#boys planet alumni

[kpop-bbg]

[denim-bias]

[club-cheongyang]

[evilminji]

You know what I would kill to see?

Nedzu, in the Zone.

He IS a registered Hero, after all. He probably gets calls for missions. Failing that, he's still legal allowed to intervene. Like, say, if some poor four year old were losing their shit? Got separated from their mommy, their headache, which has been getting Ochier ALL DAY has finally gotten Really REALLY bad... and they... they just CAN'T! So they melt down.

Whoops. Four year old with portals.

In a crowd.

Luckily he, Mr. Principle, is a "cute" looking sort of Hero. And as an educator, well trained in de-escala-*CRASH!* Some jackass glory chasing young thing, with no care for innocent lives around them, smashes onto the scene. Terrifying the poor child. Which obviously makes their non-existent control WORSE.

Starts throwing the word "villian" around.

Nedzu is going to EAT his license in front of him.

The poor thing is hyperventilating, crying, clinging desperately to Nedzus suit. Things are being flung from portals. Sucked into portals. He's seen no less then 53 SEPERATE dimensions on the other side of those rifts. At least two were to the open void of space.

He narrowly dodges a portal straight into the heart of a volcano. Can feel the blistering heat singe his fur. Alumni from HIS school, at least, have arrived to actually SAVE people. Get the crowd away from the danger zone.

And to think, all he wanted was some tea.

How this MORON doesn't recognize him, he has no idea. His graduates are actively SHOUTING his identity, for heavens sake. Yet the glory hound continues to chase his so called "villians" at the expense of everyone around him.

He's about to throw the boy to a near by police officer, to get to safety, when the worst occurs. The tract of land he was about to push off of disappears beneath them. The boy's mother screams. He activates High Specs, world slowing as his mind rushs. Twisting, he throws the boy high.

The portal closes before he can see if it is Eraserhead or Cementoss who will be the one to catch him. The odds were 68.3% in Eraserhead's favor. He hopes... Aizawa, does so take these things quite hard, he hope he will not blame himself.

There was no way to catch him in time.

He was already gone.

Gravity arrests, slowing to a drifting meander. The air thick with something the burns his sensitive nose. Green. Everything is a very peculiar green. This is not a planets or if it is, it is countless times larger then Earth. A gas giant of some sort? There does not appear to be a horizon.

In the distance, an almost stereotypical spaceship changes destinations. Now aiming right for him. It seems aid might be on the way. With nothing better to do, he waits. They slow to a stop, a hatch opens, and... oh? A young Hero student! Hello there young man! I am Mr. Principle of the illustrious UA!

And just? Danny? Trying to return this small furry alien guy back to his alien hero school? Getting the run around and "hmmmm, let me look that uuuup *takes forever* yeeeeah, soooorry. You're in the wrong department. You'll have to fly like three days to this OTHER department, fill out 260 forms, and dance for our amusement. Byeeeee~"

Like? He just wants to get this guy HOME! Why are you all LIKE THIS!?

All while Nedzu is " :) My, this is FASCINATING. I am learning new things, battling wits, learning new languages, AND guiding a promising young mind towards a future of Better Heroics? Delightful! This is practically a vacation!"

He even stops by the Fentons for dinner. Some fudge. A little light destruction of Goverment branches on the side. Just? A Grand ol adventure of Nedzu.

Danny suffers through bureaucratic hell. But Nedzu? The most mentally stimulated he's been in years. His crops are watered and his fur is groomed. Thriving! New toys!

Then?? He just... shows back up to work.

How did he return? Where has he been?? Who is this glowing green Hero Child groaning face down on his very expensive carpet? *sips tea* wouldn't YOU like to know, weather boy! *maniacal Nedzu laughter*

@hdgnj @babbling-babull @lolottes @nerdpoe @the-witchhunter @hypewinter @spidori

[petalsscribbles]

3. first impression

"We're here, young master." The driver says, capturing Yn's attention that was up until now stolen by raindrops sliding over the car window, imagining they are in some sort of one on one race.

"Thanks. I'll see you at 3." Yn says as he gathers his things, gets out the car and unfolds his umbrella.

The rain isn't particularly heavy, but it's not your usual springtime shower either. The school's building lives up to it's reputation. The academy is well known for it's prestigous status, famous alumni and snobbish appearance. The architecture is old but well kept, the gardens and yard are neat and tidy.

Here goes nothing.

Other students run by him covering their heads with their bags as they try to get to the school as dry as possible. Yn wonders why most kids didn't bring an umbrella, but he supposes not everyone obsessively checks the radar like he does.

"Excuse me, are you Yn Ln?" Someone asks right at the entrance as Yn shakes the droplets off his umbrella. The boy is dressed in the schools uniform, face-wise about the same age as everyone else but taller than most.

"Yes, that's me." Yn confirms. The boy smiles and holds out his hand.

"I'm Lee Heeseung, the vice president." Yn takes his hand and shakes it. It's ice cold, but he decides not to comment. "Mr. school president asked to take you on a tour personally once he's done with his duties for the day. He should be finishing up by now, actually. I'll take you to him. Shall we?" Heeseung explains and points towards the staircase in a gentlemanly way.

