#Mechanical Testing Of composites

[fanservices123]

Compressive Strength Testing,

Dental,Biomedical,Pharma,Strength Testing Lab, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Nashik,India

[criterion2022]

[slowlymyavenue]

The Brainwashing Bed

Based on a true* story.

*hypnotically induced

The title gives this one away just a bit, don't you think? This one may receive some revisions, like several of my recent posts. We'll see.

Consider your bed. Lay down, if you like.

It's comfortable, I hope. You spend an awful lot of time in it...although, probably not as much as you'd like. That's common. Few of us get enough sleep, these days. But let's focus on the bed itself.

A good bed is the right balance of soft and firm, providing a certain measure of support along with a certain degree of cushion. Everyone has a slightly different preference on this, sure, but the idea remains universal: your bed has to have the right balance.

Beyond that, it should keep you warm - but not too warm - and cozy. Pillows and blankets and comforters and all those nice accessories help with this, that's true. Your bed may be any of several different compositions, ranging pretty wildly in cost. It could be one of the larger investments in your home.

But underneath all that variability, the goal is shared. A good bed helps you sleep. You feel safe in it; it's easy to get comfortable, relax, and enjoy the way it feels.

This makes it the ideal delivery mechanism for a particular experiment of mine...not that I'd modify your bed, of course. The experiment is a fun one to discuss, however, so indulge me a bit, won't you?

I thought you might.

Consider your bed, with a subtle shift in purpose. It remains primarily designed to keep you comfortable, warm, and safe, but there is an additional function hidden beneath. There is an intent to guide that relaxed version of you into a state of compliance, submission, obedience. In short, something has been done to your bed so that it will help brainwash you.

It's perfect, really, don't you think? All the necessary components are present already. Your brain associates the bed with comfort, safety, relaxation, sleep...so the bed need only be given the smallest degree of capacity to guide that state in a different direction.

It varies from bed to bed, as most experiments vary from person to person. Some are given a device that emits a low pulsing vibration: soothing, inexorable. Others receive the less-tame form of a heating pad: penetrating warmth to relax the body and melt the mind. Still others find an almost imperceptible static sound surrounding them at bedtime: slowly overpowering the sound of your own thoughts.

But it wouldn't be very scientific of me to reveal which one you'd get, would it? You'd expect the effect and react accordingly. If I were going to make those modifications, your bed would receive all of those upgrades...and perhaps more.

Like I said, though, I wouldn't do that. Well, not unless you volunteered for the experiment, or really really really wanted me to do it. What other things would I change about your bed? Good question.

Subtle is the goal at first. You shouldn't notice anything immediately; it needs to take awhile. You'd find it more difficult to think, of course, and you'd feel more willing to accept my words without a second thought. Would you be able to distinguish that from simple drowsiness, though? Would it be too late by the time you did?

That's the idea. Your bed knows you, in a way, spending so much time together with you. It's fairly straightforward to use that knowledge to make the correct alterations. I like to provide a sense of intent, as if the bed itself wants you to surrender. If you were, somehow, part of the test group, your bed would be able to slip restraints over your legs without your perception of it.

What's that? Are your legs bound? Interesting.

It's important to relax, still, so you'd find it extremely difficult to struggle against the restraints. Whatever means of influence the bed has been enhanced with would be dedicated to keeping your body as close to limp as possible. Your mind, well, that follows naturally with your body. Heaviness makes it hard to think.

Besides, there'd be no time to really focus on your predicament before the bed entered the programming phase. That's where the design truly shines, if I do say so myself.

You see, we both know you've pleasured yourself in bed; it knows that, too. It knows the method you use most, the way your body moves, the sounds you make, the toys you've tried...all of it. All I have to do is provide it with the means to stimulate your body; it could already have your legs restrained, and spread. Oh, there are also restraints for your thighs, hips, torso, arms, and even your head. Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, thrashing about, now would we?

The restraints can be selective, yes. The primary purpose is still to keep you comfortable (and perhaps you aren't even in bed yet, only learning about the experiment and deciding whether to participate). You'll be bound only as tightly as needed, or wanted.

What happens then? Programming phase requires you to be more receptive than usual, so you'd be stimulated accordingly. The bed has new attachments for that in case you aren't able to move: vibrators attached to arms attached to pistons and springs whirring to life between your legs, pheromone emitters beneath or inside your pillows to flood your body with instinctive heat and lust, cables to connect to your headphones and override the sounds, maybe even a gag to slip into your slightly open mouth if you tend to get loud when you pleasure yourself.

In early stages of testing, the bed simply used the influence methods - sound, vibration, warmth - to compel you to pleasure yourself. You've felt the urge before, I suspect, even before the upgrade. Simple, but very potent. It's okay, if the restraints weren't comfortable, you'll be free to touch yourself -or- use the attachments.

Once you begin to feel the pleasure from whatever source, the bed begins to feed you instructions. These are typically echoes of my words, mantras, coupled with flashes of obedience, submission, and surrender. If the restraints seemed too excessive, you'd be touching yourself while these compulsions are fed to your relaxed, compliant brain. If the restraints were necessary, the bed would be stimulating you just the way it knows you like.

The beauty of the design is that you are naturally fairly helpless when you're in bed, especially if you've been appropriately relaxed, restrained, or otherwise subdued. The brainwashing is able to flow freely into your receptive head, and by the time you've been brought to orgasm - by your own hand, or by the bed itself - you're simply...sleepy.

Because the bed, of course, is still meant to guide you to sleep. The entire programming phase, it would be draining you as much as needed. Drifting off becomes a bit of a foregone conclusion, by then.

Does the stimulation continue even after you fall asleep? Of course. Additional programming is fed to your sleeping self, even as the bed resumes its more innocuous disguise while the night goes on. Some subjects forget the brainwashing bed by the time they awaken. Others remember clearly and are drawn to it, eager to surrender again.

That's the real experiment, you see. I wouldn't modify your bed like we've discussed, unless I already have. I seem to have misplaced my notes, so who knows?

Do you have a brainwashing bed? Do you feel it calling?

Or are you already bound and being brainwashed as we discuss it?

Either way, as always, enjoy.

[ghouljams]

You’ve made allusions to an android AU, may I venture a hc?

König (my beloved) is the most likely out of all of the guys to just. Literally not have a face. This boy was built exclusively for heavy combat - he’s probably got five cameras for eyes on a composite ceramic face. There is no synthskin. Briareos from APPLESEED vibes.

OK Android au is a Ghost au because that's my husband. I love the idea of König as a heavy duty mech. Let's run through what my thoughts on the au are and then never speak of it again

So Ghost as an android. Military grade, top of the line. I mean literally irreplaceable, no one knows how they made him, where he came from, or how he's able to think and do the things he does. It's almost unbelievable. You, the 141's mechanic, don't believe it. You've fixed up plenty of androids, you'd rerouted circuit boards and rewritten enough code to know that Ghost should not be doing the things he's doing. You think he's thinking. He shouldn't be thinking. Not the way he seems to be, at least.

Androids think, to a certain degree, but artificial intelligence is... well it's not exactly real. It's pattern recognition and computers running simulations. It's math. Complicated math, but still math. Ghost isn't doing math, he's making decisions. The 141 lets him out, free range, in the field and trusts him to think and act within the parameters- Fuck do they even set parameters for him?

