#Butted Chain Mail

[kultofathena]

With all of this talk about chainmail, you’re probably wondering: what type is right for me? Swipe to see a curated selection of chainmail from Lord of Battles, available on Kult of Athena.

Dome Riveted: A method of riveting an open mail ring that uses a steel pin or thick wire which is then pressed and riveted to “mushroom” into a dome shape that holds the ring in place. This style of mail is common from Classical Antiquity until the later years of the High Medieval Period (Approx: 3rd Cent BC to 1300 AD)

Wedge Riveted: A method of riveting and open mail ring that uses a triangular wedge of metal which is then pressed to flatten and peen itself over the ring to hold the ring closed. Wedge-riveted mail has the advantage of the rivets having a flatter profile which is less likely to entrangle and catch on other rings and is less abrasive to any clothing or accessories worn over the mail. This style of mail becomes dominant in the later part of the High Middle Ages and the Late Medieval Period. ( Approx. 1300 to 1550 AD)

Butted: Butted Rings are Round or Flat rings which are not riveted closed, but instead have the open ends butted up and pressed against one another to close the ring. Not historically accurate.

#Kult of Athena #KultOfAthena #chainmail #chain mail #Lord Of Battles #WorldOfKoa #LARP #battlefield #Live Action Role Play #Butted Chain Mail #Wedge Riveted Chain Mail #Dome Riveted Chain Mail #Loose Chain Mail #Zinc Coated #Mild Steel #Aluminum #High Tensile Wire #Stainless Steel #Roman Chainmail

[studiob487]

THE SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940)

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Cast: Margaret Sullivan, James Stewart. Frank Morgan, Felix Bressart, William Tracy, Joseph Schildkraut

Genre: romantic comedy

Two employees at a general store are constantly butting heads while being enamored of their respective pen pals.

This movie started me on the path to watching older movies. Back when we had cable, I was literally just flipping through the channels looking for something to watch and there was something super charming about this black and white movie that made me stop. I'm pretty sure it was James Stewart's demeanor in this movie. I would binge a bunch of his other movies after - including The Mortal Storm which stars him and Margaret Sullivan again as its romantic leads.

The fact that this movie is considered a top tier romcom is validating. And of course, because Hollywood is gonna Hollywood... it would be later adapted into "You Got Mail" starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. This time with AOL inboxes instead of a PO box. I believe it's considered a 90s romcom classic but I'm partial to The Shop Around the Corner because of the shop atmosphere. And that both of the main characters are from humble beginnings (and not part of a mega bookstore chain, yanno?).

I think it's a well-done "enemies to lovers" trope because they never get too nasty with each other just for the sake of some drama or to delay the romance. And when they get real snarky, it makes it hit harder. When Klara tells him he has a hand-bag instead of a heart (because he's the shop assistant and takes his job seriously) that bit of dialogue was brutal.

Miscommunication and misunderstandings are typical romcom fare, but I feel like Shop doesn't rely on it as much as '90s romcoms. I feel like they've essentially just dismissed each other based on first meeting, in a work environment (which is an important note), so it took some time to realize the qualities in each other that actually matter. And what misunderstandings occur was pretty much intentional on Kralik's part and was incredibly amusing.

The ankle scene! Haha. Burned into my memories and makes me wish for a pair of sock garters of my own.

Because of its genre, the viewer knows it's going to deliver a happy ending where the leads get together but watching them warm up to each other is satisfying. It doesn't feel predictable because of its attention to details.

Beyond the main characters, the supporting cast is great. The shop is lively, it's not overly idealized and syrupy. I do like the friendship between Pirovitch (played by Felix Bressart) though. Hugo Matuschek, the shop owner (played by Frank Morgan), goes hot and cold on his employees due to personal things at home. As much as I will say on that without spoiling things. Let's not forget the brown-nosing co-worker Ferencz Vadas (played by Joseph Schildkraut). His lines are perfectly two-faced or backhanded. Like you're so sure he insulted you, but you can't call him out on it! With that you got your set up for a workplace comedy-drama.

Interesting bit: Margaret Sullivan and James Stewart were friends off screen which probably helped the on-screen chemistry. It's also believed that Stewart was head over heels for Sullivan. She was married to Henry Fonda and the three were all pals (though they divorced years prior to this movie). She and Fonda were lefties while Stewart was a republican. So that dynamic is definitely interesting. I don't remember the source, but supposedly Fonda and Stewart had such a heated argument once that they had to swear off talking politics! Sullivan herself was also known for getting pretty heated. When she heard that a writer was gonna get fired because of his left-wing views by an anti-communist director, she blew up on said director. Even one of the founders of MGM was scared of her. Her life was rough going as she got older, pretty tragic. But I won't get into that here.

"You treated me like a dog." "Yes, but instead of licking my hand, you barked."

"There might be a lot we don't know about each other. You know, people seldom go to the trouble of scratching the surface of things to find the inner truth.”

#the shop around the corner (1940) #ernst lubitsch #james stewart #margaret sullivan #romantic comedy

[the-island-and-the-dream]

just found out that in Resi 4 REmake theres an El Gigante variant with mail. like, chain mail. what poor schmuck had to make that? how long did it take? did they get paid for it (probably not)? it looks like its standard 4-in-1 and not anything fancy but just imagine if its riveted instead of just butted??? I'm losing my mind

#resident evil 4 remake #el gigante #why would they do this #they cared enough to model leon having good trigger discipline #but not enough for this?????? #what is happening

[sfhandicrafts-10]

Dear Friends, Hello to all

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or Comment on Post

[systlin]

Hey, just wanted to ask, when you made chain mail did you seal/buttress the rings or close them with pliers? If you did seal/buttress do you have any recommendations?

The mail I made was butted, so nope.

[tulsa-trash]

Bob Sheldon Headcanons

WARNING(S): Mentions of alcohol abuse, physical abuse, death; got angsty towards the end there god damn—

Has an older brother named Gordon who moved away to go to law school, they’re a little over 4 years apart. They were never really close, due to their father creating unnecessary competition between them since they were younger. He doesn’t like talking about him much.

Mr. Sheldon would always compare Bob to Gordon, saying that Bob “ought to be more like his big brother instead of screwing around all the time.” Overtime Bob grew to resent his old man a whole lot.

Mrs. Sheldon is a chain smoker, she tried her best to hide it from the family but eventually Bob found out. Most of the time after she gets into a fight with her husband, she locks herself in one of their bathrooms, opens the window, and silently lights a cigarette as she stews by herself. One night she forgot to lock the door and Bob walked in on her. He promised he wouldn’t tell dad.

He tended to favor his momma over his daddy, she spoiled him more and he felt she was always easier to talk to than dad.

His parents have a decent age gap, his mother being eleven years younger than his father. They’d known each other since they were kids, his dad was best friends with one of his mom’s brothers growing up.

Being spoiled rotten with tons of cash throughout life has its pros and cons. Despite always coming off as cocky and entitled, deep down bob hated being a soc. At the age of 18 he already had all the money, nice clothes, popularity, and dr*gs he could ever want, so why even try?

He had no goals for himself, didn’t want to go to college, didn’t want to work, he could really care less about all that. He had a tuff car and he was dating one of the hottest gals in school, that was all that was important to him.

He met his best friend, Randy, in kindergarten. They went to catholic school together, they’re parents even get along well. Both of their childhoods were spent visiting each other’s houses and going to family cookouts often.

His dad forced him to join a baseball league in seventh grade, even though Bob expressed he didn’t like it his dad made him stick with it for a few years. He was eventually kicked off the varsity team his sophomore year in high school for excessive drinking, along with constantly butting heads with his teammates and the coach.

The only good thing he got out of baseball was watching Cherry Valance preform with the cheerleaders at his games, that’s how their relationship started.

He’s secretly blind as a bat, but he refuses to wear glasses. Bob found out he desperately needed glasses in the third grade. once all the kids in his class seen him with those thick-brimmed, magnifying glasses it was all over. he was teased ruthlessly to the point where he just stopped wearing them and never put them on again.

“What happened to those god awful goggles, Sheldon?”

“Psh. They were fake I wore em as a joke.” 😅

^ That forced him to sit in the front of class a lot so he didn’t have to struggle as much to see the board. Even though the poor b*stard was blind the entire time, it made him used to getting called on by the teachers and chatting with his classmates. He was one of the most popular boys in town in no time.

Mr. Sheldon slowly became an alcoholic as his boys grew up. He went from one glass of scotch at night to taking a shot immediately when he wakes up in the morning and being plastered by the afternoon. Usually he’s a sluggish drunk, but god forbid he gets to drinking when he’s mad.

His old man was terrifying when he was both intoxicated and livid. He never put his hands on his wife but there have been multiple drunken episodes where he either destroyed sh*t in the house... or he’d beat Bob.

If you were to ask Bob if he would rather get hit with a belt or his dad’s hands, he would pick the belt. Even the metal part hitting him was no where near as painful as his father’s closed-fist strikes with his gold rings. If Bob had a good buzz on it numbed the pain a bit, so he tried his best to be hammered before he got home most nights.

His mother never stepped in or said anything about it, she’d clean up her husband’s mess and go to bed. The next morning the family would act as if it didn’t happen. They had to maintain their pristine reputation of course, wouldn’t want the neighborhood to know both Mr. Sheldon and his youngest son had drinking problems. Bob eventually couldn’t even stand his mom anymore. He hated them.

Mrs. Sheldon hated herself too, and her husband. She knew her baby boy was f*cked up because of them, the guilt ate away at her every day. Deep down in her heart she knew her son was drinking and causing trouble because of how he was brought up— how he was being treated at home... and she did nothing about it.

The mixture of bullies at school and his own personal bully at home molded him into being the arrogant and angry a*shole we’ve come to know. No one would be able to hurt him if he just beat them to it and hurt them first... right?

One night things got really bad, Bob’s report card came in the mail while he was out on a date with Cherry. His daddy was displeased, to say the least, 3 bold F’s sat on the paper.

“That no good son of a b*tch is lucky he ain’t home.” Mr. Sheldon spat as he slammed the report card on the dining room table, his wife visibly flinched.

When Bob got home that night he was already fired up, some greasers were trying to make a move on Cherry and Randy’s girl, Marcia, at the Nightly Double. The last thing he expected when he got home was to see his mother sweeping up broken glass while nursing a busted lip and a black eye.

