#at this point when you are colder than two of the coldest places on earth you should be able to cut your losses

[urjunkdrawer]

How’s living in Canada? Well where I live it’s currently colder than both the north and South Poles and my workplace still is expecting me to come in to work

[fullmetalscullyy]

i will come for you

summary: “Stay where you are. I will come for you. Do you understand me? I will come for you.” Riza spoke once more without thinking but knew in her gut that this was always going to be her decision if the opportunity presented itself. There was no way she couldn’t go to him to help. 

an: after watching the day after tomorrow five days in a row last month i decided to fill a niche au for myself ✨ something short that isn't meant to be taken too seriously lmao i just really wanted to use the quote "i will come for you. do you understand me? i will come for you” for royai :)))))

rated: t | words: | tags: au, the day after tomorrow au, rescue mission, sniper bros havoc and hawkeye on a rescue mission

read on: ao3 | ffnet

“Riza?”

Her head turned tiredly towards her co-worker and oldest friend, wondering what new challenge was coming over the horizon for them now. However, one look at Jean Havoc’s face told Riza Hawkeye this wasn’t related to the global catastrophe happening right now – one she and her team were trying to predict the trajectory of. This was something completely different. There was hope in his eyes – something they’d been severely lacking recently.

“Roy is on the phone. Line two.”

Riza hesitated for a second as she tried to process what Jean had told her. Then, emotion surged within her body and lifted her out of the chair. With an encouraging look, Jean pressed the transfer call button so Roy would come through her phone. Riza quickly accepted and put him on speakerphone. She took a deep breath before speaking.

It had been days since disaster first struck. Days of wondering if he was still alive or not. Being in what was essentially “base camp” for the worldwide operation meant she’d heard the news. She was well aware of what was happening around the world. Riza and her team were the ones tasked with forecasting it all. She’d heard of the tsunami that ravaged New York, where Roy had been at the time of the event. It had been devastating, killing hundreds of thousands in a city where that should never have even happened. Under normal circumstances, that is. Riza had lain awake at night, praying he wasn’t one of the dead. With no way to reach him, she’d never known for sure. When it became too much, she smothered her tears and pushed it down, shelving it for later. She and her team had a duty to the whole world’s population to try and figure this crazy shit out – and how to save as many as she could. Riza couldn’t afford to think of only one person – something Roy would have told her too – and yet, her heart refused to let him go, refused to banish him from her mind. He’d been her best friend. Her partner. How could she simply forget about him?

And now, he was here. Finally.

“Roy?” Her voice was strong as she spoke, but that control was already wavering as hope started to build inside her chest. Riza hunched over her desk, placing both palms flat atop it as she hung over the phone. Jean was right by her side, listening intently.

“Riza! Riza, oh thank God.” Relief clouded his tone but there was something else to it. He sounded off –

“Roy? Where are you?”

“New York Public Library. Riza, what is happening out there?”

Riza swallowed and prepared to break the news. “It’s a superstorm. There’s multiple, all forming over the northern hemisphere.”

“Where we are right now. Typical,” he scoffed lightly. Even in times of strife, he managed to quip a joke. Riza’s heart clenched inside her chest.

“Listen to me, Roy.” Riza leaned in closer to the phone. “You need to stay inside the library. Burn anything you can to keep warm and wait the storm out. Do not go outside. Don’t leave, okay –?”

He gasped and there was a gurgling sound.

Riza froze. What just happened?

Jean looked as alarmed and helpless as she felt.

“Roy? Roy?” Riza and Jean’s commands for him to answer were met with silence.

Suddenly, Roy gasped again, but this was different – like someone gulping down air after being starved of it. He spluttered loudly over the line, coughing roughly.

“Roy!”

“I’m okay,” he reassured shakily. “I’m all right.” There was the sound of him gagging and breathing heavily.

Riza’s muscles shook as her head bowed, thankful he was back on the line.

“Don’t do that to me,” she scolded without thinking, pouring as much of her relief and upset into that one statement.

“Sorry.” He sounded cold. His teeth chattered together violently. The sound was clear over the phone. “You know how I like t – to keep you on your t – toes.”

Riza could picture his grin and she felt tears prick in the corner of her eyes while Jean barked out a relived laugh beside her. His hand came to rest on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze while Riza let out a heavy sigh.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

“I s – slipped. The area is filling up with w – water.” He exhaled violently, his teeth still chattering with cold.

“Roy, get out of there. Now.” Alarm bells were going off inside Riza’s head.

“I will. In a second.”

“Roy –”

“I’ve got time.”

“That water will be freezing. Get out because it will only get colder. You need to get somewhere warm and dry.”

“Stay warm. Burn things. Stay inside. Got it.”

“Burn anything you can and don’t let the fire go out, all right?”

“All right,” he replied quietly. “I’ve got it.” There was a beat of silence and she started to fear he’d disappeared again. “I’ll be fine, Riza.” Roy’s reassurance was gentle. She could picture his face as he said it – a smile that reached right up to his eyes, making them crinkle at the edges, his expression holding a softness and affection that he showed only to her.

Moments between them flashed in her mind. The way he was the only person who’d ever made her truly happy, but her dedication to the job kept them both apart. He’d promised he’d wait for her, but Riza could never ask him to do that. A relationship couldn’t exist when she was in the Arctic or in Antarctica for six months – or more – of the year. And yet, every time she returned, he met her with an easy smile and picked up where they’d left off, no questions asked. Her work sent Riza to some of the coldest places on Earth, but when she returned, Roy welcomed her with open arms, and his touch warmed her more than any heat source would ever be able to.

Now the tables were turned, and she would get him out of there.

“Stay where you are. I will come for you. Do you understand me? I will come for you.” Riza spoke once more without thinking but knew in her gut that this was always going to be her decision if the opportunity presented itself. There was no way she couldn’t go to him to help. Riza had the gear and had walked that far before on expeditions. She hadn’t walked it during weather conditions befitting a new ice age, but it could be done. She was sure of it, and she’d do it for him.

“Riza, no –”

“I’ll be there.”

There was a silence on the other end and Riza feared momentarily that she’d lost him. Again.

“See you s – soon, then?”

“I promise,” she vowed.

There was heavy breathing, followed by a loud gasp before the line went dead. Her head snapped up to look at the phone, seeing the screen blink back at her to indicate the call had ended. Riza’s heart rate picked up as her gaze roved over the piece of technology, silently begging it to bring him back.

“Roy?” Jean called to him, a hint of fear in his voice.

Riza straightened her spine slowly but her eyes never left the screen of the phone.

Give him back, she begged it.

Jean placed his hands gently upon her shoulders, turning her in place. Upon contact Riza inhaled sharply as her body started to shake.

“Come here.”

Her exhale was muffled against Jean’s chest as he held her tightly. His hands rubbed her back in comfort, which she was extremely thankful for. She needed it. They were quiet for a few moments as Riza tried to compose herself and banish the images of Roy dying in this storm from her mind.

“Are you sure about going?”

“I can’t leave him,” she whispered into Jean’s chest.

“Riza…”

“I’m going.” Her tone was stronger, and she pulled back slightly, looking up at Jean’s face. His long, blonde fringe fell over sympathetic eyes that were filled with sorrow. “And you can’t stop me.”

Jean shook his head. Riza opened her mouth and geared up for an argument, however that wasn’t his intention.

“I just have one question for you.”

“What?”

Jean’s arms left her shoulders, falling down to her elbows. “When do we leave?”

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The walls of the library were frozen solid. In all of her expeditions, Riza had never seen anywhere look so frigid before. Frost covered every surface, several inches thick. Nothing had been saved from it. Her stomach clenched as she prayed she wouldn’t find what she feared.

“Riza,” Jean called to her. He had continued walking ahead as she searched everywhere in hallway for signs of life. Jean stopped where the hallway split off into a new one. His torch was pointing towards something and, with her heart in her throat, Riza approached to see what it was.

There, ahead of them both, was a faint orange glow coming out from underneath a closed doorway.

Riza’s movements felt slow and jerky as she walked towards the door, however she didn’t even remember her approach. All of her focus was on the orange light instead. Jean nodded to her in encouragement as they shared a look. With a deep breath, she forced the stiff, frozen handle downwards and pushed it open.

There were people inside asleep before a roaring fire.

The muscles of Riza’s neck trembled as she searched the faces. Desperation made her grip her torch even tighter. She made her way slowly around everyone, starting from left to right. A small dog poked its head up as the light hit them. It was a black and white Shiba, nestled comfortably in their owner’s arms. The dog whined loudly, sitting up straighter and attracting the attention of their owner. However, Riza couldn’t pay attention to them. There was only one face left to search –

There. Beside the fire.

Roy grimaced at the sudden light shining in his face. He grunted and lifted a hand to shield his eyes, managing to crack one of them open. Riza knew she should lower it to remove his discomfort, but she was frozen in place like everything else inside the room.

He was alive.

“Who’s that?”

Riza didn’t recognise the voice that spoke and couldn’t tear her eyes away from Roy long enough to look at their face again. All her worries and fears about what she would find in this library were banished immediately. One look at him squinting into the bright light made her legs tremble and a shaky breath pass over her lips.

Her torch lowered to point at the floor.

Roy stood. His expression was one of wonder as he hurriedly walked around the piles of books and furniture. Jean had stepped forward to see to the other survivors, clapping Roy on the back with a grin and a quick hello. But he didn’t manage to tear Roy’s attention away from her.

They were a step apart when Roy stopped. He hesitated for a second, probably waiting for her to say something, however Riza quickly closed that distance between them. She was overwhelmed by the sight of him and the definitive knowledge that he was okay and unharmed. Her arms wrapped around his torso to squeeze him tightly. Roy did the same and it was difficult with all their layers, but they managed. She pressed her face into his shoulder and squeezed her eyes closed to try and stave off her tears. It was a struggle, as every emotion was surging to the surface and threatening to bubble over.

She was so happy he was okay.

“You came for me,” Roy breathed by her ear. He pulled away and lifted his gloved hands to cup her face. He gazed upon her in awe. “I can’t believe you did it,” he chuckled in disbelief. His exhale warmed the skin of her face beautifully in the frozen room. Just like it had done years prior after returning from a long expedition.

“Of course,” Riza replied simply with her own smile. “I promised you that I would.”

“You… You are amazing.” He leaned forward to press a fierce kiss upon her forehead before bundling her into his arms once more. His cheek rested against hers and Roy lifted a hand to the back of her head to hold her in place.

“And I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” she warned lightly, giving his torso a squeeze.

A laugh rumbled inside Roy’s chest and he nodded. “I can live with that,” he replied softly. “I would be more than happy with that, Riza.”

[katelynn-a-fan]

Why We Do What We Do (2)

First | Next

“Wow! Look at that!” “Woah!” “So cool!” A chorus of voices shouted.

Logan looked up from where he was into the night sky and caught a ‘shooting star’ streaking across the sky. He was mildly surprised that he had enough time to see it by the time whoever had seen it and exclaimed and he had looked up. He allowed a small grunt to pass through his lips.

Logan disliked calling them ‘shooting stars’, because they were merely bits of rock and ice that had been shucked off a comet or were tiny bits of rock and dust from impacts of planets or asteriods far away that just happened to enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The only reason they looked like ‘stars’ at all was because they were burning up in the atmosphere from the very high temperature molecules of the mesosphere being pushed together, causing a massive amount of friction to very rapidly wear away at whatever rock/meteor was entering the atmosphere. 

Logan always found the Mesosphere fascinating though. Temperature wise it was the coldest layer, but yet each individual particle contains so much energy. It was very distinct from the Thermosphere above, in that it’s the last layer to contain a significant amount of ozone or even just air for that matter. This ozone was the reason for it to deviate so far into being colder than the troposphere of daily life, because the Thermosphere was the hottest layer of the atmosphere and that sits above the Mesosphere.

Logan coughed a little to clear his throat before continuing.

“Great job on spotting that Cal! Remind me when we go inside and you’ll get a piece of candy.” Logan projected while still gazing up to where the meteor had been.

“Score!” came Cal’s familiar voice to his right a few telescopes down.

Logan inwardly and sarcastically rolled his eyes, but he would never be so unprofessional to disrespect a student like that, much less his students.

College kids and their excitement for free food.

Logan dropped his gaze down from the sky and returned to what he was doing, helping one of his students navigate the controls of her telescope. 

“When it comes to a telescope, even the tiniest movement can sweep over what you are looking for, so always double check the coordinates you have inputed into it, okay?” 

The student, Grace, only kept her gaze on the telescope with an expression of a confusion that he probably had once shared the first time he had used telescope.

Logan waited for the student to say something, before adjusting his glasses and standing up from the stool he had been using when he was looking in the telescope when he got no response. 

He patted Grace’s shoulder. “You’ll get the hang of it. You have the coordinates on your sheet, just use the paddle to input them and look through the eyepiece right here. And if you can’t find what you’re looking for, put the telescope on the lowest speed and move around until you find that signature faint green blob of the nebula.”  Logan affirmed as he pointed his finger to the small eyepiece he had been observing through and then picking up the paddle from it’s place and then returned it back.

