#alkali activators

[nnctales]

Types of Alkali Activators in Geopolymer Concrete

Concrete has been a staple in the construction industry for centuries, but its production comes at a significant environmental cost. Traditional Portland cement, a key ingredient in conventional concrete, is responsible for a substantial amount of carbon dioxide emissions. This has led to increased interest in alternative building materials that are more sustainable and environmentally friendly.…

[mister13eyond]

Funniest part for me of all my oc world building is it is about shit happening entirely off screen. I have all these thoughts about the culture in heaven and hell and yet the majority of my characters don't even fucking live there. They live on "earth that is exactly like ours except there are a handful of magic beings hiding on the outskirts of it". They're reverse isekai. Most of them don't even have that much magic. All the lore about what demons and angels Do and Are and How they are is just like. Happening to the side while these fucking dingdongs hang out playing video games and hooking up

[lostinlovingrevery]

You Set Me Free

Weapon X! Logan X F! Reader

A/N: Weapon X? More like Weapon SEX, amiright? Huh? Huh?

Logan gets some serious post nut clarity in this one

Plot: You'd been watching the secret research lab at Lake Alkali, searching for a way to save your husband who's been turned into a weapon. You find one night that your reunion may come sooner and more differently than you think...

Warnings: SMUT, 18+!, MAJOR DUBCON/NONCON/CNC ELEMENTS YALLS, Unprotected PiV, multi creampies, feral Logan, oral (F! recieving), logan sniffs reader a lot, mentions of fluids, rough sex, outdoor sex, a nice reunion I guess?, I didn't mean for this to go on as long as it did., yall are prob gonna judge me when you finish reading. Maybe this be seen as an analogy for sex connecting people? idk

Word Count: 4453

The wind blew softly through the trees, making leaves and branches rustle through the warm spring air. Crickets chirped rhythmically. Stars, nearly hidden by the green canopy of pine trees, twinkled in the night sky.  The forest was dark, and mostly quiet, save for a distant noise that was approaching slowly. A deer runs by - stopping first with its tail up, and a twitch of its nose, before disappearing between the trees. 

It was observing you as you walked through the forest, each step crunching the leaves and sticks underneath. 

You were coming back from an unsuccessful reconnaissance mission. Walking back to the cabin you were temporarily calling home. The cabin, conveniently located on the other side of Lake Alkali, allowed you to observe the activities at the concrete giant posing as a regular dam for the lake- when inside you knew the horrific truths that were happening. 

It’s been 6 months since you last seen him. Well, see him as…him. The real him. Not the weapon they turned him into. It pains you to see what they’ve done, and what they will continue doing to him. 

You deemed Logan the love of your life almost immediately after you met him- about 6 years ago. When he was brought to the mansion, he nearly pummeled you after running into you in the hall during his confused haze where he was trying to figure out where he was. After that, he was nothing but polite and apologetic, and soon you two got to know each other and eventually fell in love. 

You continued walking through the forest, your hand unconsciously moving to your ring finger, twisting and fiddling with the ring that Logan had given you. It was nearly a year ago when he proposed- and you two got hitched a month after. You were too impatient to plan a wedding, and neither of you was much for throwing big parties after all. You were lost in thought, not paying attention to the surroundings you have become so familiar with in the last 5 months. 

You didn’t notice how the sound of nature has stopped. 

Only the quiet crunch of your footsteps echoed through the woods. 

A few months after Logan came to the mansion, the team got into a nasty skirmish with Dr. Stryker and his group of scientists and military officials that worked under the radar of the U.S government, performing illegal and immoral experiments on mutant kind. It was found out that Logan had apparently been a victim of those experiments years and years ago, and he had supposedly gotten his revenge on Stryker, leaving the man for dead, wounded and bleeding, in the cold, secluded forests that Lake Alkali was found in. 

Only years later, the X-men find out the bastard escaped his fate, and had still continued his operations after successfully alluding and then tricking the U.S. government, which allowed him to continue his research. It led to a complicated scheme that captured Logan, your love. 

They broke him down and practically tortured him, turning him into the base layer of his mutation. A beast. A creature they themselves could barely control, having to create a device that allowed them to track his movements and monitor him- and make him come back to the base once the mission was complete. They used him for countless assassinations- another part of Stryker's plans, in order to gain more power over the government. 

It practically destroyed you. It took the entire team to talk you down from storming into the secret base of operations alone with your powers and wiping out every single fucker in the place, and saving your love- and the other victims trapped there. It was Hank really, who managed to calm you down, since his position as secretary of Mutant Affairs allowed him to be able to get to the right people that can help. It wasn’t that the X-men couldn’t do it, but Stryker's operations have grown, with a lot of loyal subjects and a lot of controlled and dangerous mutants- Logan being one- that would make things even more complicated. 

The plan was reconnaissance- something you quickly volunteered for. Someone who will stay nearby and observe the base- learn the schedules, the people- whatever information that could help. Your powers helped you with that, allowing you to get close and learn much information needed. 

Some days you’re able to get some real information, but other days- like today. It was dead quiet. The usual trucks moving in and out, scientists and guards on smoke breaks, talking about their plans for the weekend. You saw no sign of Logan, so you assumed they must be keeping him inside today, no “missions” for him to complete. 

You continued twisting the ring on your ring finger, a comforting habit that you have developed when you found yourself missing him. You counted the days when you’d see him again. Looking up at the sky, you noted how the stars always looked bright and beautiful around here. 

When will Logan get to see those stars again? 

You suddenly felt your hair rise along your arms and neck, and a sudden sense of danger was screaming at you. You stopped in your tracks, slowly glancing around at the dark forest that surrounded you.

When did it get so quiet?

Fear crawled up your throat from your gut, as you took a few steps backward, staring straight ahead. Something, someone was watching you. There were predators in the forests, coyotes, bears, whatever, you’ve encountered them a few times but never actually had an issue with them before. Whatever was stalking out there, hidden in the darkness and tree lines, was something you felt was more dangerous than a bear. 

Turning on your feet, you took after back towards the small cabin. Your footsteps echoed through the trees as you ran down the path, weaving through trees to hopefully throw off whoever was following you, someone was certainly following you though- because you could hear the sound of footsteps that weren’t your own closing in behind you. 

Your heart was pounding, blood rushing in your ears. You don’t know what or who was chasing you. The closer the sound behind you got, the more your limbs began to feel like jello- and you prepared yourself for a fight. It was when you turned your head to try to get a glimpse at your pursuer- that your blood ran cold.

You could see Logan, chasing you on his hands and feet. Snarling face, wild untamed hair, with that metal cage-like helmet on his head. He had next to nothing on, aside from some cloth that looked like shorts or boxers. He looks like an animal. You knew you would not be able to escape him- Logan was too fast. Just in the few seconds you had looked at him, he had already closed in several feet between you. 

You turned forward, and could see the silhouette of your cabin in the distance. 

Maybe I can make it

Your thoughts were drowned out by the loud growl emitted from Logan, and you felt your body being tackled to the ground. The harsh tackle knocked the wind out of you, and your head knocked to the ground.

You were barely able to comprehend what was happening, feeling a heavy weight pressed on top of you- at first you only saw stars, before Logan’s snarling face came into view. 

He was so different. His hair was wild and grown out, and face twisted and contorted into something you didn’t recognize, wrinkled nose and bags under his eyes. His teeth bared- his canines sharp like an animal. He looked at you with murderous intent- yet you couldn’t bring it in you to use your powers to fight back. You couldn’t hurt him even though you knew that he was likely about to kill you right then and there. 

You reached your hands up to cup his face, his own hands roughly grabbing yours and pinning them on either side of your head. You gasped- 

“Logan-” You breathed. There was no change in his expression- except…He sniffed. You blinked, staring up at him in confusion. He took another sniff, his face relaxing into something more bewildered, as he leaned down into your neck, and took a deep sniff, his nose pressed into the crook of your neck. 

Confusion wracked your brain, and then you heard him grunt. 

Wait a minute, did he recognize you? Your scent?

You always teased him over that. The way he liked to deep inhale of your hair or neck. He’d always rolled his eyes and smirked. 

“Can’t help it, princess, you smell so damn good all the time.”

You felt his hip press into yours, as he groaned again before his tongue licked against your skin, hot and wet.

You’re fucking kidding me,

Is he seriously getting fresh with you?

You’re never going to let him live this down if you get out alive

His nose brushed up the crook of your neck, his hot breath sending goosebumps down your skin. His hips started to grind against yours. You’d almost laugh at the situation you found yourself in; if it weren’t for the fact that you were getting wet by his mere rutting over you. You didn’t know what to do, what the hell do you do in this kind of situation?

One of his hands let go of your wrist that he had trapped, and came down to grope at your breast, soft and careful at first, before he gripped it, fondling it roughly. His head came up to lick the space behind your ear. You swallowed, your eyes watching his every movement when it occurred to you that your hand was free- and he was close enough for you to rip off that helmet. 

You waited, letting him grunt and lick at your skin, keeping him distracted with…Whatever he was doing. You counted the seconds- hoping that Logan's superior senses were clouded by his pure animalistic horniness to notice the change in your body. 

In a quick movement, your hand reached up, yanking the metal cage of his head with a rough movement, and throwing it to the side. His head shot up - eyes wide and angry, staring at you and then to the helmet, where it rolled across the ground before finally stopping, upside down, a few feet away from where you and Logan were. 

Not paying you any mind he climbed off of you, walking on his two feet over to the helmet. You turned to your side, panting as a little relief climbed over you. 

Did you do it?

