#Thermal Column

[lectorel]

You're just not trying hard enough. /Jk

It's really quite shocking just how much of my writing style was shaped by Animorphs and Animorphs specifically.

[dylanobrns]

DC Metro Backyard Porch

[beatrice-otter]

[image description: chart titled Talk Like A Technician: The Use of Technobabble.

Technology in Star Trek is complex and works in scientific concepts and principles that are far beyond what the majority of Players and Gamemasters are knowledgeable in. Throughout the collected media, Starfleet officers discuss technology using terms that most Players are not going to know. Instead of expecting Players to study and memorize technical manuals and reference books that have been published over the years we've provided an easy way to talk like a Starfleet engineer. Anyone can do "technobabble"!

To use the chart simply gather and roll d20s and consult the chart below for technical new terms and concepts.

Occasionally portions of the chart may not be applicable to the scene or circumstance. In that case simply omit that portion of technobabble!

The chart has six columns, Roll, Action, Descriptor, Source, Effect, and Device. Each has 20 rows.

Roll: numbers 1-20

Action: refocus, amplify, synchronize, redirect, recalibrate, modulate, oscillate, intensify, nullify, boost, reverse, reconfigure, actuate, focus, invert, reroute, modify, restrict, reset, extend

Descriptor: microscopic, macroscopic, linear, non-linear, isometric, multivariant, nano, phased, master, auxiliary, primary, secondary, tertiary, back-up, polymodal, multiphasic, tri-fold, balanced, oscillating

Source: Quantum, positronic, thermionic, osmotic, neutrino, spatial, resonating, thermal, photon, ionic, plasma, nucleonic, verteron, gravimetric, nadion, subspace, baryon, tetryon, polaron, tachyon

Effect: flux, reaction, field, particle, gradient, induction, conversion, polarizing, displacement, feed, imagining, reciprocating, frequency, pulse, phased, harmonic, interference, distortion, dampening, invariance

Device: inhibitor, equalizer, damper, chamber, catalyst, coil, unit, grid, regulator, sustainer, relay, discriminator, array, coupling, controller, actuator, harmonic, generator, manifold, stabilizer.

/end id]

[rustedhearts]

keepsakes (boxer!steve harrington x fem librarian!reader)

summary: the heat goes out during an autumnal cold front in your new hawkins home, so you make the most of a cozy day at home.

uses she/her pronouns and female anatomy.

✶ the king of the ring (1995) ✶ the library ✶ ‘tis autumn

✶ roller girl’s pie stand!

tags: pure marshmallow fluff, allusion to smut at the end. akin to old boxer steve from ‘22

hawkins, indiana. october, 1995.

“They said they can’t get out until Tuesday,” Steve huffs, slamming the phone back into the receiver on the kitchen wall.

You groan into the steam furling from the ceramic pot on the stove. “Ugh, come onnnn.”

Steve shuffles into the room with a sigh, thermal-sleeved arms winding their way around your shoulders. They fold together over your chest, guiding you back against him. You let him tuck his mouth into your neck, lips warm, nose cold. You jolt a little when it brushes your skin, giggling when he huffs a harsh breath.

“Mm, I know, angel. But ‘m here to warm ya up,” he mumbles against your throat.

Each of you had enough layers on to keep decently toasty. What you could rummage out of boxes still taped up now sat in a messy pile on your bed upstairs. You hadn’t expected such a cold autumn and thought you had at least a few weeks before you had to break out the winter gear. But now a long sleeve turtleneck sits under a clove-scented 49ers sweatshirt, big and bulky and soft inside like you liked it. Your sweatpants are matching in black color, and you have your hair tied up just like Steve liked it.

He has a white t-shirt under a navy blue thermal that makes his hair seem more chestnut than usual. His sweatpants are grey, the Jimmy’s Gym logo on the top right thigh cracked and faded from wear. You have a pair of his white socks on, and you think it’s adorable that the pair of you have matching feet right now.

Steve presses a noisy kiss to the column of your throat. His hair tickles your chin and makes you laugh again.

“Whatcha got planned today, hmm?”

You stir the wooden spoon through your soup again. “Guess.”

Steve hums thoughtfully, lifting from your neck to squint at the tile. “Hmm, if I had t’ guess, I’d say…reading in that ‘lil window upstairs, pretending you aren’t freezin’ your ass off.”

You scoff, cheeks warming. “N-no…”

“No?” Steve tips his head and kisses your cheek this time. “Saw the book already out. Waitin’ for you. Can’t you hear it calling, baby? All those words you have to read.”

You giggle, squirming in his arms. “Stop, don’t make fun of me.”

You click the gas off and Steve coos, clutching you a little tighter. His cheek is lukewarm when it presses to your temple.

“Aww, my ‘lil nerd. ‘s okay, angel, you know your librarian glasses are so fuckin’ sexy.”

You clutch the handle of the ceramic pot and veer toward the counter, where two mismatched bowls are waiting. Steve gets the hint, matching your steps until you’re moving together. You tip the pot and pour equal amounts of the chicken soup into each bowl, splattering noodle and broth drippings as you go. The window above the sink beside you is beginning to fog with the warmth of the stove. Beyond it, your neighbor’s tree is a vibrant yellow. Shedding pointed leaves across the yard, stuck in the jagged edges of the wooden fence. They gather on Steve’s BMW window, suctioned to the glass with this morning’s rain. The sky’s still a muddled grey, and you have all the lamps and candles lit in the house.

Steve somehow always gets horny in candlelight.

“My librarian glasses? Grab some spoons, please, baby?”

Steve takes one arm from your chest to lean to the left and open the utensil drawer. He gathers two spoons in his hand and nudges it shut, immediately returning to ensure both arms are back in place.

“Yeah. ‘s a good thing, baby, I promise.”

You take the spoons dangling near your collarbone and plop one into each bowl.

“Stevie, can you take ‘em? They’re hot.”

Steve takes a bowl in each hand around your sides and reluctantly pulls away from you. The pair of you whirl around and head for the dining room, a bowl clunking onto a plaid placemat at each assigned seating. Yet as you pull your chair out and go to sit, a pout appears on Steve’s face. He hasn’t even touched his chair.

“What?” you giggle.

“I just…you’re so far away.”

“I’m literally right here.”

“Too far,” he huffs. He swings around and directs his gaze toward the living room. “Let’s go sit on the floor.”

A soft smile touches your face, that glowing warmth gathering in your cheeks again. Oh, something about the cold made Steve so sweet.

“You wanna have a carpet picnic?” You beam.

Steve tips his head back and rolls his eyes. “You and that damn movie—yes, angel, we can have a carpet picnic.”

“Yay, okay! Take the bowls, please.”

He hides his grin against the back of your head when you flounce your way into the living room, forgetting all about the goosebumps and shivers you endured when you woke up to a frozen house this morning. You peel the throw blankets off the back of the couch and lay them on the carpet, smoothing out any wrinkles you know Steve will replace in just a few moments.

The bowls are placed on the coffee table, a folded napkin under each. Steve waits patiently at the corner of the blanket, knowing you’ll let him know when he can join.

The lamplight above you catches and glows on your left hand. On the diamond glimmering on your second smallest finger, haloed with beams of orange. When you lift your hands and pass the flames of the fireplace, amber rays pierce through the crystalline gem.

Steve watches all the while. Watches you move your hands, knowing soon your diamond will rest above a wedding band. In a mere month, just a few short weeks—you’ll be his wife.

The thought alone has Steve sinking to his knees. You whip around to scold him for interrupting your process, but squeak in surprise when he catches your face and kisses you. He smells like cold air and leaves and vaguely of the Marlboro smoked a few hours ago. He smells like Steve.

When he pulls away, you sit back on the blanket and grin. “What on earth was that for?”

Steve assumes the spot across from you, kicking his legs out beside you. He reaches for the soup bowls and carefully places yours near your tucked-in knees.

“What was what for?”

You scrape your teeth over your bottom lip and laugh. “Never mind.”

You turn your attention to the chicken noodle soup and Steve turns back to you. Watches through his lashes as you lift your hands and wipe away wisps of hair on your forehead. Black sleeves curled over your knuckles to keep warm, your fingers appear beneath them in delicate form. He wishes to do nothing but kiss them and stare more at that ring.

“Is it not good?”

Steve blinks, lifting his spoon. Your lips are shiny with broth and oil, eyes rounded in his direction. They catch the fire like your ring and they make Steve swallow hard.

“N-no, baby, ‘s good.” He quickly shovels a spoonful of the soup in his mouth to prove it.

You do a little squirm and smile that makes Steve chuckle. He hunches over his lap to slurp the broth and you wrinkle up your nose.

“Ew, Steven.”

His spoon clinks against the bowl when he drops it.

