#Azide Watch Me

[whump-in-the-closet]

🤫 for Chiar!

- @another-whump-sideblog

Thanks for the ask! (from this ask game)

🤫-revealed trauma

masterlist.

***

Azide lit candles. 

The flames danced in Chiar’s eyes, reflected off of Azide’s glasses and turned distorted and multi-coloured. 

Chiar flinched back, dragging his chair with him. When he stood, the world spun with him, his insides twisted together in ways they shouldn’t be. He didn’t even hear the dull thud of the chair hitting the floor. He didn’t hear Azide’s cry. 

Again he could see the burning torch and again he could hear hoarse screaming. 

Laughing flames. 

Instinctively, he cradled his hand close to his chest. At least he could still feel his fingers. Some parts of them. Some of the nerves had been damaged irreversibly and he could no longer feel his ring or little finger on his right hand. 

He could thank Bridge for that. 

Bridge. 

Bridge with his fire and his notebook and his questions, endless, mind-numbing questions that left Chiar screaming– 

“Chiar!” 

Chiar flinched back, throat dry and hands sweaty. Shadows contracted around his skin and he inhaled sharply to bring them back into place– inside him– where they belonged. 

Since when did Bridge have white hair and glasses? 

“Chiar? Are you with me? Speak to me.” 

Why did Bridge speak so kindly? Was this another one of his games? What was the point? 

The floor rose up to meet him as Chiar slid down the wall. Wooden floor. Not stone. Oh. Right. 

Fantastic. 

The world stopped spinning long enough for Chiar to recognise the candle-lit table did not hold torches. That the room he was in was not a cell, but a tall-ceilinged dining hall 

And the person crouched in front of him was not Bridge.

“Azide?” 

There was relief behind the glasses. Azide drew their hands back and steepled their fingers as they rocked on their heels. “Was it the candles?”

Chiar scrambled to his feet, almost knocking Azide back as he did so. “No.” 

Azide also stood, a bit more reluctantly. “I’m no fool. Those are burn scars on your hand. Aren’t they?”

Chiar clutched his hand closer. His eyes glittered blue. “If you’re not a fool, you wouldn’t need me to answer that.” 

Azide’s hand steeple collapsed and they instead started to fidget with their rings. 

Chiar turned. “If you’ll excuse me, I will be in the quarters you’ve so graciously lent me.” 

Azide watched him leave. Then, slowly, they blew out the candles one by one. They locked them in a cabinet, not to be used again. 

[gorging-boat]

I’m still not over how they just trusted Vincent’s tranquilizer dart and didn’t get Beatrice checked in at a hospital (also how in this world everyone can do without a hospital). What if there’s cyanide or osmium tetroxide or sodium azide in the dart? Also there are different types of sedatives: how do you know Vincent will stick to the same type and same dose there? Like do you think he will use 7-10mg/kg ketamine or telazol based on Beatrice’s weight? You CAN kill someone with overdosed ketamine.

Sorry, I have to confess how conflicted it is for me to watch sci-fi, because I work in the field of science, but in the meantime I love Avatrice so much.

I was cry laughing watching season one when Jillian was analyzing a male skeleton claiming to be Ava’s scan. OMG they added boobs to a male skeleton that has such narrow pelvis and long torso.

It’s hard for my brain okay, but please give me season 3.

[ineffable-endearments]

I wrote something disgustingly self-indulgent. Ending inspired by Sodium Azide and Katzedecimal in the Soft Omens Snuggle House Discord.

=

The next time he wakes, there’s an angel sitting on the edge of his bed.

“Ah, you know, I’m a little afraid of opening this particular can of hornets--”

“Worms.”

“Hardly relevant here. In any case, you were the one who suggested...leaving.” Aziraphale gestures vaguely toward something beyond the ceiling. “Just us two.” He pauses, then carries on when there’s no response. “But here, you could have, um, bubbled with me--”

“Ugghhffff.”

“I know, I know. The point is we could have done exactly that, but here on Earth. And here you are, sleeping half a year away.”

“S’boring. Like the fourteenth century. Ugh.” Crowley gives a shiver, but it probably isn’t a very convincing one.

“I’m quite sure there’s a new political cataclysm every single day.”

“I hate politics.”

“You love to hate politics.”

“Some of my best work, in the old days.”

“See? I can’t see how that qualifies as boring.”

“Well, there’s nothing to do. All I can do is spectate.”