He bent over, picking up the metal cage, his eyes examining the object. There was a quiet neutralness in his expression, and you wondered if your Logan has come back.  He looked insane, with his hair and beard grown out, bulging muscles all the way from his shoulders down to his calves, cloth- which looked similar to some type of jean shorts was the only thing covering him- still, tight enough to leave little to imagination, you could see his erection pressing against the cloth. He looked like some rated R version of Tarzan. 

A beat passed, and he suddenly tears the metal apart with a roar. You watched in terrror- and slight arousal- as he raged against the helmet, tearing it into smaller pieces- shrapnel flying into the woods and landing on the ground near you. You could make out small pieces of electrical wire and circuit boards scattered in the grass and dirt. 

Bastards, you thought to yourself, as you moved to push yourself up from the ground. Logan finished his rage, yelling into the forests with a fierce roar that echoed through the trees and sent fear up your spine. You were up on your knee when Logan turned out- looking straight at you. Your stomach sank at the sight of his eyes- still wild and frenzied. 

It wasn’t him, whatever part of Logan you knew was still deep asleep inside the beast of the man you were gazing at. 

You were not safe yet.

You pushed up to your feet, and quickly turned to continue running back to your cabin. It was stupid, considering you barely got two steps before you were knocked down to your stomach. You attempted to crawl, but his hands grabbed your ankles, and pulled you under him- flipping you roughly onto your back. 

You didn’t have a minute to process when his hands went to your shirt and r i p p e d it apart. He ripped your bra apart too, baring your stomach and breasts to him. You gasped, your hands went to his shoulders, some attempt to regain control that was completely futile. 

He dipped his head down to your chest, his tongue running over your nipples, his hands roughly gripping your waist and pulling you onto him, grinding against your core. 

“Logan-” You gasped- your hand moving to press against his forehead to push him off you. “Lo- I know you missed me and all-” You say, some feeble attempt to calm yourself and your pounding heart to add some humor to this…situation you found yourself in.

He growled, shoving your hand off him as he lurched forward, licking and biting your neck roughly, making you whimper at the feeling of his teeth scraping over your skin. You attempted to crawl out from under him, but he held you in place. 

You couldn’t run, you couldn’t fight. 

You managed to turn your head to look at him, grunting and grinding against you. A deep part of you wondered if maybe there was some part of him inside that was reaching out to you. Did your scent trigger a memory? Does he recognize you through his animalistic haze, and he’s desperately trying to connect with you in the only way he knew how due to his brainwashing? 

It was Logan. He could never hurt you. 

He sat up, his attention moving to your jeans, a deep growl escaped him as he reached down and grabbed where you jeans were buttoned together and pulled them apart, ripping them open at the seams, exposing your panties to him, wet with your arousal due to his grinding and licking at your skin. He lifted your hips ups, face planting against your mound as he took a deep inhale of your scent, making you gasp. He stuck his tongue out, running it up your clothed pussy- and letting out a deep groan, almost a whimper.  

It made your skin hot, the way he groaned at the taste of you. You’ve heard him let that same noise out countless times, the way he inhaled your scent like you smelled like a fresh baked pie. He’d act like you tasted so sweet, like he could never get enough of you. 

He let out something resembling a whine again, and his hand came up, grabbing the hem of your panties and ripping them off you- the fabric scratched your skin- but you could barely register the pain of the fabric because Logans mouth crashed onto your wet pussy. You squealed, the feeling of his tongue running up and down your folds, not in any particular pattern, it was like he was drinking every ounce of you, unable to quench his thirst as you swore you could hear him audibly gulping your fluids down.

 His tongue came over your clit, making you involuntarily thrust into his mouth. He opened his eyes and looked up at you- filled with a hazey lust, his brows creased angrily. His beard and hair scratched your inner thighs, leaving them red, but the juices of his spit and your fluids coated them as he carried on practically eating you alive. His nails dug into your hips, tight enough to scratch you. 

You felt your stomach getting tight. He wasn’t even doing anything particular to stimulating you other than his tongue running over every inch of your slit, occasionally dipping into your hole- pulsing around him. The wrongness of it all, the animalistic nature of him though- you couldn’t help it. You attempted to push his head off you, snapping out of your lustful state, I shouldn’t let this happen. Both your hands came up pressing his against his forehead, as you started to squirm in attempt to get away. 

He grunted, attempting to continue devouring you, before anger flashed across his face. He snarled, shoving you into the ground and flipping you onto your stomach.

“Ah! - Lo!” 

You yelped, as he pulled off the tattered pieces of your clothes still on you, leaving you completely bare and vulnerable to him. He leaned over you, his tongue running from your back up to the back of your neck, you felt drops of his spit on your shoulder- as he shuffled behind you, desperately pulling off his pants. You attempted to crawl away one more time, but his hands grabbed you, pulling you back under him. One hand went into your hair, fingers gripping and pulling your head back and to the side eliciting a cry from you, as he leaned down and bit into your shoulder.

His other hand, brought your hips and ass up- and you felt his throbbing member press into your soaked folds, grinding into you. His legs pressed against the outside of yours, your body tensed, your toes curling as you waited for the inevitable thrust. You knew this was so goddamn wrong, but your body hummed in anticipation and excitement. 

It had been a kinky pleasure between you and Logan, the way he would let his animalistic side out on you, pinning you down and fucking you until you nearly blacked out. What was happening now was no different, other than the fact that the Logan you knew was not there to control himself from going too far. 

His tip found your leaking hole, and pressed into you. He let out a harsh pant against your shoulder, where he was still biting down on you, before fully thrusting himself inside- a shriek escaping you. Your legs kicking from the intensity of him forcing inside you. It didn’t matter how many times you and Logan had been together- the size of him was always intense the first few minutes. Your body trembled, your hands digging into the dirt below you. You could feel his chest heaving against your back, and his other hand went and grabbed your hip, before he pulled out nearly to the tip, and thrusting back inside harshly. 

He began to pick up pace, the weight of his body pinning you to the forest floor, he was grunting with every thrust, your body bouncing with his movements as he took you with a ferocity you never felt before. His hands gripped your hair tighter, yanking your head back farther, as he moved to clamp down on your neck, leaving a deep bite mark in your shoulder that was turning shades of blue and purple, a whine escaping him as he continued thrusting. You felt him slamming into you, his large cock molding shape inside of you, and eventually you melted- pleasure fully enveloping your body. 

“Oh god- Logan-” You cried, hot tears pricking your eyes from the stimulation of him everywhere. 

It’s been so long.

You attempted to arch your back, trying to get that perfect angle so he could hit that sweet spot that would send you careening. Logan hissed at how tight you pulled around him. He let go of the clamp he had on your neck, pulling your hips and angling you to be practically folded in half. His large arms wrapped around your waist and he pressed his face into your mid-back, and you felt his drool falling against your skin, practically burning from how hot it was. 

He thrusted into you with an inhuman pace, you could barely keep up, your eyes rolling back as you felt your stomach tighten, your hole squeezing tight around him, and your thighs began to tremble. His tip repeatedly thrusted into you, hitting the sweet gummy spot inside you- and sent you over the edge. 

You cried out his name, as he fucked into you through your orgasm that seemed to never stop- you body shaking and you could barely focus on anything. He fucked into you one more time, and a loud roar slammed his hips into your ass, burying deep inside you and you felt spurts of his cum covering inside your walls. He kept thrusting, burying himself over and over inside you, making sure every bit of his seed is buried inside. It felt neverending the way he seemed to keep cumming in you. 

With a harsh grunt he finally stopped inside you, his arms still wrapped around your waists holding you tight against him. He was panting, his large chest heaving- your body still trembling. 

He pulled out, pushing and manuevering you onto your back. Your arms laid out on either side of your head, your hair tangled into the dirt and twigs below you. Your legs spread wide, as your combined fluids soaked your thighs and lower stomach and his cum slowly leaked out of your hole. The strength of your muscles felt utterly depleted.

 Your eyes took in the wild man sitting up before you. Sweat dripped down his body, your arousal from earlier covering his lower face and beard. His muscles flexed and veins popping out down his arms and stomach. He panted, as he stared down at you, his eyes still wild- but not as quite ferocious. Your eyes trailed down to his cock, hard and swollen already, his tip beet red and leaking generous amounts of pre-cum. You swore you could see him throbbing. 

Oh fuck

He climbed back over you, and you couldn’t bother to try to move. Your legs were spread wide for him, and your body was pliant. He braced his hands on either side of your hips, and thrusted back into you with a swift motion of his hips. You gasped, the feeling of fullness returning but not as quite overwhelming as the first time. 

He grunted as he begin bouncing in and out of you again. You were overstimulated, your heart was pounding in your ear, and pleasure enveloped your body as he took you roughly again. You could barely move, as his large cock moved in and out of you with ease. It wasn’t quite as rough as the first time, but you swear he was being gentler with you. 

You felt yourself relaxing this time around, letting him do what he wanted. Your mind pictured all the sweet moments you and him shared in the past together. If he wakes up out of this haze, break free from the brain washing- you’re not quite sure if he’ll remember this...Or how you’ll explain it to him.

He watched your breasts bounce with his movements, fascination and enjoyment in his eyes. If you hadn’t felt so weak, and fucked-out, you’d probably laugh. His hands grabbed your legs, the space under your knees and pushed them up towards your chest as he went deeper, angling himself inside you and once again hitting that gummy spot. You thought you were crazy, but you swore he was trying to hit the spot that made you cum the first time. 

He leaned back down over you, his chest pressing against the back of your legs, as one hand braced next to your head. You moaned, tipping your head to the side as you weakly brought your hand to grab his arm and hold onto it. He seemed to be spurred on by your moans, and picked up his pace, thrusting into you with a renewed vigor. Wet noises echoed through the forests as his hips slapped into yours.

