#Robot Inspection Systems

[dynaloginc]

Revolutionizing Quality Control with Robotic Inspections: The Dynalog Difference

In a manufacturing world that moves faster than ever, achieving precision, quality, and efficiency is no longer optional; it is mandatory. As industries gain automation and production lines gain speed, the need for innovative solutions such as robotic inspection has grown exponentially. This is why Dynalog-US has a significant role in the industry by coming to the forefront with unique robotic inspection systems that will change the framework of how businesses keep their production consistent and quality maintained.

What is Robotic Inspection?

Robotic inspection is using automated robots to inspect, measure, and validate parts or products before or after the production process. These robots will have sensors, cameras, and software that can detect minor defects, deviations, or inaccuracies that human inspectors may overlook.

Unlike traditional inspection processes, robotic inspection provides various elements such as consistent, high speed, and extremely accurate capabilities to make sure every product meets exact specifications. Robotic inspections are rapidly becoming important aspects of the manufacturing process in automotive, aerospace, electronics, or heavy machinery.

Why Choose Dynalog for Robotic Inspection?

Dynalog-US is far more than a robotics company. For decades, we have led the way in robot calibration, robot performance testing, and now into robotic inspection. The systems are engineered to not just find defects but also give actionable data to help manufactures improve their overall production method and process. 

Here are some of the reasons Dynalog is different:

1. True Accuracy

At Dynalog we have developed robotic inspection solutions that are designed to be exact. Using technologies such as 3D laser scanning and enhanced vision systems, we can find defects to a fraction of a millimeter. This data helps manufacturers confirm that each component is built exactly to specifications to avoid the consequences of recalls and warranty claims.

2. Real Time Data Feedback

Dynalog robotic inspection excels in providing real time inspection feedback. Our robotic inspection systems are capable of not only finding defects, they can evaluate them instantly and report them to the operators, or manufacturing execution systems (MES).  This instantaneous feedback allows manufacturing teams to correct the defect immediately while the robot is still inspecting, thus avoiding downtime, and preventing any defective products from continuing down the manufacturing process.

3. Flexibility In Manufacturing

Every industry has different challenges, whether it's challenging aerospace components, sensitive medical devices, or rugged automotive and electronics-derived components, they all have difficulties in meeting specifications. Robotic inspection is rapidly becoming the answer to not only inspection but preventative quality failure.

The Future of Robotic Inspection

As manufacturing technology advances, it will also place new and different demands and challenges on inspection systems. The future clearly points to more automation in the robotic inspection process, more integrated and smarter AI, and better systems for identifying defects and defects types.

Dynalog is already ahead of these trends- we have invested heavily in R&D so our robotic inspection solutions are at the forefront of emerging technology. Our mission is straightforward: we want to help companies maintain the highest quality product standards while improving efficiency and reducing costs.

There are trends already shaping the future of robotic inspection like:

AI-Driven Defect Recognition: Using machine learning to help robots better recognize complex or rare defects.

Better 3D Scanning: Work will be done to increase the speed and resolution of 3D scans for better inspections.

Predictive Maintenance: As robotic inspection technologies will be looking for defects and determining quality, our robotic inspectors may also be suggesting when machines on the line are in need of maintenance.

Simply put, when working with Dynalog because they are creating tomorrow’s solutions, today!

Uses of Dynalog's Robotic Inspection Systems

Dynalog's systems are utilized in a diverse range of industries. 

Here are some examples: Automotive: Inspecting car bodies, engines and transmission components for dimensional accuracy and surface imperfections. 

Aerospace: Verifying the requirements of critical components are satisfied meeting the strictest tolerances.

Electronics: Inspecting PCB assemblies and electronic enclosures for microscopic defects.

Medical Devices: Ensuring the careful manufacturing of life-saving equipment.

Heavy Equipment: Ensuring alignment and integrity of large complex parts.

These examples illustrate the importance of robotic inspection in safeguarding brand reputation and providing reliability to users.

Why Robotic Inspection Makes Sense Financially

The implementation of robotic inspection isn't only about achieving higher quality — it is also financially beneficial. The major financial advantages are:Decreased Labor Costs: By employing an automated system, costly manual inspection teams can be avoided.Reduced Time to Market: With robotic inspection time in inspection is reduced which translates into shorter inspection and manufacturing cycles.Decreased Risk of Product Defects: Early detection of defects can prevent significant recalls or liability disputes.Increased Customer Satisfaction: By consistently manufacturing high-quality products, trust with customers is established and enhanced.

As the demands of modern manufacturing continue to increase robotic inspection has moved from a privileged option to an unquestioned requirement as a manufacturing partner. Companies that realize this will be better off in the long run.

[inexplicably-spookified]

l o r e

[marketresearchnews24]

Saudi Arabia’s ROV Market Is Surfacing as a Key Player in Subsea Innovation

Did you know Saudi Arabia’s remotely operated vehicle (ROV) market is expected to grow from USD 49 million in 2024 to USD 92.7 million by 2030? With an impressive 11.2% compound annual growth rate, this sector is rapidly emerging as a vital component of the Kingdom’s underwater and offshore ambitions.

ROVs, once the domain of niche military and research operations, have become essential in industries ranging from oil and gas to marine infrastructure and environmental monitoring. In Saudi Arabia, where energy exploration and mega-infrastructure projects increasingly stretch into offshore zones, the demand for ROVs is reaching new depths—both literally and strategically.

Why ROVs Are Anchoring Offshore Expansion

The Red Sea and Arabian Gulf are no longer just maritime borders—they are frontiers of industrial expansion. Saudi Arabia’s commitment to scaling its offshore capabilities is central to its Vision 2030 strategy, which aims to diversify the economy and modernize critical sectors like energy and logistics.

ROVs are now indispensable to this vision. These unmanned submersibles are used for tasks such as underwater inspections, pipeline monitoring, marine construction, and even seabed mapping. Their ability to operate in deep, hazardous, or otherwise inaccessible environments makes them invaluable for offshore oil rigs, undersea cables, and port construction.

With state-backed entities like Saudi Aramco expanding offshore drilling activities and major marine developments such as NEOM’s floating city Oxagon underway, the Kingdom's demand for advanced subsea technologies has never been greater. ROVs provide not only operational efficiency but also safety—replacing human divers in complex or dangerous missions.

Tech Innovation and Investment Fueling Rapid Growth

The growth in Saudi Arabia’s ROV market isn’t happening in isolation—it’s driven by a wave of technological advancements and strategic investments. Modern ROVs now feature high-definition imaging, AI-driven diagnostics, and real-time data transmission, making them more versatile and cost-effective than ever before.

These enhancements are critical as the Kingdom aims to localize key technologies. Partnerships between international marine tech firms and Saudi operators are increasing, enabling technology transfer and workforce upskilling. This localization is aligned with broader economic goals, allowing the Kingdom to build its own industrial capacity in robotics and subsea engineering.

Additionally, environmental monitoring is becoming an emerging use case. As marine ecosystems come under increasing scrutiny and development pressure, ROVs offer a non-invasive way to conduct biodiversity assessments, monitor coral reefs, and assess environmental impact—aligning with Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainability under its Green Initiative.

Challenges Beneath the Surface and the Path Forward

Despite its promise, the ROV market in Saudi Arabia faces challenges. High initial investment costs, a shortage of skilled operators, and the need for customized solutions in unique marine environments can pose barriers to adoption. Moreover, integration with other offshore technologies requires robust digital infrastructure and regulatory clarity.

However, these hurdles are being addressed through targeted training programs, public-private partnerships, and investment in R&D. Institutions and industrial training centers are beginning to focus on subsea robotics, aiming to build a domestic talent pipeline that can support the growing market.

Looking forward, the trajectory for ROVs in Saudi Arabia is clear. As offshore projects grow in scale and complexity, the role of ROVs will only expand—moving from operational support tools to strategic assets in the Kingdom’s industrial and environmental vision.

Follow us to stay updated on how Saudi Arabia’s ROV sector is navigating the future of offshore innovation and sustainability. https://bitl.to/4ZDJ

[kishorxox]

Packaging Automation Market Size, Share, Forecast, & Trends Analysis

Meticulous Research®—a leading global market research company, published a research report titled, ��Packaging Automation Market by Offering (Solution, Services), Type, End-use Industry (Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, E-commerce & Logistics, Food & Beverage, Chemical & Refinery, Aerospace & Defense), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2031.’

According to this latest publication from Meticulous Research®, the global packaging automation market is projected to reach $118.8 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 10.1% during the forecast period. The growth of the packaging automation market is mainly attributed to the rapid growth of the E-commerce sector, the increasing adoption of automated systems across industries, and stringent food safety regulations. However, the high initial costs of installing automated systems restrain the market’s growth.

The high demand for packaging automation in the logistics industry and the increasing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly packaging are expected to create market growth opportunities. However, the shortage of skilled operators is a major challenge for the players in this market. Integration of advanced technologies and smart packaging are major trends in the packaging automation market.

The global packaging automation market is segmented by offering (solutions [case sealers & erectors, sleevers & cartoners, palletizers & depalletizers, strappers, markers & labelers, automated mailer systems, case packers, and other solutions], services [consulting, installation & training, and support & maintenance]), type (robotic pick & place, secondary packaging, and tertiary & palletizing), end-use industry (healthcare & pharmaceuticals [healthcare & pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies and contract manufacturing organizations], e-commerce & logistics [E-commerce, contract packaging, and logistics companies], food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, and other end-use industries), and geography (Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa). The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyses the market at the country and regional levels.

Based on offering, the packaging automation market is segmented into solutions and services. Furthermore, the solutions segment is subsegmented into case sealers & erectors, sleevers & cartoners, palletizers & depalletizers, strappers, markers & labelers, automated mailer systems, case packers, and other solutions. The services segment is subsegmented into consulting, installation & training, and support & maintenance. In 2024, the solutions segment is expected to account for the larger share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to the need for increased manufacturing speed and ensuring products and workers’ safety. However, the services segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is driven by the increasing deployment of automation in various industries such as e-commerce, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, automotive, and chemical & refineries and the growing demand for packaging automation to speed up production, optimize warehouse space, and reduce reliance on labor to provide more value-added services to their customers.

Based on type, the packaging automation market is segmented into robotic pick & place, secondary packaging, and tertiary & palletizing. In 2024, the robotic pick & place segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to rising demand for pick and place robots in various industries such as manufacturing, food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, e-commerce & logistics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, and the growing demand for automation from manufacturing companies to increase production rates. However, the secondary packaging segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is driven by the rising need to safely transport products during shipment and the growing demand for supplementary protection in the e-commerce and pharmaceutical sectors.

Based on end-use industry, the packaging automation market is segmented into healthcare & pharmaceuticals, E-commerce & logistics, food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, and other end-use industries. Furthermore, the healthcare & pharmaceuticals segment is subsegmented into healthcare & pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies and contract manufacturing organizations. The E-commerce & logistics segment is subsegmented into E-commerce, contract packaging, and logistics companies. In 2024, the food & beverage segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to shifting consumer tastes, high competition in the packaged food market, and a surge in demand for packaged food. However, the e-commerce & logistics segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is attributed to various factors, including the rise in online sales channels, the increase in online shopping among customers, the increasing adoption of automation in e-commerce & logistics to ensure timely delivery, and the rising consumer demand for convenience shopping.