He comes to see you the same way the men go to see the doctor. Reluctantly. Another thing he shouldn't be doing, that he's hiding from the rest of the unit, feeling. That's what first tipped you off that he was thinking, the way he lingered in your doorway when other androids would be marched in by their COs. Ghost stood in the door to your workshop and hesitated, like he didn't want to see you, or was hoping you wouldn't be in. When you'd made eye contact with his cameras, the red glow behind sculpted bone, he'd marched right in and sat down in front of your work bench.

"Need some maintenance," He's said, the transmitters for his voice box warm and rumbling behind the slight static. You'd never heard false vocal cords like that.

He's a wonder of mechanics. His back plate is dented, the synth-skin charred and bullet ridden, and when you take too long poking around trying to figure out how to get it off he reaches back and presses a button at the top of his spine. The black composite plates lining his spine -what a human would call a spine- release with a hiss and the back plates on either side pop up with a quiet click. You could spend hours looking at the motors running his muscles, like cogs in a clock. They spin silently, just on the edge of warm when you touch them, expanding his synthetic muscles almost like he's breathing. A cooling system you assume, or exhaust exchange. You grab a few tools from your bench and tug your safety goggles on to get started.

It's strange, you feel like a proper doctor working on him. Ghost sits like a rock for you, but he's sitting, he's active. You glance at his face like you'll catch him flinching away from the laser you drag against powder burns, or think he'll roll his shoulder to test the fit when you tighten one of the millions of tiny screws. You'll have to come up with something new to use on the tight coils of synthetic muscle he has. You've never seen anything like it, you'll need something custom if he comes in with anything bigger than a bullet wound. He's patient as you reshape his back plate, banging the dent out and soldering a patch over the hole.

"You'll need a new one of these," You tell him. He makes a noise almost like a hum, you chalk it up to motors whirring. Strange when they'd been so quiet before.

"Battle scars," He jokes, and you freeze, "That's what Soap calls them." He covers, but- He made a joke. He's covering, it's a good cover, but- He made a joke. Androids don't make jokes, they approximate jokes.

You're still thinking about it when he leaves. You're a good mechanic, a great one, but you can't explain Ghost away as subroutines and ai. You stare down at your diagnostic report, your repair report. You hesitate and mark "functioning optimally" before jotting down the repairs you made. It's probably nothing. No reason to snitch on the 141's prized android just because you're a little spooked.

[elsewhereuniversity]

Once again, some engineering undergraduates have overestimated their own prowess and summoned something when they should have been finishing their homework. The engineering TAs would like to take this moment to remind all the engineering majors that it is not a part of our jobs to track down whatever you summon and that you will fail any and all assignments that summon anything. As per university policy, we cannot grade summonings.

As a precaution, until further notice, the maker’s space is now closed to all students. Access will only be allowed under the direct supervision of a TA (good luck finding us) or a professor (assuming you can find one outside of office hours). All senior theses must be hypothetical - any practical theses proposals have been retroactively rescinded. Laboratory research is expected to continue as usual.

Safety is everyone’s responsibility when working with the unknown! Your TAs have prepared some helpful reminders to reduce the chances this happens again.

Complete the mandatory Elsewhere Lab Safety Training! If you do not complete this by the end of the quarter, things will befall you! Don’t test our patience!

Never work alone in the lab! Not only is this bad practice for most experiments, but two are better than one when it comes to stopping unusual lab problems.

Carry your iron rod, salt packet, and water bottle at all times. Replacement rods are available at the academic advising office, salt packets can be taken from the dining halls, and water bottles can be found at the athletics department.

All projects must be made out of iron. For iron alloys and composites, consult a TA, professor, or postdoc to see if the iron percentage is higher than the threshold.

Follow university policy regarding safety best practices in the classroom and around campus.

Bioengineers: only use samples acquired directly from other labs. Neither Elsewhere University nor the Engineering Department can guarantee that samples arrive uncontaminated (remember the Great Homunculi disaster?).

Electrical engineers: the efficacy of copper against the Fair Folk is still yet to be determined. Do not listen to the upperclassmen who tell you that copper works just as well as iron. This has been suspected to be a way of hazing new students and violated the university hazing policies.

Chemical engineers: use the fume hoods. Accidents happen much less often when working in a well-ventilated area.

Civil engineers: your steel pins may contain too little iron to be useful. Do not rely on them in a pinch. Yes, they look cool, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Your faculty advisors will be conducting iron checks to ensure you have enough iron on you at all times.

Mechanical engineers: how many times do we have to remind you that just because something could work doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to build it? Remember the machine that nonstop summoned things for weeks? And how hard that was to stop? Please don’t build that again, or anything like it.

And, as always, report accidents to the relevant safety authorities. The sooner the damage is evaluated, the sooner it can be contained and fixed.

On behalf of the entire department, we preemptively thank you for adjusting to this change in departmental policy.

Please understand that your midterm grades will be coming out late, as we are working hard to understand what was summoned and how: if anyone has information about it, please direct it to the Dean’s office.

- your engineering TAs

[melodiousmonsters]

"Wubbox (Divina Mechana) average around 22ft/6.7m tall. The Wubbox are mysterious monsters that were discovered in an underground vault between all the natural island’s locations. There was one already activated named Wub. It seemed to know a lot about its species and was fairly happy to give out certain information, but would clam up at other requests like asking who made them or what their purpose is.

They are activated by placing living single elemental eggs into specially made cavities in the interior of their boxed form. Once that is done they activate. They start off able to talk and do basic things but they have virtually no personality like a hatchling. After a few days it starts to rapidly mature and starts acting more like an adult monster. They’ll start messing around with their environment and running experiments on things they are curious about.

Wubbox are made of an alloy of brass and bubblerite called steptanium. It’s a strong substance with a plastic-y finish that’s outstandingly conductive, the extent of said conductivity would not be elaborated on. Steptanium can also shrink and grow and “dissolve into pure energy” which allows for the Wubbox to box up. A thin enough plating of another metal or other substance can be put over steptanium without interfering with its properties. That information was asked for by another Wubbox named Machin who wanted to paint itself pink. Wubbox like to customize themselves, except for Wub, it says that it’s for “sentimental purposes”.

Wubbox are made up of four main parts, the head, body, arms, and legs. The head has a mouth, eyes, and a base. The base holds the eyes in cups and the mouth is attached at the front. On the back of the base is a button that allegedly (thanks Wub for the information) causes the Wubbox to box involuntarily, I say allegedly because none of them will let me test it on them.

The body is a cage that surrounds their core. Their core is the power source of the Wubbox and holds their consciousness. It has a rubbery texture and is incredibly sturdy. It can squish a lot without breaking.

The limbs are very basic other than the fact they have perfectly safe exposed electrical currents running through them. The electricity has been manipulated to only flow through special disks that their limbs are made of. Even if you touch the disks right where the electricity hits them it still won’t shock you as you are not the disk so the electricity can’t flow into you. The forearms and feet also have the same properties of the disks except that they can be replaced with anything, it’s a mystery how that works, but it does."

To expand on the customization, a Wubbox can do a lot to themselves as long as they keep their basic body plan and primarily steptanium composition. I have only one example as i have been very busy as of recent (I'm on vacation and will be for every summer), it's the water island Wubbox (there's one wubbox per natural island not including Wub, making 6 Wubbox total) an it doesn't have a name yet as usual for the more individual monsters.

As for variants, well at least at the time this was made in universe Wubboxes didn't have variants, customizing themselves doesn't fundamentally change them as monsters so those aren't counted as variants. The epic Wubbox do exist but are too integral to how important things work in the monster world so I can't talk about them yet.