“If you still can’t find it, call me or one of my TA’s over to help. The universe is a big place, don’t sweat it if you can’t find what you’re looking for.” Logan smiled a small smile to punctuate his statement.

It could’ve been the very dim red lamps they used for lighting their workspace, but Logan thought he saw Grace blush as she mumbled a small “Thank you” before turning to the telescope and retrieving the paddle to do her work for the class.

Logan strolled over to where his 2 TA’s were standing, chatting about whatever.

“Hey Ramie, Mike! How are they all doing?” Logan’s voice was enough to stop their conversation, but Logan doubted any of his students who could vaguely hear what they were saying were perturbed.

Ramie spoke first. “Good! Theo is getting along nicely with the focus and Alex found the first nebula using the manual controls and the coordinate sheet instead of letting the computer do it.”

“Nice! It seems Cal has some competition for best Astronomy student of the class. But... you didn’t hear that from me.” Logan lowered his voice and placed his hand like he was trying not to let Cal hear to punctuate his statement.

Alex is a lot like me, wanting to prove he knows how to do things without anyone’s help. I just hope he doesn’t get too far ahead of himself. God knows I was too smart for my own good when I was his age.

“Ha ha! Sure, sure. All good here too. I love that tonight will be so easy! They’re all such good kids. Honestly I think this semester’s going to be a breeze.” Mike interjected with a laugh as Raime went over to a student raising their hand.

Logan’s phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it. It was not professional to check his phone while he was teaching, and he was sure it was a notification from one of the puzzle games he had to entertain himself with on his phone.

“Well, when you’re doing midnight labs, you only get the students who actually want to be here. Not many would want to have a class that ends at barely before midnight. And anyone who came here more for the party scene than to further their education would weed themselves out the moment they saw when Astronomy labs would be.” Logan articulated as he watched Ramie converse with the student about whatever problem they had. Instinctively and unconsciously, Logan lightly patted the pocket of his pants that contained his phone.

“True that.” Mike replied while also observing Ramie help the student.

They sat in silence for a moment or two before Logan’s pocket buzzed again, but Logan ignored it as before. Logan knew it was probably the secondary alert for when a notification stays unopened, he would clear it away later. Mike’s eyes flitted to Logan’s pocket for a second before seeming to think better of something, quickly returning to look at Ramie. Logan caught the glance, but decided to ignore it. 

Mike could have whatever assumption he had, really, Logan couldn’t care less about stuff like that, as long as his assumptions didn’t hinder him in his duty as a TA. 

After Ramie came back, Logan and the TA’s devised a game of Name that Constellation. Everyone would take turns scanning the sky, and when they found each constellation they would name it and any interesting fact about the myth. And if they couldn’t find a constellation or remember the myth to go with it fast enough, that person would be the next to help a student with their telescope.

Luckily, Logan was an astronomy teacher for a reason, and his TAs were grossly  outplayed. Ramie was the first to fall and looked subtly peeved as she then waited for the inevitable hand raise. Mike, luckily for Raime, fell next as his eyes searched the sky for a familiar pattern only to be met by a indistinguishable field of dots. 

Now, both of the TAs were waiting for Logan to falter. 1, 2, 3, 4 rounds and Logan always kept managing to spot countless constellations that they had apparently looked over multiple times with the ease of an adult reading a book for small children learning to read. And even the myths were explained in great detail, not just the basic premise of their myths, the full stories with their exposition, rising action, climax, and resolution. 

Granted, this was the first outside lab of the year, but Ramie and Mike shared the same assumption: that they knew their teacher.

But with this development, both Ramie and Mike shared a look that they both knew meant We have a lot to learn apparently. 

Not only about astronomy, but their teacher as well.

Now Logan did not see their shared glances as he was scanning the sky for his next target, but was broken out of his focusing when his phone went off again.

Logan’s heart sank.

It was a call this time.

“If you’ll excuse me, I need to take this call.” Logan excused himself while keeping a mask of indifference with a small dash of embarrassment mixed in.

Logan’s pace remained measured as he descended the small flight of stairs near him, but once he was out of sight, his quickened his pace significantly as he reached the door back into the main classroom.

There was only was one person this could be calling and he knew that they would only call if it was truly important/urgent.

Logan’s heartbeat quickened as he opened the door to the empty classroom. He had pulled the phone from his pocket at some point in his trek, but didn’t want to answer too soon as to be unable to hear the call. Without looking at the lock screen, Logan pressed the call button to accept the call.

He brought the phone to his ear. 

Before Logan could say anything Patton’s voice flooded into Logan’s ear. Patton only got through one sentence before his cries took over his words where they essentially became a part of his crying as the call dropped with Logan’s shitty cell reception.

That one sentence made Logan drop his phone with trembling hands as he burst into tears himself, making Logan sway before sinking into the nearest chair. However, Logan did not have the luxury to cry outright, only letting silent tears leak from his eyes as he took in what Patton meant.

Logan picked his phone back up and saw 10 missed texts from Patton, and kicked himself for not even considering to at least glance at his phone before Patton was resorted to calling him to get his proper attention.

Logan stopped short in his emotional mire, struck by a wave of realization, his jaw setting into a stern and determined expression. Logan knew what he had to do.

Logan swiftly composed himself, wiping away the stray tears from his eyes, as he returned back to his TAs, beckoning them over to where he was at the top of the stairs.

“I have to go. Can you hold down the metaphorical fort with just the 2 of you for the rest of class?” Logan’s mask of indifference was back, hoping that neither the TAs or the students near him could tell he had been crying moments before.

Ramie and Mike now shared a glance Logan caught at full force this time. “We’ll fine, like you said, most of the kids in this class are here because they know what they’re doing.” Mike replied with a hint of something more gentle than Logan had ever seen on Mike’s face and for that he was grateful.

The silence hung between them as a silent message was implied from what they didn’t say. We know you well enough to know that whatever this is is serious. We’ll cover for you. Go.

Logan nodded as he turned and briskly maneuvered down the steps, gathering what little paper material he required for teaching his midnight astronomy class and in short order found himself cranking his car into reverse and driving towards his destination, knowing exactly where he needed to go.

The problem was, in other circumstances, he would enjoy going to his destination.

But the sentence Patton uttered on the phone changed everything. Logan knew those 7 words would haunt him for years to come. 7 words to turn Logan’s world on it’s head.

“They found him, but it’s really bad.”

Taglist:

@ironwoman359 @lefaystrent @delimeful 

[antiph]

The Dark Crystal Seasons Fuckery

Extrapolating what I know about astronomy, and what I’ve garnered about typical fantasy/sci-fi world structure, as well as the Dark Crystal glossary, I gonna try to find out what’s up with Thra’s whole planetary situation. There are gonna be gaps in the logic that can only be absolved by the fact that this is indeed fiction, but hey, what can you do? Given that I can’t make fucking heads or tails of Aughra’s orrery, I’m gonna assume most things from the frame of reference of simple Newtonian physics. Also the moons are pretty much irrelevant for the theorizing because they’re natural satellite’s, so sorry sisters. Also fuck ninets.

So first of all, there are three suns: the Greater Sun (the biggest), the Rose Sun (the second biggest), and the Dying Sun (the smallest). Time on Thra is measured by rotations around the Greater Sun, and one rotation equals a single trine (year). The Greater sun and the other two suns orbit each other. This presents a logical fallacy issue.

Typically, multi-star systems that are of a functional solar system work because the barycenter, the point in between the stars that they orbit in unison (in case it’s worth mentioning, the barycenter would be closer to the stars with the greater mass, so the barycenter in Thra’s solar system would be closest to the Greater Sun, then the Rose sun, and then farthest from the Dying sun). The barycenter is also what the planets in the system typically orbit, NOT any one particular sun. This is not the case with Thra, as it’s indicated that Thra orbits the Greater sun within a consistent timeframe, meaning that its orbit is unaffected by the gravitational pull of the other two suns. Therefore, we’re just gonna have to chalk this mess up to magic. Sorry. Moving on now.

Another issue that presents itself is how the suns appear to Thra, as when they are not in conjunction, they are shown in triangular formations, which leads to a series of yet more issues that defy the nebular hypothesis-which basically states that planetary systems are formed from protoplanetary discs (i.e. planets are formed from a circumstellar disc-or torus-of matter such as gas and dust). How so? If the suns do in-fact rotate around a barycenter in the manner that falls in line with real life astrophysics, than the invariable plane of the solar system (the plane that passes through the barycenter) would make it appear as though the three suns always form a straight line, regardless of how far apart they are in the sky, so formations like such a steep triangle shouldn’t really exist. Granted, the inclination-or the degree by which a planet is offset in regards to an invariable plane (like how Earth’s is over 1 degree)-of Thra could be pretty steep, but let’s assume it’s no more than 6 degrees like our planet Mercury. This could produce the visual anomaly we see in Thra’s suns (though I doubt the triangle would be so equilateral looking, and I don’t even wanna touch what direction the thing should be oriented in), so let’s go with the theory that Thra orbits the Greater Sun in a manner similar to how Mercury orbits Sol.

Let’s start with the easy stuff-the yearly cycle. Keep in mind that Thra is alway equidistant from the Greater Sun, so that means that the colder third of Thra’s yearly cycle would be when the Greater Sun is the closest sun. When the Rose Sun is the closest, that means that it’s heat felt by Thra is magnified by its proximity, so it’s likely the warmest portion of the year. Because I headcannon the the Dying Sun as a dramatic take on a brown dwarf star, it’s not gonna supplement a significant portion of heat, so we’re gonna say that when it’s closest to Thra, that’s the intermediary third of the year in regards to temperature. Basically, there are three yearly temperature shifts, which I will call winter, intermediate, and summer for the sake of simplicity (coldest to hottest basically). These are the three annual seasons.

Now take that yearly cycle, keep it nice and constant, and then account for the revolution of the Suns. Shit gets wack. But not inconceivably so. Basically, there are gonna be three periods every millennia where one star is the closest to Thra’s orbital path as it can possibly get, making it so that there are three millennial seasons too. When the Greater Sun is the closest to Thra’s orbital path, 333.34 trine will be colder than they would otherwise. Colder summer, colder intermediate, and colder winter seasons every trine for 333.34 iterations, the temperature getting lower and lower, transitioning gradually until the halfway mark at 166.67 years, after which it transitions back. When the Rose Sun is closest, then the next 333.34 trine will be warmer all the same, and when the the Dying Sun is the closest, then every season for the next 333.34 trine would be in-between.

Overall, there would be nine possible Year-Millennium seasonal combinations. Sorry, I know it’s confusing.

Here’s how things work chronologically:

Year 0 - Year 333.34

1.) Millennial winter—yearly winter

2.) Millennial winter—yearly intermediate

3.) Millennial winter—yearly summer

[Repeat 333.34 times, escalating in temperate intensity for 166.67 trine and then de-escalating for 166.67 more]

—————

Year 333.34 - Year 666.67

4.) Millennial intermediate —yearly winter

5.) Millennial intermediate —yearly intermediate

6.) Millennial intermediate —yearly summer

[Repeat in the same manner as before]

—————

Year 666.67 - Year 1000

7.) Millennial summer—yearly winter

8.) Millennial summer—yearly intermediate

9.) Millennial summer—yearly summer

[Repeat again as before, and congrats! It’s been 1,000 trine and the suns have completely revolved! Time to start all over]

Aaaand here’s that same list presented in coldest of the millennia-year seasons to the warmest, with the added bonus of their chronological sequence at the end to make it easier to gauge how far apart these fucking things are:

-Yearly winter—millennial winter (1)

Frigid as FUCK

—————

-Yearly winter—millennial intermediate (4)

A normal winter like on Earth

—————

-Yearly winter—millennial summer (7)

It’s pleasant outside all the time this is nice if you don’t think about the fact that you’re uncomfortably hot two-thirds of the year for over 100 years straight

—————

-Yearly intermediate—millennial winter (2)

Nothing blooms until it’s summer so until then we s u r v i v e

—————

-Yearly intermediate—millennial intermediate (5)

A normal spring like on Earth

—————

-Yearly intermediate—millennial summer (8)

Everything bloomed the moment winter ended. It’s a tad too warm literally all the time but crops are plentiful so whatever

—————

-Yearly summer—millennial winter (3)

It’s pleasant outside all the time this is nice if you don’t think about the fact that you’re uncomfortably cold two-thirds of the year for over 100 years straight

—————

-Yearly summer—millennial intermediate (6)

A normal summer like on EARTH

—————

-Yearly summer—millennial summer (9)

Hot as hell, but survivably so

The beings of Thra basically get born into either a low-key ice age, an Earth-like world, or a soft-core always sort of arid and hot kind of climate. And then the world is just like that for the next 300+ years, getting really fucking intense halfway through (or really mild if you were lucky enough to be born durning the intermediate portion of the millennia). No, I did not account for how this all would impact the worldly biomes, sue me. Extrapolate.