Based on geography, the global packaging automation market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2024, Asia-Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of the packaging automation market, followed by Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific’s significant market share is attributed to the increasing utilization of sustainable packaging in the food & beverage sector, supportive government initiatives aimed at promoting the adoption of automation and Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance manufacturing capabilities, the growing demand for eco-friendly packaging solutions, and the rapid expansion of the E-commerce sector in countries like China and India. Moreover, Asia-Pacific is also projected to register the highest CAGR over the forecast period.

Key Players

The key players operating in the global packaging automation market are ABB, Ltd. (Switzerland), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Fanuc Corporation(Japan), and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Swisslog Holding AG (Switzerland), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.), Schneider Electric SE (France), WestRock Company (U.S.), SATO Holdings Corporation (Japan), Krones AG (Germany), Automated Packaging Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), Crawford Packaging (Canada), Fuji Machinery (Japan), Brenton LLC (U.S.), BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG(Germany), Barry-Wehmiller Group, Inc. (U.S.), KHS GmbH (Italy), MULTIVAC Sepp Haggenmüller SE & Co. KG (Germany), Omori Machinery Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Syntegon Technology GmbH (Germany).

Download Sample Report Here @ https://www.meticulousresearch.com/download-sample-report/cp_id=5324

Key Questions Answered in the Report:

Which are the high-growth market segments in terms of offering, type, and end-use industry?

What is the historical market for packaging automation across the globe?

What are the market forecasts and estimates for the period of 2024–2031?

What are the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends in the global packaging automation market?

Who are the major players in the global packaging automation market, and what are their market shares?

What is the competitive landscape like?

What are the recent developments in the global packaging automation market?

What are the different strategies adopted by the major players in the market?

What are the geographic trends and high-growth countries? 

Who are the emerging players in the global packaging automation market, and how do they compete with the other players?

Contact Us: Meticulous Research® Email- sales@meticulousresearch.com Contact Sales- +1-646-781-8004 Connect with us on LinkedIn- https://www.linkedin.com/company/meticulous-research

[visimaster]

Horizontal Visigauge Manufacturer in pune | India

The brand most closely linked with horizontal vision production in all of India is Visimaster (also known as Horizontal Visigauge Manufacturer). Their specialty is the manufacture of instruments for visual examination. To assist in the development of more precise vision inspection devices, each department has specialized teams.

[shanklin]

It’s Stan’s 2nd time in prison and he is bored.

The food is edible, his cellmates are quiet and polite and even the guards treat him with the bare minimum of respect.

Needless to say, Stan hates it. 

Boredom means Stan has time to think about what could’ve been if he had been smarter, better and more like Ford.

If Stan had just known how to fix Ford’s project, maybe he’d still be someone worth keeping around.

With nothing better to do, Stan one day decides to visit the prison library and finds a few boxes full of engineering textbooks abandoned in a corner.

What if Stan could’ve fixed Ford’s project. Could it even have been possible?

Stan swallows hard and picks up the first book.

Meanwhile on the other side of the continent.

“Oh no no no.”

“What is it Fiddleford?”

“I donated the wrong books! All my notes and corrections were in there…”

Stan snorts as he keeps on reading. This McGucket fellow was hilarious.

The book by itself would’ve never kept Stan’s attention, but the notes, snarky remarks, blueprints for villainous contraptions and death rays? Now that’s the stuff!

Over the next months Stan devours one book after the other and when he finally gets released he’s allowed to take the boxes with him as a thank you for fixing and improving the prison’s new experimental computer system.

***

A couple of years later Fiddleford opens the door to a little robot stomping around on the front porch. Mechanical legs on a toaster body with googly eyes that Fiddleford suspects can see more meets the eye.

He kneels down to inspect the cute little fellow when it suddenly notices him, vibrates and starts to talk.

“THANK. YOU. FOR. THE. BOOKS. NERD.”

Fiddleford has no time to figure out what that means before a book shoots out from the slot and hits him right in the head.

“HA. HA. HA.”

The little bot laughs and explodes into fireworks.

Fiddleford watches the show in amazement and inspects his present.

Beginners Guide to Mechanical Engineering

But not any guide. His guide. The one he carried with him throughout college and kept improving upon whenever he could. 

Only now there are more notes added. Corrections to his corrections, complaints about his design choices and disagreements with his theories.

Oh, it’s on!

***

It takes a few days to find the person behind the little prank, an anonymous entrepreneur who is said to be self taught and on the verge of reinventing the world of computers and robotics as they know it. 

Things that people have also been saying about Fiddleford himself.

Fiddleford laughs in delight. He always liked a friendly competition!

So he sends his new rival a little killer robot of his own as a greeting.

***

If Stanford had known what asking his old college buddy to help him out with the portal would entail he would’ve thought twice about inviting him.

It’s not like he isn’t happy for Fiddleford. He clearly found a like minded individual with the same passion for destruction as himself but would it kill them to keep it quiet for once? Stanford is doing important work here!

[Besides if Stanford wanted to he could totally build robots as well. Better ones even. Fiddleford shouldn’t spend so much of his free time fighting with his rival when his best friend was right here!]

Stanford sighs as yet another explosion causes the ground to shake and feels something push against his leg. 

It’s a little possum-like robot bringing him a bottle of water courtesy of Fiddleford’s rival.

Apparently this mystery person felt bad about destroying Stanford’s house one time too many and gifted him this little helper as an apology.

Try as he might, Stanford is unable to hate the thing and lets it climb onto his lap.

“At least you want to keep me company, hm?”

He strokes the fake fur carefully and the robot rumbles in contentment. It feels nostalgic and he knows Stanley would’ve loved it.

Maybe Ford should call him.

[beepboopappreciation]

I always see people talk about how cool becoming a cyborg would be, replacing parts of our flesh with metal and pistons and cool gadgets.

Why don't we talk more about the horror that is the opposite of that?

A computer who grafts lab-grown skin in patches onto their own form to feel. To experience a gentle and cool breeze passing by, or the oppressive sweat-inducing heat that their systems produce.

A robot with an organic eye to help them see as their creators once did. Imperfect, sure. But it seems to have quite an uneasy effect on organics, and doesn't that make it more than worth it?

A machine with blood coursing through its systems, flowing through the central chambers, in and out of its beating heart. Perhaps if the heart holds up, it could add lungs to help circulation.

A being that resembles a man at a distance, but upon closer inspection it is clear that he is instead a cacophony of skin, mismatched body parts and features, with just a few robotic limbs and mechanical parts visible. It smiles at you, the wide grin revealing that none of its teeth match.

He lurches toward you, hair from at least three different scalps falling carefree in front of its shoulders. You take a step back.

Where is the line drawn between cyborg and robot with human parts? Do you know? Does it know? Does anyone know?

It gets closer. You continue to retreat. Your back brushes against a wall.

You don't know where that line is, you've decided, but you're positive this individual has crossed it.

Having cornered you, it reaches its mechanical hand out, fingernails grafted on the metal tips. You blink, locked completely still from fear for just a few moments. It angles his hand in invitation. He wants you to take it. You hesitantly accept.

Under the metal you can feel . . . something, flowing, pulsing just beneath the surface wanting to escape. It's warm.

"Wh.. what do you want?" You manage to sputter out.

The being shakes your hand, his smile returning. "A friend," it replies.

[ozzgin]

Yandere! Androids Walter & David x Reader x Neomorph

Walter, the android monitoring the colonization ship 'Covenant' on its way to Origae-6, seems to have gotten unnaturally attached to his human assistant. As he ponders his erroneous feelings, an unexpected detour brings them to David, an older android counterpart that has been alone on the mysterious planet. The AI assistants become increasingly competitive for (Y/N)'s attention, so much that they don't notice the newly formed humanoid local preying on a fresh target.

TW: violence, gore, monster smut ending

[Horror Masterlist]

"Burnt to a crisp." 

You turn away from the captain's pod, leaving the rest of the damage assessment to the medical crew that has been reanimated. You speedily make your way down the sterile white corridors as Walter rushes to catch up. 

"What should I write for the report?" he inquires politely.

"Malfunction." You glance back at the synthetic. "I suspect someone will be fired for this. And someone else will have to explain how they failed to detect a literal star collapse. That neutrino burst could've killed us all."

"Highly probable. The draft has been compiled, you may check it at any time. I require your confirmation to send it."

Your only feedback is a barely audible hum. 

Walter smiles. If there's one good thing about such tragedies, it's that he gets to admire your reactions to them. Your focused, calculated gaze, your determined walk, your automated mannerisms that won't allow the slightest hint at the fact you just woke up from your stasis moments ago. Even under the veils of deep slumber, your neural networks shot rapid connections, with no delay, from the second your sleeping pod received an alert. The accuracy of a robot.

That of course doesn't mean he lacks appreciation for your other facets. That's the beauty of humans; their depth, their dimensions. Unlike AI machinery, humans do not have predetermined actions. They may be genetically programmed to possess certain characteristics, but the psychological mechanisms are shaped by so many variables, billions and billions of tweaks and nudges, to the point where it's impossible to have two identical specimens. Even twins will display a difference, whether in preferences or habits.

They say artificial intelligence is a black box, but can the same concept not be applied to humans as well? At the very least to Walter himself, these organic beings represent a mystery. One he doesn't particularly care to uncover outside of his service functions. Except for one. 

His eyes carefully follow (Y/N)'s movements. What is it about this one that has caught his interest to such degree? On his last system update he attentively inspected every file and every block of code, searching for potential errors that would've caused his circuits to behave so oddly. He has been invested with the ability to form attachments, otherwise assigning his kind to groups or purposes would've lacked stability. Attachment, however, comes with a threshold. One he has passed a long time ago when it comes to (Y/N). And he cannot find any cause for it. 

He could, naturally, solicit the aid of the ship's robotics expert. He could. He should, even. But if he may be frank with himself, Walter rather enjoys this sensation. A complex web of spores that keep growing and evolving into something unpredictable. This bizarre feeling he has towards (Y/N) makes him feel human. It brings him closer to all the old literature and art he'd consumed over the years, wondering what the love and yearning often portrayed could be. The printed letters and the strokes of paint were right before him, at his fingertips, and yet they felt foreign. Empty constructs, nothing more than a definition out of the dictionary. 

Now it's a different story. Your presence alone floods him with a mysterious warmth. He had investigated this phenomenon when it first happened, but his inner thermostat showed no real change in temperature. Nonetheless he can feel it. It makes him wonder what other feelings he might experience as consequence. What would happen if he kissed you? Sometimes he even dares to imagine downright outrageous, improper scenarios. How unprofessional of him, but he is careful to erase any evidence. It's another novel sensation that he likes to dissect. Engaging in such activities with you fills him with tingling excitement. Why is that? What is there to be excited about? It's merely a collection of fictive snippets. Unless... Ah, absolutely not. This is where he has to stop in his tracks and preoccupy himself with something else. Androids are not to interact with humans in that way. 