"So uhm..." Yn starts, having no idea how to start a friendly conversation. "What's your favourite planet?"

Heeseung looks taken aback but doesn't question it.

"Venus, I guess." He answers a few beats later.

"That's a good one. Did you know Evening Star and Morning Star are both actually Venus? The acid clouds in its atmosphere make it very reflective and shiny so people think it's an actual star."

"Really? That's cool. What else should I know about my favourite planet?" Heeseung says and Ynn doesn't have to be told twice.

"A day on Venus is longer than a year. It takes 243 Earth days to rotate but 225 Earth days to orbit around the Sun. Also..."

"Sunghoon's gonna love you." Heeseung chuckles to himself, quiet enough to not interrupt Yn's Venus fact-spitting streak.

The rest of the way is spent by Yn's ramblings about Mars and Heeseung patiently listening.

"We're here." Heeseung announces, knocking twice on the door frame. The school president turns around to face the two, flashing Yn a friendly smile. Everything about his looks is unfairly perfect, as if he was chiseled by God himself. Yn doesn't know whether to feel insecure or stare in awe.

He makes his way towards them with long strides but stops midway, his lips curving into a frown and eyes turning dark red. What once was a welcoming expression is now contempt. Disgust.

Heeseung takes a step forward, shielding Yn with his tall frame.

"Hey, what the hell is wrong with you Sunghoon? Snap out if it right now." Heeseung warns. Sunghoon's eyes go back to normal, but the scowl stays as pushes past them and leaves the classroom.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No! No, you didn't do anything wrong. I don't know what's gotten into him today. I'll text Jungwon and he'll slap some into him." Heeseung reassures.

"I see." Yn says, feeling a little dejected. His only hope is that he'll be in a better mood next time they meet.

"Well, I guess that leaves the touring duty to me. Follow me."

They resume their little walk around the academy, but Yn can't help a glance in the direction Sunghoon went, the hateful gaze still lingering in his mind.

A/n: The Living Sculptures of Pemberley is such a great song to listen to while writing frfr

taglist CLOSED

@starchasing-cryptid @foxilsdenn @moonslie04 @kkurbys @winter-world @bleedingxheartt @gnusihcom @dkmyman @mortifesboy @kkyoluv @teoluvsyou @bubblztaro @conwunder @xavi-in-kpopland @monstaxpuppy @gabrielllx @tarotarosung @livingsecret

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[double-features]

ALIVE - TATE LANGDON x READER

˙◠˙------ tate langdon x gn!reader

SUMMARY : after finding out the captivating boy they fell in love with was dead, no more than a phantom haunting their house, reader wants to join him in the afterlife. they needed to stay with him forever.

WARNINGS : (attempted) suicide, topics of death

GENRE : my crappy attempt at angst!!

───────────────୨ৎ───────────────

The little bottle of prescription pills should have worked its magic. But..

You were still alive.

Having lived in the so-called 'murder house', you figured your death would be inevitable; bound to happen whether you liked it or not. And frankly, you liked it. Being just another angsty teenager, you thought that maybe things would have gotten better,

And for the most part, they did. And who else was there to thank for that than Tate. The mysterious boy that drew you in like a moth to the flame. Maybe it was his cute dimples, or those intense near-black eyes that sent shivers down your spine every single time you looked at them.. Maybe it was the morbidity that seemed to follow him, how someone so angelic had so much baggage following him.. Whatever the case, you were both intrigued and smitten.

“I would never let anyone or anything hurt you” God, Tate had such a way of making you feel seen. Making you feel like the most special person on the planet, even if you thought of yourself far from such.

You were important to him, that's all that mattered.

'My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains', you were never one for poetry before you met the boy who seemed to pop up out of nowhere; but he sparked an interest in you like no other. Tate made you feel, he was the one who kept you grounded. Poetry ended up being one of the most important things in your life after he mentioned Keats once.

He was like a guardian angel sent from the skies to protect you. Whether or not the big man up in the clouds was real, you were certain that Tate was meant to be your savior. Your wonderwall.

Such an ironic choice of words, really. Oasis' frontman himself gave the explanation on what the hell a wonderwall was; an imaginary friend who could save you from yourself. There were so many layers to that, so many connections to what you were dealing with now..

Alas, you two had been so in love. Sappy, lovesick children who clung to each other like lifelines. Tate needed you, you needed Tate. His idolization of Kurt Cobain meant so many sessions where the both of you just sat together and listened to Nirvana, cuddled up on the bed. You were locked inside his heart-shaped box. All the comfortable sweaters he lent you to keep warm at night..

“I love you. I've never felt this way about anyone..”

You should have known it was all too good to be true. Someone who fits perfectly with you? Yeah right. You still couldn't forget the sinking feeling in your gut when you first read that news article that just so happened to pop up when you were looking for Westfield High's website--

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Westfield Highschool student Tate Langdon, age 17, shot and killed 15 fellow students, injured countless others. There is no motivation known as to why the boy went through with it- some speculate drugs and bullying might have been involved, but others claim he hadn't even dealt with much.

