#antarctfic

[setmeatopthepyre]

iceberg (guess what i want you to write!! heehee! smooches, cam)

one iceberg for you 🫡 gonna take a stab in the dark and guess you were hoping for some antarct-fic ❄️

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The first time Tommy becomes acquainted with one of McMurdo Station’s favorite activities, he has just finished up only his second non-training flight. They’d had him start out just observing from the co-pilot seat, getting a feel for all the peculiarities of flying over this particular part of the world; the no-fly areas enforced to protect both wildlife and research, the corrections that needed to be made for altitude pressure due to the cold air, the antenna farm and fuel tanks that were to be avoided when flying the Wind-Driven Alternate Pattern - more commonly referred to as the ‘gap’ procedure, for the gap between two hills that overlooked the base and had a habit of funneling particularly strong wind gusts between them - and the procedures for waiting until any research party they dropped off had established radio contact before departure. Everything accounted for the fact that being left behind in this harsh climate without a means of contact was a death sentence.

He’d known most of it, had spent a significant chunk of his flights to Auckland and then to Christchurch poring over the air operations manual, willing the details to stick in his mind, but theory and practice were two entirely different beasts and he was well aware that repetition was key. So, he hadn’t minded being back in training wheels, though actually flying while someone was actively checking his every move again did take some getting used to. It was worth it, to be back in the pilot’s seat.

It hadn’t taken long for calling into Mac Radio to feel as natural as radioing in to Harbor Station. At one point, Roslyn had him take point on a run out to the Dry Valleys. She had stayed silent the entire way back, watching out the window as they edged closer and closer to the Peninsula, glancing Tommy’s way whenever he’d make an adjustment. After they had landed and had run through all the post-flight checklists, she had declared him ready and had him put on the roster for solo-pilot trips.

That was two days ago. Now, Tommy wraps up his post-flight procedures and heads up to McMurdo Station’s big blue main building that everyone just refers to as 155. When he arrives he finds it more abuzz than ever. There is a palpable excitement - something has gotten everyone, regardless of department, talking amongst each other. Sure, from what he can tell that isn’t completely abnormal, but usually by this time of day everyone is worn out by their long shifts and the cold, and the vibe is generally at least a little more subdued. That is, until people kick back in the bar, or there’s some event going on. Which there are a lot of, he’s noticed. The station’s residents will clearly take whatever entertainment they can get.

This… isn’t that, he decides as he joins the short line to get help himself to a tray full of dinner. Hisham, one of the other helicopter pilots, seems to have made it his personal mission to keep everyone at helo ops up to date on the goings-on at base and he would have said something if there was anything big planned.

“What’s going on?” he decides to ask the galley crew member serving up food once he makes it to the front of the line. She’s short, doesn’t even come up to his shoulder, and has her brown hair in a pony tail pulled through the back of her cap.

“Iceberg spotted in the Sound,” she says, scooping a giant heap of fried rice onto his plate. She glances up at him and either clocks that he’s new or something else inspires the interested glint in her eye. Tommy hopes it’s the first option but he’ll take either if it gets him the inside scoop. And maybe an even bigger serving of food in the future.

The crew member sets her serving spoon down, obviously undeterred by the handful of people waiting behind Tommy. “They’re pretty rare, so we like to bet on how long it’ll take for it to round Hut Point.”

“Huh,” Tommy raises his eyebrows. He had never considered betting on icebergs, but from what he can tell anything out of the ordinary passes for entertainment out here. And it’s not the first bet he’s heard of. “So how long would something like that take? Hours? Days, Weeks?” he asks, suddenly realizing how little he knows about icebergs.

He wonders, for just one moment until he shuts that thought down, if Evan would know. Surely it had come up in one of his documentaries on penguin migrations, or something.

