ThunderPride

^^^ First things first, a chat between me and Silver from when Scott helped her figure out her name finally... Side note: Yes, Jeff has feelings about hearing this name again. Not only did he get to indirectly help Kat with her name change... Lucille did too, from well beyond the grave. May have been part of the reason Kat latched on to the name so hard

... Meanwhile Gordon thought picking on his sister by making silly nicknames was the next step when he was told.

Self Explanatory.

Chapter One

“Virgil?”

The voice behind him in the Sydney coffee shop caught Virgil Tracy’s ear. He turned towards a familiar person.

“Dr Furnier?”

Stephen Furnier smiled. “Hello, Virgil.” 

“Hello, Dr Furnier.” Virgil smiled in return. 

The men shook hands.

“You saved my life. I think you should call me Stephen.” He remembered how nice Virgil Tracy smelled when the IR operative had carried him onto Thunderbird Two. His cologne scent was light but very appealing. Stephen hadn’t been able to get it out of his head for weeks afterwards. 

“Okay…Stephen.” The two men smiled. “You’re looking good.”

“So are you.”

Virgil chuckled. “I meant since the last time I saw you, but thank you.”

“Oh!” Stephen blushed and then, scratching the back of his neck, chuckled. “How embarrassing.

Stephen Furnier was just as Virgil remembered him. Attractive, trim, and neatly attired, with that full head of blond hair he wanted to run his fingers through. Virgil was a sucker for blonds. Not wanting to get distracted and keen to put the other man at ease, Virgil asked, “So, what brings you to the wilds of Sydney?”

“Ah. I’m in Sydney for work. I plan to be here roughly a year.”

“There are certainly enough spiders here to keep you busy.”

The line moved, and the two men moved forward. 

“There are!”

Virgil chuckled. “Deadly and otherwise.”

“Actually, Australia has more non-lethal spiders than people think.”

They moved forward with the line.

“Oh. It probably doesn’t help that we only hear about the deadly ones.”

Stephen chuckled. “No.”

“Are you looking for any spiders in particular?”

“Not this time. I’m doing work for the Australian government. They’ve asked a group of arachnologists and herpetologists to study the effect of climate change on the ecosystems of spiders, lizards and snakes.”

“That sounds interesting.”

“It is!”

“Will you be working in Sydney?”

“Not the entire time. We’ll be going around the country. We’re trekking into Western Australia for a month in a couple of weeks.”

“What can I get for you two?”

Stephen and Virgil looked in surprise at the barista. They hadn’t noticed that the line had progressed so far. They looked at each other. 

Virgil tilted his head and held out his hand. “What do you say, doc? My treat.”

Stephen raised his hands in protest. “No, no. You saved my life. It’s my treat.”

“But you saved my life capturing the creepy spider.”

“Creeping banana spider.”

“Guys.”

The two men looked in the direction of the voice. The barista stood with their eyebrows raised. 

“Lumberjack, let the doc buy you coffee; you can buy him dinner, but let’s keep the line moving, okay?”

The two men blushed. “Um, sure.” “Yes, okay.”

“What’ll you have, Lumberjack?”

“I prefer Logistical Tree Feller.”

“Yeah, but it’s too wordy.”

Virgil shrugged. “Okay. Lumberjack it is. I’ll have a Long Black, please.”

“Okay.” The barista typed his order into the computer. They looked at Stephen. “And you, big spender?”

“Yes, um… may I please have a flat white?”

“Right-o.” The barista rang up their order. 

Stephen touched his thumb to the pay pad, causing a soft beep, indicating that he had paid. 

“We’ll call when your order is ready.”

Stephen stopped them. “Wait. Don’t you need our names?”

The barista cocked their head. “Do ya think there are more than one Doc and Lumberjack in here?”

Stephen frowned. “Umm…”

Virgil chuckled. “Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out…doc.”

Stephen blushed and chuckled. “Oh, yes. Of course.” 

They moved away from the counter and stood together. Virgil was enjoying talking to Stephen and wished to continue their conversation. He hoped Stephen felt the same. 

“Shall we find a table? We can keep talking…unless you have to go….”

“No!” Stephen blushed again. He glanced at Virgil from beneath his eyelashes. “No, my afternoon is free…and I want to continue our conversation.” He smiled when Virgil’s face lit up at his reply. 

“Okay.” 

They found a table near a window and sat. 

