered “this place is seriously creepy”

“Go to the door on the left of the main room” the voice instructed

“Alright, what do you need help with- JESUS PE- FUCK” Lu phased through the door and got a sight of a ton of magical girl corpses, with a half corrupted ghost floating above them

“Welcome to the Rainbow Room, help me get out of here, and I’ll help you” the ghost said “I’m Reaper, by the way, even though we’ve met before, I never actually introduced myself”

“Lu” Lu replied “you can get these off?”

“yup” Reaper removed the power limiters off of Lu’s wrists “there you go, sorry about that, by the way, you scared me”

Lu grabbed Reaper’s hand and pulled her back through the wall “now watch this, King! Now!”

Lu changed into a giant monster, a Soul Beast known as The Prince, and went onto all fours. “get… on…” the Soul Beast struggled to speak

Reaper got on, and held on tightly as The Prince flew through the ceiling and landed in the main room.

Ace was clutching her right eye, which was bleeding profusely as Doc fought Treble Wolf

Doc was trying to dodge Treble’s attacks, although the tank of goo on her back was almost empty, she continued shooting. Doc narrowly avoided a swing from Treble’s axe, but when she tried to attack, her guns just clicked, she was out of ammo. She switched to her melee weapons, two Wolverine-like claws on each hand, originally designed as lightning rods, but makes a good emergency weapon if needed.

Treble Wolf swung downward with her axe, and Doc raised her left arm to block it with her claws, but she overextended her arm, and Treble’s axe went straight through. Neon green blood was spilling everywhere, and Treble Wolf was completely unfazed, so she couldn’t use Sora’s trick from the night before. Suddenly, Televii jumped in to restrain Treble wolf, with his arms wrapped several times around her neck and Sora pointing a gun at her

“You’re not hurting anyone anymore” Sora threatened “these are kids. they don’t deserve to be killed by the likes of you”

“I didn’t think I’d have to do this, but firefly, get rid of them” Bronze yelled to the green caped magical girl

“No.” the magical girl grabbed Bronze by the neck with giant thorny plant arms “I don’t think I will, and the name is Sock”

“Well you’re all so annoying, I might as well get you out of my hair forever!” Bronze cackled crazily and summoned her wand “ERASE!”

“RUN!” Doc shouted “QUICKLY!”

Sock threw Bronze aside, Televii headbutted Treble Wolf and knocked her out, and the Idiot Squad plus Sock ran for the door, slamming it behind them

“Wait- we forgot PJ!” Doc remembered what they were originally there for

The Prince busted through the wall, carrying Reaper and a red chef magical girl on his back

“Doc?” the red magical girl jumped off of The Prince and tackle-hugged Doc

“PJ!” Doc hugged PJ to the best of her ability

“My lab! Now!” Sora announced, pointing in the direction of her house

The Idiot Squad ran to Sora’s lab and immediately collapsed inside.

[clarencenicholsonata]

8 Winning Examples of Co-Branding Partnerships To Inspire You Today

Business is inherently about competition.

However, that doesn’t mean you must avoid giving a drop of help to other companies at all costs.

In fact, companies can (and often do) pair up to combine their strengths to launch joint marketing initiatives to great success.

It's called co-branding.

Co-branding offers a way to raise general brand awareness, gain access to new audiences, improve customer satisfaction (through free giveaways) — all at a high ROI since you’re pooling resources with another brand.

To give you some inspiration for your own partnerships, here's a list of co-branding campaign ideas that benefit everyone involved.

1. Run a Joint Social Media Campaign

With so many people on social media, it only makes sense to run a social media campaign of some sort.

This tactic can work well for nearly any co-branding strategy, from hosting a contest to launching a brand new joint product (both discussed later).

Check out this example of Marvel teaming up with tequila brand Espolon.

(Image Source)

Deadpool was quite a popular movie when it came out (and it still is), so Espolon was able to ride on its coattails and generate new interest in its brand.

Notice the copy, too. It’s humorous and casual, fitting Deadpool’s persona.

If you can, consider tagging each other. By doing this, you send each other social media traffic that can generate visits to your site. You’ll see a boost in SEO and possibly sales.

Learn how other business in your industry are getting clients. Click here to get a tailored analysis with examples.

2. Exchanging Backlinks

Gaining backlinks to your content is a tactic crucial to successfully executing any content marketing strategy.

Backlinks enhance your SEO and search rankings for two reasons:

Gaining backlinks from authoritative sources boosts your domain authority

Backlinks send traffic from backlinking sites to yours, and more traffic tells Google your site deserves a higher ranking

As a result, a wealth of quality backlinks can drastically improve brand awareness and sales.

Backlink exchanging works well as a complementary campaign to practically any idea on this list. You can announce your partnership and link to the other brand’s site, and write blog posts about it.

However, another tactic to use would be guest posting. You write a guest article on your partner’s blog in exchange for a backlink to your site and vice-versa.

To do this right, you’ll need to ask for information about your partner’s target audience and do further research yourself.

Then, brainstorm some topics your partner’s audience will find helpful, get them approved by the partner, and write.

Of course, make sure your piece is flawless before it goes live on someone else’s site. You must present yourself in as professional a light as possible to new audiences. Ensure that you adhere to your partner’s style guide. Triple-check for grammar and spelling using a tool like Grammarly, as well as doing your own read-through before submitting the guest post.

3. Host a Webinar

People are staying at home more nowadays, meaning they’re online more often throughout the day.

It’s a perfect opportunity to host a co-branded webinar.

For webinars, it’s a good idea to partner up with someone that’s not a direct competitor but complementary to your business.

For example, if you’re an SEO agency serving a specific industry, you might team up with a web design agency to offer a different service to the same industry. You can each bring your own expertise and knowledge to the table to educate your joint audience.

Both of you likely have a similar audience. This audience may need both services, so you’ll gain customers from your partner and vice-versa.

4. List Swapping

If you’re looking for a low-effort co-branding opportunity, why not just borrow another company’s email list?

Email is a powerful marketing method because it’s more personal. People feel that their email is a private area, so there’s already some built-in trust here.

All you have to do is find suitable companies that you could do a list swap with.

In general, the best companies to swap lists with are those that offer similar products or services.

For example, imagine you run a premium career advice/job board website. A personal finance blog could be a good partner.

People into personal finance would love to know ways to get a raise or higher-paying job for obvious reasons. You might provide them a curated reading list of articles regarding salary negotiation, benefits packages, and similar topics.

From there, you’ll build trust with these new prospects. They might eventually seek jobs through your job board by signing up for a paid subscription.

5. Put On a Hype-Filled Live Event

One way to generate plenty of hype is to work together with another company to put on a live event.

When times return to normal, your live event could have people in attendance. You can do all sorts of things with such an event.

However, there’s no need to sell or give away tickets to an event. You could follow in Red Bull and GoPro’s footsteps.

Both brands are known for exciting events, as they both cater to an adventurous audience. Being an energy drink, Red Bull portrays itself as a lifestyle brand for people who live daring and action-packed lives.

GoPro’s more obvious — athletes and adventurers can strap a GoPro to their head or helmet and capture thrilling footage of stunts and similar events.

Red Bull and GoPro have teamed up for all sorts of races and stunts, but Stratos takes the cake.

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner suited up in Red Bull branded gear, was carried into the stratosphere, strapped a GoPro to himself, and jumped 24 miles back to earth, shattering several records (and the speed of sound) in the process.

(Image Source)

Stratos generated significant hype and awareness around both brands. In fact, about eight million people watched Baumgartner’s historic jump live on YouTube.

6. Bundle Your Products Together

Here’s a simple idea: you could simply bundle your products together with another company if the products go well together. This is one of the most direct ways to partner with another brand and gain access to new customers.

Whoever you partner with doesn’t have to be inside your industry, either.

Take a look at the BMW-Louis Vuitton partnership.

BMW is known for its luxurious vehicles. Well, years ago, BMW’s “i” Division was working on a new hybrid luxury sports car, the i8.

Some higher-end vehicles often come with luggage to fit their wealthier customers, so Louis Vuitton saw an opportunity here. They partnered with BMW to create an exclusive set of BMW i8 bags and suitcases that fit perfectly into the parcel shelf behind the backseats.

(Image Source)

The luggage itself is around $20,000, but for someone purchasing a $135,000+ luxury sports car, that’s a fair price to pay for such high-quality luggage.

In other words, both companies had totally separate products yet appealed to the same market. Therefore, they were both able to sell more and raise brand awareness.

7. Include Samples or Coupons In Each Other’s Orders

In a similar vein to the previous idea — if you don’t want to design a new product but need to get your current ones into new customer hands, consider shipping some samples or coupons for your product with your partner’s customer orders.

Again, though, you must make sure your partner’s audience is similar to yours. Otherwise, they’re not likely to buy from you later.

For example, imagine you’re doing marketing for your gym or fitness brand. Your audience is going to be health-conscious individuals.

Thus, you could partner with a local meal prep company selling nutritious, pre-made meals and slip some coupons for your products into each of your partner’s orders.

As a result, you would lose a small bit of money upfront on discounted products, but you would gain long-term customers that offset this loss.

8. Work on a Contest Together

People love the chance at winning free stuff and are often willing to give you their information in exchange.

A great co-branding idea is to host a contest where you and/or your partner give away some of your products.

By holding a contest, both of you can attract new customers, gain email addresses for email marketing, and create social media buzz. Plus, by getting a couple of your products into some lucky customers’ hands, you can get some additional feedback and testimonials.

One example of a contest involves Cineplex, a large North American movie theater company, and The Weather Network. They hosted an online contest involving an image of a giant popcorn bag and a lightning rod.

The contest asked participants to guess whether the lightning would hit the corn and subsequently make it pop. If you guessed right, you won free popcorn.

(Image Source)

The Weather Network gained plenty of viewers, while Cineplex raised more awareness about its brand.

Conclusion

Co-branding opens up plenty of creative marketing opportunities that can get your brand in front of new customers and build mutually beneficial long-term relationships with other brands. Since you’re sharing resources with another brand, you cut costs, too.

The key is finding a brand selling products or services that complement yours, then presenting a case for how the co-branding campaign helps you both.

So don’t wait around — build a bond with another brand and try some of these co-branding campaign ideas.

Written by our guest writer Brad Smith, Wordable.io

Brad Smith is the CEO at Wordable.io and the Founder of Codeless.com (a content production agency). His content has been highlighted by The New York Times, Business Insider, The Next Web, and thousands more.