“I’m not telling you shit,” the galley crew member grins at him. “It’s a rite of passage to be wildly wrong about these things.” She nods over at an older woman with a long silver braid who has just accepted cash from someone sitting at a table nearby. “Talk to Katie if you want in on the action. I recommend it. We track the iceberg’s process on the webcams and everything.”

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-> send me a prompt and make me write <-

[setmeatopthepyre]

@wee-fuckin-woo you are the best!! thank you so much! gonna reread your message a million times and maybe even open a doc about it

(also: made the drink because it sounded good and I literally made some brown sugar syrup yesterday. 10/10 would recommend)

@setmeatopthepyre

@wee-fuckin-woo made an order for you! They weren’t sure how you take it so they took a guess and ordered you a Brown Sugar Iced Coffee with Cinnamon, Cold Foam, Oat Milk and Sugar

Skog all of your writing is just top tier A class. I adore antarct-fic so much bc youve perfectly captured how insane these 2 are bc they absolutely would do something insane like run off to Antarctica and i adore all of the OCs we meet as well 🥰🥰 and i would be remis not to mention perhaps the fic taking up the most space in my brain bc of the massive conspiracy board ive dedicated to it, pothos | pathos my beloved

[setmeatopthepyre]

I also can't remember if I sent you a word for the guessing game, but if not: silence or flight

you did! but your other words weren't a hit so I'm gonna treat them as a mini Make Me Write at some point. however, 'silence' was a hit for pothos | pathos:

Buck weighs the whirlwind of questions in his mind in the silence that follows. Finally settles on, “Where’s Tommy?”

...and 'flight' was sort-of a hit for antarct-fic if I use 'flying' instead:

“No, wait, hold on, there’s no way they’d find Tommy at fault. He’s a good pilot! The-- the whole thing broke off! I-It’s a miracle it didn’t happen while we were flying!” “I just said they’ll investigate. If he wasn’t at fault, he wasn’t at fault,” she says with a shrug.

-> send me a word, if it’s in my wip document I’ll answer your ask with the sentence that it appears in

[setmeatopthepyre]

in case anyone is wondering why it takes me so long to write stuff for antarctfic it's bc 1. I love to over-research and 2. whenever I look at a map I get distracted doing shit like this

anyway they're girlfriends

[setmeatopthepyre]

rules: you will be given a word. then you share one sentence/excerpt from your wip(s) that starts with each letter of your word

I was tagged by @lavenderleahy with the word FLIRT and by @911coded with the word WATER. excerpts are from pretty much all of my wips, nice and chaotic all mixed up here. if yall want to know what is from what, let me know and I'll add it (or feel free to guess)

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F - Fire dances in the stone ring. It's something primal, he guesses, the way it settles him. It's something people have been doing since time immemorial, since there's been people alive to do it, like looking at the stars. Maybe that's why it calms him - it's so ingrained in humanity to do these things that he never has to guess if what he's doing is right. It just is.

L - Leaning back against the counter, Chimney muses, "Do you think Lucy did something to them?" "You seem way too excited by that idea." "Oh come on, your baby brother is traveling to the South Pole to win back The One That Got Away, and now we have a potential crime on our hands? It's like watching a movie unfold in real time." Maddie tilts her head, considers. "That's true. We should make popcorn."

I - It's a similar feeling to when he's flying, that sense of simple, base awe, to be doing something that people have been dreaming of doing since they first saw birds take flight.

R - Really, that's nothing new, but it's supposed to be different when he's hurt, that's supposed to be the exception, and he's hurt now. His head hurts and his knee hurts and his arm hurts where his dad is gripping him tightly, too tightly.

T - That's not-- that's not what he looks like in the mirror, in pictures, in the corner of his screen. He barely recognizes himself in this man in front of him, who calls him Evan like it's a gift, who shakes his hand like it's a promise, who feels exciting and strong and safe and new, but it's him, his own eyes, his own mouth, his own hand in his-not-his-hand, his own name on the pin on--

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W - "What the hell did you do now?" The front door falls shut and his dad yanks at his arm and turns him around and it's just dad, without mom, and that feels strange because they should both be home from work, should both be together like they always are, more interested in each other than in him.