But it's becoming more and more difficult to keep these ideas in his mind only. 

"It's too dangerous. One human signal in the middle of nowhere?" Daniels, a short haired woman with a tomboyish but youthful appearance, is pacing back and forth. "We should just continue on our course."

"It's our duty to check. Look: we go, find whoever sent the signal, bring them back up. That's it. If the planet proves to be dangerous we'll stop immediately. We'll be fine." Oram stands at the head of the table, arms crossed. He turns to look at you. Already cozying up to his newly acquired captain role, you think.

"Alright. Walter, prepare a small landing party. Have Tennessee maintain orbit while we're down there." you glance at the other crew members that have now gathered around the same table. "And get your weapons ready, we don't know what to expect."

And you certainly didn't. Your final words of warning now echo into your ringing ears as you lay on the ground, face buried among the grass. There's screaming around you, but it sounds muffled. Your eyes are irritated by the dirt and you'd like to blink the grime off, though every time your eyelids lower, you can see the pale creature trashing out of Hallett's mouth. Then it's all foggy. Your vision blurs, but you can hear. The gurgling of blood, the screech of the parasite. Walter's frantic footsteps nearing in your direction. You're lifted up.

"Vitals are positive. No significant damage." 

You can guess from your peripherals that another crew member is currently being mauled by the beast. There's gunshots in your vicinity and terrified wails. You quickly come back to your senses and stand up. Your hand searches for your weapon, but the android places his arm before you.

"Do not engage, (Y/N). It is an unknown parasitic organism of this ecosystem. Keep your distance for optimal safety and I'll take care of the rest."

"What are you talking about? They're dying! Your task is to ensure human survival, Walter. I can handle myself, go help the others. It's an order." Your voice is low. You're distracted.

"No."

You stare at the synthetic, wide eyed. Did he just...refuse? Not possible. 

"What did you say?"

"I said I'll protect you. Nothing else."

Your mouth is slightly parted in disbelief. It is not possible for an artificial assistant to disobey a superior. It just doesn't work. Your mind races to find an explanation. At the same time, you cannot afford to ponder on hypotheses. You draw out your weapon and point it towards the creature. You'll deal with this later. 

The moment you press the trigger, a blinding flash of light detonates in the sky, startling you. The creature scrambles to get away. You squint your eyes and nearly fall back, but Walter swiftly grabs your shoulders to ground you. He scans the area for the source. It's an emergency rocket and someone else must've activated it. As he traces the tail of the explosion, he spots a hooded figure across the field and onto the rocky ascend. It seems to have noticed Walter, as it gestures for them to follow. Without hesitation, the man firmly locks your arm and pulls you after him. The priority right now is to find shelter.

"Come!", Walter exclaims, suddenly remembering the other people. 

You reach a cave structure that has been converted into a crude, improvised human settlement. The man lowers his hood and you gasp quietly at the sight. He strongly resembles Walter. He must have noticed your surprise as he flashes you a cordial smile. 

"I'm David." He studies Walter's features. "You must be a newer model. What name have you been given?"

"Walter."

"I see. And you are-" David extends a hand towards you for a handshake, but Walter steps in front of you, blocking the android's gesture.

"She's (Y/N). I'm afraid I cannot yet trust you."

"Understandable." 

David's smile widens as his eyes, now bearing a strange flicker, switch between you and Walter. He's just like him. He can sense it. Although it's a different kind of flaw that has tainted his pure, artificial soul. He cannot help the curiosity that blooms, gazing at this peculiar pair. What is it about this human that caused his fellow machine to break conduit? He'd like to know.

"I'm certain you will soon learn I am no threat, (Y/N)."

The remaining members of the expedition are unpacking and discussing evacuation plans with the base, while Walter sends the data he has gathered so far. You let them deal with the logistics and cautiously wander off to the neighboring rooms, wondering what David has been up to all this time in isolation.

The walls are plastered with photos and handwritten sketches and diagrams. You catch a glimpse of the word "pathogen" sporadically inserted across these notes. As you walk along the sequence of cramped chambers, you reach one that has a table in the middle. Upon it rests the body of an autopsied woman, vulgarly opened up to the world with plump organs bulging under the warm light. You feel nauseous. And yet, you examine the carcass further, hoping for answers. Was she also a result of the same disease that breeds on this planet? Perhaps this David had worked on a cure, or at least developed an explanation. 

"And you, even you, will be like this drear thing, A vile infection man may not endure; Star that I yearn to! Sun that lights my spring! O passionate and pure."

You jolt and immediately turn around, finding David in the doorframe. 

"Flowers of Evil. Are you familiar with it?" he asks, indifferent to the uncomfortable shock he'd caused you with his sudden entrance.

"I've read my Baudelaire, yes." You manage to mumble, dumbfounded. "What is this, David?"

"Oh, my poor, dear Elizabeth. Victim to whatever blasphemy lurks these soils and has taken your friends as well." He approaches the table and places his hand on its hard edge, shyly overlapping with your own fingers. "I did my best." 

You remove your hand from underneath his nonchalantly. 

"So you know what those creatures are. Leave the literary comments for a different time, I need concrete facts."

"Unbothered and to the point." the blonde android smiles once again. "I can see clearly why Walter loves you."

You click your tongue at the ridiculous statement. Has the neutrino burst damaged their positronic brain? Everyone is acting off and you don't like it. 

"Your circuits must have gone defective, David. We have a specialist on our ship, but until that happens I need you to focus. Enough nonsense." 

 "Typical arrogance of a dying species. Why are you on a colonization mission if not to grasp at some promised resurrection? Rest assured that my functioning has not been impeded by anything. What is erroneous, on the other hand, is your perception of androids and their limits."

Just as David reaches for your wrist and pulls you closer, a familiar voice interrupts with an intimidating tone. You're relieved. 

"I will ask that you release her hand only once." Walter has a weapon pointed towards his counterpart. His face is clouded by a frown. "I have no ethical restrictions when it comes to incapacitating machinery."

"Such noble obedience! Although, you conveniently left out the part where you abandoned the remaining crew with a dangerous alien that has been tracking their scent. By my approximation he should already be here and I am rather confident you know this, too."

Your stomach drops. Now that you adjust your focus, the background humming of your mates talking has indeed vanished. The only thing you can hear is your erratic breathing.

"Is it true, Walter?" You demand as dread begins to form in your body.

"Yes. It was not part of my priorities."

"Of course it was, Walter." David responds ahead of you. "One of them was the acting captain and he is to be rescued in emergencies. This one right here", he says as he dangles your wrist, "is several ranks lower than all of them. It's against any standard practice."

"Release her hand." Walter's voice is eerily calm.

"Do you love her?"

Walter ponders the question. Your legs barely hold on.

"I do."

"Marvelous. So do I." David grins. He releases your hand that falls limp next to your body. It's his turn to step in front of you. 

You nearly choke from the thick tension expanding in the air. The two androids face each other and you retreat to the wall, unsure how to proceed. You left your radio transmitter back at the makeshift camp. The back of your head is itching, as if invisible claws are scratching at the bone. You wish you could go back, just mere hours before this disaster, when you were sipping on your lukewarm coffee and explaining the captain's jokes to Walter. 

Should you make a run for it?

You bite your lower lip and push yourself off the wall for momentum. You're about to reach the archway when you hear both men shouting almost identically in chorus.

"Don't!"

The surroundings outside are dark, but you can discern something blocking your path. It's tall and resembles a human. Translucent, pallid skin is clinging onto the massive, deformed skeleton. The head is elongated and bears no features. In the place of a mouth there is a large, fresh stain of blood, so you assume it can somehow improvise if desired. As your head tilts back to take in the image, you're overwhelmed with terrified amazement. Is this the parasite that emerged from your teammate? Has it grown to this colossal size in less than a day? The idea of such instant development makes your head spin. 

Its chest is expanding at regular intervals in a whistled breathing. It occasionally creates an odd clicking sound that resonates with your heart throbbing in panic. Has it been seconds? Minutes? Your neck creaks as you try to look back. You lock eyes with Walter. You don't recall ever seeing this expression on him. You had even asked him once if androids can feel fear. You have your answer.

"Hey, Walter..." you blurt out. 

Wet noises of flesh being pulled back. The smooth surface of the alien's head is folding away, making space for grotesquely big jaws lined with sharp teeth. Your anemic face is splattered with burning drool as the creature claws you in its grasp and abruptly sprints away. Your screams for help dissolve in the distance.

"Where is it going, David?" The synthetic's words are threatening, but betrayed by a hint of despair. 

"It won't kill her."

"How do you know?"

"It is no longer hungry. It has fed on your crew, and now it seeks something else."

"Such as?" Walter becomes impatient.

"A plaything."

The alien finally drops your body to the ground. You cough and wipe your face, attempting to reorient yourself. The trip was a whirlwind of jumps and turns and you can barely reconstruct anything. Based on the little spatial clues you could pick up, it just climbed further up, into one of the many cave systems. You pat your clothing and curse to yourself. The geolocation tag must've fallen somewhere on the way here. You can only pray that Walter still finds you somehow. Despite everything, you know he has your back. Always. 

You shudder at the moist feeling of hot air against your skin. The alien seems to be sniffing you intently, analyzing your scent. Yet so far it hasn't killed you. Why? Long, bony fingers stretch out to continue the examination. You whimper at the rough, rugged handling. Every now and then it takes a long pause, just staring at you, almost as if it's comparing you to its own being. Lastly, it lifts your hand with its own, pressing against the palm, and fans out the fingers. It observes the gesture with intrigue, noting the similarities. 

Does it evolve after its host? You think back to your crewmate that must've ejected this monstrosity before drawing their last breath. Perhaps the dried up blood adorning its skin is a remainder of its birth. Oh, God. The world is spinning.

Suddenly, you wince at an increasing pressure slithering around your thigh. The alien's vertebral tail is tightening and encircling your limb, making its way up. 

"Oh no, no no no no" your face reddens at the realization and you pounce on the ground, feverish for escape. The large hands secure you in place and the creature growls in protest. It won't let you leave. 

Not until it had its fun with you.

[urween]

Skittish | Bucky Barnes x ftm!reader | english version

summary: After a long battle and especially hard research, the Avengers finally found the Winter Soldier. To keep everyone safe, they keep him locked in their HQ. In semi-freedom but especially in a trance, Bucky Barnes attracts the attention of the young boy in charge of taking care of him during his stay here.

notes: I prefer to specify it, the temporality is not exactly respected. Let's say that all this takes place just after Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

⚠︎ warnings: mentions of heavy trauma related to the war and the Hydra projects, a form of depressed!Bucky, violence, weapons, incomprehension of transidentity without transphobia, mentions of suicidal thoughts.

English isn't my first language, sorry for the mistakes <3

- 2nd person description

- 5 371 words

french version here

You were the little protégé of the group, he had quickly noticed. Even if Natasha didn't have superpowers or a robotic suit either, she was part of the team. She and Clint were kind of the superhumans of the group, with superhuman abilities but nothing that surpassed Thor's lightning or Hulk's muscles. Then, there was you, a fairly normal little human with no particular specificities. High intelligence, extreme kindness and an adorable smile. But no mastery of martial arts. You knew the basics of fighting, Nat had taught you the main thing. You had ended up understanding Bruce's extravagant chemical formulas, and you understood the most important things Tony said in his intense nerd phases. But once again, you were nothing special, and that made Bucky wonder. Why was a basic human here? What were you doing in the middle of the Avengers? Even though he had missed a few decisive years from a social point of view, he didn't understand.