.flex-container { align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; } @media(min-width: 768px) { .flex-container { flex-direction: row; } } from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/3m4e1wi via IFTTT

[internetandnetwork]

Top 3 SEO Content Writing Skills You Need to Succeed

We believe that in an SEO setting, every person needs to bring one or more natural skills to a role, but there are also skills that are mastered best on the job itself.

SEO content writers are familiar with this just as well as anybody else.

If you wish to enter the digital marketing industry as a content marketer, you may be a little surprised to know that powerful writing skills are essential but not enough.

When it comes to creating search-optimized content, it takes more than just good writing chops to succeed. There are many SEO concepts that content writers should be well-acquainted with if they plan to do their job nicely by creating content that ranks well for their clients or company.

In this blog, we will look at the top three skills every SEO content writer must have if they wish to succeed in this industry.

1. HAVING DIVERSE WRITING SKILLS

This one shouldn’t be that surprising. The first essential skill every SEO content writer must have is being able to master various writing styles.

When a content writer joins a company, there are good chances that their job responsibility will include creating content for all types of clients.

Employees working with a digital marketing agency are well aware that a content writer can start the day writing content for a beauty brand and end the day with a blog article for a funeral home.

While the content itself will be different for every client, what ‘really’ matters is the tone.

Readers cannot distinguish the tone from words themselves, but they can do so from the sound of the words when put together.

For instance, the beauty brand requires fun and lighthearted content, while the funeral home needs writing that follows a compassionate, simple, and serious tone.

A skilled content writer not only naturally knows what tone they should use and when, but they are also aware of how to use that tone in a way that engages the readers well.

While we are on the subject of engagement, the next skill is also utterly essential for any SEO content writer who wants to hit the big time.

2. UNDERSTANDING OF SEARCHER INTENT

The content writers that digital marketing companies hire don’t have to be exemplary masters in SEO in order to get successful in their jobs.

However, there is a way of writing content that perfectly goes in line with SEO in general, and that is understanding the search intent.

If SEO content writers want to make their work engaging for the readers, they’ll require more than just professional writing chops.

In order to be engaging, writers need to produce content that online readers are genuinely interested in reading instead of merely throwing topics at the wall and seeing if it sticks.

All SEO practitioners and other industry experts are now familiar with the different tools content writers utilize to find out what users are searching for on the web currently.

Knowing these tools is not the challenging part – it is using the data they give to build better content for the audience.

Once a content marketer becomes proficient in navigating the topic-generation features of such tools, it’s on him/her to convert those topics into lightning-rod content that honestly answers the questions the readers might have in mind.

These are the four main types of search intent content writers should bear in mind while writing:

Informational: When the readers want to know something

Transactional: When the readers want to purchase something

Navigational: When the readers want to visit a particular web page or website

Commercial investigation: When the readers are researching products/services they want to buy

Creating content for the different search intents calls for different approaches from the writer.

Simultaneously, every content piece is still meant to guide the readers toward buying what the client is offering.

For example, an information piece of content could be a list post of the 15 most delicious dishes from around the world that you must try.

Now in each point, the content writer can smoothly link to a product the client offers. Maybe the client owns a restaurant where the readers can go to try them out.

On the other hand, generating content for an eCommerce site would require a transactional content piece that is a little more direct about persuading the readers to purchase a product.

In addition to this, writers know that every type of content written for a specific context will use different keywords.

Based on your digital marketing agency’s setup, the content writers might be responsible for conducting this keyword research, or they can just get it done from the SEO specialists.

Nevertheless, in both cases, having the expertise to use the right keywords at the right places must be part of an SEO content writer’s toolkit.

For instance, an informational search phrase could be something like “top car brands,” whereas a transactional search term might be “cars for sale online.”

A skilled content writer will know how to incorporate these search terms within their writing naturally so that it answers what the readers want to find.

3. CREATING CONTENT FOR TOPICS OVER KEYWORDS

The third essential skill every competent SEO content writing must have is the ability to produce content for topics over keywords.

In case the writer is just getting started with SEO content marketing, they need to know the history of keywords in SEO.

Gone are the days when people wrote content for keywords because back then, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, Google gave more importance to keywords.

In fact, people began using black hat SEO tactics to stuff keywords into their content forcefully.

However, since all this contributes to poor user experiences, doing so today will earn you a penalty.

Things have changed now. In order to get their content to rank well in the SERPs, SEO content writers need to focus on writing for topics over keywords.

Sure, keywords have their own crucial place, but if you focus too much on shoehorning them in your content piece, it won’t read well to the people, and in turn, Google (or any other search engine) won’t rank it well in the search results.

Therefore, content writers must give their best to make their content piece authentic and relevant to the initial search query.

They need to focus on providing the most accurate answer to the readers’ actual question in as much detail as possible.

Writers can also go through the search results pages to see what type of content is ranking already and then think about making their content even better to help it acquire the #1 ranking position.

WRAPPING IT UP

There’s nothing more worth appreciating than when a professional writer, who perhaps had no knowledge about SEO formerly, wants to break into the SEO industry.

However, we can’t downplay the fact that to make it big as a professional SEO content writer, it takes potent writing skills. But if you focus on polishing your skillset from the very beginning of your journey towards becoming an SEO content writer, you’ll already be ahead in your game.

Now that you know the three most crucial skills you need to have to become a successful SEO content writer, you can set out to learn and master them.

Happy writing!

Hariom Balhara is an inventive person who has been doing intensive research in particular topics and writing blogs and articles for Tireless IT Services. Tireless IT Services is a Digital Marketing, SEO, SMO, PPC and Web Development company that comes with massive experiences. We specialize in digital marketing, Web Designing and development, graphic design, and a lot more.

SOURCE : SEO Content Writing

[artdjgblog]

Innerview: Chad Tomas Johnston / The Stained Glass Kaleidoscope ​

June 2008

Art: DJG​

​Note: ​Questions on creativity for a book​.​

The big thing I want to know from you is this: You have worked as a janitor and a data-entry clerk (or something to that effect). Neither of those is highly prestigious. At the same time, you are creating art.