They held eye contact for a long moment, neither of them said a word. His mother looked at him with so much pain, so much regret in her eyes, tears silently rolled down her cheeks. Bob turned around and left wordlessly.

He picked up a few of his friends, stopped by the liquor store, then began to look for some trouble. He immediately drove to the east side of town to look for some greasers to mess with, and after only fifteen minutes of cruising his eyes landed two younger boys from the drive-in earlier that night.

“Jackpot.” He slurred to himself as he turned his car onto the grass and pulled up to the park.

Whoever wasn’t helping Bob restrain the greaser he was drowning was beating the second boy in the grass. Every now and then Bob would pull the kid out of the water only to shove him back in almost immediately. He held him under the water, the cold liquid splashed everywhere managing to soak everyone near the fountain but he didn’t care... he couldn’t feel a thing.

The other greaser was shouting, his pals continued to egg him on as he continued swing the greaser’s head back and forth wildly under the water. He didn’t even know what anyone was saying, he wasn’t paying attention, all his focus was directly on hurting the individual in his grasp.

Red. Everything was fine until Bob noticed the water was changing colors. His ears were ringing, all he could hear was the faint sound of footsteps rapidly getting lower and lower, farther away. There was no more yelling, no more voices.

“Did I k.ill him?” He thought to himself, immediate regret and fear flooding over him.

He let go of the kids shirt and fell over with a soft thud, a sharp pain erupted from his torso. His hand lightly touched the left side of his ribs and there it was... warm, red liquid coated his fingertips after he pulled his hand away. It was then he noticed the other greaser, the tan boy frantically pulled his friend out of the water and laid him down on the cold concrete.

“P-Pony? Ponyboy?” He shook violently, his right fist held a switchblade tightly. “Oh god... what did I do... what did I do.”

Bob watched him slowly sink to the ground, his back resting against the side of the fountain as he began to sob. His eyes flickered to the unconscious kid, Ponyboy. He didn’t understand how his body went from hot to cold as fast as it did, the reality of the situation was crashing down on him like a ton of bricks, he knew he was going to die.

He looked up at the sky and took in a strangled breath before wincing in pain. To his left he noticed his flask— his dads old flask, it was his eighteenth birthday gift. The thought of his father’s proud face as he handed it to him that day made Bob sick. He reached for it, the cold metal on his palm soothed him a bit. He weakly unscrewed the cap and went to take a sip, only to realize it was empty. Johnny watched him the entire time with a horrified gaze, but Bob didn’t seem to notice.

“Damn... that’s a shame.” The Soc grumbled to himself.

He tossed it, making it land a few feet away in the grass. His attention returned to the starry sky, a light feeling crept its way in his chest. He couldn’t tell if that was just him dying or if it was something else, but after eighteen years of being in this world his finally took the time to stop and look at how beautiful the sky was for the first and last time. He was scared, he didn’t want to go so soon, yet at the same time... he was relieved.

“Wow...” Bob sighed, “Ain’t this something else.”

His vision began to blur, tears— or was that also death? He felt the salty streams creep past his eyelids and run down the corners of his eyes. He was ready.

With one final breath, he passed away. His eyes never closed, he died looking at the stars.

#the outsiders #the outsiders imagine #the outsiders headcanons #the outsiders hcs #the outsiders fandom #bob sheldon #cherry valance #robert sheldon #bob sheldon imagine #bob sheldon headcanons #bob sheldon hcs

[blazefire-engine]

Rivamika Office!AU

Alright fam, I made this on January 16, 2016. I made a few tweaks since I am now in the workforce and at the time I made this fic, I wasn’t LOL 

It’s never seen the light of day, but here it is. Enjoy my fellow Ackermates.

- - -

Slurp… Ah...

Mikasa gave a delicious sigh after slurping from a steamy cup of noodles.  Her consumption resulted in the artificial, sodium-packed broth to splash on the screen of her laptop.  However, at the current time stating to be half-past noon, her dirtied screen is the least of her concerns and a grumbling stomach was her number one priority.  This was the consequence of skipping breakfast to catch the bustling 7:00 a.m. train. 

As for missing the "most important meal of the day,” her wake-up time had been pushed fifteen minutes from the usual. Another consequence for submitting a coding assignment for her graduate course in the God-awful hour of 2:00 a.m.

Thus, these chain of events culminated into a terrible Monday morning.  It seemed that the whole world was against her when the day was accompanied with dreary skies, pouring rain, and, as if to pour salt on her metaphorical wound, without an umbrella.  

She strode in the building with her short hair damp and whiplashed as tendrils stuck to her face.  The Burberry trench coat did little to shield her from the rain but performed well as a barricade from the chilly wind.  

The beige coat, that now laid on a stool next to the heater and the one she had been staring at for the past few minutes, was the trigger that made her recall the horrendous morning.

Slurping another portion of noodles, the broth now splashed on the surface of her red-rimmed glasses.

“Tch, how unsanitary."

Mikasa looked up through her splattered glasses to see an intruder in her office space.  The source of the abhorred voice was a man in a crisp navy suit with a sleek laptop clutched to his hip.  His face clearly disturbed and a grimace plastered on his lips as he eyed the styrofoam cup in distaste.  

His comment was enough to stir annoyance.

Snatching off her glasses, she plucked a facial tissue from the desk drawer.  “Don’t you have the decency to knock?” She glared at the man and resumed the task of cleaning her lens.  

The man raised an eyebrow.  He paused, giving a subtle hum as if he needed to think of what to respond. “Particularly, I don’t have to.  I can roam about any room I wish.”  He finished his response with a smirk and walked to sit on the chair prior to her desk.  

Mikasa felt her body temperature rise upon each step he took and his arrogant tone grated on her nerves.  How dare he… If she held on any tighter, the wooden chopsticks in her hand would inevitably snap into two.  

“You must be quite the asshole then.”

“Excuse me?”  He replied, feigning innocence.  

“Butting into someone’s personal space without permission is quite the asshole move.”  She snapped back, explaining to him the reason for her anger.  

“Personal?  You’re here to work.  There’s nothing personal here."

Although his words did hold true, there is always that time of day that separates work from personal life.  

“It is personal if you intrude during my lunch break.”  Glancing at her cup, she finished the last of her noodles and patted her lips with a tissue while he simply sat and waited for her to finish.  

Well, he must have gone here for a reason.  Eyeing the laptop in his hand, she released a reluctant sigh. “So, what can I do for you?” Despite their rough start, Mikasa is a woman who never refused someone that needed help.  

The man’s expression perked up, seemingly pleased with her cooperation.  “I’ve heard you’re one of the best in the IT department and I was wondering if you can upgrade my software program.”  He waved the expensive-looking laptop and placed it on the stack of papers on her desk.  

“Are you unaware of how things work around here?” Mikasa frowned. “If you have any IT issues, you’d need to submit a service desk ticket.” She grabbed one of her stack of business cards, one that contained an e-mail and call number for the service desk, and slid it to him. “That way we can track your issue and file an internal report.”

He shook his head, glancing at his wrist. “I don’t have time to waste. I’m here now, aren’t I?”

Mikasa raised an eyebrow in disbelief.  “And you think I’ll do this for you right now?” She asked almost incredulously.  

He gave an uncharacteristic snort. “I would be a fool to believe you could, but think of this as helping a colleague."

She stared at the laptop, at a loss of what to do. The sheer audacity of this man to barge in and rudely ask for her to fix something without even a shred of consideration for her time. 

“How much do you have in mind?” The man asked in nonchalance.

Mikasa narrowed her eyes at his offer.  Just what kind of person did he think she was?  “I won’t ask for money.” She said firmly.  

She could have sworn she saw a smidgen of a smirk on his face. "So is that a yes?"

Before she can conjure up a proper response, she nodded once.  “You owe me a favor instead."

“A favor?” He repeated, now his turn to be surprised.  From the sound of it, the man smiled, very interested in her offer.  “Very well, what favor?"

The ears hidden underneath her hair were surely pink. Mikasa cleared her throat, rather embarrassed and she found the lint on his pants suddenly interesting.  “I don’t know… Rain check?"

“Well then, I accept, Ms. Ackerman.”  The man placed his laptop on her desk and checked his wrist for the time once more.  “Lunch break is over and I have a meeting. It was quite fascinating meeting with you, Ms. Ackerman.  I hope we can engage in another conversation soon.”  The man turned around, threw her a rather mysterious smirk over his shoulder, and left her office.  

She stared at her doorway, wondering who the hell was that guy.  She’d never seen him in the IT department before, so perhaps he was from another department.  

But as he left, she realized she never got his name or when she would give it back.   

- - -

This’ll probably have a part 2, although I don’t know when or how that’ll go LOL. But thank you so much for those who liked my previous post; it gave me the courage to once again post rm fics. 

Also, Mikasa with red-rimmed eyeglasses was from an official art years ago if I remember correctly. 

#rivamika #levimika #OOOOH it feels good to write and post again #mikasa ackerman #levi ackerman #snk #snk fanfiction #i wrote a thing

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Sinners & Saints-Chapter 17

                 A special thanks to @statell​ for all your help

Previous chapters at AO3

Chapter 17

Sebastian Meyer spun his desk chair around in time to see his secretary drop a newspaper onto his desk. She had the paper folded back to the society section where Danny’s face was beaming as she shook hands with Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of England. He felt like someone punched him in the stomach and lowered the receiver to its cradle without warning to the caller. “What in God’s name is she doing?” He looked up in time to appreciate the swinging ass of his secretary before the door closed behind her. Sebastian read every word associated with the story and decided his mother was having a last fling before she surrendered the reigns to him this year. Let her have some fun, he thought, a nostalgic party to remember her glory days when she was the seat of power and reigning queen of the socialites. He could give a shit because nothing could stop him now. The purchase of a sizeable chunk of stock was in the bag after his manufactured bromance with a major investor. Sebastian did his best to undermine his mother’s stronghold and convince the man she was suffering from dementia. He was sure this sale would put him close to majority shareholder, so his take over was within reach. Still, the picture gave him an unsettled feeling because she had not surfaced in almost a year. Why now? The crew had worked all night to put the boat right after the party, with orders from Darius not to report for duty until noon the following day. Jamie took advantage of the quiet morning and trained Danny and himself in the gym before swimming laps to cool off. He hated the weather in London. Hot, sticky, and draining.