So yeah. That’s a LOT. There’s still a ton more I could probs get into but it’s late and I’m tired and frankly don’t wanna right now. I bet my hack-brained theories are probably pretty confusing to most (if not all) anyways, which is fair. If peeps are still confused, maybe I’ll get around to making diagrams like I originally planned too, before I got lazy and decided against it.

Oh yeah, one more thing if you’re still hanging on there. I headcannon that the great conjunction happens during the yearly intermediate season of the Millennial intermediate season (so really, Year 0 would take place then, but that over complicated the point I was trying to get across with the listing so I omitted it). Something akin to a perfect spring season here on Earth is what I imagine going down on Thra. That would mean that what’s going down in the The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is happening roughly durning the beginnings of the intermediate season of the millennia. Just my thoughts

Anyways, peace out.

(Feel free to ask questions or discuss or whatever!)

[hemlockd]

@musaeon​ said: ✘ "i was honest with you, so now it's your turn." he hasn't moved away, but his expression is firmer, still looking straight at him. "i know we're working together because of our deal and all, but is that all there is to it? even though you said before that you hate me... is that how you really feel about me? what do you see when you look at me? what... what am i to you? do i mean something to you or is this just a means to an end? please... can't you just be honest with me about this?"

who is kurusu akira to him, truly? that’s just about the most demanding question he had to answer in a long while. truth be told, he doesn’t know where to start.

when he sees akira, he sees... mourning, as deep as the eye can behold. he sees it play out right in front of him, the grief growing grander and so much more morbid until it’s more decay than it is pain. it breaks out of akira’s ribs like a bird from a cage. he looks at the boy and sees a heart torn to shreds-- he’s seen it before, a gaping hole in his chest where love is supposed to be, and in its place an open flame threatening to burn the world down. goro is drawn to the destruction, of course; he could never bear to part with his thorns, not with akira, not with anyone. the very concept still disgusts him. he was born with this blight, that’s for sure-- life can’t possibly be cruel enough to warrant wilting this horrendous, a kind of death he’s never seen before in anyone but himself.

“ i liked to say that we shared a special bond, once upon a time. ” he spits the words out like a mouthful of cyanide. “ that was bullshit, to nobody’s surprise. well... mostly. ”

but that’s not entirely true, is it? he’s not the only one with this pain, this blight: likeness attracts likeness, after all, and when he heard akira spit his own heavy-as-lead words back at him-- i guess i’m not welcome, no matter where i go-- he felt something like hope bubble up in his chest, like a child, like a weary traveler waiting to rest his burnt-out bones in a place only the desperate would call home. it’s a cottage made of logs, goro can see it clear as day: the cracks in between the floorboards are wide enough for a snake to slither its way through, but it is a place to stay, somewhere to come back to when the world wears you dry. it is where goro goes to rest, and if you were ever to ask, he would describe it like this: it is empty, it is well-loved, and it doesn’t exist.

words weaved together and unwound despite themselves, and akira would always, always listen. goro never had to dust the cobwebs off of his memories before presenting them to the other-- he keeps them spotless in his mind, reopens the old wounds in his spare time, pokes and prods at them just for fun. he knows how to tell his own stories. in all honesty, goro liked the time they spent together, in his own way. he opens akira up, picks at his brain-- and in the front line of his very soul, he sees a toolkit. he realizes then that akira has no true home. they were sewn from the same sky, that much is sure: divine intervention wouldn’t have changed a thing, and akira is his own person, in the coldest of ways. that type of independence is all too familiar to goro, one that doesn’t indicate a growing plant no longer in need of a stake to cling to, but a scarf on a hanger, discarded after the cold weather’s end and growing so, so cold from lack of use. the problem is this: the scarf will find a moth, there’s no doubt about it-- but what on earth will land on a rose if the only thing left are its thorns?

akira has no home, but he’s building one: a place for peter pan and all his lost boys and girls, shining bright in its glory, spitting right in his face. every step forward akira takes is a downright mockery of his efforts, and god, what is goro if he isn’t a burning pile of effort propped up on two legs? just to spite him further, akira does it all like it’s easy. it’s from his white picket fence and tiny little window that he looks down at goro, all bared teeth and sharp edges, like it’s fucking easy. “ i meant it when i said i hated you. ”

nothing is difficult for kurusu akira, not even looking his goddamn murderer in the eye and finding the patience to play it civil. akira just loved to be the hero, goro could tell. he doesn’t blame him one bit: he himself has held the same anger in between his teeth for all eighteen years of his life, furious enough to hate the world but arrogant enough to want to be the one who changes it.

“ but it’s not as simple as that. ” goro smiles then, off-kilter and bitter. “ nothing is. you should know as much at this point... i don’t think anyone’s ever known me as well as you do, and i’d like to think it goes the other way around. ” you want to understand me, he thinks, and it’s almost fond. i don’t think you ever will.

“ you haven’t quite seen me at my worst, but it’s close enough. and yet... you’re still here. you’re just a bit too reckless for your own good, akira. you want to be the benevolent, soft-hearted savior so badly, never giving up on the ones who have already given up on themselves... but i don’t think i can live up to your expectations of me. ” the nerves start tumbling in all at once, and goro finds himself tapping a foot against the hardwood floor of leblanc, eyes darting around to anywhere, anywhere but akira’s own. “ i don’t see a hero when i look at you, akira. you don’t have the right to be one, not now-- this is my debt to pay, and i’ll carry the weight of what i did or die trying. ”

“ when i look at you... i see my equal, and that’s a rarity. i see someone i’ve envied to an almost disgusting degree, someone i’ve wronged to the point of no return. ” there’s a pause, then. he feels colder than before, the type of empty chill that a ghost would bring into the room upon entering it. “ i... regret it, for what it’s worth. then again, most of my life choices are... deserving of regret, and even that’s a euphemism. ”

“ i can tell you the truth. that might not sound like much, but i haven’t been able to tell the truth to just about anyone for years. it’s... sort of cathartic, really. you already know what i am, lying to you would be nothing short of disrespectful. ” he chokes on the rest of his words before he can get them out-- goro’s never been good at handling his emotions, and now that he’s being put on the spot like this, he feels just like a fish out of water. “ i can’t wrap my head around it, but when i look at you... i don’t feel like i need to lie, either. it’s a comfort of sorts, like all those prying eyes melt into the pavement, if only for a short while. my head is finally clear. a bit like... ”

he leans back in his bar stool, putting more space between himself and the raven. something dawns on goro then and it makes his eyes light up, sitting just a little more straight in his seat. he musters the courage to to look at akira then, hesitant, soft. “ home. when i look at you, i feel like i’m... home. ”

[autistic-stare]

Project Driscoll: Chapter three-598

Chapter three, again from a different point of view. This is also a little further back in the timeline. The majority of this chapter was written by Raeven Gray.

Content warning: Death (murder), CHILD ABUSE, TORTURE, blood, needles, medical equipment, creepy whumper introduced here, dystopian society, tranquilizers

“Mom? Mom! 526!” I’m shouting. I’m confused. All I know is that blood is coming out of my mother at an alarming rate, showering me in the red liquid. With every drop, I can feel my mother’s body getting colder.

It was an accident, it really was. I had a pair of scissors that I was using for a class assignment, but I tripped when my brother, 352, ran in front of me unexpectedly. The scissors flew out of my hand, arcing through the air in a menacing rainbow of steel. No. Next thing I know, Mom is lying on the floor, her life draining from her veins.  

Run. Wait, what? I can’t run. I have to tell them, I have to tell them that this was all an accident. Run, the voice whispers. Is that coming from inside me? I’m only seven, maybe they’ll understand. Run. Run now. Confused, I decide to give in. I run.

I find an abandoned civilian storage crate in the alley behind my house, they kind they use to drop supplies at our doorstep. I’m crouching, quivering in fear. I hear a voice, rough and unfamiliar.

“A little girl—did that? I can’t believe it!”

“Yeah, it’s pretty shocking. They told us it was a freak accident, but I don’t buy it. 723 is going to have a lot of fun with this one,” a second voice says, this one smoother, but slightly deeper.

“That’s cruel and you know it. Maybe we should leave her alone.”

“Is your head unscrewed, 438? You absolute fool! Do you know what 723 would do to us?”

“Better me than her, 762. Better me than her. She’s too young, she has too much potential.”

“Shut up. Talking about it won’t make it any more pleasant.”

They move in closer, and I squeak in fear. They hear me, and I jump, banging my head on the metal ceiling of the storage crate.

“There she is!” the first voice exclaims. “We’ve got her cornered.”

“Hello, little girlie. I’m 438, who are you?” he attempts. He’s trying to make me feel better, to lure me out from inside the crate. It won’t work.

“Oh, come on, 438, just get her. No common courtesies are going to lure this little monster out,” 762 interjects, his voice sinking lower and deeper. “Get your tranq out.” I hear a submissive sigh, probably from 438, and then the clicking of a dart being loaded. I hear the gun cock.

The door of the crate flips open, creating an explosion of light in this dark, cramped space. The sound of a dart firing. I should have picked a better hiding spot. I feel a sharp prick in my neck, and everything goes dark.

---

Where am I? Everything is so bright, so cold. Wh-what’s going on? I can’t move. I feel a sharp projection into my back, just off-center, and an icy cold trickles down my back. An IV. The needle retracts after it’s finished depositing whatever fluids. I shiver.

I look down. I’ve been cuffed to a wall, about two feet off the ground. The backs of my wrists and ankles are practically glued to the wall, a firm, unmoving pressure. I can’t move anything but my head.  

I look to my right. There are eight empty spots, just like the one I now occupy, waiting with an ominous silence, like predator waiting for prey. On my left, there is a boy. He looks to be about fourteen, maybe fifteen. His eyes are scared, and he’s clearly been here longer than me, but how long, I cannot tell.

A man comes through a door. He wears no shackles, but the blue Government uniform under a white doctor’s coat. His presence scares me. He is ruthless. He has no empathy. I can see it in his eyes, in the way he carries himself.

“Ah, fresh blood,” he says. This must be 723. “I am 723. Quite nice to meet you. You’re the youngest DOP I’ve ever met. Seven,” he chuckles. “And you’re only Second! You'll have plenty of time to grow up here. We generally do take a while to . . . fill up.” He sneers, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

Two sets of numbers flicker across an old-fashioned, Hi-def plasma screen computer across the room, on the opposite wall. They really should update that, a holoscreen would be far more efficient. I almost laugh at my own inner cynicism, but reality comes crashing back with the weight of panic building in the pit of my stomach.  

1 -- 374

2 -- 598

The boy next to me groans.

“That’s right, 374, it’s time for another round of Testing. You, 598, Testing is to make sure that you did commit the crime that you’ve been arrested for, among other things. You’ll go second,” 723 says. He crosses over to the monitor and types a series of commands. 374 drops to the ground. I look at him, yearning to get off this wall but, at the same time, terrified of what would happen when I do.

723 yanks 374 across the room by the ear, disappearing through the door he originally came through.

Fifteen minutes pass. I try to ignore the thoughts of what is going on behind that door, try to ignore the horrible feeling of infinite terrifying possibilities.

Finally, 723 returns. 374 looks pale and shaken as he climbs back into his spot. I hear the electromagnets engage.

After another series of commands, I, too, fall to the floor. I don’t anticipate how far I fall, and I feel a jarring pain in my legs, but I ignore it. 723 won’t have to pull my ear.

After the door is another room, a thick layer of white paint on the concrete walls and floor. A cold steel chair sits waiting in the center.

723 puts a warm, rough hand on my back and shoves me into it. I sit obediently, submissive with terror, shivering as I remember a saying from before the Republic formed. Warm hands, cold heart. This man has to have the coldest heart of all.

“Shall we begin?” He doesn’t wait for my response.

He moves around busily, first sticking me with a needle, then fiddling around with small pieces of plastic and wires. He keeps touching my head. Electrodes. He’s going to send artificial signals to my brain, probably to make me tell the truth. He finishes sticking them to my head, then slides a syringe into my neck, injecting me with some unknown substance. My body quickly goes limp, all sensation fading. I try to slow my panicked breathing as best I can, but it doesn’t help at all. The anticipation is scarier than anything this could possibly do.

“What happened last week?” 723 asks.

“Last week?” I gasp. “Nothing happened last week.” This I know is true.

Looking at a computer screen, 723 shakes his head, another sneer spreading across his face. “Wrong answer.”

Everything explodes. Pain like nothing I’ve ever felt before screams through my body, reaching places I didn’t know could hurt. No it hurts it hurtsithurtsithurtsithurts oh my gosh make it stop FUCK make it stop please make it STOP—

It stops. I gasp for air. “Oh, I’m sorry,” 723 says, grinning. “You don’t know how long you’d been out. Yeah . . . a week. Let’s just call that question . . . a trial run.” I’m crying too hard to say anything.

723 laughs a little, leaning close to my face. “Do you want to try a different question?”

I can’t answer. I don’t know what the right answer is.

“I think you do. What do you do when you get upset?”

I gulp, trying to speak between sobs. What kind of question is that? “Um. I . . . I . . .”

A flash of pain. I let out a pained yelp. “Is that your answer?”