0​1) What drives you to create? Since a young age, I’ve always been fortunate to have outlets for creation. Naturally, almost every child has the freedom to play. But, my formative younger years gave me not only the freedom but also the cow and the whole farm. Growing up a farm boy product of the middle of the mid-west, I had room to romp and to roll. Lots of corn row cuts on my face. Lots of bicycle tire tattoos on the hot summer crater face of the black top road. Lots of holes in boots. Lots of arm snags on the rickety tree house scrap wood and nails. Lots of gold nuggets discovered in the cat poop sandbox. I still get kicks from all these things. Fast approaching thirty, I still plan to never grow a harder and complete “adult” shell. If I do it better be candied and with lots of decorative engravings in it. Though, I’m positive I’d just eat it. I have always been housed in my own little shell. I’ve been a big fan of my inner world since I was old enough to process it. The beauty of life is that people can pile a peel of tires on me all they want, but they can’t touch what morning glories I’ve got crowing and climbing inside. And someday when I’m gone perhaps the seeds I do sew on the outside will spread a bit and people can figure out what the heck my insides were all they want. I don’t know and don’t care. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t think about it. I hate to talk this way, like I’m a thinking man. But, I guess I shouldn’t be ashamed to say that I think about the inner tick-tocks. A lot of it is clogged cogs though. Some by me, some by others. I just have to create. It’s how I get oiled and weathered. It’s my lightning and lightning rod. It’s my confessional. It’s my testament. It’s how I scrub my own floors and stink them back up. There is creation in everyone and thing and evolution of that creation at the same time. We’re all positively guilty of dragging a blade, feather duster or spilt paint bucket behind us into the every day world no matter what business is plowed, pillaged or plundered. Every day is different for me. Every day or every time I make something I think about what that certain something would have looked like or would have had me feeling like had I made it yesterday or tomorrow, a month from now or even an hour ago. It’s hard not to think about that stuff, but I can’t help from it. Though, at the same time I generally feel that I’m always making what I need to be making at that time, even if something isn’t a direct hit. I’d like to have the mindset that I’m always making my best work. And after a number of years of making stuff, the act of it almost becomes second nature. In some ways when I’m working and alone, I am closer to MY maker. I feel I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing. I just have to take the life in, chew it and spit it back out. The process of each stage can be quite the intoxicating affair. But, it’s when I’m in the thick of it, that’s where there is real visual communication for me. I just have to take it in decent strides. I have been at stages with this where it can be controlling. That’s not a good shake. I love how every day is new and unique to the subject of life. Even if it feels the same as other days, it’s still a different notch in the meter. Even after expiration date, one can still influence the path of somebody else’s day by the things or thoughts they’ve left on by the side of the road for somebody else to either run over or stop to pick up. True, sometimes the things people leave behind can be a free tank of gas to the soul, gum on tires, rocks in the rims or a whole darn spike strip. My insides feel different each day. Some days I’m full of gas and some days I’ve broke down all over. I still get up on the same wall that I hug through the night and I eat breakfast with my mouth every morning and put the socks on my feet (unless I feel like an impromptu puppet play). But, my head is always in a different spot and sometimes my gut and my heart too. Sometimes I’ve got a big ol’ mess of ice scream soup and one heck of a brain freeze fart. I tend to approach the make things table under this same light. That is, with always being all over my own map, not with brain freeze farts. And each night I try to get to sleep with my spots smoothed out flat and run together. Though, not always easy. I love how baby dalmation pups don’t have spots for the first little bit of life. I love how they look like little blind wigglin’ rats during those first weeks. They don’t need the spots at first to differentiate one from the next or to say who they are. They just are. All of those little things that I do without conscience, the getting up and the eating and the sock putting…and right now, talking and blahking…these things are flat color like the baby fireman dogs. But, it’s the spots that are inside of me. The spots talk back and forth with light oozing in and out. Each day it seems like there has been a whole new troop of moths infesting and eating away. Making spots is what they do. There is always a new picture debuting in my picture house and sometimes shot with three cameras in several angles (like in the great classic film, “How The West Was Won”). Some days I break the box office. Some days I just break the piggy bank and scrape nothing but dust bunnies and boiled turnips. But, “scraping by” is not just reserved for the bad term. Each day these spots leak a different solution to the make table problems and sometimes you have to go scraping around for them to mix just right. Sometimes it just all comes just right. But, I don’t really see the approach to the way I make things as problems. Of course, sometimes it can be a problem to have something to do with creation and to have others involved. There are times that I don’t see how GOD sleeps at night knowing that he simply just chooses to love me (or his other creations for that matter)…even with all of these spotty feelings and things sloshing around in me. I’m sure that by reading this and/or knowing what you know of me, you’re probably noticing my constant teeter and totter. I’m like a mixed fountain drink at the corner gas station. And there are some days I’m the little left-over sugar water puddle you find rotting out the bottom of a styrofoam cup in the back floor board of a 1984 Ford Tempo. You know? The one with the sagged burgundy roof fabric that always gives you a cow lick as you get into and out of her womb? Back in the ’80s when life was a lot simpler and a week felt like a month and things felt like they actually felt like something, my older brother and I would find the blackest piece of advertising gloss in Mom’s “People Magazine”. I still have dry scalp problems to this day. I don’t have color in my wardrobe, so I suppose I was blessed with an eternal snow day every day. Anyway, what I’m getting at is that despite the little defective box of frosted flakes we clutched to our brows as we hopped out of the womb, my brother and I found an outlet to creation with this. We would place that black space of advertising on the living room end tables (during a break in cartoons and when there wasn’t an audience of MOM, of course) and shake out a snow storm. It looked like a big bang from my personal perspective. An entire little universe of ourselves. I must confess that I’ve been known to still possess this other-worldly talent of creation. I’d love to do a daily blog of this. Why not?! Or, maybe my new goal should be to get into advertising and demand to make more glossy black space for rent to hire those young kids out there itchin’ to get their big galaxies and universe down patty caked on paper… There has been something in me for a long time itching to get out. Maybe my creativity is like a big beautiful bundle of mysterious male peacock feathers that just keeps on wiggling and growing those magnificent colors. I’m always cutting off bits and plucking. Sometimes the bits tickle me good and sometimes they dust me and smack me over. ​0​2) Was there a relationship between your janitorial work and your art? That is, did one influence the other? I was raised with a blue collar. I sure do wish I could say it was turned up and in “cool” mode. But, in a weird way I think it’s the coolest because it is part of my building blocks. And no matter where you go or what you do, you’re roots are still alive and growing. Farming is in my blood. In some ways I don’t feel janitorial work is too far down the line from tending pasture, mending fence and plowing fields. In many ways an employee of a janitorial service is his own boss because he-she is alone and in solitude, just doing what they feel needs to be done to spruce up the place. I feel the work I do as a designer or maker of things is similar. I dust out the mind’s stairwells and kick things down them too. One of the things that would lure me to farming would be this comfort in being alone and just doing the thing. I miss that about being a janitor or groundskeeper. I miss having that freedom of choice of going to a hard to reach spot or a parking space that cars or people rarely touch, though it’s dirty from pure existence, and just being alone and making it look good. There is a pride I take in making things look the way I want them to look. Janitorial work will never go out of style. And neither will people’s idea that a janitor or a farmer, even a graphic designer these days is a low denominator of work and intelligence among the common people. I don’t aim to sound bitter here. I was never bitter in the many years as a janitor. I may have been a bit bitter as a farmer’s son, and only at 16 to 18 as a typical disgruntled teen dying to retreat…now I love and respect my upbringing and my former vocation. I’m made of it all and it has all helped shape me to who I am now. I just find it fascinating how people find it their need to put others in a particular place. While I had some great reception when working as a janitor, it also garnered a lot of talk. Even on the job people confessed to me that they had been trying to figure me out. I found this oddly fascinating that I could consume some of their mind with the fact that I was just working a trade to pay the bills. One woman I bumped into regularly at the parking garage cigarettes station each afternoon said to me, and after researching my story for months, “I just couldn’t put it together. It didn’t make no sense to me why you’d be wanting to do this kind of work. You seemed friendly and intelligent and come to find you’ve got things you’re doing on the side, well it just had me wondering.” I wasn’t upset with her telling me this. I appreciated her honestly and she just had me oddly curious…even within my own person and broom shuffling. I even feel that people in the art world (what little puddle I’m in) found this janitorial aspect of my creating as quite fascinating or strange. It’s not that I chose janitorial jobs as a means to put myself on display nor to play a particular “ideal” in order for people to talk or raise eyebrows. I just enjoyed cleaning house, I suppose. Many people close to me didn’t know how to handle my dropping out of design school to work bottom rung janitorial jobs in the early hours of 2002. But, I knew in my heart that it was exactly what I needed to be doing and it was crucial for me to do it right then. It was my time. I also knew that I needed to place trust in something at the time. There was at least to me a blind comfort in cranking the somewhat padded strings up on around the empty spool of a heart I had at the time. It made things make a bit more sense and comforted me just to try to get settled the stirred dust of my head while my body pushed a makeshift mop or broom on autopilot. And if it didn’t make sense to others, well, let’s just say I just tried to hold my head up the best I could and stay focused on ahead down my own paper trail odyssey. Openly, I would recommend anybody to try janitorial work, especially if you are looking for a simple care-free environment. It’s still a job though and can still wear you thin at times. But, for the most part janitorial positions are pretty easy going if taken with the right mixture of work ethic, responsibility and frame of mind. Maybe I’ve just been fortunate to work in some great places? Of course there are always the literal “crap” jobs. Cleaning out women’s restrooms at a 24-hour call center is possibly the worst, but it still paid the bills for a bit. And if you do a great job scrubbing those bathrooms, you can get moved up pretty quick like I did. And sometimes you’ve got to find the humor and ridiculousness in mopping up overflowing toilets. One time in a men’s restroom with over an inch of standing toilet water, I came out of the stall with my mop in hand as somebody passed by. Now, if I walked into a restroom with standing water, I’d definitely just hustle to another restroom to do my business. But, some people don’t care and just make obvious comments like, “Geesh, that there’s a lot of water on da floor”, as they look at me oddly. I followed this with, “I’m just waiting on Noah now”. It took some time for what I said to register. The guy was probably thinking of if he knew anybody with the name of Noah. But, after a few minutes it had him laughing as we shared urinal cakes and rubber duckies. I’ve worked in many various places with my janitorial jobs and have gotten to meet a lot of interesting, hardworking and diverse individuals that have all helped fuel my extra-curricular in some odd way, shape or form. I was even involved with monthly potluck dinners at one janitorial job. It was an amazing way to fellowship and bring together our little piece of the night shift community. The job site environments themselves were very inspiring to me as well. From junior high to my last year of high school I wanted to be an architectural designer of sports stadiums. That is, until I realized I was horrible at mathematics. Coincidentally, I got to somewhat fulfill my early dream as I pulled the trash for one day at my favorite baseball stadium design, Kauffman Stadium, home of the Kansas City Royals. I once won a Royals baseball essay competition about my love for the sights and sounds of going to this ballpark and here I was getting to pull the trash! It floored me when I got to the ballpark at dawn on that Tuesday in April of 2002 and could see the sun hit the green grass of the infield, and to think I was one of the few people there in that gorgeous testament to modern architecture and design, watching the natural elements bounce into and out of it. Moving on, I pulled the night trash and buffed the floor at an award-winning sports architectural firm for a couple of months. This was incredible as I got to see the pre-production and scale models and I sneaked a few little things home from the dumpster. I can honestly say that I did some work for a sports architectural firm. My longest post at cleaning was at the Kansas City Board of Trade. This was a unique place to work and oddly connected me to my farming past as this was the building that all the trades went on. It still dumbfounds me how that whole system of loud talking works, but I just enjoyed being there cleaning up and running errands. It was a job that I could have easily stayed at forever. And I was appreciated and people even took an interest in what I did out of uniform. I even designed a few posters, sketched and studied while I was on the clock. And there was a ton of great stuff to create with or to collect. But, one of my favorite things was to find things while cleaning, like hand-written letters or notes. I even found money a few times. I also enjoyed finding creatures that spoke to me from their confines in the pavement cracks. Certainly, it was a scary thing to just up and quit college to become a professional cleaner, to go into hiding to tan a new hide. But, for the first time in my life I was really carving my own initials. It may have been a selfish beginning, but I think that everybody needs to follow their heart more. If you trust in that, then you’re putting your trust in something higher that the heart strings are connected to. I just trusted that and worked hard at work and at play and kept my eyes open. In some ways janitorial jobs taught me to open up my lids even more. Design school had opened up new worlds within and around me. But, I think a lot of kids go straight from the comforts of the design lab and into full-time positions at design firms and they end up losing something that they had a good grip on months prior. It’s not that those types of professional atmospheres are bad. I think that everybody has a different approach to their life’s work or trade. Working in a design firm just never spoke to me at all and I’ve always been very protective of my craft since the early days of voluntarily locking myself up in my room or sandbox to create. Visiting many design firms from 1999 to 2001 had me worried sick about the idea of being stuck in a career that didn’t feed me the way I wanted to be fed. I didn’t want to eat at a trough. I wanted my own mini buffet and at my own leisure. And by the last couple of semesters of college, I was a wreck of a slushed soul from this and everything else that life had to offer. All of my eyes had become a bit closed up again except for the one that shown to me that something inside of me needed to explode. And I only knew of one way that could get me out. I suppose it’s safe for me to say in tree sap honesty that my brain has always been running backwards and forwards and catty-whompus since day one. I realize this now especially because I have come to see some of the ice bergs upstairs a little bit better that took me years to get to know. I sometimes wish I was in my early twenties again (only to have more time to MAKE), but I think I’ve gotten a better grip with age and life learning. Even though I still don’t quite understand what exactly makes me tick-tock and run, I can at least try to appreciate my masonry work and work at mending it in small clumps. Sometimes I think what makes me really run are hounds nipping at my ankles. Though, the dogs are sometimes good as they snap with ice pick claws the clamps that can chain me to some things. But, those same claws also dig into me. It’s not that I ran from problems or obstacles nor did I take the easy out and quit something important like a college education to sweep parking lots. I had exhausted myself in that particular stage of my early twenties and needed to mobile my shell before I got dragged down for more than good. I had something screaming inside and I needed to find the right spit can to collect it all in. Despite my own understanding of my actions, I do feel that a lot of people felt I was throwing myself away in order to pick up garbage. Actually, what I was doing was saving myself. With janitorial positions, I just knew that they were speaking to me just right and I was able to speak through them with my own work and I found comfort at that important place in my life. My design odyssey had me working for independent musicians. I knew of the occupational wallet hazards of such a sound decision before I made my move from slacker college design student to slacker somewhat professional designer. I just knew I was supposed to be in a Kansas City, MO ghetto living with a band (and some) in an old decrepit pile of an orange house and making stuff through the night and sleeping in my janitor outfit to go have some peace with thinking and making on the job too. And I wanted the stability of a fixed income, yet without a lot of the baggage that most people deal with in the day job day dream. Being young and dumb is one thing, but I felt that what I was doing was justifiable to my pocket book, the work force, my real work, and most importantly to my sanity (and others’ sanitation). ​0​3) What is your goal when you are creating something? That is, what are you striving to achieve? The marriage of a man’s inner workings to a blank space is incredible to me…when it hits just right and is of the moment and a spark of life happens. You can tell when something’s speak is whole and true because of the immediate connection you share with it. I gather this whether it’s a piece of art, a song, a movie, a writing or a bowl of sugary cereal. Heck, I can walk seven minutes to work and feel something so much bigger turning the keys and mashing buttons all around me. And when something man made speaks, you can tell that there is soul source material. There might be a hand-me-down system for putting it together on the outside, but you can tell when the halls of sincerity and honesty are opened up. You can tell when somebody’s exposing their bones and-or studying their bones and sharing observations of their world in a much bigger world with other smaller worlds encased. Whenever an incredible song, movie, writing…piece of nature or thought…speaks with just the right lens it can be like unwrapping a gift made special for the birthday boy or girl. And every day could essentially be a birthday in this way. I love the discovery of new things and to think that I could have found this many moons back, yet wasn’t in the right frame of mind or reference or reflection until the day I consumed it. I think that we should celebrate every day like this idea that every day is completely new and is perfect to us because it is in the now and we couldn’t have registered with it in any other place, point or time. Every day is different with me and my inner workings are never wound the same each day. And every day I’d like to think I’m getting more and more oiled and weathered at the same time. Life’s lightning is always ready to strike and I’ve got to play lightning rod too. It’s a hard balance on some days. But, I just want to approach each day within my own little arts and crafts section of the basement with the idea that I’m doing my best work and best that I can living down here. There are moments with creativity, when one can feel like a buried burrow. Especially when the older you get, the younger the clock gets. It’s easy to get overwhelmed and hard to match the pace of what the inside is screaming to the race outside. And I can’t pull the all-nighters like I used to. With my own art I try not to make it a chore. I try to make time for it and to always keep it in my saddlebags, within reason. I wish to give a paper trail that is of me and for others at the same time. I’d be a liar if I said my art wasn’t for me. It is and if I didn’t get something out of it or enjoy it, then I shouldn’t be doing it. But when others can wring something from my wash cloths, then that means so much to me. I really want to leave my little print on every leaf I pass, that is, if they all wish to hold my ink. Though, sometimes with deadlines and a full schedule that houses a day job, marriage and life stuff…well, making stuff can get a little rushed out and flushed out. It can start to feel like a same ol’ song and dance side show. Though, to look at the other side, you just do your song and dance while you’re here. We’ve all got one and some people never fully see it realized. I’m thankful to have what I feel are the proper fitting shoes and I just now would love to find a way to keep them on in a full-time manner. But, to keep on poking at the other side, I feel that there should never be a set switch to creativity. It’s not something that should be crammed into an eight hour day. My creativity doesn’t tune-out the minute I leave the house or get set in my current cubicled job of data entry. It can sometimes be charged in different ways and in peculiar ways. Though, sometimes with making things you’ve just got to recharge from over-exposure. I found out last year that it’s ok to say NO and it’s ok to take a time away from the table. I even learned this with a personal eating diet and schedule change. You can probably tell from a lot of my past work or “periods” when I’ve either been struggling or am bored, tired or am just way too constipated by life’s tap dance and life only. I think it translates to the end product, but I also believe it’s very much a testament of the experience and sometimes it can really speak in good and bad scoops. I think that it can happen to anyone and any profession, even full-time moms and dads. It’s not just something that happens to an artist or graphic designer. However, sometimes with art, the exact opposite can occur when you can feed off the energy of life and turn it into something else…something positive. It’s not a smooth relay, but fortunately I’ve been able to feed life to the creative torch. I’m at a place in my life where I just want to set my fire to everything. Stacking up seven years of attacking what it is I do in a professional manner, I’ve received a shiny little brush fire of praise and achievement. I’ve got a small band of pilgrims around the globe attracted to my blemishes and blandishments. I’ve been very appreciative and excited, even though some of my past responses or replies to this sort of thing have been a bit sheepish. I’ve always had trouble taking praise because I’m extremely hard on myself and it can be a very surreal experience when people take up with something that I’ve made and make it part of their experience. What could be worse, I’m always in strict competition with myself, but it’s also part of the discovery and making nature, I think. Again, a healthy balance is needed. Lately though, I’ve just been more excited for the idea of creation and making things and sharing things. But, sometimes it can be easy for things to lose their context and meaning with everything so I’ve got to start believing in umbrellas and nap time blankets again. The minute you make something and put it out there on the platter (more like, the buffet) you’re giving up a huge chunk of yourself exposed to the world. It’s just part of the game. That is, unless you’re painting in a cave or somebody out of connection with society just making stuff without an audience. I guess it would be like folk art. Things made by untrained folk artists really floor and inspire me. Their education is from life or from a higher calling and they must tell this story and a lot of them don’t start telling until later in life. It’s almost like they go back to being a kid again. I love this. They simply must MAKE and play. I try to strive to make for making’s sake. But, it can at times be hard being that I have had formal training and have had a fair amount of praise from the art and design community, so it’s easy for ideas to be pushed too hard and easy for the world to interfere. I do my best though at just doing what it is that I doo-doo. Finding beauty and inspiration in folk art makes me just find something inside of me and lead it on out at its own will and without whips and horse wranglers. Last summer I went from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City to just across the street to the American Folk Art Museum. Both are incredible houses for the arts, but it was the stuff in the less crowded, less artsy-fartsy American Folk Art Museum that really floored me the most. I had been studying a lot of the work for a few years, but to see it in the flesh was astounding. There is something very immediate and wholesome to it. Something so pure that is rarely touched by a so-called “professional” artist. And it can really challenge the thinking as to why we are making and putting outrageous price tags on things. But, it inspires myself to just try to speak the best I can and from a place inside of me. Talk. Talk. Talk. Talk. Blahk…I’m not skilled enough to strike up much debate on the issues here and I hate over-doing-it. I just enjoy folk art and regular art…and whatever else speaks. Anyway, the results can be ugly sometimes when you release something out there into the world. It can be personal poison when you clean out your ears. Everybody’s got an opinion and the opinion inside the messenger can be the worst. Everybody these days is a critic. I’m guilty. But, I don’t make stuff to be recognized or critiqued. I don’t make stuff so others can save me some glossy pages in their design annual. That stuff is great, but the work to me would be dead and done if I ever got to that point. And it would be hollow if I was just cranking stuff out for the approval of others. That’s one of the reasons I feed off of everyday influences and mood swings. I don’t want to spin the same wheels over and over. That’s one of the reasons I don’t wish to chase another man’s dream working in a design firm. I wouldn’t mind helping to hold the ladder on some cloud shaping a bit, but I’m not going to be their spotty dog that fetches design over and over and over. I’ve felt that once before even within the confines of music design and am just now at a comfortable place again with what I’m doing. But, there’s always a different dog nipping. Sometimes it can be pretty dumbfounding whenever something of myself comes out of me and then transcends the basement steps and flies the coop. It’s great to share the stuff, but I’ve felt an unexplainable emptiness at events like award shows or my own solo exhibition openings. The only way I can decipher it after much chewing is that, once it leaves the basement and my little world it’s really beyond me. I’m not a parent, but I suppose the feeling is similar to releasing a child to winds of the first day of school. Once they leave you, they are vulnerable to the rest of the world. And now all of this has got me thinking about what I’m really doing. See, my struggling is out in the open now as I’m passing myself back and forth with this writing and I’m on display for all to gawk at. Still, it’s just part of the trade. I’d love to be able to not have a clock tower and to not be hanging from it. I have a hunger to just make stuff all day and on my own time (well, when I’m not watching movies, eating or doing life stuff). I do have a hunger to share the work after the hunger to create it has passed, but at the same time it’s hard to get a good grasp on that too. And to do my work full-time I have to get the work out and about even more. A lot of my work has seen more of the world than I have and it’s all really exciting. If it can affect others and make somebody stop to get an itch of inspiration or a tickle, especially in our short attention span world, then that is a wonderful thing, I guess. That is a great thing and something that I don’t really have any control over. I just try to be a human being with a hunch back that needs its juices popped. And I’m dangling from that clock tower right now as Sunday supper is almost on the table and the dusk is dawning…and a new week of the day job sits and starts to melt me in my own stomach acid. -djg

