selene-tempest

[selene-tempest]

John and I are still here and you don't need to change for us *hugs her tight*

Sorry, I’ve been kinda M.I.A for a while. Y’know, rescues come up, life comes up, it’s pretty manic.

Buuuuut anyway, I took myself off to one of my favourite music stores to get some replacement strings on my Violin. It’s a cozy little place in London, great acoustics if you’re an orchestral kind of person (not as great as the lounge though 😅).

Normally, I’d be with Virgil, because he likes to play on all the keyboards while I mess around with all the bases and violins.

And there she is, looking as fresh as ever, and sounding a little more lively. Ironically, she has the TB2 colour pallet for the peg threads. Crazy, right?

OOC below read more

ooc// hey again, mun here. Just wanted to give a quick explanation of absence.

Val’s blog has been really difficult to post on, because she’s barely getting talked to. I’m running out of ideas on how to interact with the tumblr void. It’s a little frustrating since I’ve changed her so, so much just to have her fit in, I mean, 95% of her lore and what makes her *her* has been scrapped and changed just to make her fit in this thunderbirds rp community.

This isn’t trying to be a guilt trip, or a force on you to talk to her, it’s just a small explanation, just in case there was anyone wondering. As always, thank you so much for the support and advice. Back to Tracy shenanigans!!

[selene-tempest]

He knows....

And the answer is you don't find them, they find you.

@i-t-guy-in-the-sky

[selene-tempest]

Heeeeey you made it!

Babe! Hubby! Sweetheart! JOHN! Your sister is here!

@i-t-guy-in-the-sky

Now, what the hell do I say here? Hello?

[selene-tempest]

🎵🎶 The Vengabus is coming... 🎵🎶

My song of the day is ‘The Vengabus’ by the Vengaboys. It pisses Scott off for some reason 🤷‍♀️

(I play it full blast outside his bedroom door)

[selene-tempest]

Bringing this back because it's still true.

I'm alone in the flat tonight, but I don't feel lonely. It's a rainy, windy, cold night in Camden, but I don't feel cold. I'm warm and safe inside and I love it. It's something I often find myself missing when I'm on the island, we never get a truly cold, rotten night like this.

I quite like the cold months, they're not my favourite, but there's always something positive to love about them. Winter for me has always been a time of reflection, of semi-hibernation where I take some time out to focus on self care. It's a time of indulgent activities that I rarely have time for back home.

It's funny how I've come to count the island as home more than this place. But I guess it's true, home is where the heart is, and my heart is with them.

But that doesn't stop me enjoying my time away and making the most of it. This little flat has always been my sanctuary since the moment I moved in. At first it was my refuge from the nastiness of my past and a place where I could truly be myself without anyone judging or telling me I was wrong. Then it became the place where I fell in love, where I spent quiet nights talking to the love of my life, drinking in everything he wished to share with me, getting to know the amazing man that he is away from International Rescue and his duties. Just him, just John, with no siblings to compete with for attention, and just me, with no fear because this was my place and I was safe here. Then it turned from my refuge to ours. Our place to snatch some quiet time without brothers popping up at random times, where we could be ourselves by ourselves.

Yes, right now I'm alone but I'm not lonely.

Tonight I'm curled up on the couch, under a blanket my nan made years ago, wearing a hoodie I stole from Jeff a few days ago. It's well worn, but that just makes it softer and more special. It's warm and cozy and it smells like Jeff and the inhumanly strong aftershave he wears and it still feels like a dad hug. I'm wearing one of John's T-shirts and a pair of Gordon's sweats and I'm comforted by the knowledge that I'm surrounded by my family even when I'm not there.

I'm alone but I'm not lonely.

When I moved in one of the first things that caught my eye was the antique wood burning stove set back in the old fireplace. It hadn't been used in years but my dad paid to have it serviced and the chimney swept so I could use it. It's lit now, crackling merrily, the colours of the flames dancing on the walls just as the flames of my candles are. I've got no other lights on, I don't need them.