I give a stifled groan. “I’m trying I'm trying I’m trying!” 723 raises his eyebrows. I look away quickly. I take a few deep breaths, trying to stay as calm as I can. Don’twannahurt don’twannahurt. “I . . . I normally go to my room or something?”

723 nods. “Interesting. Would you like to elaborate?”

I whimper. “I want to go home.”

More pain. My vision starts to go fuzzy at the edges. Nononono make it stop make it stop— 723 grins. “Another wrong answer. Try again?”

My breath is coming in ragged gasps. I can tell I’m on the verge of unconsciousness. My voice is small. “Okay. I . . .” I glance at 723, terrified, and answer the rest of the question in a panic. “I dunno I just try to be alone and calm down its not like anyone wanted to talk to me or anything and I spent all my time in my room anyway so.”

723 smiles. “That’s more like it.” A quick flash of pain.  

I whimper again. “Please stop I answered the question stop hurting me!”

“Oops! My bad. Technical difficulties.”

No. You're just having fun.

The rest of the session passes in the same fashion. He asks his questions, and I answer. If he doesn’t like what I say, the pain returns.

I assume it only lasts fifteen minutes, just like 374’s, but there is no way of knowing. I black out twice, or maybe it’s three times. I have no way of knowing. The whole thing just feels like one long, painful blur.  

Finally, 723 releases the restraints. I can barely walk now; my nerves are too busy screaming with pain, but I do so anyway. I am escorted back into the holding room, where 374 eyes me with pity. Once 723 leaves the room, he speaks to me.

“Longest fifteen m-minutes of your, of your life, huh?” he says. His voice is kind, understanding. “I w-wonder what on, what on earth a sev-ven-year-old could do to, do to get here.”

I hesitate for a moment, then I speak, my voice cracking. “I accidentally killed someone.”

“Aww, well then,” 723 says, bursting back into the room. “Isn’t this nice?” 374 and I exchange frightful looks. “No, no, it’s alright. 374, if you think what she did was an accident, you’ve been lied to,” he grins, pleasure streaking across his face. “I’m sure you want to know what 374 did, isn’t that right, 598? He stole from the Government. And once we fill up—” he glances at the other eight spots, “—you’ll all receive your punishment.”

723 leaves. "D-dammit, I stole a p-pencil! It’s n-not like, like I stole, um, a b-bomb or anything," 374 shouts, straining against the wall.  

Slowly, warily, I start thinking. Was it on purpose? No, I don’t think so. I love my mother. I wouldn’t do anything like that, would I? Maybe I would . . . no. I shake myself mentally. This 723, this psychopath, is making me doubt myself. I didn’t do it on purpose. I know I didn’t do it on purpose.

The lights never dim. My innate sense of time almost slips from my grasp, only saved by the marking of six hours, represented by the cold nutrient fluid running through the IV in my back. Every third time, sedatives are added to the fluid. We sleep for six hours, then we are woken up by another rush of liquid food. I’m almost grateful for the sedatives, and whatever keeps us sleeping deep enough that six hours easily replaces twelve. The lights are bright enough that I know I could never sleep on my own. Time almost becomes meaningless in this blank, white room.

And day after day, the Testing sessions go on.

[abbzworld]

Warmth

The Doctor and the Master are forced to share a bed to keep warm in a cold dungeon. No smut, just fluff.

Also found on:

AO3 | FF.net

Here’s some Third Doctor/Delgado Master fluff for you, which is also my first story involving these two. :)

And as you hopefully read in the summary, if you’re looking for smut, this isn’t the place! This is JUST them sharing a bed and being fluffy.

Well anyways, let’s get on with the story.

“Well then, isn’t this just perfect...”  The Doctor growled to himself.

Not only was he now stuck inside a dungeon cell deep in the Himalayan mountain region after a rescue mission gone wrong, but no one knew he was down here, he was going to be executed tomorrow morning and the worst thing was the fact that he was sharing this cell with-

“I’m not sure what you’re complaining about, Doctor. It’s your own fault for getting us into this mess!”

The Doctor sighed before turning to face the Master, who was standing in the corner.

“Excuse me, but whose idea was it to get the Frillion’s involved on this UNIT rescue mission? It certainly wasn’t mine!”

“Maybe so, but I seem to recall that it was your idea to blatantly disobey one of their strictest laws.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know they disliked vegetables?!”

The Master gave him a deadpan look with the tiniest of smirks. “You honestly didn’t know that they’re one of the biggest carnivorous alien species in the galaxy? Even I knew that!”

The Doctor glared at him in response. “But they’re honestly going to execute me just because I was eating some celery?! That’s ridiculous! I was hungry!”

The Master chuckled. “It wasn’t just that, Doctor. You also kissed the governor’s wife-”

“I thought she was his daughter! And besides, it wasn’t even on the lips!”

“-you destroyed their ship-”

“It had weapons on it and they were pointed at us!”

“-and to top it all off, you decided to be a show off and engage their most honored warrior in a fight. And you beat him in a very humiliating way.”

At this, the Doctor smiled. “Well, I may not look like a spring chicken but I can fight just as well as the rest of them!”

The Master only smirked. “You did it using a spoon.”

The Doctor shrugged in response. “What can I say? I have a creative mind.”

The Master chuckled. “Meanwhile, all I did was deceive them into attacking Earth. Something which, I must add, they’ve been planning for a while.”

The Doctor went back to glaring at him. “This is incredibly unfair!”

The Master shook his head. “Not really.”

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his forehead. “So how on Earth are we supposed to get out?”

The Master shrugged. “Not sure. But if I were you, I’d get started now. After all, I’m not the one that’s going to be executed tomorrow.”

He chuckled as the Doctor glared at him before he sighed and looking around their cell. So far as he could tell, there wasn’t a way out as there was only one high up window, there wasn’t anything he could use to open the cell door and there didn’t appear to be any weaknesses or cracks in the wall.

“What’s the matter, Doctor?” The Master taunted him. “Can’t figure it out for once?”

“Oh, do shut up!” The Doctor snapped, moving to a wall. “I need to concentrate!”

The Master just shrugged, still smiling, before he sat down.

Several hours later

Day had turned into night and the Doctor hadn’t quite figured out how to escape from the cell. He did have a plan, but it was a rather vague and tricky one.

However, the Doctor knew that he’d have to wait until morning before he could attempt anything as it was too dark right now.

It was getting colder, too.

The Doctor and even the Master were shivering as the temperature inside the cell dropped considerably as their breath formed clouds in the chilly air.

“My word, it’s cold...” The Doctor mumbled.

“Well, considering the fact that it’s nighttime now, we’re in one of the coldest mountain regions on this planet and we’re in a prison cell, that’s not surprising.” The Master commented, smiling even as he rubbed his arms to try to keep warm.

The Doctor only sighed, deciding not to bother gracing him with a response.

Eventually, fatigue began catching up to them. With all the excitement that had happened that day and how long they’d managed to stay awake for, it was no surprise that they were getting tired now.

The Doctor had tried his best to stay awake but he couldn’t ignore it much longer. So he yawned and shuffled over to the bed.

As he sat down, he couldn’t help but notice how the Master was beginning to shiver. The Doctor frowned, knowing it was too cold for him to sleep without a blanket. And the only blanket in the cell was on the bed. It was small and thin but it was still better than nothing.

However, he also knew that the Master was too stubborn and prideful to admit that he was cold, so he lay down on the hard mattress and tried to get comfortable. This proved to be a rather difficult task seeing as how the pillow was also hard.

As he lay there, cold and uncomfortable, he tried to ignore his nagging conscious that was scolding him for not helping the Master. He tried to reason with himself that he wouldn’t want to be kept warm even in these cold temperatures and besides, the Master deserved to be cold.

However, this only made his conscious worse.

Let it never be known that the Doctor isn’t compassionate; even towards his worst enemies.

After ten minutes of this inner turmoil, he finally sighed and looked up; seeing that the Master was still shivering, leaned up against the wall.

“Master?” He called out.

“Hm?”

He paused, before swallowing and saying, “I think we should share a bed.”

The Master stared incredulously at him. “What?!”

“I don’t mean in a crude way. But it’s obviously too cold for the both of us so I just feel that if we-”

“No.”

The Doctor frowned. “I didn’t even-”

“No.” The Master firmly interrupted him. “I would much rather freeze to death than have to huddle together with you just to keep warm.”

The Doctor glared at him before sighing and lying down again.

Oh well. He had tried and it was a stupid idea anyway.

“Suit yourself.”

But it was probably about an hour later that the Doctor - after somehow being able to drift off - woke up, both out of the cold and because he couldn’t help but hear how cold the Master was, as well.

The Master appeared to be in a fetal position, shivering so badly that his teeth were chattering.

The Doctor sighed and got up. Even though the Master was probably his worst enemy at this point in time, both his hearts still held compassion for him. Thus, he felt that he had to do something about how cold they both were; the Master’s stubbornness be damned.

“Master?”

No response.

“Master.”

“Ugh... W-What do you w-want, Doctor?”

The Doctor just stared him down. “Look, it’s obvious that the both of us are too cold to get a proper night’s sleep, and if we’re going to survive tomorrow, we need to be well rested! So would you just swallow your damn pride already and let me keep you warm?!”

“......No...”

“Master...”

“No! I... I don’t need your h-help!”

“I beg to differ.”

The Master still refused to move, avoiding eye contact with the Doctor.

“Look.” The Doctor finally growled, fed up with the Master’s stubborn pride. “I will go over there and drag you over here if you don’t smarten up!”

The Master glared at him in response.

To make his point clear, the Doctor then got up and marched over to where the Master was.

“Don’t touch me!” He snapped when the Doctor reached down.

“Fine then.” He replied before sitting down beside the Master. “But I still don’t intend to allow either of us to freeze to death in here!”

“You stubborn old goat...” The Master muttered.

“It takes one to know one.” The Doctor countered.

They both sat there in silence after that, with the Master continuing to silently shudder as the Doctor struggled to think of a way to get through to him.

At first, nothing came to mind and the Doctor could feel the fatigue and the chilly temperature beginning to get to him again.

And then he was suddenly reminded of a similar situation from his childhood, he smiled wistfully and began to speak.

“Y’know, this situation rather reminds me of a time back on Gallifrey when we lived at the academy.”

The Master said nothing as the Doctor continued.

“I can remember one particularly harsh winter when the temperature in our shared dorm was cold; too cold for either of us to be able to sleep or concentrate on our work.”

The Master sighed, still silent. And so the Doctor kept talking.

“And I can recall that it was your brilliant idea to...” The Doctor suddenly chuckled, fondly remembering what had happened. “To start a fire using some candles to raise the temperature so we might be more comfortable.”

“However, it naturally went wrong and we almost got caught when the curtains suddenly went aflame. And I can recall...” The Doctor sputtered out a laugh. “I can recall... you... you panicking when it first happened and started running around the room.” He stammered as he continued to laugh, fond childhood nostalgia taking over his thoughts as the Master was looking at him now.

“Thankfully, we were able to put it out but the curtains were still damaged. And so we... we had to sneak out and find replacements even though it was past curfew.”

The Doctor smiled, remembering the events as if they’d happened only yesterday.

“And yet somehow, even with how awful we were at sneaking around, the teachers patrolling the hallways and how close we came to getting caught several times, we were able to find replacements and sneak back to our room without anyone finding us.”

“And even all these years later, no one knows what happened except for us.”

He sighed. “But it was still too cold so we had to share a bed in order to keep warm.”

He then turned to look at the Master. “Rather reminds you of something, doesn’t it?”

Silence fell between them for a few minutes as they both sat there, still tired and cold before the Master suddenly chuckled.

“You know Doctor; I seem to recall you doing nothing to stop me from starting the fire that set the curtains ablaze.”

The Doctor furrowed his brow as the Master continued. “Yes, it was my idea but the only protest you uttered was ‘are you sure that’s a good idea’.”

The Doctor nodded, chuckling as he remembered. “Yes, that’s right. Just goes to show how cold it was.”

Silence once again descended between them though instead of being tense or awkward, it was surprisingly... comfortable.

The Doctor eventually sighed. “Do you ever wish that things could just go back to the way they once were? You know, before we became renegades and ran away from Gallifrey?”

At first, the Master was quiet and the Doctor couldn’t tell if he was contemplating his words or just being stubborn again. However, he eventually spoke.

“I’m perfectly content with my life the way it is.”

The Doctor frowned. “That wasn’t my question.”

He once again fell silent for a few minutes before he eventually, in a very soft voice, spoke again.

“Yes...”

The Doctor was content with his answer and so he didn’t say anything else, just nodding.

Surprisingly, the Master continued.

“I mean, things were so much simpler in those days. We weren’t running from anyone or anything, just...” He sighed. “Just to each other.”

Then, with an almost pained expression on his face, the Master looked at the Doctor.

“What happened?”

The Doctor swallowed the sudden lump in his throat as he fought to think of a response.

“I’m not sure...” He finally told him. “Life, our different ambitions or our families... Any one of those factors could’ve been the cause for our falling out.”

The Master sighed, obviously dissatisfied with his answer but he didn’t say anything else.

And so the Doctor spoke again.