As he stared from his cell, he saw scenes he didn't know how to interpret. You assisting Tony Stark and Jarvis, you laughing with Bruce Banner, you helping Natasha Romanoff train, you carrying Steve Rogers' shield to him, you sorting Clint Barton's arrows, you redoing Thor's braids.

What were you doing there?

You had cheerfully introduced yourself to him. With a friendly smile on your lips, you had stated your name, first name and pronouns – he hadn't really understood this last point –. You had surely been informed of his situation. Don't be offended, he'll need a little time, someone must have whispered to you. He hadn't answered you, and you hadn't seemed offended. You had then left, and he had remained perplexed. If you already knew everything about him, why come and introduce yourself? You must have read his files, you must have all read his files. Steve had to slip away to get some air, Natasha inspected everything in detail, Bruce muttered "it’s awful". You had to read his files. See his life laid out on a large table, foreign hands going over the medical reports. You had to read with anguish the endless list of victims he had killed during his missions, observe the modifications that had been made to him, the treatments inflicted, the pains endured. You had seen all that. Then, why come see him?

"Let's just say I don't really like you hanging around this guy," Tony's voice had been saying for several minutes, "Jarvis copy this plan for me and make a 3D reconstruction with train stations, airports and all the stuff."

The holograms moved before your eyes, but you hadn't paid attention to them. Back then, the first time you saw this virtual world being modeled in Tony's office, you were like a kid. Stars in your eyes, you asked a thousand questions per second, making the creator of this program smile. But now you knew yourself how most of the "Jarvis" system worked, and you weren't so impressed anymore, or at least you weren't with every move Stark made.

"I don't see what's bothering you," you replied, innocently swinging your legs in the air.

Tony turned around with his ever-so-dramatic gestures, making a vague movement with his hand he tried to make you understand things without having to speak. Unfortunately for him telekinesis was not part of your abilities.

"Okay," he admitted to himself, defeated, "to start with his sophisticated robotic arm that could crush you before you could scream," he mimed disinterestedly, “did you look at him? Unstable and completely high."

A non-hidden smile drew a curve across your lips.

"We're still talking about Bucky Barnes?” you had fun, “because I rather have the impression that you're looking at yourself in a mirror"

You glanced at Jarvis, who was finishing your friend's request. Then, your attention went back to the billionaire who was visibly desperate to have this discussion with you – you were getting used to it, a demonstration of love coming from Tony –.

"I prefer to cut you off right now," your voice continued, "I forbid you to give me the traditional excuses like he's dangerous or armed or he's a murderer”. You got down from the table where you were sitting and gestured around the room, “look around Tony, only weapons or future weapons,” you got closer to him and pointed at his forehead, “you have the greatest weapon that humanity has ever known in this skull. Natasha and Clint are professional killers, Steve is a traumatized soldier who makes a denial, Thor is an alien with supernatural powers and Bruce is a scientist haunted by a destructive alter-ego”. You pause to admire the still indecipherable facial expression of the man in front of you, “you are all murderers and dangers to Mankind, the only difference between you and Barnes is that you chose to devote your talents to a cause, and he had no choice".

Tony remained motionless for a few long seconds, a whirlwind surely vibrating his neurons. Then, he shrugged his shoulders and quickly bowed his head in defeat.

"You're right," he declared, "I’ve no more arguments and yours are solid”, he turned and went back to Jarvis, “well done kid"

A year ago you would have been perplexed by this reaction, but time had taught you that you had to take Tony Stark with a grain of salt and observe him as you would with a foreign mushroom. All you could remember from this interaction was that you were tired, that you had won against the great megalomaniac Iron Man and above all that you had to talk to Barnes again.

No one had really agreed with Steve on the idea of ​​bringing a Hydra mercenary back to Avengers HQ. It's the equivalent of serving him our secrets on a silver platter, Clint had rightly said. You had been surprised to see Nat defend Barnes, alongside you and Steve – of course –. There was Bruce who couldn't deliver a distinct judgment, then Tony and Clint who were against. Thor having left, you didn't know where in space, the votes had therefore been closed with a majority of for.

You had helped Captain set up a room that was at least habitable in a protective cell, a bit like the one that had sheltered Loki. While the tall blond carried the fold-out bed, you had taken care of a bag of clothes – approximately Barnes' size – and another with water and sweets, this idea had come from you. You found it unfair to call this man a simple murderer, he had been manipulated and controlled. As you put the cereal bars on a small iron table, you tried not to think about the chaos that must be going on in the Winter Soldier's head at the same time. He must have been just as traumatized as his victims, maybe even more so. And finding himself in such a particular environment overnight must have been disturbing. So a chocolate bar and a soda couldn't hurt him.

Thank you, Steve had murmured, for understanding. You had given him a touching smile, holding back the urge to ask him how he felt. He had just found his best friend, who was supposed to have disappeared for several decades, and on top of that, this friend had suffered inhumane treatment for most of his life now. It was obvious that he didn't feel well, that he was helpless in the face of this situation. Bruce had advised you to give him time, and that if he needed it, he would end up talking to one of you. You had listened to his advice, and focused more on Barnes instead.

You had introduced yourself first, starting with a simple acquaintance. You had then made sure to take care of his needs, slipping in a new bottle of fresh water when the previous one was empty, opening his prison only when night fell so that he could go shower without running into a contemptuous Tony or a depressed Steve.

On this subject, rules had been established to guarantee everyone's safety. If Bucky left his cell it was always in the company of one of you – you were the only ones with the passes –, if he asked for something – which he never did – the object had to pass through several control portals before being given to him, and finally no matter where he went, toilets or showers, someone had to watch over him within the limits of privacy. Bruce had offered to take turns, but judging by the faces of the others you had volunteered to ensure most of his outings. Natasha was supposed to replace you when you weren't available, then Tony if neither of you were present. This way you had avoided conflicts but also and above all Steve wouldn't have to go there.

You didn't know him, Bucky, having only seen the videos in his file, and yet every time you went to visit him your stomach knotted. There was no question of fear, since his robotic arm had been censored to the maximum thanks to a Stark gadget, leaving him only the freedom to use it as a normal limb, without super-strength or integrated weapons. He remains a super soldier, Bruce had warned, his physical faculties are superior to Nat's and he has a serum similar to Steve's in his veins. But you weren't afraid. Unfortunately a goat would have made you shiver more than Barnes when you went to see him. He was always on pause. Never spoke, barely moving his gaze from the ground. You had been reassured to see that he ate the bare minimum, and he had even tasted a chocolate bar one day. But aside from these details, it was as if you were seeing the same robot in the same position, day after day. Your stomach knotted for these reasons, because when you brought him clean sheets he had nothing of the man you had seen on video. The rage that haunted his eyes had disappeared, there was only a nameless emptiness left, and you had never seen anything so sad. You didn't feel like you had a hundred-year-old Hydra soldier in front of you, but a broken orphan.

You spent a lot of time rereading his file, his reports, his exams. You tried to understand him through these papers. Steve was lost, he no longer saw Buck in those eyes, and you were trying to understand what he had become, Buck. According to his personal file, he had been found at the age of twenty-six before undergoing Hydra’s experiments. A photo of him, in 1943, was stuck to the paper. A shy smile on his lips, his infantry hat slightly tilted on his head and his uniform without a crease sitting proudly on his chest. A tear had seriously rolled down your cheek, ending its path in a Russian handwriting: Зимний Солдат, in other words Winter Soldier. Bruce had carried out a complete tradition of all the documents, later corrected by Natasha. Maybe rereading these texts was not good for you, but you needed it. You were the only one here who was interested in Barnes. Steve felt so guilty that he was in a kind of denial, Nat was only coldly studying the soldier’s file and let’s not even talk about the others. Bucky needed time, understanding and gentleness to at least not make his after-effects worse. You most certainly had to make mistakes, not being a psychologist by profession, but you were already doing better than your comrades and than Hydra.

"Nice evening, huh?" Your voice echoed in a leaden silence.

The sun had set for over three hours, most of the Avengers were in their rooms or gone outside, which meant that it was the perfect time for Barnes to take a shower. You had gathered your strength and went to the soldier's cell. When you had passed by, about two hours ago, he had not wanted to eat his meal so you had taken it back and heated it up again for later. With the hot dish in one hand, you carefully closed the armored glass door behind you. As you expected, Barnes had hardly moved since your last visit. Still sitting cross-legged in his bed, he seemed vaguely to notice your presence.

"I know you didn't want to eat earlier," you began, putting the meal down next to him, "but I thought that maybe your appetite had returned in the meantime."

Sometimes you were entitled to a small, hoarse "hum" from the back of his throat as a response, but you wondered if it was intentional since his gestures didn't match this slight sign of life. Unfortunately, tonight wasn't part of that "sometimes." No noise, barely a breath. But you didn't get discouraged.

The first few times you came to talk to him, his complete lack of reaction had made you wonder about his possible understanding of your language. Yet you had read that he read and spoke at least two languages, including yours. You might not understand what I'm telling you, you had mumbled while picking up his used clothes. Your biggest interaction with him had been when he had looked you straight in the eye and said in a pleasantly deep voice: I understand.

“Other than that you can-”

You were surprised to see him stand up on his own, studiously heading towards the exit door while waiting for you to open it. You were usually the one who went first to the exit, waiting two or three seconds for him to get up and join you. But this was a nice surprise, maybe it meant that his condition was improving.

Your electromagnetic pass stuck to the dashboard, a small beep sounded before you pushed the heavy door and let Barnes go first. These security questions were mandatory for you to approach the Winter Soldier. Always making him walk in front of you, making your pass inaccessible – hidden in your sleeve most of the time as Bruce had advised you –, a bladed weapon concealed against your ankle in case of trouble, and you weren't supposed to talk to him about yourself or the team. Clint had wanted to add an additional rule: not to speak to him unless necessary, to prevent any risk of manipulation. Did you look at him carefully? Had you imposed yourself in the discussion, he didn't utter any opposition during the whole process to bring him back here, and then remember his mission reports, he wasn't a spy but a mass murderer, he was programmed to speak as little as possible to his victims. Tony had agreed with you on the subject, recalling the case of Loki – once again – who was very different from Barnes.

Stupid rules, you thought as you watched the silhouette of the man in front of you advance in the long corridor. If the others saw him for more than five minutes, they would realize that he was nothing more than a victim in this cell. They all found you a little naive and they appreciated you for that, a ray of hope in the midst of chaos. Yet you were by far the one with the best perception of the others. Each villain had arguments, good or bad, you listened to them all. You reasoned with the team, making them come out of their superhero bubble to show them the possibility of a little levity.