“Heyyy,” he warns playfully. “Don’t start. There was no attitude at their carpet picnic.”

You giggle. “No, but there was a blowjob if I remember correctly.”

Steve lowers his bowl completely, eyes suddenly alert. “Well, that’s welcome any time.”

Broth bubbles with laughter in your bowl. Steve watches you take small, quiet spoonfuls. When he decides you were only joking and there won’t be an immediate gratification for his Pretty Woman joke, Steve goes back to his soup, too.

Soon the soup is gone and the bowls sit empty on the table. You stretch onto your stomach and place your head on Steve’s lap, allowing his fingers to work over your hair. He pulls it free from its confines and smooths it down. Massages your scalp until your eyes flutter. The flames of the fire rest in dancing orange shimmers on your face.

The rain begins again. It comes with a great howling wind, rushing through the trees and shaking colors loose. The house darkens to near nighttime degree. A grey darkness that turns all the candle flames and lamplight in the room warm.

“Will you read to me, Stevie?” you inquire softly.

Steve’s fingers lag in your hair. He shifts, resting back on his palm.

“Uh…I mean—you sure? Y’ know ‘m not very good at it.”

You let your eyes close and smile to yourself. “I’m sure. I love the sound of your voice.”

Steve smooths his palm over the crown of your head, cupping it. With your eyes closed, he’s free to grin down at you and know it’s just for him. Do you have any idea what you do to him?

“Gonna let me up then?”

You hum. “In a minute.”

“Okay,” he murmurs in agreement.

He holds you there a moment longer, watching the fire warm your face; your socked feet cricketing together at the edge of the blanket contentedly.

“Okay,” you say, pushing yourself up. “Now you can go.”

Steve rolls his eyes as he stands. “Spoiled. What am I getting?”

“You pick. I’m gonna bake some cookies.”

Steve watches you bounce back toward the kitchen with both soup bowls. “Well Jesus, have a little faith in me. I know my way around your shelves.”

“Mmhmm,” you hum, setting the bowls in the sink. “You want chocolate or snickerdoo—“

Your words die on your tongue, slipping between Steve’s lips. He pinches your jaw in one hand and holds you still, mouth forced to pucker for his gift. He hums when he nips at your bottom lip, licking at his own when he releases you.

“Somethin’ t’ think about while ‘m gone,” he says, a heavy hand popping across the fat of your asscheek before he turns around.

Steve heads toward the stairs, ascending them while doing his best to crane over the railing and watch your flushed reaction until he no longer can. He immediately walks to your library–much smaller than the one back in California, but somehow it captured the girl he met in this very town better than anything in the sunshine state ever could—and directs his attention to your stuffed shelves.

He has absolutely no idea what he’s looking for, and stands for a while just staring aimlessly at the spines with his hands on his hips. He hears you clink and clang around in the kitchen. The beep of the oven. The slam of the oven door. It’s much colder in the library, and Steve swears there’s a draft in your window seat.

He turns to inspect it, pressing one hand firmly on the cold, foggy glass. As he leans over the plaid fabric of your window seat, his thigh nudges the corner of a leather-bound journal. He recognizes it immediately as the same journal always kept on the bedside table and in the bottom of your purse. It's always next to you so long as you can help it.

When he spins it with his finger, the Polaroid used to keep your last page inches its way to the edge. Steve slowly and carefully pulls it from the pages.

He sinks into the window seat when he's met with his own face.

Six years old now, the photograph is still as perfectly intact as the day it was taken. The flash collects in a younger Steve's eyes, making them appear darker than they really are. The film softens the emerald and violet bruise kissing his left cheek that Steve vividly remembers taking weeks to disappear completely.

He knows immediately where he's standing, where the photograph was taken by the color of the wall alone. The soft ballerina pink, the edges of rosebuds from now-outdated wallpaper. The arched mirror of your vanity rests just behind his shoulders, stretched and puffed broadly with the flex of his arms. Though the muscles are concealed beneath a heavy black sweatshirt, embroidered with his recent champion title.

And in the glossy white border just below his stomach where the photograph completes, remains your handwriting.

My boyfriend husband ♡

"Steeeve? Did you find one?"

Steve quickly clambers to his feet, shoving the Polaroid back into its place in the journal. He grabs the book you had sitting on your rumpled blanket on the cushion.

"Yeah, coming!"

His footsteps clunk down the stairs, and he's met with the scent of warm cinnamon when he finds you in the kitchen, wiping down the counter.

You spin with the rag in hand and a small grin. “Hey, did you find one?”

Steve sets the book on the counter gently. Your eyes turn to inspect the cover, surprised to see one of your “stuffiest” options waiting. Steve hates Dracula, and he hates attempting to read anything written before 1950.

Before you can question his choice, Steve takes a slow step toward you.

“How long do the cookies have?” he asks.

You glance at the timer. “Um…ten minutes, why?”

His hands smooth over your waist, thumbs pressing into your stomach. He grips you firmly, stepping until he can fit his head in your neck again. His response comes in the form of his mouth on your throat—latching on with his hot, wet suction. You gasp, hands flying to touch him: one gripping the front of his shirt and the other tangling in his hair.

He hums, releasing your skin to kiss it gently. He moves down, dragging his nose over your skin. His suction returns to the junction between your neck and shoulder, where the tendons are soft and waiting to be bitten. You jolt with a quiet squeak, grip tightening on his collar.

“St-Steve—“

“Shhh.” He moves one hand from your waist to your chin and tips it away to make room for his head on the other side of your throat. “‘s nine minutes now, angel. Come lay down f’ me so we can make the most of it.”

He takes your hand and leads you to the living room again, and you follow silently. Nearly hypnotized by his softness, tongue swollen dumbly in your mouth.

He takes both your hands to lower you down to the station of your carpet picnic. You thump to your knees, and he follows suit only to lay you on your back with his hand supporting the back of your head. When you’re flat, you blink up at him with bated breaths.

Steve smiles, fingers curling into the elastic band of your sweatpants. The house seems hotter than ever, a flaming warmth coating your body as his touch drags down your thighs with your clothing.

“Don’t worry. Your husband’s gonna take care o’ you, angel.”

[soullessdianthus]

Please, Kylo Ren x reader (noncon). I'm so excited to read it!!!

A/N: I was obsessed over this ask and created a whole lore for this, haha! Just be aware of the warnings!

Warnings: age gap, humiliation, violence, brief gore (description of mutilation (not reader)), dead dove: do not eat, nsfw (noncon, kidnapping, sexual slavery, objectification, forced orgasm)

Word count: 4.6k

AO3 link ⟶ 𝕏

Every night darkness was trying to corrupt your mind, to burn everything that is left of you to ashes. Those eerie forces pulled you into a deep void of endless fear just for a ray of comfort to sneak through the horrors of the nightfall. 

With a layer of sweat on your neck you dreamt of home. Floors of polished, bright stones, stained glasses and neverending gardens blending into the outskirts of the capitol. Marble arcades, columns and many thermal baths – tranquility, warmth and security. Everything that kept you sane was just a memoir. 

The First Order has taken over most of the galaxy. With an iron fist they wiped out the rebelling nations and those who collaborated or supplied them. Planets who stayed neutral yet seemed suspicious were forced to bend the knee to the Supreme Leader – Kylo of the Knights of Ren. His path to power was paved with sacrifices and corpses. The edge of his lightsaber was soaked in blood and lives of thousands. 

The heroes of the Rebellion became legends, tales of the past. Those people were gone, hiding or buried six feet underneath the soil. There was no hope.

The persecution of the collaborators reached your home planet and even your family. The father of yours that happened to be a senator was accused of treason. However, nothing actually could be charged so therefore the Supreme Leader was merciful enough to spare the noble family of the senator from disgraceful death.  

But there was a small catch.

Which happened to be you. 

In order to keep your father in line and prevent further conspiracies against the Empire, Kylo Ren took you as a hostage. “No harm shall happen to her only if you remember where your loyalty lies” the tall man said. How foolish of you both to take his word for it. 

You were taken from the gardens with such force that would leave purple bruises along your arms. One of the masked knights of Ren pulled you up and dragged behind him. Your bare feet still wet from the bath in the pond barely kept up to his long strides up until the spaceship waiting for you. It was the last time you had seen home.

From that day you were a prisoner of war. Surprisingly, you were not being held captive inside a cell, locked away without further purpose, starved and beaten. You were granted a position of being Supreme Leader’s personal servant, which you were told was “a great honor for a mutt like you” by the red haired general. You assumed it was supposed to degrade you from your nobility status, which in that case did not happen. 

Your parents raised you pretty well – to respect every type of labor and appreciate the opportunities. “There is no shame in hard work”, they used to say and you couldn’t argue with that. 