“I really miss you sometimes, you know? Like, whenever I get a new companion or assistant or whatever, I know I’ll inevitably lose them... It breaks my hearts but as a result, I sometimes wonder what it would be like to take on someone who’s my equal in basically every sense; physically, emotionally and intellectually.”

“And, despite how foolish I know this line of thinking is, I sometimes wish that you... you had joined me instead of going on your own.

“...Really?”

The Doctor nodded before silence fell again.

After a while, the Master spoke again. “Doctor...”

“Hm?”

“If... If I were to share a bed with you...” He paused before continuing. “There are some stipulations first.”

The Doctor nodded, trying not to appear too proud or hopeful that their shared childhood memories might’ve gotten through to the Master.

“First, nothing crude happens!”

“Of course.”

“And secondly, nothing about what happened in this cell - what with the words we spoke and the things we’ll do - is to be told to anyone else!”

“Agreed. We’ll keep it a secret between ourselves. It’s not like it’ll be the first or only one so far.”

The Master smiled a little at that before they both got up and shuffled over to the bed.

The Doctor laid down first, getting somewhat comfortable and then watching as the Master - after briefly hesitating - laid down beside him, his back to him.

The blanket still wasn’t very big, but it was able to cover the both of them. The Doctor could feel how tense the Master was; as it had been centuries since they’d shared a bed, and so, without really thinking, he wrapped an arm around the Master’s waist; pulling him close.

He sighed in response to this, obviously uncomfortable, but he didn’t voice any complaints.

“Shh... Just go to sleep.” The Doctor murmured near his ear.

The Master could only listen to him, slowly closing his eyes.

The Doctor could feel that the tension in his body was fading away and soon, he could hear the Master’s gentle breathing as he slept.

The Doctor then smiled, feeling very pleased with himself for actually winning a battle of wits against the Master. However, his fatigue was again catching up to him and so closed his eyes.

Oddly enough, he felt almost like the Master’s presence, despite the fact that they’re bitter enemies and would most likely continue to be so even after this strange night, was actually helping him to fall asleep so quickly and easily.

And as he listened to the Master’s rhythmic breathing, his naturally cooler body temperature nonetheless warm and welcome in the cold cell, he drifted off to sleep.

The next morning came and all too quickly, the Doctor and Master were enemies again.

The entire mess was eventually sorted out, with the well-timed appearance of UNIT recruits - including Jo Grant and the Brigadier - and the Doctor’s fast wits and reflexes. He was able to get away from his execution at the last minute and then regroup with his friends and allies and help save the Earth yet again.

Unfortunately, the Master escaped too, having given the Frillion’s the slip. UNIT knew that they couldn’t waste time and resources searching for him in such extreme conditions and so they returned to the UK, hoping that he’d show up again soon.

And true to his word, the Doctor never told anyone about what had happened between him and the Master in the cell. Sometimes, he’d think about it a little too hard and someone, usually Jo (who was getting almost annoyingly perceptive), would ask him what was wrong.

His response was usually, “Nothing to worry about. I was just thinking of different ways to upgrade Bessie.”

He never let anyone find out the truth. It wouldn’t do to have any crude or inappropriate rumors circulating UNIT HQ, after all.

AN-I hope you enjoyed this story. If you did, I’d love it if you left a review! Go ahead and tell me what I did right and what I could improve on. I’d love the feedback! :)

[allura-a]

Freezing Rain

For @voltronwhumpweek2017!

Day Two: Hypothermia 

Summery: Lance couldn’t pass up the opportunity to jump around in the rain again, despite it being a little on the cold side. He should’ve checked with Pidge about it, first.

Ship: Klance

Word Count:1890

Extra Note:f For this story I made up a planet! The planet is named Lackto (Lack- toy) and the inhabitants are Lacktoians (Lack-toy-an-s) That’s it, enjoy! :^)

"Is that what I think it is??" Lance all but yelled through the com waves as he, Keith and Shiro Hunk and Pidge entered the orbit of yet another planet sending out distress signals. As the five lions approached the ground, Lance felt something all too familiar begin to lightly pelt Blue. Lance swore if he wasn't needed for the most important duty of being (arguably the best) paladin of Voltron and chasing Galra away from this planet to free its inhabitants, he would've cried.

Rain. God, Lance had missed rain so much.

"Pidge, this is actual water, right? Not some kind of acid or poisonous mystery liquid, right?" Lance asked, hoping her lion would be able to give them some information on what was falling from the sky (besides them, obviously.)

".. My scanners are telling me it's plain old H2O Lance."

"Are you serious?? Really?? Thank you, Lackto!" Lance shouted, practically jumping up and down in his seat.

"Stay focused Lance," Shiro's booming voice brought Lance back to reality, though Lance was sure he could hear the smile in his voice. "We can play in the rain once we free this planet of the Galra."

..Did Shiro just say ...Play? In the rain??

Lance was going to make quick work of this mission. There was so much more at stake here, so much more than Lance had anticipated. I wanna play again..

"Lance, can we please call it a day already?" Keith called out, irritated. The Galra were forced off this planet hours ago, and Lance has been playing in the rain ever since. Team Voltron had exited their lions, and Coran and princess Allura had come out so she could address the Lacktoians and recruit them in their fight against Zarkon. But instead of Lance hanging around with the attractive Lacktoians like everyone presumed he would, he ran off and started playing in the rain with the young children.

At first, everyone had to admit it was very cute. Lacktoian children were tiny, and Lance was having the time of his life playing with them and climbing around on Blue. But everyone had slowing realizing that they had enough. Well, everyone except Lance.

"Lance, as much as you love these kids and their planet, it's freezing." Keith tried to explain. He and Shiro were standing inside Red's mouth, who was keeping them warm. They were on "Watch Lance" duty. "How are you not cold? You're always complaining you're cold!"

Lance rolled his eyes as he splashed in another puddle. "Maybe it's because I'm running around having fun and you're just standing there!" Lance picked up a small Lacktoian kid and threw her up in the air, his face lighting up when he heard her giggling. "And besides, the coldest it can be out here is 32 degrees, otherwise it'd be snowing. Because that's when water freezes. Duh." Lance explained condescendingly.

"I'm not too sure about that." Pidge's voice said skeptically through the coms.

"Excuse me?" Lance began, hoisting two Lacktoian kids onto his back. "Pidge I know what temperature water freezes at, thank you very much. I'm stupid but I'm not that stupid." He chuckled as he began running around, letting the kids pretend he was Blue and they were his paladins. Keith smiled the smallest bit. He'll hand it to Lance, that is adorable, not matter how fed up he is with him at the moment.

"No no, Lance I'm not attacking your questionable intelligence right now." Pidge answered. Lance frowned, and Keith burst out laughing while Shiro spared a chuckle. "I noticed it was really cold on this planet, so Coran and I ran some tests on it. Turns out the water molecules from the sample we took move much more rapidly than just plain old H2O from earth." "You told me this was plain H2O Pidge!" Lance shouted, a feeling of betrayal spreading through his chest.

"I know, I know but that's all that came up when Green scanned it."

"So what else did you find out, Pidge?" Shiro asked, removing the glove of his armour and reaching out to let some water fall on the palm of his hand. He retracted almost immediately.

"The water on this planet freezes at a temperature of negative 79.6 degrees." Pidge explained. "I think we should get Lance into the castle and warm him up." Before Pidge could even finish her sentence Keith was running out to drag Lance inside the castle.

"Lance we wanna keep playing!" A few Lacktoian kids cried.

"Don't worry guys, I'll be back another day, I promise." Lance said, placing the two kids he had on his back on the ground. They waved and ran back to their parents, and Keith wrapped his arms around Lance and started leading him to the castle. His eyebrows knit together as they started walking.

"Lance you're shivering really hard." Keith sputtered in surprise. Lance leaned his head on Keith's shoulder tiredly. He tried to laugh."

"I guess I w-was having so much f-fun I-I didn't n-n-notice." Lance could barely talk his teeth were chattering so violently. Lance stumbled and Shiro ran over quickly to help Keith get him into the castle.

This was bad.

"Can't we just put him in a pod? He's miserable." Hunk observed as he took the cup of Altean tea he had made for him out of Lance's trembling hands so he could lay down his bed in the med bay.

After getting Lance back into the castle everyone worked quickly to try to get him warmed up. They didn't realize how serious his condition was until they took off his armour to find that his lips, fingers and toes were blue. Though Coran and Allura didn't see the problem with this at first, the rest of the paladins were quick to inform them how bad it was.

They put him in his softest, warmest pajamas, his sweater, and wrapped him in two soft, thick blankets, and he was still shivering violently. Keith, who had been sitting next to him since they got him back in the castle, was holding his hand. It was cold and no matter what Keith tried to do it would not warm up.

If anything it felt like it was getting colder.

Coran, who was teaching Pidge and Shiro how to read the Altean device monitoring his vitals, shook his head.

"The pods work by cooling the body to heal wounds." Coran explained. "Cooling his body seems to be quite counterproductive at this point, I'd think"

"And look at his heart rate." Pidge said, pointing to the line jumping up and down on the screen. It was slow and couldn't quite hold a steady beat. "If he gets any colder it might just stop altogether."

"I didn't mean put him in there to freeze dry him, I meant what if we could find a way to make the pods heat up instead of freeze?" Hunk clarified. Coran and Pidge shared a glance.

"It has never been done before, but it's worth a shot." Coran agreed. He and Hunk started towards the room containing all the pods. Pidge looked up at Shiro before she followed.

"If he starts going south, come get us right away." She explained in a hushed voice.

"Don't y-you mean, N-Nor-th-th?" Lance asked. He looked up at Pidge, eyes half lidded.

"It's c-col-d-der u-up th-the-re." Lance struggled to explain. Pidge mussed Lance's wet hair, offering him as best a smile she could offer.

"We'll get you warmed up in no time, Lance." Lance nodded and Pidge hurried to catch up with Coran and Hunk. Lance looked at Keith.

"I'm s-s-orr-y." Lance tried, his voice weak and strained. Keith brushed some hair from his face.

"Don't talk, save your energy. And you have nothing to be sorry for, you just wanted to have some fun with all those little kids." Keith did his best to keep his voice from cracking, but he hated seeing Lance like this, everyone did. Lance is always the fun, energetic person in the group, seeing him curled up into himself whimpering is hard for everybody. "We all did our job and you wanted to unwind, there's nothing wrong with that."

"Mmm" Lance grunted in response, his eyes becoming unfocused. Keith lightly tapped Lance on the cheek, silently hissing at his icy cold skin.

"Lance? Lance can you hear me?" Keith asked, to no response. He put his finger under his nose and felt nothing. Keith looked up at Allura and Shiro. "Guys he's not breathing."

"His body temperature is going down, and fast." Allura tried her best to keep her voice level, but it cracked out of fear.

And then they heard the machine flatlining.

Keith felt like he couldn't breath.

Shiro pushed him out of the way, unbundling Lance from his blankets, desperately trying to get to his chest. Keith's mind finally caught up to the situation, and he helped Shiro get his jacket and shirt off. Shiro immediately started chest compressions in an effort to get his heart to start again.

"Hunk! Pidge! Coran, we need that pod!" Keith called out. The three of them rushed into the room.

"Alright, we got it to basically do the opposite of it's intended purpose, but we're not sure how it's gonna work." Hunk explained quickly. The monitor machine beeped twice, and Keith let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw the line jumping up and down across the screen again.

"Well it's all we have left." Keith grunted as he lifted an unconscious Lance from his bed and disconnected him from the machine. Everyone followed him as he rushed Lance to the pod that was glowing red instead of their normal blue colour. Keith got Lance inside and Coran shut the door. Keith stared at his friend, suspended in the pod.

"We'll have to monitor him until his body temperature is back to normal." Coran explained. "We leave him in there unattended and he could boil alive."

"I guess we're in for a long night then.." Keith whispered as he crossed his arms. He wasn't leaving this room until he knew Lance was okay.

The first sensation Lance noticed when he faded into consciousness was warmth. A radiating warmth all over his body. Then he felt a rush of cool air and he was falling, but he was enveloped in warmth again. He smiled lazily and hummed, and Keith couldn't help but smile. Shiro had pulled up a bed and Keith gently laid him down, waiting for Lance to open his eyes. Shiro went to get the others, leaving Keith alone with Lance.

"Are we in Cuba?" Lance asked, his words slurred. Keith laughed, almost sobbing when he heard Lance's voice.

"Still on Lackto. You were playing in the freezing rain, remember?. Hunk, Pidge and Coran overhauled a pod to warm you up. Shiro's getting them right now." Keith explained.

"I should've been more careful." Lance admitted, more to himself than to Keith. Keith took one of Lance's hands in his, bringing it up to his lips. "I'm sorry." Lance apologized. Keith shook his head, peppering Lance's now warm hand with more kisses. He leaned over and placed one on his cheek, welcoming the sweat that meant Lance was gonna be just fine.

"Don't be sorry. Just maybe check with Pidge before running around without your helmet on from now on. Deal?" Lance lifted his head slightly, his lips meeting with Keith's. He pulled away, but only for a second.