Adso’s loud purring cut through the fog of Claire’s dream and she felt him head-butting her face. He stretched out beside her and kept his paws on her face until she opened her eyes. Claire rolled to her side and with a finger under his chin pulled his head up to look at her. “Ok my darling, I’m up. Is it food you want?” The door to their deck slid open for some fresh air and was closed immediately to keep humid air from filling the room. Tonight they will weigh anchor, set a course for Paris, and her intimate time with Jamie would be on hold again. She stretched and smiled at their glutenous sexual pursuits over the past week and figured she would survive the three days apart. She couldn’t wait to get to Paris and see Javier and Joseph again. They were invited to the party and would stay on board to Athens and then fly home. It felt like an eternity since they were together. Darius called a meeting of the crew and ran down the teams, shifts, and duties on their three-day trip to Paris. Maia was the last one onto the bridge and noticed Cici did not move away from Darius when she came in. She stood across from them and quietly listened to the meeting, however she remembered not a word. When the crew muttered “aye, captain,” Maia was deep in her memory, adding up the lingering looks and odd behaviors observed in Cici. “Maia? You’re a million miles away.” Maia looked around at the empty bridge and blushed. “I’m closer than you think. I gotta go.” Black Rolls Royce automobiles pulled up to the offices of the Harbor Master all day long so someone in the employ of a party guest could deliver a handwritten message thanking Danny for a lovely evening. When Darius requested permission to make way, he was told a boat was coming to deliver mail. Eighty-five guests sent a thank you note, and Danny read every one of them. The anchors were raised just as a thunderstorm ripped open to soak Ethan and Steven, who gripped the slippery hull ladder with one hand while they guided the chain with the other. Darius watched the CCTV monitors closely until they were back on deck. The other crew members were pulling furniture and lounge chairs under the deck ceiling and snapping waterproof covers over everything. When all of them were back inside, Darius and Jamie turned the yacht away from London toward open water. Danny looked out the expansive windows at the squall coming in on the port side and told Claire and Maia to close all the windows. Claire ran to her rooms and called for Adso, usually on her lap at this time of the day, getting more frantic by the second. She ran around her room calling for him and spun around to see him sitting on her bed yawning. She picked him up and carried him out to the table where they were working. Darius looked at the color of Jamie’s face and decided he finally found his friend's weakness. “You look a bit green around the edges, friend. The trash can is empty if you need …” Jamie ran for the head and over the next two hours, purged his system, in one way or another. Darius was waiting to give him a patch for seasickness, but Jamie couldn’t spend more than a couple of minutes on the bridge before dashing back to the head. On one of his brief visits, Darius pressed something sticky behind his ear. Jamie made a run for the bathroom again and Darius chuckled. After four hours of being tossed around on an angry sea, Darius could see the margin of the storm and pushed their speed to get out from under it. When Maia and Steven arrived to take their shift, Jamie almost crawled out of the elevator and got to their rooms to lie down. Claire was reading and jumped off the bed when she saw her green-faced love stagger in. She pulled his clothes off and propped him up on pillows, then went to the galley for soup and water. The chef was preparing food for the next day when she told him how sick Jamie was. He smiled and fixed up a remedy for seasickness and suggested broth to restore him. “He won’t like the taste of the remedy, so tell him to pinch his nose and swallow. Best to have a bucket nearby, just in case.” Claire carried the tray to their room and Jamie did whatever she told him to. Then he laid down and passed out. Jamie reported to the bridge the next morning feeling much better except for sore stomach muscles. He kissed Claire as they exchanged places and the familiar rotation was back in full swing. Claire worked with Danny during the day, getting her to remember the faces that would board in Paris, and Maia did research on the guests. When they dropped anchor in Paris, it felt like they had hardly moved. The night of the party, Claire and Maia flanked Danny again at the entrance to the grand saloon and fed her information about guests who were approaching. When Claire saw Javier and Joseph in the greeting line, she broke away to throw her arms around them. Javier held her at arm’s length and smiled at her gown and hair. He was bursting with pride, as was Joseph. Claire introduced them to Danny and Maia and walked them into the saloon to find Jamie. Jamie’s smile was brilliant as he shook hands with the men. Claire promised to catch up in a bit and went back to Danny greeting guests. It was a stifling evening and even with the air conditioners blowing Danny was perspiring in her jacket, so she took it off to reveal the sleeveless gown underneath. Jamie caught sight of her and beamed with pride at her smooth and shapely arms. Danny looked in his direction and smiled back. At one o’clock in the morning, Claire dropped onto the couch between Javier and Joseph and sighed. Danny smiled her gratitude at the three of them. “I owe you a big thank you for talking with the French-speaking guests. I never saw any of you sit down all night and you were all so charming!” “I left you to fly solo tonight and you knocked it out of the park Danny.” “I wasn’t alone, I had the darling Maia with me much of the night.” Claire put her hand on her heart and lipped ‘thank you’ to Maia. She noticed Ethan and Steven had changed into their day uniforms and were standing by. “It would appear we are moving the boat to our mooring so it’s time to change and be useful.” She kissed Javier and Joseph goodnight and then Danny, telling her to rest well. Danny looked up at Maia and tapped her other cheek for a goodnight kiss and they all went to their rooms. Claire clipped the radio to her shorts and heard the crew members give their location and readiness to the bridge. She pulled a t-shirt over her head and pushed her hair into a ponytail. “Claire, are you close? You’re on the aft deck to catch the stern ropes.” “Yes, had a devil of a time getting that dress off, but I’m almost there.” “Thank you for the visual now move your ass, we’re ready.” Claire rolled her eyes and jogged to the aft deck to catch the enormous ropes used to tie the yacht to the dock. When the anchor chains were quiet again, Steven popped up on the ladder and helped with the remaining ropes before descending again when they dropped anchor at the mooring. Claire was grateful for the hard-working crew who would put the boat in order before morning. She was exhausted. “Good job everybody, captain out.” Maia came to the bridge in her pajamas, eating dry cereal out of the box. Darius was writing in his log and kept looking over at her soft pants riding her hips four inches below her belly button. When she lifted the box above her mouth, he watched her breasts bounce under her pj top. “Done!” Darius picked her up as she threw the empty box into the trash on the way to their rooms. As before, Danny held a brunch the next day for Javier, Joseph, Danny, and the four friends. It was a beautiful afternoon in sunny Paris, and Darius did the unthinkable. He gave the crew the day off, postponing their departure until the next day. In New York, Sebastian took the folded paper from his secretary and his eyes bugged out at the picture of Danny in a sleeveless gown toasting a major stockholder and oil investor. “What the bloody hell is going on?” “Get Marvin on the phone, interrupt him, tell him it’s an emergency!” “Marvin! Tell me Johnson is ready to sell before I lose my mind! My mother is up to something and I don’t like it.” Sebastian listened for two minutes, heard his financial manager say Johnson had taken his shares off the table, and the phone slammed into the cradle so hard it shattered. “Goddammit!” He unplugged the phone base and threw it against the wall. The next morning, Jamie and Darius prepared to weigh anchor as the crew covered deck furniture and stowed planters in the plant garage. Ethan and Steven raised the anchors and the mighty engines came to life. Javier and Joseph sipped cold champagne on the deck and marveled at the teamwork required to get them underway. Claire, Danny, and Maia joined them to watch the historic sights and beautiful buildings glide by on their way down the Seine. Claire had mixed feelings about anchoring off Greece again because so much had happened there. Thankfully, there was no party to prepare for and they could act like tourists for the three days Darius and Maia would be onshore visiting family. She told herself to relax and enjoy the time with her godfather. The third night at sea, Danny planned a special dinner on the upper deck for Claire and her family, Jamie, Darius, and Maia. They were served by the crew, and the chef prepared a glorious meal for them to enjoy. Many stories were shared after dinner, and Claire watched Danny talk animatedly with the others. Her jawline was still defined and her neck showed no drooping skin, in fact, she was aging quite well but no one would know it because her shoulder-length hair kept her best parts hidden. She decided it was time for Danny to emerge and wished she had thought of this while still in Paris. She would talk to Danny at her first opportunity, which was later that evening when she was reading in the saloon along with Javier and Joseph. “Danny, I would love to treat you to a new hairstyle. What do you say to a girl’s day out in Athens?” “I am quite comfortable with my hair, as awful as it is. I’m not comfortable risking a bad haircut. How about facials and pedicures?” “Okay, that would be fine, I guess. I’m on shift in the wheel room in two hours, so I’m going to lie down for a bit. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Claire needed Jamie’s help for this and found him watching a rerecorded game in their room. She snuggled up to him and whispered she needed a favor. The game flicked off before her sentence was finished. “I am trying to talk Danny into a new hairstyle, something more modern, but she’s afraid of having a bad haircut until it grows out. You could draw her face and put different hairstyles on her, right?” “There is a very high price for such a service Sassenach, but I’d be happy to break it down into installments if you like.” He pulled her down on the mattress and kissed her until she forgot who Danny was. Through the night, while Claire was on shift, Jamie sat in his studio and rendered Danny’s face with three hairstyles he found on the internet. He jogged to their bed to grab four hours of sleep before his last shift of this leg. Darius was getting more uptight by the minute as they cruised toward Athens. He and Maia would visit their family for three days, so Jamie assumed this mood was family-related. “I’ve been wanting to ask you, it’s none of my business, but I’ll ask anyway. When we were at the jewelry store in Jamaica buying the necklace for Maia, you said you had two grand to your name, remember?” Darius shot him a dark look. “What did you do with your earnings then?” “You couldn’t be more right, it’s none of your business.” “I think I know the answer, but I’d like to hear it from you.” “Me and Maia have all we need while on the yacht, so I send the bulk of my pay home, to my family and hers. The economy is poor, very few good jobs, low pay, no assistance. My two brothers live in the same house as my sister, her husband, and their baby. They need every penny.” “I always knew you were a good man, Darius. What are you forty, forty-five years old?” “I’m twenty-seven asshole, and I don’t need a lecture about robbing Maia from the cradle. ” Jamie ducked as wadded paper was launched at his head and the bantering took the edge off of Darius’s mood. The anchors hit the seabed close to Athens, where the fishing was good for both pole and speargun. Darius and Maia said goodbye and got into a boat brought by Darius’s brother and it sped away. Javier and Joseph were gleefully setting up their fishing lines and sipping beer in chilled glasses. They now had a partner in crime. The chef was crazy about fishing and kept the men within arms reach of food and beer while they enjoyed the day. Jamie felt soft arms come around his waist from behind and twisted his body to put Claire under the shower water. He kissed her under the stream and felt a ravenous hunger ignite in his groin. They could take their time today, he realized, and broke his kiss to wash her hair. “It’s time for a whisky, love. Be a good girl and stay here, I have some things to discuss with you.” When Jamie left to fetch the whisky bottle, Claire went out to the deck with her nail kit and put a fresh coat of polish on her fingernails. Jamie set a whisky in front of her and watched the process with mild interest. He stood behind her and pulled the string holding her bikini top on, letting it fall to the deck, then he carried her to a lounge. Claire kept her hands in the air so he wouldn’t smudge the polish, and Jamie smiled wickedly at her. “Let me pamper you, love. Give me your foot.” He found all kinds of creams and scrubs in her caddy and settled on a soothing gel that he applied to her feet, calves, and thighs, covering an inch at a time very slowly. He massaged her inner thighs until she was panting, taking care not to touch her most intimate places. This was about seduction, and that required a soft touch. Pulling her foot into his lap, he sat down on the deck and held up bottles of polish until she picked one. The hours he had watched her manicure her toes paid off when he brought out each tool for cuticles, filing, and smoothing. When the paint rolled onto her toenails, he could see her thighs quivering slightly and smiled with his bowed head. When the first foot was done, he licked from her knee to her core, pulling her bikini bottom to the side and pulling his soft, wet tongue up her fold. The fabric was returned to normal and he grabbed the other foot for the same treatment while she panted and tried to slow her heart rate. It took an excruciatingly long time to paint five toenails and drink two shots of whisky. Claire was growling with need and gave her love a warning look to finish what he started. It took another hour but finish he did and they curled up on the lounge for a happy siesta. By mid-afternoon, Claire found Javier, Joseph, and the chef, drunk, sunburned, and deliriously happy. To her surprise, Danny had joined them and was holding two of their poles with lines in the water. She greeted Claire with a happy smile, so excited to be fishing. “Claire! Look, I am fishing for my supper, isn’t that fantastic? I haven’t caught a single fish yet, but I am determined.” Javier looked at Joseph and asked if he baited the hooks to which Joseph raised his shoulders and giggled. “Oh, for heaven’s sake. Give me a pole Danny so I can check your hook.” Soon there was a spinning lure attached to the line and cast far into the water. Claire handed the pole back to Danny with a warning that the fish were large and might pull the pole out of her hands if she wasn’t ready. Danny squealed with delight and watched the water with anticipation. Claire baited the other hook and sat next to Danny, trying to ignore the loud snoring of the three men who were now sleeping in the shade. Claire’s pole jerked violently, and she heard the line running out as the fish dove deep to get away from the hook. She counted five seconds and pushed the lock on the reel, almost losing the pole when it jerked back hard. Danny dropped her pole in her excitement to help Claire, and it jerked on the deck when another fish swallowed her hook and then tried to get away. Fortunately, the pole was pulled