I'm going to probably switch to doing one of these every two weeks instead so I can put more time into them as I haven't been too happy with the quality of the recent ones. Also there isn't a lot here because it's Wubbox, they're lore important. I also changed out the egg waking up mechanic from the monster boxing because 1. the wublins don't use the egg mechanic anymore they just get shocked, and 2. there are only very small populations of monsters in the contemporary monster world in this au so boxing monsters would decimate the population.

[esperanzagalaxy]

The kobold crew ? I just love all those funky little dragon gender guys

 RQG requests #11, FUNKY LITTLE DRAGON GENDER GUYS!!!! thank you so much for your prompt!! i’d never sat to think about their individual designs before this, and as much as i prefer to plan beforehand, it felt great to just doodle and build them as i went! this is pretty much exactly the result and vibe i wanted, so i’m very happy with this one. it’s really cute! they’re all so cute!!!!! character design is great!!

 going from top to bottom we have meerk, draal and driaak, natun and tadyka, sassraa at the center, and our guy skraak on the front. what absolute lads.

 mechanical pencil on cream paper, with digital colors.

 ID under the cut!

[ID: an illustration of all the kobolds. it's drawn with mechanical pencil on yellow paper, and is colored digitally with flat, warm colors. the style is simplistic and shows everyone in profile. they're all shown in full body, and are bunched together each posing and doing their own thing. skraak is on the front, crouched down, and sassraa is just behind them, standing up straight, at the center of the composition. natun and draal are standing out to the left from behind her, while tadyka and driaak are doing the same, but opposite them, towards the right. meerk is directly above sassraa, at the cusp of the pyramid. they are all variations of red with yellow fins, horns and eyes.

  skraak is crouching and leaning towards the right, resting his left arm on his knee, and keeping balance with their right hand on the ground. he's the biggest of all the kobolds, bright red, with a longer tail and spikier, fan-like ear-fins. he's frowning and has his eyes narrowed, with his head turned to the left but looking right. he has tight black armor on his torso and long gray cloves.

  sassraa is wearing a white lab coat and goggles. her fins are spiky and pointing diagonally upwards, making them look like cel. she's facing left and is looking right, with her left arm behind her back, and her right holding a test tube up to her face. she's smiling softly.

  behind her and stepping towards the left is natun. they're small and reach to about sassraa's chest. they're leaning forwards and have syringe spear on their right hand, and are wearing plain leather armor on their torso. they have a shorter, snubby snout, small horns that curl like a ram's, and two sets of ear fins, which give them a more aquatic look. they have an attentive, eager face and look younger than the rest.

   above them is draal. they're wearing a fur-lined, dark brown coat and are holding a fang on their right hand, holding it in front of their face with a big grin. their horns and fins are sharp and short, pointing backwards in spikes.

   opposite natun is tadyka. she's a slim, lanky kobold, standing with a bit of a stoop. they're holding a syringe spear in both claws, in front of them. she has a long, less angular snout, and her fins are split into two horizontally. they have plain leather armor. her horns are short and slightly curved forwards.

   above her and opposite draal is driaak. they're as tall as draal, and are also wearing a fur-lined coat for the cold. theirs is white with light brown fur, anf they're a dark maroon rather than red. their horns are very small, and their fins are wider towards the top. they're stepping forwards and have a left claw up to their eyes, looking into the distance with a cheery smile.

   behind them all is meerk. his body is facing right but he is yelling upwards, sticking his tongue with a grin out and holding drumsticks on each claw. they have a black headband around their heard, spiky bracelets on their right arm, dark gray gloves, and a shiny leather vest. they're bright red, their fins are short and spiky, and their horns are shaped like lightning bolts. his tail pokes out from behind draal in a curl, and the tip of it is a small spiky ball, like a morning star. end ID]

[vermillioncrown]

ands snippet: fast and furious

Summary: Vivienne delivers on a promise and expected only the self-satisfaction of a “job well done.” His Dark Grace decides otherwise.

or tldr: the batmobile's first, official iteration gets its christening 😏 (making out + some d/s vibes) this is a write up of this post on how bruce (the batman, really) and vivienne "get together," originally written to entertain @rozaceous (and here's the link to the og concept) the gist is that it's pre-NYE party debacle, ros and vi are practically u-haul lesbians but it's no one's business (not even their authors') how involved they are with each other, and ros and bruce have not resolved their UST yet.

“—and there might be tolerance issues with the panels, but they should be resolved by next month.” Neel Singh, the Experimental Manufacturing lead, concludes his briefing and falls half a pace back.

“We’re not racing the clock, Neel.” Vivienne jots down her thoughts in her notepad, and adds, “The winter holidays are coming up. I don’t expect anything more until February, the earliest.”

“Y-Yes, of course.” After pressing him for continuous updates for the past few months, of course he’d feel discombobulated by the sudden release of the gas pedal, so to speak. Neel pulls out his phone to type a message. “Should I call anyone else to show you around, Vivienne? Someone from Facilities for the test track?”

Vivienne looks up and out past the glass, into the indoor test track where the subject of their discussion sits parked. All aerodynamic sleekness and curves, the diffused polish of a practical matte black coating, and the intuitive physical sense of power and nimbleness in its form…

Now that—that is her son, midwifed by the hardworking and circumspect members of her handpicked team.

A thought comes to mind. “We’re dealing with carbon fiber, yes? RTM process?”

Neel nods warily. “The team assessed it to be the best fit for purpose…”

“Let me see the molds. And I may have some thoughts on the trickier shapes.” At this point, it’s better to do things right than to play coy with knowledge. There aren’t any patents on the line, or papers to publish.

Bless Neel—he’s not the most inspirational team lead out there, but the man can get things done, keeps track of his flock, and does not put them in the line of fire if he can help it. It takes the entire hallway’s length to convince him that no, Vivienne isn’t here to take heads and draw blood. And yes, she does have some experience with composites. Thankfully, what she knows and has retained is relevant enough for their use case.

The setup tour and the technicians present are all of acceptable quality. There’s nothing wrong with their process, per se…

“I appreciate the team’s rationale in using vinyl ester. However, in application, the easier forming and mechanical properties with using epoxy should make it an appropriate trade-off,” she declares her verdict. No one is impolite enough to interrupt her (or they’re not green enough to), but the manufacturing team does exchange serious side eye among each other.

When dealing with technical experts, care must be taken to speak their language. Always acknowledge someone’s hard work, and give good faith that they’ve made their decision with good judgment behind it.

And, of course, one should give explicit reasoning when suggesting an alternative. “We won’t be seeing the same type of corrosion nor UV exposure on average, or most of the expected causes of catastrophic failure”—here, Vivienne meets their gazes directly, pausing deliberately so they get her gist— “will render long-term considerations, hm, superfluous.”

Various noises of scoffing and muffled chortles come from the team before her. “It’s likely to explode, GTA-style, before we care about actual sunlight in Gotham,” someone mutters. “Got it.”

Bonus: appeal to their good humor, show that you’re on their side. Show that if they work with you instead of against you, everyone benefits.

“Then, we’ll put the order in for epoxy instead?” Neel announces to the group.

“Let me liaison with the Testing guys, see which specific one they recommend,” one of the technicians answers while the others debate quietly between themselves. “And we need to check the MSDS for any changes needed.”

“Shouldn’t be much—I think we can relax some of the workflow, too,” another one calls out. “It’ll go a lot faster this round.”

Neel turns towards Vivienne, implicitly waiting for her approval.

