#Thunderfam is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

For those of you who voted for Virgil whump, any suggestions of what you’d like to see?

Nutty

(Pondering)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[idontknowreallywhy]

Tried but failed to reach a conclusion on what I’m loosely calling the paint mystery but the majority of the chapters have deviated so wildly from any kind of plot that I may have to rethink whether it’s a story or just a collection of scenes.

Unrefined, unedited previous bits for reference:

Bit the first

Bit the second

Bit the third

The interlude after the third where I lost control of the characters and everyone went a bit nuts

Now, Bit the fourth which was supposed to be the end but that still eludes me… ALL the thanks to @astranite @womble1 and @sofasurf for the beta reading and suggestions and encouragement and to the Thunderfam generally for being a friendly safe community to practice a new thing within.

Light

A rush of harmonics drowned out Two’s steady hum as her sister raced up beneath her and barrel-rolled overhead before shooting off into the Californian twilight. Virgil watched as her vapour trail angled up, up, up and over backwards before taking a steep dive and spiralling back towards where he and Gordon watched in various shades of amusement and baffled awe.

“How is he still conscious?” Gordon murmured. “I’d be either sick… or dead. Ugh… nope, definitely dead.”

Virgil watched as his elder brother steered the rocket plane into the vertical zigzag he recognised as the signature move of the ‘Vomit Comet’ Scott had piloted for the trainee astronauts during his 6 month NASA secondment from the Air Force.

“He doesn’t have a… normal relationship with G force, Fish, you know that.”

As if to prove the point, One screamed past them, spinning, and doubled back to overtake at a distance which set Two’s proximity sensors blaring.

Again.

Virgil cringed and covered his ears.

John’s wry smile materialised in front of them. 

“Aunt Val is going to be inundated with emails from the alien spotters again isn’t she?”

Virgil snorted. Then sighed.

“Should we… you know, rein our dear flyboy in a little?”

There was a delighted snicker in the background as John coughed uncomfortably.

“He couldn’t doooo it” came the familiar singsong voice of Virgil’s digital niece. John, who now appeared to be heavily focused on brushing non-existent dust from his baldric, frowned slightly.

“I did open a comm with him, yes.”

“And?”

“He was… whooping, Virgil.”

It was Gordon’s turn to snort. He looked up from his tablet where he’d already accessed the usual conspiracy theory websites to check for new flying saucer sightings over Arizona.

“What, Scott? Pfft, seems unlikely”

John raised an eyebrow and patched in the audio from One’s cockpit.

Virgil’s breath caught in his throat as he was accosted by a sound he hadn’t heard since his brother was a teenager. Warm, hearty, unfettered laughter punctuated by… yes, that could only be described as a whoop… and then an elated giggle. 

Virgil was aware that to most people sound didn’t have colour but it was second nature to him. Scott’s usual speaking voice was a familiar steely blue, rich and dependable. It could deepen to almost navy if he was angered or concerned, or gain highlights of cerulean when he was amused or speaking affectionately. Now it was as if an arc of blazing summer sky was overlaid on the late evening clouds ahead of them, marred only by the static effect of the comm. Virgil was overwhelmed by a sudden longing to hear his brother laughing properly, truly, untainted by digital interference and simultaneously afraid the opportunity to do so would never arise.

Nobody moved, not waiting to break the spell. Then One did it for them, as her pilot pushed her into yet another feat of aerobatic madness and her own burning white squeals of delight muffled those of the man at the controls.

John muted the feed. Virgil releases the breath he was holding and swallowed, glancing at Gordon whose jaw had almost parted company with his face, his tablet hanging from a limp hand, his mission of winding up the ufologists forgotten. 

It was sobering to realise how infrequently a website tracking the rare and precious phenomena of happy-carefree-Scott would be updated. He met John’s eye and inclined his head. He couldn’t intervene either. Drop kicking a puppy would be less morally questionable.

“How’s his fuel?”

John’s gaze shifted upwards as a graceful sweep of his left hand obviously brought up some kind of display and a swift flick of the right closed something else down. Virgil was momentarily distracted by the image of his elegant brother conducting a symphony orchestra from space, his attention snapping back as he noticed the slight furrow in John’s brow.

“Low, I take it?”

“At this rate he’ll drop into F tank in about 10 minutes. Which will get him home if he flies in a straight line…”

“If.”

“Yeah.”

“What’s F tank when it’s at home?” Gordon had abandoned his tablet and was observing his elder brothers’ with overt curiosity.

John rolled his eyes. Virgil bit his lip and radiated guilt. Scott had never been told about that particular upgrade to his ship and it always made him uneasy to keep such a secret but the secrecy was necessary for it to work as intended.

“Gordon you have to swear to keep this to yourself… but you remember all those times when the paragon of caution that is our big brother has reassured us his fuel supply was “Fine” when One was actually running on fumes?” 