along the deck sideways and got caught by rail mountings so they didn’t lose it. Both women were screaming and laughing, trying to reel in the first fish. Jamie’s head jerked up hearing the chaos outside. His book forgotten, he ran to the deck and watched Claire and Danny pull the same pole, losing themselves in laughter. He grabbed the other pole and demonstrated how to reel and pull the fish, but they were hopelessly lost in their fun. He felt the fish release his line and swim to freedom while he reeled in the hook and set the pole aside to help Claire. From behind Claire, he moved her hands, holding them still while the fish ran the line out again, and then pulling up sharply to set the hook deeper. Danny held onto the pole like it was a lifeline while she bent over laughing. When the fish was exhausted, Jamie had them walk the pole and fish along the side deck where he could net the beautiful sunfish that would feed them that night. Claire and Danny jumped around the aft deck, lost in their celebration. Jamie made quick work of gutting the fish and cutting away the parts that were unusable. The chef roared from the side deck to stop as Jamie was about to throw the head far from the boat. “That head will make the best fish head soup!” The chef took command of the fillets and head and left them for the galley, very excited at their catch. Danny showed Claire how to wash with soap and then cut lemon sections to rid the skin of the fishy smell. Danny went to lie down until dinner and the crew was cleaning the main saloon, so Claire went outside to fetch her godfather and Joseph off the deck. They went down to their rooms to tend their sunburned skin and nap. Jamie pulled Claire to their rooms and closed the door before pushing a button that pulled the blackout shades down the massive windows. He pulled Claire to the bed and suggested a movie to which she happily agreed. “This is a classic that I found in the video library upstairs. I think you will really like it.” Claire cuddled up to Jamie when the movie started and was well into the story before it suddenly heated up with erotic scenes between two lovers. She couldn’t pull her eyes away as the characters showed body parts she didn’t expect to see. Jamie watched her face flush as the scenes became more erotic and he chuckled, suggesting they watch something else. “No! I mean, don’t you want to see how it ends?” “As you say, love.” Claire lost herself in the beautiful actors and for the first time, watched a woman making love as her breasts bounced with the pounding. The woman’s inner thighs looked so soft as she spread them for the man’s mouth moving toward her core. When the sex got rough, Claire’s panting was giving her arousal away. “Should we find another, sweetheart?” Jamie pulled her in front of him, between his legs, and pressed her back against his chest in a relaxed posture. Claire was hypnotized by the sex scenes and hardly noticed Jamie pulling her feet to the sides to open her legs. When he touched her, it was like a firebomb to kindling and he gave her all the thrills she had just seen. When they collapsed, gasping for breath, Claire was panting out “how” and “why” and certain unintelligible words making Jamie chuckle. “It takes a bit of work the second time in the same day, love.” “Wow, that was… wow.” After another shower, they finally stumbled to the table for dinner and Jamie was still chuckling at her deer in the headlight eyes. She needed help to come back to the here and now, even though he loved her expression and blush. “Sassenach, how do you like the fish you girls caught today?” “Hmm?” “The fish, how do you like it?” Claire looked at her plate like she just realized she was chewing food. “It’s wonderful! I really love it.” She and Danny started talking about the next party, and Jamie knew she was back on earth. He missed his starry-eyed wife instantly. They shared a closeness for the rest of the evening and he cuddled her in their bed that night wanting to hold her close all night long, but that was not going to happen. Jamie’s eyes would not close, his breathing would not deepen, and his mind felt like a pinball game in play. He rolled quietly out of bed and made his way to the studio. A painting was clamoring to get out, and he felt the crushing responsibility to get it right.   Sunrise filled the studio with light as the third canvas was sent to the failure-closet, so named that very night because it had not happened to him before. He went to his sketch pad to work out the dimensional issues and used colored pencils to test the color differences. If he couldn’t find the skill to paint it accurately, he wouldn’t do it. It was that important. Jamie knew Claire would be up soon and he wasn’t ready to share this picture yet, so he put his drawings away and put the five-lads on the easel, then he went to snuggle with his wife. Claire hugged Javier for a full minute, and then Joseph. She wiped a tear off her cheek and smiled bravely wishing them a good flight back to Paris. They both turned in their seat and waved as the taxi pulled away. “Darius and Maia return tomorrow and then we weigh anchor for strange places Sassenach. Perhaps the three of us sit on the deck today and fish. What do you say?” Danny jumped to fetch whatever Claire needed that afternoon. She could feel her melancholy, and her maternal instincts took over. At least until the first pole nearly bent in half from a monster fish that latched onto Jamie’s hook. The women abandoned their poles to render aid that was not needed, and Jamie tried to reach his pocket when he felt his phone vibrate. It was hopeless reaching through the women’s glee, so he held his pole out to the side with one hand and clicked to answer the call. “What the hell is going on over there?” “Two excited women helping me boat a fish, but it could be long gone by now because I can’t feel the pole move anymore. What’s up?” Jamie listened to the instructions given, “on my way.” Handing the pole to Claire, he excused himself to tender Darius back to the yacht, and Claire looked confused when the pole was no longer bouncing. It was obvious Darius was hurt and Jamie helped him into the tender without commenting on his bulging eye that was swollen shut, his bloody mouth, or his arm held tightly to his side. “Hospital?” Darius shook his head, “boat.” Darius crept into the saloon hoping to make it upstairs before anyone saw him but the stairs were impossible. He turned around to use the elevator and heard Claire’s voice as he winced from his broken ribs. “Don’t you fucking move, Darius.” She led him to the galley by his good hand and pulled his sunglasses off while he voiced his complaint. Claire grabbed the emergency kit, a frozen steak, and led him up to his rooms. He couldn’t lay down because the position drove the broken ribs into his lungs so Claire cleaned the wounds as best she could. “I didn’t know you had such a crush on me, Claire.” “Shut up, you idiot. What happened to you?” “I don’t want to talk about it.” Jamie found Danny cleaning up the fishing gear and looking worried. “He probably told you to leave him alone, and while that works most of the time, it will not work today. Maia knows what to do so get her back here so she can help him. Jamie, please do this.” Jamie was naturally resistant to Danny’s gift, but he heard the edge in her voice and reached for his phone. Twenty minutes later, a wide-eyed Maia was climbing into the tender asking how bad the injuries were. She interrupted his explanation saying she could swim faster than he was going so he pushed the tender to its limit and soon they were flying across the water. Maia could hear Claire arguing with Darius as she approached their rooms and kindly asked Claire to wait downstairs. She glanced at Darius and saw his tears of pain and frustration. So she helped Claire exit the room and locked the door behind her. Claire could hear them talking and ripping packages of emergency supplies. She was terrified and crying, having never seen anyone fresh from a brutal fight. Jamie put his arm around her and led her downstairs where the three of them waited in the saloon to hear more about his injuries. Maia cleaned the wounds, wrapped his ribcage, and slapped his good hand when he tried to loosen the ace bandage constricting his breath. She pushed a pain pill into his mouth and moved her finger along the base of his teeth searching for a loose wiggle. Ten minutes later he could lie down, gingerly. She knelt next to the bed and put her head down, fighting the tears she didn’t want Darius to see. His good hand stroked her hair, and he whispered to her that everything was alright. When she gave in to the sobs, he held her as best he could and reminded her he was the captain with a job to do and she was expected to help him for a little while. “Darius, of course I will. I’ll pull the boat with my bare hands if you ask me to!” She held his hand against her cheek and searched his face, feeling relief when he smiled at her. “It’s alright,” he said, stroking her hair. “My face scared you, but you patched me up with a steady hand, and now you need to cry a bit. It’s okay to cry, and then I wonder if you might tell the others what happened so we can all shake it off and depart in two days.” Maia could see he was asleep and covered him before going downstairs. Her eyes were puffy from crying and nothing would change that, so she walked into the saloon and told them what happened. “Darius sends most of his pay to his family and mine. His sister lives in a small house with her baby and husband, and Darius’s two brothers moved in a year ago because they were homeless. Darius said the house was a horrible mess. The front door had been kicked in, glass was missing from windows, the baby was crawling through filth. His sister is afraid of the brothers who spent all the money Darius has sent. Her husband leaves on Monday to work on Mykonos and he is gone all week. Darius ordered them out of the house and called the husband, telling him to walk off the job and come home to protect his family. Darius said he would cover his pay. They jumped him and beat the shit out of him.” Maia looked up, “sorry for my language. He has a job to do and I will help him. We leave in two days, nothing has changed.” Danny held her hand up to stop Maia and seemed to struggle with the right words. “I know it’s hard for the four of you to accept my gift, and I don’t talk about it much, but I have to tell you something. Darius suffered an impact to his abdomen, a kick I think, and his spleen is bleeding. I can see it bleeding and it might have to come out. If I could get close to him I will know for sure. This could threaten his life, so we shouldn’t wait. Please wake him and ask if I can see him, Maia.” “C’mon.” When Darius didn’t wake up right away, Maia got scared and shouted at him. She squeezed his hand and apologized. “Is the boat on fire, sweets?” “No. Darius, were you kicked in the stomach?” “No.” He closed his eyes again and Maia muttered about Danny being wrong as she walked to the door. “Maia, yes, I was kicked in the stomach, several times. Why?” “Danny needs to see you. Something about your spleen is bleeding. Can I let her in, please?” “Yes.” Danny entered and reached for his hand, looking concerned. He watched her. “I can’t tell if it’s going to stop. We can go to the hospital now or I can check you later.” “Check later if you would, I don’t like hospitals.” “Alright, dear Darius.”   Danny left and Maia sat on the floor and put her head near his on the mattress. She stroked his arm until she was sure he was asleep again. “I love you so much, Darius.” “I love you too, sweet one.” Jamie and Claire finally said goodnight and Danny went to the elevator and her rooms. All through the night, she monitored Darius, sneaking into their room to lay her hand on his foot. On one visit, she put a blanket around Maia and pulled the covers around Darius. Her last visit was at five o’clock in the morning. She kept her hand on his foot because she wanted to be sure. “You did it, young man,” she whispered, “no splenectomy for you, so kindly put your cape back on, and save the day… when you’re ready.” Danny was exhausted and desperately wanted to lie down on her bed. She rode the elevator down to her floor and held the wall as she walked. She was proud of Darius for his decision to heal. Later, Jamie spent some time with Darius and he was particularly sarcastic and funny because Darius begged him to stop making him laugh. Jamie decided that was enough painful levity for one day and left, grabbing Maia in the hall. “Maia, I have spent too much time with Darius and I don’t want to wake him up. He asked me to alert the authorities that his sister should be alone in the house waiting for her husband, but he didn’t give me the address.” Jamie pulled a notepad out of his pocket and had a pen poised to write it down. He started to move down the hall like he was in a hurry and raised his eyebrows at her. She gushed the address out and then went into their rooms. Jamie pushed the pad into his pocket and went downstairs with a face that could murder a man just looking at it. After dinner, Jamie pulled Claire into their rooms and made passionate love to her. She mumbled something about her jello legs as she slipped into her dreams. He waited until she was deep enough not to feel him roll out of bed or hear him dress. He jumped in the tender and paddled halfway to shore to avoid waking anyone. He had a mission to complete before they left in the morning. Danny stood in the dark saloon and watched Jamie paddle the tender. She was conflicted about raising the alarm or letting it happen. She whispered, “forgive me, Jamie,” and went back to bed. Jamie leaned against a large tree and dozed for half the night, waiting for the brothers. He would bet his last dollar they hadn’t left and Jamie knew the husband would not be back until the next day. His head jerked up hearing the drunken laughter of two men approaching. They staggered toward the sister’s house and Jamie cleared his throat to make them turn around.   One of them addressed him in what sounded like gutter slang and Jamie smiled like an altar boy and pulled his wallet out. The men approached so Jamie lowered the wallet so they would see the large bills he thumbed through as he talked about paying them off to stay away from the sister. He was not getting through to them so he said, “Darius,” and waited. One of them shoved a fist in Jamie’s face.   “We take your money and drop you in the deep ocean. No worry, you be dead.”   Jamie’s eyes were wide with fright and he backed into the tree with his hands in a defensive position. They were smiling at each other coming toward him when Jamie suddenly stood upright and laughed, stopping them in their tracks.   “Oh! I.. I know who you two are, you beat the shit out of my friend, your own brother!” He was still laughing while the men shot glances at each other. “You know, Darius said you guys fight dirty.” More laughter. “What a relief! Because so do I.”   Jamie jumped up and grabbed a tree limb, driving his feet into one man’s face. He dropped to the ground and pulled his jacket off showing the second man his sleeveless t-shirt and the bulging muscles in his arms. Before the man could run, he grabbed his long greasy hair, and drove his knee into his back, flipped him around and pummeled his face until the man collapsed on the ground.   Jamie grabbed the last of the rope he brought and wound it around the man’s legs. Both of them were tied to different trees with no possibility of escape. Jamie hoped the husband would be the first to find them. He pushed a note under the ropes and put his jacket back on. He had a naked wife waiting for him in a big warm bed. He headed for the tender. Danny thrashed in her bed, having one hell of a nightmare. She saw men fighting and one of them run away. Suddenly, the man stopped and looked directly at her, “it’s alright Danny, I won, rest now,” came the echo of his disembodied voice. Her eyes flew open and she sat up in her bed, gasping for air. She felt the presence of Jamie above her and sighed her relief as she dropped back to her pillows, feeling much better.