I've got a flask of hot chocolate so I don't have to move, I've got a book on my lap, soft music on the stereo and a big bar of chocolate. This is my spot for the rest of the night. I've nowhere to be and nothing to do but please myself and that's a good thing. Once upon a time I might have felt useless, like I should be doing something for someone but now I'm content to know that I do enough, I am enough.

I'm alone but I'm not lonely because I know I could go home if I wanted to.

But I like it here. The rain is battering the windows, the wind is howling around the building, the trees are swaying outside and I think I just heard one of my neighbours bins take off down the road. Yet, being Camden, there are still people outside, shrieking as the rain soaks them to the skin, running as they try to get away, yelling for taxis that haven't turned up yet and calling goodbye to their friends.

I'm alone, but I'm not lonely.

There's a quiet peace in the noise of the British weather outside. The rain is comforting, its pitter patter on the glass reminds me of nights I spent at my grandparents house where I'd lay in bed with Nan and she would read to me until I fell asleep. John does that sometimes, he'll start reading something that he found interesting in his book because he wants to share it with me and, even though I understand maybe ten percent of it, I'll listen and I'll relax just as I did then.

I'm alone but I'm not lonely. I'm lucky. I've had bad times in my life but they are outweighed by the good. There were times when I was so terribly lonely when I wasn't alone because I wasn't with the right people. It was only the thought that those right people had been there and still were there that got me through.

I don't have to worry about that now. I know that I could reach for my phone and talk to someone that wants to talk to me, someone that wants to be there for me.

Others might think this is a rotten night and wish they were on a tropical island somewhere where the sun is shining and the palm trees are swaying. And I can understand that, I used to be like that, but tonight I don't.

There is a peacefulness in solitude if you care to find it. I'm physically alone through choice and I'm not lonely because I know that I'll never truly be alone again.

[selene-tempest]

Bringing this back because my husband is a legend

As a woman, I often get inappropriate, sexist and nasty comments left on my social media posts. I started clapping back and replying in my usual sassy way, but nothing seemed to work.

I tried ignoring them, but then I felt like I was allowing it to happen because I didn't say anything.

All in all I got a bit fed up with fighting a losing battle.

So, John , in his infinite wisdom, stepped up to the plate and started replying for me on the days that I can't be bothered. Here are some of his best:

- Man, commenting on a photo of me eating a chip: You have a pretty mouth, what else can it do?

John: Complain.

-Man: I like women who wear more natural makeup.

John: I like men who wear a more natural silence.

-Man: Women that wear that much makeup are natural born liars, does your husband even know what you really look like?

John: Well, he's not stupid enough to think I have naturally purple eyelids.

-Man: I prefer less makeup myself

John: Then wear less makeup, what does that have to do with me?

-Man, after I corrected him for commenting on my post I made about the true origins of Halloween: So bitchy. Someone must be on their period.

John: If I had to bleed to find you annoying, I'd be anemic.

-Man, on a short video of me and a friend at our Halloween ritual: Stop doing that, you're just trying to get attention by thrusting your breasts out!

John: Why yes, of course, I'll stop breathing just for you.

-Man: Do you know that most men find women who swear very unattractive?

John: Then it's a good thing my husband doesn't fucking care.

-Woman: If you really loved your husband you'd take his name like you're supposed to.

John: Some of us make our own name in the world and don't need to use our husbands.

-Man: You'd look super attractive if you lost some weight.

John: And you'd look semi-intelligent if you stayed quiet.

Yep, that's my husband everyone.

[selene-tempest]

Our Biographer has taken a break over Christmas (apparently we are a lot to deal with, lies I tell you) but John and I , along with the other idiots, wanted to wish you all a happy and SAFE Christmas. Emphasis on the safe, we don't want to have to come out in the middle of dinner to save your sorry butt.