But.

Your sharp tongue and young spirit caused you more troubles than actual work beneath Kylo Ren. It never was the case of doing the chore wrong – bringing the wrong stash of clothes, messing up his meal or disrupting his meetings. It was the untamed, bold temper of a girl who had never been really hurt before. 

Whenever you spoke without his permission he would slap you across the cheek until it bloomed with crimson color, his favorite. Sometimes his strikes would send you crumbling to the floor and he wouldn’t hurt you again until you straightened up. “Stupid girl”, he would call you. When you would look into his dark eyes, you could recognise that very primal need to see you break and cry. So you promised yourself to never let your mask slip and grant him that honor of your liquified fear and pain. 

Soon you began adapting to the situation. The stiff and coarse clothes you were wearing became bearable and then unnoticeable at all. Modest robes in colors of First Order’s sigil – black and red. Every burden became lighter. Except from the people surrounding you. 

After months spent in the Supreme Leader’s mercy you have noticed that his temper changed. From a bad-tempered, unpredictable boy he changed to a more stoic and calculated diplomat. Perhaps as the time went by and the First Order gained more control over the Galaxy he became more… calm. Kylo Ren wouldn’t throw a tantrum over small mistakes. He wasn’t a fool, he knew he needed the support of his generals, knights and senators to stabilize the position of power.  

Yet his change of demeanor did not depose his cruelty. Under the cloak of a calculated man, Kylo was still a brute ruler with little to no mercy for those who made a mistake. 

You were a witness of punishment served from his hand. The red blade of his lightsaber mutilated a lower ranked military for not only denying Ren’s order but also for treason. The scream of agony filled your ears and you turned away from the atrocities.  

— Look, girl — the raven haired man told you and you heard him clearly, but consciously decided to ignore him. You were petrified of such a violent act and yet he screamed from the top of his lungs — I said LOOK! Watch what happens to those who betray me. 

Lord Ren used the ability that only Force could provide to make your head turn against your will and kept your eyes wide open, so his servant could watch as he dismembered the traitor into pieces. The Supreme Leader was feasting on your tears running down your face and the expression of pure terror. The smell of burnt meat made your stomach twist. Till this day, sometimes you can see the chopped limbs beneath the council table even when they are long gone. 

And it wasn’t the last time he forced you to watch such brutality. 

The council meeting ended as its members slowly left the room. Lord Ren was seated at the very top of the long table with General Hux by his side. You placed two cups in front of them and slowly poured the wine. By this time you learned to move swiftly, barely noticeable yet still with grace. When the vessels were filled you returned to the spot close to the wall, waiting for further instructions. 

— Come back here. — Lord Ren commanded you with a subdued tone, not revealing the cause of his call. But so you did, gently putting aside the vase with wine and stepping closer to your master. 

— What do you think of today’s meeting? I saw you listening very closely. — Armitage asked, one of his fingers tracing the cup’s form, not even bothering to look at you.

— My opinion doesn’t matter, General. It’s not my place to speak of such matters. 

— Weren’t you a child of a senator? Well, he must have taught you something?

You couldn’t get a single word out. Clearly, the general was provoking any type of reaction from you, but by now, you have learned to keep your mouth shut. Otherwise you might have ended up with a split lip and blood on your tongue.

— You trained her well, Ren — Hux smirked, eyeing the servant girl from head to toes. — She recites those phrases like poems. But does she really mean it? Or does she think we’re fools?

The Supreme Leader hummed before there was silence in the room. Your eyes were transfixed on the table, but you could feel his dark globs piercing through your skin. Or trying at least. 

— She’s smarter than she looks, she knows her place. Her father told me she was an obedient daughter, isn’t that true?

Kylo looked directly at your face, tilting his chin up. There was a threat in the way he looked at you. Through heavy lids sagging over his eyes, a challenge could be noticed. He was testing you. 

— Yes, my Lord.  

— It would be a real pity if she decides to disappoint me one day. 

Ren took one of your palms and gently rubbed the back of the servant's hand. The circles he was drawing over your veins were almost soothing. His careful approach caught you off guard. You were trembling and he could feel it. 

— You can go.

He released your hand and you left the room in a hurry. Your body was tense and therefore the movements seemed stiff, lacking previous grace. Obviously he noticed it, he knows everything. He’s the head of an Empire.

— I don’t understand why you still keep that girl. You have no good use of her. I bet you can still fold your own clothes.

— You’re forgetting yourself. 

Ren took a mouthful of the wine, still keeping eye contact with the pale man sitting in front of him. Armitage was getting bolder every mission he had positively completed. Red haired general was in Kylo’s favor at the moment, but he could always stumble and fail.

— If I was to advise you, Supreme Leader — he started again, much more careful this time — I would suggest you to display the power and possibilities the Empire posseses, so every rat that is left out there knows, we can bent their fucking spines backwards. 

— You want me to torture and get rid of my servant? That’s what you’re trying to tell? 

— Do you even need one? 

“No”, Kylo quickly came to the conclusion in his head. The truth was he never liked anyone touching his belongings, he didn’t need a “mother” to bring him clean robes nor a cupbearer. Especially a young woman of a noble status that only attracted his generals’ attention during the meetings. 

She was useless to him.  

— Killing her would only give the rebel scums another martyr to use as propaganda against us. First Order won, what we need now is stability – strong military and senator’s support. I took her as a hostage, if she dies, I might lose the entire system of her planet in the senate. 

There was a long silence between the two men. Then Hux approached the subject differently. 

— What makes you think that after you perish one day, the Empire won’t collapse? What comes after you, Supreme Leader? Perhaps you should, after all, make them fear you. 

Despite every ounce of hatred Kylo Ren had for his general, the raven haired knight knew his advisor was right. Armitage was a sneaky bastard, but he was right. The Empire needed a firm ruthless ruler with a legacy to leave behind. 

Two stormtroopers let the girl inside the Supreme Leader’s private rooms. You obviously weren't there for the first time, but the circumstances were somewhat new. He called for you very late in the evening, so you came to him wrapped in a long robe. Passing through the entry section, you noticed him standing by the desk, reading some files. 

— You called for me, my Lord. 

— Come.

Kylo Ren stood tall and still dressed in his daytime attire. You pulled the robe’s edge to cover your nightgown entirely and slowly made it to his side. You couldn’t hide the fact you felt uneasy. He never called for you this late, could that mean you were in trouble?

You stopped next to him. Knight of Ren was towering over you with his height and build. His dark eyes were focused on the files on the screen in front of both of you. Since the first day he hit you, he was intimidating enough not to seek trouble. 

— Have you ever heard of Zyggerian Empire? 

— Yes.

You looked at the records on the screen. Few of them were pictures of said empire – huge gatherings, auctions, labor camps. Everything under the master's whip. 

— And what do you know about it, hm?

— It was located in the Outer Rim — you swallowed with great effort, saliva barely passing through the throat that was tightened from anxiety. — They were slavers. 

— That disgust you, doesn’t it? — Kylo leaned his neck down to look closely at your expression. — And don’t lie to me, I can tell when you do. 

— Yes, my Lord. It disgusts me. 

— Sometimes the end justifies the means, their power was upheld for a thousand years. Flourishing and unshaken, even Jedi were afraid to confront them. Do you know why? 

— Credits?

Kylo stepped behind you and his breath on your neck made you shiver. 

— Because some people are born to be submissive, to be told what to do — his thick fingers combing through loose strands of your hair. — To serve a greater purpose. 

Feeling Ren’s knuckles touch your vulnerable neck, you turned around on your heel to confront him. You had to lift your chin up to meet his darkened gaze. 

— I was made aware that I was too indulgent with you from the beginning. You are of traitorous blood and I should have punished your family more severely. 

Your blood started to boil within your veins, fear pushing aside tranquility and careful judgment. You were scared. You saw all the tremendous, horrifying things he has done to others, what was he trying to do to you? 

— I thought you were content with my work, my Lord. I d-don’t-

— I found you a new purpose, as I don’t think you deserve such privilege of being a servant. You will be my pleasure slave. Nothing worrying that pretty head of yours than your Supreme Leader. Just waiting patiently for me to call you in.

Suddenly you couldn’t breathe, your own chest weighed on you. One of his hands cupped the side of your pale face, but your eyes kept escaping from Kylo’s mean stare. Deep inside you knew this monster was enjoying your fear. 

— You are nothing. Forget about your past, because your only use is to obey me, do you understand? 

Your body froze and you couldn’t move nor speak. Ren asked a question again, but you only shook your head, denying everything that was going on. Tears flooded in the corners of your eyes, before you finally whispered a single “no”. You managed to take a few steps back, creating a space between you and him. 

— Do you really want to find out what will happen to you if you disobey me? Are you this stupid? Have you learnt nothing?  