More like the distant memory of fumes in some cases. His little brother of course knew all too well because he’d flown enough missions himself to take fuel to whatever godforsaken location Scott had stranded himself in.

“Well… Brains and I installed a little extra tank about which the fuel gauge is ignorant and so is One’s primary pilot.”

Gordon appeared to ponder this for a minute.

“Won’t that just make him believe he really can fly on fumes?”

“Precisely what I said” John threw a hand in the air. “I had suggested a flow rate limiter instead, so she can’t do more than Mach 6 once the gauge gets below a certain level”

“But that’s slower than the Big Green Mom Bag!”

“Oi!” the Mom Bag’s pilot objected “But, yes. Can you imagine what his reaction would have been if…” Another screech of scram jets announced One’s return from who knew where and she decelerated with a shudder to match Thunderbird Two’s more sedate pace, flying above and just a nose ahead with her pilot looking down at them and flipping a cheeky salute. Virgil nudged the comms open again:

“Having fun, you big show-off?”

Scott’s hologram appeared, all shark-like grin and wildly dilated pupils. Virgil found himself leaning back into his chair, slightly intimidated by the intensity of his sibling’s manic expression.

“Well?! What are you going to PLAY?!”

Three younger brothers performed a perfectly synchronised double-take.

“P-play?”

“The concert, short stuff! What are you going to play in the concert? You should play that one that that goes ba-da-da-da da da ba-da-da-da da da da dum…” and then One was spiralling off again in a roar of jet engines, her pilot’s hologram blurring into incomprehensibility from the vibrations and leaving his younger brother blinking in confusion.

He shut off the comm before it gave them all a headache. At some point prior to the spontaneous post-tornado-rescue singalong in the school hall, their old teacher Ms Knighton had accosted Virgil and persuaded him to be the guest soloist at a benefit concert she was already planning to fundraise for disaster relief in their hometown. ‘Persuaded’ wasn’t quite the right word. He wasn’t aware that he’d actually been given any kind of an option. The woman was a tidal wave of organisation and he’d been well and truly swept along.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it anyway. He’d not played in front of anybody but family since their Mom had passed and he hadn’t planned to either, for all that the idea gave him a tiny flutter of anticipation. He’d been meaning to send an apology citing work commitments later that week.

THIS was what had got Scott so excited?

He squirmed guiltily as he’d begun to theorise that his renowned flirt of a brother had encountered an old flame during the course of the evening and that was what had caused the adrenaline spike. But, it seemed Scott wasn’t celebrating for himself at all. This vanishingly rare level of joy from his big brother, was on HIS behalf?

He suddenly pictured Scott sat in the front row of every little school performance, even the ones Mom couldn’t get to. He’d always put the constantly jiggling denim-clad legs down to frustration at having to sit still and listen rather than climb and run but then… maybe that wasn’t it at all?

There was the gift of the electronic piano… and that time his brother flew back from college to talk round his father who’d objected to Virgil’s nervous suggestion that maybe he could do joint honours music alongside his engineering degree. Granted, when he realised IR on the horizon, Virgil had changed his mind and decided to keep music just as a hobby but thanks to his brother, it had been HIS decision to make. 

Now he thought about it, he couldn’t think of a single occasion when he’d sat and played the lounge piano where Scott wasn’t either at dad’s desk, on the sofa, or leaning against the body of the instrument chatting or just watching with a fond smile.

Scott had been his cheerleader at every step.

“Earth to Viiiirg!” Gordon leaned over and poked him in the side of the head. “So what are you going to play then?” Virgil smiled awkwardly and rubbed away the sudden excess of water in his eyes.

“Guess I’d better figure out what “ba-da-da-da da da” is.”

#thunderbirds fanfic #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #scott tracy #virgil tracy #gordon tracy #thunderfam #john tracy #idontknowreallywhy fanfic #the paint mystery #Flyboy!Scott #Music!Virgil #Synesthesia!Virgil #Thunderbird One has a Fine Tank #thunderfluff

[misssquidtracy]

A note for the ‘Fam <3

Hi guys <3

So the UK is now commencing Lockdown 3.0, which although necessary, will be causing some people a great deal of stress and anxiety. Being required (by law) to stay home 24/7 will no doubt be a daunting and depressing prospect for many people, and it’s more important than ever that we look out for each other as we approach the home stretch.

I am not intimately familiar with the lockdown situations in other countries, but know that people everywhere are continuing to make sacrifices and adjust their lifestyles around the ongoing yet traumatic ‘new normal’. 

On that note, here are a few reminders from a certain family we all know and love.