You felt your body tensing again, a second orgasm quickly approaching, a white hot burning in your lower belly building up with each hard and quick thrust into you. He was whining, leaning down to bury his face into your neck, tongue coming out to lick the sweat off your skin. 

“Oh- Logan-” You whined, arching your back, and he growled, bracing his arms on either side of your head, pounding into you once more until you both snapped, your greedy pussy squeezing tight around him almost painfully, as he filled you up again with his hot cum. He yelled out in pleasure into your neck, as ecstasy rolled between both your bodies as he continued thrusting. 

Your body went slack, your muscles occasionally twitching from being pushed so far. Logan was panting, his breath hot on your skin. You felt him move, pushing himself up and looking down at you. 

You gasped at the sight of his eyes- his face. An expression of regret, and a little confusion. His eyes- It was him.

“Logan?” You whispered, your hands coming up to cup his face. 

“Baby I- I’m so sorry I don’t know what-”

You cut him off; pulling him down to kiss you. Your heart felt like it was going to jump out of your chest. You didn’t care how it happened, why it happened. You just had him back. Broken free from the tortured recesses of his mind. His arms wrapped carefully around you, kissing you back gently, almost as if he was scared he was going to hurt you. You pulled back, looking up at him. 

“I missed you.” You say softly. He looked at you with small relief. 

“Are you okay?” He asks, brushing hair out of your face. “I didn’t- fuck I didn’t know what I was doing. I just could smell you and then- you took that helmet off. I’d be fighting for so long and…” 

You shushed him. “Doesn’t matter. You’re back now baby.” You brought him down to kiss you again. “Typical that it takes sex for you to wake up...” You mutter. He let out an exhaling laugh. His arms cradled you safely against him. “You need a shower by the way.”

He chuckled again, looking down at you and looking up around him, then up at the sky. The relief that flooded his face as he saw the stars.

"I couldn't control myself. It was...Like I was trapped in my head, watching someone else control me." He says. "They'd do these things that send me into this...rage. Nothing would stop me. But no matter what I did....You were always in my thoughts. I think that's what happened. I think I smelled you and I recognized you somewhere...You got me free." 

[literaryvein-reblogs]

10 Study Tips

Work out why you procrastinate

Procrastination, the act of avoiding studying or carrying out a task can have many different roots causes, including:

You don’t understand the work

The topic is boring

You’re waiting for a time when you feel more motivated

The task is so overwhelming you don’t know where to start

And many more.

The first step in being able to work out how to stop procrastinating is to work out what it is that’s making you feel that way.

Spend some time reflecting on what it is that makes you procrastinate, then you will be able to easier identify which of our following study tips will help you the most.

Chop the material into chunks

If you’ve got a huge pile of work to do and you’re not sure how to begin, you should start by ‘chunking’ it – break down each task into small chunks.

For example, if you want to revise the GCSE Chemistry topic ‘chemical changes,’ try breaking the module down into smaller sub-topics such as ‘reactions of metals,’ ‘what are acids?’ ‘what are alkalis?’ etc. Then, assign yourself a certain number of those chunks each day which you will cover.

Instead of having one large overwhelming topic, you will have a series of smaller, more manageable chunks to work through.

Create a study timetable

If you’re always waiting for that perfect time to arrive for you to begin your work, then creating a study timetable could be the key to getting you motivated.

By nature, we love routine.

And once you’ve got yourself into a consistent and manageable study timetable, you’ll find it much easier to slide into study mode each time you come to sit down and do some work.

The key to making a good timetable is to make sure it’s manageable; give yourself enough breaks and down-time to relax each day and switch off from work.

Research suggests that around 50 minutes of studying with a 15 minute break is the optimum time for productivity.

So try creating a timetable that fits in around this, and one that fits in around your other commitments such as school, extracurricular activities and socialising.

Reward yourself

As part of your timetable, you should schedule time for rewards.

Whenever you complete one or two chunks of information, you should reward yourself with a short period of relaxation, such as going for a short walk or spending five minutes on your phone.

If you’re actively rewarding yourself at the end of each topic, you’re more likely to stick to your routine and remain motivated.

Work out why you want to achieve high grades

Another great way of finding study motivation is to work out why it is that you want to study in the first place.

Perhaps you want to try and get into a good university? Or have a great career? Maybe you want to know that you’ve given it your best shot? Or make your parents proud? Whatever it is, write down your own list of reasons and stick them next to your study space.

Whenever you’re feeling unmotivated, read through the list and remember why it is you’re there in the first place.

Study with peers/friends

Lots of students find it more motivating to study in a group, either with other classmates or their friends.

When you study as a group, you’ll have the chance to explain bites of information to one another and test your knowledge, as well as ask for more information around difficult topics or concepts from peers who have a better understanding.

Of course, you need a group of focused and disciplined students to ensure the group study works effectively. Though you may want to work with them, sometimes studying with friends can be more of a hindrance than a help.

So always bear this in mind when thinking about organising a group study session.

Active learning

Don’t expect to sit and read through a piece of work and have a full understanding of it. That’s passive learning, and it probably isn’t at all effective for most students.

Research has shown that active learning is the most effective way in being able to stack and store new information in our brain.

But what is active learning?

Active learning is when we are cognitively engaged in learning new information, trying to make sense and construct knowledge around it which relates to what we already know.

Once we have an association to something we already understand, we are more likely to absorb the information.

Ways you can actively learn:

Discuss the new topic with your peers or friends

Take notes on new information

Annotate the book/slides

Create a presentation on the topic and try to teach it to someone

Healthy lifestyle

It’s a well known fact that eating the right foods and doing regular exercise will help you to study effectively and stay motivated.

Aerobic activity sends oxygen and blood to the brain, while feeding your body the right foods will ensure you’re getting the right nutrients.

All of this contributes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and optimum brain performance.

Perfect for acing your study time.

Get rid of distractions

It may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many times you’ll find yourself scrolling through your phone or replying to a text when you should be studying.

Write a list of all the things that you find yourself distracted by when studying and then work out how to eliminate them.

For example, if your phone distracts you, put it on flight mode, or try downloading the app Forest, which grows a tree during the time that you don’t open your smartphone. If you open it, the tree dies and you have to start all over again.

Expect to have bad days

It’s very unlikely that you’re going to stay focused and be able to study consistently without ever finding yourself procrastinating.

Sometimes you’re just not in the mood – either you’re having a bad day or you’re just simply burnt out. It’s normal to expect to have these days, and you should never get angry with yourself for having them.

Instead, take a break, do something you enjoy and take a moment.

You can always move your schedule around and try and go back to studying later that day, and it’s likely to be far more productive and effective than if you were to sit and force yourself to do it.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

[silence-ofthe-llamas]

TexAid returns and comes with the gore! Whooo!

They were all fucking insane.

First Aid staggered down the hallway armed with nothing but the flare gun they kept in their cockpits for emergencies. He didn’t know how much damage this would even do – it would probably hurt him more when he fired it than it ever would against a quintesson, but he had to hold some form of hope. If he didn’t have hope, he had nothing.

Vortex was offline. His last words to him still echoed in his head, bumping around between his ears and ringing in his ears.

GET LOST. I HOPE YOU DIE.

Stupid idiot. Stupid, stupid. First Aid wiped his face. He didn’t know if he was wiping away sweat, or if they were tears. He could feel that he was dying. He didn’t need to make any stupid grand gestures to try and hide it, to get him to unplug before he felt his core splutter out. He knew that if he’d stayed connected, there was every chance that he’d die too. He knew it, he wasn’t- he wasn’t a fool. He knew where to get help and he wasn’t about to go ahead and die before he’d even tried.

Damn it. God damn it. He was so, so terribly fucked.

The usual tell for a quintesson being in the vicinity was the smell of one. It hit the back of the throat and burned like alkali, clawing through the soft tissues of the nose. It tingled in the lungs, popping and pinging against neurons in the brain, activating the fight or flight instinct more powerfully than anything had before. And he was bathing in it right now. Each direction felt exactly the same, he didn’t know if they were just behind closed doors, or were stood waiting for him around a corner, and he didn’t know what scared him more – the fact he was so vulnerable, or the fact that Vortex wouldn’t even know.

They were all fucking insane. Each and every one of them in their command structure. Nobody seemed willing to acknowledge what was happening right now – in what fucking world was it fine to leave a medic and a pop idol in a fucking enemy space ship? To tell them that they were on their own, that they’d figure it out? That their mechs would be more than enough? Because they weren’t. He’d last seen Blast Off and Cosmos getting launched off the starboard port by a cannon and Vortex was in a crumpled heap in the storage room he’d managed to stagger him into, totally inoperable. He was on his own, nobody was coming to help, and he was furious. He had no idea what he was meant to fucking do, and no doubt if he miraculously made it back, they’d grill him and berate him for not doing enough. For not doing more than survive. For not having any ideas or plans magically pop into his brain whilst he tried not to think about the state of Vortex and the impending sense of doom that fell upon him, crushing him under its weight. He was going to die out here, and all he could think about was how pissed he was about it.

He didn’t know the first thing about mechanics or engineering or how he was built, but fuck if that didn’t stop him from trying. The two repair droids who Vortex had reprogrammed and kept stashed in his shoulder were hard at work when he’d managed to drag back his first offering. He didn’t know what it was, but it looked mechanical and it looked useful, and he vaguely recognised some of the bits inside it, so that had to count for something, right?

The droids seemed to think so. They were scavenging from it before he’d even put it down.

His third trip had him panting and shaking and almost vomiting from exhaustion. He dry heaved in the corner, coughing and cramping as his body tried to empty itself of a toxin that wasn’t there. Is the air poisoning me? He wiped his mouth and swallowed, legs shaking as he steeled himself for what was to come next. He’d need to go and help with the repairs. The droids weren’t fast enough, they were squabbling – if he could just get the important parts in place, he’d stop that leak and protect his core. If the core was protected, he stood a better chance of getting him back to Earth in a state they could properly repair him in.