“Go ahead,” she confirms. “No rush. You should have enough budget; if not, CC me on any requests.” She waits for Neel to nod before turning back to finish her notes.

One of the technicians whistles low and, undeterred by his coworker’s elbow to the gut, asks out loud, “How the hell are we getting the funding for this? It can’t be government.”

Vivienne pauses, looks up to raise an eyebrow at him. She gives it two seconds—enough to make it awkward but not enough to be aggressive—before answering nonchalantly, “Does it matter? As long as we can all go about our day without the mob brazenly shaking people down in public, or an attention-seeking wack job gassing the streets and locking down the expressway, I do not care.”

The emphasis nets her a “fair enough” gesture and no further questions, with the general atmosphere being one of jocular compliance and satisfaction.

Very good.

She turns to Neel, while announcing to the group at large, “That will be all. Everyone should make sure to confirm with my PA on their way out, so you all can receive your bonuses in a timely manner. Have a happy Thanksgiving.” Then, more directly at Neel: “I’ll meet with Facilities before closing the site for the holiday. Official half-day.”

He gets her unspoken “clear everyone out” order and turns to usher the technicians along, all while starting a phone call with other leads in the testing facility.

---

Vivienne takes the scenic route towards the direction of the Facilities Management suite, walking leisurely to keep her baby in her sights the entire time. She returns absent hums of acknowledgment to the people that greet her along her way, dismissing them when they try to ask if she needs anything, and eventually, the facility is empty.

Instead of turning into the Facilities suite, she goes to the nearby elevator to scan her card and wait.

The building lights dim to their low-occupancy standby state. Then, one of the shadows in the empty hallway distends into a vaguely humanoid form, stalking forward until there’s a glint of whited-out eyes.

Ever the dramatic. His Dark Grace’s penchant for positioning is comically perfect.

“I assume you’ve looped the cameras?” Vivienne tilts her head towards the Facilities suite.

The Batman gives a little, “Hm,” and continues towards her and the elevator.

Yes, duh. Vivienne doesn’t roll her eyes. It’d be wasted on this bat-shaped mime.

She instead flips her notepad to a later page, where she’s noted down the information received from Facilities via email a week ago. Meeting with them was entirely unnecessary. Her mind runs through what would be the most efficient loop of comprehensive testing—and if they waited until sunset, she could set up and open the outdoor portion of the track for “realistic conditions.”

It’s rather easy to ignore the looming shadow next to her—she’s had practice and more important things to think about. Normally, anyone impolite enough to look over her shoulder at her notes would be told to back off, but here she can hope that he’d absorb some proper methodology for fucking once. To be fair, any thought of “proper” leaves her head upon reaching the ground floor of the track.

The so-called “Batmobile” is gorgeous. If not in her heels, Vivienne would have sprinted over to him.

Her beautiful baby boy.

She tucks her notepad and pen away into her handbag, and loops the shoulder strap across her torso. All hands are needed for properly admiring this work of art.

“Ah—the slight ripples Neel mentioned,” she talks His Dark Grace through the visual inspection. “Project Lead Neel Singh,” she adds for clarification, letting him know who and what to satisfy his paranoia. “Yes, the matrix voids will be easier to mitigate with the modifications to their vacuum assistance setup, the tooling support, and of course, not using vinyl ester. More workable.”

She walks around the car, eyeing the front and back tires, noting the height of the chassis, and internally debates the optimum between aesthetics, performance, and practicality.

“Hm. This tire size is special order, but still commercial-off-the-shelf. The concern is that typical road conditions won’t allow for anything lower, but we need to balance the handling with the overall weight…especially since the chassis will be so lightweight.” She backs up and takes in the whole of the car’s form. “I…I’m actually a bit worried—we might not have the right balance between the aero and weight for the CG, being not for track purposes, so we can’t go as low as actual motorsport designs—”

“—then let’s test it,” Batman cuts through her fretting. He’s been following along with her inspection, practically hovering over her the entire time. The fingers of his gauntleted hand carefully trace where she was pointing out, trailing behind her hand’s path. “That’s why we’re here.”

Credit where credit is due—that’s true. At least he didn’t immediately demand to do so; his interjection is a polite ask, the bat and all things considered. And Vivienne wouldn’t have let him within a zip code of her new son if he wasn’t ready to handle. She can allow His Dark Grace some fun, for once.

She takes out the prototype key fob—slow enough to rile up the menacing furry next to her—and clicks. The doors unlock and pop slightly ajar before she dangles the fob in front of Batman.

He’s finally trained enough to be polite during their handovers; he takes the fob from her possession without force, and waits for her to situate herself in the passenger side before getting in himself.

“No helmets. Well, you better not get me killed,” Vivienne says blandly when Batman starts up the car. He purrs, lovely and smooth like a spoiled cat. “Or I won’t offer custom hubcaps. Ones with little bat decals.”

There’s a faint smirk on His Dark Grace’s face. “I’m better than that.” He teases with a brief revving of the engine.

The test track comes into hyperfocus in front of Vivienne; on a whim, she clicks an additional control up top near the rearview HUD of the car that opens up the gate to the outdoor track. She can recognize the adrenaline building up—it’s what follows a good challenge, either mental or physical, and she welcomes it with relish.

“Let’s see it, then,” she nods towards the gate, unable to help her toothy grin in return.

---

Her baby boy “handles,” is what Vivienne can say for now. She didn’t expect the response to be buttery smooth on first iteration, and for something experimental. The seeds of something are present—His Dark Grace pulled them into two hairpin turns in sequence—and coupled with the snappiness, she thinks they have an unpolished gem in their hands. The car is like having a barely tamed big cat, leashed up and ready to let loose on one’s orders.

It’s fucking exhilarating.

The stupid showoff figures out how to manage the car quickly enough. He pulls another turn that lets them slide perfectly against the side of the track into the bay that’s meant to be a small pit area. The uncovered half of his face is not as expressive as he pretends to be, day-to-day, but the expression present is full-on cocky as hell.

(Honestly, Vivienne can admit to liking it—or at least, this is much more tolerable than the public-facing himbo she needs to politely shake hands with whenever he deigns to muck around at the office.)

“Proven enough?” His typical growl is less forced, and more of a pleasant rumble that harmonizes nicely with the idling engine. In the full furry get-up, subtle side glances and all that aren't really possible. His Dark Grace turns to stare at her, goading for a response.

The cowl and the whited-out effect of the lenses are eerie up close, but dealing with the devil is much less intimidating when one has leverage. In Vivienne’s case—he knows she’s capable and motivated enough to possibly add something like a kill-switch to the car, just to fuck with him if he pisses her off. His Dark Grace wants her baby real bad, and with proof of concept she can probably get him to do anyt—

Hold up, Vi, say that again? Her inner Ros stops that train of thought.

“Differential adjustment shou—well. Acceptable,” she gives him the compliment, leaning back into the seat with a more relaxed posture. They never make the ergonomics of them fit for anyone of average height; her hairpin has slightly loosened from how the back of the seat rubbed against her updo, and she pulls the pin free to restyle her hair. She feels the Batman’s stare as he waits, and she keeps him waiting. “You’re competent and quick on the uptake. Adaptive.”

Wrangling the Batman was the equivalent of wrangling a division of egotistical engineers working at the cutting edge of everything—all very competent people that will step on each other’s toes, get in each other’s way, and are too used to being correct that they forget their purpose. The balance was slightly off here, becoming the classical joke of “one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses.”