— Please, I don’t deserve this. Please, I’ll do better, I promise! — You tried to reason with him. 

Every step he took in your direction, you took one backwards – to get as far from his reach as possible. Your body was moving on its own, you couldn’t think straight, tears blurring your vision. A prey stalked into a corner by its hunter. 

— Stop it! — Within a quick few strides Kylo reached you and pressed his hand over your mouth, while the other painfully twisted within your hair. You squealed and tried to wriggle out of his grasp. — Quit your whining, before my patience runs out. You need to learn, but you better do it quickly, before I get tired of you. Do you understand? 

When he didn’t receive an answer and you continued pathetically crying, Knight of Ren shook your entire body just to squeeze an answer out of you. 

You didn’t know why and when, but your head nodded. 

Kylo Ren released his grip on your face. His strong palms tore the robe off of your body and only when his grip tightened around the cleavage of the nightgown, you recovered. You tried to stop him, your hands curling around his wrist and forearm, pushing him away. 

— Don’t do this, no! NO! 

Two loud smacks filled the private chambers of the Supreme Leader. The man slapped you quite hard, impact making your head turn and spin. Your cheek burned. It burned deep below the muscle tissue and your skin was on fire. The pain ringing in your head, blinded you for a moment. Ren seized the opportunity and ripped the nightgown that was covering your naked body, leaving you bare and vulnerable. You weeped when the cold air of his room swept across your skin, leaving goosebumps. 

— That’s how you repay my good will? — Kylo grabbed your throat and lifted your body slightly, so you were fighting for the ability to breathe on tiptoes. — Should I rather give you to my knights and let them train you, hm? All six of them, sadistic fuckers. Would you want that? 

— N-No… Please, no.

— That’s what I thought. 

The dark haired man forced you to fall on your stomach over his satin bed sheets. Before you even got the chance to crawl away or turn around, he was already straddling your hips from behind, his upper body leaning over and caging you beneath him. 

— Please, please. Mercy! 

You were chanting quietly in between sobs for him to stop this madness. But Kylo had you pinned down by your arms, his grips so tight it would leave deep purple bruises. You felt him struggling with his belt and trousers, before he pulled them down. You were hyperventilating, when he rubbed his crotch over your ass.

You could feel his erection clearly on your bare skin. Kylo Ren pushed your thighs apart with his knee, his strength was incomparable to yours. There was no way you could overpower or throw him off. 

He was bigger than you, meaner and more brutal than anyone you knew. The Supreme Leader was taking some sick satisfaction from belittling and tormenting you, his dick excited to taste your tight, warm cunt. 

— At least you’re pretty, huh? Will you sing for me, bird? — He whispered next to your ear, strands of his black hair tickling the side of your face.

When he got so close, you could smell his scent. And all you felt in your nostrils was blood, death and destruction. 

You felt disgust when you noticed the leaking head of his cock pressing against your entrance. He didn’t bother to prepare you anyhow, you were nowhere near being wet enough to take him, but you knew Kylo was intending to hurt you, to cause you pain and discomfort. It all was just to humiliate you, to show where you belong. Beneath the feet of the greatest Knight of Ren. 

So when he forced himself inside of your cunt, every one of your muscles tensed and you wailed in pain, spine bending backwards. 

When he pushed himself to the hilt, you thought you were going to tear. He was thick and stuffed you to the brim. The sudden stretch burned, the head of his cock prodding against your cervix causing further discomfort. 

— And you’ve been hiding this sweet body from me, all this time? — Kylo groaned, the feeling of your pussy squeezing around him causing mighty Ren to stutter. You were so tight. — I should have listened to my advisor sooner. 

Kylo Ren wasn’t generous enough to give you the time to accommodate his size, before he started thrusting brutally. Each time his hips met the curves of your ass, you felt like he was fucking the air out of you. Or perhaps it was his weight pushing you into the mattress. 

The sounds of skin slapping against skin filled your ears and you wanted to disappear. His cruel words echoed on a repeat, his strong hands crushing your forearms just to keep you in place. 

Tears ran down the sides of your face, making a wet stain on the bed sheet. The salty taste of them spreaded over your lips and your cheek pulsated from the earlier punch. 

— Your only purpose now — he spoke out of the sudden, maneuvering you onto your back and pushing his cock back inside causing you to whine — is to serve me and give me pleasure. 

Kylo brought your legs over his hips, spreading them wider, before he leaned over your form on his forearms. He was so close and you couldn’t escape him. Every ounce of strength left your bruised hands as they found their way to his chest, slightly pushing against his muscular chest. 

— Some would find it an honor, yet you’re just crying and whining. Wasn’t I good to you? At least you’re alive.

He slowed down the thrusts and your wails finally quietened. You were breathless, struggling to keep focus on the sentences he was forming. One of his hands started to caress the top of your head, almost like you were… a pet. 

— After everything I’ve done, which you witnessed, wouldn’t you call yourself lucky? Although I have to admit I spoiled you. You’ve got too comfortable. 

And then Kylo started to rut against your core once again with a ruthless pace. You gasped, when he buried himself deeper within each thrust. But this time you could feel the wetness that gathered between your folds and thighs, you could smell it up from there too – blood. 

You cried out as your sensory system was overstimulated. Every inch of your existence hurt — sex, muscles, skin, eyes and mind. And on the top of your excruciating pain and discomfort there was a tickling sensation sneaking in your abdomen, a forming knot that was going to eventually burst.  

— Oh, you’re getting off of this? — You heard his mocking voice above yourself. You turned your head to the side and pretended to curl in a small ball. Just to be invisible and to disappear. 

— N-No.

One of his hands swung quickly towards your face. Afraid of another hit, you pressed your eyes together, but the impact never came. Ren gripped your jaw and shook it, to catch your attention back to him. 

— Don’t fucking lie. I can feel you squeezing around me, I see the lust in your eyes and not a single thought. And those wet sounds — Kylo chuckled — that’s not you, huh?

He wasn’t even focusing on bringing you to the edge, why would he? Your pleasure wasn’t his concern. His on the other hand was your job. Within this brutal act Ren had one goal in mind – to humiliate and belittle you. So when he noticed you were holding yourself back somehow, he gritted his teeth.

— Cum, bitch. Your master commanded you to cum. 

A couple of thrust more and with a sorrowful wail you came around his girth. Your limbs went numb, head tilting backwards, tangling your hair further. With a great effort you managed to swallow the saliva gathered in your mouth and tried to breathe, to calm down. But then there was this brute between your legs, still pounding into you, chasing his release. 

— Thank me when I’m spilling into you — but you bit your lip instead, closing your mouth shut. Kylo reached to your nipple and pinched it painfully with his thumb and forefinger. You screamed in agony. — I told you to fucking thank me, dumb slut!

— T-Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…

You were like a stuck chatterbox, repeating the same phrase over and over again just for his grip on your sensitive nipple finally released. 

With a few more thrust, the Supreme Leader groaned and spilled his warm, sticky cum inside of your cunt. He halted his movements in the air, face hanging low above you – his hot breath swept over your blushed skin and his dark strands of hair tickled your forehead. 

All you could feel was disgust. Towards him, towards yourself. Especially towards yourself. How could your body possibly enjoy in any way what he has done to you? The embarrassment heavied in your chest and you couldn’t find the strength to look at him. 

Without a word he pulled out of you and got up. Then he disappeared in the bathroom, meanwhile you were lying there defenseless, body spasming from adrenaline and pain. Only after a while did you manage to sit up and examine the mess between your legs. And when you did take a look, you wanted to puke.

There was so much blood. 

Blood from the bruising he caused upon you mixed with his spent. It was rubbed all over your inner thighs. Your hands were shaking, throat sore from all the crying. Since the First Order rose to power, you knew the world became a brutal place. But you never thought something as cruel and vicious might actually happen to you. And now, you were Kylo Ren’s toy sentenced to his wicked desires. 

Ren walked out of the shower and placed a stack of folded clothes in front of you. He told you that these are your clothes now and you’re expected to put them on after the night. Then, he proceeded to sit back down next to you, as you wiped your face from tears. 

— Come closer —Kylo patted the bed sheets next to him and slowly you scooped closer. You didn’t want another beating, you were tired. — You’re going to learn other ways to please your master. 

The night was long. 

It seemed endless and even when the sunrise enlightened the bedroom of the Supreme Leader, the pain remained as it was. When you awakened, still in his private chambers, your nightmare was gone. 

You were sitting in a new dress – with cuts on both sides revealing your thighs and ribs, deep v-line barely covering your breasts, sleeveless so everybody could see the yellowish and purple bruises on your arms. Simple slippers and a head piece of small, golden plates separating at the bridge of your nose to the sides. It was an exotic type of fashion you had never seen before. 