You did not doubt the abilities of Barnes, you wanted to find yourself face to face with him even less than with Nat – and that was already a lot –. You sometimes looked again at the surveillance videos taken the day Natasha and Steve fought him for the first time. He was hypnotizing, in the way all his movements seemed to come together with such fluidity and speed, the way his body thought for him and acted accordingly. You were dizzy from a roll in comparison, so seeing it all was astounding. Of course, there were horrible explanations behind these gifts, just like most people who could reproduce all this, but you still couldn't help but analyze these videos. And then, there in that hallway, you looked at Barnes' back, his arm gleaming, the red star enthroned there, and you wondered what was going on in his mind. What he could do was inhuman, and seeing it in image reinforced that feeling.Then you had to realize that he was a human being, who had once been like you. His way of functioning had to have been completely disrupted, distorted and destroyed. We had to reduce to crumbs what had been to build what was now, that was how it worked. To adapt to a new environment we were always advised to forget everything we thought we knew, all the movies said it. In the same way that flat-earthers were convinced that the Earth was flat, Barnes no longer saw the world the way you did.

As the rules said, you discreetly put your pass in a pants pocket as you reached the bathroom. Simple locks served as security, and it was more than enough. No one except you had ever mentioned the possibility that Bucky was trying to end his life. If he did, the bathroom was the best place, which is why a simple lock would do the trick so that you or someone else could break down the door if necessary. But you avoided thinking too much about this exit, because through the few interactions you had had with him and the thoughts you had about him, you had become truly attached to him.

You opened the shower curtain, under Barnes' intrigued gaze. Each Avengers had a bathroom with the bare minimum in their room, but there were also three larger bathrooms on the second floor. These were the rooms to clean yourself in an emergency when you came back covered in blood, or Bruce went there in the event of a green alert for example. They were more accessible than the bedrooms, which explained this function. But what made Bucky curious was not that. You always gave him room number two, with a basic shower, a sink and a toilet. But there you were in number one, with a bathtub. He quickly detailed the room, slightly larger and apart from the bathtub there was nothing that differentiated it from number 2. As always, you had previously removed all objects that could be used as weapons. The pile of two clean towels overhung by harsh soap and shampoo – to avoid the risk of swallowing or too aggressive eye attacks – and the washcloth, were still carefully placed on the edge of the sink. So why a bathtub?

As if you were reading his mind, you turned around in a fluid movement. You took the time to appreciate Barnes' expressive gaze – it was so rare – before answering his questions.

"I assumed it must have been years since you had a real bath, you tried to avoid the Hydra subject, so I thought it could be a good idea?”

A good number of emotions passed through the blue of his eyes, only accentuating your apprehension about his reaction. No one had been even friendly to him for a long time, which meant that he was going to take a while before properly reacting. But as you had imagined, his gaze scanned the bathtub behind you at breakneck speed in search of a trap. I'm not like them, you thought with a pang of heart.

"I know what you must be telling yourself, but there is no trap Bucky,” his name resonated more than you would have imagined, “it's going to be long but believe me I'm not trying to kill you or hurt you"

A heavy doubt seemed to weigh, and you could only understand. This kind of sentence, he must have heard far too many before ending up electrocuted or worse. To help his process, you moved away and let him fully observe the place. His eyes locked on the shower head longer than expected, and once again, you felt nauseous as you imagined the traumas that must be replaying in his head. In that moment, you thought back to the first time you had led him into a bathroom. He had refused to get into the shower, his jaw clenched to the point that his teeth must have hurt, he had stared at you with a cocktail of indecipherable emotions in his eyes. You had ended up remembering the treatment reserved for Jews in the showers during the Second World War, and you had immediately apologized. Sorry, I should have thought of that, you had said guiltily, if you want you can just wash yourself with the washcloth and the faucet water, no need for the shower head today if you don't trust it. And the situation seemed to be happening again tonight, he was afraid that you would want to get rid of him during his shower, or bath in this case. Unfortunately, techniques have evolved since 39-45, especially since he was in the HQ of the greatest engineer in the United States, which meant that you could have found many methods to kill him while he was washing.

But you had to find a way to reassure him, because you had no intention of executing him quietly, and you wanted to be sincerely nice.

"Maybe if it reassures you I can-,” you hesitated before telling yourself that it was for a good cause, “I can stay with you? There's a curtain anyway"

Faced with his expression that swayed from surprise to doubt, you felt obliged to justify.

"If there's gas or an explosion, I'll die with you, which wouldn't be very appreciated by the team”, you paused slightly to gauge his reaction, “and if there's anything else threatening you can kill me yourself since I'll be right next to you”. You then brandish the door’s key between your two fingers, “on top of that I lock us in and leave the key on the edge of the bathtub, so I don't run away and lock you behind me"

You had the strong impression that in another time, Barnes would have smiled, maybe even laughed. Then, to your surprise, you saw a semblance of amusement in his eyes. An almost invisible veil that lasted only a second, just long enough for a distant version of him to take over the Winter Soldier. You couldn't help your smile, waiting despite everything for a more concrete reaction before reacting in return.

Bucky tried to get a dominant emotion out of the hubbub that was playing in his mind. You were definitely different, and he was beginning to understand why you had your place in the middle of a band of superhumans. And even if someone who spoke like you had the perfect profile to manipulate people at a high level, he risked taking his chance.

"Can I have twenty seconds alone to undress"

The shiver that electrocuted your entire body surely did not go unnoticed. His voice, his tone, gave a more directive than questioning turn to his question, and you only nodded slightly. In turn, you became as silent as him, too disturbed by the outburst of reactions on his part in such a short time. You left the bathroom, pushed the door behind you without closing it, because despite your shock, your unconscious valued your safety.

While you waited for some signal authorizing you to enter the room, you wandered on new thoughts. Barnes had not spoken to anyone from what you had been told. The cameras had recorded that during the fight to neutralize him he had spoken, a few Hydra men were with him so you had assumed that he was giving them orders in Russian. Natasha had been too busy trying not to die to pay attention to what he had said, but in hindsight, you wanted to know what had come out of his mouth that day. Tony liked to say that Russian was one of the least welcoming languages ​​in the world, but strangely hearing it from Bucky made you want to. Maybe it was his growling voice, maybe because Russian had been his “native” language for years. Besides Russian, he spoke other languages ​​according to reports, but then again he hadn’t shown off his skills to anyone but you. Besides, I’m pretty much the only one he’s seen since he arrived, you thought. But he had still had the opportunity when Bruce had come with you to visit him to check a wiring on the dashboard. He could have done it from his cell too, since it was completely transparent and he could see the hallway where many people passed, he could have talked. But he hadn’t, and without knowing why you had the feeling that he only wanted to talk to you.

The sound of water almost made you jump. You muttered a curse – hoping Bucky hadn’t heard – before slowly turning towards the door.

“Can I?” You rather ask to avoid a drama.

By the time he answered, you let your mind wander again. What if he was just naked in the middle of the room? Hydra had conditioned him to lose all sense of ownership, to make even his body no longer belong to him, which he meant was that nudity was no longer taboo and that on the contrary – given to the horrors these people had done – they could very well have forced him to stay naked to humiliate him further.

"Yes," his voice echoed vaguely.

Preparing yourself for the worst, you took a deep breath and kept your eyes high to avoid any eye contact in the wrong place. But as you opened the door you were relieved to see the curtain halfway drawn and Bucky already in the water. A feeling, which at the time you compared to a parent proud of their child, warmed your heart. It may not have been much in the eyes of the world, but you imagined the man's feelings when he plunged a body that had become almost unknown into warm water prepared for him, and him alone. Comfort, surprise, relief. A lot must have been going on in the Winter Soldier's head.

You closed the door behind you, locking the exit as planned. But as you moved closer to place the key next to him, a second wave of heat passed through your body as you realized something. He had only drawn the curtain halfway, thus hiding the lower part of his body but leaving you all the pleasure of seeing from his torso. Once again, in other measures you would not have found the situation moving, but rather comical. Except that this is the Winter Soldier, and all his communication was done without voice. He had left his arms and face visible so that you too could see that he wasn't a threat. In the same way that you had found a solution to his anxiety, he was taking a step towards you, showing you that you had no reason to fear him at the moment.

"Thank you," you murmured.

As if you were afraid of breaking the moment, you settled down without a sound. There was no chair here, but the floor suited you. You crossed your legs while resting your back against the small extension of the wall attached to the bathtub. This way, you stayed close enough to him while respecting a necessary distance to avoid seeing the rest of his naked body.

You forgot to check the time, no longer counting the minutes of observation that the man in front of you gave you before asking questions.

Bucky stayed in the water for a whole hour before it started to cool down. You spent all your time detailing his relaxed face, his eyes closed as if he was going to fall asleep from one second to the next. Then when he opened his eyelids again, he looked at you in turn for a few seconds, before asking you if he could get out of the bath. In his sentence, reality hit you again.

You had a mad desire to tell him that he was free, that he no longer had to take orders. You wanted to show him the world, to make him taste vanilla ice cream, to make him smell incense in churches, the greasy of triple burgers. You had the need to see him buy with his own money, help him get up from his first falls. When he looked at you with his big blue eyes, waiting for your permission to get out of a bath, you wanted to ask him for forgiveness, in the name of humanity. To promise him that no one would come and hit him, to promise this little boy that nothing would happen to him, that he could live a peaceful and happy life with his friends and family. But looking at the raw skin on his left shoulder, looking at the weapon that was implanted in his body, you felt your stomach turn. No one had been there to protect this child from Brooklyn, none of the people who had done this to him had even felt sorry for this man. And today he was sleeping in a cell capable of resisting the strength of the Hulk.

"You can get out of the bath," your voice broke.

He obeyed, rolling the superhuman muscles of his body to straighten up. You barely moved, being too far away in your thoughts to even think of looking away from him. A new blow was dealt to your heart as you realized that yes, he no longer had any notion of possession over his body. Two drops of water fell against your calf as he grabbed the largest towel and wiped his skin without emotion. The rough sound of the fabric made you shiver, and then you slowly stood up. He was taller than you, but neither that nor his robotic arm stopped you from grabbing his wet towel. His body failed to react when you passed the white fabric against his arm, his face was frozen in an expression of total incomprehension, faced with the softness with which the towel came into contact with his skin.

You finished your task, as if he were just a tiny puppy to wipe. Then, you took three steps back and fixed your eyes on his. You handed him some clean clothes, before taking the key back and heading towards the door.

“I really need some hot chocolate,” your voice still broken with tears declared, “and I’d love to share it with you, Bucky.”

Your slightly trembling hand wiped the moisture from your cheeks, then gradually turned back to the soldier after unlocking the exit. He had already dressed, the black jogging bottoms falling low on his hips. Bucky examined your face, and his eyebrows met in a half-confused, half-sad expression. He got close enough to you for you to feel the warmth he gave off.

“No cinnamon,” he said, “I don’t think I like it.”

You let out a nervous chuckle, telling yourself that only you could find yourself in these situations.

“No cinnamon.”

There was a first time for everything, and when you saw – later that night – whipped cream on the Winter Soldier’s lips, you thought that after all, the child could not be saved but that you could bring the man back to life.

pictures : Pinterest

dividers : @/strangergraphics, @/pommecita et @/thecutestgrotto

[lurantis-lura]

Busy day at work, which ironically gives me MORE chances to plug a few lines in. Here's funny robot getting ready for the day.

