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sxrrandomfanfics · 6 months ago

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100 Different Media To Write For in 2025

Current Status - Fics: 31 Media Pieces: 23

January 2nd - Psychonauts "One-Shot" January 2nd - Death's Door "I am a Reaper" January 5th - Psychonauts "Baby Talking to Animals is Completely Normal No Matter the Circumstances" January 11th - Helluva Boss "A New Argument" January 11th - Mouthwashing "Fish in a Birdcage" January 13th - Psychonauts "Precognition" January 23rd - Slay the Princess "Diary of Jane" January 25th - Psychonauts "Love Hurts (you and me and everyone around us)" January 26th - No Straight Roads "You Don't Regret Me, But I Regret You" January 27th - Sky: Children of the Light "Stone Cold" January 27th - Rain World "Oh. That'll do it."

February 15th - Psychonauts "Earth and Sea Chapter 24" February 16th - OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes!"Sweet as Candy Chapter 42" February 17th - The Owl House "Weight of the World" February 18th - Tangled "Wash Day" February 19th - Pokemon "Don't Forget, You Still Can Fight" February 20th - Vampire Husband "Aren't You Tired?" February 21st - Digimon "That One Trope Where they Fall for the Pet and Not for You" Frebruary 22nd - DC Comics "Baby, it's Cold Outside" February 23rd - Steven Universe "Let Me Serenade You" February 24th - Abrahamic Religions "Immortal Curse Means Forever (But at Least You're a Bandage)" February 25th - My Ghost Friend "Can't a Woman Have Cleaning Boy Fantasies?" February 26th - Fire Emblem "Sorry, You Can Go" February 27th - Detective Grimoire "I Think Scars are Kind of Badass"

March 11th - Slay the Princess "Quicksand" March 15th - Psychonauts/The Wizard of Oz "In Which a Witch Loves a Witch" March 17th - Dark Cloud "Understanding Something Incomprehensible"

April 6th - Psychonauts "Glass House" April 15th - Limbus Company "Dude, Your Mom Fucking Sucks." April 16th - Psychonauts "Hazel Nuss AUs"

May 1st - Limbus Company "Please Come to Bed"

June 21st - Limbus Company "How Does One Comfort a Droplet?"

Things I could Write For

Sonic

Shining Force

Jentry Chau Vs. The Underworld

Dan da Dan

Undertale

Gravity Falls

Amphibia

Inside Job

Kill la Kill

Shin Megami Tensei

Ace Attorney

My Little Pony

Secret Saturdays

Generator Rex

The Pretender

Dungeons and Dragons

Cult of the Lamb

Powerpuff Girls

Dexter's Laboratory

Star Vs. The Forces of Evil

My Hero Academia

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts

Villainous Flags- All Paths Lead to Doom!

Scissor Seven

DragonTales

Clifford

Pucca

Crash Bandicoot

Spyro the Dragon

American Dragon Jake Long

Danny Phantom

Kim Possible

Courage, The Cowardly Dog

iCarly

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Ernest and Celestine

Spirit - Stallion of the Cimmaron

Watership Down

Second Hand Lions

Jumanji

Zuthura

The Little Mermaid

Aladdin

Hercules

Shrek

Madigascar

How to Train Your Dragon

Rise of the Guardians

Grimm

Xiaolin Showdown

Lili & Stitch

Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Treasure Planet

Dinosaur King

The Great Mouse Detective

The Rescuers

Up Up and Away

Sky High

The Princess Protection Program

The Wizards of Waverly Place

The Suite Life of Zack and Cody

Anastasia

Land Before Time

Adventure Time

Regular Show

Teen Titans

Static Shock

Batman

Flash

Superman

Law and Order

Grimm Adventures

Jimmy Neutron

Fairly Odd Parents

Spongebob

50 First Dates

The Princess Bride

Johnny Test

Dragon Ball

Code: Lyoko

Miraculous Ladybug

Avatar the Last Airbender

Totally Spies

Big Bang Theory

The Simpsons

Futurama

Terraforming Mars

Centaurworld

Maya and the Three

The Book of Life

Coco

The Bible

Genesis's Discography

Mitski's Discography

6Teen

Total Drama

Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart

Big Hero 6

Baby Mouse

Calvin and Hobbes

Cavetown's Discography

Captain Planet

Ben 10

The Incredibles

Moomin

Spot the Dog

Between the Lions

Pinocchio

Snow White

Sleeping Beauty

Cinderella

Foreigner's Discography

Nightmare Before Christmas

The Santa Clause

Rankin & Bass

Warrior Cats

Wings of Fire

Yes's Discography

Chowder

Tom and Jerry

Marvelous Misadventures of Flapjack

Spirited Away

Kiki's Delivery Service

My Neighbor Totoro

Howl's Moving Castle

Castle in the Sky

Sailor Moon

Ducktales

Chopped

Kirby

Blue's Clues

7 Deadly Sins

Little Witch Academia

Delcious in Dungeon

Spy x Family

Kingdom Hearts

Frozen

Ancient Magus Bride

Inside Out

Star Wars

The Lord of the Rings (Rankin and Bass movie)

Aggretsuko

Klaus

Chess

Checkers

Star Trek

The Amazing World of Gumball

Cells at Work

Ouran High School Host Club

Hilda

Dead Endia

Bomberman

Theory Channels (YouTube)

Mario

Umbrella Academy

Phineas and Ferb

Full Metal Alchemist

Muppets

Song of the Sea

Wolfwalkers

Breadwinner

Meet the Robinsons

Beauty and the Beast

Fairytail

Splatoon

Project Moon

The Gregory Horror Show

Ever After High

Monster High

School for Good and Evil

Cursed Princess Club

He-Man & She-Ra

Legends of Chima

Smiling Friends

The Lion King

Mrs. Dalloway

Chikn Nuggit

Encanto

Infinity Train

Hero: 108

Golden Sun

Over the Garden Wall

Codename: Kids Next Door

The Frog Princess

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry

5 Nights at Freddy's

Among the Sleep

Voltron

Bendy And the Ink Machine

Power Ranger

Super Monkey Ball

101 Dalmations

Hello Kitty

Hatsune Miku

Creepypastas

Camp Camp

Odin Sphere

Shakespeare

Dragon Quest

League of Legends

Hero Wars

Battlecats

Marry My Husband

The Thief and the Cobbler

Arthur

Fighting Fudons

Hotel Transylvania

Beware the Villainess

Overlord

That One Time I was Reincarnated as a Slime

Soul Eater

Hajime de no Aku

Supernatural

Naruto

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

The World God Only Knows

Devilman Crybaby

Blue Exorcist

HunterXHunter

Bob's Burgers

Geek Girl

Jane the Virgin

Emily in Paris

Jurassic Park

Jaws

Tremors

Friend's Fanfiction

My Own Fanfictions

#Some of these I've never interacted with #But they're my fandoms in law #Will probably take requests

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watchinghallmark · 1 year ago

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Summer Nights 2024 Lineup

The movies seem... interesting.

JUNEBUG

Saturday, August 3 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Autumn Reeser (The Wedding Veil), Aaron O’Connell (The Haves and the Have Nots)

When an eight-year-old version of herself starts appearing to her, Juniper (Reeser) begins to realize that her life is not what she had hoped it would be as a child. Young Junebug pushes Juniper to achieve her dreams, to start writing again, and to collaborate with the cute artist Alex (O’Connell) that she recently met to get her life back on track.

🐞 I feel like this could be really cute. Autumn seems very excited about the project so hopefully that's a good sign.

MY DREAMS OF YOU

Saturday, August 10 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Skyler Samuels (Aurora Teagarden Mysteries), Kapil Talwalkar (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist)

Grace (Samuels) has recurring dreams about a handsome stranger named Michael (Talwalkar) due to a mix-up in Dream Central. When they finally meet in person, Grace is shocked to learn he has no idea who she is.

😴 I'm really excited about this casting! Kapil was great in ZEP and it's great to finally see some diversity (Hallmark you're sucking so bad lately with that).It sounds like it could be fun and also a little nutty which I like.

A COSTA RICAN WEDDING

Saturday, August 17 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Rhiannon Fish (My Norwegian Holiday), Christopher Russell (Operation Nutcracker)

A clumsy maid of honor (Fish) gets help from her handsome nemesis (Russell) when things go awry at her best friend’s Costa Rican wedding.

🤵👰 The fact that they even describe her as clumsy... oof. Rhiannon can be hit or miss, especially when they have her play an idiot so often. Her paired with Chris is certainly not helping matters either.

THE MAGIC OF LEMON DROPS

Saturday, August 24 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Lyndsy Fonseca (Nikita), Ian Harding (Pretty Little Liars)

When Lolly’s (Fonseca) Aunt gives her three magical lemon drops, she gets to experience what her life would have been like if she had made different choices and lived those unfulfilled dreams.

🍋... what? I feel like this is code for some hallucinogenic drugs but ok. Love both actors though so I'm interested.

HEAD OVER HEELS

Saturday, August 31 (8 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Rebecca Dalton (Good Witch), Olivier Renaud (Romance with a Twist)

A suburban girl at heart, Addison (Dalton), is off to prove herself in the world of high-end fashion footwear when she lands a life-changing internship at an Upper East Side studio leading up to the star-studded New York Fashion Week. Addison is determined to hold onto her integrity and her family values while struggling to balance it all and forge a path to success and romance, although she may fall head over heels while trying to make her dreams come true.

👠Yawn.

JAZZ RAMSEY: A K-9 MYSTERY

Friday, August 2 (9 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Rachel Skarsten (The Royal Nanny), Corey Sevier (Take Me Back for Christmas)

When Jazz Ramsey (Skarsten) and her crime detection dog Zeus stumble upon an old crime scene, the K-9 trainer, her star pup, and ex-boyfriend and lead detective Nick (Sevier) are thrown into the investigation.

🐶 Excited about this!

NELLY KNOWS MYSTERIES (wt)

Friday, August 23 (9 p.m. ET/PT)

Starring: Pascale Hutton (When Calls the Heart), Kavan Smith (When Calls the Heart)

When an unusual handwritten letter arrives at Nelly’s (Hutton) office, she identifies the handwriting as belonging to her childhood friend Dahlia (Sarah Grey, The Secret Lives of College Freshman), claiming her boyfriend Blake (Julian Haig, Dial S for Santa) is being unfaithful. Determined to help, Nelly wants some answers and rushes to Blake’s home only to find his dead body. When Dahlia becomes the prime suspect, the new, handsome Detective in town, Michael Hogan (Smith) must work with Nelly to prove that her childhood friend is not the killer everyone believes her to be.

📫A Pascale and Kavan mystery??? It's all I've ever wanted!

What do you think about these movies? What are you most excited for?

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holymymolly · 5 months ago

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So, no one was going to tell me this doc exists??

I feel betrayed by all people who didn't share this with me even if they didn't knew about this either I mean. I got called out *so many times* (it's almost embarrassing) so Ima show yall what I got.

- turns out liking (male) celebrities and never real life dudes is a very gay thing and not bi coded at all.

- you can have had guy crushes before but if you don't know and can't see yourself having them in the future. You're probably a lesbian :D

- Being confused with a couple with a guy makes you feel nothing or weird, disgust, wrong. Being confused as a couple with a girl isn't so bad and can make you excited even.

- half your friend group from middle school came out as gay 💀

- having really high unachievable standards for men

- even when some sort of angel male creature crosses your path you still don't want him cause there's an off feeling or you just suddenly create more criteria he doesn't meet just to justify not being with him.

- Being straight/bi/anything set is not the "default". There's no "default".

- what actual attraction feels like: read page 21 and 22 of that doc.

- blushing because you're uncomfortable is actually a thing and it doesn't mean you're attracted to that guy.

- Being "attracted" to either feminine man OR VERY MASCULINE MAN (omg this is getting embarrassing how much I'm being called out here. This thing is more accurate than that annoying secret santa thing on Christmas)

- page 23 of that document... Just the whole page alone.

- you feel like you're performing your attraction towards men for your self or other people, maybe in an actress playing a part kinda way.

- you think all women think all women are pretty. (turns out they don't)

- "you think you have to learn how to love men."

- you feel like you have to "prove" (even to yourself) you're attracted to men so just give him a chance. (while some random girl appears on the other side of the street and you immediately want to give her the world if she'd accept it)

- most of your experiences with men are them being attracted to you and you "giving them a chance" and that turned out... Not good.

- you stay with a boyfriend not because you like him but because you can't find a good reason to break up (with the angel male creature from above)

Oh my god I cannot say how much I have to think while staring at the ceiling to be able to function after reading this doc. Quickest read of my (academic) life.

#lesbian masterdoc #am i a lesbian #Ig I'm a lesbian and not bi?#This thing should go around in brochures or something

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tasos-perte-tzortzis · 8 months ago

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Breaking News Business, Economy, Multimedia, Web Development, Science, World

TechManiacs: Locate X: The tool that locates anyone everywhere https://techmaniacs.gr/locate-x-to-ergaleio-poy-entopizei-opoiondipote-pantoy/

Cibum: Hellas informed Europe today about a dangerous product - Sold by a large Hellenic supermarket https://cibum.gr/nea/asfaleia-trofimon/i-ellada-enimerose-to-rasff-gia-epikindyno-proion-poleitai-apo-megalo-elliniko-soypermarket/

OT: Google: Develops AI that takes control of computers https://www.ot.gr/2024/10/27/texnologia/texniti-noimosyni/google-anaptyssei-ai-pou-pairnei-ton-elegxo-ypologiston/

TrikalaTroll: About 100 employees of FIERATEX, the large textile company that was founded in 1988 with a production plant in New Santa Kilkis, are about to be laid off. https://trikalatroll.gr/allo-ena-ergostasio-kleinei-100-ergazom/

TaNea: EFET: Recalls a product of a large supermarket chain https://www.tanea.gr/2024/10/24/greece/efet-anakalei-proion-megalis-alysidas-souper-market/amp/

Reuters: Basel chief urges nations to complete capital rules as U.S. regulators remain deadlocked https://www.reuters.com/markets/basel-chief-urges-nations-complete-capital-rules-us-regulators-remain-deadlocked-2024-10-23/

Tass: BRICS becomes the most quickly developing association globally — Serbian minister https://tass.com/world/1862895

SECRETS TO SCALING SUMMIT: Dean Graziois & Guests REPLAY available for a limited time. Mastermind Business System: Act fast, open only for a few days. Education, guidance, tools, 1 VIP ticket to the “Business Breakthrough Workshop” Dec 12-14. Review & Bonus 🚀 Schedule an appointment via the contact page to discuss the details.