The only thing that was missing for now was a collar. 

Kylo Ren wanted to put you on display like a trophy, so everybody could see his new slave girl. Every sign of your struggle and disobedience was imprinted on your skin. A lesson or a warning perhaps for the others.

There was one of the knights that came for you at some point. He escorted you to the throne room in complete silence, the man didn’t even bother to look at you. Kylo stated clearly last night that you were forbidden from looking at the others, so maybe his soldier boy was not allowed to do so too. 

You gathered all of your pride and grace to appear unbothered. Although the walking part was a struggle, your crotch was still sore. 

There was something that slipped through the Supreme Leader’s lips last night that gave you a glimpse of hope. He told you that you were nothing but his slave, yet with time, maybe in a couple of years you would give him an heir. And only then you would become his concubine, never the empress. 

You were young and inexperienced, never really eager to step into politics like your father. However, life can be surprising and nobody really knows what the future holds. After all, we are the masters of our fates. Do you choose to be a meaningless pawn in a tyrant’s game?

No.

You’ve become a player. And with time and careful preparations you were going to take back what’s yours – freedom. But for now, you had to sing for him nicely just as you were told. Slowly, step by step. 

Right now your priority was to survive. 

The throne was on a pedestal and mighty Kylo Ren was sitting on it – proud and cruel. He curled his fingers pointing at you, he was calling you. You walked through the room, the Knight of Ren went in his own direction as you sat down on a cushion beneath the feet of the Supreme Leader. The man grinned and petted your head. A reward.  

The legend of a raven haired boy named Ben Solo of a Skywalker ancestry was all a lie. There was no savior for the Galaxy, no messiah. That boy was long gone and a vile monster was born in his place. 

The Supreme Leader, Emperor Kylo Ren with a little bird by his side.

[ranticore]

reading your pern fic (OBSESSED btw) and you seem to have a really good grasp on flight / flight dynamics & the physics of it. and it's incredibly hard to find a resource for more realistic dragonriding - would you mind sharing some of your knowledge, terminology, that sort of thing? i guess this is me asking you to infodump about dragon flight/riding to your heart's content lol

>:) I waited until I was on pc to answer this one

Background information about me is that I've a long history with horse riding, a love for birds, and a special interest in.... aviation (in case that wasn't obvious)

to write a dragon riding scene I kind of synthesise all of these elements - to know what it's like to work alongside a steed (balance, cooperation), to know what it's like for a bird to fly (responding to the shape of the air) and also to know basically how flight at speed affects people (g-forces, air pressure, hypoxia) as well as essential flight mechanics (the basic 'how do wings work' thing)

So for a wing to work, the air must be flowing over its surface at a speed which creates a pressure difference which then causes lift. That's very simplified but u get it - the low pressure that develops on top of a wing kinda sucks the wing upwards. That means that in flight, you have a minimum speed where lift can persist. Dropping below that speed will cause a stall (lift stops) because that pressure difference won't exist. When you climb, you lose speed, which means at a certain critical point, the wings stall. Diving back down again will increase speed, increase lift, and then you'll go up again. I recommend looking up some videos or something because i'm not the best at explaining it haha

The air itself is also important to consider and i think it's the key of what brings it all together. Air is always spinning around the margins of a wing. It's why I always use descriptions like "whirling" and "churning" and stuff like that, it's to evoke the spirally vortex that generates in the wake of a flying object. You can see the vortexes sometimes when the low pressure over a wing changes the dew point in the air, causing condensation to form:

this "tube" of air is a rapidly spinning vortex which forms when lift is happening - it's always there, but only this condensation makes it visible. next time you're on a plane coming in to land, watch and see if you can spot one, and notice that the moment the spoilers come up on the wing, the vortex stops, because lift is no longer being generated. The wingtip vortices cause drag which is why many planes have devices at the wingtips that point up, it reduces the vortices and saves on fuel!

Big wings make bigger vortices and this is what causes wake turbulence.

you can see here really clearly the shape of the air in the wake of the plane, two big churning vortices that grow and spread out with distance until they're negligible. But flying directly into these vortices will cause a smaller aircraft (or dragon) to experience that turbulence, think of it like the wake of a large boat causing waves that might capsize a kayak. Turbulence, wind shear, etc these are all fluid dynamics in the air. Something that bores me in flight scenes (and sooo many flight scenes are guilty of this) is "dead" air, air which doesn't exist as anything other than an empty medium for something to basically levitate weightlessly through. It takes power and effort.

Back to birds - unlike planes, birds have a great degree of flexibility over how they approach the air, but their wing mechanics are convergent. Birds also extend high-lift devices to fly slowly without stalling (their alula). They can catch and exploit many of the wind forms which would throw a plane of similar size out of the sky. Thermals are an obvious one to write about, these are columns of rising air that form over a warm surface. Soaring birds use high-lift devices on their wings (the slotted primary feathers) to catch the thermal and ride it without having to flap at all. This is how the bronzes work.

Queen dragons in my story fly at the bottom of the column when in battle, really close to the ground - they actually exploit the ground effect to fly that low. Within one wingspan of the ground, the high pressure zone that forms under the wings acts as a cushion, because there's nothing under it but solid ground. This means lift can be maintained in conditions where normally it would not work - low in the air, the air pressure is dense and drag is a major factor.

Air pressure is another thing to consider but that's relatively intuitive. More pressure, more drag, slower flight, more energetically-costly flight, etc. The ceiling for 'breathable' air is about 10,000 feet. Now we have to think about the rider - have you ever stuck your head out of a car window at high speed and tried to breathe? If you've ever cornered fast on a bike you'll know how it feels to bank, more or less. Your weight increases the more Gs you pull, because gravity is intensifying for you. For the physical effects on the riders I looked into fighter pilots, stuff like G-lock, what kinds of forces someone can withstand before their body starts hurting lol.

in short: flight is a complicated battle against gravity and the air is alive

[haee-elia]

spence-tober: day 17 - professor

pairing: professor!spencer reid x fem!reader (you are also a professor!)

summary: in which your class (and your boyfriend) surprises you

word count: 1519

warnings: proposals, fluffy,

spence-tober masterlist

“Hello everyone.” You greet as students start walking through the doors to the classroom. You glance up from adjusting your papers at the podium up front at the stage of the classroom.

It was just a regular Thursday of one of the classes you teach at the university, Introduction to Thermal Dynamics. You had been teaching in the Engineering Department for several years now and this was just one of the classes you taught each semester. Since the university you taught at was quite well known for the Engineering Department, the class was always one that students signed up for.

However, the university was fairly good at their main athletics, so it was rather unusual for so many students to come on time on a Thursday when there was an away game the next day. Many students chose to ditch Thursday class and instead drive where the game was gonna be and stay for the early game in the morning. 

You’re sure you have a slightly puzzled look on your face as you assess the amount of students that have already shown up, but you shrug it off. 

There was a test next week anyway, perhaps they wanted to participate in the study guide you had ready to revise for them today. You move on and go sit at your desk, sending some emails until the time on your computer finally reads 3:00 and class is officially started.

Now that all the students had settled into their seats, having their choice of computer, iPad, notebook or simply nothing at all on their desks, the final student count for the day was on the higher end, but once again, you brushed it off and continued with your class day.

After all, you didn’t want to discourage students coming to class.

You walk up to the front podium, facing the students, “Alright everyone. Today we’ll be revising for the upcoming test next week. I’ve printed out paper versions of the study guide I’ll be going over today or you can download it off the class page on blackboard under the work for this week.”

You hold up the small pile of papers in your hand and start passing them down the columns of students sat there in their desks, giving them the option to take one or not. Afterwards, you return to the front of the classroom and bring out your own filled out version of the study guide you just dealt. 

Standing at the podium with a overhead camera hanging above the study guide, you turn it on and turn your head to the whiteboard to make sure the projection is working. The classroom you’ve been given this semester to teach out of is quite big, the capacity for students is high and there is plenty of whiteboard space.

You’ve made it through half of the study guide, making sure to revise every part that will be on the test you’ve already created, when there’s a knock on the door. One of your students who volunteered to solve an equation on the whiteboard pauses at the noise, as you all do in the room. 

You always leave the door unlocked and you often don’t have many visitors during class hours, but when you glance over to the door, you can see cleary through the small window who the visitor is.

It’s your boyfriend, Dr. Spencer Reid. 

You and Spencer had met when you first came to teach at the university. Although you were in completely different departments, you in engineering and him in human and social sciences, you had come to know each other quite well as some of the younger teaching staff.

Spencer was the one who had asked you out first, however you were not too far behind in that endeavor, and since then, you had dated for about three years and been living together for almost two now. 