[mrbellcaptain]

Goodbye from The Hollywood Tower Hotel

I know this is really long, but I need to open up somewhat about this. For those of you that do read this, thank you.

“Hollywood, 1939 …”

Those words ring loudly in my head and have ever since May, 2004. I was 12 at the time and had avoided thrill rides adamantly up to that point. That single day in 2004 changed everything for me.

It started back in November of the previous year. I had received an annual pass for Disneyland for my birthday. I hadn’t been there since 1997 and couldn’t remember what the place was even like. At the time, Disney was seen as a kids thing. Being the preteen I was, I avoided talking about it among my friends for fear of being seen as less “cool.” This first trip was also the first time I’d see Disney’s California Adventure. As it had opened in 2001, I had not had a chance to go and experience it.

Upon arrival at the esplanade I was shocked to see this building looming over DCA’s skyline. My family and I debated what it was and if it was even in the park or just in Anaheim beyond. The words “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” stood out among the skyline. We were confused to say the least. This “hotel” didn’t feel like one as much as it looked like it. Our curiosity was piqued so we booked it into Sunshine Plaza and down through the Hollywood Picture’s Backlot. As we reached the Hyperion and turned the corner we were met with … Walls. But these walls made me the most excited I had ever been. Along the stretch of construction walls that lined the street were the words “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Opening May 2004. Drop in … If you dare.” I was blown away. I thought I had never heard of this attraction before and shamefully learned I did know of it quite well when I got home that evening.