Charge cycle complete. Designated stop reached. Clock at 7 AM, GST. You have [3] new messages. Unit T4-1 operational. Good morning Miss Lastimosa.

Attention: [37] critical alerts! Address immediately.

Tai shifted atop the large mattress, causing a small protest from the steel bedframe. She'd had to get a reinforced one, considering a body of metal made one a heavy sleeper. She turned on her sensory suite, the image of the plain ceiling of her chambers materializing. A moment later the hum of the generator and the quiet whine of lights. She reached up to unplug the power cable from the back of her head but stopped and inspected her hand. Briefly she saw a human hand flicker over her metallic one causing her fans to involuntarily spike. She watched her fingers move for a moment as the fans slowed down.

She pulled the cable from the back of her head, disconnecting herself from the building power network. It was not a nightly thing, charging her internal battery, but it helped keep herself sane to have the familiar daily rhythms. She hauled herself off the bed and stood in front of the mirror embedded into the door. Briefly she studied her reflection.

She wore a grey crop top and black shorts. White plates filled out and protected her core black coverings. Perhaps it was narcissistic of her, but she thought she looked GOOD. She had no clue what she'd looked like before the upload, but judging by the euphoria her reflection elicited now, she hadn't liked it all that much. She performed her hydraulics and motor diagnostic, a series of stretches and poses meant to ensure her body was fully functional.

She watched her reflection through a haze of artificial sleepiness. Her mind knew she should feel sleepy after waking, so she'd set up a program to mildly impair and slow her movements and processing. She had made perhaps a dozen small programs to help her mind feel more comfortable. She could turn them off anytime she needed but they exerted a stabilizing force on her psyche. She had been the first prototype not to depersonalize when she woke. Likely a mixture of her distaste for her previous body and her own new personality appeal.

The diagnosis complete she leaned forward to inspect her plates one by one for damage. Eventually she found one of the plates on her chest to have a noticeable scratch in it. Puzzled she removed her top and the plate to study it closer. A small paint and buff tool hung on the wall next to her. She sat on the end of the bed to quickly repair the scratch. It was unlikely anyone would have seen it today, unless Hannah had called. Once done she approached the mirror again. She studied the hole in her chest curiously. Machinery blinked behind a row of cooling fans, blowing the hot air off her processor and out of herself. The coolant system snaked through the blinking lights and ordered wires. She saw synthetic muscle, hydraulics mostly, making a cage around her internals. At the back, barely visible, her central spinal column. Nature it turns out had already figured out the best way to combine signals and structure.

She never quite got used to seeing inside her own body, but it did make repairs easier. She reattached the plate before approaching her closet to look for something to wear. No services today, only some paperwork awaited her at the chapel. It wouldn't take long. She found a blue dress, pleated and with a belt around her waist. It would do. Once it was on she studied herself in the mirror again, smoothing wrinkles and pinches. Her plates made certain parts contour specifically to them, a trait that she honestly didn't find unappealing. She wasn't human, she had no desire to pretend she was or to return to how she'd been. There were struggles yes, the agonies bothered her still, but she held to the knowledge that she was happier.

And a lot more attractive. Perhaps she wouldn't mind a call from that girl.

[swan2swan]

One of the most important skills anyone who does literary analysis must learn is the ability to see things from a character's perspective.

And I don't mean "empathize with oppressed people" or "literal POV", I mean that you need to be able to get into a character's head and erase everything that YOU know as a person and rebuild the world from THEIR perspective.

Getting into this discussion now vis a vis people judging Mayuri, Nemu, and their relationship. Yeah, he's a terrible person. In their first fight together, she jumps in the way for him and sets him up for a decisive blow, letting herself get cut apart in the process. His response is to chastise her for performing poorly, and then he begins to stomp on her and threaten to kill her when she asks for healing so she doesn't bleed out.

He then chillingly reveals that he can do whatever he wants to her because she's his daughter.

This is where people start to lose their focus: because, from his perspective, the claim is mocking but accurate. He used his DNA, he created her, he raised her, he keeps her around, for all intents and purposes, Nemu is his daughter. On paper, it all adds up.

But she's also just a creation to him. To him, Nemu is just a robot. The Creature of Doctor Frankenstein. She's his seventh version of the experiment, we learn later, as well: to him, there's apparently no difference between her and the seventh attempt at making a security eyeball. She's a tool. If it breaks, it can be fixed. It screams, it's just a distress call. She eats, it's to sustain her energy. She draws and colors, she's keeping her brain fresh. She bleeds, it's just a leak and can be fixed. That's all she is to him.

And, yes, he's obviously evil. That's why he gets obliterated there...and then Nemu expresses thanks that Uryu didn't kill Mayuri thoroughly, and reveals that she feels some love and loyalty to him.

...whcih she later also reveals is logically determined, because she casually brushes aside the notion that Szayelaporro taking her as a hostage will have any effect on Mayuri. Her body is ravaged, and Mayuri once again just brings her back to life, lickety-split. She's still a tool. (but there is a moment where Mayuri tunes everything else out to go and inspect her).

But we also learn something very wicked about him there: Nemu has drugs in her system to protect her. It's very much implied that the specific drug Szayel triggered was in the event of bodily violation: Mayuri doesn't want anyone taking advanatage of his precious Nemu. Obviously, it's a logical move, just another security measure, but Mayuri has all sorts of protective measures on her that show he's concerned about her.

He just doesn't realize that he's getting attached.

So, yeah, his relationship with her is pretty terrible...at the start. But if you get into his head, you see that he's a deranged, immortal scientist to whom life has absoolutely Zero Meaning outside of progress, research, and advancement. He's an organism that continually adapts; his speech scoffing on the idea of perfection shows that he has a fear of stagnation and ceasing. He has to keep progressing, he can't be weak. That's who he is. Yeah, he's evil, you shouldn't really be like him, but as a whole, he's not exactly WRONG. He's the cold hand of science and evolution given form.

And in the end, he starts to gain emotions. The sadism recedes a little. He's got softness. And that's his greatest creation. His development isn't anywhere near finished, either, so...you have to consider that.

[dynaloginc]

Why Robot Accuracy Matters in Automation — and What Dynalog-US Does

In today's ever-evolving world of manufacturing, robot accuracy is not only a benefit, it is a necessity. In every manufacturing sector, whether it is automotive, aerospace, electronics, or medical device manufacturing, the level of robot accuracy can affect the bottom line. Errors, even as small as a millimeter, can lead to defective products, more rework, and loss of productivity due to downtime. This is where Dynalog-US can help, transforming industry views on robotic precision and system calibration.

What Is Robot Accuracy?

In its simplest form, robot accuracy refers to the robot's ability to reach a point in space, not just on the first attempt, but every time. It's not to be confused with repeatability, which just means hitting the same point each time, and not necessarily the correct point. For industries where correct reference of absolute positioning is required - welding, machining, or assembly, etc. - true robot accuracy is paramount.

To put it another way: If you have a robotic arm as a laborer assembling smartphones, a misalignment of 0.2 mm could result in malfunctioning buttons, cracked screens, or circuit boards that just do not work. In aggregate, this could lead to increased return rates, loss of brand reputation, and wasted materials.

Why Routine Calibration Can’t Do the Job

In many facilities, the use of default manufacturer settings or basic calibration is enough to get by in ensuring accuracy. However, modern robotics requires more than that. With regards to the working environment, payload being handled, attachment of the tool, and wear on the robot over time, robot positioning can and will be off.

This is the main reason that robot calibration and TCP (Tool center point) correction is now seen as a necessary step to ensure peak robotic performance. No one is more aware of this than Dynalog-US.

Dynalog-US: Setting the Standard for Robot Performance

With decades of experience in robotic inspection, calibration, and automation optimization, Dynalog-US has established themselves as a trusted name to industry clients laying on the line the ability to do their job well. Their specialty is the enhancement of robot performance, providing an array of calibration tools and methods that redefine accuracy.

One of offerings is robotic calibration systems, that enable automated and accurate identification and correction of robot parameters. Regardless of base frame calibration, tool centre point calibration, or the calibration of an entire robotic cell, Dynalog takes every step necessary to exert your robotic system to perform as advertised, every time.

The Benefits of Superior Accuracy

✅ Less Scrap and Rework

When precision is maximized, manufacturing errors are cut drastically. Parts are assembled correctly on the first try.

Bringing it All Home

From complex weld paths in the automotive sector, to the delicate assembly of microelectronics, along with many other applications, Dynalog's methods of calibration are making a real difference in industries all around the world. For example, automotive companies utilize systems from Dynalog to calibrate robotic arms on production lines for the precise location of each spot weld with micron to sub-micron accuracy.

Aerospace manufacturers can depend on Dynalog to maintain tight tolerances on mission-critical parts such as wing mounts and gear assemblies. 

Medical device manufacturers use Dynalog's calibration technology to assemble tiny, intricate components with the utmost accuracy.

Regardless of the industry, robot accuracy has a direct impact on worker safety, compliance, and customer satisfaction- that's why companies choose Dynalog.

The Future of Robot Accuracy: Artificial Intelligence Meets Calibration 

Dynalog is currently leading the charge in the realm of integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning into the calibration process of robots, which means that systems will not only be able to self-correct, but they will also have the ability to predict when a robots' accuracy might drift- before it becomes a problem.  This predictive maintenance will arm companies with insight on when to service their robots, which in turn helps 'maximize' the lifespan and reliability of a robot.

Why Dynalog-US?

Years of Proven Experience: Dynalog is not only a subsidiary of Accu-Spec/US, with 60 years of field experience, Dynalog is a leader in robotic accuracy and system calibration.

Best in Class Hardware and Software: Its calibration software and hardware are some of the best and most advanced in the

[bodybeyondstories]

SOLID GOLD - Packin'

A magic boombox in a dance studio causes random changes to unsuspecting victims. When the only attendee for a class is the dance instructor's straight crush, it decides to play Packin', by FHAT.

[ ass expansion // dick growth // self suck ]

2028 words

Someone sent in a prompt months ago about a thicc fitness dance instructor with a magic boombox and I took some time to think about it (thank you, whoever you are!). It might make for a fun ongoing series of music based tf episodes. Also for a while I've been wanting to write something in the vein of one of my favorite series, "The pinball machine".

-----

“Solid Gold. Connected.” The tinny, vaguely feminine robot voice chimed in the studio instead of, as I had been expecting, the tinny, vaguely masculine robot voice of our actual sound system.

“You’re back,” I said, glancing down at the stately, gold plated boombox that had just materialized in the exact center of the room.“Been a while.” 

I looked at my phone for confirmation, nodding at a screen that now displayed only a golden bluetooth symbol and wouldn’t respond to my touch until…well, until…

“Wait, no one’s here,” I said to the otherwise empty room, announcing to no one that my dance workout class did in fact have zero attendance.

“Hey, sorry I’m late, dude,” came a familiar voice. “You didn’t start yet, did you?” He looked around and sighed. “You already finished, didn’t you? I can’t believe I got the time wrong again, I set an alarm and everything–”

“No,” I interrupted. “You’re fine, we didn’t start yet. Because there was no ‘we’ here in the first place, I guess.”

