#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

[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

[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)

[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. ]

[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.

[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

[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.

[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

[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.

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

@whumptober | @whumptober-archive

@scoganbingo

[atlaslovesedm]

chapter 6 part 1 of godzilla replay dropped recently and i just sorta wanna ramble about it lol

[SPOILERS I THINK I DON’T FUCKIN KNOW]

so this chapter definitely confirms a theory i saw in a youtube video covering the pasta (specifically the one by billy styler), which i personally find really cool. if you don’t know which theory i’m talking about, its basically that each world is themed around one of the seven deadly sins (most of the explanations are going to be verbatim or paraphrased from that video so uhhhh):

- gelid: sloth. in the first level, the enemies become slower the more carl plays, the cold being a metaphor for slowing down. the name of the SIN demon, lethar, comes from the first six letters of “lethargic.”

- corona: pride. there’s a small monster somewhere in the world admiring itself in a mirror. and for the SIN demon, there’s exalton, playing on the word “exalted.”

- amorphis: envy. the board being green could be hinting towards the phrase “green with envy.” one of the first monsters encountered displays high acts of jealousy. the SIN demon is named odia, which is a play on “odious.”

- tempest: lust. the needle-nosed monsters in the first level kill their victims by penetrating them. there are monsters who use their tongues to attack, references to birthing, the SIN demon’s name is salaac, short for “salacious,” and a small monster who is partaking in… an activity. aside from that, wind is a reoccurring theme in this world, calling back to the nine circles of hell from dante’s inferno, where strong winds are used to keep lustful individuals away from one another.

and now we get to the world this chapter takes place in…

- alkali: greed. this is the first world to have a currency, namely daru. and obviously, with a currency, it’d only make sense for there to be shops as well, and there is! the first vendor encountered has a store policy saying that you must buy at least one plush with your order. i can only assume this is to make an extra buck. also, greed is directly mentioned by this old hag named arba who carl encounters soon after all the vendor shenanigans! arba also mentions someone named avidus, whose name is a play on “avidity,” and who i think may be this world’s SIN demon.

that’s all i can cover briefly but can i’m really excited to see where this creepypasta goes lmfao

[materialsscienceandengineering]

New strategy proposed for bandgap engineering and maintaining material properties under high pressure

Prof. Ding Junfeng and his team from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Science, together with Prof. Zhang Genqiang from the University of Science and Technology of China, have achieved band gap optimization and photoelectric response enhancement of carbon nitride in the nitrogen vacancy graphite phase under high pressure.

Their results were published in the journal Physical Review Applied.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) has performed well in many fields, such as high-efficiency photocatalytic hydrogen production and water oxidation. However, the wide band gap of 2.7 eV of the original g-C3N4 limits its light absorption in the visible region. High pressure technology is an effective strategy to change the properties while remaining composition. Therefore, band gap engineering of g-C3N4 by high-pressure technology can significantly enhance its photocatalytic activity and improve its application potential.

In this study, the researchers prepared N-containing vacancy defect g-C3N4 nanosheets with a nitrogen/carbon ratio of 9:10 by alkali assisted thermal polymerization.

Read more.