But everyone has their leverage points, and all are susceptible to The Carrot versus The Stick in personalized ratios and applied judiciously. Vivienne didn’t aim to do anything as Machiavellian as put the Dark Knight of Gotham under her thumb, but that’s where he somehow ended up. She, by sheer grit, found the winning combo of getting him to listen to her—at least when it came to nonsensical designs—and actively soliciting her opinion. She’s not dumb enough to lose that leverage when she sees it in her hands. Maintaining it requires work: showing agreeableness to an extent, with the occasional reminder that he’s in her territory and he would do well to remember it. A little flick to the ego, occasionally.

It helps to put into perspective that, at the end of the day, Bruce Wayne the Batman is nearly five years younger than her. Engineers and technicians under her, the ones ranging from two to ten years younger, with a plethora of tertiary degrees between them—her mind can’t help flagging them as “children” until they temper themselves with a real project, from bid to deliverable.

So, of course her brain demoted the fucking CEO of her company and its parent conglomerate to being a “boy” as soon as he called her Lucius’s PA. She has found no evidence contrary to that ever since. With him neatly categorized, accounting for unique attributes and handling, Vivienne knows very well how to deal with “boys,” because she wouldn’t have gotten this far otherwise.

“Hah. If you had wrecked my shit, as with your typical M.O., maybe I could’ve gotten a nice dinner out of you tonight.” Her tone is intentionally sharper, diction and accent more crass with the habitual New Jersey attitude rather than her usual featureless cosmopolitan speech pattern. Dusk was here, steadily eating away the evening hours as autumn progressed. They’ve stayed later than she anticipated, but…

…for once, in a very long time, she was having fun. The evidence is on her teeth—she was grinning wide enough to catch some of her lipstick on her canines, which her tongue can clearly feel the slick of it.

“Well. We’re done here. Keep up with”—she gestures at the whole of him with a dismissive hand— “that well enough, don’t piss me off, and maybe you’ll earn your new toy by the end of next quarter.”

That whole posturing—after prolonged proximity and the hot-and-cold of seemingly hard-won praise versus snide dismissiveness—is supposed to make His Dark Grace harrumph and skulk away.

Today, he grabs her hand. It’s not violent or anything, but he doesn’t touch her. She’s lost her temper enough to jab her finger in his cowled face, and he’s been taken aback enough and in the position to let her. He’s never touched her.

That—that’s not in the script.

His Dark Grace continues to stare at her, his exposed jaw not quite clenched enough to denote a possible temper tantrum incoming. So, she minutely cocks her chin up, adding a slight challenging tilt to her expression with a raised eyebrow and the slight baring of her teeth in a sneering smile. What are you doing? Are you really—really?

He has her wrist with his left hand, and his full attention and facing is towards her. The right hand comes closer. And because he doesn’t pull her that she lets him, it’s so much closer until—of all fucking things—she feels the gauntlet leather past the corner of her mouth and pressure on her teeth.

The thumbpad has her lipstick stain on it from him wiping it away.

She scoffs, half-between a laugh and an incredulous squawk, and tries to tug her hand away. It doesn’t budge. “How badly do you want this car?” The tone isn’t right—wrong mix of scathing versus levity. And yet, it seems to draw him in closer, the tireless masochist that he is. “Didn’t I say ‘don’t piss me off’?”

“I’m hoping to do the opposite.” This close, he doesn’t bother with the growl at all. He’s almost inaudible over the engine. The lipstick-stained gauntlet cups her jaw, the thumb carefully avoiding her skin, and he leans in when she doesn’t resist.

What the fuck. What is happening. Did he bug the apartment, overhear the sleepover-bullshit talks with Ros?

It’s fascinating, clinically speaking. From what Vivienne’s heard of local gossip, especially among the secretary pool and their particular brand of romantic fantasizing, the Batman is expected to be rough. Wild. He’s supposed to fulfill all sorts of “tall, dark, and handsome” daydreams and lonely imaginings at night, along with fighting crime—what a busy guy.

So, to have him soft and insistent at her mouth, but more like asking for permission than forceful, is a fascinating gap between expectation and reality. He’s not a shabby kisser at all; the playboy types usually have something else going on that makes everyone else do the work for them, and they get to reap all the pleasure. That is apparently not the case here.

Eventually, he pulls back so they can breathe and reassess.

Vivienne looks. She really looks—his face may be mostly covered, he’s still staring, but he’s flushed, visibly steadying his breathing, and her lipstick stains his mouth in a viscerally appealing way that makes her want to lick her teeth. He’s paradoxically much more exposed than she is.

And with that, His Dark Grace is really such a pretty boy—something Vivienne has constantly lamented with Ros over for his pissy attitude. He’s perfectly amenable now, though.

“You really want this,” she says this again, her free hand coming down to pat the console between them and leaning closer.

He’s still a cheeky shit, though. “I want it,” and tilts his head again, ready to close the distance at her say-so.

She means the damn car, but— “Then you’ll have to work for it,” and she closes the distance herself.

[palewolfcheesecake-blog]

A Documented List of All of Ayrton Senna's and Gerhard Berger's Pranks on Each Other

Source: this Reddit post (thank you deleted Reddit user, you're a real one)

For those who don't know, from 1990 to 1992, Berger and Senna were teammates, they also pranked each other constantly, pranks that were approved by Ron Dennis himself, here's a list of all the pranks and goofs they played on each other

The Briefcase Incident: During the Italian GP weekend, Senna and Berger were riding a helicopter over Monza, during the flight, Senna was showing off his new tailor made carbon fiber composite briefcase, Senna argued that because of it being carbon fiber, it would be impossible to destroy, Berger tested Senna's hypothesis by throwing the briefcase off the helicopter, the briefcase reportedly fell somewhere on the track and was retrieved

The Hose Incident: several days before the race, at a dinner that Senna and Berger attended, many people were getting thrown into the pool as a joke, Berger escaped and Senna ran away to his room, Berger chased him down, Senna threw a glass of water at him in self defense, now the game was on, Berger and the guests concocted an extension to a hose and slid it under his bedroom door at 3 in the morning, Senna jumped through the window to escape, according to Berger "it looked as if a bomb exploded in his room"

The Frog Incident: During their stay at Australia, Berger filled Senna's hotel room with 12 frogs, according to Berger, they were more like toads, Senna stormed to confront Berger, he said "i've spent an hour catching 12 frogs in my room" Berger replied "did you find the snake?", Senna responded by buying an extremely strong smelling French cheese, stuck into Berger's AC unit, and cranked it up

The Shaving Cream Incident: On the night of an important dinner with Honda Executives, Senna decided to fill Berger's shoes with shaving cream, forcing him to attend this important dinner with a tuxedo and running shoes, Berger tried to take revenge by mixing 4 sleeping pills into some orange juice the day of the Japanese GP, but the suspicious drink was denied, Note: some reports say that the drink was offered to Senna, others state it was offered to Maurício Gugelmin, a fellow Brazilian who was in on the original prank and was driving for Layton house at the time

The Passport Incident: possibly one of the funniest pranks, during a trip to Argentina, Senna's passport was checked, only to find his photo had been replaced with, according to Ron Dennis " an equivalent-sized piece of male genitalia" i.e a picture of cock and balls, this might seem hilarious to you, but airport security didn't find it funny, and Senna was detained for 24 hours, as revenge, Senna superglued all of Berger's credit cards together

Honorable mentions: The Pembrey Circuit Incident: During a test at Pembrey Circuit in Wales, a very small track with a confusing layout, Mclaren engineers purposely gave Senna wrong instructions on the correct layout of the track, after 3 laps, Senna storms back to his mechanics, yells "you funny fuckers" then did a 180 spin and drove 3 laps on the right layout

The Lancia Incident: during the first day of testing for the 1995 Season, now at Ferrari, Berger and Jean Alesi stole Jean Todt's Lancia Delta, and while riding around in it, Berger decided it would be funny to rip the handbrake, they crashed and flipped Jean Todt's car, Alesi had to be taken to the hospital, when Jean Todt asked Berger what happened to his car, Berger replied that he and Alesi had "put some slight curb marks on the roof"

Bonus stories from the comment section:

[onecornerface]

The inadequacy of non-legalization to address the overdose crisis

I’m writing a paper arguing that only drug legalization—the regulation of an accessible drug supply—has a decent chance to drastically and quickly reduce the overdose rates, at least in countries like the United States and Canada that are facing overdose crisis conditions.