Anyway, we're gonna spend the rest of Christmas Eve in bed I'm going to watch Muppets Christmas Carol and he's going to ignore it and me.

Lots of love x

[selene-tempest]

Didn't think I'd make it today but.... SATURDAY CHAPTER BABY!

You can read the full thing here on AO3 but here's a snippet ➡️➡️➡️

On autopilot she continue through the house, not stopping to take in any details. Something called out to her, drawing her closer. She stepped out onto the veranda that looked out onto lush green fields and trees, bathed in an orange glow from the setting sun.

It was such a familiar, comforting sight, but nothing warmed her heart as much as the woman who stood with her hands resting just-so on the wooden railing. Kayo could only see her from behind but the moment she recognised her something inside her loosened. She inhaled deeply, feeling like she was able to breathe properly for the first time in days.

Her back was as straight as ever, something that age had never taken from her, and although her hands on the railings were gnarled with arthritis her long grey hair was still coiled up in the same intricate knot that Kayo had loved to watch her form.

“Nenek?” Kayo called softly, the traditional word for grandmother feeling so strange on her tongue after years of living with Grandma Tracy, but welcome all the same.

[selene-tempest]

It's time for the Saturday chapter upload!

Part 2 of Kayo's training and its...well it's going...

Here's a snippet but you can read the rest here on AO3.

“Do you trust me?” Selene repeated.

“You know I do or I wouldn’t be here doing all this,” Kayo pointed out in a bored tone, but still she felt the need to cross her arms defensively. She did trust her to do what she needed to, but this whole conversation made her worry that whatever Selene had planned, she wouldn’t like it.

“Then do I have your permission?” Selene asked again.

Kayo shrugged, unsure what her friend was getting at. Why was permission so important? “I… I guess so.”

“Say it properly.”

Why was she making such a big deal about this? Selene was normally in the camp of ‘better to beg forgiveness than ask permission’.

Selene raised an eyebrow and cleared her throat. Jeez, what did she want, an engraved invitation?

Kayo sighed, rolling her eyes. “Yes, you have my permission.”

[selene-tempest]

@sailing-on-a-puddle well at least you're here now! And feel free to write Gordon's if you want to lol. (The boys have me too busy to write anything at the moment I'm afraid)

I keep teasing Virg about this. He's the perfect home town Christmas romance love interest and no one will tell me otherwise.

[selene-tempest]

New Chapter!

Woohoo! It's that time again and a new chapter is up!

You can read it here on AO3 ➡️➡️➡️

Things are getting bad on Tracy Island.

[selene-tempest]

More of our story is up! @i-t-guy-in-the-sky

It's Saturday and that means a new chapter!

How are we on Ch4 already? Time is flying.

Here's a snippet, you can read the rest here on AO3 ➡️➡️

“Ladies and gentlemen, tonight we have an exclusive for you so shocking that our lawyers had to be called in to make sure we were even allowed to reveal it, but I have been assured that under the Freedom of Press Act, I have the right to free speech and that you, the public, have the right to this information.”

The whispers stopped, the assembled crowd tensing in preparation for the big reveal.

“This afternoon a source –who wishes to remain anonymous– sent me the following video.” He pressed a button on his tablet, his logo once again disappearing to be replaced with a still image. “This shows Miss Tanusha Kyrano, an operative of International Rescue and close friend of the Tracy family, attending a private meeting with the criminal mastermind known only as the Hood.” He flicked to another still image showing Kayo sitting in the cell opposite her uncle. “The Hood, currently housed in a maximum security GDF facility, spent more than an hour in the meeting with Miss Kyrano.” He flicked to the next picture which showed Kayo and Rigby walking away from the cell and then another of them getting back into the buggy that would return them to the main compound. 

The audience, who had gasped and squeaked their way through his little speech, got the sense that he wasn’t done and as one, leaned forward in their seats, all the better to see and hear what was coming next.