“I didn't really know who he was, I remember that he sat in the library a lot. Just sat there, like, me and a few of my friends would stop in there during our study hall and he'd just be seated, looking at whatever book he picked out for that day,” states one student we interviewed after the massacre.

Whatever led to such a tragic event, late yesterday evening, the FBI shot the class of 94' alumni and brought justice to the innocent students he murdered just earlier in the day. Was this an elaborate suicide act? We may never know the real reason behind the sickening actions of Langdon.

All we can say is, for the families of the lives lost at Westfield, don't give up. None of this is your fault...

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

It was all so sickening.

Tate. The boy you had clicked with, the boy you gravitated towards, quite possibly one of the first major loves of your life. This.. psychopathic monster was not the Tate you had grown so fond of. Sure, Tate was a little weird, there was obviously some sort of chemical imbalance, but he would never do anything so horrible.. Would he?

Every time you click on another article, the more dread filled the pit you feel deep inside you. All the glee that being with Tate had brought you so far since your move all seemed to crumble, along with the trust you had built. Tate was a ghost.

A ghost. Dead. Just a part of your imagination. At first, you believed that maybe you had heard the name somewhere before and created this delusion of a boyfriend. But that didn't explain how the pictures perfectly matched the appearance of the grungey blond.

That was your breaking point. The moment your seemingly recovered misery returned, it hit harder than ever before.

Tate was dead. He killed people. You didn't even notice the sting in your heart at first until you saw the prescription medication in your peripheral.

Maybe it was the need to be with Tate in the afterlife, maybe it was just the old ideations bubbling over, or maybe it was the guilt of 'dating' someone so damaged. Whatever the reason, the impromptu decision led you to where you are now; in the arms of the boy you loved, under the running frigid water of the shower.

You were still alive.

Feeling the wet, cold sleeves of a sweater wrapped around your waist, you leaned back into the person seated behind you. Curse Tate for being so strangely comforting! You weren't supposed to crave his touch anymore, you were supposed to hate his guts.. But you couldn't bring yourself to do that. You could never hate Tate.

Never.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

Even hours later, not a single word was shared between the both of you guys. When he finally released you from the cramped tub and let you cope alone in your room, there was a strange pit inside of her, an emptiness that only Tate filled.

On your bed, you blankly stared at the ceiling and debated whether or not you wanted him there by your side in that moment. No matter which way you looked at it; he was the push factor for your failed attempt. Then again, it was worth mentioning that..

Tate saved you.

Contradictory, isn't it? The conflict is also the resolution. The usual pessimistic attitude you held would tell you that the negatives outweighed the overlying positive, but not this time. Your thoughts all led you to one need. Tate.

Weakly, you called out into your room, not nearly loudly enough to be considered a yell. “Tate..”

By your bedside appeared the tall boy, looking just as empty as you felt. He looked like the shell of what you knew him to be, there was no doubt that, just like you, he was affected by what happened. Why wouldn't he be? He loved you.

For what felt like forever, the two of you stared into the others dull gaze, searching for any sign of emotion to appear. It was quickly broken by him, voice shaky as he slowly sat down next to you.

“..Why would you do that..? Why would you hurt yourself like that..?”

For the first time in what seemed like forever, you didn't have some silly comeback. There was nothing funny about this at all. “I..”

“Is something wrong..? Was I not a good enough boyfriend..?”

“I'm still alive..”

The comment seemed to take Tate off guard, evident with the widened eyes and lack of a quick response. “You're-- Yeah. You're still alive..”

Alive. Because of Tate. For now, you decided to keep your awareness of what he did in his lifetime to yourself. Since, despite everything, he was still your savior. Misery loves company.

───────────────୨ৎ───────────────

≽^• ˕ • ྀི≼ ------ reblogs & likes are always appreciated, keeps me motivated to continue creating :)

A/N : first attempt at angst, totally rushed because it was my goal to just get something out before christmas. posting schedule is NAWT existent, sigh.

[radlymona]

Several British people have responded to that Tumblr to inform you, in depth, with legal and historical references, why you are confidently and completely incorrectly talking absolute nonsense about British culture. No, it’s not the same just because Australia is also an Anglophone country. Would you blindly claim France and the Ivory Coast have exactly the same cultural contexts? Take the loss gracefully.

I do not take anons who go on another person's tumblr and woefully misinterpret what I say as an "in-depth" reply to me.

Now considering, the weird amount of people who have zeroed in on this matter (like seriously of all things??) you would think I would have posted a poorly written thesis on the country's political party system.

What I actually said: There was and still is a severe bullying problem at British elite schooling institutions. Man, what an incorrect statement. Since you want references, there are many, many, many, many news articles that refrence this culture of bullying and abuse. They often have to write very covertly and include it as part of a bigger picture of terrible elite boarding school culture. Which is quite frankly, what JKR is commentating on as a whole. It also doesn't take a genius to know that bullying is still likely being underreported/glossed over/downplayed, especially when you consider the importance of boarding schools -> prestige universities -> prestige role in society, pipeline. I.e. you'd rather not be kicked out of old alumni groups, for the prestige and doorways it opens, by spilling the school's secrets on the front page news.