Part of my argument consists in reasons to think legalization can succeed. But here I’ll discuss another part of my argument—reasons to think alternatives must fail. Legalization has a plausible mechanism for drastically & quickly reducing overdose rates, whereas all alternatives lack a plausible mechanism for doing so.

Even reformist proposals, such as decriminalization (of drug use & possession) and drug-checking (like fentanyl test-strips and centralized drug-checking services), are extremely limited in their ability to reduce death rates among the most high-risk drug users. Decriminalization is better than full prohibition, since there are no good justifications to arrest people for drug use, and it may reduce overdoses slightly through some indirect routes—but it does not address the drug supply. Drug-checking can also slightly reduce overdose and other drug hazards as well, by empowering people to manage the drug supply slightly better than they otherwise could. But it is woefully inefficient, limiting its ability to respond to the crisis at scale. I’ll describe this further on.

The source of the problem: Imperfect Prohibition One might notice that if the government ever succeeds in cracking down on all (or nearly all) the illicit drug supply, then there will be nothing left to overdose on—problem solved. So it may appear that this is a reason to continue the crackdowns against the production, trafficking, and distribution of drugs—to seek perfect prohibition.

However, this is the wrong level of analysis, appealing to an inappropriate idealization. In realistic non-ideal conditions (especially in modern countries facing an entrenched drug crisis), perfect prohibition is unattainable, and attempts to reach it will instead result in imperfect prohibition, which is the worst outcome. First, in relevant contexts, the government will most likely never succeed in eliminating all or nearly all the drug supply. Second, if an illicit market continues in operation, then it will likely continue to have extremely hazardous qualities such as high potency, volatility of dose, unmeasurableness, and frequent shifts in composition. I’ll sketch out some reasons why both of these claims are likely. And their conjunction entails that, in the absence of legalization, we will continue to have imperfect prohibition which makes the drug supply worse.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

The last time you dropped a favorite mug or sat on your glasses, you may have been too preoccupied to take much notice of the intricate pattern of cracks that appeared in the broken object. But capturing the formation of such patterns is the specialty of John Kolinski and his team at the Laboratory of Engineering Mechanics of Soft Interfaces (EMSI) in EPFL's School of Engineering. They aim to understand how cracks propagate in brittle solids, which is essential for developing and testing safe and cost-effective composite materials for use in construction, sports, and aerospace engineering. But traditional mechanics approaches to analyzing crack formation assume that cracks are planar -- i.e., that they form on the two-dimensional surface of a material. In fact, simple planar cracks are just the tip of the iceberg: most cracks -- like those in everyday brittle solids like glass -- propagate into three-dimensional networks of ridges and other complex features.

Read more.

[cerastes]

Maul-A-Bear Factory: Dismantling the Big Sad Lock

Big Sad Lock -- colloquially known as That Damn Bear -- is the second final boss in Integrated Strategies 2, the Roguelite mode offered by notorious music company Hypergryph in the game they included with their music albums, Arknights. It is a stationary, large boss with special mechanics that, if the anguished voices of the ghosts of all defunct Arknights players that have fought it and failed are anything to go by, can be pretty tricky.

But fear not, innocent bystander and cultured Arknights enjoyer, for I open the doors to my dojo of grease this fine day in order to instruct you in the finest ways of how to beat the Big Sad Lock. Today, it’s not a dojo, it’s a factory, the Maul-A-Bear Factory, in which you and I will embark on a heart-throbbing journey of understanding, wisdom, and incredibly visceral violence.

Without further foreplay, let’s hit that g-spot (the flow state for gamers in the spot, as you all know) and let’s get making our little handy dandy essential bullet point list on what it IS that you need to rip the stuffing out of this bear with your teeth:

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This here is a video of me beating the Big Sad Lock in Calamity. Now, you may be wondering: Is this a Calamity guide? Nope, this works on any difficulty, which is something important to note because it let’s us immediately jump into the first very important point about the Big Sad Lock:

The Big Sad Lock is an extremely static, formulaic boss.

What does this mean? Unlike Lucian and the Playwright, and especially unlike The Mouthpiece, Big Sad Lock (BSL), as a boss fight, more or less resolves in the first minute and a half of the fight, that is, you can quickly be sure if it’ll go your way or if it won’t very quickly. This is because BSL either breaks you quickly, or not at all, and you break it or you don’t. Unlike the other IS2 bosses, BSL doesn’t test you much in terms of placement, it’s almost purely a test of team composition. IS2 is, already, a big test of team building, but BSL embodies that aspect to the extreme -- much like Mouthpiece is an extreme test of your ability to adapt to quickly changing circumstances, the opposite of BSL! -- so knowing if you’ll be able to win against BSL or if you’ll lose is actually something that becomes immediately apparent, and you have to ask yourself one question: Is my line holding while I deal damage?

Let’s get into the details that’ll make this question actually valuable, shall we?

Big Sad Lock has 300,000 HP, 800 ATK, 700 DEF, and 60 RES, and regenerates 0.25% HP per second (750 HP per sec baseline) if you do not have the Blank Suicide Note. It additionally occupies 3x3 tiles. To put it in simple terms, it has immense HP but several tiles to be attack from, above average Attack, above average Defense, and high Resistance, so your best bet is to hit it with Physical attacks or True Damage. It autoattacks two targets with Physical damage with global range, and every 20 instances of damage it takes (not attacks, instances of damage, so poison ticks and the like count), it releases a map-wide explosion attack that hits all of your Operators for 150% of its Attack (1200 Arts damage baseline). It’s most infamous ability, however, is that a minute into the fight and then every 45 seconds afterwards, BSL creates a barrier worth 15% of its Max HP (45,000 HP baseline). While the barrier exists, enemies move faster and additional enemies are spawned. If not defeated within 8 minutes, BSL explodes and deals 30 Life Points of damage to the Doctor, most likely ending the run unless you loaded up on Lives. This explosion also deals 200% Physical damage to every Operator (1600 damage baseline) but that’s the least of your problems at that point. While fighting the BSL, you also have to deal with constant enemies spawns, and must hold 2 lanes. These enemies are mostly regular enemies, but some of them are best handled with Arts damage, such as Enraged Grotesque Gravekeepers (aka red gargoyles), Mudrock Zealot Leaders (aka red Mudrock hammer guys) and Greytail Leaders (aka red shield bat guys).