“Come in.” You say with a hint of uncertainty, also gesturing with your hands the instruction of what you spoke. 

Spencer sheepishly opens the door and lets himself in, “Sorry to bother you in the middle of your class.” He apologizes.

The student body knew of the relationship between Spencer and yourself so you didn’t bother try keeping it a secret. After all, it wasn’t like you were actively making out every second of the day. You both are professionals and beyond sharing lunch with each other and chaste pecks on the lips every now and then, the students didn’t have much insight in your romantic life. Much to their displeasure, that is.

You shake your head, brushing it off, “It’s fine, we’re just revising. Did you need something?”

Gesturing for your student to keep working at the equation on the whiteboard, you step off to the side a little and meet Spencer halfway for a bit more privacy.

“I, uh,” He starts to speak, reddening cheeks under the gaze of the students definitely not paying attention to the board currently.

Spencer clears his throat, slightly embarrassed, “I forgot the Amazon password.” He whispers.

You chuckle under your breath, “What?” A smile breaks out on your face, you just can’t help it.

“You know that I always show some of the Matrix in class when we’re going over philosophical moments in modern media.” He reminds you.

“And you’ve forgot the Amazon password?” You question with a goofy expression.

He nods and rubs the back of his head, “I know we’ve bought it, but I can’t get the password and I want everything ready before my class later.”

“It isn’t saved in your passwords on your computer?” You inquire.

Spencer shakes his head, “I can’t find it anywhere and I can’t seem to remember it.” He’s a bit bashful now, shuffling his hands behind his back and his feet against the tile floor. 

You muse to yourself that this is a very Spencer Reid thing to happen. Your boyfriend isn’t the best with technology and you’re often tasked to handle these things anyway. Hell, when you first met him, he still had a flip phone! 

It wasn’t like you could bash Spencer for being technologically challenged when you were often too dependent on your phone. Having troubles with the concept of time and getting to places without the aid of GPS. Spencer was definitely more equipped in those areas.

You place your hand on Spencer’s arm in a comforting gesture, “Let me get a piece of paper and write it down.” You say.

You go to turn around to do just that, walking towards your desk to retrieve a sticky note and a pen when you happen to take a glance at the white board again and stop in your tracks.

Not only is the student that you left up there to work on the equation beforehand still standing at the head of the room, two other students have joined her with expo markers in hand. 

The equation is missing from the whiteboard and the projection system is turned off and in big black blocky letters the words “WILL YOU MARRY ME” is displayed across the large whiteboards.

The rest of the students in the classroom either have their phones out or are staring directly at you, standing shocked and surprised with your wide eyes and open mouth.

Spencer clears his throat behind you and you turn back around to him.

He’s on one knee now and a ring box outstretched in his hand towards you. There’s a large, but nervous, grin on his face and his eyes gleam with excitement and happiness.

“Would you do me the honor and spend the rest of my life with me?” He asks. “Will you marry me?” 

The ring is just like you could ever have imagined. You and Spencer had talked about the future before and what that would look like, marriage and children and all that. Spencer had offhandedly asked your opinions on rings once and you made it no trouble to get your ring size with laying out your jewelry on your vanity in your shared bedroom.

You feel yourself nodding vehemently before you can even find the words to speak. Tears have been brought forth in your eyes and you know Spencer will later tease you about it.

“Yes, I’ll marry you.” You finally manage to say. Spencer seems to relax and his shoulders no longer seem stiff as he slips the ring on your finger. 

The rest of the class cheers as Spencer twirls you around, lifting you up.

When you come back down to Earth and pull back a bit from your embrace, the room has quietened down again though the air is still buzzing with excitement. 

A student, the same one as before at the whiteboard, comes up to you offering you congratulations. No doubt did Spencer put your class up to this, asking for their help in his proposal and it was really no wonder why the class was so filled out today either now.

“So,” She starts to say, “Does this mean you’ll both be Professor Reid?” She says with a pleased smile.

a/n: i like this one! i really didn't want to write a professor x student because that kinda just gives me really bad vibes... i feel like i am getting worse and worse at these summaries though

[turkeyblogblr]

Pamukkale, Turkey: Pamukkale is a town in western Turkey known for the mineral-rich thermal waters flowing down white travertine terraces on a nearby hillside. It neighbors Hierapolis, an ancient Roman spa city founded around 190 B.C. Ruins there include a well-preserved theater and a necropolis with sarcophagi that stretch for 2km. The Antique Pool is famous for its submerged Roman columns, the result of an earthquake

[marvelshifter111]

Weather manipulation power pack please ❤️

sorry it took me so long ❤️

Weather manipulation - superpower pack

Weather manipulation - Users can sense, channel, shape, create and manipulate the weather, they are granted complete control over the weather and natural disasters.

Aurora manipulation - The user can create, shape and manipulate auroras, a natural light display that can be seen in the sky, usually in Arctic and Antarctic regions of the Earth.

Storm manipulation - The user can sense, create, shape and manipulate storms.

Therminal manipulation - User can create, shape and manipulate temperature, a form of kinetic energy between particles at the atomic or molecular level: the greater the movement of these particles, the greater the thermal energy and reversed.

Water form manipulation - The user can manipulate water in every form possible, the basic three being liquid, solid and gas, as well as transform it from one phase to another.

Climate manipulation - The user can sense, create, shape and manipulate climate, the weather conditions of an area as described over a long period of time.

Vortex manipulation - The user can create, shape and manipulate vortexes and vortex-like phenomena, rapidly rotating column of air and water.

Lightning manipulation - Users can create, shape, and manipulate lightning, a form of electricity within the upper atmosphere resulting from the movement of charged particles.

Air manipulation

Electricity manipulation

Ice manipulation

Water manipulation - the list is a bit for mermaids but whatever

I'm surprised i didn't do this sooner

Also a tiny break from the monster stuff is nice, a harpy ability list is gonna be posted soon btw

[snepril]

Step outside. Feel the grass under your paws, the breeze in your fur. Spread your wings and give them a few experimental twirls - big lazy circles through the air. Feel the resistance? The way even the slightest motion stirs up a gust of wind?

Now crouch, bunch your hind legs up beneath you. Feel the muscles in your haunches and up along your flanks contract, compressing your entire body into a single tight-wound spring. Raise your wings up high...

...and when the moment is just right...

...push! Down against the ground, against the air, push with all your might and up you go, shooting skyward like a rocket! Pull your wings close and, just as your momentum slows, snap them open once again, catching the air!

Again! Another heave, another wingbeat, another dozen feet higher. And again! And again! Feel the wind stirring your fur as the earth falls away below you, your inner eyelids sliding closed to shield your eyes against the breeze. And at last, rest - hold your wings steady and let yourself glide through the air, watch the world rush by below you as momentum and aerodynamics do the heavy lifting. Feel a thermal catch your wings and carry you higher still, up and up on a column of welcome warmth.

Fly.

[lunartexan]

🧑🏻‍🔬THE PERIODIC TABLE OF CHEMICAL ELEMENTS👩🏿‍🔬

(Note: I am not a chemist, just someone who enjoys science, if I made any errors please let me know, thank you and I hope you enjoy reading this)

Ever wonder about this bad boy? While here's a quick crash course on it and some of it groups!

What is it?

The Periodic Table is an arrangement of rows and columns used to display and predict what elements exist and their properties based upon where they fall.

The farther right and down you go, the "heavier" the elements get as they have more Protons, going from 1 Proton for Hydrogen to as of now 118 Protons for Oganesson. Each Collum, excluding the Transition Metals and Rare Earth Series, have similar chemical properties.

Along with this, excluding the Transition Metals, as you go left to right the number of Valence Electrons increases by 1 up to 8 before flipping around back to 1. Valence Electrons can be thought of as the Hands of Atoms, being how they interact and react with each other; a free valence electron spot being a place another atom can bond to like an open hand, while an occupied valence electron spot is like a full hand slapping away other potential electrons.

Each valence group, along with the Transition Metals, builds up the base of all of Chemistry and the universe. So lets have a look at a few of them, shall we?

The Alkaline-Earth Metals

The Alkaline-Earth Metals are the two first columns of the Periodic table, and are often sub-divided into the Alkaline Metals and Alkaline Earth Metals. Both groups however do share some properties, often being softer metals that are extremely reactive.

Most famously, they react with water to produce Hydrogen and some heat amount of heat. On the more reactive side such as Lithium and Sodium, this means upon contact with water they will explode, sending red hot metal flying with a violent blast. On the less extreme end such as Magnesium or Calcium, they can be used as ways to produce Hydrogen in small quantities.

Not only are they reactive with water, but also air, oxidizing rapidly in the air and in the case of Magnesium having an extremely violent and energetic reaction when lit on fire.