“I’ve been terribly rude. Virgil, I neglected to ask what you were doing in Sydney.” 

“That’s okay, doc-”

“Stephen, please, Virgil.”

Virgil nodded. “That’s okay, Stephen…I have a few days of R&R. I’m taking in a couple of museum exhibits, and I managed to get tickets for tomorrow to see Ming Ha at the Opera House.”

“Ming Ha? I’m not familiar with them.”

“She’s a classical pianist.”

“Oh. Classical music isn’t really my thing.” Stephen hesitated, wondering if he had said the wrong thing. He cleared his throat and spoke quickly. “Do you like classical music?”

“I do! I enjoy playing it on the piano, but I prefer jazz.”

Stephen’s face lit up. “I like jazz too!” 

The men smiled at each other. 

“Doc and Lumberjack!”

“I’ll get it.” Stephen rose and went to collect their coffees. 

Virgil looked out the window, watching passersby until his companion returned with the nectar of life coffee. An idea occurred to him, and he tapped a message into his phone. A moment later, his phone tinged. Reading the reply, he smiled and looked up in time to see Stephen returning with their coffees. 

“A tall black for the tall black-haired gentleman and a flat white for the spider guy.” Stephen grinned at Virgil while he set the cups on the table and retook his seat. “What are you grinning at?”

“I’m not grinning.”

“Virgil, you look like a cat who’s eaten a canary. What is it?”

“The coffee is called a long black, not tall black.”

“Oh.” The blond blushed. “Australian coffee rituals are very confusing.”

“They are if you aren’t familiar with them. You did okay ordering your coffee. Unless you didn’t actually want a flat white.”

Stephen sipped his coffee. “Mmm, this is exactly what I wanted.”

“Now you’re prepared for next time.”

“And I’ll try to remember it’s long black, not tall.” He sipped his coffee again and noticed Virgil grinning at him. “What? You’re grinning again…do I have foam on my lip?” He swiped his hand across his lips.

“No, you’re fine.” Virgil paused, staring at Stephen’s lips. “Um….” He shook himself. “I checked on Ms Ha’s program, and she’s performing works by Jean-Michel Blais.”

“I’m not familiar with him.”

“He’s a modern Canadian composer. I think he’s still alive. Philip Glass was one of his influences, and some of his works have a jazzy feel.”

Stephen made a face. “Jazzy?”

Virgil laughed. “Oh no, don’t make that face. Okay, jazzy is a bad description. But his work is interesting, and Ms Ha is a talented pianist.”

“You don’t have to sell me on your evening plans, Virgil.”

“Yeah, about that.” 

Stephen looked expectantly at him. 

“I was wondering if you might like to come with me tomorrow night.”

“To see Ms Ha perform?”

“Yes, I have an extra ticket…” Virgil briefly wondered if he had misread Stephen’s interest. “Unless you have other plans, or there’s someone you’re seeing, then….”

“No.”

“No?” Virgil wilted slightly in disappointment. 

Stephen’s eyes widened at his companion’s obvious disappointment. “No, that’s not what I meant. No, I don’t have plans…and there isn’t anyone at the moment….” 

The two men looked at each other; neither had misread anything. 

Stephen smiled shyly. “I’d love to join you.”

Virgil smiled. “Excellent.” He sipped his nectar of life coffee. It was very good. “So, Stephen, what are your plans for this afternoon?”

“I haven’t any.”

A black eyebrow rose at this information. “There’s an exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art I’ve been dying to see, and it’s leaving after this week. Would you like to spend the afternoon with me?”

“I’d like that very much, Virgil.”

They grinned at each other and sipped their coffees.

1 - The current Lesbian Pride Flag was created by Emily Gwen in 2018. A five-stripe variant is commonly used today.

2 - The current Gay Men Pride Flag was created by Triton in 2019. A five stripe variant is commonly used today.

3 - The Bisexual Pride Flag was created by Michael Page in 1998.

4 - The Transgender Pride Flag was created by Monica Helms in 1999

5 - The Asexual Pride Flag was created by standup, an active user on AVEN (Asexuality Visibility and Education Network) in 2010.

6 - The Non-binary Pride Flage was created by Kyle Rowan in 2014.

7 - The Genderfluid Pride Flag was created by JJ Poole in 2014

8 - The Genderqueer Pride Flag was created in Marilyn Roxie in 2011

9 - The original Pride Flag (now known as the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag) was created by Gilbert Baker in 1978. The six stripe variant (without the pink) is now well recognised as an umbrella pride flag for the queer community.