Salehoo: eCommerce, dropshipping, wholesaling, private labeling, and manufacturing – directory, services, marketing tools and educational resources.

Kartra: All-in-one marketing and sales platform. Create, market, and scale.

AbsoluteCovers: A tool to create beautiful covers on the fly.

[We are chemically coded for spiritual and multidimensional experiences.] [1955 prices, 1776 Common Law - Worldwide.]

WebMarketSupport:

Knowledge Economy: Workshop #12 incoming

Info product #1 incoming (not the one I developed during the summer) Stay tuned for more!

news #BusinessNews #EconomyNews

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wewerecore · 2 years ago

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The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour presented by The Ring - 031 12/14/23 Defy TV 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST Filmed at WCPO TV Studios in Cincinnati, Ohio

- Daphne Oz, Veda Scott, Sam Leterna, and Alyssa Marino entered The Ring set and shared suggestions for Secret Santa gifts at all price levels when gift cards just won't do.

Jessica Troy vs. Risa Sera Jessica Troy defeated Risa Sera via submission with the Fujiwara armbar.

- Daphne Oz was demonstrating some quick gift wrapping tips when Kerry Morton entered The Ring set and called out Starboy Charlie. Kerry Morton questioned Starboy about his commitment to The Southern 6 following last week when Marcus Mathers dragged Alex Taylor back to the ring setting up Taylor to be pinned by Giant Baba Yaga. Charlie reminded Kerry Morton that Starboy isn't a member of the Southern 6 and that they had something good going in CORE before Kerry brought Silas Mason and Alex Taylor here. But Starboy said this isn't about Morton choosing The Southern 6 over their faction. And this isn't about Starboy choosing Marcus Mathers over Kerry Morton. Starboy said it's about him choosing himself. With that Charlie walked off the set where Marcus Mathers could be seen waiting for him.

Big Dan Champion/Joshua Bishop/Hyan/Kylie Paige vs. Ace Perry/Sage Philips/Alice Crowley/Miss Larkan Big Dan Champion, Joshua Bishop, Hyan, and Kylie Paige defeated Ace Perry, Sage Philips, Alice Crowley, and Miss Larkan with a Code Red from Paige on Philips.

- Daphne, Veda, Sam, and Alyssa reviewed some of the new Christmas albums released this year, including the new records from Cher, the latest from Seth MacFarlane with special guest Elizabeth Gillies, and "Missile Toes," the second Christmas record from Smash Mouth. The Ring Crew is joined for the next match by Shaw Mason and Hunter Holdcraft.

Tim Bosby vs. "King Of Jersey Shore" Zack Clayton Tim Bosby defeated Zack Clayton with a rip cord lariat.

- Shaw Mason and Hunter Holdcraft made their way to ringside after the match. Bosby asked Mason when this was going to stop. Mason said that last week during a tag match against The Andersons, Hunter Holdcraft knocked a foreign object out of Brock Anderson's hand, and instead of picking that weapon up Hunter kicked it out of the ring. Mason said that yes, they almost lost the match because of the time Hunter spent making that decision, but that in that moment Mason gained some perspective on the value of doing things the right way. Shaw Mason admitted that while he still believes Bosby cheated in their first match, he couldn't prove it, so during their match on Thanksgiving Shaw planted the foreign object on Bosby to frame him. Bosby thanked Shaw Mason for finally telling the truth, but that he also has something to confess. Bosby said Shaw was right, he did cheat during their first match and he also cheated in his match against Tom Lawlor. Shaw Mason told Bosby that he admired his honesty, but what he admired even more was his competitive spirit. Mason said when he saw Holdcraft debate picking up that weapon but deciding not to, and that all that accomplished was almost costing them the match, he realized that he doesn't want to be partners with some goody two shoes that is afraid to do whatever it takes to win. Mason said that he wants the match on Christmas night against The 37KAMIINA, but that he needs a man with guts like Bosby re-join him in folkstyle so they can beat the 2023 Trios Kingdom winners. Hunter Holdcraft interrupted, saying that he has no idea what has gotten into Shaw and Bosby, but folkstyle can't have a trios match because he wants nothing to do with either of them. Bosby said that's alright, because he has the perfect replacement member in mind already. Mason told Bosby he should have said that sooner, and the two men attacked Hunter Holdcraft. Mason and Bosby each grabbed a leg and applied the ankle lock to Holdcraft until Giant Baba Yaga and Fuego Del Sol made the save.

SHIMMER Tag Team Championship Tournament - Semi-Finals

Stephanie Vaquer and La Catalina vs. DIAMOND EGOIST (MICHIKO and Janai Kai) Stephanie Vaquer and La Catalina defeated DIAMOND EGOIST with a package piledriver into a backbreaker from Vaquer on Kai.

- Daphne Oz signed off and announced a very special guest for next week's show…Santa Claus will be in the studio!

Next Week On The Great Pro-Wrestling Adventure Hour presented by The Ring SHIMMER Tag Team Championship Tournament - Semi-Finals: Queen Aminata and Raychell Rose vs. Hyan and Kylie Paige folkstyle (Shaw Mason and Tim Bosby) vs. Hunter Holdcraft and Giant Baba Yaga Starboy Charlie and Marcus Mathers vs. Alex Taylor and Ricky Morton Also in action… The TrustBusters

Upcoming Shows:

CORE Pro #126 12/25/23 …if only in my dreams Wind Creek Event Center - Bethlehem, Pennsylvania 01. SHIMMER Tag Team Championship Tournament - Finals: Stephanie Vaquer and La Catalina vs. ??? 02. The 37KAMIINA (Yuki Ueno/MAO/Toy Kojima) vs. ??? 03. Coal Miner's Glove Match: Eddie Kingston vs. Titus Alexander

CORE Pro #1?? 02/03/24 Regional Pro-Wrestling Day 2024 LuLu Temple - Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania

CORE presents The Co-Op 2024 04/03/24 - 04/07/24 23rd Street Armory - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Partner Promotions include: GLEAT JTO (Just Tap Out) National Wrestling Alliance

04/05/24 CORE Rage Party Union Transfer - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania The biggest party you'll ever attend! Featuring live music and all your favorite wrestlers. Live music from Zwan more to be announced.

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openheartfanfics · 2 years ago

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Newly Added Fics

Dec 17 - 23, 2022

BRYCE X F!MC/F!OC

Neon Lights - @peonierose ☁

Luna, Bryce and the Open Heart gang go mini golfing. Who will win? Feat. Ethan Ramsey, Tobias Carrick, OH Gang

Santa is Here - @peonierose 📱🎄

Luna and Bryce have a discussion if Santa is real or not.

Stop Desire - @julia-highstorms ♥

An intake on Bryce's point of view during his and Rei's first time, after the house party at her apartment. [1.7]

The Best Christmas Ever - @eadanga ☁🎄

Bryce and Mia spend their first Christmas together at his cabin.

Under The Mistletoe - @peonierose ☁🎄

Luna and Bryce spend some time with their friends Ethan and Hayley and the open heart gang in Boston.

BRYCE X M!MC

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Ugly - @mydemonsdrivealimo 📚

[extended: wip] Opportunity doesn't come knocking for everyone; in some cases, you have to push the door open for yourself. This series will follow Jensen’s formative years.

Chapter 1

ETHAN X F!MC/F!OC

Delayed - @socalwriterbee ☁🎄

A little spin on the prompt of a flight being canceled.

Drained - @lsvdw-blog 📚 🎭 [extended:wip] Serena is having the day from hell and seeks comfort in Ethan, but perhaps she shouldn't have.

Part 4

Forever Winter - @genevievemd 🦚🎄

After the attack a month prior, Ethan worries when Genevieve doesn’t embrace the holidays like she usually does. [Ethan POV; Hurt/Comfort]

Jewelry Counter - @takeharryandgo ☁🎄

A chance Christmas encounter. Set before book 1.

Little Ones - @potionsprefect ☁

There are lots of important people Luke and Lily need to meet. [Domestic; Family]

Merry Christmas, Rookie - @cariantha ☁🎄

The Internal Medicine staff participate in a Secret Santa exchange.

Muddling Through...Somehow - @txemrn 📚🎄Ⓜ

[mini: wip] With a massive car pile-up on Christmas Ever, it's all hands on deck at Edenbrook--including the Ramseys who are assigned to care for a Jane Doe and her young daughter. TW: Medical discussions, including mild blood and gore, pregnancy, surgery; innuendos; some characters lives will be put in jeopardy

Part 1: Code Orange

Nightmare Before Christmas - @ofmischiefandmedicine ☁🎄

During the most wonderful time of the year, things do not go according to Ethan’s plans. Feat. Sienna Trinh

The Wrong Person - @openheartfanfiction 📱

What if your MC / LI sent the wrong picture to the wrong number?

Ugly Sweater - @jamespotterthefirst ☁🎄

He convinces her to abandon Bryce Lahela’s Christmas party.

Under the Mistletoe - @trappedinfanfiction ☁🎄

Once, Ethan had been just like any other child, excited and happy as Christmas approached. That feeling had disappeared along with his mother, but maybe someone new can make him find the joy in the holiday again.

What Happened in Vegas - @jerzwriter 📚🛸

[mini: wip] Casey & her roommates are heading to Vegas, intent on taking down Declan Nash and Panacea; but this time, Dr. Ethan Ramsey is in tow.

CH 3: Winners and Losers

MULTIPLE PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS

This Life - @coffeeheartaddict2 📚🎭Ⓜ

[extended: wip] All appears well in the Ramsey household until Louise suddenly leaves, throwing life into disarray. TW: Deals with abandonment, Minor character death and other mature themes Feat. Ethan Ramsey, Alan Ramsey, Harper Emery, Naveen Banerji, F!MC, Tobias Carrick

Part 11: In All Honesty

Part 12: Tolerate It

SIENNA X M!OC

Christmas Miracles - @liaromancewriter ☁🎄

It’s their first Christmas together as husband and wife and a time to make new memories.

Santa Baby - @liaromancewriter ☁🎄

When Sienna takes her daughter to meet Santa, things take a turn for the bizarre.

The Santa Ultimatum - @liaromancewriter 📱🎄

Sienna gives the group an ultimatum about not telling the truth. Feat. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC

TOBIAS X F!MC

Just A Little Faith - @jerzwriter ☁🎄

Casey and Tobias reflect on how they have changed as they await Christmas day.

Our Little Surprise - @jerzwriter ☁

During a toast at their wedding, Tobias & Casey share a little secret they've been keeping. [Wedding; Pregnancy]

SUBMIT OPEN HEART FICS & WRITERS HERE

#open heart #open heart choices #open heart fanfics #open heart fanfiction #choices fanfics #choices fanfiction #bryce lahela #bryce lahela x mc #ethan ramsey #ethan ramsey x mc #sienna trinh #sienna trinh x oc #tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #playchoices #newly added fics

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gatesofsummerexchange · 3 years ago

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Guide to the exchange

(This is the mobile app accessible version of this page. Please do not reblog this post.)

Welcome! This is a Tolkien fandom-wide gift exchange inspired by the festival held in Gondolin on the first day of summer.

Everyone who participates gets to make and receive a little digital present, which could take any number of forms: a fic, a playlist, an artwork, a poem, or a graphic.

We also post a set of weekly prompts starting May 24th. Guidelines for participating in the prompts are right at the bottom of our FAQs.

Gates of Summer is just one of many Tolkien fandom summer events. If you’re looking for a longer event that lasts through the entirety of summer, we highly recommend The Tolkien Reverse Summer Bang - @tolkienrsb! And you can always do both - several of the TSS mods are!

SCHEDULE

NOTE: All timings are given in 24 hour time and in UTC+0.

April 28th: Sign-ups are open

Please click here for instructions on joining as well as the signup form.

May 20th: Sign-ups close

Sign-ups close at 23:59 UTC+0 (when is that in my timezone?).

May 24th: Assignments sent out and weekly prompts begin

Assignments will be sent out by 23:59 UTC+0 on May 24th (when is that in my timezone?). If there is any delay, we will post about it on the blog.

June 11th: Last call for dropouts

If you cannot make the deadline, June 11th is the absolute last day for you to drop out so our pinch-hitters have enough time to make something for your giftee.

June 21st: Gifts posted

Post your gifts today! All posts should be tagged with your giftee’s URL and this blog’s URL (@gatesofsummerexchange), as well as the hashtag #gos2022. Gifts will be added to our queue to be reblogged. Be sure to let us know if you explicitly do not want your gift to be reblogged, or if there is a specific day when you would prefer it is not reblogged on! All gifts MUST be posted by June 23rd at 23:59 UTC+0 at the latest (when is that in my timezone?). Please see below for more information on late submissions.

Do take note that unlike the Tolkien Secret Santa event also run by this mod team, there is no anonymous gift posting for the Gates of Summer. So only post gifts on June 21st!

CODE OF CONDUCT

These guidelines are to ensure that everyone can have as great an exchange as possible!

Respect the commitment you’ve made to the exchange. There’s nothing more disappointing than a giftee receiving no gift, with no idea as to why. If you cannot complete your gift, message the blog no later than June 11th (see also the FAQ below) and keep your giftee informed.

Keep your ask box open for the duration of the exchange. Your gift-giver will want to message you to keep you posted about your gift. If this will be a problem, please message this blog and we will arrange something else, such as passing along your gifter’s messages!

Respect the parameters of your assignment. If your giftee makes it clear what content is and isn’t welcome, stick to those requests. If you’re not sure, you can send them an anonymous ask for clarification, or ask us as well. Acting against this will be considered an action of bad faith and runs the risk of a warning, or a ban in the event of repeat offenses.

Tolkien fans should feel safe and welcome participating in the Gates of Summer exchange. As such, we observe a strict anti-discrimination policy, and both prompts and Do-Not-Wants (DNWs) need to reflect that. See our policy on writing DNWs in the FAQs below.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQs)

How do I sign up for the event?