Toolkit in hand, he stood by the gaping hole in his abdomen. The core whirred, visible tendrils of light and energy reaching out towards him. His eyes flew over the wreckage, assessing what could be salvaged. The droids helpfully began putting the disassembled parts at his feet, ready for the human to deal with it. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, and he swallowed nervously.

He couldn’t get this wrong. He’d never forgive himself if he did, and he didn’t want to die like this. Vortex had promised him his death – he couldn’t deny him that.

It took over an hour until he could get the big, red visor to flick online, Vortex’s systems groaning and slowly whirring as he booted back up again. The crackle was audible, electricity arcing over his frame.

“You’re awake!” First Aid exclaimed in delight, slumping down to his knees in exhaustion. “Oh, Tex, I am so glad-”

His hand slammed down just behind him, and First Aid froze as the sudden blazing heat registered, the head-splitting sound of a quintesson gun being fired resonating inside of the cavity of Vortex’s abdomen.

“I thought I told you to go fuck yourself.” Vortex’s voice sounded in his helmet, and First Aid could have sobbed.

“You actually told me to die.” He corrected. “I guess you didn’t want me dead that badly.”

“I didn’t want them to shoot my core, actually. Now, what’s your plan with the squishy?”

“Uhm.” First Aid looked down at the flare gun on his hip. “I guess shoot them?”

Vortex’s laugh sounded pained, and his helm thunked back down against the floor.

“Oh, we are so dead.”

He heard something bigger and heavier behind him, and a familiar choom. Gasping, he threw his head around, peering around Vortex’s arm-

“Blast Off!” He leaned against Vortex’s too-hot arm, not caring how it burned him through his gloves and the tingle of it against his cheeks. “Vortex! They survived!”

“Yippie.” He sarcastically replied.

First Aid’s eyes fell to the alien corpse. Fresh. Ready for harvesting. An idea slowly formulated in his mind as he looked between Vortex and the body.

“Hey, listen… I’ve got an idea.”

“Does it involve filling me with corpse organs?”

“You make it sound so weird.” First Aid grimaced. “I’m just saying… I think I can splice your two systems together. Just enough to get us back to Earth.”

“I’m game if you are.” He softly swore in Ukrainian. “As soon as we get back, I’m killing the lot of them.”

“I’ll try and find you a new gun too, then.”

“You know the way to my heart, darling.”

First Aid stood and waved up to Blast Off, gesturing for Cosmos to come down. Blast Off knelt, visor opening, and Cosmos slipped out, carefully climbing down before sprinting over to him.

“Oh, thank god you’re both still alive!” She hugged him tightly. First Aid awkwardly patted her back.

“Not for long if we can’t get that corpse over here. Can you guys move it for us? Vortex’s nervous system was severed, he can’t move his legs.”

“What?” She pulled away, holding his shoulders tightly as she frowned. “What do you want that for?”

“I want its spine.” First Aid said matter of factly.

Cosmos grimaced. “Its… spine? Alright.” She nodded firmly, expression setting into determination. “We’ll help.”

Work went much more quickly when a mech was involved. Cosmos watched and handed him tools when it came to the fine-tuning, Blast Off sat back and silently watching. First Aid got the impression that he hadn’t figured out how to move independently yet – a feat Vortex had only managed with time and effort himself. So he silently watched them instead. He wondered what he was thinking.

“Is… is he okay?” He quietly asked Vortex when he was deep in his internals and Cosmos was out of ear shot.

“He’s fine.” Vortex replied a bit too quickly. “Just adjusting.”

He left it at that. Vortex was sounding weak, his voice strained. He double and triple checked his work before he went to make the final connection, the one that would have Vortex’s system finally shake hands with that of the quintessons. And with that, he quickly scrambled out to look at him and assess his work.

The organic flesh twitched and glowed a sickly blue colour. Black oil smeared and pooled on the ground, pearlescent and pungent.

“How’re you feeling, Vortex?” First Aid nervously asked. Blue was bleeding into the red of his visor, a bright toxic blue that was so much like the blood the aliens bled. He didn’t reply, and all he heard over their comm link was static.

“What’s going on?” Cosmos asked. “Why is he blue?”

“I don’t know.” First Aid frowned. “He’s not speaking to m-”

Vortex’s hand shot out faster than it moved naturally, catching them both by surprise. Without thinking, First Aid roughly shoved Cosmos out of the way, her head bouncing off of Vortex with a loud bang, her helmet splintering as cold metal fingers closed around him.

His helmet was suddenly alive with sound. Morse code. The same pattern he’d filled Prowls with all that time ago.

MINE.

He couldn’t breathe. The fingers were too tight around him, crushing him like a snake. His lungs burned, his vision swimming. He faintly heard a cracking sound and pain bloomed in his chest and something wet ran down his chin.

The mechs will keep you safe.

His mech was currently crushing him, and yet he’d never felt so safe in his life, so assured in where he stood in the universe.

“Tex, I can’t breathe.” He gasped. First Aid didn’t know if he was yelling or whispering – the beeping was so loud in his ears he couldn’t even hear his own thoughts. “Please stop, I can’t breathe-” he wetly choked, blue splashing down his chin.

Fuck. He had been poisoned. This just couldn’t get any worse, could it?

Vortex made a loud groaning noise, wet and spluttering and threatening. His hands tightened, and he couldn’t even scream.

The black spots were starting to overwhelm his vision. “I’m all yours, Svastjan.”

That much he was certain of. Everything else struck him as being distinctly wrong. The idea of belonging to someone had always turned his stomach, but if it was Svastjan? It felt like a warm blanket, a firm hug, like everything was going to be okay.

His helmet took the brunt of the impact as he hit the floor, Vortex’s grip suddenly releasing. It cracked, and First Aid whimpered, curling in on himself to cradle his wounds. Shit. Why did it all have to hurt so much?

He needed to get inside of him. It possessed him, overtook all common sense and thought. Shifting to be on all fours, his stomach cramped and he emptied its contents, red mixing with blue in a mirror of Vortex’s visor. Suddenly, the pieces slotted together in his mind and he was on his feet and staggering towards him before his brain caught up with his vision.

Vortex had been poisoned too. He’d done it. It was his fault, it had been his idea. He should have known better. Blue ran down his helm in a mockery of tears, and he felt his heart wrench.

First Aid didn’t know how he got there so fast. He’d blinked and he’d somehow managed to scale up his shoulder to his face, his hands pressed against the glass of the cockpit. “Let me in!” He banged against it, his ribs screaming at him to stop. He didn’t listen. “Let me in, let me in, let me i-!” He yelped as it suddenly opened and he fell in, back bending awkwardly as he ended up like a scorpion on the floor. Loudly groaning, he forced himself up and staggered to the pilots seat. Exhaustion was starting to settle in, adrenaline just not enough to keep him going any more. He tried to shove it to the back of his mind, to keep himself going for as long as he could, to do as much as he could before the broken bones and split flesh registered and he passed out.

[RUN] flashed on Vortex’s visor aggressively. First Aid ignored him, fighting with the harness to get into the pilots seat. Vortex was fighting back aggressively, trying to keep him away.

“Stop it!” He shouted. “Fucking- let me help you!”

[CAN’T STOP IT]

“Then I will!” First Aid roughly ripped the harness away, the stitches giving out. He threw himself into the seat and grabbed the controls, taking command of his arms. What remained of the harness tightly wrapped around him, holding him in place. The cable that connected him to Vortex’s systems roughly shoved itself into the port on the back of his head, and he screamed at the feeling of sharp digits shoving themselves through his skull. He let go of the controls to grab his head, to try and keep it together as it split and burst. The harness tightly wrapped around him, holding him still as he thrashed and tried to rip the cable out.

It wasn’t Vortex. There was something else in there, something that was roughly shoving him and his hands out of the way. It made his skin crawl, to think of something else in there with them, interrupting them and sullying their connection with its infected hands. Through the pain, through his screams through gritted teeth and the burn down his spine as his body twisted and arched and bended in ways it wasn’t designed to, through the searing burn over his skin, he reached inside to find out where they came from.

He knew quintesson biology. He’d cut up enough of them to feel confident and familiar with it, it was the only reason he felt comfortable splicing their organic systems with Vortex’s artificial ones to keep him alive. But he’d missed something. Why was the quintesson in his system? Why were they still alive?

The mechs hands moved with his mental search, tracing down over his chest and to the gaping hole in his abdomen. The fingers dug into the new flesh, still wet and oozing and wriggling. Pain wracked through him and he whimpered, brow creasing and teeth gritting, but he persisted. They’d missed something. There was something they’d not seen before, something new to be explored. Quintessons had two brains. One in the head, and another down at the root of their lower limbs. There must have been a third one, an even more primitive brain that they hadn’t ever been looking for before, one that they’d never spotted, one that had made its way in as he mixed blood and bone and metal. The pain stung and burned like he was being slowly flayed by a scalding hot knife. The sharp claws dug into his skull twisted and turned, pulling him this way and that in a desperate attempt to get him to stop. He felt wet, his vision was obscured by bursts of white and bright colour, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. He was a medic, his job was to save people, and he needed to save Vortex.

The panic became intense as he explored the spine. His own popped and cracked, his body seizing and his vision spluttering in and out. He faintly heard Vortex’s voice, but he couldn’t stop, he couldn’t let himself get distracted, not when he was so close. Digging in deeper, blunt digits slowly mapped it out, tracing over familiar structures and shapes until they bumped against something foreign and unknown.