“Really? When half of it is fed by the Twit Machine which, I’m told, you can easily access via your telephone?”

Crowley snorts into his pillow.

“You could go out driving alone. That would be safe even if you were human, provided you stayed in your car.”

“Might be suspicious. Don’t have assignments as such, nothing to buy. Don’t need exercise. They’d just stop me for driving around looking shady.”

“I cannot think of one single time throughout six thousand years on this planet that you ever worried about ‘looking shady.�� Or about police, or any iteration thereof.”

“It would be a bad influence. People can’t think it’s okay. They’ll get ideas.”

“Well, that shouldn’t be a problem at all if you conduct yourself responsibly. They can’t know you’re a demon out for a joy ride, all they’ll see is a responsible citizen wearing a mask, out to go help his...elderly mother, perhaps.”

“Who’s the elderly mother? You?”

Aziraphale huffs. “Fine. Sleep for a century. I don’t know why I bother.” He shuffles, getting ready to push off the luxurious bed.

“Angel, come on. Wait.” Crowley groans as he pushes himself up to sit. “You said ‘no.’”

“And how was I to know you wouldn’t remind me how many ways we have of getting around it?”

Crowley glowers. “I can take no for an answer, you know.”

“You also knew,” Aziraphale presses onward, “that there are sensible ways to mix households. I told you about them. They’re not right for everyone, but we’re one of the groups it would be safe for.”

“Oh, really? Did they set guidelines for supernatural entities?”

“Crowley.”

Crowley rolls his eyes and flops back on his bed.

“Fine. It’s depressing, is what it is. I don’t want to be awake for it at all. Even if I’m supposedly having a good time! I don’t want to know what’s happening until it’s all over.”

Aziraphale is quiet.

“They’re doing it to themselves,” Crowley says.

“You’ve always taken advantage of that.”

“Sure, when there was a bit of unpredictability in the mix. When it was a challenge from me, and not just. Inherent rottenness.”

“When there was a chance they wouldn’t fall for your wiles.”

“Not exactly, but...mm, yeah, kind of.”

“They aren’t all like that. Some of them have been very good this whole time. I daresay it would make you sick how good some of them have been,” Aziraphale adds hopefully.

“Not enough, though. Listen. Knowing they’re mortal in the first place, it’s one thing watching people get picked off by forces beyond their control. But watching them sort of…destroy themselves, each other, from the inside out, I can’t stand it. It’s a special kind of Hell. There’s no place for me. Existentially purposeless, I am.”

“I wouldn’t say that. You could be out making it so much worse.”

“...I don’t want it to be worse,” Crowley admits.

“And there it is.” Aziraphale chuckles.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Come with me. You can sulk and sleep all you want, but it’s perfectly within the rules for you to do it in the shop.”

“I, uh-- wait, what’s that?”

He knows exactly what they are: a pair of fabric masks. One is tartan on both sides. One is tartan on the inside only. The angel knows exactly what he’s doing.

“I sewed them myself!”

“You didn’t. We can miracle those.”

“I did! Look, they match.”

“Ugh. You’re lucky I-- er, sure, fine, whatever, let’s make it quick.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Nothing, let’s go.”

[eeveecraft]

Fronting for me Needs Purpose

[Azide] My host wished for me to elaborate since she believed for it to be good post material. I require a reason to front in most scenarios, I need a reason to be in this material world, else I idle by. My host thought a randomized wheel for the systemmate switching in would be useful, but even she rarely makes use of it. Trivial reasons work. Food, entertainment, slumber. The reason can be simple. I have no need of doing other things because I am an isolated creature and have little need for interaction with humans.

Arcanus faces similar issue. Games have caused him to be present more often, and we have game days. Hmph, they give us a reason to commentate and be conscious. I ponder how Rylazide does it. How he can appear with vigor and joy in every waking moment; it baffles us how he is the product of Ryleigh and I’s personalities fusing together. 

[Rylazide] I just like saying things, and doing things! I don’t need a reason to do them, and that’s okay! You don’t need a reason to front if you just wanna front! Like how I fronted to play games with Rylanus for six hours yesterday! That was lots of fun!

[Azide] Hmph. An enigma, Rylazide is. His mindset towards Rylanus can be infectious, but that is a benefit. An emotionless husk is far less entertaining than a being who attempts to be one. Watching from afar is satisfying and commenting on occasion during games is my usual life here. It is my resolution to front more frequently, now a purpose is all that is needed.