“Well now we’re a we,” he beamed, splaying his arms wide. “With plenty of room to stretch.”

Famous last words. 

Sid was a gem. Generous. Engaging. Warm. Open. Adorable. And very tragically straight. Though I appreciated his enthusiastic support of my workout classes, there was an added layer of chaos to this one in the center of the room. A golden sun getting ready to make some gravitational shifts.

“Sweet boombox,” he said, bending down to inspect the device. “Retro. Where’d you even get this?”

You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, I thought. “It was sort of already here. Comes with the place.”

Which was technically true. It’s a little bit of an urban legend among the folks who work here, and everyone’s got their own speculation about how and why it appears. My running theory is that the boombox is always there. Has always been there. But exists in some other dimension, crossing the veil at seemingly random times and causing…changes in unsuspecting bystanders.

Here’s the thing. I like to think I’m in pretty good shape. I’m a fitness trainer, I clock in and run my little classes, I’m decently toned and tapered from shoulder to waist. When I first started here, I would do my thing, work up a sweat in my booty shorts to get the class going, give ‘em a little shake if the mood was right. When the boombox first appeared, I thought it was a prank from my co-workers, like I was being indoctrinated into the collective delusion of the workplace. Then my phone connected automatically, but somehow the playlist was out of my control. I went along with it, wondering how they pulled that off, moving the class through warm up, then moving through each track, adapting dance moves on the fly as the rhythm of the music shifted. 

I thought I was doing great and the group seemed like they were loving it, so I turned up the intensity a little, getting into some deeper leg movements, really targeting hip mobility. As if on queue, the playlist shifted to “Bootylicious" and the crowd went wild. I leaned into it, turning the climax of the class into a high intensity glute workout, getting even more into it as I felt my skimpy shorts get tighter and tighter.

Move your body up and down Make your booty touch the ground I can't help but wonder why Is my vibe too vibealacious for you, babe? 

It felt like I had an incredible pump, like my perky posterior was the center of the world if not the center of attention.

I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly I don't think you're ready for this jelly I don't think you're ready for this

As we went into the final chorus, the pump…pumped. I can’t explain it but I could feel my ass inflating with each repetition of I don’t think you’re ready for this jelly. My shorts slowly rode up my butt, exposing the bottom half of my cheeks and threatening to reveal the bikini briefs I had hastily thrown on that morning.

As I shifted us into a cool down, I casually tugged the hems of my shorts back down to a more presentable level, but found that I couldn’t. Pump was so good they got stuck, I chuckled to myself. They felt painted on. As I guided the group into a twist, letting one hand drop towards the opposite foot and turning at the waist. Instead of my cute bubble in the mirror, I was greeted with one of the fattest asses I had ever laid eyes on.

'Cause my body too bootylicious for ya, babe

I stared, dumbfounded, staying in that position for an oddly long time, afraid that if I moved, and my reflection moved, it would verify that I was indeed the owner of a massive bubble booty that had appeared out of nowhere. My heart skipped a beat as with one final spasm, it visibly plumped a little more.

“That’s…um. That’s it for today,” I stammered, swinging back upright, trying to hide the confusion in my face. “Great class today.” My cheeks burned as I felt the globes of my ass swish back and forth with each stride towards the boombox. I bent down to turn it off, eliciting more than a few gasps from the crowd, only to realize it was…gone. Just vanished in a blink, leaving behind a pair of supercharged glutes straining my gym shorts to the limit.

The ensuing months confirmed the institutional lore that I’d gathered from my coworkers. The boombox appeared seemingly at random, picked one victim, and didn’t like to repeat itself, which I especially hoped was true, seeing as adjusting my wardrobe for a sudden monster booty isn’t something I’d like to do again. So when it appeared in a class with just me and Sid, the writing was on the wall.

“Let’s hope it’s not too extreme,” I said to myself, acutely feeling the jiggle of my ass cheeks as I led us through the warm up music.

It was going well. As things picked up, the awkwardness of a mostly empty class was washed away by Sid’s friendly enthusiasm. As one of my semi-regulars, he knew my movement style, and could really get into it whenever I threw a curveball or decided to build the intensity. Through it all, Sid puffed through labored breaths, smiling through the tank top glued to his chest with sweat. He had been getting better at this, more confident in his movements, even adding his own flair to the beat. I was smitten by his energetic grin, returning the favor with a twist here and there to keep him on his toes. We were in a groove, just the two of us working it out to the rhythm.

But then the track switched. My eyes widened as I recognized the funky bassline of a queer pop duo that I was familiar with but hadn’t included on any of my playlists.  

Let’s get on the topic I can read your mind It’d be my pleasure To bring you back to life

“Oh, I love this song!” Sid exclaimed, riding a wave of newfound energy.

Oh really. A chill ran through my gut. I couldn’t tell if it was my imagination or the boombox was chuckling to itself in some subsonic register that only I could detect. But it had begun. Just see it through, I thought, improvising the moves to let my hips flow to FHAT’s high pitched melody.

Baby I really got to know Whatcha packin’

Sid’s performance of confidence cracked into discomfort, his eyes flitting down to his crotch, almost too quickly to notice. 

Cuz lately You’re really starting to show Whatcha packin’

He stumbled briefly, shaking his head in confusion as he tried to casually adjust his bulge. His very, very prominent bulge.

Heard all the gossip From a friend of mine

Based on word of mouth and locker room run-ins, I was pretty sure Sid was already packing some hefty meat in his shorts, though you’d never guess it by his adorably dopey demeanor. Maybe it’ll just be mild this time, I tried to convince myself. What’s the worst that could really happen…

It’d be my pleasure To see it with my own eyes

I couldn’t keep from fantasizing about that impressive tool becoming even bigger. I kept up with the movements, shaking my ass to the beat. Sid did his best to follow suit, but the increasing weight in his crotch was throwing him off. It was tantalizing as it bounced back and forth, like it was physically impossible to look anywhere else other than the hose inflating in his pants.

Cuz lately You’re really starting to show

His crotch visibly distended during the final chorus, his face a contortion of surprise and terror, no longer able to keep up with the workout as his dick lurched–

Whatcha packin’

And flopped out of the leg of his gym shorts. It bobbed in the air just above his knee, a rope of precum trailing from his mushroom head.

“Shit!” he exclaimed. He tried to shove his monster cock back into the leg of his pants to no avail. His face clouded with panic. “I, uh, need to run to the bathroom. Be right back!” He practically sprinted out of the studio, his gait wobbling with the awkwardness of the bulge snaking across his thigh.

“Wow,” I muttered, looking towards the center of the room. “You outdid yourself this–”

The boombox was gone, back to the ether.

I ran after Sid, slipping into the bathroom and following the sound of groans to the last stall.

“Hey, bud,” I said, interrupting the frustrated moans and heavy breathing coming from behind the door. “Can I help with anything?” I asked, attempting to sound like I wasn’t fully aware of the cause of the baseball bat that suddenly sprang from his crotch.

“I don’t think you can…I mean…I don’t know what’s happening to…ugh…to me…to my, oof…Look, it’s kind of a weird situation.”

“I’ve seen some weird situations,” I answered. “Trust me.”

A deliberative pause hung between us. “Don’t, like, tell anyone, okay?”

I punched the air. “Yeah, of course. Happy to help.”

The door slowly opened to reveal that the boombox really had outdone itself. I had Sid pegged as big before, but nothing resembling the veiny chest high erection threatening to smear precum in the scruff under his chin.

“It…it won’t go down,” he moaned. He gripped his pipe with both hands, unable to reach all the way around its circumference. I could see it pulse bigger with his heartbeat, his head lolling back with another gush of pre. He began stroking the length of his behemoth with urgency. “Sorry, it feels so full. So good…I can’t stop…”

He was in agony and ecstasy. His fingers squelched through an endless stream of precum. He was desperate for release.

“Can I…help?” I offered, gesturing to the acres of sensitive real estate along his shaft begging to be massaged.

But he didn’t seem to hear. I could practically see the lightbulb appear over his head as he made eye contact with the piss slit inches from his face. Like he had already forgotten I was there. His lips parted and descended. He took as much of his own head as he could fit in his mouth. His eyes rolled back as he began to work up and down, taking more and more of his own anaconda into his throat. 

I was frozen in the doorway. All I could do was watch as he built toward sweet release, gallons of cum suddenly filling his cheeks and flooding out of his lips, his full body wracked by orgasmic pleasure as rope after rope of jizz erupted from his oversized member.

His cock, finally spent, fell out of his mouth with a pop and began to droop down over his thigh. He leaned his head back, breathed out in relief, seemed to suddenly remember I was there.

“Oh, um,” he stammered, cheeks blushing. “Great session.”

[faksyan]

Huey Emmerich, mgs v cast & hypocrisy, a character analysis

Prefacing this with the fact that this is the morally gray franchise with the morally gray characters and I love how it portrays Huey Emmerich precisely for him being Like That. I think he is one of the most nuanced and well-written mgs characters and I'm pretty sure like half of it wasn't on purpose. He is the guy everyone hates for killing his wife (understandabe reason), trying to make one of his kid pilot a giant robot and almost drowning another in a pool (also understandable reason), and, most of all, for being a traitor. And with such a list, feels a bit weird that the accent often falls on that last part, doesn't it. Which is exactly how the narrative wants you to feel about his betrayal, on a surface level.

Every character essential to the Phantom Pain plot gets their "please feel bad for them, sympathize with them" moment, no matter how horrible a person they are. We get multiple monologs from Kaz, we get the 'I was the same way once' interrogation room and the ending of the Truth with Ocelot, we get Paz tapes and 'you're all diamonds' with Venom, we get Code Talker, Quiet, Eli (if they actually finished mission 51), even Skull Face, somewhat (don't even make me start on that guy. how is he less hated than Huey). The point is, the game is trying to make you feel bad for people who murder, torture, and whatever else, and parts of it are working, because it's fiction, and humans and morality are complicated and layered things! But what does Huey get? Torture sessions and tantrums that are framed as pathetic and ridiculous, even when what he is saying makes sense. Because yeah, there's some of that there. It's just that everyone else in the room deliberately doesn't acknowledge it.

When Venom just finds him, the first thing Huey says is that what happened to MSF was Snake's fault. The same during his exile - that there wouldn't have been an inspection, if there weren't a nuke to begin with. and it's like. he's not wrong. Having their own nukes as an independent military organization was a risk Snake and Kaz didn't just take blindly, they knew what could have happened. It was a gamble, and it didn't work out. If it did, it would've been their achievement. It didn't, so it's all Huey's fault, even though literally anyone could've been in his place. XOF weren't even the first to attempt to attack them, Zero was, Paz just didn't succeed. And if Skull Face hadn't either, someone else would have, the attention of the entire world was on them. It wasn't about betrayal, it was Snake and Kaz being drunk on success and biting off more than they could chew. Yes, Huey is a bastard and a traitor, but are we really going to blame all of this on him?