Fear flooded him, and he faltered. Found it. He felt familiar hands wrap around his own, and suddenly he didn’t feel so afraid any more.

Vaguely, he wondered if they’d have any issues if a third consciousness died whilst they were connected, but he didn’t care. He wanted it gone.

“Get out of my body!”

It came out with a wet squelch. First Aid felt his consciousness tremble, he felt Vortex’s flickering in and out of being. His throat felt raw and his chest weak, all he could manage was a broken whimper as he reached out towards him to try and grab onto him, to hold him there, to make sure he was still a part of him.

He felt the pressure of someone pulling him into a hug, oh so very gentle against the remnants of his body. He didn’t realise how fragile he felt until he was being held like he were made of glass. Stubble brushed against his cheek, a rough scratch against softer skin. A hand tangled in his hair, brushing it back away from his face, and a clammy forehead pressed against his own with a sigh of relief.

[3liza]

I heard that baking soda/power with water works as an eye flusher for pepper spray, is that true?

no! do not put this into your eyes. the high alkaline ph will fuck up your eye tissues and and undissolved particles of baking soda will scratch your corneas. do not put anything into your eyes except plain CLEAN water or preferably, sterile saline. get one of the big squirt bottles full of sterile saline for cleaning contact lenses. take the whole thing to the protest. the little squirt nozzle is great for controlling the amount and direction of the saline wash

WHY IS THIS A BAD IDEA? - a baking soda/water solution would only work on riot control chemicals that are ACIDIC in nature. acids are things like vinegar, lemon juice, sour candy like warheads, etc. if you put baking soda on chemical exposure sites that have been injured by other ALKALINE chemicals, it will make everything worse. alkaline is the opposite of acidic. when alkalis are strong enough, they will also burn you and injure the cells of your body. alkalis that we have in our houses include things like lye, baking soda/powder, and ammonia (for cleaning). understanding the concept of pH, and the difference between acids and bases (alkalis) is important.

this is the biggest problem with pH-based street medic treatments: we don't know what the cops sprayed/shot at us. we have to treat every exposure as if it is an unknown substance, because it is. riot control agents can be either alkaline or acidic. both will burn you. clean water and saline only, and also using a blow dryer or leaf blower or fan on yourself will help (but only outdoors/in a VERY ventilated area) because most of the irritants are actually PARTICULATE that is either free-floating, or being carried in some sort of binder or resin. either way, blowing it off your skin is a good treatment. water will temporarily activate it and make it worse but will also get it off you.

it's important to rinse the eyes of people who get tear gas/pepper spray in their eyes because the little granules will stick to your corneas and cause scratches. they can cause keratitis, infection and blindness if the scratches and burns are bad enough. eyes should be the first priority for treating riot chemical exposure.

no baking soda, no lemon juice, no vinegar, no anything. just water and saline in the eyes.

[5haketramp]

Posting for a friend of mine from China, she's ArnoldP(active on Lofter)and really likes msb and Arnold Perlstein!!

ArnoldP's account: https://5233148518.lofter.com

So here's her concept of a vocaloid Arnold Perlstein.

Art is made by 莹桑虫子(another chinese fan from Lofter)

The artist account: https://flyer206.lofter.com

Because I love vocaloid so much, I had this idea. I must have written it myself, but the drawing was done with the help of others. He doesn't have a voice, but I'm thinking about my own voice to voice him. Though I've recorded a few of my own voices, I don't have much confidence in myself... Is it contradictory or unpleasant?

PS:

If you are interested in him or want to change something, please comment! I'll tell you his story later.

——From the original author ArnoldP

Arnloid Perlstein

Originally a calculation system, was turned into a robot later on.

Permanent Style:Yellow and white gym uniform with hoodie with yellow and white stripe on the sleeve, black long pants.

His appearance changes according to different songs.

Birthday: January 1st.

Height:165cm

Weight:38kg

His favorite food is chocolate.

Likes:Light hearted prank, Jokes, a calm and chill life, be approved by others, warmth.

Hate: Horror film, behavior that isn't humane, bullies, sad emotion.

Rely on the AI system and compiled hard drive to function. (Except for his hearing sentiment and tasting and smelling sentiment.)

Basic structural is form by skeleton titanium alloy + artificial nerve conduction circuit (conduction command control action) + temperature control system (regulates body surface temperature) + filler + artificial skin (imitates touch).

There's a miniature computer that controls his finger tip.

Hair is made of acrylic cotton fiber (yellow + red dye).

Eyes are used for picture taking and recording, made from high quality double lens cameras.

Relies on the conversion of biochemical energy into electrical energy for power supply, and can also be charged directly (contact electric field charging without wires).

Specially implanted biological enzymes convert food into energy and store carbon dioxide and water (and possibly nitrogen) in air sacs located in the chest, which need to be opened regularly.

Unable to decompose acids, alkalis and alcohol, excessive intake may cause body poisoning.

Have partially full emotions and independent consciousness.

Have a knowledge base and learning system to understand phenomena in life.

An AI program originally designed for psychological counseling (only about 60% of the abandoned semi-finished program was completed). Because of the idea of ​​"wanting to live like a human being", he was modified Later into a robot, and became envious of the ability to sing, so he also came to acquired that ability as well, and has his own musical instrument - an electric guitar he named Tele-Caster.

Likes chocolate-related foods, keeps pockets full of candies, cares a lot about his patient, giving them candies is thought by him to relieve pain.

Really likes flurry stuff and warm hearted things, positive and energetic, constantly curious about everything around him.

Don’t get angry often, but that don't mean he doesn't not get angry. Get sulky when something bad happens to someone, and get angry when he sees others commiting crimes to hurt others, always will be there right away to stop them.

[squishmallow36]

squish i just found out about the existence of aqua regia (royal/regal water) and how it dissolves gold. methinks. incredibly interesting detz metaphor potential. or just fitz angst. you know more about chemistry than me - thoughts?

(how i found out was through the song “aqua regia” by sleep token [interesting lyrics methinks!!] but read through the wikipedia article on aqua regia a bit to have a better understanding of how it works to a small extent)

I'm going to go off on a chemistry ramble first and then attempt to tie over into detz possibilities. I'm sorry. One of the fun things about gold is that besides the fact that it's a pretty color (which is fairly rare for elemental metals. it's gold, copper, and osmium is very slightly blue if you squint. This does not mean metal ions. Elemental copper is...copper colored but the Copper(ii) ion is forbidden gatorade blue) but it also doesn't tarnish.

If you think about silverware that's actually silver, after a while it gets a black coating of silver oxide (Ag2O) or if you think of the statue of liberty and the green oxidized copper on there-those are the same idea. Gold doesn't do that.

Without getting too much into electrochem because that makes my brain hurt, a closely tied idea is the activity series describing how reactive a particular metal is so things like the alkali metals are really high up (if you've ever seen a video of someone throwing pure sodium into a lake, you have a good idea of what's going on. That sodium metal is ripping apart water molecules to form sodium oxide Na2O and hydrogen H2 gas. Explodey consequences are from the hydrogen) and things like gold are really low down. This has (at least) two consequences: the first is that gold is found in nature relatively pure. Like, you could just go outside one day and find a gold nugget. That's not going to happen with more reactive metals like, again, sodium. The other consequence is that gold really does not like reacting with things, and this includes dissolving. Dissolving is in a kind of weird not a reaction but also not not a reaction but a secret third category. It just chooses to be a little silly like that. Aqua regia is special because it /can/ dissolve gold. It is important to note that even if the 'aqua' part translates to water, it is not water. Alchemksts were probably dealing with a good amount of lead poisoning. It's a solution of 2 acids->nitric acid (HNO3) and Hydrochloric acid (HCl). There's also some water in there to keep the molarity from being *screaming noises* but yeah the water is not involved in the party. He's just here to facilitate the reaction. At the very least, HCl not in solution is a gas and that's not generally great for reactions. Gases like to do whatever they want.

Okay, fedex time. My first thought is the technical note that I don't believe that elves would use the names of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, but I would believe they use aqua fortis/spirit of nitre and spirit of salt which are just the old human names (thank you wikipedia list of alchemical substances for existing)

Anyway, in terms of symbolism I'm screaming crying throwing up because you've clearly got Mr. Fitzroy Golden Boy Vacker. Like at the beginning of the narrative he's just cut himself off from everyone and is unchanging and holding himself to a high standard b/c gold expensive etc etc. For bonus points the other vackers could be tied to other metals like Biana being like silver and having an actual self acceptance arc instead of just being 'hey everybody i'm okay now' but i'm getting off track. And then if you wanted to muddy up metaphors, aqua regia is not a liquid that likes existing (i.e. it fumes all over the place) and that might be able to tie into Fitz's anger; the HNO3 and HCl could be a more elegant version of the 'you have two wolves inside you' meme where one is his family and the other is like. Homosexuality. this might work as like a character arc from gold to dissolved gold tetrachloride ions (AuCl4-) and then more of that internal battle can be revealed as Fitz's exterior facade crumbles. And then on the Dex side who is much more obviously the aqua regia because he is almost certainly going to be the one inciting Fitz's change by just kind of existing. He probably also would need a bit of an internal conflict going on, maybe something along the lines of "i'm okay with being gay but like,,, does it really have to be for mr. perfectpants." There's probably also a possibility for a more societal-level internal conflict, but on the fedex level this works. Gotta give everyone a character arc. In terms of symetrically muddying the metaphor, i think the gold in relation to Dex would probably be a little more subtle with occasional descriptions like the sun shining in his hair and it looks golden. Also, gold is a really great conductor, something something technopathy. We use copper for wires just because it's actually affordable to do that. wikipedia also says that gold tetrachloride ions (AuCl4-, which is formed in solution when gold is dissolved in aqua regia) is used as a precursor to purification of gold by electrolysis, so basically you make the chloroauric acid solution and then you can plate the gold out of solution using a current. That feels like its own symbolism in terms of Fitz as gold and Dex as aqua regia because by mixing them together, Fitz's gold is purer after the process than before and just like. Auagh.