They also all like to bond with chlorine to produce salts such as Sodium chloride, or more commonly known as humble Table Salt.

After the neat uniformity of the Alkaline-Earth metals, we reach,

The Transition Metals

The Transition Metals are not transgender metals, but rather a large collection of various metals that don't as neatly fit into rows or columns as the other Elemental groupings. Most notably, they have no Valence Electron Shell patterns, meaning you often have to search out the specific Transition Metal you are working with to know how many spots it has still open. They are by far the largest single group of elements within the Periodic Table, and chances are if you think of a metal it will be a transition metal.

It includes some famous stars such as Iron, Gold, Copper, Titanium, Lead, Zinc, Osmium, Tungsten, and Silver. As you can tell from the diverse cast of elements, all of these have wildly varying properties; take the strength and hardness of Iron and Tungsten compared Gold and Zinc as an example.

However they are not totally dissimilar as they are all still metals, meaning they share the properties of Metals. These include high thermal and electrical conductivity, liking to gobble up ions, are highly ductile (the ability to be pulled and bent into wire without breaking), form Cations (positively charged ions), and other such Metal traits.

Truly a party of metals, followed by,

The Other Metals

As the name would suggest, these are some of the other metals and can be thought of as an extension of the Transition Metals.

However their proximity to the other groups gives a few of these metals such as Aluminum more unique chemical behaviors compared to the standard transition metals, which is why sometimes you'll see some disagreement and debate about which ones, if any, should be placed into the next group,

The Metalloids

The Metalloids border between the Metals and the Non Metals, and as such are unique in having properties of both Metals and Non Metals.

Most famous of the Metalloids is arguably Silicon, which makes of the base of the modern world through its semiconductor properties in circuit boards and chips like the one bring used to allow you to read these very words.

Another famous, or perhaps infamous, Metalloid is Arsenic, used in as many poisoning murders for its toxic lethality as paintings and dyes for its beautiful vibrant green hue when turned into a pigment.

And if Arsenic is a bit too deadly for your liking, Gallium is always an option, used in old vacuum tube era computing and lighting. Along with its vintage past, it also has a melting point of 85.58°F or 29.76°C, just shy of room temperature; meaning if you hold a piece of Gallium in your hand, it will melt into a liquid - and unlike Mercury, it is non toxic making it far safer to play with, although it does stick to glass and stain objects so be careful if you do play with it to not let it touch something you don't want getting stained.

And as hinted just before, let us introduce the one and only,

The Non Metals

The Non Metals are a small but extremely unique and important group. All of these elements as the name would suggest sharing the properties of being Non Metals, meaning they are all for the most part poor thermal and electrical conduct, have poor ductility, and form Anions (negatively charged ions).

If you are biologist of any kind, you may also notice this group contains many elements crucial for organic life; the three most important of which without doubt being Carbon, Oxygen, and Hydrogen.

Along with Nitrogen and a few other elements, these elements firm the basis of all life on Earth. From the air you breathe being a Nitrogen-Oxygen mix, to your cells being based on Carbon, to the very DNA that created you. All of it based on Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, and Hydrogen.

And while Oxygen may have taken the honor of the name of Oxidation, it has nothing on the next group,

The Halogens

The Halogens, due to missing just one election to be totally stable, are some of the most violently reactive elements on the entire Periodic Table, with Fluorine even known to be able to eat through glass if given enough time.

It might be surprising to hear then that the Halogens also produce some of the most chemically stable compounds known on Earth, such as Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), A.K.A., Teflon. This is because when these elements create compounds they become stable, meaning to break them apart you need an equal amount of energy to do so, and the energy requirement for Halogen compounds is often massive, making them chemically hardy.

Outside of Teflon and eating glass, the less reactive of the Halogens also are used in medicine as a way to sterilize an area. Most commonly and famously used would be Iodine, which not only has a beautiful purple hue, but is also used in surgeries to sterilize equipment and areas before operations, saving countless lives from infections every day.

In contrast to the reactive Halogens, we have next,

The Nobel Gases

The Nobel Gases like any true Nobels with wealth and status don't like to get involved in the common peasantry's squabbles. In the world of chemicals and elements, this means their full valence electron shells don't stubbornly refuse to chemically react with any other element, and the compounds they do form are often unstable and want to fall apart back into a Nobel Gas and whatever common element it wound up stuck with.

While this lack of reacting does make them rather boring from a reaction perspective, it does make them extremely useful when you do not want things chemically reacting by acting as a buffer between other elements; most easily seen in high end car lights, often filled with Xeon or other Nobel Gases to make sure no matter how hot the light gets it doesn't react chemically and degrade.

Along with protecting lights, they can also be used for lights. Due to their unreactive nature in even high energy environments, it makes them perfect to be used to fill a sealed glass tube that has power shot through it; otherwise known as a Neon Light. However despite the name, not all Neon Lights are filled with Neon, only the orange-red ones are. Other colors such as blues and greens come from the other Nobel Gasses depending on their spectrum emissions.

And on light and degradation, last but not least we have,

The Rare Earth Metals

The Rare Earth Metals can be and often are split into two smaller groups, the upper Lanthanide series and the lower Actinide series.

The upper Lanthanides are all rather chemically similar, meaning they can often be treated somewhat interchangeably in a chemical sense. Their most notable use is without a doubt their ferro magnetic properties, making some of the most powerful magnets on Earth barring electro-magnets. Neodymium magnets are by far the most famous of them, being known to be able to leap across across tables and smash fingers if not handled carefully, while holding up hundreds of pounds of weight.

In contrast, the lower Actinide series is the domain of many of the Radioactive elements and sees the boundary line between the natural and artificial elements. All of them are radioactive to various degrees with decreasing half life lengths.

It is here Thorium and Uranium is found, being the heart of both terrifying bombs and the cleanest sources of energy known to mankind. Beyond Uranium, all the elements are artificial and must be made by humans in breeder reactors.

Despite their association with atom bombs and nuclear reactors, many of these elements also have far more mundane uses. Americium is used in common household Smoke Detectors, saving untold numbers of lives and dollars in property through early warnings of smoke and fire. Other ones are used by NASA and other space agencies in Radioisotope thermoelectric generators or R.T.G.s, used to power spacecraft like Voyager 2 and the Mars Curiosity Rover thousands of miles away from Earth where conventional solar panels would be too heavy, unwieldy, and inefficient so far away from the Sun.

[lobautumny]

A combat doll wanders a frozen wasteland. It stops for a second, raises an arm straight up, and lets a massive column of flame erupt from its palm.

It's an impressive piece of engineering. Its core, powered by the rage within its soul, provides constant thermal energy to its body. This both serves as a source of power for basic operation, and a source of fuel for attacks and movement. The angrier it gets, the more bloodlusted it becomes, the brighter its fire burns.

Its design would be brilliant, if not for a critical oversight.

Over the course of countless battles, lost friends, broken promises, betrayals, the doll's fury grew too great. In battle, it's a sight to behold, an unstoppable powerhouse raining hellfire down on anything that moves, but out of battle, it constantly overheats. Now, if it doesn't periodically vent the excess heat, its core will simply melt its tungsten frame. Making matters worse is the fact that it's in a constant state of bloodlust where everything looks like a target at first glance. Its self-control was slipping, and its body was following suit.

It would be so easy to keep fighting, to destroy everything until it inevitably destroyed itself, but it knew deep down that that wasn't what it wanted. It's a weapon animated by rage, but it still has a conscience, damnit. If it started indiscriminately slaughtering, then what little good it managed to do in the world would mean nothing.

So it did the only thing it could think to, and flew south, thousands of miles, until the land turned to ocean, and then the ocean turned to nothing but ice and wind.

It hates the cold, lifeless landscapes and the isolation, but it helps with temperature regulation. It also means nobody has to get hurt. And so it continues, heading further south. It's coming upon its destination now. According to its GPS, it'll only be a couple more minutes before it reaches the East Antarctic Plateau, the coldest location on the planet. -150 Fahrenheit, and unbearably windy. Perfect.

As it reaches the plateau, it sits down and, for the first time in months, stays motionless, hoping the abominable temperature is enough to keep its core in check. If the overheating is a result of its fury, it just needs to calm down, to quell that flame in its soul. It wonders if it will ever truly be able to return to society.

After pondering that question for a while, it decides that this is a challenge like any other, and it will conquer it. That's what it does. That's all it's ever done. No matter how long it takes, it will continue to meditate and try to come to terms with everything it's seen, everything it's done, everything that's been done to it.

One day, it will stop burning.

One day, it will return.