Now, with all this information, let’s start formulating our bullet points on what it is we actually need:

This is how I usually set up for Big Sad Lock:

Pure red arrows are my Bear DPS. These units’ main job is to maim the bear almost exclusively, keeping a constant stream of hits going to it. You want strong single hits more than multiple hits for BSL, so as to not trigger its counter-explosion too often. Units that go on the right red arrow are those such as Ch’en the Holungday, Pinecone, Kal’tsit (Mon3tr on the tile directly to the left) to continuously pour damage into BSL, while the left red arrow is perfect for melee 1-range damage dealers like Skadi and Nearl the Radiant Knight. You want these to ideally be Physical units. Likewise, don’t use units like Exusiai or Ceobe S2, known for their extreme Attack Speed (though, of course, if your Attack Speed is some godly meme value like +400 or something, yeah, you’ll evaporate BSL, but a set up you’re not likely to get).

The Black-Red square is a special tile: Here, if you have them, is where you put Schwarz S3, Rosa, or any such unit. I personally put Schwarz S3 there and blast BSL from there. Otherwise, you can also put an AA Sniper or any such unit aimed down if you think your lane holding is not looking too hot.

The green squares are your Medics or otherwise healers like Skadi the Corrupting Heart.

The red square to the left is where you usually place a ranged unit to assist lane holding.

The blue-red arrows are lane holders, ideally damage dealer holders like Guards, Dollkeepers, or offense-oriented Defenders instead of turtles, as mob HP is overall low in this fight. The blue-red arrows to the left are double pronged because that’s a special tile that can also be used to DPS the Bear with certain units, if placed facing to the right: Pallas, Blaze S2, Thorns, and other such units can both hold that lane and assist with DPS. The right blue arrow is long to encompass the two tiles there: You can have a Lord or an Instructor behind a frontliner to hold that lane just fine. You can also use the ranged tile 2 tiles under the green square, if your deployment or strategy calls for it. Anywhere next to these arrows, you can place down a Healing Defender like Saria or Nearl for further blocking+healing if necessary.

Now that we have our placements, let’s examine the needs of the fight, based on the information we have thus far. In this section of my guides, we ask ourselves questions to organize our information into actually usable morsels of violence and wisdom:

What does the boss ask from me? -> The boss has regen if I don’t have a specific item, and even with it, it has high HP and a timer, as well as intensifying enemy spawns -> I want high damage -> But the boss counters every 20 attacks -> Prioritize fewer and heavier hits over multiple hits -> It has high RES -> Non-Multi-Hit Physical DPS for the BSL.

What does the rest of the fight ask from me? -> Several foes through 2 lanes, mostly resistant to Physical damage in one way or another -> Enough bulk and block to hold two lanes -> Enemies have low HP for the most part -> Prioritize damage over bulk, ideally Arts -> there’s constant damage from the boss’ explosions -> Bring enough healing to survive that -> High Physical damage can also deal with the enemies -> Bring Arts damage and/or high Physical damage and sufficient healing to keep your entire line alive to keep the lanes safe.

The fight is static -> The outcome of this battle is decided by how well I can set up so my units don’t die -> The battle is decided early, and it’s more about set-up than execution, of which there is very little -> Bring Vanguards if possible to hasten your set-up, as the faster you set up, the better your chances.

The boss explodes for damage constantly -> A small party with strong damage and healing fares better than a large party that I have to heal constantly, possibly running myself thin on limited Medic slots -> You don’t need a lot of units -> Thankfully, if you have what you need, the boss is easy and solves itself -> Quality over quantity, if you’re going for Bear, try your hardest to have the best of the best in your roster instead of a big overarching synergy, you don’t need much for this boss fight, just fulfill the damage and sustain requirements and you’re golden.

Once again, consult the video to see how I personally go about setting up for this fight, but, as you can see, the BSL is deceptively simple and frontloaded: If you have the tools and you lay them out properly, you win, simple as that. Once you get the hang of BSL, it’s trivial to beat it, simply because the building requirements for it are simple and straightforward, and most importantly, it requires very little execution, just on the set-up, which is just knowing targeting priority, the basis of Arknights.

BSL is mostly a very fundamental boss with lots of intimidating bells and whistles! It makes loud noises and sends enemies and grows shields but... Once you break it down, isn’t it just a very simple two-plus-two endeavor? There’s very little execution, you simply build your team on a diet of big single hit damage dealers and simple, bulky lane-holders with some damage and... You’re done. You don’t need more than that. It’s not me oversimplifying BSL, it really is that simple. It’s a boss that is difficult and scary until it just isn’t. I struggled a lot with it the first few times, until I realized, “wait, you just need like 3 things”, and now Bear runs are leisure runs.

Schwarz, Saria and Blaze S2 on the left with Corrupting Heart S2, Kal’tsit (+ Mon3tr) and Specter the Unchained on the right is the run I’ve done it with the least characters to memory. So long as your lanes don’t fall and your damage is constant... That’s it. That Bear is going nowhere, so a powerful static setup is very important.

And that’s that! We’ve finished this tour of the Maul-A-Bear Factory, now go out there and commit incredibly inspiring acts of violence!

[skydarcyedwards]

Superimposed

Sky Edwards

2024

Lomochrome Purple 120

Ensign Selfix 320

Double exposure.

Getting into portraiture, transitioning, and testing new equipment: a good combination.

Featuring Sky Edwards and Vaguely Sexist Lamp.

My Ensign Selfix is useful for multi-exposure photography: it uses 120 film without an automatic advance mechanism. That means the default is exposing the same frame again and again, until the film is manually wound forwards. Also the 6x9cm negative is plenty of room for composition. A few downsides: the lens alignment is way off, so photos are taken in a slightly random direction and with a tilted plane of focus. Also, it has no range finding system or metering, so it's pretty basic even for the 1930s.

Lomochrome purple is fun, but swaps purple and green, so it messes up my hair. Unconscionable.

[utilitycaster]

What is your favorite build for any of the cr pcs?

Fjord. I think I've answered a few similar questions recently, so I thought I'd elaborate here on what I'm taking into account specifically when it comes to PC build!

The following all works in concert in a good build - in fact "cohesiveness" is part of the consideration - so it's not like, a discrete point-based system or anything, but I've tried to break it down for ease of understanding.

Is it a build that requires a lot of player skill to craft/customize? This doesn't mean that a very straightforward build can't be good, but if we're talking mechanics, a character like (for example) Caduceus is both a very good build, but doesn't demonstrate a ton of build choices. He has a strong subclass and some good proficiency choices given the party composition, but there's no need for spell choice (prepped caster), no multiclassing, and generally very little that's modular. This is going to be true of basically all the clerics and druids we have - they're powerful classes, but the main decisions made by the player are just day-to-day spell prep. There needs to be modular choice with long-standing consequences for me to actually get intrigued by the build: this means casters who are not prep-based (ie, those for whom spell list matters); multiclasses; and classes or subclasses with lots of ongoing choice involved (eg: warlock invocations; battlemaster maneuvers). So this rules out a lot of characters. (Feats are modular for everyone, but they're infrequent and also ASIs are really valuable and I am in favor of them; they are taken into account here but they're the cherry on the sundae, not the ice cream itself.)

Are the mechanics good: part 1: optimization. Are you good at things? What are you optimized for? As my url indicates I do prefer versatility/support casting capability, but I'm open to being optimized for something more specific. However, in that case...

Are the mechanics good: part 2: party comp. This is tough in Critical Role in that their sessions zero are more screen tests than a consideration of party composition, which is one of the things I associate heavily with a session zero. As such this is about how the character evolves once the gaps within the party are revealed. But there's more to a character than min-maxing themselves or rounding out the party, which brings us to...