💙 Scott Tracy, our resident Sky Turnip, would like to remind you to stick to a routine of sorts. Going to bed and waking up at roughly the same time, doing one productive task every day and maintaining a regular meal timetable will help give each day a basic structure that you can rely on, even on the ones when you might not be feeling your best.

💚 Virgil Tracy, our resident Land Cabbage, would like to remind you to exercise whenever you can in whatever way you can. On a self-care level, exercise is an excellent distraction from anxious and unwelcome thoughts, plus the bonus order of endorphins will regulate sleep and act as natural mood lifters. Walking the dog, a session on the Wii fit or even doing housework are all excellent ways of getting the blood pumping.

💖 John Tracy, our resident Space Carrot, would like to remind you to drink plenty of water and to eat as healthily as possible. Dehydration is the most common culprit when it comes to fatigue, headaches, and brain fog. Fill a drinks container in the morning and carry it around with you all day to save lots of unnecessary trips to the sink. Snack on fruit, wholemeal toast, veggies with dips (because raw veggies are gross) and nuts. But most importantly...always leave room for dessert!

💛 Gordon Tracy, our resident Sea Bean, would like to remind you to talk if you’re struggling. One thing that I see repeatedly is people feeling as if they have to be in dire straits before they can ask for help. You don’t. Feel like your thoughts are running away with you? Talk about it. Feel like your situation is spiralling? Talk about it. Feel down for no apparent reason? Talk about it. It takes real bravery to admit when you’re struggling, and sometimes talking can feel like too much. Rest assured, there is ALWAYS someone who will listen, and most importantly, there is ALWAYS someone who will care. If you’re unable to reach out to family and friends for support, turn to your online friends instead. The bonds forged via the internet are often just as strong (and sometimes stronger) than those formed under real life circumstances. Reach out to the Thunderfam. PM someone. Put out an SOS post. Just don’t make suffering in silence an option.

If your situation feels dire, here are some numbers that can help:

UK (Samaritans) - 116 123

USA (National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) - 1-800-273-8255

Australia (Lifeline) - 13 11 14

A full list of countries can be found here: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines

❤️ Alan Tracy, our resident Rocket Pea, would like to remind you do things that make you feel good. Allow yourself to get sucked into your favourite video game. Curl up with a mountain of books. Binge fanfic from dawn til dusk. Marinate in a hot bath. Have a lie-in. Cuddle your pets. Spend a day Pinterest browsing for art and craft inspiration. Cook your favourite foods. Watch your favourite films. Indulge in a new Netflix series. Dance around the house in your underwear. Watch the Tracy boys.

💜 And finally Kayo, our resident Stealth Onion, would like to remind you to limit your social media exposure. While it can be tempting to spend all day on Facebook and Instagram, these platforms offer a distorted view of the lives of others, which can in turn compound existing feelings of inadequacy and loneliness. Social media only offers a filtered view of other people’s lives, yet it can do a real number on our self-esteem, especially during a time like this when we’re all feeling a bit more vulnerable than usual.

The same applies for the news. Keep up to date with current events, but don’t become consumed with what’s on the front page. Remember, only bad news sells. There’s plenty of good news out there, but don’t count on the BBC, ABC or CNN to scream about it.

Stay safe, stay healthy, and stay happy. We’re almost there 💛❤️💙💚

#thunderfam #thunderfam unite #thunderbirds #thunderbirds are go #thundernerds #thunderbirds fan #thunderbirds original series #thunderbirds 1965 #thunderbirds 2015 #Gordon Tracy #Scott Tracy #Virgil Tracy #John Tracy #alan tracy #kayo kyrano #Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward #Aloysius Parker #grandma tracy #jeff tracy #international rescue #Tracy Island #tracybros #tracybrothers #tracy boys #tracy bros #tracy brothers #thunderbirds fanart #thunderbirds fanfiction #covidー19 #lockdown

[gumnut-logic]

Is it just me or are the IR helmets an obstacle to head injuries?

I find myself saying, oh, he has a black eye…and then realising he would have had his helmet on in that situation and no, there is no way to wriggle out of it without turning the character into an idiot.

So how did he get the black eye?

Damnit, I don’t know! :D

Occupational Health and Safety definitely prevents easy whump :D

Nutty

(Naughty whumper)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

Okay the muse is officially confused. What do we want?

This is my current creative leading edge (that and beading and crochet). I have today off work. What do you prefer, keeping in mind I often have little control.

Nutty

(I know I am going to regret this)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

From the Fanfic Writers Emoji Ask list:😈, pretty please?

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

I used to be a cliffhanger queen :D If you look at Sotto Voce and where each chapter ends, you can see the pattern.

I wouldn't say it was entirely deliberate as fics often write themselves and demand to be cut where they are cut (just look at yesterday's tearjerker, sorry about that).