[soniabigcheese]

Whumptober 2020 Day 20 - Toto, I have a feeling we are not in Kansas any more

Medieval

Fandom: Thunderbirds are Go Characters: Scott Tracy, Gordon Tracy, Alan Tracy, Kayo Virgil Tracy Whump? You betcha there is

Warnings of blood, serious injury 

@whumptober2020

A visit to a Renaissance Fair/Jousting tournament. Is just the tonic the Tracy brothers need after back to back rescues, What could possibly go wrong?

Apparently a lot as it happens.

***********

“Ugh,” Alan groaned, tugging on his bright red tunic, “this is so pointless.”

Scott just smiled, adjusting his silver chain link vest, the blue tunic underneath reminded him of Thunderbird One for some reason.

“Well..,” he said, tucking in the manufacturer’s label on the back of his younger brother’s neck, “you did want to try out the real thing. Sorta.”

He shrugged and the chain mail rattled slightly.

“Besides, it’ll make a change from you sitting in front of a video game all day when you’re not on rescues.”

“That’s true,” Virgil butted in, shoving his legs into a pair of green brais, eerily the same colour as his big green ‘Bird.

Gordon pranced around, clad in bright yellow and waving a balloon on a stick. He’d been the first to get ready and was making the most of bouncing the balloon on everyone’s heads. Until Scott threatened to ‘shove it where the sun don’t shine’.

So he opted to just running around yelling and hollering and telling dirty limericks. Much to the amusement of Alan and the horror of everyone else.

John did not partake of this venture. He didn’t care much for crowds anyways. And at these venues, there’s bound to be loads of people. So he chose to stay behind and monitor and divert all emergency calls.

Gordon’s joy stopped, as a conference call that he’d been dreading since they’d organised this event, came up. It was Lady Penelope and she did not look happy at all.

“I’m sorry Gordon,” she sighed, “I can’t make it. A very important meeting has popped up. I’ve tried to reschedule it, but they are most persistent.”

She paused, giving him a forced smile.

“Have a great time everyone, and don’t eat too much.”

And promptly signed off. Gordon was crushed.

“But ...” he moaned, flopping dramatically on the sofa, “she was our ‘Lady fair’. A king or prince cannot possibly attend such events without his lady fair present!”

The rest of his brothers stared disbelievingly at him.  He shrugged.

“What?” he looked pained, “I did my research for these things.”

Scott and Virgil cast knowing glances at one another. Gordon pooched his bottom lip out and flopped backwards, the balloon fell to the floor and he covered his eyes with one arm.

“Yeah yeah ... “ he muttered, his enthusiasm deflated, “I watched A Knight’s Tale a couple of times.”

There was a snort.

“Hey,” he sat upright, his jester’s hat slightly askew, “It’s a good movie ... okay?”

Alan butted in before they all began a whole debate on how historically inaccurate that movie was.

“Gordon’s right you know,” he said, twisting his head from Virgil’s wet thumb and giving his brother a dirty glare, “hey hey cut it out! We haven’t got a ‘Lady Fair’.

Gordon smirked, glad that someone was on the same page as him and paying attention. 

“That’s right,” he interjected, “for the jousting tournament.”

Scott scowled.

“Nobody’s taking part in the tournament,” he stated emphatically. “Aw but.” “No. It’s too dangerous.”

He turned to Alan.

“You’re too young anyways.”

Alan pouted and was about to throw himself the mother of all tirades, when a shadow fell across the floor. It was Kayo and she was dressed in a glorious black gown with trimmings of red and white so she didn’t look as if she was going to a funeral.

“I’ll be the Lady Fair,” she announced quietly, “and yes ... one of you will be in the jousting tournament. Or I shall be very disappointed.”

As she swished past, she gave Scott a challenging glare, followed by a wink and a smile.

My god she looked gorgeous in that costume. 

He huffed, rolled his eyes and tilted his head,

“Fine,” he said, annoyed that she could win him over like that, “I’ll be your champion then. But first we eat!”

Everyone agreed that that was a good idea. Besides, maybe Scott could eat too much so that he didn’t have to take part in the tournament. But he also knew that Kayo wouldn’t let him off the hook quite so easily.

Anyways, after a lot of adjustments and double checking.... a couple of bathroom visits because of nerves, the Tracy family headed to the venue. Since it was but a short distance away, they decided to take a walk. And were joined by many other enthusiastic patrons. All eager to take part in the festivities.