1-14-2020

[thesoundunique]

🎼 Lucchii x Azide - Watch Me 🎶

[djbobbsters]

"Lucchii X Azide - Watch Me" by Lucchii

[joneswilliam72]

Songs Of The Week: Stella Donnelly, Octo Octa, Heather Woods Broderick, Molly Rainford & more

Len Faki & Juxta Position - 'Superstition' (Azid Mix)

What works so well is the track's care and minimalism; it's quite content driving forward with bare loops before giving way to fresh lines of delayed hi-hats and squiggly 303 synths, a damn fine slice of acid techno. - Kieran Devlin

CHAI - 'Fashionista'

CHAI have grown tired of the kawaii box placed around them. True, their irrepressible sweetness has worked wonders for them, but they're ready for more. Naturally, they haven't lost an ounce of their positivity and wondrously joyful outlook, but it sounds like we can expect some resistance from the tidy niche we've collectively placed them in. - Chase McMullen

Martha - 'Love Keeps Kicking'

The track comes out swinging with a twanging guitar lead, diving us straight into a verse full of self-doubt and confusion ("I need a pain interpreter to decipher your midnight texts... sometimes I feel so empty I just want to leave it all"). Regardless, this is all swept aside in the gung-ho admission of the chorus, "love keeps kicking," delivered with power-pop gang vocals making it an instantaneous earworm. Martha soon dive back into more painful memories, and while the full message is "love keeps kicking the shit out of me," the hook is so big and punchy that the residual feeling is that love is worth searching out again and again - even if it is going to deal you continuous body blows each time. - Rob Hakimian

Stella Donnelly - 'Lunch'

'Lunch' does see her return to a more stripped-down sound as on her EP Mechanical Bull, but the subtle string adornments and fluttering keyboard melodies massively help to wring out the sharp emotions in the track. It also helps that Donnelly has a crystalline voice, which pierces your attention, and here she uses it to fully mine the depths of her dejection. Inspired by a whirlwind couple of years that have seen her travel all over the world, 'Lunch' sees her contemplating the little time she has to catch up with her loved ones before she has to jet off again, leading to the heartbreaking admission "I get homesick before I go away." - Rob Hakimian

Josin - 'Healing'

We vouched for Josin in our Ones To Watch for 2019. We still stand by our word and expect big things to come from her this year. With an otherworldly voice and a sensitivity to orchestrate melodies with touching lyrics, she holds the three ingredients to a radiant future. ‘Healing’ from her debut In The Blank Space is an example of dwelling emotion and sheer beauty one cannot remain indifferent to.. - Francisco Gonçalves Silva

Trudy and the Romance - 'The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen'

In reading that list of influences and styles, you might think that Trudy and the Romance have bitten off more than they can chew, but years of solidifying their compositional and playing credentials truly pays off when you press play on 'The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen'. Olly Taylor's voice is sopping with emotional weight, and he directs this into vivid metaphorical imagery of love, loss and dreams of escape. Backed by 50s-style rhythms, punched through with brass, 'The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen' conjures a perfect fantasy world where the power of romance truly does have the ability to lift you off your feet and into a magical spell that you could only find in movies. On 'The Original Doo-Wop Spacemen', Trudy and the Romance prove to be intrepid voyagers into a world where dazzling music and romantic storytelling combine - and just by listening they'll take you along with them. - Rob Hakimian

Octo Octa - 'I Need You'

As gracefully patterned as it is warmly open-hearted, Octo Octa's tribute to the uplift of meaningful friendships is house returning to its roots, the crisp breakbeats and dulcet vocal samples purveying a hug of communality. - Kieran Devlin

Julia Jacklin - 'Pressure To Party'

Jacklin is no stranger to rocking out, but this is the most fiery we've heard her on the new material, and it truly does come imbued with a feeling of "everyone just fuck off and leave me alone... love you really." - Rob Hakimian

Heather Woods Broderick - 'Where I Lay'

Adhering to the meditative idea she's looking to express, 'Where I Lay' begins as a serene synth piece, with Broderick sing-speaking in beautiful images. But, just as you're lulled into Broderick's sway, 'Where I Lay' explodes in a cathartic rock song, instantly conjuring images of grand landscapes and even bigger dreams. Broderick's poetry remains intact, emboldened by the booming percussion and chorus of angelic voices that sweep into the dramatic arrangement. - Rob Hakimian

Honourable Mentions

from The 405 http://bit.ly/2TpwFiZ

[marceldarvas]

https://soundcloud.com/lucchiimusic/lucchii-x-azide-watch-me

[evandroomiix]

https://soundcloud.com/lucchiimusic/lucchii-x-azide-watch-me

[talmastudios]

“Bye Bye Blue Sky” and chemtrails

The documentary Bye Bye Blue Sky was broadcast in Italian in its feature length version on the swiss channel RSI in February 2011 in prime time. Then, the RSI received hostile messages from self-proclaimed “debunkers” and scientists claiming that talking about chemtrails is conspiracy theory.