I won't say I'm not influenced by the writers and readers around me, either consciously or not. I know Scott has been appearing a lot lately in my fics for that exact reason - I'm surrounded by Scotty fans :D But then there was the time I had a few Virgil/Kayo fans egging me on ::eyes you, you know who you are:: 150,000 words later...and that rare pair is not quite so rare anymore.

I think reacting and interacting with readers and writers is a good part of the fun :D The Promotions Coordinator in me really just wants to deliver what peeps want when it intersects with what I want...with extra Virgil on top.

Thank you for asking ::hugs tight::

Nutty

(Mmmm, Virgil ice cream...)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

Thunderdragons

I had a request for a glossary for this AU. So here you go. Back story spoilers ahead.

Please note that I am not a historian or linguist. This is fantasy, definitions are approximate, and I should be apologising to probably all the people in the North Atlantic – aka the Great Western Sea, because it wasn’t called the Atlantic in 700AD.

For reference, Viking raids didn’t start until around 790AD.

‘Tracy’ is a surname that can be traced back to several origins, but the one I chose for this was Irish. One of the old forms is ‘O’Treasaigh’, so that is the name of the clan and where the family originated from.

I set them up as a small kingdom ruled by a Flaithri (king in Old Irish) somewhere in Ériu (Ireland in Old Irish). Grandpa Tracy was Flaithri and Grandma Tracy was his wife (didn’t look up Queen in Old Irish as I haven’t needed it yet). Jeff Tracy, as their son, was Flaith (Prince) – later once Grandpa Tracy had died, Jeff became Flaithri and Scott Flaith, and so on. By the fic Cethair, Scott has become Flaithri, much to his dislike and grief.

The Irish people do not have dragons, but Jeff being Jeff, he explores, makes trade agreements and keeps eyeing the Great Western Sea (aka Moon or Mars like exploration equivalent – no one had crossed the Great Western Sea, that we know of, in 700AD).

Eventually, he convinces his father to let him take a voyage of exploration across the Western Sea, which he does, with not great results, Óen saves him and things happen. Essentially, he does cross the Western Sea, just not the way he expected and finds a people who do have dragons. He marries in North America (not called that), and has three sons.

Gaat happens and the family decide to return to Ériu. The Flaithri welcomes them with open arms, and eventually the dragons.

Two more boys are born and everything is going nicely.

Until Gaat makes it across the sea, attacks and kills the Flaithri and Jeff’s wife before the rest of the family can uproot and flee. This makes Jeff Flaithri and Scott, Flaith.

I will drop the spoilers there :D

The rest of the old Irish.

Máthair Chriona – Grandmother/Wise woman (aka Grandma Tracy)

The Dragons (again with the Old Irish)

Óen – One

Dá – Two

Tri – Three (Alan doesn’t have a dragon yet, that’s a separate story)

Cethair – Four

Cóic – Five

One and Two can be found in the How to Train Your Dragon fandom. Three and Five, I’m inventing myself. Four, I haven’t decided yet, but likely inventing myself.

I think that is all the Old Irish so far. I have a few notes regarding a few other words but didn’t end up using them.

Regarding the people in North America, I did do quite a bit of research into the Algonquian language people of the North East Atlantic and did assign appropriate names, but I felt it created more confusion and I desperately don’t want to offend any First Nations peeps (at least with the Irish, I’m only messing up my own heritage…well, a small part of it), so left them out. It should be noted that Belah Gaat, Tanusha, Kyrano, etc are all Malay or Indian derived names, so I’m sweeping that under the rug.

For funsies, it should be noted that Jefferson Tracy is Mac Séafraidh O’Treasaigh in Old Irish. That just hurts, so I’m keeping him Jeff :D

Apologies for any confusion. I hope this clears this up. And as you can see there is one hell of an iceberg behind this fic series. A lot of work. Hence there will likely be Sweetapple Slices and Virgil whump in between so I can take a break :D

Anyway, I hope this helps. Any questions, please give me a yell.

Nutty

(the librarian)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderfam #thunderdragons #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

Procrastinator’s ask game:

7) 🖍Post Any sentence from your wip

A pissed off Commander Scott Tracy was a weapon of precise destruction.

😁💙

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #scott tracy #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

*sneaks into your asks with WIP questions*

8. ♻️A scrapped idea for your current WIP

Follow up question if you’re up for it - how do you deal with shedding stuff that isn’t working?

(I’m struggling with getting attached to ideas or bits I’ve written and it’s hard to say nah I’ll bin it because WORDS exist 🥺)

11. 🛠Is there a scene or anything in the WIP you are struggling with right now?

(Any tips on pushing through? You’ve written so many amazing epics I’m guessing there must have been times you got around a problem)

*lurks and awaits nuggets of nutty wisdom*

Ooooohkaaay, a scrapped idea ::pokes brain::

When I start writing, a good part of the time, I have no idea where I'm going. Sometimes I will have a single scene to write towards, sometimes I will scribble down a vague skeleton of an idea, but a lot of the time I have the scene I start with and then have to work out how the hell they got into that situation.

