#c: blue navarro

[princess-josie-riki]

Planet Z Theory

An Alphabet Lore Creepypasta

We all know the letters of the alphabet from Alphabet Lore, especially the planet Z themselves. And we all know the villainous numbers from Number Lore. But did you know that all of the letters and numbers are figments of a man's imagination inside a dream and that Z was that man? Allow me to illuminate.

Let's start with the Z himself a.k.a. Ezekiel Zimmermann, or Zeke for short. Zeke was a journalist, hearing about the tragedies in his town. Zeke had always felt sorry for the victims of those tragic events and wished that he could do something about it. Unfortunately, that day never arrived when he was caught in a horrific car accident. Zeke had survived, but unfortunately, the car crash put the poor man straight into a coma. The comatose Zeke was put on life support, trapped in an eternal sleep and an everlasting dream of him being a planet and a "Z", with the dead people as letters and numbers.

The first three people were Alejandro Anderson, an albino man and a chill dude, Bradley Blue a friendly man who loves butterflies and Charlie Campbell a cool, yet tough guy. A trio of best friends and the incarnations of A, B and C. Alejandro, Bradley and Charlie all died on different days. Alejandro was killed after being hit by a taxi cab while he was reading, Bradley died in a plane crash while he was bringing a butterfly collection home and Charlie was violently torn limb from limb by wild animals while he was camping in the woods and his bloody remains were eaten afterwards.

Daniel Drew was the next unfortunate soul. He was a happy, loving, cheerful man with a positive attitude. Although Daniel may not be smart, he is actually happy about his life. Unfortunately, his life ended when an angry man came along and beat poor Daniel with no mercy. Apparently, Daniel had accidentally scratched the man's car while he wasn't looking. Daniel died of his injuries on his way to the hospital. D became the reincarnation of the late Daniel Drew.

Ethan Evans was a cool dude and a lady's man just like his reincarnation, E. With a pompadour hairstyle and a knack for impersonating Elvis Presley, Ethan had everything he ever dreamed of; money, popularity, riches, woman, you name it. But all that changed when Ethan was bludgeoned in the head with an aluminum bat by accident during a game of pinata. Ethan's dreams were shattered just like his skull and he dropped dead.

Finneas Foster, a.k.a. F, was abandoned as a baby with no family and was sent to an orphanage where he was bullied by other kids for being clad in black clothing. The caretaker tried suggesting that F should wear different clothes in concern, but F never listened and said that he liked wearing black. He also hated being called "Finn", which made him mad. Despite this, he befriended Noah Navarro, a young man with a loving family who was bullied for being weak and cowardly, during his childhood days, but the bullying made him much worse. Even all his teeth were broken and became sharp teeth. F became cold, ruthless, sadistic and vengeful. In his teen years, F seeked revenge on his former tormentors and grew up as a criminal, involved in countless crimes, including serial murder, mutilation, torture, cannibalism, kidnapping, theft, armed robbery, assault, psychological abuse, terrorism and so on. His only friend, Noah tried to stop him and tell him to cease his life of crime to change for the better, but it was too late. F was arrested for all the horrible things he had done and was taken to jail. F was later sentenced to death via electric chair, making Noah both heartbroken and traumatized as he witnessed his best friend die. Unable to live without his best friend, Noah wrote a suicide note and took his life to see F in the afterlife by hanging himself at the noose. His parents found their son's hanging corpse in his room. F's reincarnation became a certain black capital letter of the same name while N became the reincarnation of Noah.

Next comes Grayson Garcia and Petunia Parker, a lovely couple who soon became G and P respectively. Grayson and Petunia had fallen in love with each other since childhood and they started dating in their teen years. As soon as they became adults, Grayson and Petunia were happily married. Soon, Petunia became pregnant and wanted to have a family with Greyson and Greyson agreed. Unfortunately, Petunia gave birth to a dead baby, a stillborn, much to her and Grayson's horror and grief. Soon, Petunia took her own life and shot herself in the head. Mortified and heartbroken, Grayson mourned over his wife's suicide and isolated himself in his home. One year later, Grayson died from a broken heart. As for their stillborn child, the baby soon became G and P's baby.