This situation cast doubts inside the channel about the subject, so I wrote the public letter below, based on official information, such as the enquiry of the National Research Council (NRC) of 1997, done at the request of the Congress of the United States, and mainstream media sources.

The letter below is reproduced in its integral version of 2011, except illustrations which were added for this article, as well as the titles. And it is now about 20 years that I have been inquiring about climate issues.

You can watch Bye Bye Blue Sky on YouTube in its 30' versions (it received the Jury Award at the OneCloudFest of 2011) :

- in French: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2k97WChmN0

- in English with subtitles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UXZJ0O0NHM

You can also watch the 53′ version in vod on Vimeo.

Chemtrails or not, never forget to look at the sky!

Best regards,

Patrick Pasin

Note : the feature length versions of Bye Bye Blue Sky on YouTube are not the final one, because it lacks at least three interviews and many images. We advise you to watch the 30' versions or the 53′ in vod (Vimeo).

Here is the letter:

Dear Sirs, All these messages you received after the broadcast of Bye Bye Blue Sky are no surprise for me. Whatever the objective elements one can bring like analyses or the fact that the French army bought 10 tons of barium sulfate without any explanation of their use, or whatsoever, you will receive such messages from so-called and self-proclaimed "debunker". I have been investigating the field of the climate and chemtrails for more than 7 years. I have read dozens of books, studies, reports on the subject. I have just finished writing a book about the weather warfare and the manipulation of the climate by the military. 

The "weather modification", the official word for it

It already has a long history. The first official trial dates back as far as 1891 with the experiment made in the Staked Plains in Texas by General Dyrenforth. The US Congress allowed $10,000 for it but stopped after 2 years due to poor results (I bought American newspapers from that period to know exactly what happened).

General Dyrenforth with his team

But the spraying of chemicals in the sky by the military has also a long history. The first trial to modify the weather with planes certainly happened in 1924 in the USA, when the Army Air Service equipped 2 planes according to the instructions of Dr. Emory Leon Chaffee, a physicist at Harvard.  The American military was not the only one to do such experiments: the Russians, the Chinese and certainly others also tried. I read, for example, that the Chinese army sprayed deolin in 1930 above Hong-Kong to fight a terrible drought. That was only the beginning, and the real start happened after 1946 with the discovery of Dr. V. Schaeffer of General Electric: in spraying silver iodide into the clouds, it makes them rain. Thousands of experiments have then been done in the world, of course also by the military. For the USA, it was mainly the Naval Air Weapons Station at the China Lake base in northern California which was in charge of these experiments at the start. Spraying chemicals in the sky became usual for the American military (and others) for example to fight hurricanes, with the long-lasting projects Cirrus (1947-1952) and Stormfury (1961-1983).

Already during the Vietnam War

The first official use of the spraying of chemicals to modify the weather at war was done in Vietnam, under the code name of Operation Popeye. From 1967 to 1972, about 2,700 flights were made to spray chemicals over Vietnam and Laos. Almost until the end of the operation, the military succeeded in keeping it secret. The story was broke off only in 1971 and it is documented through a hearing which happened at the U.S. Congress on March 20, 1974 (it has been printed in a small book which title and references are ''Prohibition of weather modification as a weapon of war: Hearing before the Subcommittee on International Organizations of the Committee on International ... first session, H. Res. 28 ... July 29, 1975'' - I have it, of course).

The British, too

I said that the Pentagon is not the only one to have been using sprayings: the British too have done it. The BBC revealed in 2001 that the flood in 1952 which devastated the small city of Lynmouth, killing 34 people, was due to experiments of the RAF on the Operation Cumulus –the story is in The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2001/aug/30/sillyseason.physicalsciences.