"Deal."

[ebooktrip]

The Top Things to Do in Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is an archaic and an enormous lake in the mountain side of Russian region of Siberia. It is reviewed as the deepest lake in the world. Baikal is surrounded by a network of hiking paths called the Great Baikal Trail. The village of Listvyanka is based on its western coastline. This village is a very known and popular starting point for summertime wildlife-spotting tours, plus wintertime ice-skating and dog sleighing.

 What is so special about Lake Baikal?

Baikal is also the world's most popular and very old freshwater lake; it originated 20-25 million years ago. It is home to many exceptional species of animals and plants even the freshwater seal. Lake Baikal is one of the clear and cleanest bodies of water in the world. In a good day you could see 40 meters into the lake’s depth.

 What lives in Lake Baikal?

There are several land-based species living near Lake Baikal like bears, reindeer, elk, wild boar, Siberian roe deer, polecats, ermine, sable and wolves.

 How did Lake Baikal form?

Lake Baikal is in a rupture valley which was built by the Baikal Rift Zone, where the Earth's crust is slowly shooting apart. The lake depletes into the Angara tributary of the Yenisei.

 Can you swim in Lake Baikal?

Set in south eastern side of Siberia, you will find the ancient and deepest lake in the world called Lake Baikal. Not only is this Russian lake safe to swim in but it also prides itself on some of the most pure water in the world. Lake Baikal lines with resorts and towns hostelry to those who want to get out on the water.

 What can you do at Lake Baikal?

 The Top Things to Do in Lake Baikal, Russia are- 

Climb Chersky Mountain.

Try Baikal omul.

Make a wish in one of the places of power.

Take a photo with Shamanka Rock.

Explore Circum-Baikal Railway.

Dive into the water of Lake Baikal.

Watch nerpas swimming.

Don’t miss the hot thermal springs in Khakasy.

How do you get to Lake Baikal?

There are two main ways of transport which will take you to Baikal lake and they are, - First is via plane and the other is by train. If you are staying in a nearby town like Irkutsk or Ulan-Ud), you can booka taxi to get to Baikal Lake by bus or by car.

What is there to do in Lake Baikal in the winter?

Some must things You Should not miss on your trip to Baikal in Winter

·         Skating through Olkhon. 

 ·         Catching Omul under the Ice. 

 ·         Bathing in Mineral Springs during Snowfall. 

 ·         Using a Khivus hydroplane to reach any point of Lake Baikal. 

 ·         Riding through the Forest Trails on Dog Sleds. ...

 ·         Visiting the Ice Sculpture Festival. ...

 ·         Riding Snowmobiles through the Fleecy Snow.

 What is the climate of Lake Baikal?

Climate Baikal

The climate is cold and temperate. In winter, there is not much and heavy rainfall in Baikal than in summer. The climate here is categorized as Dwb by the Köppen-Geiger system. The usuall annual temperature is 0.1 °C in Baikal.

 How cold does it get in Siberia?

Oymyakon, Russia is already tagged as the worlds coldest permanently populated town sank to a mind-numbing 88 degrees below zero on Tuesday. That's even colder than the normal temperature compared to the temperature of Mars, which is 80 below zero or in other words -80 degrees.

 Are there cities in Siberia?

The Largest Siberian Cities

The larger cities in Siberia are Krasnoyarsk city, Vladivostok city, city of Barnaul, city of Khabarovsk, Irkutsk, Tyumen, Novokuznetsk and Kemerovo

 Is Siberia safe to visit?

Usually, Russia is a safe country, particularly if you're visiting it as a tourist to large cities like Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vladivostok, etc. or if you are doing the Trans-Siberian route. Although, there are a number of risky and dangerous areas in Russia, which is recommendable not to travel to: The border with Ukraine.

 What language is spoken in Siberia?

Russian

The main language which is highly spoken in Siberia is Russian.

 What is Siberia famous for?

Siberia has the World's Longest Railway Line.

The railway is famous for the breath taking views along the route, which crosses eight time zones and includes Lake Baikal, birch and pine forests, and the Ural mountains

 What can you not do in Russia?

Be cautious when you take up drinking competitions with Russian friends.

 Don’t smile too much at Russians

 Drink alcohol on a street. 

 Smoke in a hotel or restaurant.

 Forget your passport. 

 Try to outdrink a Russian. 

 Call a woman ' woman' 

 Ask somebody's age and salary. 

 Take a seat on public transport while a senior is standing .

 Buy a phone from the street.

  What currency is used in Siberia?

Rubles

Russia's currency is called the Ruble which comes in 5000, 1000, 500, 100, 50 and 10 denominator notes. A single Ruble is divided into 100 Kopeks. There are abundant of ATMs in Russia's main cities. Also most of the Russian towns and cities have currency exchange booths where you can easily change cash notes of most major currencies to the local currency Rubles.

 Why is Lake Baikal endangered?

The Baikal freshwater seal population, valued at to be over 60,000, is falling constantly in numbers due to hunting, poaching, and pollution. The Baikal Paper and Pulp Mill were also considered as a source of industry pollution which was closed down in 2013.

 Are there dolphins in Lake Baikal?

Lake Baikal has a collection of more than 2,000 species of plants and animals, two-thirds of which can be found only here in Siberia and not anywhere else in the world.  Even the famous rare species like Baikal omul fish, Baikal oil fish as well as the nerpa fish are one of the world's only freshwater species of seal can be found here.

 What is the deepest lake on Earth?

Lake Baikal

 Lake Baikal in Russia is the world's deepest lake. It is an evaluated lake which is 5,387 feet deep and its bottom is roughly 3,893 feet below sea level. Lake Baikal is also the world's largest freshwater lake in terms of volume.

More Information: 

[pendulum-sonata]

Cold

Arc V Rare Pair Week: Day 3 (Winter) Pairing: Mechanicalshipping

The park was nearly empty by this hour.

Understandable given that the temperature got colder by the hour and a blizzard had been forecasted to start tonight, bringing with it the first snow of the year, even the streetlights gave the whole place a cold glow.

But this was fine for Reiji, the silence and the cold helped him to think and concentrate more efficiently.

“It never gets this cold in the City.” A voice said behind the bench he was occupying, he didn’t turn to see who they were, he recognized the voice and only nodded in acknowledgement. Apparently she took it as an invitation to sit next to him, from the corner of his eyes he took the sight of her in, she looked no different except for the white coat and pink gloves around her frame. “I think the coldest we have had was about 18° degrees.”

“Where is Yugo?” he asked realizing that he seldom saw the two of them apart.

“He’s still trying to figure out how to make the engine more efficient and avoid freezing or overheating, I left him some notes on that he’ll take a while to do the modifications.”

At no point during her explanation did she make eye contact or even changed her expressions, and Reiji could not help but notice the difference between her behavior around Yugo than when anyone else.

“Plus he hates the cold, so he called me crazy for wanting to take a walk and after I pulled at his cheek for that, here I am.”

It was almost fascinating how the few seconds she spent talking about him, her eyes shone, sparkled almost and her voice took on a lively tone, only to go back to the blank expression and neutral look on her eyes from before, verifying his past observation.

“I see.” He simply said as proof of him paying attention, not completely sure if it would be considered rude to just nod, taking into account they weren’t friends, not even acquaintances, just coworkers.

A small chuckle made him turn to look back at her, her expression remained the same but her eyes had the tiniest glint of amusement.

Or was it scorn?

“You are so different out here.” She started perhaps noticing his curiosity. “Inside that glass tower of yours, you are always so commanding, prideful, an authority whose opinions and leading skills are hardly if ever put into question…”  Her eyes were definitely scathing now as she fixed him with a glare. “…You reminded me of a Tops when we were first introduced, and I decided right away I didn’t care about you beyond than a means to an end, a goal.”

“Sensible decision, feelings are best left outside matters of work.” He adjusted his glasses as he spoke.

“There it is, that annoying tic of yours that never fails to make you look like a smartass.” Rin said pointing at him, as if he had committed some inexcusable act of rudeness. “I feel like throwing a wrench at your face every time you do that.”

“…” He said nothing at this, but he did felt his lips tugging up, not that she could see it thanks to his scarf covering most of his mouth.

“See? No objection, no scathing comment, not even a reaction, I’m starting to think something is up here…”

“To be fair, you are hardly the first person who has threaten me with bodily harm.” He said noticing that his breath was starting to be visible now.

“I’d bet my life savings on that, but if I spoke like that to you inside LDS, you’d never be this… agreeable.”

“If you spoke to me in that way inside work hours? Then, yes, I would have to reprimand you.”

“Because I stepped out of line?” She asked her eyes narrowing and Reiji knew he would have to thread carefully.

“Is not about control but rather about professionalism and respect.” He countered, aware that this conversation was far from adhering to social pleasantries at this point.

But once again, his curiosity got the best of him.

“Respect is earned.” She said almost with a huff.

“And I have yet to earn yours? Fair enough.” He said in agreement, he had never been one to force his opinions on others after all.

“…Two weeks ago, one of your so-called ‘experts’ ignored the observations I had done on the first prototype and then when the run test failed he attempted to pin the blame on ‘the brats who are always prancing around as if they own the place’ and since the engine energy core had been completely fried we had no proof that it had been a fault in the wrongly positioned circuits…” She didn’t elaborate, which was not surprising, if she did, her temper would be inflamed and she looked far too relaxed to give into that at the moment.

“I remember him, when I walked in to see what the commotion was about he requested my approval to keep you from interfering with the work of ‘actual experts’ like him and his team.”

“That was the last time I saw him around, and since then no one has ever out into question our suggestions.” She stated, rather than asking.

“He was transferred; he’s been doing desk work since then, I have no need for incompetent people, especially within the research branches.”

“You had no proof of his ‘incompetence’.” She said, making quotation marks and mimicking his voice at the last word.

“I did not need one, a professional would have owned to his mistake and worked to improve rather than shift the blame and step out of his depth.” At this he did looked straight at her.

Rin, didn’t spoke for what it felt a long time and then what little inflamed her temper had been, it was now gone.

“…You’re… okay, fine?” She said looking almost pained to admit it, her nose scrunching in distaste, and he took his chance:

“How so?” He asked now.

“Mmhhh?”

“How am I different now?”

“I’m not sure how to put into words… it’s like you look all… withdrawn? Is that the word? You know all hunched over yourself, you even look smaller, don’t make eye contact and hide your half of your face and hands as if you don’t know what do with them.” She said in contemplation.

Reiji did have a word for that, but he was not about to give it to her.

“…And don’t take this to heart, but with that hood and jacket you kinda look… gloomy, being in a bench in the middle of a semi-deserted park staring at nothing doesn’t help… not your best look if you ask me.”

She was looking at him now, the same way she looked at tool she had yet to figure out how to use.

“You are different too, when it’s not about Yugo or dueling, you …cool off, is as if you enter into a hibernate state to save energy or to recharge.”

“I do, I envy Yugo sometimes for having that amount of energy and enthusiasm for literally anything, it’s infectious and can make anything sound exciting.”

“I can relate to that feeling, people like that… leave an imprint on you.” He spoke deep in thought.

“They make you believe anything is possible, even when all the odds are against you.”

“They inspire to step out of your comfort zone and attempt to make great things yourself.” He said thinking on at least two people like that in his life.

Rin just nodded, and went back to her withdrawn mode.

“Accomplishments are great, but sometimes taking your time to do or think about nothing at all is important as well.” After all winter exists so the earth can be dormant, and then new life is born in spring.

“…That’s a new one.” Rin said. “It’s so weird to be able to do this, sometimes it feels like I’ve been rushing into or been rushed into stuff my entire life….”

Reiji looked at her one last time, her body sagged against the bench, making clear the conversation was over.

“I’ve never done things like this before… it’s… nice” Rin almost whispering, her head now resting on his shoulder.

“Yes, it is.”

[fluxsci]

Science Is Not On Your Side

Science is not on anybody’s side. I know: how does a science communicator justify this stance? It’s fairly easy, but we have to ask a classic question in an abstract way. What does the existence of science fulfill?

The Purpose

Science tells a saga that must be followed from its beginnings (or as far back as one can fathom) in order to be fully understood. Exploring one piece of the story only provides a snapshot of the total research that led up to that point. It’s the same with résumés; the best are typically shorter, but it’s not possible to encapsulate your entire body of experiences in one or two pages.

On that note, I believe that no one person, except for historians of science and groups of researchers, come close to understanding science in its entirety. The more we learn, the more we recognize how much we don’t know. Disparaging, right? Maybe a little exciting if, like me, you love to learn.

But I say all of this to set the scene. Science does not need to be understood to that degree. Science builds upon past research and has since the first discoveries were documented and used for society. As such, even though one discovery is a snapshot, it can be a starting point. These are the two ways to explore science — moving backwards to understand historical research and moving

What we are not allowed to do is cherry-pick data points and piece together an unrelated interpretation. That is, by definition, the creation of a story. But science tells its own story, which we are meant to follow.

In this, science reveals its purpose. Science provides a method and a body of study that should be passed throughout the ages to the public. Nothing more, nothing less.