Hunter Hamilton, the previous incarnation of H, was obsessed with ghosts, the occult and the paranormal. He used to give ghost tours to tourists to earn money, considering that he was poor. Hunter always loved reading books on ghosts, occult and the paranormal. Soon, Hunter had given his last ghost tour in an abandoned facility when the tourists left him alone. Hunter tried to keep up until he ended up knocking into something that leaked a toxic gas called hydrogen cyanide, accidentally inhaling it. Hunter succumbed to hydrogen cyanide poisoning and gave up the ghost alone.

The next person was Irving Isaacson, a man with a youthful appearance and glasses. Irving was older than he looked, making him cute. The only thing that wasn't cute about him was his death, which was a horrible accident when he got crushed by a car crusher in a junkyard. Irving soon became I.

Jasper Jones was a supermodel with a pretty face. Jasper, unfortunately, was not lucky, just like the others. A fire happened and the poor man was burned alive. J became the reincarnation of Jasper.

Kairi Krueger, the previous incarnation of K, had a huge interest in bugs and insects. Ironically, this led to her untimely demise. While studying the bees, she accidentally knocked the beehive over, causing the bees to go mad and sting her to death.

Leon Lorenzo and Orville Olson, who soon became L and O respectively, were the next people on death's list. Leon and Orville were a pair of rich gentlemen who were not only snobs, but bullies as well. Leon was spoiled rotten by his mother as Orville's parents spoiled their son too. Leon and Orville were like two peas in a pod. Unfortunately, Orville perished from leukemia, which is blood cancer. What made it worse was that Orville was overweight. Leon, on the other hand, had by far the worst death of all the others. Just as Leon was about to attend Orville's funeral, one of Leon and Orville's victims came to him one day with a sharp knife and tackled him, stabbing Leon multiple times. Then, the victim slit Leon's throat, killing him. For Leon's demise, it was poetic justice.

The next lost soul was Michael Martinez, a man who was neglected by his parents and abused by his older siblings. As a child, Michael was bullied for being weak, so he went to therapy. He eventually went to the gym in his teens, hoping to be stronger and stand up for himself. He even took boxing classes, kickboxing classes and wrestling classes for self-defense. In his adulthood, Michael had not only stood up for himself, but others as well. Unfortunately, while Michael went to the convenience store, which was where he used to work, he came across a killer with a gun, killing the other employees. Just as Michael was about to intervene, the killer shot Michael three times in the chest, killing him. After death, Michael soon became M.

Quinton Quisenberry was the next victim and the previous incarnation of Q. Quinton was diagnosed with bradykinesia, slowness in movement. He was very slow, yet very wise. He would always try to warn people about the accidents, but he was not quick enough to get there on time. He was always late to work. Soon, Quinton's slowness would lead to his demise. While camping, he ended up walking into quicksand and couldn't get out. He sank into the quicksand and perished.

Robin Ridley, who soon became R, was a coward who suffered anxiety. Robin had a scar over one of his eyes since childhood after a cat scratched him. He had been afraid and stressed ever since. Eventually, Robin ended up falling into a tar pit and drowned in the tar.

The previous incarnation of S is Samuel Stuart, a reptile lover and a hippie when it comes to reptiles. His parents fight over his hippie lifestyle and his obsession over reptiles, causing a divorce. Even as an adult, Samuel lives with his mother, who still supports him. Samuel's most favorite reptile is a snake and he had gotten a pet snake for his birthday. Unfortunately, he was bitten by his own pet snake, causing him to succumb to the snake venom and whither away.

The next victim was Tony Travis, a muscular man and a skilled swimmer. Tony had braces since childhood. Despite this, he was well-respected for his skill and was a gold-medal winner in any swimming race he did before his death. While Tony was swimming at the beach, he didn't realize that the waters had sharks in them until it was too late. He was attacked and eaten by sharks, resulting in a grisly end for the poor man. Soon, T became the reincarnation of Tony.

