In stories featuring the supposed elements, all you see are the classical elements - fire, earth, air, water with others thrown in for good measure. But…I’ve caught myself wondering: why not use the periodic table’s elements? Think of the possibilities that stem from having 118 different elements from which you could give your characters abilities, design societies and create interesting conditions and conflicts.
 
Like plutonium elementals being great polar expeditioners, being extra resistant to cold since they generate their own heat, but they also get banished from civilization as a threat to society. Or lithium elementals being able to power electical devices for a while, but they all have a burnt black skin/fur (as real lithium would have) and often suffer from asthma. Or silver elemetals being virtually immune to bacterial diseases but prone to being struck more often by lighting, with silver being the best electical conductor there is. Or…IDEAS. So many ideas! And this is only with pure elements, imagine accounting for molecules and alloys.
 
Sure, you might get a beating from the science nerds that soil their pants when you take some liberties with how the elements work (like I inevitably will for the portrayal of the Lithium elemental), but….
 
THINK OF THE POSSIBILITIES.
 
POSSIBILITIEEEEEEEEEEEEeeees