A - Abby's mom gets worse, and it's easy to be supportive when Abby tells him she wants to look after her mom herself. It's easy, too easy, to pretend like he's doing Abby a favor when he sits with her, talks with her. To pretend he's the long-suffering-but-patient fiancé when her mother's needs mean they barely have any time alone together. Abby keeps apologizing and it's too easy to believe she should, as if he's not taking any chance he can to cover extra shifts - to help pay for her mom's care, of course.

T - Tommy smiles. "I'm not sure I ever really deserved you, you know." "Oh fuck off," Vic grins, rolling his eyes. "Sure, you could do with a little therapy..." He waves a hand at him, "Yeah, yeah, your license, I'm aware - you really need to pursue that, you know - but you know Matt is still happy to talk to you, off-the-books and all." "But Matt knows me." "That's a problem?" "It feels like it should be."

E - Even looking back, he can't pinpoint why it happens that night, of all nights. He doesn't plan it. He doesn't think. He's clearing the dishes from the table while Abby is apologizing for what feels like the millionth time for having to postpone planning the wedding. He barely feels like he's really there when he says, slowly, "Or we could just call it off." Abby stares at him. Tommy realizes what he's just said, raises his gaze to meet hers, and says, "I'm... gay."

R - Reaching for his glass, Victor gives him a sly wink. "Who knows, maybe if my prince charming takes too long, you could meet friends-with-benefits-Vic." He shrugs. "Once, you know. The raw edges wear off a bit." Tommy gives him a look. "Really, you dump me but you still want to fuck?" Vic laughs. "Hey, I meant once we've given it a bit of time! I'm being considerate! I mean, you're still hot. I wasn't lying."

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no pressure (and no clue) tagging @geddyqueer @leashybebes @iphyslitterator @sugarpenchant @beanarie @ambernotember for the word SINK

[setmeatopthepyre]

hello this is fun. 17 pls!

hello this IS fun. I love yapping about my writing lol

17. antarctfic tommys you dont find it you make it

okay so this is a really short one that I just copy/pasted from my notes app. what I wanna do with antarctfic is dig into some themes of community and (self-)isolation and this is a part of that. this'll happen pretty far into the story:

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Tommy's you don't find it you make it moment Katie talking about how she feels at home here [antarctica/mcmurdo]

"Sounds like you really found your people."

"Well, I didn't exactly stumble upon this place. I don't know if you recall, but there was a pretty rigorous vetting process."

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[wip titles game]

[setmeatopthepyre]

fuck I love having weird hobbies like over-researching fanfic

[setmeatopthepyre]

make me write

wasn't tagged, just felt like doing this again. for each emoji sent to me I'll write... something! could be a few sentences, could be a little more. who knows? surely not me. may be combined with 118 daily drabble prompts.

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🐧 - antarct-fic [snippets here | bucktommy | post break up fix-it] post-break up and staring down the barrel of spending the holidays alone, tommy does the one thing any normal, reasonable person would do in his situation: he signs up to fly helicopters in antarctica.

⌛️- 8:39 PM [snippets here | bucktommy | angst | post break up fix-it] turns out, the string of fate that connects buck and tommy passes through a specific moment in time: 8:39 PM. when a truck swerves off the road and a helicopter crashes at the exact same time, the string crumples and all those instances of 8:39 PM collide. oh, and they're both dying.

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the below are all part of tommy begins and are basically three parts of tommy's pre-buck life I've been writing about, but which overlap with each other to some degree. find all tommy begins snippets [here]

☎️ - tommy meets abby - [snippets here] shortly after tommy returns to LA from the army, he witnesses an accident and calls 911. this is the beginning of his friendship and later relationship with dispatcher abby clark. (basically anything involving his (eventual) relationship with abby)

🚬 - the dead probie saga - [snippets here] "you don't name a puppy until you know it's gonna pull through." meet brian emmerson, probie to the 118, and puppy who didn't pull through.