Click here for the signup form! (Opening April 28th)

Please also note that we do not accept email signups. It is super easy to set up a Tumblr blog to participate - contact the mods at [email protected] if you need any help with this!

I missed sign-ups, can I still join?

We’re sorry if you find out about the exchange late, but unfortunately it’s a hard deadline. We mods have a limited window to pair people, so we can’t take on any more past a certain date. The only exception is if you sign up as a pinch-hitter. Don’t worry if you miss the boat this year - we hope to run Gates of Summer regularly!

What is a pinch-hitter?

A pinch-hitter is someone who comes in at the last minute to put together a gift for someone whose gift-giver dropped out. You can sign up as both full participant and pinch hitter, or solely one or the other. It’s up to you and what you want to contribute! Everybody, even the people only pinch-hitting, fills out the “Gifting” section of the form. This is so we can be sure not to give you an assignment beyond what you’ve stated you’re comfortable to create.

There are two dates at which pinch-hitters may be called upon to help: from June 11th, the deadline for dropouts, and from June 23rd, the deadline for gift submissions. In the first case, you will be asked to post by June 23rd at 23:59 UTC+0 like all regular contributors. In the second case, you will be asked to post by June 26th at 23:59 UTC+0 (when is that in my timezone?).

We deeply appreciate and value everyone who volunteers to be a pinch hitter! That said, please only put your name down if you believe you can manage the rapid turn around as described here.

What if I’m not sure I can commit to the gift exchange?

Many participants have said that the anticipation of getting a gift, and ultimately receiving something wonderful, is one of their favourite aspects of the event. Therefore, nothing is more disappointing than not receiving a gift when you thought you would. Because of this, we ask that you be quite certain of your commitment to the exchange before you sign up. The form has two options under commitment - “yes” and “I’m not sure”. If you indicate “I’m not sure”, you will be kept in the list until May 20th, when sign-ups close and we message to check in with you, at which point you’ll have to decide yes or no.

What does “groups” mean in the characters section of the form?

In the form segment for indicating which characters you are happy to create/receive for your gift, you have the option of putting any number of groups. Groups are considered as having 3 or more people and should usually be a phrase familiar from the text, e.g. The Three Hunters, the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, Feanorions, Maiar.

You can ask to create/receive a gift about one, some, or all characters in that group. So if you put down, say, The Fellowship, you could create/receive a gift inspired only by Frodo, or both Legolas and Aragorn, or it could feature the whole Fellowship all together. With this in mind, we generally try to pair people who have put groups with others who have put down the same group or a significant number of characters from that group.

How do I fill out the “ships” section of the form?

You will first be asked to indicate a general preference on ships (Gen/No ships, Canon ships, Ships listed below, Any ships). If you indicate “Any ships”, please note that this means you have no preference as to the gift work you receive having ships or not; and, were it to have ships, you have no preference as to what those ships would be. If you select “Ships listed below”, you’ll be asked to list up to five (5) ships. Please do not use ship names, because these are not always familiar to everyone. Instead, write out the ship as Character X/Character Y or Character X x Character Y.

How do I observe the anti-discrimination policy when writing my prompts/Do Not Wants (DNWs)?

Gates of Summer is an inclusive event, and our participants need to reflect this in their behaviour as well as their sign-ups. In particular when you write your DNWs, you must be sure your sign-up does not include any instances of homophobia, transphobia, racism, or any other judgement that could harm the person creating your gift. The mods reserve the right to modify the wording of your sign-up for the safety of other participants. If modification is required, you will be notified of the change to your sign-up. If you need assistance in phrasing your DNWs, please feel free to reach out to the mod team!

How long should fics be?

There is no official minimum or maximum length of fic. However, we recommend a minimum of 300 words.

Can I post incomplete fics?

No. Please refrain from posting incomplete fics.

What language(s) can/should I post my gift in?

The Gates of Summer exchange is a proudly international event. We support fanworks in all languages and understand the importance of language accessibility. However, if you make your gift post in a language that is not English, please provide a translation beneath the original text for moderation and queueing purposes. If you require assistance with the translation, please reach out to a mod (or use your fandom network to make it happen!).

What if I’m making something by hand?

This is a digital gift exchange, so take a high-quality photograph or scan of your piece and post that for your giftee.

What if the gift is audio?

If you’re making a playlist, you’re advised to create it using YouTube or Spotify as these networks tend to have the broadest geographic range. We also highly recommend listing the tracks of your playlist in your post - for example, on a lovely graphic - so that any tracks not available on one or either venue can still be found by your giftee on a platform available to them in their country.

Can I do cosplay?

Cosplays are permitted in this exchange. However, please note that cosplays have to be specifically made for this event.

How do I post my gift? What if the gift is NSFW?

On June 21st, please post your gift tagging your giftee and our blog @gatesofsummerexchange, and include the hashtag #gos2022.

If your gift is NSFW (i.e., has explicit sexual content or violence), please include content warnings. For written work, post your gift under a cut. For visual work, please post your gift with the NSFW cropped out and include a link to the uncropped artwork (e.g. posted on AO3).

Is there an AO3 collection?

Yes! You can post gifts for the main exchange as well as for weekly prompts in this collection.

What if I need to give my gift early?

If you need to give your gift early for whatever reason, you can schedule your post for June 21st - reach out to the mods if you are not sure how to schedule a post. Please also drop us a message so we can look out for it!

I’m in X timezone, how do I make sure I give the gift in good time?

It’s advised you post your gift around 11:00 UTC+0, as this will still be the last hours of June 21st in Auckland (our marker for the east) and the very beginning of the day in Anchorage (our marker for the west).

What if my gift will be late?

If you are giving the gift late, please message this blog with the URL of your giftee and how delayed you will be, so we can follow up. Please also send your giftee an ask on anon so they can know about the delay directly from you. Again, be sure to tag @gatesofsummerexchange and tag #gos2022 when the gift is finally posted so it can be reblogged.

Important information on late gifts, drop outs, and penalties

Late gifts that aren’t posted by June 23rd at 23:59 UTC+0, and that have not negotiated with their giftee and mods for a different day, will be considered forfeit and be handed to a pinch hitter. Any other negotiated day must be adhered to.

All late gifts and gifts produced by pinch hitters must come in by 23:59 UTC+0 on June 25th.

If you participated in our Tolkien Secret Santa event in 2021 and submitted a gift late without communicating with mods or your giftee about the late submission, you will be given a warning for participating in this year’s Gates of Summer exchange.

If you do not submit your gift and do not communicate with mods about the non-submission, you have a 1-year ban on participation in this exchange.

Our strictness with late gifts and penalties isn’t with the aim of being Dark Lords. What we dearly want is to avoid the uncertainty, stress, and disappointment that participants have experienced in previous years from gifts not received. You need to plan accordingly and promptly communicate any issues with the mods and your giftee to make sure the exchange is a positive and fun experience for everyone.

What if I need to drop out after assignments are sent out?

We know that life can throw unexpected curveballs! If you were initially certain of your participation but an emergency comes up, it’s your responsibility to message the blog by June 11th so a pinch-hitter can be found for your giftee. Any dropouts after June 11th will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but we must be clear: failure to message by the deadline and/or dropping out after the deadline without a valid excuse (e.g., a health emergency is certainly a valid excuse!) runs the risk of being banned from the exchange next year. Again - we really, really don’t want to do this! So please be communicative and considerate and approach everything in this exchange from a place of good faith, and know that we are doing the same!

How do I participate in the weekly prompts?

You do not need to have signed up to the exchange to respond to the weekly prompts. We will post our prompts as “Week 1”, “Week 2�� etc. Please follow our gift posting guidelines above (under “How do I post my gift? What if the gift is NSFW?”). Tag our blog @gatesofsummerexchange and use the hashtag #gos2022weekX, replacing X with the week of the prompt set (e.g. tag Week 1 prompts as #gos2022week1). This is so we can queue your work to be reblogged and keep our blog organised!

The Team

This gift exchange is an entirely volunteer-run event. If you’re enjoying it, do consider sending a message to @fernstrike (Mod Fern), @raisingcain-onceagain (Mod RC), @feanope (Mod Fea), @unnamedelement (Mod UE), and @arofili (Mod Anna)! We absolutely love hearing how much fun you guys have participating :)

#mod post #event guide

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longitudinalwaveme · 4 years ago

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Worst Flash Storylines and Plot Ideas of All Time

As you’ve probably ascertained from the general contents of this blog, the Flash is my favorite comic book series. I love the characters and most of the stories. However, just like any series that’s been around for eighty years (counting the Jay Garrick stuff), the Flash does, unfortunately, have some truly terrible stories and plot ideas.

In terms of terrible plot ideas that didn’t completely ruin the surrounding stories:

1. Barry Allen uses the Mirror Master’s mirrors to manipulate Iris into agreeing to start dating him again (Flash #109). Creepy, Barry. Just creepy. The story is great Silver Age fun otherwise.

2. Iris West: meanest woman alive. Iris was, by and large, incredibly awful to Barry up until maybe about a year before their 1966 marriage. Almost every time she shows up in an early Silver Age issue, you will admire her daring and independence (this is good) and be bewildered as to why on Earth Barry would want to spend time with a woman who is constantly calling him slow, lazy, and ambition-less (this is not good). It doesn’t really affect any one issue too much, but when read in a conglomerate, she starts looking really awful. Although as bad as Early Silver Age Iris seems as a romantic interest, she’s got nothing on Silver Age Superman and Lois Lane, the most dysfunctional couple in the DCU.

3. Wally West’s zero-effort code name and costume (Flash #110). It really could not be more obvious how little effort the writers were putting into creating this character. The duplicate origin is also pretty cheesy, but there are enough differences from Barry’s origin for it not to frustrate me. But the name “Kid Flash” and the fact that his first costume was literally identical to Barry’s just feel incredibly lazy. Barry and Wally do have an adorable dynamic in the issue, though, so it’s by no means all bad.

4. Barry Allen waiting an entire year after his marriage to tell his wife that he’s really the Flash. Frustrating and unnecessary; especially since Joan Garrick had been in on her husband’s secret since the 1940s.

5. Iris Allen is FROM THE FUTURE. I both love and hate this idea. It’s so perfectly comic-booky, but at the same time, it opened the floodgates for the Allen family being a confusing, time-displaced mess.

6. The Trial of Barry Allen. This one’s weird. I like many of the individual issues in this arc, and I actually think the last two issues are really great as an ending for Barry Allen’s original run, but this storyline dragged on for waaaaaay too long. There’s a reason I call it the Arc that Never Ends. Also, the titular trial is actually the least interesting part of the entire storyline. His battles with the Rogues and Kadabra are far more interesting.

7. Wally West’s borderline creepy, chauvinistic attitude towards women under Mike Baron (and, to a much lesser extent, William Messner-Loebs). There’s being a hormonal twenty-something, and then there’s going through girlfriends at the rate other people change their socks. Messner-Loebs mostly avoided this issue by making it clear that Wally was under intense psychological stress that was negatively impacting his behavior, but under Baron and in some of his JLE appearances, he comes across as a real creep around women.

8. Kadabra overkill under Mark Waid: I like Kadabra, but when he’s the main villain in like four distinct arcs, it gets to be a bit much. It’s like modern Eobard. He is legitimately written well, though, so he doesn’t drag down any of the stories too much.

9. Pointlessly Dead Rogues: Killing off the Rogues in Underworld Unleashed for no good reason (the rest of the story is great, especially the Trickster).

10. Pointlessly Dead Rogues 2: Electric Boogaloo: The Golden Glider’s pointless death to build up a character who was himself killed two issues later. (The rest of the story is decent.) Also, the treatment of Lisa in general post-Crisis is frustrating, since she becomes considerably more unhinged than she was before.

11. Any time Waid tried to write McCulloch, with the exception of Flash vol. 2 #105 (and even there, he seemed off). It’s like he forgot Evan wasn’t Sam.

12. Apparently, the Top trying to blow up both Central City and half the world makes him a loser? Also, he suddenly hates Piper for no readily apparent reason. (At least the story had some good Piper and Wally bits.)

13. BARRY ALLEN HAS A SECRET EVIL TWIN! DUN DUN DUN! (The rest of the story, where we get to meet a whole whack of interesting future Flashes, is actually pretty good, but whoo boy, the Malcolm reveal feels like it came straight out of a soap opera.)

14. In order for Captain Cold to ANGST, the Golden Glider’s pointless death remained in place for over ten years. It did give us a really, really good Capt. Cold story, at least...but it’s still fridging.

15. Rainbow Raider’s mean-spirited murder by Blacksmith. Poor Roy.

16. Albert Desmond becomes Hannibal Lecter, only twenty times as rude, for a Gotham Central arc that would’ve been terrific without him as the main villain.

17. Owen Mercer is an idiotic child murderer and gets killed by the Rogues. Why was this necessary? (The rest of Blackest Night: The Flash is pretty good.)

18. Josh Jackam-Mardon’s murder. The murder of small children for shock value is pretty gross. Especially since nothing was ever really done with it.

19. Barry’s PARENTS ARE DEEEEAAAAD! (Okay, it’s really just his mom, but still. This is a very frustrating retcon, since originally his parents were alive and well until after his own death.)

20. Albert Desmond was Barry’s jerk coworker; which never impacted the plot or led to anything. As a result, it’s just another frustrating retcon.

21. Sam Scudder murdered someone before becoming the Mirror Master. Yet another Johns retcon that never went anywhere and only serves to darken the Silver and Bronze Age stories after the fact.

22. Flashpoint (a decent story) wiped out a whole bunch of characters I really liked from existence for several years. Evan McCulloch’s still not back.

23. Giving the Rogues metahuman powers doesn’t suit them, on the whole. They work better without them.

24. Roy’s second pointless, brutal death in (I think) Forever Evil.

25. IT WAS MEEEEE, BARRY! After serving as the main villain for like six arcs in eight years, I’m glad that Eobard finally seems to be getting a rest. The level of bad things he was responsible for was getting ridiculous.