For example, my current 'Virg got shot' fic. I wrote that from a prompt that pretty much outlined the scene in purpose. Someone interrupting another person, trying to get their attention, but that person is too busy and brushes them away, until they say that they are shot and the freak out happens. Which is essentially what I wrote.

The purpose of writing it was just to write. I had zero plans of expanding it, I don't need any more wips. But then...

What about Scott's point of view? Would be interesting to see his thoughts, so I started writing that second bit. John poked his nose into the equation as I often like to let my characters' thoughts wander - it can be entertaining.

By the end of writing that bit, the fic is calling out for more. What's next? Could be a hospital scene...eh, boring...hmmm, why did he get shot? Is it related to anything else that has sprung up in the story? Damnit, I can't write tomorrow cos I have to work all day pretty much 8am - 8pm. But that is not going to stop me from building ideas.

But anyway, I'm waffling, I do that.

For Sweetapple part 3, I have a definite scene I'm writing towards. There will be a moment and I will love it and it will be great. Whenever I finally get there. And if it plays out as I see it or the story demands something else, well, hopefully that will be fun, too.

Cos sometimes those scenes change. 'Gentle Rain' was all about one scene that occurred in Chapter 12, but that scene never happened in the way it was conceived (cos it would have killed da Virg and we can't do that), so it came out differently. Ultimately I find character logic and plot demands write the story.

I have written myself into corners, even one where things took a sharp turn simply because I didn't have the energy to write what needed to be written if the story continued in the direction it was going. See if you can work out where I changed direction in 'Who do you save, John?' It bugs me each time I reread it and I'm tempted to write an alternative ending because it could have been so much more.

Then there are the fics with massive plot holes that I can't fix and just have to watch them as they sail past. 'The Tattoo' has a massive hole in it, but I wanted to explore the concept, so completely ignored it. The pedantic in me has a fit every time.

And I'm still waffling, sorry.

A scrapped idea...none in my current wips because...hold on...Callisto. I stopped writing Callisto because it was Virgil's birthday at the time and I needed a break, but mostly because I felt I was writing into a corner. Virgil was too whumped to function and I needed him to be funtioning. Multiple rereads has me questioning that decision, I could just keep writing and work around it. Also, Jeff isn't working the way I wanted him to, plus the Mechanic went on the voyage but hasn't had any impact on the plot. Wanted him to do stuff, but it hasn't written itself. So I stopped to re-evaluate. Unfortunately that is not how I normally write and stopping was a mistake cos I stopped...for years. I haven't thrown bits of the fic out yet, but it needs some fixing.

If I do 'throw something out' of a fic, I always keep it. I have a file that usually sits next to my main fic file that says something like 'Callisto - cuts'. I stash cut text in there just in case I need it later. Most of my long fics have one of those files sitting around somewhere.

What am I struggling with? This is also for @sofasurf ::hugs:: who also asked.

My problem isn't ideas, it is usually focus. Put it this way, if I was a kid in school now, I'd be diagnosed with some attention difficulties or executive dysfunction or whatever. I'm definitely on the spectrum (that was diagnosed when I was four, but my parents didn't believe the doctor apparently). I've had years of practise working with my brain and have minimised its effects on work and my life (being unable to finish things is a real curse) but as you can see, my creative life is still impacted.

So writing...I can only write in short bursts. My longest ever was 7000 words in one day, all day. Most of the time I write between 400 and 1500 words at a time. I use the Terry Pratchett method of 400 a day when I can, which is why you will often see short bits of my fic flung up on my blog. I try to write to a publishable point and not stop in the middle of a crucial scene or something, but both my working life and my attention span impact on what gets written. Some of those fics were all written on the side of the road outside my kids school in tiny little bits, fifteen minutes here, ten minutes there, that kind of thing. It has been a big thing for me to learn that little bits can make big things. I am now using this theory with my crochet as well :D

As for my current WIPs challenges. It comes back to asking myself questions - why was Virg shot? (I have an answer and I like it, but the fic will likely get bigger and Scotty might need to take out another country :D)

Vamp!Virg fic - currently deciding between POVs for the next scene. Also need to build some world rules.

Getting around problems can be simply switching POV or someone walks into the room. Characters can also be the greatest source of problems. Like the time Alan decided he wanted to visit the site of his mother's accident - I knew the moment I wrote his line that I now had several thousand more extra words to write and a pile of research to do (I now know a lot about Mount Rainier :D). But writing those words ended up with that ending....which I am so soppy about. I wrote poetry for goodness sake.