The Problem

Science fulfills the human need for knowledge. Society, generally, understands that science and scientists are authorities on the state of society (social sciences) and the world (natural science). But navigating through the world, either on the streets or on the internet, we often find people saying that science agrees with their agenda or opinion.

Science does not bend to an opinion. Scientists have lost their labs and jobs over injecting their opinions and biases into studies. It is a breathing body of knowledge, however it is not alive. It does not have the capacity to choose what it believes. In this, those that use it to suit an agenda are misunderstanding its objectivity. The question is: does your agenda agree with the literature?

“But Matthew, you’re splitting hairs. What’s the difference between saying ‘the science agrees with me’ and ‘I agree with the science’?” That question is the problem. It makes all the difference. It is far more powerful to state that your agenda is based on science than saying that the science supports your agenda. Why? Well, say that you’re a skeptic of climate change.

If you looked at this set of graphs, which I conveniently cherry-picked from a paper, what would you conclude? Likely that climate change isn’t something to be concerned about. After all, according to the infographic, the temperature changes between a range of 10 degrees Celsius over 400,000 years; the Earth getting warmer and eventually colder must be natural. If I were to use this graph to explain that climate change is being blown out of proportion, I would likely be able to bring hundreds of thousands of people onto my side off the “authority” of this data alone. That would be me saying that the science supports my opinion; I might even go as far as to say that what I’m saying is factual.

But what’s missing here?

That’s right: the entire paper. I just pulled a graph from a paper, and I’m relying on you not looking into that paper, which I, myself, may or may not have looked into, to support my point. In other words, I took a piece of the full story and crafted my own fable with it. When doing that, I no longer have the right to say that my words are backed by science because I am no longer using the conclusions of the original literature.

It goes even further. When you do look into that paper, you realize that, no, science doesn’t support my opinion at all. It shows: (1) the paper was written in 20 years ago — 1999, (2) the study did not have a global reach, but it was done on a single ice core in one of the coldest places on Earth, (3) the purpose of the study was not to critique climate change, but show the levels of carbon dioxide and methane of the past 400,000 years, and (4) despite not having anything to do with climate change, the authors still mention the unprecedented levels of carbon dioxide and methane.

Yikes. Now, what if you took it a step further and wondered what the carbon dioxide and methane looked like closer to today and on a global scale?

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows that we’re not even close to the 280 parts per million carbon dioxide and 700 parts per million methane limits in the graph. We’re double that in the case of carbon dioxide and triple that in the case of methane.

The Reality

In my scenario, one thing makes itself clear. The study is the authority. What I should be taking as my opinion should be based on that authority. When the roles are reversed, and I create the story, I present myself as the authority. The science becomes flexible because my opinions are flexible. In our society, flexible science leads to catastrophe — medicines that are toxic, structures that are not properly constructed, diseases that can’t be cured.

When the story of the science is told, with all of the research done and confirmed by other researchers, my shoddy story, and, by extension, my argument falls apart. My argument was not based on science. I manipulated science to suit my needs. Maybe if my argument was based on science instead, it wouldn’t have.

Science is not on your side. It’s not on my side. It is an independent body for us to learn from.

Reference: Petit, J. R., Jouzel, J., Raynaud, D., Barkov, N. I., Barnola, J.-M., Basile, I., … Stievenard, M. (1999). Climate and atmospheric history of the past 420,000 years from the Vostok ice core, Antarctica. Nature, 399(6735), 429–436. https://doi.org/10.1038/20859

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How To Survive Cold Weather Like A Polar Explorer

Polar Training on Lake Winnipeg

Manitoba, Canada

It’s -16 degrees fahrenheit outside, and we’re pitching tents on a thick layer of hardened ice, preparing for a night of extreme cold weather conditions. Welcome to polar expedition training!

Twelve strangers from around the world traveled to Manitoba, Canada to spend a week camping and skiing across Lake Winnipeg, simulating the cold weather conditions of an expedition to the North Pole.

Leading our group is professional polar explorer and arctic guide Eric Larsen. Eric is no stranger to traveling in extreme winter conditions. He’s spent the past 20 years visiting some of the coldest places on earth.

In fact, he’s the only person to have trekked overland to the North Pole, the South Pole, and summited Mount Everest, unsupported, all in a single year!

Eric runs a Level 1 Polar Training Course in Canada to help prepare other adventurers for the unique challenges of camping and trekking in cold weather situations.

This year, Citizen Watches invited me to tag along and document the training, while also sharing some winter camping survival tips with you.

Ready to Tackle the Cold!

Eric Larsen’s Polar Training Class

Cold Weather Survival Tips

Who in their right mind would want to go hiking and camping in the ice and snow? Not many. However winter travel gives hardcore wilderness-lovers the challenge they crave, and a completely different outdoor experience.

Staying safe in these freezing conditions requires a bit more planning, and a unique set of survival skills.

If you do it right, like Eric does, you shouldn’t actually feel cold — the thing preventing most of us from enjoying winter adventures in the first place.

Being prepared for cold weather is the difference between a great trip, and a miserable one.

While I love a good winter hiking trip, I don’t have tons of winter camping expereince. So I was eager to learn how Eric stays warm on his epic long-distance polar adventures in the middle of nowhere.

Trekking Across the Ice

Layering Is Critical

What does layering mean? Basically, regulating your body’s temperature by adding or removing different layers of clothing.

Because while you don’t want to get cold, you also want to prevent getting so hot that you start sweating. Sweat sucks heat away from the body, eventually making you colder.

So staying warm requires a fine balancing act. This is why wearing multiple layers helps, as you can add or remove layers depending on your level of activity.

Eric recommends a 3-4 layer system, starting with a synthetic moisture-wicking base layer to draw sweat away from your body.

Next up is a warm insulating layer, preferably fleece. Now if it’s REALLY cold, you may want to add a 2nd, thicker base layer under the fleece.

Finally, a windproof, waterproof, and breathable shell jacket (like GoreTex) to protect against the outdoor elements.

On his extreme North & South Pole trips, he also brings an oversized expedition down jacket to throw on during breaks, because your body heat quickly drops once you stop moving.

Example of Cold Weather Footwear

Keep Your Feet Warm

If you’re trudging through ice and snow, you need to take care of your feet. The frozen ground will quickly suck heat away from them without proper insulation, risking frostbite on your toes.

It’s wise to wear a proper winter-rated boot. Something that includes a removable insulation layer if possible, which helps you dry them out later.

Don’t pick boots that fit too tight, as you’ll need room for at least 2 layers of socks. And tight fitting boots means less blood-flow to your toes.

Eric recommends wearing thin liner socks, followed by a thicker pair of wool ones. Plus a 2nd set for sleeping in while the others dry out.

In extreme temperatures, you can also wrap plastic bags on your bare feet, wearing socks over them. This “vapor barrier” traps in heat while also preventing your socks from getting soaked with sweat.

Clear Cold Night on Lake Winnipeg

Remember To Hydrate

It’s sometimes easy to forget drinking water is important in the cold, because we’re so used to feeling thirsty in hot weather. But staying well hydrated is an important part of any outdoor winter adventure.

Eric recommends taking a break every hour from your activity (hiking, skiing, etc.) for a drink. Make it a regular routine. Proper hydration maintains good blood flow and other bodily functions — helping you stay warm.

Filling a bottle up with hot water helps prevent it freezing, as does using an insulated container or cover of some kind. Drinking warm water keeps your body warm from the inside.

There are different types of cold too. For example, at the North Pole, the air is wet & humid (feels much colder). But Antarctica is basically a dry desert — so staying hydrated in that environment is more difficult.

Time for Adventure!

Stay On Schedule

In cold winter camping situations, setting up and taking down your campsite takes longer than it does in the summer. It’s important to stay aware of what time it is.

For example, stopping early enough to prepare camp before the sun goes down. Timing regular snack and soup breaks to keep you warm during the day. But not too long — or you’ll quickly get cold standing around.

Using a weather-proof watch like the Promaster Altichron from Citizen, the same watch Eric uses on his expeditions, really makes this easy.

Not only does the watch hold up to the extreme -40 F temperatures found at the North Pole, it’s also powered by the sun, which means you never have to worry about dead batteries.

The Altichron features an integrated compass and altimeter too. Having backups of these adventure tools on your wrist, in something that won’t run out of battery power in cold weather, is handy for peace of mind.

Fur Ruff, Goggles, and a Nose Break

Head & Neck Protection

There are many blood vessels near the skin’s surface on your head and neck. Exposing them to cold weather cools your blood down quickly, which then flows into the rest of your body lowering overall temperature.

Obviously a good winter hat that covers your ears is required. Fur lined hats or jacket hoods with a fur ruff work especially well, which is why they’re common in places like Siberia and Alaska.

Another piece of gear Eric recommended is a simple balaclava ski mask that only exposes part of the face.

Stretching a buff over everything holds your head warmth system together, in addition to providing yet another layer of protection. Remember, layers!

If it’s going to be windy, winter goggles and a face mask or homemade “nose break” will protect the last of your exposed skin while still allowing you to breathe freely.

Camping in the Snow

Winter Shelter Systems

You wouldn’t think the thin nylon walls of a tent would protect you much outside in the winter, but it can. In fact, even a shelter made of snow can keep you alive!

When choosing a shelter for survival in cold temperatures, pick a 4 seasons rated tent. A tent that’s specifically made for camping in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter.

Four season tents have less mesh netting than 3 season tents, meaning they hold heat in better. Winter tents also come with larger vestibule areas where you can keep snow-covered boots and outerwear, outside.

Tramp down the snow to create a firm & level base for setting up your tent. Place the tent door perpendicular to the wind. Pile snow onto the bottom outside edges as an additional wind barrier.

Snow is a great insulator! So if you ever find yourself stuck in the wilderness without a tent, building an emergency snow-cave shelter may help you survive the night.

Re-Fueling With a Hot Meal

Fuel Your Body

On Eric’s two month long ski expeditions to the Earth’s poles, the weight of his sled full of supplies can top 300 pounds. So maximizing food calories while also minimizing weight is essential.

To be as efficient as possible, he prefers to remove meals from their original fancy packaging, using thin plastic bags instead. He also packs each day’s meals together for easy & quick access.

Choose foods that can be eaten cold or require very little prep time. Granola. Salami. Cheese. Trail mix.

Eating food is like putting fuel on a fire. Your metabolism kicks into action to digest it, heating up your core body temperature and radiating outwards through the bloodstream.

Instant soup is also a regular staple of Eric’s arctic diet. He prepares it in the morning, storing in an insulated flask for later. Eating hot soup is wonderful for emotional support, hydration, and warmth.

My Polar Training Tent Crew

Sleeping In The Cold

You are not going to have a great time on your cold weather adventure if you can’t recharge with a good night’s sleep! That’s why it’s so important to pack a warm & comfortable sleep system.

You lose way more heat from the ground through conduction than you do from the air. So during our training we used two sleeping pads — at least one made of closed-cell foam, the other can be an insulated inflatable type.

To stay warm in -16 degree F temperatures, I used a 0F/-18C down sleeping bag that cinched up close to my face keeping the heat inside, as well as a 20F bag over that. This way if any frost builds up inside the tent, it doesn’t penetrate into your main bag.

Before going to bed, we also filled a Nalgene bottle with boiling water and placed it inside our sleeping bags. This makeshift hot-water bottle will radiate heat for about 5 hours of bliss.

Winter Stove Training

Frostbite & Hypothermia

The dangers of cold weather travel are real, and include frostbite and hypothermia. So I wanted talk a bit about how to identify and treat these conditions.

Frostbite is when yo­ur skin falls below the freezing point, causing ice crystals to form in your cells, killing them. Your skin will change color to red, then white, and if it’s really bad, black.

It’s very important to warm your skin gradually. Sticking your fingers or toes into hot water can make it worse! Instead, try your armpits. Or soaking in luke-warm water.

Hypothermia is when your body loses more heat than it produces, and your core body temperature drops. Symptoms include slurred speech, loss of coordination, uncontrollable shivering, and mental confusion.

To treat hypothermia, it’s important to remove wet clothing and put on dry stuff, get into a sleeping bag, break out the emergency space blanket, start a fire, etc. Warm up as soon as possible.

Eric believes in the importance of being “selfish” during cold-weather adventures. In order for the whole team to function, each member needs to pay attention to their own health & comfort.

So if you’re feeling a bit cold, it’s ok to stop the group and put on another layer — before it turns into more serious problems that will affect everyone later (like caring for frostbite or hypothermia).

Skiing Over the Ice

Emergency Cold Weather Gear

Maybe you aren’t planning a trek to the North Pole. Or even spending one night winter camping. But on regular winter day hikes or car trips, you should still have some basic cold weather emergency gear with you:

Fire-starting kit with waterproof matches & lighter

3/4 piece of closed-cell foam pad insulation

Emergency bivy bag and space blanket

Spare hat & gloves

Extra fleece mid-layer

Chemical hand-warmers/heat packs

Your chances of surviving the night outside in the cold without these essentials drops significantly, so it’s wise to pack them with you just in case.