26. Sam/Lisa. WHY? (The only time it even kind of worked was in Forever Evil.)

In terms of entire storylines I didn’t like:

1. The Flash: The Most Terribly Written Man Alive. Poor Bart is aged up with no adequate explanation, loses all the traits that made him a likeable character, fights some awful villains, and then is murdered by the badly OOC Rogues. Meanwhile, Inertia goes from an at least somewhat sympathetic villain to a complete psychopath with little explanation, a murder is retconned into one of Captain Cold’s reformed periods, the Pied Piper and the Trickster completely forget that they’re supposed to be reformed, Abra Kadabra inexplicably teams up with the Rogues despite generally being a solo operative, and all of the Rogues act like total morons, willingly following a teenage speedster for no adequately explained reason. UGH.

2. Countdown to Infinite Crisis: Even though Piper and Trickster were probably the best part of Countdown, that isn’t saying much. Both of them are uncharacteristically stupid (especially James), and James is a grade-A jerk to Piper for no reason. Also, both of them continue to forget that they reformed, and then James gets brutally murdered and Piper almost loses his mind. Also, the other Rogues cameo, and continue to act like idiots. Countdown: it really does ruin everything it touches.

Superboy Prime will kill you! He’ll kill you to DEATH! And after you read Countdown, you’ll wish he had killed you to death.

3. The Identity Crisis Tie-In Retcon: So, you know all that awesome character development the Rogues have had over the years? Well, forget all that, because it was all just Roscoe brainwashing them! Which was something he could definitely do before this story! And why did he do this? Why, because Barry Allen, one of the most upstanding men in the DCU, brainwashed him! Also, apparently, the Top had a huge bodycount that we never heard about back in the Bronze Age, because we need even MORE grimdark retcons for our cheerful Silver/Bronze Age history! I like Geoff Johns’ work, I really do....but BOY HOWDY does he need to lay off on the retcons sometimes.

4. Identity Crisis: With the exception of Owen’s introduction and the establishment of the relationship between him and Digger, this story was pretty awful all around. More specifically, as far as the Flash was concerned, it was responsible for Digger’s second pointless death. It also killed off poor Jack Drake and poor, mistreated Sue Dibney, who deserved MUCH better. And the Justice League, including Barry, are A-OK with brainwashing, apparently. Comics are fun!

These last two stories are pretty recent, and they did have some parts I liked, but on the whole I felt they also belonged on the list.

5. The Trickster finally returns! Hurrah! Except it turns out that he’s way more like the Joker now than he ever was before, and he mind-controls the city in a super-creepy way. A very disappointing return for the character, especially since it was set up really well.

6. Forever Evil: Captain Cold becomes a murderous dictator with a stupid Santa Beard, all of the Rogues get horrible costumes, and Sam completes his mutation into Evan-in-all-but-name. There are some good characters bits in the story (even for Cold), but on the whole, I found the story to just be unlikeable and depressing and thought Cold was pretty out-of-character. Poor Commander Cold....

So, what are your least favorite Flash storylines and plot ideas?

#flash comics #flash rogues #dc comics

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ihearthes · 4 years ago

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Quarantine Christmas Part 1

Author: @ihearthes Pairing: Harry x y/n Rating: Fluff/Smut (Smut in Part 2) Word Count: 2826 (Part 1) Fiction Chalenge via @caitlin‘s fiction party via @sweetcreatureinthedark

December 23, 2020

My head spins as I haul my suitcase from the trunk, using two hands due to the heft of the dirty clothes inside. Setting it on the ground, I yank on the handle before grappling with the two shopping bags filled with presents, reaching back for the decorated Christmas tin that is filled with homemade cookies, fudge, and other delicacies baked by my colleagues at Apple Music.

Wrestling with my hands full, I close the trunk with an elbow, shivering in the chilly LA air. At the front door, I want to cry. Dammit. I could clearly remember that when Glenne had given me the code for the front door and the alarm, I placed them in my phone under her contact information.

“FUCK!” The primal scream is released from my lungs, likely scaring the neighbors if any of them are outside enjoying Christmas lights or having family celebrations on this Christmas Eve Eve. Balancing the tin of cookies on top of the suitcase, I set down the shopping bags to reach for my phone. My purse slips off my shoulder, knocking the container of sweets, and in the scramble to rescue them, I nearly fall head over heels into the bushes.

It isn’t until I punch in the numbers and drag my personal effects inside that it occurs to me that the alarm isn’t armed. Had Glenne and Jeffrey forgotten to punch in the code before they left for Palm Springs? Deciding I don’t care, I leave everything by the door as I drag my suitcase to the main floor laundry room, dumping everything in without regard to color or type of clothing. Since we’ve been working remotely the majority of the time for the last fucking nine months, “dressing up” encompasses blue jeans and the occasional blouse, but most of my clothing is sweatpants and t-shirts. Deciding washing the blue jeans and blouses with the sweatpants and t-shirts is the worst idea ever, I fish those out before pouring laundry detergent over the remaining garments and starting the washer.

Glancing down at the clothing currently on my body, it seems completely reasonable to drop them into the washer too. Stripping the t-shirt from my body, I toss it into the swirling water before adding my bra, socks, and leggings to the murky mix. Wearing only panties in the cool house makes my nipples bead.

Ha! I’m sure my nips are happy to get any action after almost a year with no dating of any sort because of the fucking pandemic. Which reminds me that I’ve forgotten my vibrator at home. Shit. Of all the things I don’t mind borrowing from Glenne, I do have a line I won’t cross.

Placing the tin of Christmas yummies on the kitchen counter, I grasp the handles of the two bags of gifts. It might be silly to put them under the tree since I’m the only one in the house, but it will make me feel better. More like I’m at home with my family in Indiana. Less like I’m stuck in quarantine in an empty house for my favorite holiday. Sniffling, I swipe at my nose with the back of my hand as I pad down the two steps into the living room to the tree.

Kneeling at the fake tree, I reach for the switch to turn on the lights. As the colors begin blinking, I carefully withdraw each present, reading the tag before gently placing the gift under the tree. Even my brother had sent a present through the mail which must mean he misses me his year. Right now, we should be challenging each other to the most ridiculous games to see who is the best. Inevitably, he would win some while I beat him at others until eventually we declare a tie. My mother would chastise us both with a grin on her face, implicitly encouraging us to continue our “reindeer games” as my father called them.

From behind me, I hear a shuffling sound. Hadn’t they taken Myles with them? No matter. I could use the company a dog would provide.

“Santa, you’ve changed!” a soft voice exclaims, and I jump, twisting around to find another human wearing sweatpants and a hoodie.

“It’s you!” Both voices exclaim simultaneously. “What the fuck are you doing here?” We both pause, “Stop saying what I’m saying!”

Out of breath, I stare at him. The Harry Styles. Fuck.

His eyes roam over my body, and it finally dawns on me that I’m wearing nothing but my Victoria’s Secret lace panties. Shit.

Pacing measuredly to the couch without openly cringing, I grasp a wool throw and wrap it around my chest regally like I’ve just exited the pool at some exotic locale near the equator. My shoulders straighten, and I face him openly.

“Are you joining Glenne and Jeffrey in Palm Springs?” My back is a board, and my tone is barely restrained.

“Nope.” His nonchalance combined with his truncated answer pisses me off, per usual.

“So you’re flying home, waiting here for your flight tonight?” The hopeful tone is obvious to me and probably to him as well.

“No.” Those green eyes of his rake over my nearly-naked body, and I shiver. From the cold of course. Jesus. Get your heads out of the gutter!

“Watering the plants prior to returning to the Soho?”

“Uh uh.”

Delayed dread begins to fill my stomach. “You mean --” I clear my throat -- “you’re staying here?”

“Yep.”

“Shit.” Running my hand through my hair, I ponder the impact and my next steps.

“You?” He asks politely, even though I know he doesn’t feel solicitude at this moment.

“Glenne told me I could stay here for a few days. I made arrangements for my place to be fumigated while I was in Indiana for Christmas.”

His raised eyebrow mocks me.

“I’m not going, though. Okay?”

“Why not?”

“Seriously? Where the fuck have you been, Styles? In case you didn’t know, there’s a global fucking pandemic, and all of Los Angeles is locked down. So no -- I am not getting on a plane with a bunch of potentially infected and contagious --” Emotion overwhelms me, and I have to stop and catch my breath. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I turn away from him so he can’t see the tears that form in my eyes.

“Whatever, Smith.”

“My name --” I draw myself up and gather my anger around me like a cloak -- “is not Smith.”

“Yeah, right. Which bedroom are you planning to sleep in?”

“Surely you’re not suggesting we both stay here?” Appalled, I stare at him with my mouth open. “I’ll get a hotel room.” When I realize my wardrobe is in the washing machine, I softly say, “As soon as my clothes are dry.”

He shakes his head. “Don’t be ridiculous, Smith. We’ll share the space. It’s only a couple of days.”

“Excuse me!?” Anger wells up. “Only the most important days in the entire year!” Superiority makes me stand up fully to him. “Besides, I’ve been quarantining for months. No way do I want to share germs with you!”

“Oh please! As if you’ve got a monopoly on quarantining! I’m perfectly safe. We get tested every morning before we film. When was the last time you were tested?”

“Two days ago!” She’s at her boiling point. “Look, if we're both staying here together, then we’re just going to have to avoid each other. It’s a big house. We can do that.”

“Maybe once you put some clothes on,” Harry comments, smirking in that way he has where the left side of his mouth tilts up.

Mortified, I glance down at myself. Briefly I consider scurrying for Glenne’s closet, but I pause. Why should I rush away? Because he’s male? Because he was here first? Because he’s sexy as fuck and my panties can’t take anymore?

“Fine,” I respond as I brush past him like the Queen of England. “I’ll find something to wear, and then we can hash out the details.”

“Great plan. I’m ordering something for dinner.”

My stomach growls, and I suddenly feel an irrational hatred for that part of my body. How I long to state that I’ve already eaten or that I plan to cook something! But alas, I’ve brought no food with me, and I’ve no clue what’s in the kitchen. If Glenne and Jeffrey even left anything.

“Does that mean you’d like some too?” He gloats, and as much as I would like to smack the grin off his face, I’ve not eaten since a quick bite for breakfast hours before.

Knowing I’m going to have to grovel, I face him. “I’m capable of ordering for myself.”

“Yes, but that’s not necessarily good for the environment, is it? Sending two drivers to the same address from different restaurants?” Pausing, he appears to swallow whatever snarky comment was forthcoming. “Can we agree on this one small thing? I’m thinking poke.”

Shit. Fuck. Goddammit. That’s exactly what I would have ordered. Fuck.

Casually, I shrug. “Yeah, whatever. I can choke down some poke.” As I saunter away, tucking the ends of the makeshift shroud under my armpits, I call back to him, “Spicy please.”

Quickly I make my way to Glenne’s closet, surveying the items there. Ripping down a pair of joggers and a Full Stop Management hoodie, I drop the covering I’ve been wearing and rapidly draw the clothes over my naked body. Nothing I can do about not having a bra, but the hoodie is roomy so I worry less.

In the bathroom, I run my fingers through my hair, combing out the curls as best I can in this environment. In no way do I want it to appear that I’m trying to look amazing for Harry. Biting my lip, I admit to myself that the opposite is true. I absolutely want him to fall at my feet.

Which isn’t going to happen, I remind myself. Give up the ghost of a fantasy.

Making eye contact in the mirror, I provide a pep talk for myself. “Listen,” I remind my reflection, “this is just one more fucked up situation in 2020. You’ve gotten through worse. It’s truly a giant house, so there’s no reason -- wait. Why is he staying here anyway?” For whatever reason, I had allowed him to dodge that incredibly simple question.

Tucking my hands into the hoodie’s front pocket, I amble to the kitchen where Harry is just disconnecting his phone.

“Food will be here in 45 minutes,” he promises.

“Why are you staying here again? I missed your answer earlier,” I prompt.

I’m confident I see a flash of embarrassment crossing his face as he lowers his head. “Wine?” He asks, gesturing towards the extensive rack of reds and then the chiller of whites.

Unsure as to whether I should allow the diversion or press, I examine him. His eyes look tired and sad. His clothes, while comfortable, aren’t upbeat. Nor is his current demeanor. Is he okay?

Planting his hands in his hoodie in an unconscious mimic of my pose, he glances at me before his eyes stray to the side, examining the marble countertop. That look tells me more than I need to know, and my empath side emerges as I toss him a life preserver.

“With poke? I think perhaps a Reisling.”

He nods, bending to look through the wines in the cooler before he extracts one, holding it up for me to inspect the label. My eyes start to widen at the vineyard, assuming the extravagant cost, but I calm my features. “Perf!” I declare.

Grasping the wine opener from a nearby drawer, Harry removes the cork as I snatch two wine glasses from the cabinet and place them near him. Carefully comparing the amount in each glass, he pours enough before recorking the bottle. Taking my glass, I move into the living room where I can view the tree. It’s Christmas Eve Eve after all, and I refuse to be deterred from watching the lights twinkle and celebrating the season.

Harry apparently has a similar idea as he fiddles with the sound system before a crackle of ‘Jingle Bell Drunk’ by RaeLynn starts playing which causes me to giggle.

I settle on one side of the sofa, and Harry plants himself on the other side. Separately, we each take a sip of the riesling. My tongue does a happy dance at the flavor on my tongue. “This sweetness will cut the spicy quite well. Excellent choice.”

“You made the selection,” Harry reminds me, and I cringe.

“Oh. Yeah.”

Silence descends as the song proclaims “I’ve been naughty. I’ve been nice.”

“If there was ever a year for this song, this is it.” I announce into the quiet.

“Yeah. It’s been quite the year.”

Sharply, I glance at him. Perhaps I had missed something? “Excuse me? You’ve had one hell of a year, Styles. Grammy nominations aside, there were how many music videos released during this global disaster? Plus a movie!”

“Agreed.” He’s quiet, his jaw clenched, and suddenly his words burst forth as though a gate at a dam has been opened. “But no tour. And almost no family time.”

Wait. Was this superstar feeling some of my emotions? He’d had a stellar year in anyone’s estimation. Maybe I could be more sympathetic.

“Yeah. I’m sorry about tour. I had tickets to Vegas and one of the LA shows.”

His head swivels to me more swiftly than an owl focusing on prey. “You had tickets?”