Ah, it's 10.30pm and I'm rambling all over the place making little sense.

In the end it is just writing. Don't push yourself too hard, remember it is supposed to be fun, not torture (yeah, right) and often a good thing to do is to poke a friend and ask them to slap you around the head a couple of times to knock some sense in. I have had several Thunderfam members do this for me. Thanks guys :D

Write little, write big, just write and see what happens.

Nutty

(sense is apparently optional)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

Procrastination WIP ask!

2. 🍄Decriscribe your wip/one of your wips in the format of “___ + ___ =___”  

😁💙

Exhausted Nutty + keyboard = tired!Virgil

Prompt + Nutty = shot!Virg

Earthquake + Alexander Sweetapple = FreakedOut!Virg

Random idea from sometime ago + spare time while on holiday = Vamped!Virg (oops)

Long term Marks & Wings (years long) + another writer enthused about it = 1200 more words of Em Harris waiting to be published

Secret Santa + Gordon = underwater injured!Gords

I think I’ll stop there, if that fits the bill? :D

Also…

Five bros + one recently discovered Dad + the Mechanic + and emergency on one of Jupiter’s moons = Callisto (which I still haven’t forgotten about since it is 45,000 words long, so it has to be finished)

Nutty

(Thank you so much for asking :D )

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #virgil tracy #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

::rolls up sleeves and brainstorms all over the keyboard::

If you want to do it, do it. Don't hide. Everyone had to start somewhere (wanna see my first ever fic? I was 18 and the internet did not exist, also, it was really badly written; you can find my second ever written fic here - its TOS Trek). We've all been there and we are all learning. Don't be scared, Thunderfam at least is here to support. For you fanartists out there, check out How I learnt Portraiture and then check out this post to prove that I can paint, honestly, really I can :D

If you do encounter negativity - block/ban. In fandom, if you can't say something nice, shut up and go away. Don't like, don't read, and mind your own business. I'm all for self curating your online experience. The only time constructive criticism is polite is when you know the person and they've asked. Like I have several members of Thunderfam I come screaming to while writing with the question, does this suck? These are my sanity checkers - Gavii, unfortunately you have taken on this mantle and suffer on a fairly regular basis. Nutty by name and nature.

Works in Progress - anyone who has known me here at all knows I leave a wake of WiPs behind me. Some I get back to, some, not so much (I promise to pull Alex out from under that building, I do!). WiPs are part of the way an artist works (I have so many in so many media, omigod). Because fanfic is published close to the leading edge of creation, its gonna happen. Fanfic is written for fun, after all. The key is to not let them beat you up in the head. Yes, there is unfinished stuff, but it doesn't mean you can't write something else in the meantime. Don't let it stop your muse. I am notorious for unfinished stuff and the real world hates it. But this isn't the real world, THIS IS FOR FUN. I know the marketing theories and the regularity of posting and popularity and what is at stake if either not enough is published regularly or if too much unfinished stuff disappoints the reader. But again, if you let the WiPs hang around your neck too much and badger you, they will drown you. It will become a job, a burden, something you hate. So don't pressure yourself. Work with your muse and see what you can wrangle out of it...at your own pace. You might be surprised what works.

The Terry Pratchett method - I don't know if it is true or not, but there is a post flying around Tumblr somewhere that claims Terry Pratchett, famous author, only aimed to write 400 words a day. This is something I have found extremely useful. If you want to write something, don't set the bar too high so you fail. Set it at a reachable level, even 200 words or 100 words. Honestly the hardest part is actually sitting down and starting. Before you know it you will have passed your low goal and blown it out of the water 3000 words later (my highest number of words in one day was 7000 - I tend to edit as I go, so it slows me down). Rarely do we have an entire day we can write, cos life keeps getting in the way. So do it in little bits. I'm doing this method with my crochet at the moment. Lots of little bits make big bits. This is how I've written many of my longer fics. Heh, I used to have fifteen minutes in the car before work, so I'd pull up on the side of the road and write as much as I could in that time. Sometimes having a limited time helps with that as well.

But the biggest thing you can do to improve your writing is to get to know yourself very well. I'm on the autism spectrum and likely have some forms of ADHD or Executive Dysfunction (I literally cried the day I found out it had a name as to why I couldn't finish things). It's taken me years to work out how to get work out of myself. How to avoid fighting myself (a fight I never win). To learn what works best for me and how I can herd the cats in my brain into them doing what I need them to do. Find out what makes you tick. Find out what sparks your muse, what way best enables you to write. Try different times of the day, different places, bribe yourself, time limit yourself, lock the family out of the room, go to the beach, write on paper, go mobile, write on your phone, scribble notes, anything that can get your brain doing what you want it to do. Sometimes reading fic can do it, showers and manual work are great for idea sparking - let the brain idle and it comes up with all sorts of interesting things. Very late night writing can be a doozy of a trip :D Find what works then do it - until it changes and you have to find it again because yes, my brain does that too, drat it.