The poisoning of the populations

Despite all evidences brought by the BBC, the government denied it and refused to open any investigation. Modifying the weather is one thing, poisoning the people is another. In 1997, at the request of the Congress, the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) issued an astonishing report which title is Toxicological assessment of the U.S. Army's zinc cadmium sulphide dispersion tests. It explains that 40 years earlier, in the 1950s and 1960s, the "U.S. Army released the chemical compound zinc cadmium sulfide from airplanes, rooftops and moving vehicles in 33 urban and rural areas of the United States". Cities as large as Minneapolis and St. Louis were targeted. Of course, the NRC and its experts concluded that it was not dangerous. The reading of the whole report is not that convincing at all... The military also said they didn't know exactly anymore where these experiments happened and that files had disappeared... We also learn from this report that the British and the Scandinavians have made at the same period the same experiments against the people and the environment during almost 40 years! The Observer investigated the subject and it can be read on The Guardian website (http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2002/apr/21/uk.medicalscience): "Many of these tests involved releasing potentially dangerous chemicals and micro-organisms over vast swaths of the population without the public being told." The aftermath were terrible, but again, as in the U.S., distinguished experts concluded four decades later that these experiments were harmless for the population and the environment. And the case had then been closed.

Denying the evidence

Guess what? While they were spraying over the people in the USA, the UK and elsewhere, of course there were "experts" explaining that those trails in the sky were absolutely normal. For example, in the Free-Lance Star of May 6, 1972, it can be read that "the familiar contrails often left by high-flying planes might persist for a long time under some conditions". Similarly, in the book Clouds of the World: A Complete Color Encyclopedia published in 1972, it is explained in Chapter 11 – Condensation trails, that these strange-looking persistent trails are normal. In some american films or TV series of that period, you can watch them. An obvious example: the episode #25 of the first season of Zorro, broadcast in 1957-58 (there were only two seasons). You will notice these persistent trails, mainly during the race. Of course, they are persistent because we see the trails, but (fortunately) not the planes... In her book Planet Earth, The Latest Weapon Of War, Dr. Rosalie Bertell wrote that "the US and Canada had been cooperating in weather modification experiments since 1958. (…) The Churchill CRM (Chemical Release Modules) programme involved various barium compounds, including barium azide, barium chlorate, barium nitrate, barium perchlorate and barium peroxide. All are combustible and most are destructive of the ozone layer. In a 1980 programme, some 2000 kilograms of chemicals were dumped into the atmosphere, including 1000 kg of barium and 100 kg of lithium. Lithium is a highly reactive toxic chemical that is very easily ionised by the sun's rays."  For those who could try to explain to us that all these experiments have been stopped since a long time, here is an excerpt of a private communication of October 2010 with Dr. Rosalie Bertell: "On 19 September 2010, the US Navy sent up a rocket from its base in Virginia and placed an aluminum oxide artificial clouds some 500 miles above the Earth over the east coast. The highest natural cloud is about 50 miles. They caused a large cloud shadow which brought early snow to the east coast. Even Baltimore had snow and had to ask Canada to borrow some snow plows. The US Naval Reserve has removed this project from their web site since I began to talk about it. Who knows what else they may be doing? They do not need to go through an environmental assessment since no one’s property is involved (since no one owns the sky)! I am guessing at the numbers but I think I am close. According to the original plan, they intended to try this experiment also over Singapore." As I said above, I wrote a book on the subject, so, of course, I could tell a lot more about all these military experiments and "business as usual" operations of sprayings which have been lasting now for more than 60 years. Who could dare say that this does not exist? Is this "conspiracy theory"? Everyone can check all the information above as it comes from official reports of institutions, mainstream medias like the BBC, The Guardian, etc.