Maybe you get injured. Maybe the weather changes. Maybe you get lost. Maybe your car breaks down.

No one ever plans on getting into trouble. It just happens!

North Pole: The Last Degree

Trekking around Manitoba’s frozen Lake Winnipeg and learning polar expedition skills from Eric stoked my enthusiasm for future cold-weather adventures. His advice has really helped me become better prepared.

Many of my fellow students are planning expeditions of their own to the North Pole, South Pole, or crossing Greenland’s ice cap! Hanging out with them was pretty inspiring.

Right now Eric is leading his next Arctic expedition, a North Pole Last Degree trip.

This means participants fly up to the 89th parallel and then proceed to ski the last 60 nautical miles to the Geographic North Pole. It takes about 12 days.

You can follow along on his latest polar journeys through his blog and Instagram feed. ★

Bonus Video! Interview With Eric Larsen

Pin This!

Any questions about Eric’s winter survival tips? Do you have any other suggestions? Drop me a message in the comments below!

This is a post from The Expert Vagabond adventure blog.

from Tips For Traveling https://expertvagabond.com/winter-survival-tips/

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http://ift.tt/2svmEXJ

December is a time of year when the North Pole comes into conversation a lot more frequently than say in the middle of July. This is because it’s the home of good old Saint Nick, a handful of hardworking elves, some reindeer, and is peppered with some warm and cozy log cabins. Perhaps it’s located somewhere near a magical candy cane and gum drop forest, where snowmen come to life and mammals can fly. But what do we really know about the North Pole beyond it being the place where Santa rests his red and white hat? Probably not a lot, since so very few people have actually been there for a visit. The North Pole is the true north, and where all lines of longitude converge, but there has to be something more about this enigmatic and mythical place beyond directional lines, right? The North Pole is a fascinating place with a storied history that is still evolving. There is so much amazing trivia about the North Pole that can be used to wow colleagues at a holiday party, impress kids, or to take home a championship trophy at the holiday themed edition of your local pub’s trivia night. History, geography, and general world knowledge has never been so fun or festive as it is right now! Only here will you learn that The Arctic Monkeys aren’t really rare creatures native to the Arctic Circle, they’re actually a rock band from England with a somewhat misleading name. Popular music aside: Here is everything you ever needed to know about the North Pole.

#1 There’s More Than One North Pole Most of us think about one location with Santa Claus when someone says “the North Pole”, but there are more than one “locations” that can be considered the North Pole. The first North Pole is known as the Geographic North Pole, meaning it is literally the top, most Northern, point on earth. The second is the Magnetic North Pole (or North Pole Dip), which moves around every day with its movements dependent upon the earth’s magnetic field. The third possible pole is known as the geomagnetic North Pole which is calculated mathematically with the main variable being an imaginary line which runs through the geomagnetic centre of the earth. The North Pole, Alaska, was incorporated in 1953 and is a hundred miles south of the other “real” North Poles. Over the past 100 years there has been an enormous migration of the geomagnetic North Pole, moving it from Greenland to Canada.

#2 No One Really Owns The North Pole, Not Even Santa The North Pole is not a continent, while the South Pole is. The North Pole isn’t even a country, since it’s not located on land, but on top of frozen water. Because of this, it is considered international waters. Many Arctic bordering countries such as, Russia, US, Norway, Denmark, and Canada have attempted to claim the area, but have come to a mutual agreement that no one can really post claim on the North Pole and the surrounding areas. In 2007, a Russian submarine placed a Russian flag deep at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean at the Geographic North Pole. However they weren’t the first underwater dwellers to visit the locale, The Americans’ submarine, The USS Nautilus was there first, 50 years earlier in 1958. There is particular financial interest in this area since geological surveys from 2008 revealed that approximately 22 percent of the globe’s unbroached natural gas deposits and oil are underneath the North Pole’s ice.

#3 Heading South, No Matter What If you were to stand on the North Pole, and turned in any direction, you would be facing south since you can’t go any further North from the pole. While you might be standing on what appears to be solid ground, it’s not, it’s actually ice on top of the ocean, which is pretty scary if you think about it. In fact, the nearest landmass is quite far away and approximately 700 miles to the south. The North Pole is on the move, and is gradually migrating towards Russia, getting closer at the snail’s pace of 34 miles each year. The great white north features the Aurora Borealis (also known as the northern lights) which are stunning clouds and rays of colour including: green, red, and blue lights in the night sky. The Aurora Borealis is Latin for “northern dawn” and occurs in an area around the north magnetic pole.

#4 It’s Not The Coldest Place In The World Most people shiver at the mere thought of spending some time way up in the North Pole, but even though it’s bone-chillingly cold, it’s not the coldest place in the world, not by a long shot. The South Pole is much, much colder with winter temperatures averaging -76 degrees Fahrenheit, compared to the coldest temperatures of -45 faced at the North Pole. This temperature difference is experienced because the North Pole barely sits a foot above sea level and the “landscape” is able to absorb some warmth, if you consider -45 warm, from the surrounding ocean, whereas the South Pole has a very high elevation. The South Pole sits on top of a very thick sheet of ice, which is situated atop land, and is 9,000 feet above the sea level. Antarctica is the world’s tallest continent, with much of the cold coming from its extreme heights or elevation.

#5 There’s Only One ‘Real�� Santa Claus Village There are so many amusement parks around the world that cash in on the big fat guy in the red suit, but there is only one Santa Claus Village that is actually located within the perimeter of the Arctic Circle. This winter wonderland is located in Finland, just a few miles north of the city Rovaniemi. The Arctic Circle has a borderline that cuts through the amusement park, and they’ve painted a white line across the border to let all of their visitors know that they’re inside the Arctic Circle. The park has Christmas themed restaurants and attractions, an onsite reindeer family farm, and guests can actually send mail with Santa’s personal postmark. The park opened up its festive doors at the turn of the millennium and boasts being the most spectacular Santa Claus destination in Scandinavia. Guests can stay in a cozy little hotel style cabin in the village or at the Snowman World Igloo Hotel.

#6 Attention Runners: There’s A North Pole Marathon New York City, and Boston can move over, The North Pole has its very own marathon. The marathon has run each year since 2002 and markets itself as “the World’s Coolest Marathon”. Runners face an average wind chill temperature of 22 degrees below zero while competing. This race, held on top of the icy Arctic Ocean, is for those who want to commit time, energy, and a lot of cash. Entry costs over 15 thousand dollars and includes flight, accommodations, helicopter rides to the North Pole Camp where the race is held, medals for those who place well, t-shirts for those who finish, and a DVD that commemorates the race. Runners suit up in thermal layers, need to put on two pairs of socks, and goggles to brave the cold. On April 9, 2016, 56 competitors from 21 different countries raced. This is truly a once in a life time, bucket list-worthy event for competitive runners.

#7 So What’s It Like Up There? The North Pole area is a shifting ice cap that floats above the Arctic Ocean. The ice is two to three meters thick and sits above the ocean which is around 4,000 meters deep. The size of the Ice grows depending on the season– in the winter it expands greatly and is roughly the size of the US, while over the summer, about half of the ice melts. While this seasonal change in volume of arctic ice is normal, the ice cap is shrinking because of global warming. In January, the temperature varies between -45 to -15 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas during the “warmer” summer months it’s a lot closer to freezing, hence the melting ice. The countries surrounding the Arctic Circle have six months of constant daylight and another six months of darkness because of the angle the most Northern part of the earth is to the sun.

#8 So, Who Lives There? Besides Santa… Santa, Mrs. Claus, the elves, and reindeer aren’t the only residents of the Arctic Circle. Most people consider the frigid weather to be unbearable, but there are some who have made the area their home. Native Inuit tribes live in northern Canada and Alaska, just around the bend from St. Nick. The outer regions of the Arctic Circle are home to polar bears. Other life in the region includes the Orca, Humpback, and Beluga whales, the arctic fox, wolverines, squirrels, walrus, and Svalbard reindeer. While these animals live in the Arctic Circle, they don’t usually go much further North than 82 degrees because there isn’t a consistent supply of food there. Despite what some people think, polar bears don’t eat penguins. This isn’t because they don’t want to, it’s because there are no penguins at the North Pole, and there are no polar bears in the South Pole (home of the penguins). There are several flying penguinish birds who call the Arctic Circle home including: auks, guillemots, and puffins.

#9 You Can Swim There Swimming in the Arctic waters is one heck of a polar bear dip, but during the summer months, there is enough room to dive in and have a little swim. In 2007, an Englishman named Lewis Gordon Pugh decided to swim along a crack in the ice to the North Pole. The water was measured at 28.7 degrees Fahrenheit that day and Lewis was in the water for nearly 19 minutes. Despite it being a once in a lifetime experience, Lewis said it wasn’t fun and told the BBC, “The pain was immediate and felt like my body was on fire, I was in excruciating pain from beginning to end and I nearly quit on a few occasions.”. Travel by water around the North Pole could become more common, even by boat, because of global warming. There is some debate as to when the shrinking ice cap could make a boat route possible, but if it occurs many ships could shave 4,000 miles off their current trips from Europe to Asia.

#10 The Unicorn Of The Sea Santa isn’t the only legend of the North Pole. The myths we hear about unicorns actually come from a creature who calls the North Pole its home. The Narwhal is a small whale that lives in the Arctic Circle. One of the things that makes the Narwhal so “magical” is its giant tusk which juts out from a canine tooth. The tusk can measure on average from six to ten feet long! This magnificent tusk is what has people calling the whale “the unicorn of the sea”. In the 16th century it was believed that, much like elephant tusks, the narwhals had powers that could cure diseases. In fact, it is believed that Queen Elizabeth I once spent 10,000 pounds (think about how high that number would be with inflation) to get her very own narwhal tusk. Unfortunately Narwhal populations are shrinking because of climate change and hunting with around 75,000 narwhals alive today.

#11  It Doesn’t Have A Time Zone Many of the things we take for granted in our homeland isn’t the case in the North Pole. We already talked about how the North Pole isn’t a continent and doesn’t really belong to anyone, but how about this: it has no time zones. The reason for this is because the sun only rises and sets one time each year. The sun is above the horizon for 187 days during the summer months, and for 178 days during the winter the sun is always below the horizon. Since there is also no permanent human population living in the area, there has never been a time zone assigned. Visitors can simply use their own preferred time zone while exploring the great white north. Fun fact: some believe the lack of time zone is part of the magic behind how Santa is able to deliver all of those presents around the world in just one night!

#12 The Ultimate Vacation Destination? It’s not just marathon runners who want to visit the North Pole. For a pretty penny, anyone can begin their own adventure way up north. There are cruises where visitors can enjoy the picturesque views. In the summer guests can watch polar bears and walruses hunt and experience arctic flora native to the region bloom. People who want to warm up from the cold can visit a natural geothermal hot spring that is located in a rock lake and surrounded by the beauty of the area’s nature. The Chena Hot Springs are about an hour away from Fairbanks and open from 7AM until midnight, and are a great location for tourists to watch the Aurora Borealis. The northern lights are said to be most magnificent between August and May. Guests can stay in a luxury room at the resort or “rough it” in a Mongolian-style yurt to get the full Arctic experience.

#13 The North Pole Could Flip Ever worry about a world where everything is upside down? Well, the North and South Pole could actually flip. From time to time, the magnetic poles can actually flip. The last time they flipped was around 780,000 years ago and it takes many thousands of years for the poles to flip. Despite the chaos people may believe this could cause, it would not be catastrophic to humanity. If the poles were to flip, a number of technologies would need to be tweaked to reflect the change. Additionally, there is a chance that humans could be less protected from the suns’ harmful rays, meaning more sunscreen and higher instances of skin cancer. There would be plenty of time for humans to prepare for this flip, in fact the magnetic field on earth is weakening, which could be a sign that a flip will happen in a couple of thousand years.

#14 Origins There are nights known as White Nights within the 15 or 16 days before and after the annual sunrise and sunset at the North Pole. During the summer months, when the sun is out for 24 hours a day it is known as the midnight sun. During the winter months when there is no sun, the dark hours when it’s light outside elsewhere in the world are called Polar Days. In the North Pole you can see the moon for two weeks each month. Even though Norway is known as “the land of the midnight sun” within the travel industry there is midnight sun in the other countries that are closest to the North Pole including USA, Canada, Russia, Greenland, Finland, and Sweden. The name Arctic is Greek in origin and means ‘near the bear’. We’re assuming this has to do with Mr. Polar Bear!

#15 World’s Longest Migration By now everyone’s heard about the March of the Penguins, but what about the super long journey of the Arctic tern? Not quite as catchy, eh? The tiny bird is mostly white and grey with a black cap on its head and a bright orange/red beak, and is also known as Sterna paradisaea. The stern embarks on the longest migration in the entire world. The bird travels from near the North Pole, all the way down to near the South Pole. The stern will breed in the North Pole, but will migrate south during the Northern Hemisphere’s winter, making his way all the way south to the very edges of the Antarctic ice. This journey, which happens every single year, is around 35,000 kilometers (or 21,750 miles) long. This flight distance is considered about the same as flying all the way around the world.

Source: TheRichest