“You may be asking yourself why an operative of International Rescue –the very organisation that helped bring him to justice after his involvement with the disappearance of Jeff Tracy ten years ago and the subsequent attacks on their organisation and the endangering of thousands of lives– would be meeting with one so villainous as he?”

The crowd nodded and a chorus of ‘yes why’ and ‘tell us’ sounded out.

“Well, let me tell you,” Joe said, playing up to the audience both in the studio and at home who would no doubt be on the edge of their seats. “I discovered that Miss Kyrano is related to him by blood, a fact that has been kept hidden not just from the press but I’m told that, for a number of years, she even hid it from the Tracy family themselves.”

The audience gasped so loudly he was surprised there was any air left in the studio for them to suck in. With a flick of his finger, he changed the picture on the screen to show an older picture featuring a younger Kayo and a younger Hood, smiling happily at the camera.

“After receiving this new information, I found myself wondering if all the times that International Rescue were supposedly thwarting his plans, were they truly saving people, or simply furthering their own narrative?”

He rested his arms on his desk and leaned forward as the camera drew in closer, zeroing in on his seriously fierce expression.

“In light of this disturbing news, I am calling for the world government to take a stand.  We’ve had enough of these trust fund cowboys riding around in their fancy machines. It’s time for the authorities to do their jobs and protect the world’s people rather than a bunch of too-rich playboys with a hero complex. The time for action is now!”

[selene-tempest]

I beg you, with all the love I have for you in my heart, not to buy me anything else that is pink! Girl, I'm a goth, I don't do pink!

It's never to early to start Christmas shopping (unless it's before November 1st, in which case I'm afraid you're being too eager).

The only problem is I'm not sure what colour scheme to go with for the wrapping this year. I fear that pink, for the third year in a row, would be too repetitive.

[selene-tempest]

Started this a wee while ago because @astranite and I were excitedly discussing astronomy textbooks and in particular BOB which is a real astronomy textbook for the undergraduate level, written by Carroll and Ostie as mentioned in the fic. We started joking about Lucille being an academic and writing the second BOB and then well... this happened :P

Many thanks both to @astranite and @gumnut-logic who have both read bits of this at some point - I hope you enjoy the finished fic!

---

"Imagine a world with no stars."

John reached down, brushing his fingers across the familiar preface, the uncomfortable weight of his mother's textbook feeling like home.

"Hi Mom," he whispered, his heart aching as he turned the pages.

Her orange highlighter was everywhere, notes in her clear, rounded hand scattered across every paragraph as month by month, year by year, she read yet another paper that strengthened the collective understanding of the universe. He knew that some of these notes made it into the second, third, and even fourth editions of BOBv2, but others lay dormant, waiting for a fifth edition that would never come.

Until now.

John took a steadying breath. He hadn’t dared to touch his mom’s personal copy of the astrophysics textbook that had redefined a generation in years. The Tracy text, with its dry wit and clear conceptual language, voiced with an undeniable love for the heavens above, similarly ignited a passion in everyone who read it. John was too young to know exactly when BOBv2 – the Big Orange Book – had become the standard text, but in doing so, Lucille Tracy had cemented her name as one of the great educationalists of modern astronomy. A companion to the original Carroll & Ostie, a text that delved with enthusiasm into every branch of space science, his mom had inspired a generation of astronomers.

His mom had inspired him.

And, as it turned out, there were people who wanted to see that legacy continued.

John scanned the email that had arrived without fanfare in his inbox that morning, though he already knew every word.

“Dear Mr. Tracy…” it began, and John knew they hadn’t meant him. Scott had forwarded the email himself, not reading beyond the subject line that mentioned only the title of the astronomy textbook he held in his hands.

This was how John learnt that his mom’s old publishing company were seeking permission to engage a new author to perform the necessary revisions for a new edition. John had never thought of Scott as being the executor of their parents’ estate, had never given much thought to any of the legalities of what their parents had created.

He glanced up as TB5 rounded the dark side of the Earth, the familiar patch of ocean his family called home slowly moving towards sunset.