“HAVE.” I swallow. “Thanks for not canceling by the way. I cannot imagine the bloodbath for getting tickets in the future. You’ve become the ‘it celebrity’.”

A blush is followed by a sheepish smile. “You can always get tickets, Smith. Just ask.”

“I don’t do that.” My voice is filled with the prickles that I feel at his words.

“Do what?”

“Use my privilege to get tickets to shows.”

“Oh. I…” His words trailed off.

Suddenly, I feel less uncomfortable around him. Reaching out, I shove at his shoulder. “You’re a giant star, and you have a ton of fans who want to see you. Me? I’m just happy to be a member of the audience.”

“Really?” Incredulous is what I sense in that one word. “Why?”

“Seriously?” I’m appalled. “Do you not know what an amazing entertainer you are, Styles? Fuck. If I hadn’t been able to see your Fine Line show at the Forum last December, I probably would have cried. You know exactly what your audience wants, and you deliver it. Consistently.”

“But --”

“Hush. Don’t you dare negate your talent!” Taking another sip of wine, I reveal unabashedly, “Maybe it’s the wine talking, but I really enjoy your shows.”

“Smith?” He inquires, and my hand stalls with my wine glass halfway to my mouth.

“Yeah?”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do you like my shows?”

Stalling, I run a finger through my hair and empty my wine glass before holding it out to him. “More please?”

He rises, but I can read his reluctance. Within moments, Harry is back at my side, handing me a second glass of the riesling. I can’t help but notice that he’s topped his own off too.

“Answer the question, Smith.”

“My name isn’t Smith. In fact, there’s not a single part of my name that’s related to Smith. Why do you call me that?”

“Tell me why you like my shows, and I’ll reveal the meaning behind the nickname.”

My head feels fuzzy from the wine and the headiness of being near Harry, and I watch the lights flashing on the tree for a few minutes while Meghan Patrick belts out her version of ‘I’ll Be Home for Christmas’ over the sound system.

“You make your fans feel like they matter.”

“How?” His question comes rapidly, and I have to gather my thoughts.

“You...talk to them. Listen to them. Watch them. Appreciate them. It’s rare, Harry. I mean, I’m in this business too, you know. Not every artist does what you do.”

“False.”

“I’m fucking serious, you asshole.” I gulp down more of the wine. “You make your audience feel like they’re your closest friends. I wish more artists did that. Specifically the ones I represent.”

“Oh.” His single utterance is enough, and we sit in pure tranquility for several minutes as the lights blink and Ava Max sings “Christmas Without You”.

“Wanna watch the quintessential holiday movie?” I inquire, looking at him.

“Which is?”

“Die Hard, of course,” is my response. “What were you thinking?”

“It’s a Wonderful Life.”

“Nope. It’s pretty good. In the top five for sure.”

“Wait. What are your top five?”

“Oh, that’s easy. ‘Die Hard’, ‘Home Alone’, ‘A Christmas Story’, ‘The Santa Clause’, and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.

“You’re serious?”

“Deadly?” I giggle at the joke since ‘Die Hard’ is full of death.

“Fine. But we watch ‘Wonderful Life’ afterwards.”

“Deal.”

Part 2

#my writing #harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #caitlin's fic challenge #part1 #harry styles smut #harry styles imagine #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfic #original writing

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archatlas · 5 years ago

Text

Two Hundred Fifty Things an Architect Should Know

by Michael Sorkin

The Temple of Hatshepsut

8. The number of people with rent subsidies in New York City. 9. In your town (include the rich). 10. The flowering season for azaleas. 11. The insulating properties of glass. 12. The history of its production and use. 13. And of its meaning. 14. How to lay bricks. 15. What Victor Hugo really meant by ‘this will kill that.’ 16. The rate at which the seas are rising. 17. Building information modeling (BIM). 18. How to unclog a Rapidograph. 19. The Gini coefficient. 20. A comfortable tread-to-riser ratio for a six-year-old. 21. In a wheelchair. 22. The energy embodied in aluminum. 23. How to turn a corner. 24. How to design a corner. 25. How to sit in a corner. 26. How Antoni Gaudí modeled the Sagrada Família and calculated its structure. 27. The proportioning system for the Villa Rotonda. 28. The rate at which that carpet you specified off-gasses. 29. The relevant sections of the Code of Hammurabi. 30. The migratory patterns of warblers and other seasonal travellers. 31. The basics of mud construction. 32. The direction of prevailing winds. 33. Hydrology is destiny. 34. Jane Jacobs in and out. 35. Something about feng shui. 36. Something about Vastu Shilpa. 37. Elementary ergonomics. 38. The color wheel. 39. What the client wants. 40. What the client thinks it wants. 41. What the client needs. 42. What the client can afford. 43. What the planet can afford. 44. The theoretical bases for modernity and a great deal about its factions and inflections. 45. What post-Fordism means for the mode of production of building. 46. Another language. 47. What the brick really wants. 48. The difference between Winchester Cathedral and a bicycle shed. 49. What went wrong in Fatehpur Sikri. 50. What went wrong in Pruitt-Igoe. 51. What went wrong with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 52. Where the CCTV cameras are. 53. Why Mies really left Germany. 54. How people lived in Çatal Hüyük. 55. The structural properties of tufa. 56. How to calculate the dimensions of brise-soleil. 57. The kilowatt costs of photovoltaic cells. 58. Vitruvius. 59. Walter Benjamin. 60. Marshall Berman. 61. The secrets of the success of Robert Moses. 62. How the dome on the Duomo in Florence was built.

Duomo in Florence

63. The reciprocal influences of Chinese and Japanese building. 64. The cycle of the Ise Shrine. 65. Entasis. 66. The history of Soweto. 67. What it’s like to walk down the Ramblas. 68. Back-up. 69. The proper proportions of a gin martini. 70. Shear and moment. 71. Shakespeare, et cetera. 72. How the crow flies. 73. The difference between a ghetto and a neighborhood. 74. How the pyramids were built. 75. Why. 76. The pleasures of the suburbs. 77. The horrors. 78. The quality of light passing through ice. 79. The meaninglessness of borders. 80. The reasons for their tenacity. 81. The creativity of the ecotone. 82. The need for freaks. 83. Accidents must happen. 84. It is possible to begin designing anywhere. 85. The smell of concrete after rain. 86. The angle of the sun at the equinox. 87. How to ride a bicycle. 88. The depth of the aquifer beneath you. 89. The slope of a handicapped ramp. 90. The wages of construction workers. 91. Perspective by hand. 92. Sentence structure. 93. The pleasure of a spritz at sunset at a table by the Grand Canal. 94. The thrill of the ride. 95. Where materials come from. 96. How to get lost. 97. The pattern of artificial light at night, seen from space. 98. What human differences are defensible in practice. 99. Creation is a patient search. 100. The debate between Otto Wagner and Camillo Sitte. 101. The reasons for the split between architecture and engineering. 102. Many ideas about what constitutes utopia. 103. The social and formal organization of the villages of the Dogon. 104. Brutalism, Bowellism, and the Baroque. 105. How to dérive. 106. Woodshop safety. 107. A great deal about the Gothic. 108. The architectural impact of colonialism on the cities of North Africa. 109. A distaste for imperialism. 110. The history of Beijing.

Beijing Skyline

111. Dutch domestic architecture in the 17th century. 112. Aristotle’s Politics. 113. His Poetics. 114. The basics of wattle and daub. 115. The origins of the balloon frame. 116. The rate at which copper acquires its patina. 117. The levels of particulates in the air of Tianjin. 118. The capacity of white pine trees to sequester carbon. 119. Where else to sink it. 120. The fire code. 121. The seismic code. 122. The health code. 123. The Romantics, throughout the arts and philosophy. 124. How to listen closely. 125. That there is a big danger in working in a single medium. The logjam you don’t even know you’re stuck in will be broken by a shift in representation. 126. The exquisite corpse. 127. Scissors, stone, paper. 128. Good Bordeaux. 129. Good beer. 130. How to escape a maze. 131. QWERTY. 132. Fear. 133. Finding your way around Prague, Fez, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Kyoto, Rio, Mexico, Solo, Benares, Bangkok, Leningrad, Isfahan. 134. The proper way to behave with interns. 135. Maya, Revit, Catia, whatever. 136. The history of big machines, including those that can fly. 137. How to calculate ecological footprints. 138. Three good lunch spots within walking distance. 139. The value of human life. 140. Who pays. 141. Who profits. 142. The Venturi effect. 143. How people pee. 144. What to refuse to do, even for the money. 145. The fine print in the contract. 146. A smattering of naval architecture. 147. The idea of too far. 148. The idea of too close. 149. Burial practices in a wide range of cultures. 150. The density needed to support a pharmacy. 151. The density needed to support a subway. 152. The effect of the design of your city on food miles for fresh produce. 153. Lewis Mumford and Patrick Geddes. 154. Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law Olmsted, Muso Soseki, Ji Cheng, and Roberto Burle Marx. 155. Constructivism, in and out. 156. Sinan. 157. Squatter settlements via visits and conversations with residents. 158. The history and techniques of architectural representation across cultures. 159. Several other artistic media. 160. A bit of chemistry and physics. 161. Geodesics. 162. Geodetics. 163. Geomorphology. 164. Geography. 165. The Law of the Andes. 166. Cappadocia first-hand.

Cappadocia

167. The importance of the Amazon. 168. How to patch leaks. 169. What makes you happy. 170. The components of a comfortable environment for sleep. 171. The view from the Acropolis. 172. The way to Santa Fe. 173. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 174. Where to eat in Brooklyn. 175. Half as much as a London cabbie. 176. The Nolli Plan. 177. The Cerdà Plan. 178. The Haussmann Plan. 179. Slope analysis. 180. Darkroom procedures and Photoshop. 181. Dawn breaking after a bender. 182. Styles of genealogy and taxonomy. 183. Betty Friedan. 184. Guy Debord. 185. Ant Farm. 186. Archigram. 187. Club Med. 188. Crepuscule in Dharamshala. 189. Solid geometry. 190. Strengths of materials (if only intuitively). 191. Ha Long Bay. 192. What’s been accomplished in Medellín. 193. In Rio. 194. In Calcutta. 195. In Curitiba. 196. In Mumbai. 197. Who practices? (It is your duty to secure this space for all who want to.) 198. Why you think architecture does any good. 199. The depreciation cycle. 200. What rusts. 201. Good model-making techniques in wood and cardboard. 202. How to play a musical instrument. 203. Which way the wind blows. 204. The acoustical properties of trees and shrubs. 205. How to guard a house from floods. 206. The connection between the Suprematists and Zaha. 207. The connection between Oscar Niemeyer and Zaha. 208. Where north (or south) is. 209. How to give directions, efficiently and courteously. 210. Stadtluft macht frei. 211. Underneath the pavement the beach. 212. Underneath the beach the pavement. 213. The germ theory of disease. 214. The importance of vitamin D. 215. How close is too close. 216. The capacity of a bioswale to recharge the aquifer. 217. The draught of ferries. 218. Bicycle safety and etiquette. 219. The difference between gabions and riprap. 220. The acoustic performance of Boston Symphony Hall.

Boston Symphony Hall

221. How to open the window. 222. The diameter of the earth. 223. The number of gallons of water used in a shower. 224. The distance at which you can recognize faces. 225. How and when to bribe public officials (for the greater good). 226. Concrete finishes. 227. Brick bonds. 228. The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels. 229. The prismatic charms of Greek island towns. 230. The energy potential of the wind. 231. The cooling potential of the wind, including the use of chimneys and the stack effect. 232. Paestum. 233. Straw-bale building technology. 234. Rachel Carson. 235. Freud. 236. The excellence of Michel de Klerk. 237. Of Alvar Aalto. 238. Of Lina Bo Bardi. 239. The non-pharmacological components of a good club. 240. Mesa Verde National Park. 241. Chichen Itza. 242. Your neighbors. 243. The dimensions and proper orientation of sports fields. 244. The remediation capacity of wetlands. 245. The capacity of wetlands to attenuate storm surges. 246. How to cut a truly elegant section. 247. The depths of desire. 248. The heights of folly. 249. Low tide. 250. The Golden and other ratios.

#architecture

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officialtolkiensecretsanta · 4 years ago

Text

Guide to the Exchange

(This is the mobile app accessible version of this page. Please do not reblog this post.)

~~~

The north wind doth blow, and we shall have…Tolkien Secret Santa 2021!

Welcome! This is a fandom-wide gift exchange inspired by the season of giving and celebrating. Everyone who participates gets to make and receive a little digital present from their Secret Santa, which could take any number of forms: a fic, a playlist, an artwork, a poem, a graphic - you’re limited only by your imagination.

NOTE: All timings are given in 24 hour time.

October 28th: Sign-ups are open

Please click here for instructions on joining as well as the signup form.

November 20th: Sign-ups close

Sign-ups close at 23:59 UTC+0. You can check that in your timezone here.

November 24th: Assignments sent out

Assignments will be sent out by 23:59 UTC+0 on November 24th. If there is any delay, we will post about it on the blog.

December 14th: Anonymous gift posting + Last call for dropouts

From today, you can start posting your gifts anonymously. If you cannot make the deadline, December 14th is the absolute last day for you to drop out so our pinch-hitters have enough time to make something for your giftee.

December 24th: Gifts reveal

Tag your giftee! All gifts posted today should be tagged with your giftee’s URL, this blog’s URL ( @officialtolkiensecretsanta ), as well as the hashtag #tss2021. Gifts will enter the queue to be reblogged starting on Boxing Day. Be sure to let us know if you explicitly do not want your gift to be reblogged. All gifts MUST be posted by December 26th at 23:59 UTC+0 at the latest (see below for more info).

~~~

Code of Conduct

These guidelines are to ensure that everyone can have as great an exchange as possible!

Respect the commitment you’ve made to the exchange. There’s nothing more disappointing than a giftee receiving no gift, and no idea as to why. If you cannot complete your gift, message the blog no later than December 14th (see also the FAQ below) and keep your giftee informed.

Keep your ask box open for the duration of the exchange. Your Secret Santa will want to message you to keep you posted about your gift. If this will be a problem, please message this blog!