Now, when I mentioned hazing/fagging (and as I went on to explain in a second response that no one has responded to), I so obviously meant that with such severe practices still in place in the 1970s (even if the general public was turning against them), the equivalent of magical pantsing would not be seen as particularly severe or abnormal. At least nowhere near to the extent that it's been painted as.

And for god's sake, anybody could have commented on such a basic fact about what goes on in the British schooling system. You don't have to live there to know about the elite boarding culture (we have a very similar boys' school culture, because gee I wonder what influenced it?). I mentioned being from Australia because it kept brought up as if we were on two different planets, rather than two very culturally close countries. And I'm sorry, as long as the literal king of england is touring the country and we're having a revitalised national debate about our sovereignty and the potential republicanism, I do not give af about making a few broad comments about very a similar culture. As long as Australian senators (who represent our population) are forced to make a fucking oaths to a monarchy on the other side of the planet, I'm well within my rights to make a few broad comments.

[beezonia]

Okay so I wanted to go over some basic stuff for the magic retold!

—-

Okay so Fairies can be either male or female same with witches I call the male counterparts warlocks

Wizards are warriors with magic, they hone their fighting skills alongside their magic and it powers their weapons

Whilst Warlocks focus on the negative sides of their magic (witches and warlock aren’t bad people they were painted that way) they don’t fight with weapons they fight with magic

So big difference is Wizards fight with weapons that are infused with magic whilst warlocks fight with their raw magic

Fairies tend to focus on the positive sides of their magic and help people more so then witches/warlocks

A group of fairies are called Fae and that is the general term for them in the magic dimension

Specialists are basically wizards but because they focus on their own magic and a certain weapons they got called specialists

So yes all the boys have certain bits of magic!

——

Alfea and Cloud Tower we’re all girls schools until about 10 years after the winx graduate (their early 30’s)

That’s when the headteachers after speaking with many alumni and other graduates decide to change making it so boys & girls or just any fairy, witch, warlock and wizard could choose which school to join with no repercussions

Red fountain bred wizards

Alfea bred fairies

Cloud tower bred witches

Warlocks studied in their own schools on their home planets until this change

And some fairies went to other academies (like Beta Academy in Solaria and Linphea College)

So now

Cloud tower welcomes witches and warlocks

Alfea welcomes all fae

Red Fountain now welcomes both wizards and warlocks also fairies and witches since some of these might want to go on to become warriors instead of actual fairies or witches/warlocks

So you have Damion and Caspian (Stella and Aisha’s sons) who ended up at Alfea and Cloud tower respectively

Pascal, Flora’s son ended up at Cloud Tower as well (he thrives there despite his shy nature)

Yijun, Musa’s daughter went to red fountain for a bit before transferring to Alfea in the middle of her first year!

Theodore, Stella’s eldest son is alumni of both cloud tower and red fountain (he graduated RF slightly earlier but took his last year at cloud tower)

So you get a variety of students at each college really!

—

Some other schools like Beta Academy and Linphea college had already done that or have still stayed as boarding schools of one gender

Beta Academy still only accepts female students

You have Leto Academy which is it’s male counterpart

Linphea college allows anyone of any gender to study there, Linphea is cool like that

Andros has the Underwater Auditorium for merfolk which is right underneath the Circle of Amphitrite so their close to their human counterparts

And there are plenty of other schools in the other planets but I might put that in a part 2!

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond!: Quill Society Membership Rules

So I'm gonna do a small lore dump for IAB! here, discussing about how the Quill Society handles recruiting new candidates. As the hints have implied here and there, compared to the Funkin' Society and the Spider-Society, a member doesn't have to solely be focused around individual Sonics to be a member.

As you've seen, the members in the Quill Society are very diverse in their styles and types, such as counterparts of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Shadow all being present around the place. This also applies to numerous fan-made characters, such as Millie, Milly Prower, SunFIRE and Creamy, having roles due to their appearances and endeavours.

For one reason or another, the Quill Society has even brought in beta characters and/or glitch entities as members (examples of these including Boomer the Turtle, Ashura and Bluckles), alongside figures like Lord Mortis (a redeemed X from another timeline) and Socket/Minute (the character whose game was called a Sonic knockoff).

However, you may have also noticed that there are characters not explicitly made by SEGA that have appeared in the Society's recruit list. Well, there's a good reason for it. If a potential candidate's backstory (or a special event) has enough involvement from somebody who is a SEGA character, then the Quill Society will extend their hand to them in spite of those differences. As specific examples go:

Friday Night Funkin':

Benjamin has Hatsune Miku, a vocaloid owned by SEGA in the real world, as his big sister.

Kenji Tensei (the Boyfriend from HoloFunk Pre-6.0) was once employed by Kazuma Kiryu from Like a Dragon, and his cousin is the co-worker and best friend of Kiryu's pupils. Both the girls in question are co-workers with Korone Inugami, who is the current brand administrator for Sonic as a franchise. And in general, Kenji's world's darker writing is full of homages to Like a Dragon.