Anyway this feels like i've written a really bad ap lit essay so i'm going to stop now before it gets even worse. I doubt i'll get around to writing anything for this but the brain microwave is having a great time.

[dbphantom]

The rules: Post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! Then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

I was tagged by the wonderful @moonpaw (thank you!) I'm doing my active WIP folder for writing!

alkali

climate change essay

h2o h2o au

dude im in way too deep

PIRATES AND/OR MERMAIDS

this is nuts

untitled document (2)

graduation ceremony

I'm tagging @king-cowb0y, @kenshisblog, @nicos-robin, @opalsiren, @king-of-kaoss, @stainedpurplehoodie, @block-swing-perry, and @forestryfae

(also @pan-cakez :3)

[honestlyvan]

Do you have any headcanons on the effects of energon on human physiology? E.g. prolonged exposure (just being around it), skin contact, fumes, etc. I'm torn between the idea of making it like gasoline/petrol/bleach (with fumes and whatnot) vs making it more "safe", more like an oil (probably causes dryness/irritation/etc. in long term, but if you drop a bit on you, it won't kill you)

Not a lot, I'm not really a hard scifi person and chemistry has always been my rock-bottom subject, so it's not something I can easily arrange in my head. Energon also behaves differently based on continuity, the only consistency being an indistinct "chemical" wrt how it affects carbon-based life forms, which.. like, it's classic macguffin writing, and I don't know enough about the exact processes to be able to unpack it >_>);

In Aligned, especially, I tend to just treat Energon as liquid magic. Like, it's a protoconscious material that came from a giant god machine, it's got its own phases both in the physical and in the sense that it's not just a fuel, it's also an energy-carrying medium that can be charged and depleted. I remember discussing this with one of my physicist friends and kinda just coming to the conclusion that it's exotic matter similar to eezo in Mass Effect, but that doesn't really bring us any closer to figuring out its effects on humans.

So, hat-pulling it is. Personally I treat it like reverse mercury in that the fumes it produces are largely just ionised atmospheric gases, so it's not too too terribly dangerous to just... be around, but it's very reactive with carbon so touching it and especially ingesting it can be very bad for you... in some forms. I'm of the mind that pure SynthEn is basically inert in the human body, and that even regular SynthEn is less harmful to humans than both regular and Dark Energon -- like, it'll poison you, but you won't die. It's the kind of thing that is treatable with activated charcoal, whereas taking activated charcoal when poisoned with regular Energon is absolutely the worst possible thing you could do. Luckily Energon loves binding to silicon, so all is not lost.

Also I kind of prefer to write Energon as caustic, and having a lot of the same symptoms as alkali poisoning just because that's a little more interesting to me than making it like crude oil. If I was writing Animated, I would probably make it far more oil-like, though, just because I feel like that's the way the worldbuilding pulls in that continuity.

[renkindle]

Somewhat experimental piece of my Espeon character, Alkali! (Or at least, that's his name at the time of writing! Maybe I'll change it later. He's a new character of mine that I adopted from Faterunes.) I really love how this one came out. Someone told me the vibes of this piece reminded them of old Warrior Cats art, and I didn't actively have that in mind when drawing this but that is absolutely an honor to be told. [ Image Description: An illustration of a white anthro Espeon - a catlike Pokemon - with black and neon green accents, looking disdainfully at the viewer. ]

[gskiphotography]

Ol Doinyo Lengai

Breathtaking and a must see spot in the Serengeti National Park. 🗻

It’s an active volcano, known for its alkali-rich composition and its magma which is initially black or brown, turns white as it cools down!

@gskiphotography

[mister13eyond]

A very good reference post just crossed my dash again but it made me realize I don't have canon heights or weights for my ocs

But like

For most of them I feel like that is, immaterial,, anyway.... their bodies are made of magic and they can shapeshift quite a bit, limited only by how Much Magic they have since total mass is Directly tied to power level.....

So they're really just. You know. A vaguely blobby Range of sizes, since they could also redistribute that ratio and be short and thick (like vin and alkali and ike) or tall and thin (like amaranth and asphodel) with generally the same range of power as long as you maintain your ratios right

It's just a matter of what the upper and lower ends of that scale are, like.... if vin wanted to be Tall, he'd probably be Really Fucking Gangly since he has less mass to redistribute, so instead he stays short and caked up because he's too invested in Being Thick to surrender any of that extra power to a few inches of height

Meanwhile Ike and Nik are at roughly the same rank, with Ike *slightly* outranking Nik, but Ike chose to go thicker instead of taller and Nik surrendered to a more athletic dancer build in order to be a little taller

Meanwhile because Alkali and Amaranth are both still Actively Employed by heaven and hell, they can afford to be generous and splurge on whatever body type they like, which is also why Alkali is indulging with her sheep head- she has enough mana that she can afford to keep the sheep head and just cast illusions when out and about, whereas since Vin, Ike and Nik are all Unemployed From Hell they have to rely on gathering their own magic from humans, which leaves them more likely to choose something Mostly humanoid so they only have to cast small illusions to hide horns, tails, eye and skin colors, etc

Which yes, does imply that of all of them, Calcine is Vastly the most powerful. There are a LOT OF perks to being a collective entity like they are, which is also that they're as powerful together as seven individual demons would be apart. They can afford to not only be VERY LARGE, they can also afford to simply cast magic that keeps humans from noticing them. Theoretically they could take an incredibly wide array of shapes, but I think the last time they shapeshifted was when they took *this* form, in order to form and become Calcine, and no thought of ever changing shape again has struck them since. They're happy as they are, and even when the other demons shapeshift in minor or subtle ways (such as adding and removing things like tails and wings, or swapping out genitalia or teeth and claws etc, just individual changes on a whim level) Calcine generally stays completely unchanged.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

More French Loans in Middle English

Loan Word - vocabulary borrowings

Borrow - to introduce a word (or some other linguistic feature) from one language or dialect into another

Leisure and the arts art, beauty, carol, chess, colour, conversation, courser, dalliance, dance, falcon, fool, harness, image, jollity, joust, juggler, kennel, lay, leisure, literature, lute, melody, minstrel, music, noun, painting, palfrey, paper, parchment, park, partridge, pavilion, pen, pheasant, poet, preface, prose, recreation, rein, retrieve, revel, rhyme, romance, sculpture, spaniel, stable, stallion, story, tabor, terrier, title, tournament, tragedy, trot, vellum, volume

Science and learning alkali, anatomy, arsenic, calendar, clause, copy, gender, geometry, gout, grammar, jaundice, leper, logic, medicine, metal, noun, ointment, pain, physician, plague, pleurisy, poison, pulse, sphere, square, stomach, study, sulphur, surgeon, treatise

The home basin, blanket, bucket, ceiling, cellar, chair, chamber, chandelier, chimney, closet, couch, counterpane, curtain, cushion, garret, joist, kennel, lamp, lantern, latch, lattice, pantry, parlour, pillar, porch, quilt, scullery, towel, tower, turret

General nouns action, adventure, affection, age, air, city, coast, comfort, country, courage, courtesy, cruelty, debt, deceit, dozen, envy, error, face, fault, flower, forest, grief, honour, hour, joy, labour, manner, marriage, mischief, mountain, noise, number, ocean, opinion, order, pair, people, person, piece, point, poverty, power, quality, rage, reason, river, scandal, season, sign, sound, spirit, substance, task, tavern, unity, vision

General adjectives active, amorous, blue, brown, calm, certain, clear, common, cruel, curious, eager, easy, final, foreign, gay, gentle, honest, horrible, large, mean, natural, nice, original, perfect, poor, precious, probable, real, rude, safe, scarce, scarlet, second, simple, single, solid, special, strange, sudden, sure, usual

General verbs advise, allow, arrange, carry, change, close, continue, cry, deceive, delay, enjoy, enter, form, grant, inform, join, marry, move, obey, pass, pay, please, prefer, prove, push, quit, receive, refuse, remember, reply, satisfy, save, serve, suppose, travel, trip, wait, waste

Turns of phrase by heart, come to a head, do homage, do justice to, have mercy on, hold one’s peace, make complaint, on the point of, take leave, take pity on

Part 1 ⚜ Source ⚜ More References: Middle English ⚜ Word Lists

[ravings-of-a-mad-scientist]

Meet the Chemiballs; the Active Actinides

The actinides are famous for being very radioactive and generally not safe to be around. They contain a few elements that are very interesting and important. But also a whole lot of very obscure and boring elements (I didn't draw those).

They are one of the two rows awkwardly separated underneath the periodic table, the other being the Lanthanides (which I have not drawn any of yet, sorry).

Both of these make up the f orbital block (which is to say their valence electrons orbit in a very strange shape). The f block technically should be placed between the transition metals and alkali earth metals. But isn’t because that would make the table far too long to fit on the walls of chemistry classrooms.

[stormxpadme]

Whumptober 2023 No. 10 - Broken Phone

Scogan Bingo challenge Breaking the rules

The news weren’t too shocking, in hindsight. With a psychopath villain, equipped with a healing factor almost matching Logan's, in the equation? The only thing shocking about this damn letter placed at the X-Men's garden gate at sundown was how long this had taken to happen. Fall from the Statue of Liberty or not, Creed showing his ugly mug again had only been a question of time. Not to mention that the trail of ripped-off, abused, disfigured, and half-eaten bodies respectively their parts, both from mutants and normal people, that the bastard had left in New York's sewers in the last few weeks, should have been a pretty obvious hint.

