Some random thoughts on Elements

[thisbluespirit]

In which I have S&S fannish thoughts and speculation on the Periodic Table, via, Wikipedia, sorry. (How can you not love S&S for this sort of thing?) Please note that my science is bad, my chemistry virtually non-existent, though I do know some reasonably basic GCSE Physics. (For instance, I vaguely remember enough to nod a bit when Steel takes himself to ridiculously low temperatures. And that steel is used in construction because it expands and contracts at the same rate as concrete. Well, I think. I don't know why I remember that, even if it's true. I do not think anyone has yet explored Steel's affinity with concrete, shock, horror. Although he does seem to be pretty good at the age of buildings, I suppose.)

1. As even I had (with my tiny bit of actual science) thought, Sapphire and Steel are not elements at all, the big fakes.

2. If there are actually 118 elements, including Transuranics, and even if there are 127 Operatives (including 12 Transuranics), does that mean that some real elements aren't being used in favour of gemstones and alloys? If so, which ones? (My thoughts: Is it just random ones who turned bad and have been replaced? Or there are some [about 10?] that are labelled as Transient. So, are those the Transient beings, and therefore Bad Elements stuck in the past, do not use? Also, maybe gases are excluded as impractical? It is quite hard to imagine the adventures of Oxygen and Helium. Obviously the powers of making people speak in high voices could be entertaining, though... Heh.)

3. [1 ] had kind of made me assume that actual characteristics of real elements wouldn't be much guide to the fictional ones, but actually Silver makes a lot more sense if you know the uses it has - it not only makes the bit with the light bulb explicable (well, for S&S.) but it is no wonder Silver is pleased with himself. If you have to be made out of one basic element of the fabric of the universe, silver is a very cool one to be. (You can even see from the info why Copper might easily have a problem with him. Other than him just being, well, Silver.) So, I need to look at Lead, too, now...

4. (I had this idea and was looking for a suitable Element to use, and then I was attacked by these other fannish thoughts, which is actually kind of encouraging).

5. Just think what the series could have been: Iodine and Praseodymium? Dysprosium and Terbium? :-D

6. Not really anything to do with the facts, but given what little I do know about steel, is there a really cranky, craggy Iron out there who regards Steel as a too-shiny upstart? (Actually, I think, this being S&S, Iron would be much, much more interesting than that. But it is an amusing thought.)

***

(And, yes, I'm sorry to my flist who don't do S&S, but anyway, you should go and watch it, and then you too can be fannish about the Periodic Table. And probably Joanna Lumley and David McCallum, but also the periodic table.) This is not under a cut, because it's not spoilery. And only serious in patches. Also I posted this in the past and am hoping for some Elements to come and sort me out for such triggery stuff.

Comments

[john_amend_all]

I recall reading a Usenet posting once that wondered if Steel was a gestalt entity, and that was why you never saw Iron or Carbon...

(I've now got Tom Lehrer's Elements going round in my head...)

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

Hmm, and that would also work for Sapphire - aluminum oxide (corundum).

*head hurty now* ;P

Isn't there a character called Diamond mentioned in the credits, though, or am I muddled?

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, there is. I don't really think a gestalt origin sounds likely. Although this being S&S, nothing is entirely out of the question.

[thisbluespirit]

Well, the only Elements we do see are Sapphire, Steel, Silver and Lead (and Copper, Mercury, Diamond and Jet are mentioned), so it's not really a very convincing argument. Steel seems unlikely to be a gestalt entity, and he says his origins are inexpressible, but positive, which doesn't sound as though two other Elements were harmed in his making. Although, this being S&S, nothing is out of the question, and maybe he's being defensive. That's the fun thing about it. We know so very little...

[john_amend_all]

Diamond is a carbon allotrope, and jet is pretty much coal, so that does suggest there's more carbon around than could be accounted for by harming one Element.

[pedanther]

Ooh, if the not-really-elements are because they ran out of proper element names (and if the numbers don't add up, it's because some of them have retired or gone rogue)... there's all kinds of places a person could go with that.

And questions a person could ask. Were they inducted in two blocks, first all the proper-elements then all the not-really-elements? Or has the service been gradually working its way down a list, as and when new agents were required?

Either way, it means that our heroes are the new kids on the block, relatively speaking, and Silver is probably significantly older than either of them. And there's all kinds of places that could go, too.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, that's the fun of it. :-) And Assignment 6 definitely implies that some Elements are now working for the Other Side, so the 'gone rogue' bit is canon, I think. And, as I said, there are a small group of elements labelled as 'Transient' which may well tie up with the Transient Beings, so that gives several more spaces. Of course it also depends on whether investigators are counted in the 127, and if they are also Elements or something else.

I've come across that idea in fanfic, and it is logical, although my personal feeling (and this is all we can ever have in S&S, heh), is that age seems sort of irrelevent, it's what they're made from. But there's more than the usual sort of room for speculation, which is part of the fascination.

[justice-turtle.livejournal.com]

'Just think what the series could have been: Iodine and Praseodymium? Dysprosium and Terbium? :-D'

Sodium and Potassium! But only if they had had the budget for a lot more explosions.

*loves being fannish about the Periodic Table, yes*

(*has also been reading leftover Yuletide prompts and thinking in a speculative way about Anthropomorfic... there's a crack!bingo card involved*)

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, see, now why has nobody written Sodium & Postassium? :lol:

S&S is quite, quite beautiful in many ways, including the fact that we can speculate fannishly about the periodic table. There are not many fandoms about which you can say that. (Hmm. That sentence seems wrong somewhere, but anyway...)

[john_amend_all]

Caesium/Fluorine. Just as long as you don't let them actually touch :-)

[dimity-blue.livejournal.com]

I *love* the idea of Iron being older, and a bit cranky, and not appreciating that young whippersnapper Steel. LOL! It would be so much fun. :oD

[thisbluespirit]

Heh. I really am surprised no one seems to have written a fic like that yet. It seems an obvious thought to me! :-)