In the case of Aloe Mano (her counterpart from HoloFunk), while the Like a Dragon aspects are gone, she's still an alumni of Korone's company, and the two were pitted against each other in the final fight of the mod's 6.0 release. And it's likely that she's not beholden to the same busy schedules and bigger fish to fry like the rest of her world's main cast.

Others:

Carol and Blitz!Milla showing up in the Quill Society is because of Freedom Planet starting out as a Sonic fan game before it expanded into a full-fledged indie game (a nod to this being in Hedgelac's appearance). For Blitz!Milla, it helps that she also comes from a crossover fanfic that her boyfriend (Blitz!Tails) also stars in.

The Aladdin and Woody that survived Respiro's wrath don't have any ties to SEGA on their own (their tales instead animated by Disney), but since Respiro went and attacked a Sonic world before trying to destroy everything using Oldum's body, Blaze serves as the Sonic representative of their team, and thus granting the pair clearance for candidacy. Out-of-universe, both also have video games on the SEGA Genesis adapting their first films.

Red, one of the major characters seen in the Angry Birds franchise, was made by Rovio, a company initially independent of SEGA. Though he was made a SEGA character after the company purchased the rights to the series.

Ninjala, itself an indie game, had a Sonic crossover event in its early points that allowed players to purchase Sonic-themed cosmetics to add to their avatar, so in turn, any of the ninja from that game can be considered a candidate, considering their own schedules at WNA aren't keeping them too busy.

In the case of those who aren't capable fighters, the Quill Society is simply otherwise a hub where they can interact with others in a friendly social setting. Though Lofi Girl had the collab with SEGA and Alien: Isolation recently, she's got her usual studies booked in (same with Synthwave Boy and his programming) and might not be able to be there outside of the odd break. Lofi BF and Lofi GF might also be candidates with this in mind, but the revamped Funkin' Society in the aftermath of The X's defeat calls to them more due to it simply being a social hub and not a strike force anymore.

And that's pretty much all I've got to say regarding this. I might share some more lore stuff around IAB! some other time. Catch you all later!

4C 45 54 20 4D 4F 52 45 20 50 45 4F 50 4C 45 20 4B 4E 4F 57 20 41 42 4F 55 54 20 54 48 49 53 20 53 54 4F 52 59 2E 20 49 20 53 54 49 4C 4C 20 4E 45 45 44 20 54 48 41 54 20 57 41 59 20 54 4F 20 47 45 54 20 49 4E 53 49 44 45 2E 20 2D 20 4E 55 4C 4C

[dollarbin]

Nickel Bin #14:

Jerry Jeff Walker's Fading Lady

My famous brother is a show off. He sent me the text yesterday for his recent interview with one of the greatest humans still currently on the planet, Linda Thompson. Watch for it soon, probably on Aquarium Drunkard... And he returned from the Big Apple recently bragging about how he yanked Jerry Jeff Walker's Five Years Gone on vinyl outta of a dollar bin during the trip. That's a big find, folks: just take a listen to a single blissed-out track from that nearly impossible to track down record:

It's no fair: My biggest interview of late was with my cat. She said nothing and demanded heavy petting. And my last foray into the Dollar Bin turned up a Steve Cropper solo record form the early 80's that looks terrible.

(As a quick aside, it kinda looks like Walker invented the selfie on the cover of Five Years Gone; Jerry Jeff: visionary.)

Still, I'm a competitive dude by nature so I rode my bike 14 miles midday late last week in 90 degree weather to test my luck once again in the bin; surely, I figured, the dollar gods would reward such selfless dedication with my own copy of Five Years Gone.

Yeah, no. All I did was drop a few too many dollars on a copy of Circus Maximus's debut album. Turns out Jerry was in a Moby Grape style psychedelic boy band for about 15 minutes in 1967. He shared the lead with a jazz pianist who sang like Neil Diamond and played lead guitar like Sterling Morrison would after they'd each had botched lobotomies; the drummer clearly attended Joe Freakin' Lala's School of Percussion, an offshoot of Trump University; their motto, "just wack the hell out of whatever you can as fast as possible, white boy, and then call it Latin jazz," is more famous than any of their alumni. Today the band has just one claim to fame other than Jerry Jeff's presence: the bass player would soon write Linda Ronstadt one of the greatest torch songs of all time before disappearing altogether from history:

I've loved this song for a long, long - you get the idea. I see it recently was featured in some zombie apocalypse TV show and therefore enjoyed a brief renaissance; that's fitting: Linda is clearly singing about a zombie apocalypse.

Suffice it to say that my famous brother wins this latest round in the Dollar Bin: I'd trade him my copy of Circus Maximus for his copy of Five Years Gone in a hot second. And, come The Revolution, I will head immediately to his house, hatchet in hand and dodging zombies as I go, so as to lay claim to his entire record collection.

While we're at it, check this out:

Isn't it crazy how Linda Ronstadt can make even Jerry Jeff Walker sound like an average dude by comparison? Still, it's nice to hear this song sung by a fellow mortal.

But let's get to the point: happily, Circus Maximus, which, coincidentally, has a cover photo collage dedicated to that very same zombie apocalypse, does feature one track worthy of our nickel: Fading Lady. Take a listen; Jerry Jeff is starting to find his voice.