I was a big fan of The Twilight Zone television series having been raised with it among other classic shows of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. The Twilight Zone was paranormal, exciting, easy to grasp but complex in nature. It was everything I enjoyed in tv. To have an attraction entirely themed around it excited me. I was deeply curious about it so I jumped into researching it. Mind you, I had seen the Tower of Terror television movie but I never pieced it together that it was, in itself, based on something real. When I finally saw WDW’s Tower I was awestruck. I researched everything I could about it. I looked deeply into the attraction through fan sites and low resolution videos. I couldn’t get enough.

January 1st, 2004. I had made it a point to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade every year and this year was no different. I got up and watched in wonder as parade float after parade float turned the corner and showed off it’s detail. Late into the broadcast a looming building came into frame. It was so noticeable that even the broadcasters commented on it before it turned the corner. At 100 feet tall, the float “A Sudden Drop in Pitch” made me bounce off the walls. This floral ode to the coming haunted Hollywood retreat just blew my mind. Again I was energized. As the clock ticked down to May, I kept up with the attraction. I watched video after video, many of which seem to have been lost to time. Gallagher and the sign lighting ceremony stands out as one of the stranger ones.

Finally, May arrived. I booked it to Anaheim about the second or third week of it’s opening. The lines were massive (for the time) but I stood there, eagerly awaiting my turn to “drop into the zone.” The lobby was lavishly furnished, every crack and speck of dust seeming to tell a story. Everything stood out to me and I could barely soak it all in. When we entered the library I stood in wided eyed wonder at the shelves of books and the raging storm just beyond the window. With a flash of lightning came the story of that fateful night long ago. The eerie intro, the echoes of a child singing, the thunderstorm just beyond. I was lost. Dragged into an episode of Rod Serling’s anthology of terror. As our huddled group wandered into the boiler room the sound of pipes clanging and furnaces roaring gave life to this dead building. The heart was still beating, long after it’s veins had rusted and faded. The gloomy bellhops throughout encouraged our group forward, helping us deeper into the depths of the hotel. As we arrived at the service elevator, my heart was racing. I was nervous, I was scared, and I was excited. I stood with sweaty hands watching the dial slide down slowly to “B.” The doors opened to our final bellhop who loaded us into our rickety elevator. The sounds of screams echoed throughout. Everyone was nervous. With a devious smile the bellhop bid farewell and the doors closed on us.

A lurch backwards and flashes of lightning dragged us beyond the depths of the Tower and to the front door of The Twilight Zone. I gripped the handlebars of the elevator seats tightly. I was terrified but entranced. We moved up and in front of us was a grand mirror. A bolt of lightning and we turned into ghostly reflections of ourselves. In a flash we were gone. The empty elevator carriage sat staring back at us. We descended to a long stretched hallway. 5 ghostly apparitions beckoned us to follow them. The hallway grew dark, stars glittering all around. Those same 5 guests beckoned one final time from a distance set of elevator doors, then they were gone.

We plunged into darkness.

As the sunlight stung my eyes, I could see everything. In those couple seconds I viewed the distant horizon of Disneyland and Anaheim. Before I could even process it we were falling.

When the elevator came to a rest with clanging and bangs, cheers erupted from our elevator. We had survived. As we returned to reality we were greeted by our haunting bellhop one final time before we drifted toward the gift shop.

I was in love. Everything about this ride captivated me. In one single ride in May I became obsessed. I collected everything I could afford. I bought pins, I got shirts, picture frames, posters. You name it, I tried my best to buy it.

That summer I spent working on a digital rendering of the Tower of Terror in LEGO form. I wanted a replica of this attraction for me. I wanted my Hollywood Tower Hotel. I spent weeks studying every angle, looking at picture after picture. I tried so hard to detail this model out of little blocks. When I finally finished and sat back, I was, for the first time, impressed with myself. There in front of me was a LEGO rendering of the Tower of Terror. I immediately set to work. I used every LEGO brick I had and when I ran out, I bought more. After the 6th tub of bricks I stopped. It was getting too expensive. With the need to paint the LEGOs afterwords, I shelved the project till I could reasonably get everything I needed.

Still, I ached for replicas. My brain kept latching to LEGOs and after a couple years I tried again on LEGO’s official Digital Designer program. As I reached the half way mark, I decided to check the price for the massive Tower of bricks I needed. The program promptly crashed. I selected a third of the building and copied it elsewhere, then tried again. After a few minutes the price popped up. $1800. I gasped and was discouraged. I couldn’t realistically shell out almost $2000 for just a segment of a massive project. Again I shelved the project and looked for alternatives. I stumbled on a now defunct YouTube channel HomeImagineering. The channel featured someone building custom miniature attraction variants using materials like foamcore. I also stumbled on Sam Towler’s Mine Train model and was inspired. My dad ended up bringing me home some foamcore poster board and I went to work. I carved windows and doors. I tried to shape out the Tower of Terror with foam and paper. It made a terrible mess and I was never able to figure out how to best support the massive structure. Eventually I shelved this project too.

As DCA started it’s 2.0 conversion I was at the parks almost every other week. Tower was my go to for a must ride attraction. I had memorized everything about it. The layout, the script, the drops. I loved it still. It was a classic to me and I desired nothing more than to be a bellhop. I started applying but got nowhere. It wasn’t until fall 2012 that I hit the jackpot. I was hired on October 13th, 2012 as a DCA Stores cast member. I started on Buena Vista Street and came to know many great people through that fall and subsequent winter. I still ached for Tower. I wanted to get photo training so I could work the gift shop, but my true dream was to transfer to attractions and fight my way to Tower. Unfortunately that dream fell short. I quit Disney in late April 2013 due to medical problems making it hard for me to continue working. I dreamed of going back, but for the time I set my dream aside to focus on school.

In February of 2016, a rumor sprouted that the Tower of Terror at DCA was to be changed to a Guardians of the Galaxy ride. I was scared. A part of me tried to ground reality and tell myself that it was way too stupid to be real. There’s always rumors and they almost never happen. As time moved forward the rumor persisted. The original leak kept insisting it was real and continued to detail the changes to come. Petitions popped up, attempting to fight the truth in the rumor.

In July, 2016, at Comic Con San Diego, Disney announced that Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout! would take the place of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I was heartbroken. Here was something I had spent 12 years of my life involved with suddenly dying in front of me.

The reason it hurt so much is difficult to pin down entirely. Looking back, I struggled greatly with depression and continue to do so to this very day. I was teased and bullied in school and there wasn’t much of a way for me to escape. My home life was okay, but fighting between my parents and the affects of what caused those fights strained the household. Disneyland was my sanctuary, and Tower, to me, was my escape. I could be someone else with Tower. It gave me confidence and it inspired me. On nights where I might have been struggling, where my mind drifted to thoughts of suicide, I spent them at a computer, designing and building, and connecting with the Tower fan community. I made friends due to the shared passion for something that is as simple as a ride at a theme park. While my depression never healed, I was able to fight it back through this passion. As time pushed forward, I lost connection with a lot of these Tower fan communities. Many faded away or died as time marched on. I lost connection with the friends I had made and struggled to maintain my happiness. When I was forced out of high school, I spent a lot of nights with these fan communities, and suddenly they were gone. I held onto the memories of the conversations had and the stories shared and still kept returning to the parks with hopes of finding new friends and people that could be a part of a Tower of Terror family. When I worked there, I wanted nothing more than to be a part of the Tower, but my diagnosis of fibromyalgia and the worsening of it made that impossible. With the announcement it felt as if my heart was ripped apart. Everything from the past 12 years shattered instantly. I know I have the memories of this attraction and the joy and happiness it brought, but with me it’s not the same. Those memories are sad now, reflections of a history and point in time where there was an escape for me. It sounds stupid, even to me, but Tower was more to me than just a ride. Everything about me was connected to it. I built my life on that ride. My education and major was directly inspired by the ride. I wanted to one day craft something unique and amazing. Something that would inspire another the same way I was inspired way back in 2004. The change of this ride also spoke to the climate inside Disney. The corporate meddling and orders from higher ups that have no reflection on the guest satisfaction but instead on the easiest way to sell things now and to forget the long term. It hurt to see a company so good a hiding their corporate side suddenly flashing it for all the world to see. Their reckless disregard for the masses of fans and for the terrible show caused by this change is unforgivable. The Tower died in September, 2016, when the sign was pulled off unceremoniously. Ever since it has been on life support, being kept barely breathing as they slowly strip away what made it unique.

Some of you might say that there is still Walt Disney World’s Tower (and Paris’), but that isn’t the point. To me, DCA’s was the Tower of Terror, original or not. It fit the world crafted in that park. It told it’s story perfectly and dragged you into the hallowed halls that once held lavish parties. It was my definitive version.

On January 1st, I attended the 13th Hour party. There I met two wonderful Tower fans and celebrated this attraction in a way no other attraction could ever be celebrated. Disney did a great job on a party that should never have happened in the first place. That night, on our final elevator’s return, our bellhop greeted us crying. That’s when I noticed that every bellhop had been struggling to choke through the spiels. It sunk in. I felt the shockwave of this loss throughout yesterday and struggled till the very end to maintain myself. In the end it was too much. As I sit here writing this, I find tears streaming down my face.

For me, my year ended last night. 2016 has frequently been personified as this taker of life, this year of the reminder of our own mortality. We did lose many great people in such a short time, and while that can be explained by the years from which these greats were born, it doesn’t change the fact that we desire someone or something to blame. 2016, for me, took one last life. It took something I found sacred and tore it away.

Walt Disney said that “Disneyland would never be completed as long as there is imagination left in the world.” This isn’t a justification for the change of something loved and enjoyed, but a reflection on the shifts of guest’s desires and wants. A story goes that Walt overheard a child wish to ride Jungle Cruise only for the mother to refuse, stating that they “rode it last time” and “didn’t need to this time.” Walt was mortified. He went about shifting what the ride’s purpose was, giving the skippers freedom to spiel in a way they felt fit. Jokes and comedy became the ride’s signature and to this day is beloved by many. He didn’t rip it out because it was stale, nor did he retheme it. It was still an adventure through a jungle, but instead of a serious documentary tone, it took on a dark foreboding joking aesthetic. Tower was loved, and the massive lines and 300% merchandise sale increase proves that guests still wanted it. The change for change’s sake should only ever be done for the betterment and improvement of something. Guardians, especially to me, is no improvement, and does neither Tower, nor Guardians justice.