And that is probably enough babbling from me :D I need to go find Virgil and a pick up with his name on it...or Gordon's...it's still gelling in my brain :D

I hope this helps someone, even just a tiny bit. Writing is hard work, don't let it drown you. Also, we all have up and down days, just because something sucks today, doesn't mean it will feel the same tomorrow. Never give up, never surrender, and if you do give up on one thing....ooh, look there's another one to play with.

Thank you for asking ::squishy hugs you lots::

Nutty

(who despite this will still have days where the writing will not work...in which case, I'm gonna do something else for a bit until brain decides it wants to play....stupid brain, do it on demand, you pile of goop)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

I don't really subscribe to the thunderbirds fandom anymore but i traversed back her to say that my America behind discovered what a gumnut is and what the children's book is and I kid you not all this time I thought your URL was a combination of the term "nut" (as in crazy) and gum as in bubble gum.

Do not worry, you are not the first ::hugs::

Just to clarify, 'gumnut' refers to the woody fruit of the eucalyptus trees, the dominant species of tree in Australia. They come in all shapes and sizes and the flowers are gorgeous.

I don't actually like chewing gum at all :D

::hugs all of you anyway::

Nutty

(nuts either way :D )

#nutty is nuts #thunderfam

[gumnut-logic]

Have you ever considered posting either short videos or time lapse videos of your beading/weaving/bracelet making?

I think that would be really cool to see. I totally get if you’re not comfortable with it, or it’s not super feasible. But if it’s possible, I think it would be really interesting.

I love seeing all your art. I’ve scrolled through the #nuttybeads tag a few too many times just to look at all the colors and patterns!

Oh wow, you are sooooo kind to me! I received this yesterday and have reread it several times, putting it aside until I could give it the attention I wanted to give it. Thank you ever so much for your kind words about my art :D

I have been meaning to do something with YouTube forever. I have the equipment and even some experience (I do some basic video creation for work), but time is the challenge.

However, coincidentally, I was asked at work today if I would be willing to teach a class about some video editing software (that I currently know very little about), so with your kind words and this project in mind (I have about six months to teach myself) I might actually attempt something. Would you be willing to suffer me fumbling around with video on my blog? :D

In the meantime, you can find what little I have done over the last ten years on my YouTube channel and the handful of reels I have on my Instagram account (@gumnutinspired).

Thank you again for such encouragement. It means a lot to me, it really does ::hugs you tight::

Nutty

(off the edge, but learning to fly)

#nuttyart #nuttybeads #nutty is nuts #thunderfam

[gumnut-logic]

It's Mother's Day where I live so I thought I'd wish the fandom's resident mom a Happy Mother's Day!

Awwww, thank you ::hugs you lots::

I guess Virg kinda fills that role a little bit (okay, I admit it, I headcanon Scott being a kind of father figure along with Virg doing the necessary mothery type stuff, I can't help myself - it is canon he said to remember to brush your teeth! And that wiping Alan's face with his own spit...yeeesh ::giggles:: )

Aaaand Virg has taken up residence in my head, so what can I do?

I hope you and all the rest of Thunderfam have had a nice Mother's Day. I ate pizza and selfishly wrote all day (3500 words posted last night woohoo :D ). I may have consumed far too much candy, oops.

But really, this fandom as a whole is full of amazing mums and amazing people in general, so I think we all contribute to the fantastic atmosphere in our fandom. So I'll take your kind words hug them and now pass them onto everyone else as well, including you (yes, I see your wonderful likes on my stuff ::hugs you tight::), cos I know I'm looked after by this amazing group as much as anyone else ::hugs you all::

Nutty

(You are all amazing)

#thunderfam #nutty is nuts

[gumnut-logic]

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I have a list!

Because I have a range of interests and like finding more and I am a geek. Generally I pick a brother to feed my geekery through.

Gordon gets all my marine biology interests. I love a good crab.

Virgil gets to paint. As mentioned earlier, I has the painting knowledge and can speak all the colours and techniques. Unfortunately, I have no music skills so I come screaming to you or other poor Thunderfam victims who have musical knowledge (you know who you are ::squishes you lots:: ).

Virgil also gets all the sensory stuff cos I can sneak it in under the title of 'artist' :D This is why he ends up standing on beaches and staring at the clouds and the birds. He also has all the nature knowledge as I'm also a plant geek (mostly limited to Australia, but I have access to the internet and can find out lots of things).