When they arrived, they took their places in the covered dining hall, where, apart from the electric lighting and illuminations of mobile phones. It was pretty much an authentic setting.

Alan was right. They did get messy as they had to eat with their bare hands. Cutlery being a big no no.

They settled down, stuffed themselves silly, and then the announcement for the champions to come forward with their squires. Scott looked at his brothers. Virgil shrugged, claiming he was too old, Gordon said he couldn’t do it because he was the jester. So it was all down to Alan to prep his brother. Checking the lances for weight and adjusting the braces etc,

The horse they brought out was a sprightly one, that danced and tugged at the reins. But hey, no biggie. He dealt with worse. As he slipped his feet into the stirrups and hefted the lance, he automatically searched for Kayo in the crowd. 

She marched forward, her sash ...a silver one with red and blue .. in her hand and tied it to the lance, gently patting the horse as she walked past. Alan’s eyes flickered between them and he smiled to himself.

Well ... whaddayaknow

Gruff voices were heard behind them and he turned to see a surly man on a black steed. He was handling the horse roughly and it was acting accordingly. Stomping it’s hooves aggressively and trying to buck him off.

Another squire sidled up to Alan and Scott and muttered ...

“Be careful of that fella,” he said looking fearful, “he is a known cheat and will pull any trick in the book to unseat his opponents. Oh and he can sniff a rookie a mile off.”

Scott thanked the young man and nodded, Alan looked up at him, concern written on his face.

“I’ll be fine.”

A loud voice over the tannoy, asked everyone not involved in the jousting, to clear the ground. And the tournament began.

One by one, challengers wiped the grounds with one another. Scott managed to get through to the qualifiers and was faced off with that big surly man.

Their horses stomped their feet and waited for the flag.

And then they were off, charging at one another.  Scott’s plan was to tilt away from the oncoming lance, and right himself afterwards. But his opponent was ready for that manoeuvre and hit Scott square in the shoulder. 

Scott felt a piercing pain and glanced down to see that some of his opponent’s lance had sheared off and was buried deep into his flesh, the shard had pierced the chain mail and was embedded through the links.

He blinked, looking at the damage, disbelief written all over his face.

“What the ....”

Then everything went black. His grip loosened on the reins, the horse felt the weight shift and reared up, causing Scott to topple and land awkwardly, the broken lance pushed even deeper into his shoulder/chest area.

He didn’t hear the crowds screaming ... Or maybe he did but he’d been too focused on the challenger.

#thunderbirds are go #whumptober2020 #medieval #scott tracy #virgil tracy #alan tracy #gordon tracy #kayo kyrano

[kultofathena]

With all of this talk about chainmail, you're probably wondering: what type is right for me? Here's a curated selection of chainmail from Lord of Battles, available on Kult of Athena.

We've liked the comments on our YouTube videos talking about what type of ring construction was used to demonstrate. Here's our take:

Dome Riveted: A method of riveting an open mail ring that uses a steel pin or thick wire which is then pressed and riveted to "mushroom" into a dome shape that holds the ring in place. This style of mail is common from Classical Antiquity until the later years of the High Medieval Period (Approx: 3rd Cent BC to 1300 AD)

Wedge Riveted: A method of riveting and open mail ring that uses a triangular wedge of metal which is then pressed to flatten and peen itself over the ring to hold the ring closed. Wedge-riveted mail has the advantage of the rivets having a flatter profile which is less likely to entangle and catch on other rings and is less abrasive to any clothing or accessories worn over the mail. This style of mail becomes dominant in the later part of the High Middle Ages and the Late Medieval Period. ( Approx. 1300 to 1550 AD)

Butted: Butted Rings are Round or Flat rings which are not riveted closed, but instead have the open ends butted up and pressed against one another to close the ring. Not historically accurate.

#Kult of Athena #KultOfAthena #Chain Mail #Chainmail #Armor #Armour #Lord of Battles #Dome Riveted Chain Mail #Wedge Riveted Chain Mail #Butted Chain Mail

[militant-holy-knight]

In light of President Obama’s recent remarks comparing the brutality of the Islamic State to the Crusades, it might be time to take a fresh look at those events. Were they really the one-sided Dark Ages barbarism we have been taught? Were they an early manifestation of Western imperialism and global conquest?

In his landmark book, “God’s Battalions” (HarperOne 2009), Baylor University social sciences professor Rodney Stark suggests otherwise. It is a well-researched chronicle, including 639 footnotes and a bibliography of about 300 other works, yet reads like an adventure story full of military strategy and political intrigue.

What Prompted the Crusades

He begins in the final years of Mohammed and describes how a newly united Arab people swept through (Zoroastrian) Persia and the (Orthodox Christian) Byzantine-  controlled areas of Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and North Africa. (Byzantine refers to the Greek-speaking eastern remainder of the Roman Empire.) Eventually Arabs took over control of the Mediterranean islands, most of Spain, and the southern part of Italy, and even reached as far as 150 miles outside of Paris before being turned back by the Franks, or early French.

The Muslims were brutal in their conquered territories. They gave pagans a choice of converting to Islam or being killed or enslaved. Jews and Christians (other People of the Book) were usually but not always treated somewhat better, and allowed to retain their beliefs but under conditions of Sharia subjugation. But the Muslim-held territories were not monolithic. Stark writes:

‘Perhaps the single most remarkable feature of the Islamic territories was the almost ceaseless internal conflict; the intricate plots, assassinations, and betrayals form a lethal soap opera. North Africa was frequently torn by rebellions and intra-Islamic wars and conquests. Spain was a patchwork of constantly feuding Muslim regimes that often allied themselves with Christians against one another.’

Not surprisingly, there was intense Christian resistance and determination to take back lost territories. Especially effective were the Normans and the Franks in Spain and Italy.

The Golden Middle Ages Belonged to Europeans

Western scholars have often characterized this clash of cultures as an Islamic Golden Age versus a European Dark Age, but Stark demolishes this as a myth. He says the best of the Islamic culture was appropriated from the people Muslims conquered—the Greeks, Jews, Persians, Hindus, and even from heretical Christian sects such as the Copts and Nestorians. He quotes E.D. Hunt as writing, “the earliest scientific book in the language of Islam [was a] treatise on medicine by a Syrian Christian priest in Alexandria translated into Arabic by a Persian Jewish physician.” Stark writes that Muslim naval fleets were built by Egyptian shipwrights, manned by Christian crews, and often captained by Italians.  When Baghdad was built, the caliph “entrusted the design of the city to a Zoroastrian and a Jew.” Even the “Arabic” numbering system was Hindu in origin.

And, while it is true that the Arabs embraced the writings of Plato and Aristotle, Stark comments,

‘However, rather than treat these works as attempts by Greek scholars to answer various questions, Muslin intellectuals quickly read them in the same way they read the Qur’an – as settled truths to be understood without question or contradiction…. Attitudes such as these prevented Islam from taking up where the Greeks had left off in their pursuit of knowledge.’

Meanwhile, back in Europe was an explosion of technology that made ordinary people far richer than any people had ever been. It began with the development of collars and harnesses that allowed horses to pull plows and wagons rather than oxen, doubling the speed at which people could till fields. Plows were improved, iron horseshoes invented, wagons given brakes and swivel axels, and larger draft horses were bred. All this along with the new idea of crop rotation led to a massive improvement in agricultural productivity that in turn led to a much healthier, larger, and stronger population.

Technology was also improving warfare with the invention of the crossbow and chain mail. Crossbows were far more accurate and deadly than conventional archery, and could be fired with very little training. Chain mail was almost impervious to the kind of arrows in use throughout the world. Mounted knights were fitted with high-back saddles and stirrups that enabled them to use more force in charging an opponent, and much larger horses were bred as chargers, giving the knights a height advantage over enemies. Better military tactics made European armies much more lethal. Stark writes:

It is axiomatic in military science that cavalry cannot succeed against well-armed and well-disciplined infantry formations unless they greatly outnumber them…. When determined infantry hold their ranks, standing shoulder to shoulder to present a wall of shields from which they project a thicket of long spears butted in the ground, cavalry charges are easily turned away; the horses often rear out of control and refuse to meet the spears.

In contrast, Muslim warriors were almost exclusively light cavalry, riding faster but lighter horses bareback with little armor, few shields, and using swords and axes. Their biggest advantage was their use of camels, which made them much more mobile than foot soldiers and gave them the ability to swoop in and out of the desert areas to attack poorly defended cities.

Muslims Slaughter, Rape, and Pillage

These differences provided Crusader armies with huge advantages, but what would prompt hundreds of thousand Europeans to leave their homes and travel 2,500 miles to engage an enemy is a desert kingdom—especially after the Muslim conquest of Europe had been turned back?

In 638 Jerusalem surrendered to Muslim invaders, and mass murders of Christian pilgrims and monks became commonplace.

There had been long-festering concern about the fate of Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. After his conversion to Christianity in the early 300s, the Roman Emperor Constantine built the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on the site of what was believed to be Jesus’ tomb, and other churches in Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives. These sites prompted a growing number of European pilgrims to visit the Holy Land, including Saint Jerome, who lived in Bethlehem for the last 32 years of his life as he translated the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. By the late fifth century, Stark reports, more than 300 hostels and monasteries offered lodging to pilgrims in Jerusalem alone.

But in 638 Jerusalem surrendered to Muslim invaders, and mass murders of Christian pilgrims and monks became commonplace. Stark includes a list of select atrocities in the eight and ninth centuries, but none worse than the some 5,000 German Christians slaughtered by Bedouin robbers in the tenth century.

Throughout this period, control of Palestine was contested by several conflicting Muslim groups. Stark writes, “In 878 a new dynasty was established in Egypt and seized control of the Holy Land from the caliph in Baghdad.” One hundred years later, Tariqu al-Hakim became the sixth caliph of Egypt and initiated an unprecedented reign of terror, not just against Christians but against his own people as well. He burned or pillaged some 30,000 churches, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the tomb beneath it.

Soon enough, newly converted Turkish tribes came out of the north to seize Persia and Baghdad (by 1045) and press on to Armenia, overrunning the city of Ardzen in 1048, where they murdered all the men, raped the women, and enslaved the children. Next they attacked the Egyptians, in part because the Turks were Orthodox Sunnis and the Egyptians were heretical Shiites. While the Turks did not succeed in overthrowing the Egyptians, they did conquer Palestine, entering Jerusalem in 1071. The Turks promised safety to the residents of Jerusalem if they surrendered the city, but broke this promise and slaughtered the population. They did the same in Ramla, Gaza, Tyre, and Jaffa.