His brother had gotten home less than an hour ago and it was for this reason, John told himself, that he hadn’t drawn attention to Scott’s error.

In truth, he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say.

Well.

That wasn’t quite true.

John’s grip tightened around the book as he steadied himself once more.

This text had belonged to everyone, that’s how his mom had wanted it, and that’s what John would want too.

He connected to Scott’s line.

With each ring, his heart sank further and further.

“Hey John, wha–”

“Don’t do it,” blurted John.

Scott’s blue face scrunched up as he peered at him through the holo. “Don’t do what?” he asked.

“Mom’s book, let me instead,” said John, his words beginning to stumble across themselves in his hurry to make Scott understand. “I can do it, just don’t let someone else take it away from her.”

“Woah, woah,” said Scott, looking more alarmed with every second. “Nobody’s going to take Mom away from you, what are you talking about.”

“They want to revise BOB,” said John desperately.

Scott’s silence rang between them, a pause that filled the distance between them before John huffed and thrust the book into the holocam.

“BOB,” he said impatiently, “Mom’s textbook, the Big Orange Book the Second.”

“Can you.. can you start from the beginning, John,” said Scott weakly.

John’s fingers twitched, struggling to steady his shaky inhalations.

“Mom’s publishing company sent you an email. You sent it to me so I read it, but it was for you.”

With every word, John willed Scott to hear him, to understand what he was asking. It wasn’t the revision that was troubling him, John had worked alongside academics too long to question the need for an updated edition as new evidence emerged and new lines of reasoning developed into discoveries.

“It’s the only link to her that’s just mine,” he said quietly. “I have to share everything else, and maybe that’s selfish of me to ask, Scott, but I want this one. I don’t want someone to overwrite her words, her passion, her memory with a fake. Someone who’s just pretending they could ever know what she would have said.”

“I can say no,” suggested Scott, but every fibre of John’s being rebelled at the thought.

What was worse, he wondered, to remain true to her memory and thus condemn his mother’s greatest achievement to history? Or to give up his claim to her and allow her work to shine anew, albeit polished with a varnish he’d never known.

Obscurity or lies?

John knew which he’d choose.

It felt like burying her all over.

“John,” said Scott hesitantly. “Would you want to do it?”

John’s eyes widened. At once a thousand reasons to say no erupted, his mind running through emergency scenarios and the intensive workload that revising a beast like BOBv2 would take, not to mention remembering the half a dozen other projects he’d made promises to look at when he got a chance.

There was no chance he would ever be able to agree to what Scott was suggesting.

There was no chance he’d ever say no.

“How?” he asked breathlessly.

“We’d make it work for you, John, you know we would,” said Scott. “We’d do it for Mom, but we’d also do it for you.”

John’s smile was wobbly, and he rapidly blinked back the tears that welled in his eyes as warmth flooded and swelled in his chest.

“Then let’s do it,” he said hoarsely.

***

“John!” shouted Alan, racing up the stairs two at a time. “You’ve got a package, Grandma picked it up on the mainland, it’s here – it’s here!”

John leapt up from the sofa, his quiet conversation with Brains and Virgil forgotten in a heartbeat as he reached out with eager hands.

“Scott, Gordon!” bellowed Alan, running outside and leaning over the balcony’s edge. “Hurry up, John’s book is here.”

There was a mad scramble, water splashing all over, but John hardly heard it, his hands turning the brown paper over and over. He could feel the bio-bubble packing material, its gentle give beneath his fingers making him doubt the reality of what he was about to find.

Alan slammed into his side, legs bouncing with excitement. John could see the amused glances traded between Virgil and Gordon out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored them, suddenly terrified that he’d ruined his Mom’s book forever.

“We all know you gave it everything,” said Scott, dripping water all across the floor as he gripped John’s shoulder with firm encouragement. “She’d be proud too. Let’s see it.”