Today I struggle to push forward. My future feels shaky and distorted. I am uncertain of where I am to go next and while I will continue to try, the desire to just lay down and give up is very strong. So with this I say goodbye to The Hollywood Tower Hotel and the The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. I hope, as Vera Lynn sang, “we’ll meet again. Don’t know where, don’t know when. But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day.”

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Kucherov Suspended One Game, Kadri Suspension Looming, Caps/Preds/Avs Win In OT (Apr 14)

Nikita Kucherov has been suspended one game for his hit on Markus Nutivaara on Friday. Fair or not, that’s about what I thought he would receive.

Although Art Ross Trophy winner Kucherov was the top-ranked player in playoff pools, he has been held without a point in two games so far and will still be scoreless in the playoffs after Game 3 because of his suspension. Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point, who were projected to go second and third, have also been held without a point in the first two games (see our Dobber Hockey Experts Panel picks for more). In addition, Kucherov has been held to just two goals in his last 14 playoff games. He’s been getting it done and then some in the regular season, but not so much in the playoffs when the intensity is turned up several notches.

So if the Lightning are eliminated in the first round, does that mean the folks that didn’t pick any Lightning players will win their playoff pools? It probably isn’t that simple, but it goes to show that playoff pools aren’t as easy to predict as you might think and sometimes a counterintuitive strategy (although more risky) wins in the end. The silver lining is that if the Bolts come back and win this series, you’ll probably get the same four or five games of production out of them than you thought you would receive from them in the first round anyway.

It's funny how in two short games that the narrative on the Lightning has shifted from being the model franchise to the ultimate choke team. A win in Game 3 would go a long way toward righting the ship. A loss, well…

*

Not to worry, Connor McDavid owners. It sounds like he won’t need surgery for a small PCL ligament tear. The injury from the final game of the season looked a lot worse.

*

On to Saturday’s game action:

Carolina/Washington

Noted goal scorer Brooks Orpik scored 1:48 into overtime to give the Capitals a 4-3 win in Game 2 and a 2-0 series lead heading back to Carolina. Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, T.J. Oshie, and Evgeny Kuznetsov each recorded two points for the Capitals. Ovechkin also dished seven hits (not sure if any playoff pools out there count hits).

Man, was Rod Brind’Amour ever pissed after Micheal Ferland was ejected after his attempted check to the head of Nic Dowd. Ferland recklessly throwing hits in playoff games is nothing new, but my initial thought was two-minute penalty. Like any of these types of hits, it’s subject to debate, though.  

Ferland gets thrown out of the game for a check to the head pic.twitter.com/gSAHQkdoV7

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 13, 2019

Fortunately for the Hurricanes, the Capitals weren’t able to score on the ensuing five-minute power play. Fortunately for the Capitals, Dowd was able to return to the game. I highly doubt Ferland is suspended for this hit.

Dallas/Nashville

Aside from fans of the Stars and Predators, this series might be considered by many to be the least interesting of the bunch. So if we call it the country and western series, would that make it more interesting? Such deep hockey commentary, I know.

Craig Smith scored exactly five minutes into overtime to give the Predators a 2-1 win over the Stars, evening the series at 1-1 heading back to Dallas for Game 3. Smith also led the Predators with six shots on goal in this game.

In spite of the loss, Ben Bishop was stellar, stopping 40 of 42 shots to keep the Stars in this game. With his 1.92 GAA and .946 SV% in two playoff games, Bishop is carrying a strong regular season into the playoffs, where he has been the Stars’ best player so far. Bishop finished the regular season with a 1.98 GAA and .934 SV% and seven shutouts, which are numbers that could result in a Vezina Trophy nomination.

Wayne Simmonds left in the first period after blocking a shot. He wasn’t having a great season by his standards before his trade to Nashville (27 points and a minus-20 in 62 games), but his numbers have taken a further nosedive with the Predators (3 points in 17 games). Even if you figured that the Preds would make a deep playoff run, Simmonds probably isn’t someone you should have targeted in your playoff pool. Some team will probably overpay for the 30-year-old’s services this offseason. Don’t be the one who adopts a similar strategy in your fantasy league, as the power forward’s point totals have been on the decline for the past three seasons.

Mattias Janmark left in the second period after crashing awkwardly into the boards, but he was able to return to the game.

Toronto/Boston

The new divisional format was designed to build rivalries, and this doesn’t seem any more apparent than with these two teams. In other words, they don’t like each other. Fans of other divisional foes (and even some outside the division) might be pulling for the team they dislike less as opposed to the team they like more in this series. If these fans can’t figure out which team that would be, they’d simply hope that these two teams beat the crap out of each other. Well, these two teams might already be headed down that path.

Nazem Kadri has been offered an in-person hearing for his crosscheck to the face of Jake DeBrusk, which means that the league can suspend him for more than five games. Because he’s a repeat offender, Kadri’s going to sit multiple games for sure. That’s even with any perceived advantages that Toronto receives from the NHL office and even with the knee-on-knee collision with DeBrusk earlier in the game likely motivating the hit. I realize hockey is a sport about getting payback when someone on the other team crosses the line, but that reasoning isn’t going to carry weight here. Kadri should know better.  

I’d imagine this lands Kadri a suspension pic.twitter.com/LXi9ZovoS5

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) April 14, 2019

Kadri’s game misconduct in the third period gave the Bruins a five-minute power play, where they were able to ice the game with an insurance goal en route to a 4-1 victory and a tie in the series heading back to Toronto.

Torey Krug left this game in the second period after taking a hit from Jake Muzzin. Charlie McAvoy totaled nearly 26 minutes in this game, so expect the Bruins to lean heavily on the 21-year-old d-man should Krug miss any time. Connor Clifton, another d-man, also didn’t finish the game for the Bruins.

Auston Matthews is receiving a lot of criticism from Leafs’ fans regarding his playoff performance. Dating back to last season’s series with the Bruins, Matthews has just two points and a minus-5 in his last nine playoff games. He may be struggling to handle the more physical play of the playoffs, or he simply doesn’t match up well against the Bruins. Matthews has the size (6-3, 223 lb.), but not everyone with size has the desire to play a physical style. With Kadri out of the lineup for the foreseeable future, the Leafs will need to lean even more heavily on him.

Colorado/Calgary

By far the biggest question regarding the Flames entering the playoffs was their goaltending. Mike Smith had been downright awful during significant stretches of the season, so would he be able to hold up during the playoffs? Why didn’t the Flames give David Rittich a go instead?

Smith has found his game and then some. Since he doesn’t fit the definition of a stud goalie, he fits the definition of a hot goalie, which can just as well get the job done in the playoffs if he can be hot for long enough. Unfortunately, Smith couldn’t hold off the Avalanche for this entire game. The Avs looked like the better team in Game 2 regardless of the outcome. Regardless, they won in overtime on Nathan MacKinnon’s first goal of the playoffs.

Even though Smith has a brief playoff history for a goalie of his service time, his career playoff numbers are outstanding (11-8, 1.79 GAA, .947 SV% entering Game 2). Maybe that could have counted for something in Bill Peters’ decision to start him in Game 1? The numbers aren’t recent, though, as his last playoff experience was in 2011-12 when he led the Coyotes to the conference final (his playoff numbers are mainly from that season). It’s more likely that Smith’s much-improved play swayed the decision (9-5-1, 2.08 GAA, .916 SV% since February 14).

By the way, MacKinnon fired seven shots on goal in logging over 26 minutes, the most of any Avalanche forward. Not known for his offensive prowess, Erik Johnson also fired seven shots on goal.

After a Game 1 where they were firing on all cylinders, the Flames looked like a strong bet to head to Denver with a 2-0 series lead. Regardless, this series is also tied at 1 and could be more interesting than we first thought. One reason is that Philipp Grubauer has also been a hot goalie.  

*

By the way, I’ll mention that you can read our Dobber Hockey articles over on Fantrax as well. Go to their Fantasy Columns section.

For more fantasy hockey information, or to reach out to me directly, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-kucherov-suspended-one-game-kadri-suspension-looming-capspredsavs-win-in-ot-apr-14/

[itsworn]

2018 Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car, New Orleans

The second stop of Optima’s 2018 Search for the Ultimate Street Car Series sent competitors to the Big Easy and NOLA Motorsports Park, but Mother Nature wasn’t going to take it easy on anyone. A succession of strong storms was headed toward the track on Saturday morning so the schedule was moved up to get as much dry track time as possible on the Detroit Speed Autocross. Run groups were divided by classes and the order was drawn at random at the first event in Las Vegas. As such, the Recaro GTS class, which ran first in Vegas, ran last in New Orleans.

Every other run group was able to post at least a few passes on a dry track, but the skies opened up for the Recaro GTS class, although that wasn’t an entirely unwelcome turn of events. Cars that compete in this class include 1990 and newer two-seat coupes and all-wheel-drive vehicles that weigh at least 3,200 pounds. While this is a popular class with Corvettes, several all-wheel-drive supercars also run in that group. The wet track kept all of them out of the Top 25 overall times on the weekend, but the all-wheel-drive entries posted the top four times within the class.

Within an hour of the rain starting, lightning strikes forced the end of the track competition for the day, but the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge continued under the shelter of a garage at the track. A few hours later, most of the track and surrounding roads were under several inches of water and the Lucas Oil Road Rally was postponed until the following day. Sunday brought high winds to dry out the track and sunny skies but cooler weather, with temperatures hovering in the low 60s. That was great for helping engines make power, but made it harder for competitors to get heat into their tires and keep it there.

As big a story as the weather may have been in New Orleans, a bigger story may have been who didn’t make it to the event at all. Bryan Johnson’s fifth-gen Camaro has won the Franklin Road Apparel GT class in each of the past three seasons and he was scheduled to run the first of three events at New Orleans in pursuit of his fourth straight regular-season championship. However, life sometimes gets in the way of weekend diversions and Johnson wasn’t able to make it to NOLA. Now Johnson finds himself needing to travel from his home in Ohio to either Pikes Peak International Raceway or Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, in addition to running at Barber Motorsports Park and Road America if he wants to defend his title.