Emperor Alexius Pleads for Help

Finally, they threatened Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Emperor Alexius Comnenus wrote to Pope Urban II in 1095, begging for help to turn back the Turks. This was remarkable given the intense hostility between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Perhaps the pope saw an opportunity to unite or at least reduce tensions between the two Christian churches, but he responded with a call to create an army that would go to the Middle East.

Without ongoing support from Europe, the Crusaders could not survive constant attacks from the Muslims.

I am not going to regurgitate all the battles of the Crusades themselves. It is a fascinating history well worth studying in part for its parallels and lessons for today. Let’s just say that the Crusaders were extremely effective militarily, often defeating far larger Muslim armies, despite having traveled some 2,500 miles into an alien desert climate. Their biggest enemies were disease, starvation, and political betrayal. Plus, the Crusades were expensive and home countries grew weary of paying the taxes needed to support them (sound familiar?)

The Crusaders ended up establishing their own kingdoms in the Holy Land, which lasted for about 200 years or, as Stark notes, almost as long as the United States has existed; but without ongoing support from Europe they could not survive constant attacks from the Muslims.

How the Crusades Were Different from Military Action of the Day

So, what to make of all this?

The Crusaders were unique in that they did not seek to plunder or enslave.

Actually, the Crusaders were unique in that they did not seek to plunder or enslave. They didn’t even try to forcibly convert anyone to Christianity. Their sole interest was to protect the pilgrims and Christian holy sites. They sometimes sacked cities that refused to provide food to a hungry army, but they didn’t take riches back to Europe. There were few riches to be found. Rather than exploiting indigenous resources to benefit Europe, Europe sent money and resources to the Middle East. Pilgrims were quite lucrative for host countries, just as tourism is today.

War was a nasty and brutal business at the time, and had been for all of recorded history. Cities fortified themselves as protection against invading armies. A siege of a city meant surrounding the area and cutting off supplies until the population surrendered, often by starving. In the Bible, II Kings 6:24-33 relates the story of the siege of Samaria, in which two starving women agree to kill and eat their sons.

The rule of war at the time was that, if a city surrendered, the population would be spared, but if it resisted and the invading army had to take it by force all the inhabitants would be killed or enslaved. But Stark notes that Muslim armies often violated even this rule—promising sanctuary, then slaughtering the population that surrendered. (Before we get too smug and condescending about the savagery of these ancients, let’s not forget the rocket bombing of London, the firebombing of Dresden, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a mere 70 years ago.)

Muslim armies often promised sanctuary, then slaughtered the population that surrendered.

One way in which Muslim fighters today have advanced over their forebears is that during the Crusades they did not adopt new tactics to counter the technological advantage of the Europeans. They never used crossbows or shielded infantry, even after several hundred years of fighting. Today, Muslim warriors quickly evolve to make the most of Western technology, although they still never seem to develop anything of their own.

An Enduring Clash Between Inquiry and Submission

One final thought on this. As Stark indicates above, there is in too many Muslim countries a sense of obedience that precludes robust debate or new ideas, let alone technological innovation. In his classic, “The World is Flat,” Thomas Friedman quotes Osama bin Laden as saying,

‘It is enough to know that the economy of all Arab countries is weaker than the economy of one country that had been part of our (Islamic) world when we used to truly adhere to Islam. That country is the lost Andalusia. Spain is an infidel country, but its economy is stronger that our economy because the ruler there is accountable. In our countries, there is no accountability or punishment, but there is only obedience to the rulers and prayers of long life for them. (pp. 400-401)’

Friedman confirms that this is based on a 2002 report, the first Arab Human Development Report. This report, written by Arabs, found that Spain had a larger gross domestic product than all 22 Arab states combined!

I think Stark is closer to the mark than bin Laden. The problem is a cultural way of thinking that starts with the Qur’an and the Prophet and emphasizes unquestioning obedience. The very name of the religion, Islam, means “submission.” The thinking of bin Laden that emphasizes punishing poor rulers is a complete misunderstanding how progress is made. European cultures place a high value on questioning everything, even the divinity of Jesus Christ. Certainly there have been exceptions to this, but in the sweep of history it is an unmistakable trait.

So we have perhaps the starkest conflict of worldviews imaginable: on one hand, a robust and virtually unlimited spirit of inquiry, and on the other a fervent dedication to universal obedience and submission. How this plays out is the story of our times.

#politics #history #rants

[clearsundays]

CHARACTER PROFILE: Sun’li Yhunja

Hello to all you lovely people in the FFXIV RP community! I just hopped off a looooong hiatus (tempted back by ShB... hehe) and am looking to slowly get back into RP. Okay, let’s dive right in!!!

BASICS ––– ☼

ALIAS: Sun

FULL/BIRTH NAME: Sun’li Yhunja 

AGE: 22

RACE: Miqo’te (Keeper of the Moon)

GENDER: Male

SEXUALITY: Demi-bisexual/romantic

PERSONAL ––– ☼

PROFESSION: Traveling conjurer and apothecary, also does odd jobs

HOBBIES: Scaling cliffs in search of rare plants, doing food challenges and Hingan number puzzles, sneaking into restricted libraries, being a busybody and sticking his nose where he shouldn’t

LANGUAGES: Common, Huntspeak, Ishgardian (limited), Hingan (limited), Xaelic (VERY limited)

RESIDENCE: Officially has an estate in the Lavender Beds, but is rarely at home. (His mailbox is often stuffed at max capacity...)

BIRTHPLACE:  South Shroud

ENJOYS: Platonic skinship, taking care of others, dad jokes, friendly competition

FEARS: Uncertainty, loss of control, inadequacy

“Hey! You alright there? Keep your chin up; things’ll work out.”

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE ––– ☼

HAIR: Rose-taupe, pale blond stripe

EYES: Rose-gold

HEIGHT: 5′3″; on the short side for his race and gender. But he doesn’t seem to realize he’s short. (Or rather, doesn’t seem to realize that most people are taller...) 

BUILD: Slender at first glance, but his musculature is lean and toned. Having had acrobatics training in his childhood, he is flexible and light on his feet.

DISTINGUISHING MARKS: Keeper markings on his cheeks and, in the unlikely event you somehow manage to catch him with his shirt or jacket off, two large wing tattoos on his shoulder blades spanning his upper back and triceps.

COMMON APPEARANCE | ACCESSORIES: Dark red jacket, scarf, leather gloves, two-handed conjurer’s staff, hawkbill blade sheathed at his upper thigh, and a metal locket attached to a chain that contains a sealed sachet of smelling salts.

FAMILY ––– ☼

PARENTS: Sun Yhunja & Ezye’ir Yhunja. Currently vacationing in Yanxia.

SIBLINGS: (Oh boy!) From eldest to youngest: Sunha (eldest sister), Sun’a (eldest brother), Sunyi (elder sister), Sunyu (elder sister), Sun’to (elder brother), Sunhi (younger sister), Sunsa (younger sister), Sunne (younger sister), Sunan (younger sister), Sunai (youngest sister). 

PETS: Kava (Red panda, ferries his mail), Aska (Chocobo, only takes with him on extended trips)

TRAITS ––– ☼

EXTROVERTED / introverted / in between

disorganized / organized / IN BETWEEN

close minded / OPEN MINDED / in between

CALM / anxious / in between

disagreeable / agreeable / IN BETWEEN

cautious / RECKLESS / in between

patient / impatient / IN BETWEEN

OUTSPOKEN / reserved / in between

LEADER / follower / neither

EMPATHETIC / apathetic / in between

OPTIMISTIC / pessimistic / in between

traditional / MODERN / in between

HARD-WORKING / lazy / in between

cultured / uncultured / IN BETWEEN

LOYAL / disloyal / situational

RP HOOKS ––– ☼

Medic: Very straightforward - he’s obviously a healer with that big ol’ staff strapped to his back. He also used to tutor aspiring conjurers at Stillglade Fane and occasionally returns to the Shroud to run favors for his family and E-Sumi-Yan.

Obviously a Foreigner: Even in the blistering heat of Thanalan, Sun doesn’t take off his scarf or shed his jacket. Sometimes he runs jobs all the way to the Far East, and pretty much bulls through the language barrier with sheer tenacity and excessive charades. Sure, he might be dressed for Ishgard, but he definitely isn’t culturally groomed for any fancy House parties. If he’s committing a social faux pas, be a dear and let him know! Or if you’re fluent in the language, you could teach Sun a word or two. He’d certainly appreciate it!

Antagonist/Rival/FOIL: Sun is almost obnoxiously optimistic with a straight-arrow moral compass that he is quite often both reckless and loud about. An idealist at heart, he tends to look for the best in people even if it gets him bitten - but if that happens, don’t expect him to curl up and start crying in fetal position; he most certainly bites back. I’d certainly be interested in exploring this aspect of his character with someone who doesn’t mind butting heads with him! 

More at Sun’s RPC Wiki Page! And of course, I’m open to suggestions!

☼ ––– OOC NOTES –––– ☼

Hi everyone! First off, thanks for taking the time to read this! Secondly, I would like to make clear that although Sun is a warm-hearted and generally kind character, he can be very blunt and stubborn at times. I firmly draw the line between IC and OOC, and would ask that you extend the same courtesy during interactions. If Sun has any conflict with your character or vice versa, please do not take it personally.

That said, I have a strong preference for paragraph and plot-based RPs with some direction. If you don’t have any in mind, I’d be happy to brainstorm ideas with you! I prefer Discord or GDocs RP or even Tumblr RP, as my working hours are unpredictable and those methods provide a measure of flexibility. 

I WILL PLAY: most forms of RP, from serious darker themes to lighthearted fluff and humor. Plots are the best! Whether you want to involve him in your plot or vice versa, let’s talk about it!! Relationship development (whether platonic or romantic) is welcome and encouraged, but MUST make sense and develop organically. Just a disclaimer though, if you’re looking to attempt to romance him, expect the slowest burn of all slow burns. I’m talking ‘try to light some wet charcoal, but first you have to find the match in the lake’ slow burn. This man is seriously dense af; he’s oblivious when it comes to romantic or sexual suggestions unless it has pretty much been directly slapped in his face. And even then he will assume you’re joking. 