Please respect the parameters of your assignment. If your giftee makes it clear what content is and isn’t welcome, stick to it. If you’re not sure, send them an anonymous ask for clarification. Acting against this will be considered an action of bad faith and runs the risk of penalties.

*NEW TO 2021* Tolkien fans should feel safe and welcome participating in the TSS. We observe a strict anti-discrimination policy, and both prompts and Do-Not-Wants (DNWs) need to reflect that. See our policy on writing DNWs in the FAQs below.

~~~

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I sign up for the event?

Click here for the signup form! (Opening 28th October) Please also note that we do not accept email signups (you can read more about the rationale here). It is super easy to set up a blog to participate - contact the mods if you need any help with this!

You can also find information on the Advent Calendar here.

I missed sign-ups, can I still join?

We’re sorry if you find out about the exchange late, but unfortunately it’s a hard deadline. We mods have a limited window to pair people so we can’t take on any more. The only exception is if you sign up as a pinch-hitter. Don’t worry if you miss the boat this year - the Secret Santa is a regular event!

What is a pinch-hitter?

A pinch-hitter is someone who comes in at the last minute to put together a gift for someone whose Secret Santa dropped out. You can sign up as both full participant and pinch hitter, or solely one or the other. It’s up to you and what you want to contribute! Everybody, even the people only pinch-hitting, fills out the “Gifting” section of the form. This is so we can be sure not to give you an assignment beyond what you’ve stated you’re comfortable to create.

There are two dates at which pinch-hitters may be called upon to help: from December 14th, the deadline for dropouts, and from December 26th, the deadline for gift submissions. In the first case, you will be asked to post by December 26th at 23:59 UTC+0 like all regular contributors. In the second case, you will be asked to post by December 30th at 23:59 UTC+0 (think of it as a New Year’s Eve present!).

We deeply appreciate and value everyone who volunteers to be a pinch hitter! That said, please only put your name down if you believe you can manage the rapid turn around as described here.

I don’t celebrate Christmas. Can I still participate?

Absolutely! The exchange takes its name from a Christmas tradition, but we see it as a fully secular, non-denominational exchange that the entirety of our diverse fandom can be a part of. The end of the year is a time of celebration, renewal, and gift-giving in many cultures around the world, and that’s what we’re trying to bring about with this exchange - gifts and good vibes!

What if I’m not sure I can commit to the gift exchange?

Many participants have said that the anticipation of getting a gift, and ultimately receiving something wonderful, is one of their favourite aspects of the event. Therefore, nothing is more disappointing than not receiving a gift when you thought you would. You must be quite certain of your commitment before you sign up. The form has two options under commitment - “yes” and “I’m not sure”. If you indicate “I’m not sure”, you will be kept in the list until November 20th, when sign-ups close and we message to check in with you, at which point you’ll have to say yes or no.

What does “groups” mean in the characters section of the form?

On the form the area for indicating which characters you are happy to create/receive for your gift, you have the option of putting any number of groups. Groups are considered to have 3 or more people and should usually be a phrase familiar from the text, e.g. The Three Hunters, the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, Feanorions, Maiar.

You can create/receive a gift about one, some, or all characters in that group. So if you put down, say, The Fellowship, you could create/receive a gift inspired only by Frodo, or both Legolas and Aragorn, or it could feature the whole Fellowship all together. With this in mind, we generally try to pair people who have put groups with others who have put down the same group or a significant number of characters from that group.

*NEW TO 2021* How do I fill out the “ships” section of the form?

Based on the past four years, the mods have modified the way you can express shipping preferences for your gift during your sign-up. You will first be asked to indicate a general preference on ships (Gen, Canon ships, Ships listed below, Any ships). If you indicate “Any ships”, note that this means you have no preference as to the work having ships or not; and, were it to have ships, you have no preference as to what those ships would be. If you select “Ships listed below”, you’ll be asked to list up to five (5) ships. Please do not use ship names. Write out the ship as Character X/Character Y or Character X x Character Y.

*NEW TO 2021* How do I observe the anti-discrimination policy when writing my prompts/Do-Not-Wants (DNWs)?

Every Tolkien fan has a different perception of how characters my look or act, and all these perspectives need to be respected. In particular when you write your DNWs, you must be sure your sign-up does not include any instances of homophobia, transphobia, racism, or any other judgement that could harm the Secret Santa creating your gift. The mods reserve the right to modify the wording of your sign-up for the safety of other participants. If modification is required, you will be notified of the change to your sign-up. If you need assistance in phrasing your DNWs, reach out to the mod team.

How long should fics be?

There is no official minimum or maximum length of fic. However, we recommend a minimum of 300 words.

Can I post incomplete fics?

No. The TSS is designed to generate a completed gift that the giftee can enjoy over the holiday period. Please refrain from posting incomplete fics.

What language(s) can/should I post my gift in?

The TSS is a proudly international event. We support fanworks in all languages and understand the importance of language accessibility. However, if you make your reveal post in a language that is not English, please provide a translation beneath the original text for moderation and queueing purposes. If you require assistance with the translation, please reach out to a mod (or use your fandom network to make it happen!).

What if I’m making something by hand?

This is a digital gift exchange, so your best bet is to take a high-quality photograph or scan of your piece and post that for your giftee.

What if the gift is audio?

If you’re making a playlist, you’re advised to create it using YouTube or Spotify. These networks tend to have the broadest geographic range, so your gift can reach your giftee wherever they may be! It is also recommended to list the tracks of your playlist - for example, on a lovely graphic - so that any tracks not available on one venue can still be found by your giftee on another.

*NEW TO 2021* Can I do cosplay?

New in 2021, cosplays are permitted in the TSS. However, please note that cosplays have to be specifically sewn or made for this event.

How do I post my gift?

Starting December 14th, you can begin to anonymously post your gifts. “Anonymously” means that you post your gift on your blog, but without tagging your giftee’s URL. At this stage, just include the hashtag #tss2021 and tag us with @officialtolkiensecretsanta. Then, for the big reveal on December 24th, simply reblog your post and tag your giftee, including, again, the hashtag #tss2021.

Is there an AO3 collection?

Yes! You can post gifts for the main exchange in this collection, and it will be revealed at 11:00 UTC+0. If you are participating in the advent calendar, post to this collection.

What if I need to give my gift early?

If you need to give your gift early for whatever reason (internet connection, big family dinner, etc.), there are two things you can do to be part of the big reveal on the 24th. First, you can schedule a post for the 24th with your giftee mentioned. Alternatively, you can post your gift early - anonymously - and we will reblog it on the day, tagging your giftee on your behalf. Be sure to tag #tss2021 so we can reblog it, and drop us a message too so we can look out for it!

I’m in X timezone, how do I make sure I give the gift in good time?

It’s advised you post your gift around 11:00 UTC+0, as this will still be the last hours of the 24th in Auckland (our marker for the east) and it will be the very beginning of the 24th in Anchorage (our marker for the west). It may be uncomfortable to work out timing, so we advise scheduling your post if needed. You can also message this blog with your giftee’s URL and we can find out their timezone for you.

What if my gift will be late?

If you are giving the gift late, please message this blog with the URL/email of your giftee and how delayed you will be, so we can follow up. Please also send your giftee an ask on anon so they can know about the delay directly from you. Again, be sure to tag this blog and tag #tss2021 when the gift is finally posted so it can be reblogged.

Important information on late gifts, drop outs, and penalties:

Late gifts that aren’t posted by December 26th at 23:59 UTC+0, and that have not negotiated with their giftee and mods for a different day, will be considered forfeit and be handed to a pinch hitter. Any other negotiated day must be adhered to.

All late gifts and gifts produced by pinch hitters must come in by 23:59 UTC+0 on December 30th.

*NEW TO 2021* If in the previous event year you turned in a gift late but did not communicate with mods or your giftee about the late submission, you will be given a warning for the current event year.

*NEW TO 2021* If you did not submit a gift during the previous event year and did not communicate with mods about the non-submission, you have a 1-year ban on participation.

Rules three and four are in effect as of 2021 and consider 2020 as the previous event year.

Our strictness with late gifts and penalties isn’t with the aim of being the TSS Dark Lords. What we dearly want is to avoid the uncertainty, stress, and disappointment that participants have experienced in previous years from gifts not received. You need to plan accordingly and promptly communicate any issues with the mods and your giftee to make sure the exchange is a positive and fun experience for everyone.

Additionally,

What if I need to drop out after assignments are sent out?

We know that life can throw unexpected curveballs. If you were initially certain of your participation but an emergency comes up, it’s your responsibility to message the blog by December 14th so a pinch-hitter can be found for your giftee. Any dropouts after December 14th will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but we must be clear: failure to message by the deadline and/or dropping out after the deadline without a valid excuse (e.g. health emergency) runs the risk of being banned from the exchange next year. Again - we really, really don’t want to do this! So please be communicative and considerate and approach everything in this exchange from a place of good faith!

~~~

The Team

This gift is exchange is an entirely volunteer-run event. If you’re enjoying it, do consider sending a message to @fernstrike (Mod Fern), @raisingcain-onceagain (Mod RC), @feanope (Mod Fea), @unnamedelement (Mod UE), and @arofili (Mod Anna)! We absolutely love hearing how much fun you guys have participating :)

#mod post #event guide

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gumnut-logic · 5 years ago

Text

We’ll Be Home For Christmas 3.1

Title: We’ll be home for Christmas

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew – Part 1 Prologue | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 2.2 | 2.3

Author: Gumnut

23 - 27 Dec 2019

Fandom: Thunderbirds Are Go 2015/ Thunderbirds TOS

Rating: Teen

Summary: The boys can’t fly home for Christmas, so they have to find another way.

Word count: 3823

Spoilers & warnings: language and so, so much fluff. Science!Gordon. Artist!Virgil, Minor various ships, mostly background.

Timeline: Christmas Season 3, I have also kinda ignored the main storyline of Season 3. The boys needed a break, so I gave them one. Post season 3B, before Season 3C cos we haven’t seen it yet.

Author’s note: For @scattergraph. This is my 2019 TAG Secret Santa fic :D I hope you enjoy it.

Please note that I am not a scientist, only an artist with mad librarian skillz. I may have stretched a few facts in places here, for which I apologise, though I did research a hell of a lot to get this written (at one point I was only writing one or two lines before I had to research another fact…it was a very long process). I hope you enjoy it anyway. :D

Many thanks to @vegetacide and @scribbles97 for cheering me on and their wonderful support through this craziness. And to @onereyofstarlight for geeking out with me over the setting.

Disclaimer: Mine? You’ve got to be kidding. Money? Don’t have any, don’t bother.

-o-o-o-

Day Three - If not for the courage of the fearless crew

When Virgil woke late the next morning, the yacht was already in motion. He sighed as he crawled out of bed, body groaning the entire way.

Stumbling into the living area, he didn’t even have to look for the coffee. John simply met him halfway and handed him a mug.

He inhaled it. The hot beverage ran down his throat and within minutes his brain was beginning to boot.

A hand landed on John’s shoulder in honest gratitude. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Okay, so that grin was a little smug, but the coffee was worth it. That and it was a novelty to have John for breakfast at any time. He squeezed his brother’s shoulder, blaming not enough caffeine for the sudden soppy.

His brother frowned at him. “How are you feeling?”

Okay, that fixed the soppy. He rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.”

The frown turned into a smirk. “Sure. Would you like some eggs? I hid the last of the bacon from Alan, so there is some if you like.”

The soppy returned. You’d think he was on drugs or something. Must be the sea air. “Thanks, John.”

His brother peered at him a little more before ushering him to sit down and busying himself in the kitchenette. It wasn’t long before the tantalising smell of bacon sizzling wafted through the living area.

“Hey! I thought we were out of bacon!” Alan was not impressed as he strode in, game console in hand. “You lied to me!”

John snorted as he placed the plate full of bacon and eggs in front of Virgil along with a glass of orange juice. “So, you would have eaten Virgil’s share?” The arched eyebrow was challenging.

“Nooo.”

“Sure, Alan.” John turned around and walked back into the kitchen obviously not believing his brother.

Alan sat down across from Virgil. “I wouldn’t, honest, Virg.”

Perhaps his littlest brother’s brain was not connected to his hand because Virgil had to slap it away from his plate almost immediately. “Sure, Alan.”

The bacon was good and the eggs just right. Mouth full, “John, this is divine.”

The snort from the kitchenette was loud, but the only comment he received in reply.

Virgil slapped Alan’s hand away again and glared at him. “So, who’s winning the game.”

Alan was immediately distracted. “I was, but then John pulled a stunt with a rogue asteroid, which I’m not entirely sure was legal...” His voice rose specifically in the direction of the kitchenette.

“Game allowed it.”

“Yeah, well, I PM’d the developers and they knew nothing about it!”

“Gregory never remembers what he programs. The guy does it in his sleep half the time.”

“Hah! Grez is totally cool. He said you’re a stick in the mud.”

John wandered back into the room wiping his hands on a tea towel. “Gregory is also a card-carrying member of the Flat Earth society.”

A snort from Alan. “So?”

“The man has been to space, Al. He designs video games, set in space. Explain the logic behind that?”

“Denial? Imagination? A little too much college night life?”

John threw the towel back into the kitchen. “All of the above. So, yeah, game allows it, it’s legal.”

“Well, I’m gonna whip your ass in the void between galaxies. Gonna stoke my ship with engines only you can dream of.”

Taking a seat at the end of the table, John did not appear concerned in the slightest. “Hey, Virgil, would you like to assist me in developing a fictional intergalactic drive.”

An arched eyebrow as he munched on bacon and glanced between the two of them. “Hmmm, sure.”

“Hey! No fair. No engineering brothers allowed. If you get Virgil, I get Brains.”

John grinned. “Go for it. International Rescue could do with one of those.”

Virgil snorted. He loved Brains like a brother, but the man did not know the difference between reality and fiction. Postulate an idea such as this, give him a few hours and he’d have a working theory. Let him go, and he’d build it. The game would be forgotten the moment Alan mentioned the concept.

“You suck.”

“Just using the tools at hand, Alan.”

Virgil blinked. “You just called me a tool.”

John shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a string of profanity from their captain up on the bridge. The boat suddenly accelerated, swerving to port, and Virgil had to grab the remains of his breakfast as it tried to slide off the table.