10 - The Pansexual Pride Flag was created by Jasper V in 2010

11 - The Polyamorous Pride Flag was recently updated by a community vote held in 2022 to a design known as the “tricolor polyamory pride flag” which was created by Red Howell, however the original design from 1995, by Jim Evans, is still circulated amongst many and still well recognised. You will likely see others if you go searching online.

12 - The Intersex Pride Flag was created by Morgan Carpenter in 2013

13 - The Aromantic Pride Flag was created by cameronwhimsy in 2014.

14 – The Progress Pride Flag was created by Daniel Quasar in 2018 and was inspired by the Philadelphia Pride Flag (2017). The current intersex inclusive version was adapted by Valentino Vecchietti in 2021.

THUNDERPRIDE ASK GAME

Send a number!

Talk about a favourite trans headcanon

Tell me an alternate queer headcanon for a character

Introduce a queer OC to the fandom

Tell me a queer headcanon you'd like to create for

Recommend a favourite queer fanwork

Recommend a favourite piece of queer media

Name a character that helped you love yourself

Name a character that made you feel seen

Describe a fluffy moment for a favourite queer ship

Describe an angsty moment for a favourite queer ship

Create a crossover with media featuring queer characters

Plot an episode where a character is confirmed to be queer

Send a letter and a character!

Bingo Prompt Board

Row 1, Column 1: Support

Row 1, Column 2: Flowers

Row 1, Column 3: Holding Hands

Row 2, Column 1: Smile

Row 2, Column 2: Wedding

Row 2, Column 3: Beach

Row 3, Column 1: Engagement

Row 3, Column 2: Rainbow

If you don't want to fill out the graphic above but still want to develop your headcanons further, here are some questions to think about and get you started:

What's their sexuality? What's their gender identity?

What are the significant relationships in their life? Are these relationships romantic, platonic, or queerplatonic?

How do they figure out their identity? Do they ever figure out their identity?

How open are they about their identity? How did their coming out go?

What queer symbols do they use? Do they wear pins and patches, do they have flags hung up in their house? Do they celebrate pride?

What queer media are they into? What music do they listen to? Are there any queer fictional characters or celebrities they look up to?

Unlabled - An identity where someone either can't/doesn't want to label their gender and/or sexuality.

Achillian - Men and masc aligned people who are attracted to other men and masc individuals. Also known as MLM or Men Loving Men.

Aroace - An identity where an individual doesn't feel sexual or romantic attraction. Also known as aromantic asexual.

Transmasc - Also known as transmasculine refers to someone who feels their gender is masculine. People who come under the transmasc label may be: trans men & trans boys, demiboys and non-binary individuals.

Omnisexual - A sexuality where someone is attracted to more than one gender, it is often compared to pansexual but the gender of the person they're attracted to plays a role in how that attraction is felt.

Alloace - An identity where someone feels romantic attraction but not sexual attraction. They may be homoromantic asexual, biromantic asexual, panromantic asexual, heteroromantic asexual, ect.

Queer - A label refering to anyone who is not straight and/or cisgender. It is a reclaimed slur, anyone in the lgbtqia+ community may decide to use this term to describe themselves but not everyone is comfortable using it for themselves.

Agender - An identity where someone feels like their gender is completely neutral or non existent.

Sapphic - Women and feminine aligned people who are attracted to other women and femme individuals. Also known as WLW or Women Loving Women.

Demigender - A gender identity where someone only feels a partial connection to a gender or feels kind of but not fully a certain gender. Demiboy and Demigirl come under the demigender label.

Alloaro - An identity where someone feels sexual attraction but not romantic attraction. They may be homosexual aromantic, bisexual aromantic, pansexual aromantic, heterosexual aromantic, ect.

Transfemme - Also known as transfeminine, refers to someone who feels their gender is feminine. People who come under the transfemme label may be: trans women & trans girls, demigirls and non-binary individuals.

Bigender - A gender identity where someone feels connected to two genders or more. This could be, male and female, male and non-binary, female and agender ect.

Dealer's choice or pick your own (bonus pallete) - if a flag you want isn't in this year's challenge, or if you don't know what pallete to pick you can send this option to who ever is taking part in the challenge.

Here's a link to last year's pallete challenge for more options.