Ulrich Underwood was another victim. He was unappreciated and ignored by his peers, making him feel invisible. Everytime he tries to do a good deed, no one seems to notice, much to dismay. His luck went from bad to worse. He put on winter gear, including a scarf, to go for a drive on a cold day. Unfortunately, his scarf got tangled in a fan, strangling him. Ulrich's neck snapped and he died of asphyxiation. Soon, Ulrich was reincarnated as U.

Next comes Vinnie Valentine, the incarnation of V. Vinnie was born mentally challenged. He lived as an outcast, being ridiculed for being a retard and a coward. Vinnie tries to be positive and happy. He eventually died from a heart attack after his cowardice got worse.

The Walker Sisters, Wilhelmina and Winifred, were a pair of dicephalic parapagus twins, siamese conjoined at birth. The twins were born and raised in a freak show and they were respected and given things that people believe would make the two happy, which explains why they were wearing Gothic lolita clothing. Unknown to the freak show or the rest of the world, Wilhelmina and Winifred were diagnosed with depression ever since they were kids. Soon, when the freak show closed, the Walker Sisters went to the hospital to get separation surgery. Unfortunately, there was a surgery gone wrong and the twins died from massive blood loss. Wilhelmina and Winifred eventually became W.

Xavier Xiao, who soon became X, was a man from an Asian family who owned a Chinese Restaurant. Xavier learned kung fu and graduated at a martial arts academy to pursue his dreams as a ninja. He was a black belt, which is the highest rank and won every tournament, yet he is very honorable and kind, even to his opponents. Unfortunately, Xavier had lost his final battle when a cannibal broke out of the insane asylum and broke into his home. Xavier tried to take down the cannibal, but the cannibal threw a knife into Xavier's head, killing him instantly. Then, the cannibal ate Xavier's flesh and organs.

Next on death's list was Yumi York, a kind woman who was a babysitter. The kids loved her and she loved them. But all that changed when she started taking care of a group of rowdy, spoiled children, all being siblings. Yumi hardly ate and couldn't sleep during this. Unable to control these kids, she was about to quit her job when she tripped over a ball left by one of the kids, causing her to fall out the window. She died from blunt force trauma, caused by a head injury and broken bones. Y became the reincarnation of poor Yumi York.

Primus Uno was the leader and don of the Mob, a criminal organization with Deuce Zwei, a mobster, as his second-in-command and right-hand man. Tertius Sanban was one of their most loyal mobsters and hitmen. Their criminal ways eventually led to not only their deaths, but the end of their gang. Primus and Deuce set the bomb to go off in an hour to blow up a police station. But thanks to Tertius' clumsiness, the bomb exploded, killing Primus, Deuce, Tertius and seven other mobsters by incinerating them. Their bodies were never found and their lair was destroyed in the process. Primus, Deuce, Tertius and the dead mobsters soon became 1, 2, 3 and the other numbers. The numbers didn't appear in Alphabet Lore, but that is a different story.

With every tragedy tied to the town, no one will ever forget the names of those victims, especially Zeke. In conclusion, the comatose Zeke would continue to watch over the lost souls in the form of the planet, Z, trapped forever in a world of his own mind, in a purgatory of his own making and a dream to which he'll never wake up from.

[middleagerunblog]

XXXI.

Week 4 Recap

Exercise:

Sun Dec 31 - 1:10p, hike in Econ Wilderness Area with my youngest son, 2.79 mi, 1:08:31

Mon Jan 1 - 9:58a, outdoors near home, 3.5 mi, 35:45, 10:12 pace

Tue Jan 2 - 8:09a, outdoors near home, 35 min tempo, 12 min easy/18 min acceleration/5 min easy, 3.82 mi, 9:10 avg pace

Wed Jan 3 - 9:14a, outdoors near home, 3 mi, 30:53, 10:17 pace

Thu Jan 4 - rest

Fri Jan 5 - 7:04a, outdoors near home, 3 mi, 30:41, 10:12 pace

Sat Jan 6 - 7:11a, in the rain, Lockwood to McCullough to Old Lockwood to Lockwood, 7 mi, 1:10:45, 10:05 pace

Diet:

Grades by day: Sun C, Mon A-, Tue B, Wed A-, Thu, B, Fri B-, Sat C

That's an EGPA for the week of 2.86, a B/B-, better than Q1's 2.40, the 2nd best week to week 1's 3.14. Still under 3.0 is not going to get it done in terms of my weight loss goals.