There hadn’t been exactly a warning though, not that. From whom? Creed's allegiance with the Brotherhood, always quite loose as it was, seemed to be the only thing that had definitely been killed at Liberty Island.

At least that was what Charles was told when he reached out to his ex-lover in another part of those sewers. While he and Magneto weren’t exactly back on regular speaking terms, Charles trusted Magneto's offended assurance that he'd long cut ties with this feral lunatic who'd used to do the dirty work for him, for a while. Charles hadn’t exactly been at his best game since Alkali Lake either, bouts of depression and guilt alternatingly keeping him from focusing on his work, but in this case, Scott was willing to trust his judgment.

Whatever Creed wanted this time, it had nothing to do with Magneto's usual delusions, and the guy was being far too demonstrative to hope he wanted to keep his head down for a bit, after apparently finally recovering from that full-force optic blast he'd taken at Liberty Island. To keep a low profile, like any somewhat sane and reasonable member of their species did, until the dust of Stryker's despicable attacks would have settled. Sane was famously not among Creed's distinguishing characteristics. Guy was out for death and blood and destruction, he always was. And right now, if that unambiguously worded notice to Mutant High was anything to go by, revenge had another high-ranking spot on that terrifying priority list.

Well, not for long. On his way to the cellar already, Scott hectically listed all the things in his head necessary for gearing up tonight, not even bothering with a briefing, the contents of which wouldn’t have changed his decision.

Only Charles' gruff order in the back of his mind had him stop in his tracks. 'Where do you think you're going, boy?'

'You want him to make good on his threat?' Scott deliberately recalled the image for Charles to see on his mind, of those few spidery scribbled words on some moldy newspaper he'd picked up just in time from inside the garden wall before one of the kids could possibly find it. Before the children seeking protection in this place would have had to read in detail how some psychotic motherfucker threatened to kidnap, torture, and kill them one by one unless Scott went to find him for a duel. 'I'm taking care of this. No need to involve anyone else.'

'Scott, we're a team.' The unwelcome mental touch inside grew stronger as Scott could feel Charles' physical presence approach as well, probably already in the elevator.

Which was all the more a reason to hurry on without looking back, for once even without the usual tortured side-glance at the sick bay door, the dark activity lights of some rooms hardly used since Alkali Lake. That was a pain Scott had had to deal with basically alone every day in those last months. Only the occasional unexpectedly friendly bender together with Logan in the latter's favorite bar had probably saved him from drowning in depression entirely in this worst period of his life. Given that Charles, in his own mourning and regrets, once more only seemed to remember that Scott actually existed when it was about something Scott was fucking up, he was very welcome to talk to the locked hangar door this time. 'We used to be, yes. It's about time we actually go back to that. Starting with that rabid feral threatening our kids. This is my job, Professor. He's been waiting to get his hands on Ororo forever, and Logan needs to watch the mansion, in case this is a trap. I won't be long.'

"You're not going, Scott, and that's my last word." Almost. Scott would almost have made it through the door to the armory, to his uniform and weapons, before the elevator opened to reveal a visibly annoyed Charles. The lines of age rapidly catching up with Scott's mentor lately were furrowing that high forehead even deeper that day. A piercing, steady glance from those intense grey eyes drilling into Scott's let him know, his mentor wasn't above enforcing his wishes using his gift if he needed to. "You spent more time drinking the night away since Jean's death than in the gym. You're no match for someone like Creed. And I need you to update the mansion's security measures since Sabretooth is around Westchester somewhere. We'll talk about this together with the others tomorrow and decide our next steps. Try to get some sleep until then for once instead of nursing another bottle."

"But …" Furious at this point, Scott clenched his fists but stepped away from the hangar at last when Charles fixed his gaze unblinking.

"You have your orders. Good night, Scott." Charles nodded at the elevator demonstratively, not moving his wheelchair an inch before Scott had stomped past him, outraged, and pressed the button of the teacher's floor with a too-harsh movement. Only then did he leave himself, towards the place where Cerebro had once used to be. A hall which was still, in spite of all the best attempts of a variety of team members, pupils, and allies, was nothing yet what it had used to be. Certainly not a device working well enough to find a jumbled-up but still strong mind like Creed's. The place did serve well enough though to stare at the wall for hours, wallowing in your own misery, Scott supposed.

Recapitulating the last few months, admittedly, he wasn’t in a good position to judge that. Well, no more of that.

****

Scott was nice enough to wait until he could be sure, Charles was asleep. Chances were, this whole thing might go wrong in spite of all preparations, ending probably with Scott having to show up at the doorstep of Hank's apartment downtown to have a few tendons sewn back in place or a broken bone or two to splint. Or worse. Whatever. You didn’t get into this business if you couldn’t live with that possibility.

At least Charles wouldn’t have to blame himself if he was oblivious to his team leader leaving the mansion in the silence of the night.

It was for such cases exactly that Scott kept one of his bikes in a dark alleyway nearby. Not that he'd ever needed it for insubordination before, admittedly. While he did have a bad conscience about breaking his mentor's rules, what was Charles to do, cut his allowance? Scott finally needed to start doing his goddamn job again and protect his team and his house instead of either feeling sorry for himself nonstop or spending more nights than he would have been comfortable admitting wondering how it came, Logan and he had been spending a remarkable amount of time together lately for two people hating each other's guts.

Logan wouldn’t be thrilled about Scott going rogue for a night either, he supposed. But Scott simply felt a lot safer, leaving the mansion with someone capable there who had proven more than once how much he cared about the people living in it. And if they would get their hands bloody again over this in another sparring match … Well, not to mention that there were worse things than being pinned to the ground by a well-built, sweat-covered feral, at least Charles wouldn’t be able to complain about Scott's lacking workout schedule again then.

Really, he could only win, Scott thought with a wry grin behind the shield of the usually neglectable helmet he'd opted for today for stealth reasons alone. Just one challenging solo quest, not least to clear his mind off the last few months' lethargy, and afterward, things would be back in order. No big deal. Not even an hour later, both that confidence and any impulse to smile whatsoever were entirely gone. Tracking down a target that wanted to be found was always easy; getting cocky about that was such a ridiculous beginner's mistake, Scott soon had to wonder if Charles had maybe been right, not thinking him capable of this mission on his own. He should have taken a closer look at that small, windowless concrete block of a factory hall to which he'd followed Creed's trail before getting inside. Then he'd never have ended up trapped in the middle of a room filled to the brim with barrels full of chemicals and explosives in the first place. Scott knew he was in trouble the moment the door was locked behind him and a single, flickering light on the ceiling went on, revealing this remarkably well-thought-out trap that forbade him from even thinking about using his blasts in this place if he didn’t want to blow himself up. Startled, he spun around, one of the diamond-sharp blades he'd equipped himself with as an alternative to his VISOR already at hand, expecting his enemy either by that door or about to pounce him fangs-first.

But Creed had already retreated back into the shadows between the barrel rackets. That it really was him, the breathtaking stench of rotting meat and matted fur alone left no doubt about. And the bastard was obviously in a mood to play. "So easy …" There was something … off about that voice since Scott had heard it threatening one of his team last. The same sadistic chuckle, sure, but the primitive lust for hunting had been replaced by something sounding more ambitious, something sharper. Maybe spending a lot of time underwater had at least cleared a certain mind, clouded by illegal mutant experiments before, since it obviously already hadn’t been able to solve a missing sense of personal hygiene.

This time, Scott didn’t even have time for a weak grin, busy retreating into the next best tactically useful corner himself. One far from the vessels containing the most toxic shit he didn’t even want to come close to, between the bulky, rusty shape of forklift and a counter that would at least give some cover once Creed would decide to ditch his own. Far worse preconditions than he'd hoped for, admittedly, but this wasn’t over yet. All pride and stubbornness aside, Scott wasn’t entirely suicidal – though the time since Alkali Lake had taken a toll on him as this night proved –, so he also used the quick moment of hopefully being unwatched to grab his phone. A soundless curse came from his lips when he had had to realize that his enemy had either indeed grown somewhat smarter since his alleged death or he'd had help – the reception was entirely jammed. And only now Scott started to regret coming here with a private ride that didn’t even have a damn communicator on it. Well, he had come here to deal with this issue alone. Thrusting his jaw forward, he forced himself to breathe shallowly but slowly, calmly, to force his heart rate into reasonable parameters, trying to listen to every smallest noise in the building, to know when his enemy would be approaching. Something that the loud humming of some air conditioning made harder though. Good thing, neither of them was here to hide. "You asked for me, Creed. Wanna spill it before I blow you into molecules for a second time?"

"We both know you're not gonna do that, One-Eye," Creed answered lightly, from somewhere fortunately still far away. "How would your precious little team go on if you spilled your guts all over this building? Perhaps you also missed the trailers on the other side of the street? You blow this baby up, there'll be a couple of whores and bums less in New York's streets. Be my guest though. Nothing I've not come back from. I like free haircuts." Yeah, definitely an update in the brains department.

Swallowing another curse, Scott rubbed his forehead in agitation and took another look at his phone display, with no different result, sadly, before putting the damn thing away. Now he'd have to prove how much he'd really forgotten about his hand-to-hand skills in that extended period of grief. "Bring it, then." He must have knelt in that damn dusty corner for longer than he'd realized, he thought with a frown, pushing himself back to his feet as he staggered for a second, his knees feeling wobbly … Only then it dawned on him that this slightly sweet smell in the air might not only come from those fucking chemicals stacked all around him. God fucking damnit.