I don't know about you, but I am mesmerized pretty quickly. My wife just asked me what the hell I was doing under our bed. I told her I was counting our shoes, and I requested space to do so.

Even so, you can hear that the song could be even better. Jerry needs no boy band echo behind him; and, like Danger Bird, slower here would be even better. Happily he soon ditched the mustache and the whole 60's scene and headed for the ditch a few years before Neil Young. They'd wind up wallowing in it magnificently together until Jerry got married and cleaned himself up for good around 73; from that point forward he just sounded drunk all the time.

But he wasn't drunk enough to know that Fading Lady deserved a second pass. Listen to him truly nail the song on 69's Drifting Way of Life:

Aw yeah: that's the stuff right there folks. The great David Bromberg does his New Morning/Self Portrait Dylan thing alongside Jerry on guitar; Kenny Buttrey makes almost no sounds whatsoever on the drums and does so perfectly. And all the while Jerry Jeff effortlessly instructs us to tally up our jewels. And our shoes.

I'm on it Jerry!

[jcmarchi]

Earth sciences isn’t just for Earth - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/earth-sciences-isnt-just-for-earth-technology-org/

Earth sciences isn’t just for Earth - Technology Org

W. Bruce Banerdt dreamed of becoming an astronaut. Space fascinated him as a young boy, and the thought of rockets and satellites surging through the universe sparked curiosity and excitement.

Saturn’s moon Titan could harbor life, and USC Dornsife’s Maya Yanez is helping NASA’s JPL look for it. Image credit: NASA

But Banerdt’s academic career pushed in other directions. He earned an undergraduate degree in physics in 1975 followed by a PhD in geological sciences in 1983, both from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, and he seemed tethered to studying the history, nature, materials and processes of Earth, not outer space. That is until a graduate school colleague mentioned a summer internship studying the moon at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California.

“To use the skills and knowledge I had acquired in physics and geology but in connection to space, well, it seemed too good to be true,” Banerdt says.

At JPL, Banerdt discovered Earth scientists played a significant role in understanding planets beyond our own, a mission Banerdt himself embraced with an inquisitive and enterprising spirit as an intern and, later, as a research scientist. Over a 45-year career at JPL, Banerdt worked extensively on projects investigating Mars while also contributing to efforts exploring Venus and Jupiter’s satellites.

As it turns out, space exploration isn’t merely the domain of pioneering astronauts like Neil Armstrong ’70 or James Lovell ’61, or the bailiwick of those at NASA or SpaceX. Banerdt, in fact, is among a number of USC Dornsife-connected Earth scientists — faculty, students and alumni among them — expanding human understanding of the solar system and laboring to unpack its many mysteries.

Trojans exploring the universe

Like Banerdt, Maya Yanez developed an early fascination with outer space. Holding an undergraduate degree in astronomy, the Los Angeles native is now a fifth-year PhD candidate in USC Dornsife’s Department of Earth Sciences and a former JPL intern.

Yanez’s doctoral studies focus on Titan, Saturn’s largest moon and, by some metrics at least, the solar system’s most Earth-like body. Titan is also one of only six places in the entire universe on which humans have landed a robot. In studying Titan’s current conditions, Yanez inspects similarities between where Titan is today and where the Earth might have been eons ago.

“We don’t know what we’re going to find, but everything — the data and the observations we make — informs our next steps, future projects, instrumentation and studies as well as the goals we’re setting for our next mission,” says Yanez, who works in the lab of Jan Amend, professor of Earth sciences and biological sciences.

The overarching goal, Yanez continues, is to better understand the habitability of Titan, the solar system’s only other world with stable liquids on its surface.

“In Earth, we have one example of life we have poked, prodded and studied, and we can use that to explore how life evolved elsewhere,” she says.

Many other USC-affiliated Earth scientists are similarly researching outer space.

Two USC Dornsife alumni, Laurie Barge ’09 and Scott Perl ’19, for instance, lead JPL’s Origins and Habitability Lab. Barge, Perl and their team of astrobiologists continue exploring the origin of life on Earth as well as if, and how, life could have started on other worlds. The lab also investigates how Earthly life persists amid extreme environments and the geochemical processes that make a planet habitable.

Professor of Earth Sciences Frank Corsetti, meanwhile, is a geologist who studies biosignatures, or signs of life. Corsetti’s research, heavily fueled by funding from NASA, aims to understand the evolution of life on Earth as well as the necessary parameters to create and sustain life. His work informs the search for clues and patterns of potential biosignatures on Mars.

And Banerdt capped his JPL career by directing the center’s Mars InSight Mission, which included designing, building and landing a seismometer on Mars. The instrument measured quakes and vibrations on Mars’s surface, offering rich insights into the basic building blocks of Earth’s closest planetary neighbor to help scientists develop theories and craft future experiments.

The Mars InSight lander explored the red planet, partially guided by USC Dornsife Earth sciences alum Bruce Banerdt. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

“It’s almost like doing an MRI of Mars,” says Banerdt, who likened InSight to scientists’ early 20th-century examinations of the Earth’s interior. “The composition and structure of a planet’s interior affects the surface environment of that planet, which is what makes life possible or impossible there.”