Alcohol - 10 drinks, the highest so far. Was actually surprised when I looked that up. 4 beers on New Year's Eve, my last beers until the race. Doing red wine only in Jan, no alcohol in Feb. Had 2 glasses of red wine on New Year's Day, 1 glass the next day, 3 straight days of no drinking, then 3 glasses of red wine on Saturday while cooking dinner and watching football. I have to drink less if I want to lose weight, but hopefully I don't have to think too deeply about this, going red wine only should naturally solve for this (though I just had 6 glasses of red wine in 6 days, so who knows).

Weigh-in:

194.4, what more can I say that I didn't already say.

Music:

New music this week- finally got around to listening to André 3000's flute album, New Blue Sun (2023). I mean, it's fine background music:

Old album new to me this week - mid '00s to mid '10s is a musical blindspot to me, got married, had 3 kids, streaming didn't exist yet, wasn't easy to keep up on new stuff. Neon Indian's Psychic Chasm (2009) wasn't too bad:

Old album I listened to the first time in a while this week - One Hot Minute (1995) by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the one with Dave Navarro, much less popular than the one with "Under the Bridge" from the early '90s or Californication from the late '90s, but this album reminds me of high school and is my favorite of theirs:

Rereading:

Only reread chapters 14 and 15 of Kafka on the Shore this week. A dog leads Nakata to Johnny Walker, who tells him he knows where the cat he is looking for is. Kafka stay alone in the mountain cabin and explores the surrounding forest a bit. Both seem to be heading down ominous paths.

Kafka waking up in the middle of nowhere covered in someone else's blood is me stepping on the scale weighing nearly 195 pounds. Like Kakfa, I am going dust myself off and persevere. I have my path.

[julemmaes]

ahem... cassian taking nesta to that bookstore (fluff, don’t try making shit sad aight?)

Our First Non-Date

SURPRISE I GUESS!!

Nessian Archeron x Cassian

You can find the first part here.

A/N: this month has been really nice on me. I finally feel better, not crying every day for literally nothing and I wanna dedicate this to my fren Sim (@perseusannabeth) cause homegirl just finished the offcampus series and she's grieving. I know she is. So yep. Take some Nessian fluff

And Nina, I had to add some angsty parts, but they're not Irene Angst Level, okay?

Word count: 6,833

When Cassian had called her back the night after their outing with Amren and Varian, she'd stared at the phone for a full minute until it had stopped ringing and she could go back to reading the article on poisonous plants that Elain had sent her.

It hadn't even been five minutes before the words had been obscured from the call screen again and the name "Cassian Navarro" appeared.

When she had ignored the call for the second time as well, he had decided to change tactics.

Hi Nes, I was thinking about when you'd be free to go to the library. I need a couple of manuals because I'm building a little gazebo in Rhys and Feyre's garden and your sister is putting a lot of pressure on me, so I was wondering if you had the day off tomorrow.

Nesta was stunned at the amount of useless information he had given her, but managed to reply with a simple, Working tomorrow, day off on Wednesday. Sending you the address later.

She certainly hadn't anticipated how hard it would be to get up that day, her will to live must have been hiding somewhere under her bed and Nesta didn't know if it was directly related to their going out or just her stupid brain not being able to connect to real life.

The only other worst thing she'd been able to think of at that moment was having to explain to Cassian what was going on, so, pulled out of bed by the future embarrassment they'd feel in such a situation, she'd managed to dress, wash and style her hair so that she had a braid crowning her head.

She hadn't put too much effort into deciding what to wear, after all, it wasn't a date and Cassian had seen her many times before in far more outrageous and scruffy clothes than the comfortable black jeans and grey jumper she was wearing right now.

The silence had made her uncomfortable at first, only because Cassian seemed to be really stressed - about what, she certainly wouldn't ask - but after about ten minutes, he'd turned on the radio and popped a CD into the player and the melody of a Verve song had filled the cabin.