Johnny gets to play space because he is Johnny. He gets to be the sociophobe I naturally am and spends lots of time alone (although I would likely get bored up there - my Virgil is not a fan of space because I think I would hate it up there without the ecosystem to support me - yeah, poor Virg gets the most nuts, sorry). I am a bit of a spack geek too, so yeah, Callisto :D

Scott and Gordon get the military vibes. I'm not beyond a cool tough guy, really. Also, I have been known to put Tracy bros in fast cars because there is nothing like winding the windows down on a summers eve and cruising down the esplanade. Though their Lambos are so much more stylish than my Toyota Camry and its shoddy paintwork.

And beaches, there are lots of beaches. The Kermadecs have had the biggest influence on my writing of the boys. I really just want to be on a permanent holiday and take them with me :D

Basically, I like to have fun and try new stuff. A little whump with a bucket of comfort is my usual thing, but TB2 occasionally treks in extra fluff.

Themes....I think one of the strongest is in V.T. Green. My thoughts on formal education scream through that one. So sometimes there are things like that as well.

And I'm rambling again...I haven't eaten my afternoon snack yet :D

Thank you so much for asking ::hugs you even more::

Nutty

(I have all the info at my fingertips, the internet is amazing)

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderfam

[gumnut-logic]

A quick guide to Nutty’s blog

Hi, everyone, new and old to this blog.

Been meaning to write this up for some time. Finally just sat down and wrote stuff because it needs to be done since I’ve recently been posting a few more things in one topic and a few less in others.

This blog started off as a fandom blog. It still is. You will see fanfic and art from the amazing Thunderbirds fandom, both mine and others posted here regularly. Along with prompts, discussions, challenges and other shenanigans. Love da Thunderfam.

If you haven’t already worked it out, Virgil is my fav Tracy brother, but love them all really and write them all to varying degrees.

However, I also post art and craft here, so you will see some of that. Some of you may have followed me recently for this reason. If so, welcome!

One handy thing to know is that I’m a librarian and this blog is tagged within an inch of its life. So with a little fiddling with Tumblr, you can follow/block any tags of mine you want to, or don’t want to see.

So here is the key to my blog :D

For the Thunderfam:

Nuttyfic is where you will find all my original posting of my fic (except the very early ones - it took me a bit to clue on that I might want to find my stuff one day.

Nuttyfic reblog is where I reblog my previously published stuff at a whim or because I wanted to at some point. These are all repeats and formatted differently from my new fics. you can block this one if you find them annoying.

thunderbirds fanfiction and thunderbirds fanart are basically what they say. Everyone’s, including mine, blogged, reblogged, whatever. If you are looking for a particular person’s work on my blog, all work reblogged by me has the artist’s name tagged to the post. For example, tracybirds, gaviiadastra, soniabigcheese, thatkidwholikesthunderbirds, etc

Flyboytracy, our amazing gif-maker, I plead guilty to reblogging a lot of their stuff (though likely only a fraction of what they have done - find them at @flyboytracy )

TBDailyDose is my tag for all my screen shots. So if you are looking for art reference, this might be a great place to start. Admittedly, you will discover how often I reuse favourite shots, but there are a lot of headshots in that pile. I really should capture more.

I’ve also tagged for character content - Scott Tracy, Virgil Tracy, John Tracy, Gordon Tracy, Alan Tracy, Grandma Tracy, Kayo Kyrano, Hiram Hackenbacker, Jeff Tracy, Eos, Penelope Creighton Ward, Aloysius Parker.

Bro combos - earth and sky, fishtank, astroturf - not a complete list this one and many more recent than some of the other tags.

There are some relationships tagged as well - virgil/kayo, scott/em, scayo, virgil/brains, gordon/penelope (pen and ink) - if you are not a fan of romance, I’ve have been tagging for that for about the last year, so it can be blocked if you desire.

I have also tagged all my major series, but you are probably better served by visiting my Ao3 account where everything is in order. But since I’m here...Kermadec AU, Supermen AU, Steampunk AU (and Where there be dragons AU), Callisto, Marks and Wings, Warm Rain, Gentle Rain.

And then there are some of the challenges held in Thunderfam - fanartam, fabfivefeb, irrelief, sensorysunday, nuttys fandomversary, fluffember.

Wow, that’s a lot of stuff.

For those of you not into fandom:

nuttybeads - all my crafting, which tends to be mostly beading, but does include crochet and micromacrame as well as whatever else catches my eyes and my wallet :D

nuttyart - admittedly this does include some fanart, mostly Thunderbirds, but from time to time, I do other stuff - like I should be doing :D

I’ve also recently started a palette challenge, for however long it lasts - you can find it tagged nuttypalette.

There will also be geeking out over nature topics and the occasional piece of photography usually of beaches, sunsets or critters.

And that is pretty much it in a nutshell (a very big nut in my case :D)

I hope you enjoy whatever you end up following here.

Nutty

(off the edge, but learning to fly)

#nutty is nuts