Similar drama unfolded in the Holley EFI GTL class, where Mike Dusold’s lightweight ’67 Camaro experienced a mechanical failure with a freshly rebuilt engine, while running in another track day event, just 24 hours before this event was set to begin. Dusold was expected to be a serious challenger to Rich Willhoff’s Z06 and Ken Thwaits’ Evo for the class championship. Dusold will need to perform exceptionally well in the remaining events to get back into the chase, but he’s not alone. Willhoff’s point total last season was a nearly untouchable 1,484 points over his best three events. Thwaits felt he needed to run a similarly dominant season if he hoped to win the championship, and with 986 points out of a possible 1,000 in his first two events, he’s well on his way to toppling Willhoff’s reign as regular-season champion.

The next event is set for June 2-3, 2018, at NCM Motorsports Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and it should be an all-out brawl. NCM routinely draws some of the very top contenders in the series and often offers a good preview to the Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational that will take place later in the year. Admission is always free for spectators, so check out the series if it comes near you. You can also catch the TV show every weekend on MAVTV, starting Friday nights at 8 p.m. Eastern. CHP

New Orleans Results: GTV Class (pre-1990, 3,200+ pounds) 1. CB Ramey, 1984 Corvette 2. Duston Nixon, 1979 Camaro 3. Ed Michalak, 1969 Camaro

Recaro GTS Class (post-1989, 3,200+ pounds, two-seaters & AWD vehicles) 1. Steve Kepler, 2009 Nissan GT-R 2. Michael Levitas, 2014 Porsche 911 3. Eric Fleming, 2016 Corvette

Holley EFI GTL Class (non-compacts under 3,200 pounds) 1. Ken Thwaits, 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 2. Feras Qartoumy, 2008 Corvette 3. Ryan Mathews, 2002 Corvette

GTE Class (BEV electric vehicles) 1. Karen Thomas, 2018 Tesla X P100D

GTC Class (two-wheel-drive compacts, 107-inch wheelbase or less) 1. Andy Hollis, 2000 Mazda Miata 2. Troy delaHoussaye, 2009 Mazda MX-5 3. Jason Goodick, 2004 Toyota MR2

Franklin Road Apparel GT Class (post-1989, 3,200+ pounds, 2wd sedans, four-seater coupes, trucks, etc.) 1. Chad Langley, 2018 Camaro 2. Jonathan Blevins, 2008 Ford Mustang 3. Keith Lamming, 2011 Camaro

Spectre Performance Spirit of the Event Award: Tina Thompson, 2015 Corvette

2018 Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car Schedule National Corvette Museum June 2-3 Pikes Peak International Raceway July 7-8 Barber Motorsports Park August 4-5 Auto Club Speedway September 15-16 Road America October 6-7 Optima Ultimate Street Car Invitational November 3-4

The PowerStop Brakes Speed Stop Challenge is a unique segment to this series. Regardless of where a car starts and how it navigates the course, it needs to stop in a 40-foot box to record a time. Hit a cone, like Robert Weathers did here, and the run doesn’t count.

Series rookie, CB Ramey’s C4 Corvette wasn’t on anyone’s radar when the season began, but after the first two events, he now leads the QA1 GTV points chase and has to be considered a contender to win the regular-season championship. While many gravitate toward C5s and C6s in the series, Ramey has found great success with what has largely been an overlooked platform. It helps that he knows how to wheel a car and that he sourced most of the running gear from a C6.

After the first two events, Toby Thompson’s ’10 ZR1 leads the points chase in the Recaro GTS class, but he’s also one of just three cars to run in the first two events in that class. There are a stack of Vipers, Porsches, GT-Rs, and even more Corvettes now looking at the target on Toby’s back as the series heads to Bowling Green.

Defending OUSCI champion Ken Thwaits turned in a dominating performance at NOLA in the Holley EFI GTL class, but it was a tight battle right behind him. Feras Qartoumy’s C6 (shown here) tied with Ryan Mathews’ C5, but Qartoumy received the invitation to the 2018 SEMA Show and OUSCI based on their scores in the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge.

By virtue of being the only car in the Franklin Road Apparel GT class to compete in the first two events, Chad Langley’s ’18 Camaro ZL1 is now in the points lead. However, with Bryan Johnson yet to make an appearance in 2018, Langley has a shot at being the first person to win the regular-season points championship in the class since Johnson began competing.

Three years ago, Todd Mayer saw this series and decided to build a car to compete in it. In his first event since finishing the build, Mayer’s ’68 Camaro won the Lingenfelter Design & Engineering Challenge and finished Fifth in the QA1 GTV class. Welcome to the series, Todd!

On a very wet weekend, Eric Fleming’s C7 was the only non-AWD car to finish in the Top 5 in the Recaro GTS class. How serious is the competition in this class? The Nissan GT-R and Porsche 911 that finished ahead of him are both 600+ horsepower cars, as is the Lamborghini that finished behind him.

Duston Nixon won the GTV class at the NOLA event in 2017, but CB Ramey’s Vette edged him out by just two points this year. Nixon is set to run two more times, so he’ll have a good chance of qualifying for a SEMA/OUSCI invitation and may contend for the points championship.

Ryan Mathews is no stranger to the series, having previously campaigned the White Monster Camaro from the Detroit Speed stables. This C5 is Mathews’ personal vehicle and came very close to winning a SEMA/OUSCI invitation in its very first outing. Mathews tied Feras Qartoumy’s C6 in the Holley EFI GTL class, but lost the tiebreaker based on his Lingenfelter Design & Engineering score.

With 25 entries, the Franklin Road Apparel GT class was the largest at NOLA Motorsports Park. Keith Lamming’s ’11 Camaro finished Third, but he’ll have another shot at Vegas when he heads out to Pikes Peak International Raceway later this season.

The post 2018 Optima Search for the Ultimate Street Car, New Orleans appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/2018-optima-search-ultimate-street-car-new-orleans/ via IFTTT

[clarencenicholsonata]

8 Winning Examples of Co-Branding Partnerships To Inspire You Today

Business is inherently about competition.

However, that doesn’t mean you must avoid giving a drop of help to other companies at all costs.

In fact, companies can (and often do) pair up to combine their strengths to launch joint marketing initiatives to great success.

It's called co-branding.

Co-branding offers a way to raise general brand awareness, gain access to new audiences, improve customer satisfaction (through free giveaways) — all at a high ROI since you’re pooling resources with another brand.

To give you some inspiration for your own partnerships, here's a list of co-branding campaign ideas that benefit everyone involved.

1. Run a Joint Social Media Campaign

With so many people on social media, it only makes sense to run a social media campaign of some sort.

This tactic can work well for nearly any co-branding strategy, from hosting a contest to launching a brand new joint product (both discussed later).

Check out this example of Marvel teaming up with tequila brand Espolon.

(Image Source)

Deadpool was quite a popular movie when it came out (and it still is), so Espolon was able to ride on its coattails and generate new interest in its brand.

Notice the copy, too. It’s humorous and casual, fitting Deadpool’s persona.

If you can, consider tagging each other. By doing this, you send each other social media traffic that can generate visits to your site. You’ll see a boost in SEO and possibly sales.

Learn how other business in your industry are getting clients. Click here to get a tailored analysis with examples.

2. Exchanging Backlinks

Gaining backlinks to your content is a tactic crucial to successfully executing any content marketing strategy.

Backlinks enhance your SEO and search rankings for two reasons:

Gaining backlinks from authoritative sources boosts your domain authority

Backlinks send traffic from backlinking sites to yours, and more traffic tells Google your site deserves a higher ranking

As a result, a wealth of quality backlinks can drastically improve brand awareness and sales.

Backlink exchanging works well as a complementary campaign to practically any idea on this list. You can announce your partnership and link to the other brand’s site, and write blog posts about it.

However, another tactic to use would be guest posting. You write a guest article on your partner’s blog in exchange for a backlink to your site and vice-versa.

To do this right, you’ll need to ask for information about your partner’s target audience and do further research yourself.

Then, brainstorm some topics your partner’s audience will find helpful, get them approved by the partner, and write.

Of course, make sure your piece is flawless before it goes live on someone else’s site. You must present yourself in as professional a light as possible to new audiences. Ensure that you adhere to your partner’s style guide. Triple-check for grammar and spelling using a tool like Grammarly, as well as doing your own read-through before submitting the guest post.

3. Host a Webinar

People are staying at home more nowadays, meaning they’re online more often throughout the day.

It’s a perfect opportunity to host a co-branded webinar.

For webinars, it’s a good idea to partner up with someone that’s not a direct competitor but complementary to your business.

For example, if you’re an SEO agency serving a specific industry, you might team up with a web design agency to offer a different service to the same industry. You can each bring your own expertise and knowledge to the table to educate your joint audience.

Both of you likely have a similar audience. This audience may need both services, so you’ll gain customers from your partner and vice-versa.

4. List Swapping

If you’re looking for a low-effort co-branding opportunity, why not just borrow another company’s email list?

Email is a powerful marketing method because it’s more personal. People feel that their email is a private area, so there’s already some built-in trust here.

All you have to do is find suitable companies that you could do a list swap with.

In general, the best companies to swap lists with are those that offer similar products or services.

For example, imagine you run a premium career advice/job board website. A personal finance blog could be a good partner.

People into personal finance would love to know ways to get a raise or higher-paying job for obvious reasons. You might provide them a curated reading list of articles regarding salary negotiation, benefits packages, and similar topics.

From there, you’ll build trust with these new prospects. They might eventually seek jobs through your job board by signing up for a paid subscription.

5. Put On a Hype-Filled Live Event

One way to generate plenty of hype is to work together with another company to put on a live event.

When times return to normal, your live event could have people in attendance. You can do all sorts of things with such an event.

However, there’s no need to sell or give away tickets to an event. You could follow in Red Bull and GoPro’s footsteps.

Both brands are known for exciting events, as they both cater to an adventurous audience. Being an energy drink, Red Bull portrays itself as a lifestyle brand for people who live daring and action-packed lives.

GoPro’s more obvious — athletes and adventurers can strap a GoPro to their head or helmet and capture thrilling footage of stunts and similar events.

Red Bull and GoPro have teamed up for all sorts of races and stunts, but Stratos takes the cake.

Daredevil Felix Baumgartner suited up in Red Bull branded gear, was carried into the stratosphere, strapped a GoPro to himself, and jumped 24 miles back to earth, shattering several records (and the speed of sound) in the process.

(Image Source)

Stratos generated significant hype and awareness around both brands. In fact, about eight million people watched Baumgartner’s historic jump live on YouTube.