A frowning Scott strode through the room. A worried glance at Virgil and John, he took the most direct route towards the bridge and disappeared. Alan dropped his console onto the lounge and darted after him.

At higher speeds, the boat began to bounce off the wave peaks. Virgil decided that staying put was probably in his best interests and apparently John agreed as he reached out and gently grabbed Virgil’s arm.

“I’m okay.”

“Just making sure.”

He didn’t bother responding to that.

Wherever the boat was going, apparently it got there quickly because it wasn’t at full acceleration for long and it slowed quickly to a stop, her hull wallowing in the water at the sudden lack of forward momentum.

As Virgil pushed himself to his feet, he glared at the hand wrapped around his bicep. John didn’t let go.

“If you fall on your face on my watch, Scott will kill me.”

“I’m fine.”

His brother still didn’t let go. This was ridiculous.

But apparently smother was in the Tracy genetic code, because John held onto him the entire way up to the bridge. Only to find it locked down and empty.

All three brothers were out on the bow of the boat.

He could hear Gordon swearing from here. What the hell had his brother all riled up?

It took his slow way onto the bow - those steps still hurt, damn it - for him to find out.

“It’s caught in her mouth. Goddamnit!”

“Hey, hey, Gordon. We can help her. Tell us what we need to do.” Scott’s voice was tense. Virgil read it clearly as pissed, but needing to calm a brother and fix a problem before blowing a circuit.

What the hell had happened?

“Gordon?”

His fish brother shot distraught eyes in his direction. “We’ve got a humpback calf caught in a gill net. A fucking illegal gill net. Here. I’m gonna string the bastards up and Mel is gonna skin them alive!”

Gordon stormed past Virgil and John, heading towards the back of the boat, thumbing his comms. “Mel, you got your ears on?”

Virgil turned to look out across the surface of the ocean and sure enough a single dark buoy appeared just off to port about fifty metres away. To his horror there was a weak whale spout just as his eyes focussed on the spot.

Scott strode past and gently clasped his shoulder, his eyes bleak before following Gordon aft. Alan hurried after him.

A glance at John found his brother’s professional facade well in place. Gordon could be heard yelling over his comms from the other end of the boat.

The whale breached again.

Shit.

-o-o-o-

Scott followed his little brother as he stormed down the length of his yacht.

“Mel, what the hell do you mean this isn’t the first time.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Gordon, I’m as angry as you, but these assholes know what they are doing. I’ve had the coast guard out here sixteen times in the last year and they haven’t managed to catch one of them. We’ve lost turtles, sunfish, rays and earlier in the season a humpback died of its injuries. We can’t locate the nets. They don’t appear on our scanners.”

“Well, they appear on mine and I’m not putting up with this crap.”

“Any help is appreciated, Gordon. If I knew you’d be able to detect them, I would have called you in earlier. If you can give us the locations, it would be much appreciated.”

“I’ll get John on it immediately. In the meantime, we have an injured calf and a distressed mother to attend to.”

“Do you want me down there?”

His brother paused a moment and dragged in a calming breath. “I’ll do an assessment. If I need help, I’ll call Kayo to come get you.”

“Keep me in the loop, Thunderfish. Play it safe. Mamma Humpback is going to be anxious.” A pause. “Sorry your vacation has been interrupted.”

“Screw my vacation. We’re gonna get these bastards.” Scott didn’t think he had ever seen his brother so angry. It was understandable. “Speak to you soon. A Little Lightning out.”

Gordon immediately turned to Scott. “We have a situation.”

Scott let his head drop just a little in acknowledgment. “Yes, we do. This is yours, Thunderbird Four. Tell me what you need.”

-o-o-o-

With the power of TB5 they discovered an intricate network of netting just to the west of the Kermadecs, trailing intermittently down their full length. To regular sensors they were invisible, but to IR sensors they were a flicker. A flicker John was able to focus on and bring up a clear picture.

Gordon, now dressed in his IR uniform, swore a bluestreak at how many nets were actually out there. John put him through to WASP Command and Gordon gave a very colourful report to the regional commander, who just happened to be a former squad mate of his. Her response was more formal, but no less colourful.

With tight expressions, Gordon, Scott and Alan climbed into the inflatable dingy and rowed their way out to the beleaguered cetacean. Gordon used the effort to push his anger into the oars. He couldn’t afford to have his thoughts clouded by the bastards who had done this.

Sensors told him the calf had a net caught in its mouth and wrapped around its right pectoral fin. The fine mesh hung down its left side, dangling into the depths where it had caught on a snag. The chances of it catching right there were ridiculously small, the waters so deep between the islands. But the net was hundreds of metres long, weighted, and, even tangled, it reached down far enough to snag itself on a submerged pile of rock.

Hell, he was going to need Four to get down that deep to get the net out of the water.

If the calf had been snagged while diving, she wouldn’t have been able to surface to breathe and would have drowned.

Bastards!

Scott darted a glance at Gordon. The aquanaut held his gaze. His eldest brother was dressed in an IR wetsuit. It was startling to see him out of his familiar uniform. Gone was his flight baldric and in its place, yellow slashed across his blue, visibility more the priority underwater. The only concessions to his commander rank were his shoulder patches and twin silver-grey bands on that yellow baldric. Alan was dressed similarly, but where Scott sported silver, Alan sported red. Neither had their helmets on.

Gordon had only mentioned the suits to Scott when preparing for this venture because he had hoped to enjoy some recreational diving. Their suits were far above average equipment, so why not use the best to have a little fun?

Scott had rolled his eyes, but five wetsuits had been thrown into their luggage. They had supposed to be used for sharing his world with his brothers.

Gordon swore under his breath again and tugged at the oars angrily.

“We’ll fix this.” Scott’s voice was calm, ever the commander when on duty. And on duty they were.

When he got his hands on those assholes...

“A Little Lightning to Inflatable. Mother Humpback is on the move towards you.” John had been tracking her frantic circles around her calf.

Gordon dropped the oars and grabbed his scanner. Sure enough, the worried behemoth was angling in towards them. She posed a serious threat despite their benign intentions.

“Roger that, A Little Lightning.”

The inflatable stilled in the water, three pairs of eyes stared out across the surface.

“Be quiet. Here she comes.”

Not twenty metres away, the mother surfaced, her spout spraying them all with angry water. Her huge mass coasted just under the surface and beelined to her daughter.

Gordon’s heart lurched at the distressed groans she made as she nuzzled her trapped calf.

“I’m going in.” He shoved his helmet on.

Scott caught his arm. “Are you sure that is wise?”

He caught his brother’s worried eyes. “You are just going to have to trust me. I know what I am doing.”

A bitten lip, but Scott nodded once and let him go.

Gordon slipped quietly over the edge of the inflatable and into the water.

-o-o-o-

Virgil stood on the bridge of A Little Lightning and swallowed hard. It was frustrating to be caught unable to do anything, but in this kind of situation, it wasn’t an unfamiliar feeling.

Usually, though, he was hovering in Two far above the surface.

John stood beside him, a mission hologram projecting from his tablet, his hands playing the portable controls as smoothly as Virgil played his piano. Eos spoke up quietly, relaying reports from WASP as the organisation swooped in on the illegal fishing organisation somewhere off to the west. His brothers’ vitals danced in one corner, the readout from the sensors and the now deployed sensor buoy hung beside them.

Virgil could only watch.

“Gordon, approach with extreme care. The mother is emitting infrasound, beyond our hearing. She is very distressed.” John’s voice was sharp, but calm as the sensors traced the sound pattern in the air before him.

Whispered. “FAB, John. I can feel it. She may be calling for help. Silence on comms.”

And Virgil realised he could feel it, too. A rumble in his bones, a wail so deep it could only be felt, not heard.

He closed his eyes.

He felt her shift octaves, the sound pulsing, her thrum desperate. It vibrated at the edge of his sensory perception, slipping in and out, barely felt in his body tissues, his fingertips, the sensitive incisions in his gut.

“Virgil? You okay?”

John’s soft voice startled him, throwing him out of focus. “What?”

He received a copper frown for his efforts. “You’re pale.”

“I’m fine.”

Green eyes narrowed, but his brother didn’t comment further. He returned to his holograms, bringing up a satellite lifesign read of the area.

“We’re receiving a reply.” John frowned. “Another. Several. Locating sources. Eos, give me a narrow frequency band and pinpoint.” The AI didn’t answer but several dots appeared on the satellite view. John waved a hand and zoomed in on a cluster in the Southern Ocean. The view focussed and cleared and Virgil was again amazed at Brains’ skill as the surface of the ocean appeared and a pod of whales was defined. They were all travelling in a south-easterly direction.

Over two thousand kilometres from the mother and calf. John zoomed out again and scanned for a closer answer. He found one but it was still fifteen hundred kilometres distant. Far too far away to return to help the distraught mother.

But then another signal came in, this one only three hundred kilometres away to the south-east. John narrowed in on the location, only to find another mother and calf.

“Is that the mother and calf we encountered two days ago?” The subjects of his painting.

“More than likely. Gordon did say it was very late in the season. The humpback whales migrate from tropical waters north-west to south-east across the Kermadec Ridge on their way to feeding grounds near Antarctica during spring. That places the nets in the optimal position to do the most damage.”

Virgil stared at the kilometres of lines denoting the position of so many illegal fishing nets.”

“Do you think WASP will be able to stop this?” His voice came out parched and cold, an echo of the anger building inside.

“They will do their best. Gordon won’t rest, you know that. I’ve also asked Penny to investigate. This impinges on Tracy Industries’ ecological interests so I have contacted the board.” His lips thinned. “We will find those responsible.”

The lines taunted him. How many? How many lives had been taken moments before sanctuary?

“Virgil?”

The mother shifted octaves again and he found himself closing his eyes.

A hand landed on his arm. Soft. “Virgil?”

He startled. John’s turquoise eyes were frowning at him again.

“She’s terrified.”

“Gordon will free her calf.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

Her thrum was in his bones, vibrating his very soul.

And then the calf cried out.

-o-o-o-

Gordon had always felt small beside his brothers, but floating next to a leviathan of the open ocean there was no comparison.

The mother humpback was nuzzling her calf, a mixture of chirps and groans vibrated through the water accompanied by the modulating infrasound, screaming fear across the Pacific.

Knowledge of cetaceans scrolled through Gordon’s mind, but instinct was yelling at him.

Never get between a mother and her baby.

But the baby was in pain and her mother was unable to help her.

He could.

He edged closer, ever quiet, calm.

Mamma shifted in his direction, her great head swinging around and tossing him about in the resultant wake. Gordon caught himself and took the opportunity to slip in even closer.

C’mon, beautiful, I don’t mean you any harm. I’m here to help.

He reached out and touched the calf’s flank.

The calf shifted away, crying out and her mother propelled herself forward towards Gordon.

He darted backwards, holding up a hand. “Hey, hey, I’m here to help.” She couldn’t understand the words, but perhaps the intent?

A groan wrapped around him, followed by a click.

“Gordon!” Scott’s voice echoed about his helmet.

And into the water around him.

Shit.

He scrambled backwards as Mamma reacted. Surging forward she nudged him hard enough to force him to the surface. “Woah!” He got a brief glimpse of Scott gesticulating at him from the inflatable, obviously agitated and then everything was bubbles.

He lost orientation for a moment and just settled for swimming away from the chaos.

“Goddamnit, Gordon, answer me!”

“Shut up, Scott. I’ve got this! Silence on comms!”

He dove.

Deep.

He relied on his suit to keep his body pressure static as he propelled himself fifty metres straight down.

Sunlight flickered turquoise and disappeared into the depths.

Mamma didn’t follow.

Gordon hovered there a moment, looking up at the silhouettes of the two whales and the dingy far above. Mamma returned to nuzzling her calf, her pectoral fins churning the water into bubbles with the smallest movements.

Okay, Gords, you’ve got this. Gentle, calm and persistent.

He began his ascent.

-o-o-o-

Virgil tensed as his brother was thrown from the water only to disappear and dive down deep.

Gordon’s snarl across comms at Scott was acid.

The mother’s call shifted an octave to the point Virgil could almost hear the clear C, F, and G notes hanging in the air.

Three hundred kilometres away, the second mother and calf answered and turned around.

Virgil stared at the dots on John’s map as they slowly began moving towards them. It would take them a good chunk of the day and night to reach the distressed calf, but the other mother was answering the call.

John’s monitor sketched out the answer, far below human hearing and far too distant to be felt.

A complicated, pulsating aria of sound.

It wove around the mother’s distress call, each note dancing with its partner, an answer in form as well as content.

Staring at the readout, he found himself humming the notes, switching cadence, following the thread.

The rumble in his throat spoke counterpoint to the song in his bones. It completed. It felt...reassuring.

“Virgil?”

“What?!” He blinked. Shocked at his own outburst as John took a step back, Virgil drew in a shaky breath. “Sorry.”

John’s voice was quiet. “What is it?”

Virgil stared at his brother, then back at the sensor buoy’s holographic display showing Gordon swimming up the water column. “Can we transmit sound into the water?”

It was John’s turn to blink. “Of course.”

“At infrasound levels?”

John pulled up the buoy’s specs and Virgil knew the answer before his brother could vocalise it.

“Wait there.”

He had an idea.

-o-o-o-

The sight of the abrasions on the side of the calf’s mouth physically hurt Gordon. He swam up slowly beside the calf on the other side from its mother. He kept quiet but made sure the calf knew he was there.

It edged closer to its mother.

“Hey, beautiful. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She whined, her sonics vibrating through him.

Mamma growled in the way only a mamma whale could and, blowing spray up into the air, drew in breath and dove.

She slipped below her daughter and targeted Gordon.

Oh shit.

He flung himself to the left and down. He could manoeuvre easily around her, but...

...her tail swung and he was caught in a rush of wake, bubbles and the need to avoid the whacking she was trying to give him.

“Okay, I get the message. But Mom, you’re going to have to back off or your baby is going to die.” The calf could last only so long before exhaustion and predators put an end to her struggles.

Mamma swam around in a tight circle and for a moment one of her great eyes caught his, her intelligence and fear glaring at him through the turquoise light.

His external mic picked up a single note.

What?