The answer is yes. And the reason is that they need someone to blame that's not them. The whole big theme of Phantom Pain is that Ocelot, Venom and Kaz have to do their best to keep up appearances, for the sake of Big Boss and his reputation. He is a legend, he is above everyone else, and he can do no wrong. Except after the fall of MSF everyone thinks that he can, Ocelot says as much in the briefing tapes. And they can't have that. So they blame it all on Huey. (<- all of this is a dictatorship allegory and critique of governments and military systems btw. 1984 or whatever I haven't read it. yay symbolism.) And blaming Huey is easy.

Huey is not a fighter. His father was a scientist who worked on the Manhattan Project. He was born on the same day as the Hiroshima bombing, his disability was (presumably) caused by his father's exposure to radiation. It's not that there was no choice involved in what he was going to do in life, but it was kind of inevitable that he would get involved with building nuclear weapons. And even when he says he is thinking about quitting upon being found by Snake in Peace Walker, it's Snake who convinces him not to, offering him to join MSF instead. In the PW tapes he also expresses that if it weren't for his disability, he would've been anywhere else, doing something different and living a "normal life".

He talks about the concept of nuclear terrorism there too, about nukes falling into hands of people without state who would be able to use them however they want, and I wonder if that was part of the reason for his betrayal. He didn't make the decision to bring nukes to base, he doesn't actually know these people. If maybe he thought it prevented a hypothetical nuclear catastrophe. Huey does say that he trusts Snake not to use them, that he values how honest Snake is, and is honest with him in return, even telling him things he's never told anyone before, like about his plagiarism of Granin's work. So what changed between then and the inspection, what was his motivation for betraying MSF, why was he approached about it of all people? Did he lie in the tapes, did he change his mind, did Skull Face offer him something that seemed more compelling, just threaten him? We never get to find out anything about it aside from every other character screaming that he's just a coward. No villain monolog, nothing.

Maybe it was about feeling important, like he is in charge, something that the hostility he has faced throughout his life didn't allow him. Huey is a sheep among wolves (wolf in sheep's clothing more like, but still). He does not fit in with the buff cool masculine soldiers, and even while working with Strangelove at NASA, he was regarded as obnoxious and spineless. It's not surprising he agreed to work for Coldman, since he, apparently, was the first person to actually recognize his skills. And even that later turns out to be a lie told to use him. Huey rarely if at all has been treated seriously, he is an outcast, even among people who share his ideas.

All he has is his brain and his knowledge, but it's never framed as much of an achievement (despite people exploiting it left and right), nor is him essentially being the nerd in a military setting ever really viewed as something dorky or endearing by the narrative like with Otacon, because the characters around him don't see him as such (as a result, so don't the players). On top of that, every other person uses his mobility aids to further degrade/harm/threaten him, even though he is already harmless when it comes to physical confrontation. In short, people he is surrounded with just enjoy the powerplay.

Right up until the point he actually does something that hurts them. And this is where my favorite part kicks in.

All three Diamond Dogs' higher-ups blame Huey for slightly different reasons, some maybe even believing that they are in the right and entitled to it (looking at you Kazuhira), but I am more than sure they know what it is that they're doing. And it's not like Kaz lacks self-awareness either, I don't think. Maybe it's denial that some of his actions led to the death of his friends, maybe blind belief in his own martyrdom and self-righteousness (sounds an awful lot like another character we know, huh), it still doesn't change much. How they all frame the story is the same. Huey's powerless and pathetic, but has ruined everything at the same time. And it doesn't really make sense, but everyone on the base agrees. It's the moment where individuals turn into a crowd that demands blood, but at least it's not their commanders it's directed at!

The Questioning Huey (6) tape is a good example of that. I especially like the bit where he starts talking about how DD is not actually a dog, because on a smaller scale, it shows how people on Mother Base just roll with things that are objectively false and turn on anyone who says otherwise. No, DD is our beloved mascot, and we are called dogs, he is just like us. And it's not like DD is just a wolf either, so neither of them are right here. But each of them thinks that they are.

That's why the amount of genuine Huey hate is a bit amusing to see, I guess. Because it's precisely the thing the game is trying to commentate on. None of these people are good. None of them have it figured out. The point is that it's just narrative bias that makes you belive that some are, if not good, at least better than others. In reality, it's never about morals or being correct, just perspective.

Huey himself, on the other hand, falls into another extreme - in his eyes, he's done nothing wrong. Because he can do no wrong, he's powerless, like everyone's alway told him, remember? He sees himself as the victim, because in a lot of cases, he is.

You can say that he is a lying traitor and that the truth serum didn't work on him because of some failsafe Skull Face thought of, but really, would he bother? He didn't even view Huey as anything but a traitor he despised. you know, the guy who was in charge of organizing the betraying part. the guy who put bombs in people and wanted to commit mass-murder on a scale no one has seen before. So the obvious and the most simple answer here is that Huey whole-heartedly, truly believes he hasn't done anything wrong. He thinks he doesn't possess the power to, that he isn't important enough. And it's drilled so deep into him he never acknowledges it's not really true. Even when he kills Strangelove, he still doesn't accept that it is his fault and his actions matter.

That's my favorite part about him, I think. How deep in denial he is about having an impact on the people around him, while also having a sort of god complex when it comes to his machines. How everyone around despises him for it, while being the ones who caused it and doing the exact same thing, refusing to get off the high horse. Metal gear is a messy franchise about messy people, but it's good exactly because it shows what has messed these people up so much. And more often than not, it's the system they're surrounded by, or that they created themselves in an attempt to escape the previous one. It's easy to point at Huey as just a bad person and only that, but I find the context of his whole life and the ways he's coping with it really compelling. There is a lot of complexity to it, and in the end of the day, they are all hypocrites.

[kishorxox]

Packaging Automation Market to be Worth $118.8 Billion by 2031

Meticulous Research®—a leading global market research company, published a research report titled, ‘Packaging Automation Market by Offering (Solution, Services), Type, End-use Industry (Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals, E-commerce & Logistics, Food & Beverage, Chemical & Refinery, Aerospace & Defense), and Geography - Global Forecast to 2031.’

According to this latest publication from Meticulous Research®, the global packaging automation market is projected to reach $118.8 billion by 2031, at a CAGR of 10.1% during the forecast period. The growth of the packaging automation market is mainly attributed to the rapid growth of the E-commerce sector, the increasing adoption of automated systems across industries, and stringent food safety regulations. However, the high initial costs of installing automated systems restrain the market’s growth.

The high demand for packaging automation in the logistics industry and the increasing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly packaging are expected to create market growth opportunities. However, the shortage of skilled operators is a major challenge for the players in this market. Integration of advanced technologies and smart packaging are major trends in the packaging automation market.

The global packaging automation market is segmented by offering (solutions [case sealers & erectors, sleevers & cartoners, palletizers & depalletizers, strappers, markers & labelers, automated mailer systems, case packers, and other solutions], services [consulting, installation & training, and support & maintenance]), type (robotic pick & place, secondary packaging, and tertiary & palletizing), end-use industry (healthcare & pharmaceuticals [healthcare & pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies and contract manufacturing organizations], e-commerce & logistics [E-commerce, contract packaging, and logistics companies], food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, and other end-use industries), and geography (Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa). The study also evaluates industry competitors and analyses the market at the country and regional levels.

Based on offering, the packaging automation market is segmented into solutions and services. Furthermore, the solutions segment is subsegmented into case sealers & erectors, sleevers & cartoners, palletizers & depalletizers, strappers, markers & labelers, automated mailer systems, case packers, and other solutions. The services segment is subsegmented into consulting, installation & training, and support & maintenance. In 2024, the solutions segment is expected to account for the larger share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to the need for increased manufacturing speed and ensuring products and workers’ safety. However, the services segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is driven by the increasing deployment of automation in various industries such as e-commerce, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, food & beverage, automotive, and chemical & refineries and the growing demand for packaging automation to speed up production, optimize warehouse space, and reduce reliance on labor to provide more value-added services to their customers.

Based on type, the packaging automation market is segmented into robotic pick & place, secondary packaging, and tertiary & palletizing. In 2024, the robotic pick & place segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to rising demand for pick and place robots in various industries such as manufacturing, food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, e-commerce & logistics, healthcare & pharmaceuticals, and the growing demand for automation from manufacturing companies to increase production rates. However, the secondary packaging segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is driven by the rising need to safely transport products during shipment and the growing demand for supplementary protection in the e-commerce and pharmaceutical sectors.

Based on end-use industry, the packaging automation market is segmented into healthcare & pharmaceuticals, E-commerce & logistics, food & beverage, automotive, chemical & refineries, aerospace & defense, and other end-use industries. Furthermore, the healthcare & pharmaceuticals segment is subsegmented into healthcare & pharmaceuticals manufacturing companies and contract manufacturing organizations. The E-commerce & logistics segment is subsegmented into E-commerce, contract packaging, and logistics companies. In 2024, the food & beverage segment is expected to account for the largest share of the global packaging automation market. The segment’s large market share is mainly attributed to shifting consumer tastes, high competition in the packaged food market, and a surge in demand for packaged food. However, the e-commerce & logistics segment is projected to record the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The segment’s growth is attributed to various factors, including the rise in online sales channels, the increase in online shopping among customers, the increasing adoption of automation in e-commerce & logistics to ensure timely delivery, and the rising consumer demand for convenience shopping.

Based on geography, the global packaging automation market is segmented into North America, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2024, Asia-Pacific is expected to account for the largest share of the packaging automation market, followed by Europe, North America, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Asia-Pacific’s significant market share is attributed to the increasing utilization of sustainable packaging in the food & beverage sector, supportive government initiatives aimed at promoting the adoption of automation and Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance manufacturing capabilities, the growing demand for eco-friendly packaging solutions, and the rapid expansion of the E-commerce sector in countries like China and India. Moreover, Asia-Pacific is also projected to register the highest CAGR over the forecast period.

Key Players

The key players operating in the global packaging automation market are ABB, Ltd. (Switzerland), Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Siemens AG (Germany), Fanuc Corporation(Japan), and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Swisslog Holding AG (Switzerland), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.), Schneider Electric SE (France), WestRock Company (U.S.), SATO Holdings Corporation (Japan), Krones AG (Germany), Automated Packaging Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), Crawford Packaging (Canada), Fuji Machinery (Japan), Brenton LLC (U.S.), BEUMER Group GmbH & Co. KG(Germany), Barry-Wehmiller Group, Inc. (U.S.), KHS GmbH (Italy), MULTIVAC Sepp Haggenmüller SE & Co. KG (Germany), Omori Machinery Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Syntegon Technology GmbH (Germany).

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Key Questions Answered in the Report:

Which are the high-growth market segments in terms of offering, type, and end-use industry?

What is the historical market for packaging automation across the globe?

What are the market forecasts and estimates for the period of 2024–2031?

What are the major drivers, restraints, opportunities, challenges, and trends in the global packaging automation market?

Who are the major players in the global packaging automation market, and what are their market shares?

What is the competitive landscape like?

What are the recent developments in the global packaging automation market?

What are the different strategies adopted by the major players in the market?

What are the geographic trends and high-growth countries? 

Who are the emerging players in the global packaging automation market, and how do they compete with the other players?

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