The official discourse, in defiance of the facts

Let's talk now about the film. Of course, I interviewed scientists (one of these distinguished people is a meteorologist member of the IPCC), who told me that chemtrails do not exist and everything is a contrail. But wen I asked, during the interview, if they have made analyses of any kind to support their affirmations, of course they had not. In fact, they had not studied the phenomenon at all: they knew the "official answer", and delivered it, that's all. This is no science.  When I also asked them how is it possible to find such quantities of barium at the surface of sandbox in Paris and anywhere where these trails appear often, of course they had no explanation. And I don't talk about the ten tons of barium sulfate that the French army bought: no expert nor any scientist could give me an explanation of their possible use. And I remind, as is said in the film, that the French military removed the information from their website immediately after my visit and recording of the information. Why? So, these scientists are not in the documentary: wearing a white coat and being officially a scientist is not enough. To be relevant requires to have studied the subject or worked on it. It is a respect to the people and the audience. Furthermore, the ''official answer'' is already in the film with this excerpt of the U.S. Air Force brochure declaring that chemtrails are a hoax. So, I clearly focused on scientists who had really studied this phenomenon of persistent trails: all of them have been doing it for years.  I read from the emails you received that some doubts have been cast on them. Is it worth answering? Dr. Rosalie Bertell is a great Lady with so numerous references, achievements, awards, and so on! In June, she had been again invited at the United Nations on questions of disarmament. For example, she had been Director of the International Medical Commission Bhopal which investigated the aftermath of the Bhopal disaster in India, organizer of the International Medical Commission Chernobyl, she had worked on the Reagan Starwar project, etc. And she is one of the few scientists quoted in the european Theorin Report (1999), that everybody should have read. The references and achievements of Dr. Nikos Katsaros are also impressive. Furthermore, he relentless speaks and writes on the subject, even in parliaments and institutions which invite him. And Dr. Coen Vermeeren, as an expert in aeronautics, is really committed to the subject and had been investigating it with all his efforts and humility for years.  Of course, documented information can be found elsewhere. The German channel RTL9 broadcast a reportage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWsQ2KnIvH0&feature=more_related) where meteorologists lead by Karsten Brandt have forced the German army to recognize that they sprayed chemicals in the sky in 2005 and 2006. Many analyses can be also found on the Internet (http://www.carnicom.com/flame1.htm ). It is incredible to listen to what Dr Hildegarde Stanninger says on the analyses she had done, with the clear link between chemtrails and Morgellons disease in cases in Texas and elsewhere (http://morgellons-info.blogspot.com/2010/11/morgellons-intervista-alla-dottoressa.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MorgellonsDiseasetankerEnemy+%28Morgellons+Disease+%28Tanker+Enemy%29%29) You can read also what Dr. R. Michael Castle writes about chemtrails: "In this century, we believe we are witnessing the gradual, purposeful demise of the Earth's Natural System. There are those who will debunk/dis-info all that is written regarding the subject of this paper: ChemTrails. What's this? ChemTrails are only a vague description, in lay-terms, of a greater theater of toxic materials being released into the atmosphere/stratosphere, for a myriad of crude and toxic agendas." I could add so many more informations, but I stop the list, because this email is long already. I hope it will help you. As I wrote at the beginning, you can use it as you need. To finish, I want to greet your courage and your sense of responsibility. Let's hope now that the people will question their politicians and get from them that the military stops all this stuff. Kind regards, Patrick Pasin Producer and director of Bye Bye Blue Sky.

[ds4design]

Explosions that Save Lives

Normally, when something explodes it tends to be a bad day for all involved. But not every explosion is intended to maim or kill. Plenty of explosions are designed to save lives every day, from the highway to the cockpit to the power grid. Let’s look at some of these pyrotechnic wonders and how they keep us safe.

Explosive Bolts

The first I can recall hearing the term explosive bolts was in relation to the saturation TV coverage of the Apollo launches in the late 60s and early 70s. Explosive bolts seemed to be everywhere, releasing umbilicals and restraining the Saturn V launch stack on the pad. Young me pictured literal bolts machined from solid blocks of explosive and secretly hoped there was a section for them in the hardware store so I could have a little fun.

Pyrotechnic fasteners are mechanical fasteners (bolts, studs, nuts, etc.) that are designed to fail in a predictable fashion due to the detonation of an associated pyrotechnic device. Not only must they fail predictably, but they also have to be strong enough to resist the forces they will experience before failure is initiated. Failure is also typically rapid and clean, meaning that no debris is left to interfere with the parts that were previously held together by the fastener. And finally, the explosive failure can’t cause any collateral damage to the fastened parts or nearby structures.

Explosive bolt. Source: Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense

Pyrotechnic fasteners fall into two broad categories. Explosive bolts look much like regular bolts, and are machined out of the same materials you’d expect to find any bolt made of. The explosive charge is usually internal to the shank of the bolt with an initiating device of some sort in the head. To ensure clean, predictable separation, there’s a groove machined into the bolt to create a shear plane.