The spine was orange, the dusky colour of sunsets as the night gave way to twilight and the field of astronomy arose. Tracy & Tracy stood out, stark white and magical. Each leaf was glossy and vibrant, full of excitement and wonder.

He glanced down at Alan, whose eyes were wide in awe, and smiled, opening the book to the dedication page.

To Jeff, who travelled my stars and inspired my heart. – L.T. 1st edition To Scott, John, and Virgil, who helped me to dream. – L.T. 2nd edition To Gordon, who gave me new adventures. – L.T. 3rd edition To Alan, for all the skies we’ve seen together  – J.T. 5th edition

John wrapped an arm around Alan, who had gone still as he read.

“It was time you were added to the Tracy text,” he said quietly.

Alan only hugged him back.

“It looks incredible, John,” said Virgil. “It’s all paid off.”

One by one, everyone gave their congratulations and wandered off, the novelty soon wearing thin. Even Alan slipped away, his video games beginning to call, but not before making John promise to get him his own copy.

Eventually, only Scott remained and he fell down on the sofa next to John, watching him quietly as he flipped through the pages one by one.

Soon enough John paused, running his fingers over the familiar foreword, every letter of Lucille’s passion immortalised once again. His foreword came second in deference to the original and, sandwiched between his mother’s words and the contents page, John had allowed himself more sentiment than he usually considered wise in a public sphere, comfortable in the knowledge that only the few who were truly inspired by what he and his mom had made would ever read them.

“She would be proud,” he said with certainty. “Of this, of what we’ve done without her.”

“She would,” Scott agreed. “They both would.”

John nodded, and closed the text, laying it carefully on the coffee table.

His green eyes shimmered earnestly, a mirror of their mother.

“Thank you, Scott,” he said. “For giving me this.”

“It’s yours, John,” said Scott. “Always.”

[selene-tempest]

Facts!

He loves me really.

[selene-tempest]

Woohoo! New Chapter is up!

Chapter 3, Lineage of Deceit is now available on AO3. You can read by clicking here ➡️➡️➡️

Here's a snippet:

“I met the one calling himself the Black Phantom,” she started, choosing her words carefully. “He threatened me, almost run me over-”

“Surely that is not the first time something like that has happened to you?” the Hood asked, although she could tell he didn’t want an answer, he was just being obnoxious for the sake of it. “What’s so special about this one?”

Ignoring his jab, she continued, it was best to get it over and done with. “He claimed to be your son.”

At her words Rigby inhaled sharply, sucking in a great lungful of air, but her focus stayed on the man in front of her. He’d stilled, seemingly frozen on the spot, but she saw that his hands, still resting on the tabletop, were trembling.

The Hood swallowed once, twice, and then seemed to shake himself free of whatever emotions had overcome him. “Explain.”

[selene-tempest]

The omnipotent biographer has finally gotten off her ass (thanks to my near constant nagging) and started putting pen to paper again to tell the next part of our story.

Go and give it a read if you haven't already, we're very entertaining.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!

To celebrate my boys (TAG) birthday I'm FINALLY launching season 3!

Here's the TAG line:

We last saw the Tracy family dealing with their biggest threat yet, a mysterious foe who lurks in the shadows, pulling strings and putting the whole world in danger.

Plans are being put into action, true allegiances are being formed, patience and resolve is being tested and the Tracy family is feeling the strain.

Secrets will out, world views will shift, the threats will keep piling up and the Tracy family will have their eyes opened in more ways than one.

Who's as excited as I am? This season has been a long time in the planning and I'm sooo happy to be finally sharing it with the world. I'm planning on publishing a chapter a week, but I'll be writing as I go and life happens, so we'll see how it goes lol.

Gods I'm so happy that I'm back writing these gorgeous people, I've missed my two idiots so much, I can't even describe it.

Chapter 1 is up and you can find it here ➡️

So, if you're new, welcome to the madness, and if you're returning, welcome back!

We hope you enjoy the ride.