[transgenderer]

It was probably Cynegius who in 386 provided Marcellus, bishop of Syrian Apamea, with the troops needed to carry out the demolition of the great temple of Zeus in that city of "Apamea, which continued to honor Zeus whereas elsewhere people were punished for honoring the gods." 8 According to Theodoret, writing before 450, this was the first time the destruction of a sanctuary was prompted by a bishop who had official, if not imperial, support, because of the large number of pagans in the region. Theodoret has left a vivid description of the event: the prefect arrives with his troops and tells the Apameans to remain calm; the soldiers try in vain to knock down the temple; the Apameans are afraid of the army, but the army is probably afraid of what is inside the temple.

Then intervenes an ordinary laborer, who digs a mine under three columns of the peristyle. But the fire in the trench will not start, so they have to awaken the bishop from his midday nap. He sprinkles the trench with holy water-"one would have thought it was oil"; and when the three columns fall, carrying with them twelve others and the wall of the temple on the same side, a terrible roar rouses the city from its summer drowsiness and attracts a stunned crowd to the ruin, too amazed to do anything but stare in silence. It takes little effort to imagine the hatred aroused by the bishop, and the disillusionment of the devotees of Zeus, seeing that their god's only defense was to take the form of a blackish demon that momentarily prevented the fire from lighting-Zeus, reduced to a few puffs of smoke from unseasoned wood!

Chuvin, A Chronicle of the Last Pagans

This is maybe a stupid question but how does lighting a fire cause the columns to collapse? is it like, thermal expansion of the stones causing them to no longer fit together right?

[budapestbug]

The ‘green column bath’ of Budapest – Rudas Thermal baths The beautiful building of Rudas bath made a name in the world of Hollywood movies as well, in 1988 the bath was used as a shooting place for the action movie Red Heat, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Belushi, and in 2012 for some sceneries of the Borgias with Jeremy Irons. Rudas Bath’s Turkish-style bathhouse was built in the 1560s by Sokullu Mustafa, the that time Pasha of Buda. During the 150 years of Turkish reign in Hungary, this was the biggest bath built in Buda. At that time the warm water arrived to the pools from no less, then 21 hot springs. After the that time colour of 8 the pillar sustaining the huge dome above the octagonal central pool, the Turks called the bath Jesil Direkli Ilidzsami, – ”the bath with green columns”. The dome, the big pool, and the stairs leading into the central pool are still the original ones. Once upon a time this pool got light through the still can be seen elephants eyes, dotting the lanterna of the 10 m wide cuppola even today. When you are in a mood for swimming, beside the pools built by Turkish, there’s a large swimming pool underneath a beautiful, two-story, classicist-style building, which is an addition of the 19th century. The swimming pool, operating as a therapeutic swimming facility and with a sauna, was built in 1896. The thermal bath has been visited from 1936 o­n exclusively by men. All over inside the Rudas, one can feel a light smell of minerals, as the hot spring feeding the bath is rich in calcium, magnesium, hydrogen-carbonate, sulfate and sodium. From the drinking wells located on the hallways you can even taste the healing water of the spring. Rudas bath was almost completely destroyed during WWII. The bath was reconstructed step by step, first in 1952, then 1986, 2006 and 2012. In its drinking hall – reopened in 1965 – the water of the springs Hungária, Attila and Juventus can be consumed for the purposes of a drinking cure.

Blaze

0 notes

[readythefanons]

Romanticizing the sea gull

DE voice lines + music

(voice lines from endurance, volition + shivers from the "you and the seagull are just alike" dialogue)

I am helplessly fond of the seagull dialogue. This is the first one of these that I did with voice lines from multiple “characters,” although it’s not really obvious since they’re all voiced by the same actor. Nevertheless, I was aware of breaking new ground for myself.

Duration: 2:23

Endurance voice lines from GrandFrance

Volition voice lines from GrandFrance

Shivers voice lines from GrandFrance

Music: Long Road by SoulProdMusic

Seagull sound effects also from Pixabay

Assembled in Audacity

Gee i liked this weird audio and would like to hear more! Maybe with Kim...

Transcript under the jump

E: You see that seagull up there? Remind you of anybody?

The elements are rough around here.

SH: A warm column of air rises around you, up to the falling rain. You feel its twisting shape, bits of paper and birds on the thermal. Along with several million litres of water. All rising up into the great Insulindian sky. The melting snow seeps through your thin clothes.

E: It's a tough world. You've got to do whatever it takes to survive. And you do. Question is: will you admit that to yourself?

You and the seagull are just alike.

Think about the seagull's story. It's one of endurance -- and adaptation. The seaside was paradise once. They were birds of that paradise

Then their paradise became shit city. And what did they do? They became urban survivors. Eating burgers out of trash cans. Killing and eating pigeons. You've got that same spirit in you.

SH: The Great District hums in the slowly-falling snow: a chessboard of wooden houses, 80,000 living souls and chimney stacks. Firetraps as far as the eye can see -- from Main Street to Precinct 41, to Boogie Street forking into the white horizon…

V: Weave this into the story of you.

E: You and the seagull are just alike. Steal hot dogs, shit in the sand—whatever it takes to keep going. No time for that sentimental bullshit. Own it.

SH: Spring will come.

E: When the time comes, you’ll push yourself.

V: Believe it. Let’s finish this.

.

.

[E: Endurance

SH: Shivers

V: Volition]

[thetruearchmagos]

The Commonwealth Calls

An Excerpt: Steel Clad Coffins

It's back, babyyy!

After fuck knows how long spent trying to put this stupid scene together, I have finally come out of a writing session with something worth sharing, potentially. Hope you like it!

Tagging @theoddcryptid @theprissythumbelina @hessdalen-globe @caxycreations

@vyuntspakhkite-l-darling @avrablake @nerdexer

“All callsigns, this is Choker-Lead. The word is ‘RABID’, I say again, the word is ‘RABID’, clear on!”

About time. Tuning out from the battalion’s frequency without a word, Goyan switched now to the squadron net.

“All units, this is Lead, stand to and prepare to move. Eyes sharp, Hussars — Reitet Voran!”

The bassy thumps of howitzers carried over to Goyan’s ears like drummers of old signalling a charge. Her mind raced, and the dark, the ceaseless mechanical noise, and the growing knot in her gut made it a struggle to keep her wits about herself. Still, she managed, keeping track of landmarks as they passed by in a mental map, and taking in the sporadic radio reports of her fellow officers to keep track of the unfolding battle. Goyan reached for a pair of handheld thermal binoculars from around her neck, and peered into the dark as her squadron filed out.

Soon, gouts of fire and smoke lit up the sky ahead of them, as shell after shell of the furious fusillade came home amidst the streets and buildings of Maladh. The squadron drove on, making a wide arc south and west of the town, drawing to a stop in their pre-planned firing position in the shadow of a shallow hill a kilometre and a half out from Maladh itself. Like they'd been drilled, each of Goyan’s three platoons strung out in a line across the field, slewing their turrets north.

Goyan swept her eyes back and forth across the pitch black field that opened out ahead, first making out a dozen boxy forms trundling in a column across the landscape, then the rising ridge far ahead of them. Naked eyes could only see brush, but the thermals didn't lie, and bright heat spots betrayed enemy vehicles dug in turret-deep, maybe half a dozen, and their infantry rushing frantically into foxholes and dugouts to repel the sudden onslaught.

"Contact right, weapons free! Prioritise missile carriers and launch crews,” Goyan barked on her own ‘net, ducking into the depths of the turret. Seconds later, her squadron’s heavy guns rippled jets of flame and shell out and over the open, followed by flashes of light and dust blooming across the ridge.

“Wheezer, this is Barker!” She said, switching to the battalion’s frequency. “We’ve reached our firing positions, and have eyes on defensive positions.”

“Understood, Barker,” came Captain Jeong’s reply. “Cover us, we’re moving out.”

Tuning in back to her own squadron, Goyan gave her own directions. Third Platoon wheeled down the hill, veering left towards a copse of trees, while its two siblings kept up a fierce barrage. Convenient rises in the terrain, or clusters of structures or trees dotting the landscape were noted as the squadron prepared to leap-frog position by position towards Maladh. In the meantime, Jeong’s dragoons thundered across on the other side of the enemy ridge, racing to reach its own next patch of cover unscathed.

She turned her headset to the vehicle’s internal comms, eyes peering into her own sights to scan the landscape.

“Identify target, soft-skin!” Goyan spat, and with the press of a button the whole turret slewed to the left to where she’d been looking. 

“Eyes on!” came Kopp’s hoarse reply, then “Ready!” from Cochise beside Goyan in the turret as he swung a shaped charge shell down the breech.

“Firing!” Kopp screamed, and the fifty tonne ‘track heaved back and forth under the force of its own gun. The offending infantry carrier that had blundered into Goyan’s sights didn’t know what hit it, detonating in the open and the cook-off sending its turret flying into the air.