The note shifted and became more of a wail, cut off and was silent.

Mamma whale was still staring at him.

Another note. Again it was modulated, but this time his brother’s voice accompanied it, Virgil’s raw baritone holding the note for a few seconds before shifting down his range to another note. His keyboard, for there was no doubt that Virgil had his keyboard with him, emitted a series of low moans.

Gordon shivered.

His brother was playing infrasonic, he could feel it, no doubt using the transmitter on the buoy.

Mamma was still staring at him.

He could give his brother all the points for effort, but there had yet to be a case where humans could communicate with whales. Many had tried. Most were ignored. The most success had been achieved with touch, which is what Gordon was attempting to do.

If he could get close enough without having his head handed to him.

Virgil shifted from single notes to a more complex weaving of sounds, combining his voice with the keyboard in a way he had never quite heard from his brother.

Mamma blinked.

Clicked three times.

And let off a wail of sound that tore at his heart.

Virgil answered.

-o-o-o-

End Day Three, Part One

Day Three, Part Two

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #Virgil Tracy #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #John Tracy #Alan Tracy

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heigoeswrong · 5 years ago

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goes wrong show air schedule

alright, finally got clarification from BBC about the order of the episodes and summaries for all but the last one!

EP1: The Spirit of Christmas - 23 Dec 2019 7:30PM UTC (AIRED)

Our players present the story of Santa and his elves attempting to bring happiness to a sad little girl and her constantly fighting parents. Can the magical toy machine restore her Christmas cheer? Or perhaps Mr Snowman and his enchanting dance? We’ll never know, as a surly Santa indulges in too much Christmas sherry and contrives to ruin everything. Crackers explode, an elf is trapped in a confined space, and the toy machine attempts to eat the snowman alive. Also, there are songs, and these don’t go well.

EP2: The Pilot (Not the Pilot) - 3 Jan 2020 8:30PM UTC (AIRED)

This week Cornley have chosen to put on a Second World War drama, rarely performed because of its historical inaccuracy and poor research. Director Chris plays Rufus Heal, a dashing pilot reduced to a desk job cracking German codes in a top secret Allied facility after losing his leg. He is assisted by uptight Englishwoman Valerie Sky and French codebreaker Camille, under the watchful eye of Wing Commander Wickham. They also find a part suitable for Dennis's dubious skills - a telegraph machine. Will they crack the code and unmask the spy in their midst in time to win the Vietnam war? Sadly for our gang, many disasters await - Rufus's ‘lost’ leg won’t behave itself, Camille’s grasp of French is sub-par, Hitler spends more time on set than planned, and Annie is forced to play the dastardly Wing Commander after Chris's father fails to show up. And the telegraph machine takes on a life of its own.

EP3: A Trial to Watch - 10 Jan 2020 8:30PM UTC (AIRED)

A legal drama this week for our intrepid performers, with Dennis taking on a lead role due to a conversation with his grandmother that turned out to be legally binding. He plays unscrupulous defence lawyer Karl McKennon, taking on his ex-wife Becky as he defends an ex-cop accused of murdering his brother. Cornley Dramatic Society’s designers have excelled themselves, constructing a number of split sets that are wheeled in and out to create the locations described in the brutal cross examinations that take place in their meticulously recreated courtroom. Sadly, this turns out to be a terrible idea: sets are mismatched, wheeled off and on at life-threatening speeds, and the courtroom itself is a quarter the size it should have been.

EP4: The Lodge - 17 Jan 2020 8:30PM UTC

Our gang present a 1960s-set horror this week, as the mysterious Albert Fortenoy welcomes a young family to his crumbling old house. What is the secret behind the death of Albert's late wife Vera? Who is the creepy vicar's daughter playing outside? A number of clever theatrical horror devices are used to create a creepy atmosphere and plenty of jump scares, and every single one manages to go horribly wrong. Worse, the designers have taken 'crumbling' to heart and the cast contrive to fall off, out of and through everything. A stairlift develops a life-threatening mind of its own, a talking deer head fails to understand its cues, and entire rooms seem to go missing. To cap it all, the play has been running short in rehearsals, and the only solution they can find involves adjectives.

EP 5: Harper’s Locket - 24 Jan 2020 8:30

This week the gang turn their attentions to a period romance, a classic tale of family, duty and love across the class divide. A beautiful set has been built to replicate a grand country home, soon to be rocked by a literal and metaphorical storm. Sadly, the literal storm involves a water effect that threatens to flood the set, though that’s the least of their worries, as a horse turns out to be more of a danger to body parts than expected, gunshot effects occur seemingly at random and a ceiling fan threatens to decapitate a table of diners. Oh, and a cat gets stuck in a piano.

EP 6: UNKNOWN - 31 Jan 2020 8:30PM UTC

NO INFO YET - It’s set in the ‘deep south’ of America though so that’s going to be fun.

#the goes wrong show #the play that goes wrong #mischief theatre #mischief comedy #cornley drama society #info #text #news

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thethingssafhaslearnedsofar · 5 years ago

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TWO HUNDRED FIFTY THINGS AN ARCHITECT SHOULD KNOW

Michael Sorkin

1. The feel of cool marble under bare feet. 2. How to live in a small room with five strangers for six months. 3. With the same strangers in a lifeboat for one week. 4. The modulus of rupture. 5. The distance a shout carries in the city. 6. The distance of a whisper. 7. Everything possible about Hatshepsut’s temple (try not to see it as ‘modernist’ avant la lettre). 8. The number of people with rent subsidies in New York City. 9. In your town (include the rich). 10. The flowering season for azaleas. 11. The insulating properties of glass. 12. The history of its production and use. 13. And of its meaning. 14. How to lay bricks. 15. What Victor Hugo really meant by ‘this will kill that.’ 16. The rate at which the seas are rising. 17. Building information modeling (BIM). 18. How to unclog a Rapidograph. 19. The Gini coefficient. 20. A comfortable tread-to-riser ratio for a six-year-old. 21. In a wheelchair. 22. The energy embodied in aluminum. 23. How to turn a corner. 24. How to design a corner. 25. How to sit in a corner. 26. How Antoni Gaudí modeled the Sagrada Família and calculated its structure. 27. The proportioning system for the Villa Rotonda. 28. The rate at which that carpet you specified off-gasses. 29. The relevant sections of the Code of Hammurabi. 30. The migratory patterns of warblers and other seasonal travellers. 31. The basics of mud construction. 32. The direction of prevailing winds. 33. Hydrology is destiny. 34. Jane Jacobs in and out. 35. Something about feng shui. 36. Something about Vastu Shilpa. 37. Elementary ergonomics. 38. The color wheel. 39. What the client wants. 40. What the client thinks it wants. 41. What the client needs. 42. What the client can afford. 43. What the planet can afford. 44. The theoretical bases for modernity and a great deal about its factions and inflections. 45. What post-Fordism means for the mode of production of building. 46. Another language. 47. What the brick really wants. 48. The difference between Winchester Cathedral and a bicycle shed. 49. What went wrong in Fatehpur Sikri. 50. What went wrong in Pruitt-Igoe. 51. What went wrong with the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. 52. Where the CCTV cameras are. 53. Why Mies really left Germany. 54. How people lived in Çatal Hüyük. 55. The structural properties of tufa. 56. How to calculate the dimensions of brise-soleil. 57. The kilowatt costs of photovoltaic cells. 58. Vitruvius. 59. Walter Benjamin. 60. Marshall Berman. 61. The secrets of the success of Robert Moses. 62. How the dome on the Duomo in Florence was built. 63. The reciprocal influences of Chinese and Japanese building. 64. The cycle of the Ise Shrine. 65. Entasis. 66. The history of Soweto. 67. What it’s like to walk down the Ramblas. 68. Back-up. 69. The proper proportions of a gin martini. 70. Shear and moment. 71. Shakespeare, et cetera. 72. How the crow flies. 73. The difference between a ghetto and a neighborhood. 74. How the pyramids were built. 75. Why. 76. The pleasures of the suburbs. 77. The horrors. 78. The quality of light passing through ice. 79. The meaninglessness of borders. 80. The reasons for their tenacity. 81. The creativity of the ecotone. 82. The need for freaks. 83. Accidents must happen. 84. It is possible to begin designing anywhere. 85. The smell of concrete after rain. 86. The angle of the sun at the equinox. 87. How to ride a bicycle. 88. The depth of the aquifer beneath you. 89. The slope of a handicapped ramp. 90. The wages of construction workers. 91. Perspective by hand. 92. Sentence structure. 93. The pleasure of a spritz at sunset at a table by the Grand Canal. 94. The thrill of the ride. 95. Where materials come from. 96. How to get lost. 97. The pattern of artificial light at night, seen from space. 98. What human differences are defensible in practice. 99. Creation is a patient search. 100. The debate between Otto Wagner and Camillo Sitte. 101. The reasons for the split between architecture and engineering. 102. Many ideas about what constitutes utopia. 103. The social and formal organization of the villages of the Dogon. 104. Brutalism, Bowellism, and the Baroque. 105. How to dérive. 106. Woodshop safety. 107. A great deal about the Gothic. 108. The architectural impact of colonialism on the cities of North Africa. 109. A distaste for imperialism. 110. The history of Beijing. 111. Dutch domestic architecture in the 17th century. 112. Aristotle’s Politics. 113. His Poetics. 114. The basics of wattle and daub. 115. The origins of the balloon frame. 116. The rate at which copper acquires its patina. 117. The levels of particulates in the air of Tianjin. 118. The capacity of white pine trees to sequester carbon. 119. Where else to sink it. 120. The fire code. 121. The seismic code. 122. The health code. 123. The Romantics, throughout the arts and philosophy. 124. How to listen closely. 125. That there is a big danger in working in a single medium. The logjam you don’t even know you’re stuck in will be broken by a shift in representation. 126. The exquisite corpse. 127. Scissors, stone, paper. 128. Good Bordeaux. 129. Good beer. 130. How to escape a maze. 131. QWERTY. 132. Fear. 133. Finding your way around Prague, Fez, Shanghai, Johannesburg, Kyoto, Rio, Mexico, Solo, Benares, Bangkok, Leningrad, Isfahan. 134. The proper way to behave with interns. 135. Maya, Revit, Catia, whatever. 136. The history of big machines, including those that can fly. 137. How to calculate ecological footprints. 138. Three good lunch spots within walking distance. 139. The value of human life. 140. Who pays. 141. Who profits. 142. The Venturi effect. 143. How people pee. 144. What to refuse to do, even for the money. 145. The fine print in the contract. 146. A smattering of naval architecture. 147. The idea of too far. 148. The idea of too close. 149. Burial practices in a wide range of cultures. 150. The density needed to support a pharmacy. 151. The density needed to support a subway. 152. The effect of the design of your city on food miles for fresh produce. 153. Lewis Mumford and Patrick Geddes. 154. Capability Brown, André Le Nôtre, Frederick Law Olmsted, Muso Soseki, Ji Cheng, and Roberto Burle Marx. 155. Constructivism, in and out. 156. Sinan. 157. Squatter settlements via visits and conversations with residents. 158. The history and techniques of architectural representation across cultures. 159. Several other artistic media. 160. A bit of chemistry and physics. 161. Geodesics. 162. Geodetics. 163. Geomorphology. 164. Geography. 165. The Law of the Andes. 166. Cappadocia first-hand. 167. The importance of the Amazon. 168. How to patch leaks. 169. What makes you happy. 170. The components of a comfortable environment for sleep. 171. The view from the Acropolis. 172. The way to Santa Fe. 173. The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. 174. Where to eat in Brooklyn. 175. Half as much as a London cabbie. 176. The Nolli Plan. 177. The Cerdà Plan. 178. The Haussmann Plan. 179. Slope analysis. 180. Darkroom procedures and Photoshop. 181. Dawn breaking after a bender. 182. Styles of genealogy and taxonomy. 183. Betty Friedan. 184. Guy Debord. 185. Ant Farm. 186. Archigram. 187. Club Med. 188. Crepuscule in Dharamshala. 189. Solid geometry. 190. Strengths of materials (if only intuitively). 191. Ha Long Bay. 192. What’s been accomplished in Medellín. 193. In Rio. 194. In Calcutta. 195. In Curitiba. 196. In Mumbai. 197. Who practices? (It is your duty to secure this space for all who want to.) 198. Why you think architecture does any good. 199. The depreciation cycle. 200. What rusts. 201. Good model-making techniques in wood and cardboard. 202. How to play a musical instrument. 203. Which way the wind blows. 204. The acoustical properties of trees and shrubs. 205. How to guard a house from floods. 206. The connection between the Suprematists and Zaha. 207. The connection between Oscar Niemeyer and Zaha. 208. Where north (or south) is. 209. How to give directions, efficiently and courteously. 210. Stadtluft macht frei. 211. Underneath the pavement the beach. 212. Underneath the beach the pavement. 213. The germ theory of disease. 214. The importance of vitamin D. 215. How close is too close. 216. The capacity of a bioswale to recharge the aquifer. 217. The draught of ferries. 218. Bicycle safety and etiquette. 219. The difference between gabions and riprap. 220. The acoustic performance of Boston Symphony Hall. 221. How to open the window. 222. The diameter of the earth. 223. The number of gallons of water used in a shower. 224. The distance at which you can recognize faces. 225. How and when to bribe public officials (for the greater good). 226. Concrete finishes. 227. Brick bonds. 228. The Housing Question by Friedrich Engels. 229. The prismatic charms of Greek island towns. 230. The energy potential of the wind. 231. The cooling potential of the wind, including the use of chimneys and the stack effect. 232. Paestum. 233. Straw-bale building technology. 234. Rachel Carson. 235. Freud. 236. The excellence of Michel de Klerk. 237. Of Alvar Aalto. 238. Of Lina Bo Bardi. 239. The non-pharmacological components of a good club. 240. Mesa Verde National Park. 241. Chichen Itza. 242. Your neighbors. 243. The dimensions and proper orientation of sports fields. 244. The remediation capacity of wetlands. 245. The capacity of wetlands to attenuate storm surges. 246. How to cut a truly elegant section. 247. The depths of desire. 248. The heights of folly. 249. Low tide. 250. The Golden and other ratios. https://www.readingdesign.org/

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