Earth scientists looking beyond the planet

While Earth scientists often focus on pressing global challenges like sustainability, water resources, climate change and natural resources, Corsetti and others say taking Earth sciences to outer space isn’t as wild or disconnected as it might initially seem. Studying the Earth — its origins, its environment and its materials — extends human knowledge of the solar system in powerful ways.

“When you step back 10 million miles, you realize Earth is just a planet, like many other planets, orbiting the sun,” says Banerdt, who retired from JPL last summer. “The same tools we use to study Earth can be used to study other planets and, similarly, we can use the study of other planets to inform our understanding of Earth.”

Such efforts position Earth’s inhabitants to address one of humanity’s most burning questions: Are we alone? Society can only begin to answer that question by first understanding how life evolved on Earth. Thereafter, Earth scientists can leverage their toolkits, like processes for chemical analysis, and instruments such as robotic rovers, particle detectors and spectrographs to develop greater clarity.

“Maybe we won’t find the evidence, but at least we can constrain what is possible, which is scientific progress,” Corsetti says.

It’s an undeniably energizing pursuit for Earth scientists like Yanez, who recalls looking up into the nighttime sky as a child and wondering about life beyond the planet.

“We have no idea what we don’t know,” she says. “To begin to use what we know to understand what we don’t know is super exciting to me, and I’m constantly being surprised because there are so many firsts left in space to discover.”

Source: USC

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[kpop-bbg]

[denim-bias]

[club-cheongyang]

[yourtimex]

Best Netflix Documentary Movies for when you want to relax

There are rumours about another lockdown coming soon and if we are being honest, we are not that sad about it. The last lockdown in Ireland has lasted for over 6 months and most of students focused that time on themselves, we achieved some of our postponed goals like reading books, exercising, studying, more time with family, learning new languages or simply exploring what Netflix has to offer.

Most of our articles are focusing on balance, meditation, exercising, nutrition, awareness, and socialising. This time we are exploring some entertainment. We prepared a list with the best critically acclaimed documentaries films and series (following post) on Netflix according to rotten tomatoes, shall we begin!

Best Netflix Documentary Movies

8. American Murder: The Family Next Door (2020) 86% score

It is a documentary that unravels a brutal true crime story using the near-constant connectedness of the digital era.

7. The Social Dilemma (2020) 85% score

The Social Dilemma presents a sad analysis of our datamined present, from tech experts from Silicon Valley alarming on how dangerous the impact of social networking is and how Big Tech is using it to manipulate and influence users.

6. DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: A LIFE ON OUR PLANET (2020) 95% score

Attenborough is exploring the wild places of the planet he has visited in his 93 years and discussing the scale of humanity’s impact on nature and the actions we can take to save our planet.

5. Tell Me Who I Am (2019) 97 % score

This story is about a boy Alex who loses his memory after a serios motorcycle accident, he then trusts Marcus to teach him about his past, to later find out that Marcus is hiding a dark family secret.

4. 13th (2016) 97% score

Although we would position this one first, according to Rotten Tomatoes it only has a 97% score and not 100%. It is about America’s tangled racial history that offers heart-breaking observations on the racial inequality that are calmly controlled.

3. Chasing Coral (2017) 100% score

Chasing Coral is about the discovering of why reefs are disappearing of divers and scientists by setting up ocean adventures. It offers breathtakingly looks at some of the most incredible natural wonders and warnings about the future.

2. Athlete A (2020) 100% score

Athlete A is about an unforgiving light on horrific abuses and the culture that allowed them to continue for years inside USA Gymnastics and the truth about Dr Larry Nassar.

1. Crip Camp (2020) 100% score

The winner of YourTimex award is Crip Camp, a docuseries about a group of alumni joins at a summer camp for teens with disabilities, a radical disability rights movement to advocate for historic legislation.

With Love,

❤️

[jancydroogs]

A little free write...

George and Nick break up. Ned sells The Claw back to George and opens a vintage auto restoration and “specialty repairs” shop. He buys a craftsman mansion near downtown and turns it into a boy's home.  

With seed money from Nick and Ryan, George opens a cafe, a pizza parlor and buys Johnny Mac's bar (re-naming it Buddy's) in addition to the Claw. Her sister’s help run what will become their family’s burgeoning hospitality empire. There is tension between George and Jesse who isn't interested in business and wants to go to the JC in hopes of becoming a marine biologist. George buys the Breaker Hotel later in her life. All of her establishments are notoriously (and conveniently) "haunted". Trip advisor stickers on the door and mentions on lonely planet-all the things. George becomes a rags to riches business marketing wonderkind about town. George struggles to be taken seriously by the old money investors and conservative business owners she must rub elbows with now. In the end she'll expand to Boston and NY and get into real estate and have enough money to throw in all their faces for the rest of time just like Nick whom she may reconnect with at some point.