Frangible nut and booster, post-use. Source: Space Junkie’s Space Junk

Frangible nuts are another type of pyrotechnic fastener. These tend to be used for larger load applications, like holding down rockets. Frangible nuts usually have two smaller threaded holes adjacent to the main fastener thread; pyrotechnic booster charges split the nut across the plane formed by the threaded holes to release the fastener cleanly.

“Eject! Eject! Eject!”

Holding back missiles is one thing, but where pyrotechnic fasteners save the most lives might be in the cockpits of fighter jets around the world. When things go wrong in a fighter, pilots need to get out in a hurry. Strapping into a fighter cockpit is literally sitting on top of a rocket and being surrounded by explosives. Most current seats are zero-zero designs — usable at zero airspeed and zero altitude — that propel the seat and pilot out of the aircraft on a small rocket high enough that the parachute can deploy before the pilot hits the surface. Dozens of explosive charges take care of ripping the aircraft canopy apart, deploying the chute, and cutting the seat free from the parachuting pilot, typically unconscious and a couple of inches shorter from spinal disc compression after his one second rocket ride.

VIDEO

Behind the Wheel

There’s little doubt that airbags have saved countless lives since they’ve become standard equipment in cars and trucks. When you get into a modern vehicle, you are literally surrounded by airbags — steering wheel, dashboard, knee bolsters, side curtains, seatbelt bags, and even the rear seat passenger bags. And each one of these devices is a small bomb waiting to explode to save your life.

When we think of explosives we tend to think of substances that can undergo rapid oxidation with subsequent expansion of hot gasses. By this definition, airbag inflators aren’t really explosives, since they are powered by the rapid chemical decomposition of nitrogenous compounds, commonly sodium azide in the presence of potassium nitrate and silicon dioxide. But the difference is purely academic; anyone who has ever had an airbag deploy in front of them or watched any of the “hold my beer and watch this” airbag prank video compilations will attest to the explosive power held in that disc of chemicals.

When a collision is detected by sensors connected to the airbag control unit (ACU), current is applied to an electric match, similar to the engine igniters used in model rocketry, buried within the inflator module. The match reaches 300°C within a few milliseconds, causing the sodium azide to rapidly decompose into nitrogen gas and sodium. Subsequent reactions mop up the reactive byproducts to produce inert silicate glasses and add a little more nitrogen to the mix. The entire reaction is complete in about 40 milliseconds, and the airbags inflate fully within 80 milliseconds, only to deflate again almost instantly through vent holes in the back of the bag. By the time you perceive that you were in an accident, the bag hangs limply from the steering wheel and with any luck, you get to walk away from the accident.

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Grid Down

We’ve covered a little about utility poles and all the fascinating bits of gear that hang off them. One of the pieces of safety gear that lives in the “supply space” at the top of the poles is the fuse cutout, or explosive disconnector. This too is a place where a small explosion can save lives — not only by protecting line workers but also by preventing a short circuit from causing a fire.

Cutouts are more than just fuses, though. Given the nature of the AC transmission and distribution grid, the lines that cutouts protect are at pretty high voltages of 11 kV or more. That much voltage means the potential for sustained arcing if contacts aren’t rapidly separated; the resulting plasma can do just as much if not more damage than the short circuit. So a small explosive cartridge is used to rapidly kick the fuse body of a cutout out of the frame and break the circuit as quickly as possible. Arc suppression features are also built into the cutout to interrupt the arc before it gets a chance to form.

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[Big Clive] recently did a teardown of another piece of line safety gear, an 11 kV lightning arrestor with an explosive disconnector. With a Dremel tool and a good dose of liquid courage, he liberated a carbon slug from within the disconnector, which when heated by a line fault ignites a .22 caliber charge similar to those used with powder actuated fastener tools. The rapid expansion of gasses ruptures the cases of the disconnector and rapidly breaks the circuit.

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Conclusion

We’ve covered a few of the many ways that the power of expanding gas can be used in life safety applications. There are other ways, too — snuffing out oil field fires comes to mind, as does controlled demolition of buildings. But the number of explosives protecting us from more common accidents is quite amazing, all the more so when you realize how well engineered they are. After all, these everyday bombs aren’t generally blowing up without good reason.

[eeveecraft]

Pool Time

It’s been over two years since I visited a pool; the last time I visited one was before I even created Arcanus. Because of this, it was my entire system’s first time seeing a real-life pool and I want to illustrate how I went for the two systemmates who decided to front and a little extra:

First was Rylazide because he was begging me to let him switch and swim, but I let him possess in the jacuzzi first before full-on switching. He was elated and dunked the entire body in the water, and the chlorine started to burn his eyes. Rylazide’s shock and bolting to the surface was legitimately funny, even though I mentioned the chlorine burning my eyes earlier. Quickly, he yelled, “Burning eye pain! Dissociating!” and left control for a few minutes.