"No need to hurry. You're not going anywhere anytime soon." Creed had come a lot closer – which had just become Scott's smallest problem – but true to his words, still didn’t make any move to attack, instead lurking in some opposite corner that Scott couldn’t quite make out from where he he'd crouched down on his knees again with a suddenly very dry throat. Bastard knew exactly he had all the cards in his hands and enjoyed his triumph, getting comfortable there in the dirt and dusk with a purr. The rustling of some bags and the cluttering of metal before some disgusting slurping revealed, motherfucker had the nerve to start a damn picnic over there instead of engaging in a fight he would be undoubtedly superior in.

Scott's stomach turned when Creed carelessly threw the remains of his snack his way which consisted of a shredded human hand almost gnawed down to the bones. Somehow, he managed to fight back the tightness in his throat, somehow. Wasting air by throwing up was a very bad idea right now. The Shi’ar breather capsule he'd plucked from his belt upon realizing there was some damn narcotic spreading in this hall wouldn’t last forever. That stuff, whatever it was, wouldn’t affect Creed a lot thanks to his healing factor but take Scott out in a matter of minutes. He better came up with a plan real fucking quick if he didn’t want to be on this asshole's menu next.

"No answer?" Creed chuckled darkly, apparently with a pretty good idea where that quiet whistling of artificially conserved air and an alarmingly weak buzz of the device's battery came from. "That's alright, prettyboy. I'm not interested in hearing anything from you but screams and pleas for your life when I get started on you. And for death, soon enough. Gonna have to disappoint ya on that one though. You, I'm gonna take apart piece by piece." Another demonstrative loud nibble on dry flesh, more bones cracking before being spit to the ground just close enough for Scott to realize that whoever that had once been had not even been an adult yet. "You're going to regret every single inch you made me fall down that Statue, and every hour I spent with my lungs full of water on that bottom, before I bite your throat. Think Imma cut off a few souvenirs off of you for your kids and your loverboy at home, too. I bet he'll want to know what happened to his latest bedwarmer. You two looked awfully close in that bar the other week … Guy's leaking pheromones all over the place as soon as you're nearby. It's almost cute." Creed let out a bellowing laugh when Scott stiffened both in ice-cold shock and growing agitation regarding a situation that was even more serious than he'd realized at first, entirely underestimating someone with a formerly impaired mind, unaware that a certain healing factor might be able to repair even such damage, with time …

The consequences of this carelessness were not only about to catch up with him at full speed. Logan … It was a scream of anger, confusion, and worry rearing up in the shape of that one certain name in his mind as he slowly felt dizziness and darkness spreading in his head and heaviness in his limbs. Whatever was poisoning the air of this damn hall was already far too deep in his cells to even think about an even fight, or about an escape. In five minutes or so, Scott would end up helplessly in the hands of this psycho, and if people at home, including a certain man he'd grown far fonder of than he'd even realized, wouldn’t be smarter about this comeback of one of their worst enemies ... Logan. Trying to suppress the thought especially of this one person that Creed was obviously after in particular, Scott clenched his teeth harder around the capsule between his lips, sending a small surge of adrenaline through his too-slow blood flow. Flexing his muscles, he shook himself again and again, trying to clear his mind, without much success. He had to keep trying though, he had to stay awake, to fight back … He couldn’t let get Creed anywhere near his home, anywhere near Logan who didn’t even have an idea the guy was back …

How far out of it he'd really already been, he only realized, when a huge, fur-covered hand suddenly closed around his throat, easily lifting him up into the air from his hiding place, black eyes glistening with lust staring right into his as Creed ripped the breather capsule from his mouth with his free hand. A first harsh blow to Scott's stomach stifled any weak attempts at freeing himself before they could really arise. "You smell delicious, pretty-boy…" Pulling him close, ignoring his struggling, Creed licked a long, greedy stripe up and down the side of Scott's neck, a threat no longer needed to know what was to come next. "I can see why that feral on your team wants you so badly … Too bad. Guy should have been faster ..."

Fighting consciousness already, Scott didn’t even really understand at first what was happening; for that, it went far too quickly. One moment, Creed was cutting off his air, a greedy paw fumbling with the zipper of Scott's uniform top, the next, he was suddenly dropped to the ground as a very familiar sound of extending claws came out of nowhere, an inhumane, deafening scream echoing through the hall. Blood squirted on Scott's face, burning in his mouth as he gasped for air, making him retch all over again, and then there was another, taller, and heavier body crashing next to his, torrents of red gushing from between two opened jugulars.

"Guess I'm late to the party. Invitation must have ended up in spam." Logan looked down at Scott half in amusement, half worried, and fully pissed as Scott scrambled to sit up, but made no move to help him for the moment, keeping his claws right where they were, buried deep in Creed's gut and throat. To render the guy as incapable as possible and thereby secure an escape, Scott supposed. This wouldn’t be more than a draw for the moment, that much was clear after this meeting. He should be damn glad, Logan had apparently had the right hunch and followed him. This could have gone real south real fast.

Creed only proved that with another hateful hiss even while half bleeding out, struggling under Logan's adamantium-steeled body to get free. That same intense, almost longing look was on his face as earlier when he'd talked about Scott's teammate as he looked up to Logan from pain-addled eyes. "And here I was thinking you'd never show up. Come on, Jimmy, let me go. You don't really want to keep working for these losers, do you? I tracked down a few of our old sources after they pulled me from the water. What do you say, we have some fun with prettyboy here, and then we revive the good old days together. What?" Creed only laughed even louder, as crazy as ever in spite of his newfound heightened intelligence, when Logan stared back at him in bewilderment, just as much at a loss as Scott what the guy was talking about. "Still don't remember, huh? Too bad. Don't worry, I'll refresh your memory. Cute kid like this? We used to fuck and eat that for dinner every week back then. It can be like that again. Come on, don't be a spoilsport. I'll even let you have the first go with our One-Eye before taking you to my place. You and I together? Humanity and the rest of the world won't stand a chance."

"Tempting," Logan gritted out with a strained voice, his enemy's blood drying in his beard as he visibly fought for composure, in a way Scott had had to fear he'd lose at some point so often in the past … Only now he realized how wrong he had really been about believing in Logan's faith and self-control so little. "Too bad for you, I prefer to sleep with mentally stable people." Another quick flickering of his wrists, a twist of claws, then Sabretooth's head rolled across the floor, leaving a remarkable trail of blood still. "Come on, before someone puts the bastard back together." Logan didn’t give Scott even a second to process what had just happened before pulling him to his feet, supporting his stumbling, half-conscious shape on the way toward the hole he'd entirely silently cut into that door. Only when they had somehow, in spite of their lousy appearance, made it to the jeep that Logan must have come here with, without attracting the wrong attention, Logan finally turned to Scott with a shaky breath. Reaching out for him, he rested two knuckles on Scott's forehead and felt his pulse. "You alright, Slim?"

Scott had never felt less capable of answering that question, and he'd never felt it was less insignificant to do so. "Logan …" Before Logan could get the stupid idea of letting go, his face tightening at the utter dumbfounded tone in Scott's voice, Scott reached up with a still heavily trembling hand to hold Logan's right there, on his neck, where it was quickly chasing away the memory of that sickening sensation of a predator's saliva and teeth far too close earlier.

"Yeah, no, you are definitely going to Hank's. You're intoxicated to the brim." Logan tried to pull away from Scott's grasp, half-heartedly enough to hope he didn’t mean it.

He was probably right, little as Scott liked to admit it, but before they would leave and Scott would undoubtedly have to face two days' worth of sermons from more than one side, he had to be sure. He had to know. "Is it true? What he said?" he asked quietly, shyly linking his fingers with Logan's.

Or at least he tried. To his dismay, Logan was even faster now to let go of him, his lips a thin line. "Which part do you mean? That I used to be his partner in crime, apparently, or that the only person who can tell me about my past is a murdering psychopath? Then again, seems like I'm better off not knowing anyway," he added with a bitter laugh, burying both hands in his hair, staring ahead into the dark street.

Seeing Logan look as lost as it had never happened before, in spite of the guy's amnesia, helped overcome Scott the last of his own bewilderment. This man had been there for him for the better part of the last half year, protecting him from the worst of a fall that Scott hadn’t even realized how close to it he had really been, and though they'd really not exactly been friends in the beginning no less. Now that it was Logan, possibly facing the shambles of what he'd thought was his life so far, it was him who needed support, not alienation. "It doesn’t matter, you know." Somehow shaking off the heaviness in his bones, Scott pushed himself away from his seat to lean over to Logan and rest his hand on his cheek, ignoring the grime soiling his beard. A shower was very much in order for both of them right now anyway. With any luck, they might even be able to take it together. "Guy's head is a monkey circus, but even if any of what he said is right … And I doubt it, Logan, because I know you … This is not who you are now."

"And what is that, Slim? Who am I to you?" This time, when Logan took Scott's hand in his, it felt planned, and right.

"You're the one who keeps saving my ass for some reason. And it's about damn time I show you how grateful I am for that." With that, Scott leaned in closer, hesitatively still, his heart sinking for a moment when the light touch of his lips against Logan's wasn’t answered …

Then Logan's other hand was back on his neck, pulling him closer so abruptly that their teeth clanked together before a hot tongue invaded his mouth with the hunger and greed of a starving man. And with Logan, Scott didn’t ever need to be afraid that these desires would take some inhuman grotesque shape like with that bastard back there in that factory hall. "You know you're still getting your ass whupped for pulling that stunt tonight, right?" Logan grumbled when they finally detached, both breathing faster, the air in the car suspiciously heavy all without chemicals this time.

Scott shrugged, unfazed. "I like paddles best, in case you want to take notes." Somehow, he managed to dodge a well-deserved slap to the back of his head in spite of his slightly battered condition. On the way to Hank's, he was fast asleep within two minutes.

*******************************************************************************

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