6. Bundle Your Products Together

Here’s a simple idea: you could simply bundle your products together with another company if the products go well together. This is one of the most direct ways to partner with another brand and gain access to new customers.

Whoever you partner with doesn’t have to be inside your industry, either.

Take a look at the BMW-Louis Vuitton partnership.

BMW is known for its luxurious vehicles. Well, years ago, BMW’s “i” Division was working on a new hybrid luxury sports car, the i8.

Some higher-end vehicles often come with luggage to fit their wealthier customers, so Louis Vuitton saw an opportunity here. They partnered with BMW to create an exclusive set of BMW i8 bags and suitcases that fit perfectly into the parcel shelf behind the backseats.

(Image Source)

The luggage itself is around $20,000, but for someone purchasing a $135,000+ luxury sports car, that’s a fair price to pay for such high-quality luggage.

In other words, both companies had totally separate products yet appealed to the same market. Therefore, they were both able to sell more and raise brand awareness.

7. Include Samples or Coupons In Each Other’s Orders

In a similar vein to the previous idea — if you don’t want to design a new product but need to get your current ones into new customer hands, consider shipping some samples or coupons for your product with your partner’s customer orders.

Again, though, you must make sure your partner’s audience is similar to yours. Otherwise, they’re not likely to buy from you later.

For example, imagine you’re doing marketing for your gym or fitness brand. Your audience is going to be health-conscious individuals.

Thus, you could partner with a local meal prep company selling nutritious, pre-made meals and slip some coupons for your products into each of your partner’s orders.

As a result, you would lose a small bit of money upfront on discounted products, but you would gain long-term customers that offset this loss.

8. Work on a Contest Together

People love the chance at winning free stuff and are often willing to give you their information in exchange.

A great co-branding idea is to host a contest where you and/or your partner give away some of your products.

By holding a contest, both of you can attract new customers, gain email addresses for email marketing, and create social media buzz. Plus, by getting a couple of your products into some lucky customers’ hands, you can get some additional feedback and testimonials.

One example of a contest involves Cineplex, a large North American movie theater company, and The Weather Network. They hosted an online contest involving an image of a giant popcorn bag and a lightning rod.

The contest asked participants to guess whether the lightning would hit the corn and subsequently make it pop. If you guessed right, you won free popcorn.

(Image Source)

The Weather Network gained plenty of viewers, while Cineplex raised more awareness about its brand.

Conclusion

Co-branding opens up plenty of creative marketing opportunities that can get your brand in front of new customers and build mutually beneficial long-term relationships with other brands. Since you’re sharing resources with another brand, you cut costs, too.

The key is finding a brand selling products or services that complement yours, then presenting a case for how the co-branding campaign helps you both.

So don’t wait around — build a bond with another brand and try some of these co-branding campaign ideas.

Written by our guest writer Brad Smith, Wordable.io

Brad Smith is the CEO at Wordable.io and the Founder of Codeless.com (a content production agency). His content has been highlighted by The New York Times, Business Insider, The Next Web, and thousands more.

.flex-container { align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: column; justify-content: center; } @media(min-width: 768px) { .flex-container { flex-direction: row; } } from RSSMix.com Mix ID 8230801 https://ift.tt/3m4e1wi via IFTTT

[itsworn]

Use This Secret To Fill Trim Holes With Lightning Speed!

If it were up to Henry Ford, every car on the planet would look the same and be painted black. With puritanical fervor, Ford espoused affordable transportation without frills or ornamentation, to the point where it almost cost him his legacy. Fortunately, other manufacturers in the nascent automotive industry begged to differ with ol’ Henry and seized upon the opportunity. Cars should not only move their owners economically, but they ought to make them feel good while doing it. Much to Ford’s surprise, customers liked choices and didn’t mind paying for them. More power, more comfort, more style—everything was up for grabs.

Today, so many options are available on cars that no two are exactly alike. That is especially so due to variations in cosmetic trim, and our 1968 Plymouth Valiant is a prime example. You already know that in spite of sometimes very different outward appearances, cars can be indistinguishable under the skin. Peel off the fenders, doors, and quarters from our 1968 Valiant and you’d be hard pressed to tell it from, say, a 1975 Dodge Dart Sport. What you may not have known is that not every trim level was supposed to be attractive.

All things being equal, it costs nearly the same amount of money to design and build an ugly car as a beautiful car, but manufacturers and dealers wanted to sell higher-margin cars, so those often ended up being the more beautiful ones. In 1968, the Plymouth A-Body line-up contained the Valiant 100, Valiant 200, Valiant Signet, and Barracuda coupe, fastback, and convertible. Under the skin, they all had the same 108-inch wheelbase and identical wheel track, but man do they look different on the outside! Undoubtedly, Plymouth chief stylist Dick McAdam and his team did a fine job on the Barracuda, but they were no dummies. A drop-dead gorgeous Valiant two-door post sedan would’ve been just the ticket to early retirement, so the more modest goal was to design something with a clean, dignified, sober appearance.

Our Valiant 200 was just one rung up from the bottom of the ladder with its hard-anodized aluminum body-side molding. Designed for housewives, teachers, and accountants on a budget, the upscale “200” trim was the one signal to the outside world that the owner didn’t live in absolute poverty—although you could argue that driving any new Plymouth was already proof of that. Knowing even school marms have pride, Plymouth gladly pocketed the extra $13 (or whatever it was), indifferent to whether or not the trim was aesthetically pleasing.

PLACE PHOTO 2 & CAPTION HERE One thing you can say about Geoff Gates and the crew at Alloy Motors is that they most certainly are not indifferent to the aesthetics of our Plymouth Valiant 200. Previously, Gates and industrial designer Alberto Hernandez Mendoza noted that the Valiant 200 side trim was uncomfortably tight to the door handles and gas cap, so they moved it down in their rendering, seen here. From the rendering, Gates will be performing the Valiant’s visual transformation from school teacher appliance to boulevard bruiser in his Oakland, CA-based shop—Alloy Motors. Before body panels can be straightened and paint pigment applied, the original trim holes need to be filled, the subject of our story here.

The job of filling small holes in sheetmetal is deceptively simple. Geoff says: “If you want to delete or remove trim, emblems, or the like, you need to properly metalwork the holes. Just filling them with body filler, it will crack and fall out in short order. The only way to do it right is to weld them up.” Lots can go wrong here, including blowing holes into an otherwise good skin, contaminating welds with oxidation and residue, and warping the shape of the sheetmetal beyond recognition. As luck would have it, Gates is an expert in this kind of operation, and he’s here to divulge his secrets.

“We’ll show you how to prep the holes for welding, and use two methods for welding any small hole shut,” says Geoff. “You can’t do big holes, say much larger than a quarter inch this way, but for the small ones it works great. You can use a MIG welder, which is quick and easy, but the welds are a little harder to grind smooth, Or you can use a TIG welder, which gives a bit better penetration, and an easier weld to grind out as it’s a bit softer than a MIG. Either way works, but we like the precision and softness of a TIG weld any day.” If you follow his tips here and keep checking back for the rest of our makeover stories, you’ll be guaranteed to get good results with your own project.

Our end result will be a subtle change in the Plymouth’s profile view with a one-of-a-kind look. Along with repositioning the side-marker lights (see that story here) the new design is closer to what Plymouth might have built had there not been more lavishly designed models—including the Barracuda—above it. By making this relatively minor tweak to the molding, we’re in essence creating a new, higher trim level that looks so good, people will wonder whether they’ve seen it before!

On top is the rendering of our 1968 Plymouth Valiant with the side trim moved down where it’s at the same height as the door handle and gas cap. Also note how the marker lights have been moved and placed on the same level at the belt line. The lower “before” photo is for reference.

Along with your MIG or TIG welder, you’ll need your safety gear, a 2-inch grinder, some grinding discs, and a drill with a step-style bit.

You’ll never get the old clips off without breaking some of them. Pull off what you can and grind off the rest, then order some new ones from Classic Industries.

If you can get to the back side of the panel, use your grinder to prep the back of each hole to bare metal. The paint and undercoat will catch fire from the back while you weld the front, so get this operation out of the way.

Now prep the front as well. You’re looking for about an inch margin of clean metal around the hole. Here Geoff Gates is using an 80-grit disc. To speed it up, prep all the holes you plan to fill at once, then weld them up.

You can see here how the bit drops in the hole and you can just use the chamfer on the edge of the bit to drill off the paint edge that’s there without too much pressure.

You can support your welds from behind with a copper plate like this, but Alloy Motors finds it slow and cumbersome since you have to move the plate around a lot. Geoff has developed ways to get around that need.

If you have a MIG welder, here is how to weld the holes with that machine. You point the electrode near the side of the hole and use short bursts to build weld around the hole to fill it in. Don’t worry so much about great penetration—it will stick.

Work the MIG torch a few times around, just hitting the trigger and backing off quickly until you have a few tacks balled up around the edge of the hole.

Geoff says what you end up with is not the prettiest of welds, just a bunch of stacked tacks, but it works, and when ground flush it will be undetectable.

Gates’ preferred method is to use a TIG welder with a big fat rod like this 1/8 inch filler. Set little balls of melted rod around the hole, then burn them in a circle to fill. Normally on this sheetmetal you’d use a much smaller rod, but you’ll see why Alloy uses this unorthodox technique next.

Here’s a shot of the first ball of weld cooling. It just takes a second to use the torch to make a ball on the end of the filler rod and set it down on the edge of the hole. Drop three balls of filler rod around the hole and it’s almost filled.

Here’s what the three little balls of filler rod should look like. It’s like a little tripod of metal around the hole.

Now all you have to do it aim the torch to the center of the tripod, and without any filler push all three balls together and make a little circle from the center around to the edge to get the balls to flatten and penetrate the base metal.

You’ll end up with a nice fill on the hole, not too much heat spread around, and a soft small weld to grind down. It takes a little practice, but once you get this down you can fill ten trim holes on a fender in minutes.

Grind the filled holes down with an 80-grit disc until they are level with the surrounding sheetmetal.

Grind the back of each weld smooth as well, even though no one sees it. You’ll know it’s there so always do good work!

The post Use This Secret To Fill Trim Holes With Lightning Speed! appeared first on Hot Rod Network.

from Hot Rod Network http://www.hotrod.com/articles/use-secret-fill-trim-holes-lightning-speed/ via IFTTT