ASK ABOUT: long-term or permanent injury, scarring, long-term captivity or imprisonment, significant mental tampering, or anything that might dramatically change his character.

I WON’T PLAY: permanent character death, permanent crippling, anything that would leave him unable to function independently. Also, should be kinda obvious, but please do not interact if you’re only looking to ERP. 

SERVER: Mateus | Balmung (alt) | Crystal DC

TIME ZONE: PST (UTC -8)

AVAILABILITY: Afternoons or evenings; it varies as I keep an unpredictable work schedule. 

CONTACT: @clearsundays or @elevensuns on Tumblr. In-game at Sun’li Yhunja on Mateus and Balmung (mostly on Mateus)!

Thank you again for reading! Pa-pa-ya pinging: ♥  @mooglemeet @ffxiv-crystal-rp @crystalxivrp @balmungrp

#ffxiv rp #ffxiv crystal rp #mateus rp #balmung rp #character development #sun'li yhunja

[its-spelled-maille]

Was dense chain mail weaves a real thing? I have seen butted rings in styles like 1 in 12 or double dragonscale, but most pics of real chainmail looks to be 1 in 4, how un/common were heavy chainmail?

Yeah!I love this question, because varying chainmail density on armor is super cool.

So chainmail, is really fucking old. Some say pre-germanic tribes created it, some say even earlier than that. And with anything that old, it has come in millions of shapes and sizes.

So depending on the area, its use, its material, and its purpose, chainmail can be very dense, and be made of rings of different sizes.

Looking at chain-plate combinations like the yushman/zirah baktar, from turkey and the middle east, we can see that the weave is quite dense in the core of it, and actually thins out along the edges of the armor!

the maille gets denser, with larger rings, as you get closer towards the vitals of the neck and chest. And thinner, smaller gauge rings towards the extremities.

But this isn’t exactly the weave changing as much as the rings getting larger and closer together.

We also see something similar in a lot of european chain aventails and neck protections, with the weave actually changing  dense around the actual neck. Here’s a more extreme case on a german “bishops mantle” a type of elbow length aventail.

The rings are thicker, and much more densely woven around the collarbones and throat. But these are both somewhat late period examples. Seems to go from a 4-1 to a 6-1 or maybe tighter.

There do of course, exist chainmail armours of all one size and weave,

A lot earlier chainmails seem to be of uniform size and weave.

These are the remains of a viking era chain shirt, and all rings are uniform across the entire surviving parts. aside from armpit gussets.

So a little more in the middle, (1300′s) Much of the chainmail found in Visby appears to be of a uniform density and ring size, with a relatively dense weave. But to my understanding it was a mixed bag of rich and poor.

So to answer your question simply, yes. Chain ranged greatly in weave density and ring size. And it appears to be relatively common to have multiple weaves after the 16th century.

But most cases range from 4-1 to 6-1 weaves.

I hope this helped!

-Mod Close-Helm

#armor #response #chain #chainmail #chainmaille #mod close-helm

[huizhangstuff-blog]

Chainmail Armor: Protective and Performance Function

Chainmail armor, also called mail armor or medieval armor, composed of chainmail coif, chainmail collar, chainmail shirt, chainmail gloves and chainmail chausses, can provide comprehensive protection for your body. Thus, it is favored by both experienced soldiers and new recruits. To make chainmail armor, we draw metal into wire, coil the wire, cut the coil into individual link, and then link the rings together. There are two methods of linking the rings: butted or riveted. Butted chain mail armor made of bent rings is often used for performance and riveted chainmail armor made of punched rings is highly resistant to both slashing or stabbing. The rings, including round rings and flat rings, are often made of stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, titanium, copper or brass and the finish of rings is often zinc coating and black coating. Presently, chain mail armor is not only used for protection but also widely used in various kinds of costume performance.

https://www.chainmail-armor.com/chainmailarmor/chainmail-armor-full-categories.html

Many pieces of black round metal rings are connected together. CMR-01: Butted round chain mail rings for making the chainmail armor.Many pieces of black flattened metal rings are connected together. CMR-02: Flattened chainmail rings for making the chainmail armor. In front of green plants, a person is wearing a silver white chainmail coif and a chainmail shirt. CMR-03: Galvanized chainmail coif and chainmail shirt for body protection. Specifications

Material: carbon steel, stainless steel, bright aluminum, anodized aluminum, titanium, brass, copper, bronze, etc. Linking methods: riveting, butting and welding. Chain link pattern: European 4 in 1 Interlocking. Surface treatment: zinc coating, black coating, copper plating. Chainmail armor classifications: chainmail coif, chainmail collar, chainmail shirt, chainmail gloves, chainmail chausses. Additional information: wire diameter and ring diameter can be customized. A piece of sliver white chainmail armor and the wire diameter of a ring is being measured by a caliper. CMR-04: Measurement of chainmail' wire diameter: 1.18 mm.A piece of sliver white chainmail armor and the ring diameter of a ring is being measured by a caliper. CMR-05: Measurement of chainmail' ring diameter: 8.21 mm. A piece of tight stainless steel round butted chainmail rings. CMR-06: Stainless steel round butted chainmail rings for making chainmail armor.A piece of tight brass round butted chainmail rings. CMR-07: Brass round butted chainmail rings for making chainmail armor. Features

Excellent craftsmanship armor. Every wire is selective before wrapping and each ring is tightly connected with other four rings to avoid falling off. Lightweight and comfortable to wear. The medieval armor made of aluminum is light in weight and shiny in surface. At the same time, due to the three-dimensional making, the mail coif can perfectly fit your whole body. Impressive and awesome armor. Brass, copper or blackened chainmail armor brings the feel of medieval renaissance. Thus it is extremely suitable for renaissance reenactment or costume performance. Large protection range. Chainmail armor composed of chainmail coif, chainmail collar, chainmail shirt, chainmail gloves and chainmail chausses, can provide comprehensive protection. Rust and corrosion resistance. The surface of mail armor can be zinc plated or blackened which can supply a layer of protection. At the same time, the coating layer is very sturdy which will not come off. Sturdy and durability. The chainmail armor made of stainless steel is very sturdy and can be used for a long time. Harm reduction. The chain mail armor can make force of other wrestlers evenly and can also stop the stabbing of swords or knives. Functional. Chainmail armor can be used not only in protection but also in performance. Perfect suit. If you wear a full suit of chainmail armor, the visual effect would be perfect and impressive. A piece of silver white chainmail armor in contracting state. CMR-8: Chainmail armor can be contracting.A piece of silver white chainmail armor in stretching state. CMR-9: Chainmail armor can be stretching. Two pieces of chainmail rings: the left is made of big rings and the right is made of small rings with a coin on it. CMR-10: The ring diameter of chainmail armor can be customized.Two pieces of chainmail sheet with a metal coil in the middle: brass chainmail sheet and mild steel chainmail sheet. CMR-11: The material of chainmail armor can be customized. A person is wearing a piece of dark brown chainmail shirt with two hands in pockets. CMR-12: Chainmail shirt style can be customized.A person is wearing a pair of dark brown chainmail chausses with a black belt. CMR-13: Chainmail chausses style can be customized. Applications Chainmail armor with impressive appearance and delicate craftsmanship is used not only in wars or battles for protection but also in festivals or performance for costume display or historical reenactment.

Protection function. Chainmail armor can prevent the whole body from hurt of swords, spears, knives, impact weapons, and projectiles, while still can provide full and equal coverage for your body. Performance function. Chainmail armor is also great for live action role playing, renaissance reenactment, costume performance, knight costume, Halloween costume, cosplay, fancy dress, theatrical props, etc. Other function. Chainmail armor also can be used as gifts for others, movies, DIY hobbyist mail, full combat sports, superman or alienated man creation, or any other creative ideas. A person is wearing a complete set of silver white chainmail armor with 2 hands making the gesture of victory. CMR-14: Chainmail armor for chainmail collectors, DIY hobbyists or enthusiasts.Black chainmail shirt, chainmail coif, chainmail gloves, sword and shield are hung on the wall. CMR-15: Chainmail armor combined with swords and shield can be used for costume performance. A woman is wearing a golden color chainmail coif. CMR-16: Chainmail coif can be used for ornaments or decoration.Two persons are wearing suits of armor and one of the two is wearing the chainmail shirt. CMR-17: Chainmail armor can be used for body protection in swordplay. A man wearing a black chainmail coif in a movie is speaking. CMR-18: Chainmail coif can be used in movies.A man wearing a stainless steel chainmail shirt and chainmail collar is holding a sword. CMR-19: Chainmail shirt and chainmail collar can be used in movies.

[laqueersblog]

Stylish Women Bra Fabric: Net

Stylish Women Bra Fabric: Net

Stylish Women Bra Fabric: Net Fabric: Net Padding: Padded Multipack: 1 Sizes: S (Underbust Size: 27 in, Overbust Size: 31 in) L (Underbust Size: 31 in, Overbust Size: 35 in) M (Underbust Size: 29 in, Overbust Size: 33 in) New Fashion Antique Sexy Bra Top Aluminum Chain Mail Halter Nice Pieces Gift SCA LARP Unique Design Unique Style Handmade Chainmail Butted

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[wisepowderposts]

Maille Gauntlets and Chainmail Gloves

Maille Gauntlets and Chainmail Gloves A good warrior never underestimates the importance of an equally good pair of chainmail gloves. More than his weapons, a warrior's hands are his trade, and every warrior should protect their hands as they would protect their lives. That's why Medieval Armour offers a wide assortment of chainmail gauntlets that are perfect for protecting a warrior's hands. Many of our steel chainmail gloves are battle tested and ready to go, providing all the protection that chainmail armour should when subjected to the rigors of combat. To get more news about chain mail gloves, you can visit boegger.net official website. Like the medieval armour used by warriors of antiquity, these pieces of chainmail hand armour are made utilizing many of the same patterns and designs that were prevalent in history. That means that our chainmail gloves and our chainmail mittens are typically either butted chainmail, where the ring ends simply butt up against one another, or riveted chainmail, where the ring ends are riveted together for added strength. If you're heading into battle any time soon, a good pair of chainmail gauntlets is an absolute must-have that will keep your hands safe and secure, while allowing you to keep fighting the good fight. And when you're wearing mail gauntlets from Medieval Armour and you shrug off a blow to your hands and keep on fighting, then that means that we've done our job and done it well in providing you with adequate and effective hand protection.