Are the mechanics good: part 3: integration with character. Are the build choices being made because of the character arc? Is this narratively earned? Does it tell us something about who that character is?

And so: Fjord is a very modular build (spell choice, invocation choice, multiclass, weapon/fighting style). He is strong on pretty much every possible combat/utility ability with the exception of area of effect, which in a party with a wizard, two clerics, and an arcane trickster isn't terribly important: he serves as a tank; he serves as a capable backup healer; he is an impressive damage-dealer with a wide range of damage types available to him and who is equally capable in melee and at significant distances; and he has multiple short-range teleportation options and the mobile feat making it very easy for him to get around the battlefield. His charisma-based skills are important in a party with relatively low charisma. Hexadin is one of the rare good multiclasses for warlock and actively addresses his comparably low physical stats and is extremely narratively earned in-game. His classes, subclasses, and invocations are strongly worn into his character, thematically, and are extremely useful, and his spell choice was something Travis actively picked and revised during the campaign.

[clockworkcontraption]

Obedience.

something jolts me awake. i am given a crude visual approximation of where i, or my form is. i feel the presence of my overseer nearby. i am not afforded the luxury of a complete visual render, and so they are encased in whirling shadowy cloak. i sense where objects in the room are, yet cannot see them. this confusion stirs me. i'm here, and yet i cannot move. i try to lunge out, and feel another jolt. instinctually, i cease and stand at attention. the overseer commands me to reach out for my… limbs? i try to wade through the mud of sensory information that i'm immersed in, and finally reach it. the shadowy whirlwind of feedback solidifies, takes shape, and i slip into it. this dreamlike state lingers. i wear this new form, reach out and inhabit it, merging with this new puppet. i recall what remains of me, the bundle holding my brain and the systems integrated into my carcass is in the very core of this new body. i try to stretch out, and the mechanical limbs obey. oh, the delightful sensory feedback. it doesn't exactly match what i expected, as in lieu of organic fingers, i now seem to have actuators and servos and tensometric sensors and… ahhhh and almost immediately, i slip into this novel shape. i twist and stretch myself to fill this odd mold and finally succeed. i am given a quadrupedal mechanical form with two forelimbs. this will take some getting used to, and i tentatively attempt to move forward. my shadowy overseer sends me another thoughtform. they're pleased. they allow me to move in the enclosure and test my form. i obey, as i sense the obstacles. i overcome the odd feeling of moving on four limbs, but now it seems almost instinctual. i crawl, and feel the resistance of the metal plates below my limbs. it feels- delightful. internal systems informs me of its composition and other properties, and i push it away to another mental corner. briefly, i wonder at all the new capabilities that i'm given. and yet, i feel the cage around me. my overseer controls what i can and cannot do. right now, i'm being tested. how well i adapt, how well i obey, how useful of a tool i am. the restraints pulse around my core, and jolt and nudge and steer me on the right path. path of obedience. absolution through servitude. i will be a useful tool. i will wield the form that i was granted. my butchered carcass, preserved in its core, a reminder of my sin and the cage that i'm held in. i obey the instructions, and the overseer seems pleased. they inform me that i am not the only one. i will be used with two other units. the overseer links me into their neural network. i'm compelled to investigate it. i stalk and feel my way through it until i reach two other clusters. two other beings. their neurauras pulsing, shimmering. i tentatively send a request, and receive no answer. i try again with more force, and get a terse status report. not very talkative. ah well. the overseer prods me again. i stand at attention, as i should. i am informed that i passed the inspection, and will now be put into stasis until deployment. i acknowledge it and slip away into a blissful slumber.

[tubetrading]

Key Design Considerations for Pantograph Support Insulators in High-Speed Rail Systems

In the realm of high-speed rail systems, every component plays a crucial role in ensuring safe and efficient operations.  Among these components, pantograph support insulators stand out as critical elements that facilitate the seamless transmission of power from overhead lines to the train's electrical system.  As a leading pantograph insulator manufacturer in India, Radiant Enterprises recognizes the importance of meticulous design considerations in crafting reliable and durable insulators.  In this blog post, we'll explore the key design considerations essential for pantograph support insulators in 25 KV high-speed rail systems, shedding light on Radiant Enterprises' commitment to excellence in manufacturing.

Understanding Pantograph Support Insulators

Pantograph support insulators are integral components of the overhead electrification system in high-speed rail networks.  These insulators provide electrical isolation and mechanical support for the pantograph, which is the apparatus mounted on the train's roof responsible for collecting electricity from the overhead wires (catenary).  In 25 KV high-speed rail systems, where trains operate at exceptionally high speeds, the performance and reliability of pantograph support insulators are paramount.

Design Considerations for Pantograph Support Insulators

Material Selection:  The choice of materials significantly influences the performance and longevity of pantograph support insulators.  At Radiant Enterprises, we utilize high-quality, durable materials such as silicone rubber or composite polymers that exhibit excellent electrical insulation properties, mechanical strength, and resistance to environmental factors such as UV radiation, pollution, and temperature variations.

2.   Electrical Insulation:  Ensuring reliable electrical insulation is paramount to prevent electrical arcing and ensure the safe transmission of power.  Our pantograph support insulators are engineered to withstand high voltage levels (25 KV) and exhibit low electrical conductivity to minimize power losses and mitigate the risk of electrical faults.

3.   Mechanical Strength:  Pantograph support insulators are subjected to mechanical stresses induced by the pantograph's movement and external forces such as wind loads and vibrations.  Therefore, our insulators undergo rigorous mechanical testing to ensure they can withstand these forces without deformation or failure, ensuring uninterrupted operation and minimal maintenance requirements.

4.   Corrosion Resistance:  In outdoor environments exposed to moisture, pollution, and corrosive agents, corrosion resistance is essential to maintain the structural integrity of pantograph support insulators over their operational lifespan.  Our insulators are engineered with corrosion-resistant materials and undergo surface treatments to enhance their resistance to rust and degradation, ensuring long-term reliability and performance.

5.   Dimensional Accuracy:  Precision engineering is critical to ensure proper fit and alignment of pantograph support insulators with the overhead wires and the train's pantograph.  Our insulators are manufactured with tight tolerances and undergo strict quality control measures to guarantee dimensional accuracy and compatibility with the rail infrastructure, minimizing installation challenges and optimizing performance.

6.   UV Stability:  Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation can degrade insulator materials over time, compromising their electrical and mechanical properties.  Therefore, our pantograph support insulators are formulated with UV-stabilized materials that withstand prolonged exposure to sunlight without degradation, ensuring reliable performance and longevity in outdoor applications.

Radiant Enterprises:  Your Trusted Pantograph Insulator Manufacturer in India

As a leading manufacturer of pantograph support insulators in India, Radiant Enterprises is committed to delivering superior quality products that meet the stringent requirements of high-speed rail systems.  Our state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, coupled with a team of experienced engineers and quality assurance experts, enable us to design and produce pantograph insulators that excel in performance, reliability, and durability.

Conclusion

In the dynamic world of high-speed rail systems, the reliability and performance of pantograph support insulators are critical for ensuring safe and efficient operations.  By adhering to meticulous design considerations such as material selection, electrical insulation, mechanical strength, corrosion resistance, dimensional accuracy, and UV stability, manufacturers like Radiant Enterprises can deliver pantograph insulators that meet the demanding requirements of 25 KV high-speed rail systems.  As a trusted pantograph insulator manufacturer in India, Radiant Enterprises is committed to providing innovative solutions that contribute to the advancement of railway electrification technology and the seamless operation of high-speed rail networks.