💔 - the ex / victor - [snippets involving victor here] tommy's first serious relationship with a guy, what leads up to it, and how it ends. (dead probie saga basically serves as a prequel to this / is how they first meet, so feel free to specify if you want pre or post-probie death / what phase of their relationship you want to see)

[setmeatopthepyre]

Hey is the Antarctic fic also on ao3? Whenever I try to click on the link on tumblr it takes me to a “there’s nothing here” page. (I missed a few and wanted to go back and read them and can’t figure it out!)

Hey! nope it's not currently on ao3 but you should just be able to go into the antarct-fic tag to find it! if that link doesn't work then any antarct-fic post should have it in the tags as well :)

you can also check out my pinned post for most of the links, though I update that sporadically so it may not be completely up to date (or have every single snippet)

[setmeatopthepyre]

So you're telling me now it's all wrong, my love That the memory's end is foregone and done Still we walk for miles in my head To the blue dawn

The truth is, I can't forget you All this time, it's been so long Part of me knows I'm meant to Draw a line and carry on But if you would only come back I can say, I can say I was never alone Walking the silver beaches far from home

Somehow I need no rest No alibi for where I'm going

[setmeatopthepyre]

After that it got colder

And the world got quiet, it was never quite day or quite night

And the sea turned the color of sky, turned the color of sea

Turned the color of ice

'Til at last all around us was vastness, one vast, glassy desert of arsenic white

And the waves that once lifted us sifted instead into drifts against Annabelle's sides

And the crew gathered closer at first for the comfort

But each morning would bring a new set of tracks in the snow

Leading over the edge of the world 'til I was the only one left

We talked of the other new worlds we'd discover as she gave up her body to me

And as I chopped up her mainsail for timber I told her of all that we still had to see

And as the frost turned her moorings to ninetail

And the wind lashed her sides in the cold

I burned her to keep me alive every night in the loving embrace of her hold

And I won't call it rescue

That brought me back here to the old world to drink and decline

And pretend that the search for another new world was well worth the burning of mine

[setmeatopthepyre]

And do you look into the mirror to remind yourself you're there Or have somebody's goodnight kisses got that covered? When I'm not being honest, I pretend that you were just some lover

Now I can't think of there without thinking of you I doubt that comes as a surprise And I can't think of anything to dream about I can't find anywhere to hide And when I'm hanging on by the rings around my eyes And I convince myself I need another For a minute it gets easier to pretend that you were just some lover

[setmeatopthepyre]

i need brooke in everything now. what a delight!

😁 glad you think so!

[setmeatopthepyre]

I've fought so long, it's what I do My fists are fine, it's just my soul's a little bruised But I'll stay on my feet until I lose But I never learned to lose

My younger years went by so urgently And left me grief that I'm still servicing If good times change, why do the bad days stick around?

So now you see me For the first time It's hard to love in the cold But boy, it's time I tried

[setmeatopthepyre]

It's always late at night when these thoughts seem to culminate They almost make sense in my dream-like state The words are so loud, they're so loud in my brain They scream "If I loved you less, I'd be okay"

As I walk away, I curse the whole universe For not splitting love in perfect halves so we're equally hurt

I know who I am and it's okay I'll love you as I walk away I'll know who you are and I pray you'll find that person someday

[setmeatopthepyre]

Never once an ocean could hold me on its shore Standing calm with all its motion, with all the movement of its flow 'Cause I know way back in the distance all the safer sorrows burned The ones with no intent to drown you The ones where nothing's to be learned

So now I'm heading down a back road The one that no one really takes Except for me now to be nowhere When that early morning breaks

Oh god, I thought I heard the angels What kind of fool'd you put in me?