Then came his true ecstasy when he properly switched in while still in the jacuzzi; he looked around with a grin and began messing around the jacuzzi to learn which way he preferred to swim. It wasn’t long until he hopped into the proper pool and can be seen running on the pool floor, jumping in the water like mad to see how light he was, and generally spending a lot of energy messing around.

Being tired out from swimming so much, I asked him to join Arcanus and I in the jacuzzi so he could chill a bit since Arcanus and I imposed ourselves in the hot tub to relax. For only like, a minute, Rylazide sat down, but then he began to bounce around again despite me telling him multiple times to chill out and enjoy the warm water. Eventually, he tired himself out to the point where Azide asked to switch with him, which Rylazide reluctantly agreed.

Azide acted completely different in the water compared to Rylazide by moving about at a much more leisurely pace than him. Splashing water in clawed poses was one thing Azide spent a lot of time doing, or trying to figure out a swimming method that seemed the most Dragon-like, which he eventually found and did so by swimming back and forth around the pool in different ways.

Though, his pool time was cut short because someone else came into the pool room of the hotel and Azide didn’t trust him (I didn’t either, but the dude didn’t do anything), so Azide left front after a good bit of Dragon-y swim training and giving the mysterious dude who order pizza for himself nasty looks from across the entire pool area who remained for a WHILE.

For what I was doing while dissociated from the body was merely chilling in the jacuzzi with some imposed, fruity beverages and watching my systemmates have fun in the pool. Water was pleasant, drinks of orange juice and other citrus drinks could’ve been better, but I enjoyed myself.

As for what Rylazide and Azide did when they weren’t in front was that Azide was swimming with Rylazide when Rylazide was in front, his horns sticking outta the water like a shark fin because he was much too tall to fit comfortably in the pool and entirely submerge himself. Rylazide mostly imposed himself around me and didn’t really jump into the water, but he occasionally dipped his feet in.

Oh, and he was imposing himself frequently to help with imposition practice, which I may or may not have seen the faintest of shadows on certain parts of him, but that may have been the chlorine in my eyes, haha.

So yeah, everyone had fun, even Hexicronix who’s (non-binary version of Mr./Ms.) silent and doesn’t do much, though Rylanus outright said no to pool shenanigans, sadly. Hope this was a fun read!

See you in the next post!

7-17-2019

[eeveecraft]

Blendy, Blendy, Blendy!

[Rylazide] I made it to the next morning without losing front! Lots and lots of sleeping for me makes me tired, and I think Ryleigh blends back in a bit (her traits, at least since she can still be inactive!) because I lack my usual energy when I wake up! It’s especially bad the moment I wake up; the body and mind may be trying to figure out who was fronting before bed since the other fusions and tulpas don’t front nearly as much as Ryleigh! When that happens, our thoughts seem incredibly blendy and weird, and I have to affirm that I, Rylazide am in front and Ryleigh is not!

Personally, fronting is fun, but hard because Ryleigh’s family isn’t nice to us because of Rylanus’ voice creeping them out or any of our walking styles, so Ryleigh has to possess or we can’t leave the room! She doesn’t like that very much... Ryleigh would just like to float around in the mindscape and not always have to be imposed or watching to make sure the family doesn’t notice Azide or I’s voice, or even Hexi’s lack of one!

If one of us that isn’t her stays in front long enough or if she hasn’t fronted in forever, her traits start to blend in, which happened to Arcie once and it really bothered him when Ryleigh was gone for a few weeks! Has that changed? Hmm... maybe! It’s been nearly a year since it happened! We can’t test it since Arcie doesn’t want it happening again and Ryleigh’s mom would notice Rylanus’ voice and ask about it!

Times like those make you feel like you’re about to be pushed out of the moving train that is safely closeted Plurality to the stretch of drama and fear being outed provides! We fear that Ryleigh’s family wouldn’t take it well and her mother knowing I exist would be weird! And I don’t know if they would even believe us...

Ooh! I started rambling again! I should get on with my fronting session, so... some type of farewell until later!

Oh! And look what I made while I’m in front:

(I like this profile picture much better!)

1-22-2019