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"Real Science"
Apr. 22nd, 2025 12:34 pmTitle: "Real Science"
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Characters: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 985
Summary: Hex learns about science and why Ace loves it.
Notes: Written for the "chemistry" challenge (#257) at![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomweekly.
Read it on AO3.
Author's Notes: To be entirely honest, I wrote this in order to portray a scientist like they really are, as opposed to the stereotype we see everywhere in the media. Even though Ace loves explosives and explosions, she couldn't have gotten to the point of inventing nitro-9 and retaining a full set of limbs without rigorous preparation, attention to detail, and stringent safety protocols. So, she's verifying every last digit before starting to experiment; she's isolating her experiment in the right environment and even there, she's putting on safety glasses though they're not technically needed, and she's not allowing Hex to distract her from her work. She's not even wearing a white lab coat -- the things she's working on aren't going to splash on her regular clothes and ruin them, so she doesn't need one.
Yes, she really shouldn't drinking from lab glassware, but not because it's inherently dangerous (lab glassware needs to be very clean, because impurities will alter your experiments) -- it's because if you are working with other glassware, it's really easy to get your drink mixed up with your experiment. But, two things: 1) she wasn't working with any other liquids, and 2) chemists are also human and do stupid things like this. And it lampshaded the usual image everyone has of chemists, always working with vials of brightly colored liquid.
But, I'm still keeping with my story-per-month pace, even if some of them are stupidly short. I've been slaving over a WIP for a while now but it's been slow progress. Soon, I hope.
Fandom(s): Doctor Who
Characters: Ace McShane, Hex Schofield
Pairing(s): None
Rating: G
Genre: General
Word Count: 985
Summary: Hex learns about science and why Ace loves it.
Notes: Written for the "chemistry" challenge (#257) at
fandomweekly.Read it on AO3.
Author's Notes: To be entirely honest, I wrote this in order to portray a scientist like they really are, as opposed to the stereotype we see everywhere in the media. Even though Ace loves explosives and explosions, she couldn't have gotten to the point of inventing nitro-9 and retaining a full set of limbs without rigorous preparation, attention to detail, and stringent safety protocols. So, she's verifying every last digit before starting to experiment; she's isolating her experiment in the right environment and even there, she's putting on safety glasses though they're not technically needed, and she's not allowing Hex to distract her from her work. She's not even wearing a white lab coat -- the things she's working on aren't going to splash on her regular clothes and ruin them, so she doesn't need one.
Yes, she really shouldn't drinking from lab glassware, but not because it's inherently dangerous (lab glassware needs to be very clean, because impurities will alter your experiments) -- it's because if you are working with other glassware, it's really easy to get your drink mixed up with your experiment. But, two things: 1) she wasn't working with any other liquids, and 2) chemists are also human and do stupid things like this. And it lampshaded the usual image everyone has of chemists, always working with vials of brightly colored liquid.
But, I'm still keeping with my story-per-month pace, even if some of them are stupidly short. I've been slaving over a WIP for a while now but it's been slow progress. Soon, I hope.
