#original elements

Original & Other Elements 30/?: Tungsten

Tungsten, X-rays, and Coolidge form a trinity that has left an indelible impression upon our life and times. The key word in this triad is Coolidge, for his work brought the element tungsten from laboratory obscurity to the central role of the industrial stage and gave the X-ray a central role in the progress of medicine throughout the world. (C. Guy Suits).

Tungsten is an element, with the atomic number 74, part of Group 6, along with Chromium, Molybdenum & Seaborgium, although it has never been mentioned in the series, nor have I come across it in fanfic (yet).

It's brittle in its raw state, but malleable once purified; a robust and dense steel-grey metal mainly used in alloys. It has the highest boiling & melting points of any element. It was discovered in 1781 and is also known as Wolfram. It's used in light-bulb filaments, x-ray tubes, radiation shielding, rings, ceramic glazes, weights, magnets, cutting tools and can be used as a substitute for gold or platinum. Often found with tin.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sapphire and Steel Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Silver (S&S), Osmium (Sapphire and Steel), Antimony (Sapphire and Steel) Additional Tags: Genremixer prompt, Community: genprompt_bingo, Elemental Weirdness, original elements, 1980s, Television Summary:

... turn off the television set and do something more interesting instead?

Original and other elements 29/?: Phosphorus

Literature is like phosphorus: it shines with its maximum brilliance at the moment when it attempts to die. (Roland Barthes)

Phosphorus is an actual element - a  mineral, atomic number 15, and part of the ‘nitrogen family’ of Group 15, along with nitogen, arsenic, antimony and bismuth.  It’s never mentioned or seen in the series.

First isolated in 1669, it can be found in the earth’s crust, is known to be present in some stars, and in human biology (urine, bone ash etc).  It emits a faint glow on exposure to oxygen, hence the name which means “light-bearer” in Greek - or Lucifer, in Latin, and is also known as “the Devil’s element” due to its tendency to spontaneously combust in air.  It is found in two main forms, white and red.  Red is the more stable and safer.  (It can also be found as black and violet phosphorus.)

It has been used in making matches since 1830, first with the more dangerous white phosphorus (the source of the infamous “phossy jaw” that affected match workers in the late 19th C), and then with the safer red.  It is also used in incendiaries by the military.

Phosphorus is vital to human life and found in foods such as milk, meat, and soya.  It’s also used as a fertiliser, in detergents, nerve agents, pesticides, food additives, to add acidity to soft drinks such as Coca-Cola, in baking powder, sodium lamps, and toothpaste.

A fascinating element, in short, and one that would be interesting to play around with in fic.  Who’s up for the challenge?

First of all, I love your moodboards, they're giving me so much happiness and life.

And second of all, just the other day I was enjoying 'Columbo Goes To The Guillotine' where Anthony Andrews of Brideshead Revisited; and many other credits was the villain.

And it was occurring to me, how excellent he would be in Sapphire and Steel. Now the question just remains, as to which element... I'm going to look through the PT myself, but I'd dearly love any ideas you might have on that as well!

@snickety-lemons

Yaaay! My plan to annoy the void into talking back to me worked! <3 (I feel Steel would disapprove of this plan...)

And also thank you! I love speculating on what other 'elements' might be like and I'm glad the moodboards are being fun for you too.

But, yes, let's talk of elements and other things!

Anthony Andrews is someone I've seen in a few things (although not Brideshead). I'd not considered him before, but I can definitely see it, yes!

Which one is a really good question, though. Don't forget you don't just have the periodic table to play with, there are minerals and alloys running around here calling themselves elements, including

Oh, yeah, these two eponymous pretenders. ;-p

Some at least vaguely canonical ones not yet done include Platinum and 'Brass' (the latter may not be 'real' or currently extant, though, given Sapphire's reaction to giving that human any other 'element's 'powers' in A5).

Some elements that have turned up in fic so far that I know of, but which I haven't yet done a moodboard for include Acanthite, Magnesium, Helium, Indium, Iodine, Ruthenium, Bloodstone, and Tantalum, plus a few Transuranics - Americium, Flerovium, Lawrencium, Livermorium, Neptunium, and Uranium.

Original & Other Elements: 28/? Manganese

He opens his eyes, and he looks at his hands—and perhaps, they don't belong to him. They are familiar yet strange, slightly wrong—slightly out of time. And hasn't he always been so, after all? He isn't sure. But still, the question falls into his mind like a feather, like a raindrop. Like a knock on a door.

And he walks past dark corridors and hallways, like someone caught in a dream, searching for his own name. He feels shapeless, fluid, almost back to his elemental, molecular state—back to his own beginning.

Manganese is an actual element, part of Group 7, along with technetium, rhenium, and bohrium.  It was first isolated in 1774, although its usage dates back to prehistory as a pigment in cave paintings.  It is a hard, silvery transition metal, often found with iron.  It is also a vital part of human biology and diet, particularly in the functioning of the bones, liver, kidneys & brain, although a too high intake or overexposure can lead to various kinds of neurological degeneration.

It has many industrial uses, especially in alloys (often with aluminium), including in the making of stainless steel, glass, ceramic glazes, batteries, resistors, coins, fertiliser, and as an oxidating agent.  It can be toxic to marine life.

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Sapphire and Steel, Doctor Who (1963) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, Copper (S&S), Gold (S&S) Additional Tags: Community: no_true_pair, Crossover, Serial: s125 Mawdryn Undead, original elements, Elemental Weirdness, Time Skips, Board Games Summary:

Original & Other Elements 27/?: Palladium

Palladium is an element never mentioned in the series.  It’s a rare silvery-white metal discovered in 1803, in the same group as nickel and platinum.  It’s resistant to corrosion and in high demand due to its rarity - which makes it a highly valuable commodity.  It’s used in catalytic converters, jewellery, dentistry, watch-making, blood sugar test strips, aircraft spark plugs, surgical instruments, electrical contacts, flutes and is an essential component of cold fusion experiments.

So far it doesn’t seem to have been used in fanfic, either.  Clearly, someone ought to do something about that...