Ryan struggles with alcoholism again, gets a DUI and enters rehab where he becomes interested in art. He gets involved in collecting and patronizing and when he falls in love with an artist he is inspired to become the Cathrine the Great of Horseshoe Bay: investing in culture, the arts and championing the environment and the education of young women in particular.  He gets his pilots license and flying in his vintage plane (restored by Nick of course) becomes a favorite hobby of his. He turns the Lilac Inn into the local girl's home.  He opens what becomes a renowned museum in honor of the the forgotten historical figures of New England in Boston. With the help of Carson he lobbies NYU to create a journalism scholarship in Lucy’s name.  He dies before he turns 60 in a landing accident while returning from a half hour flight he took to observe the bay on a particularly nice day.  

Bess acquires a student visa by becoming a cosmetology student at the local JC but doesn’t fit in and becomes an “illegal” resident again when she drops out of beauty school.  She’s a part time secretary for Nick and waitress at the claw again. She bungles Nick’s flow and he has to let her go at which point she finds a job in a bookshop after bonding with the manager over a mutual love of AJ Crane novels. She hones an affinity and strong sales numbers for the antique/rare book section and she uses her Newley sharpened expert eye to forge her papers all while angling for an apprenticeship with the mysterious owner which will allow her to begin building clientele amongst the wealthy collectors of Horseshoe Bay and get out of the counterfeit game she's been running on the side to get by. She fully embraces the dark-intellectual trope and pursues her PHD. at a historic, prestigious and secretive private school in Horseshoe Bay. She buys a dope ass queen-anne with a turret that she restores and lives in. She eventually becomes an art dealer (specializing in "rare objects" of course), chief buyer for the Hudson family trust and patron of the historical society.  After her eventual death at a ripe old age she gets a statue in her likeness, her house becomes a historic landmark and she becomes a legend in horseshoe bay for being it’s favorite Rich Auntie Supreme. Rumor has it her spirit still walks the town. Local legend says if you happen to see her ghost it’s an omen of good luck to come.

Nancy and Ace briefly open their own PI detective agency in Nick's building downtown. They begin to build a respectable reputation despite their youth. They assist Horseshoe Bay PD on "strange" cases, accept work from the town’s folk, and PI work from Carson. Nancy gets into Columbia and makes the tough choice to leave town for her education.  Grant moves in to fill her place at the agency. Things go well for a while but end up sideways when Ace suffers from an opioid addiction. Grant does his best to cover his brother’s tracks for a while but Nancy briefly must return from Columbia at his panicked behest to help him track down Ace when he goes missing on New Years Eve.  After a short stint in a detox center Ace decides to join the army on a whim without consulting anybody. He becomes a field medic first and an Army Ranger after that.

With the PI agency dissolved Grant joins the NYPD police academy (like his father *winkwinkwink*) after Ace goes to bootcamp and begins pursuing an advanced degree studying criminal psychology at NYU in hopes of someday working for the FBI as a profiler.  He naturally joins the nypd and becomes a rising star in his precinct. He and Nancy develop a close friendship while both living as students in the city and bond over their concern for Ace. Frant often lends her an assist, a quote, a clue or feeds her information for her stories.

Nancy shows up in the city at Columbia quickly becomes the darling of the journalism school and lands an internship at the school paper but after a promising freshman year is kicked out for breaking the school’s code of ethics whilst pursuing evidence that a cult is running a human trafficking ring fronting as a powerful and infamous secret society on campus that has been laundering it's profits through a fraternity's alumni donations by blackmailing a member of their executive board. After her expulsion she continues to pursue the story with encouragement from her friends and family  (in particular from Ace whom she maintains regular contact with via WRITTEN letters before he joins RRC. It’s romantic af but everything remains plutonic on the surface as is cannon, of course)  She publishes the story online. It goes viral and she's able to enter the workforce as a freelancer without her degree. She takes all kinds of assignments and has become celebrated for her thought pieces on buzzfeed, bellingcat, jezebel etc... but her bread and butter is working the crime beat in NYC.

Her sudden notoriety and reputation for being young, talented, and tenacious mean her colleagues are intimidated by her brilliance and they make her work especially hard for their respect. Despite her commercial success she's a loner and mostly isolated in the field.  She's thrilled when Bess shows up to the city looking to lay low for a while after the death of her mentor and burning some bridges in order to get out of the forgery game. She finds that she fits into city life and likes being close with Nancy and Grant after Ace's departure and George and Nick's breakup. She decides to move and she and Nancy become roommates. Bess gets a job as a bartender at Nancy’s favorite spot (a real dime store detective novel dive bar that's open in the middle of the day with low light and brick walls; maybe live music on the weekends but no marble countertops and tapas and shit) while attending Hunter college for her degree in cultural anthropology. Nancy eventually writes a true crime novel that becomes an infamous cult classic based on her experience uncovering her mother's murder and another based on her experiences with Gomber.

Bess’ graduation coincides with Ace’s homecoming and Ryan’s wedding to a renowned local artist. The crew returns to Horseshoe Bay for a couple of weeks before the ceremony for the subsequent reunions/celebrations.  While in town, the disappearance of a local girl proves to be the work of a serial killer when her body along with another girl's are found stuffed in a tree in the Gorham Woods. Nancy is hesitant to run down the story even at the behest of her editor’s pleas but decides to stay and investigate at George’s request when an arsonist burns down The Claw the night of Ryan’s reception.