She'd started humming under her breath and he'd looked at her with a faint smile on his lips and his eyes sparkling. She hadn't mulled over that look too much, but she'd started eyeing him more closely and noticed the way he narrowed his eyes at every street sign and how he ran a hand over his face every time a strand of hair landed in front of his eyes.

When Cassian had to blow the hair out of his face for the millionth time, Nesta pulled a rubber band off her wrist and handed it to him abruptly.

Cassian looked surprised, but took it almost immediately, brushing her fingers. Nesta immediately withdrew her hand, feeling how warm and calloused his were.

"Thanks, my hair is killing me today," he finally spoke.

Nesta continued to look ahead, noticing that they were about to enter the highway. "Well, it wasn't very wise of you not to tie it up before you got in the car. I never drive with my hair down."

He nodded slowly, still with the band clutched between his fingers. And then, suddenly he let go of the steering wheel, "Hold that for me for a second." and Nesta's eyes went wide, launching herself at him to grab it and keep the car in their lane.

"Are you nuts?" she almost shrieked, keeping her gaze fixed on the road and feeling every nerve ending vibrate with anger.

"Relax." he said in a calm tone, shifting her hands and gently pushing her back into her seat one more time. "It wasn't even five seconds."

Nesta huffed out a laugh that lacked amusement, "You do something like that again without warning me first and I'm getting out of the car."

Cassian looked at her with a raised eyebrow, "A bit dramatic, but alright."

She sighed, shaking her head slightly and resting it on her hand propped against the window.

That awkward silence fell again and Nesta couldn't figure out what the problem was. She hadn't felt any kind of unease three days before, but after all, they'd been with friends and busy walking, not stuck in a car for two hours with no chance of walking away or splitting up.

And in that moment, the reality of their situation overwhelmed her.

She forced herself to steady her breathing, opening the window slightly so that more air could get in. She forced herself to think about all the things she would see today at the library and how beautiful and spectacular it had looked from mere pictures. She wasn't going to let her twisted mind stop her from having fun with someone who was desperately trying to be her friend.

She took a deep breath and a surprising calm enveloped her. She looked to her left to see if Cassian had noticed that temporal change in her behaviour, but it seemed to her that he was just as fidgety.

She was about to ask him if he was okay, because the knee that kept bouncing and the fingers opening and closing on the steering wheel were obvious nervous tics, when he did the eye thing again, this time leaning forward over the dashboard as well, and the sharp turn he took to the right caused her to shift in her seat so much that she bumped her shoulder against his.

Cassian grimaced, "I'm sorry," he murmured.

"What's wrong?" she asked, readjusting in her seat.

"Sorry?"

"What's the matter? With your eyes, I mean."

"Oh." he seemed surprised by the question, almost as if he hadn't realised she'd been observing him for the last twenty minutes. He cast her a curious glance immediately returning to the road. "I wear glasses when I drive, but I couldn't find them this morning and these contacts are the wrong shade and I can't see very well."

Nesta nodded thoughtfully, "Where do you normally keep them?"

"In the glove box. But I already checked," he replied, rolling his shoulders. Another nervous tic.

Nesta had to suppress a smile. There was no way he could be so worked up just because they were talking. She looked down at the phone in her hand to check the time, and a flash of light momentarily dazzled her. She blinked a couple of times and then scoffed, "Found them."

She reached a hand towards the hatch compartment and pulled out a pair of very plain black glasses, handing them to him. Cassian seemed to finally relax since she'd gotten into the car.

"Thank fuck." then he pulled into a lay-by and without turning off the car, slipped two fingers in his eye, removing one contact and then the other, leaving Nesta stunned. He put the glasses on his nose and flashed her a smile that went from ear to ear. And Nesta was stunned for other reasons.

She couldn't deny that Cassian was an attractive man. She wasn't stupid or blind, but the man next to her should have come with a warning sign or a bell.

Attention, hot stuff coming your way.

Nesta forgot the comment she had wanted to make about how antigenic and risky it had been to remove his contacts without first cleaning his hands and in such a dirty environment.

His hair tied back in a messy bun, with the hint of a beard he was letting grow, and now his glasses on, Cassian looked like a model on the cover of a newspaper about sexy carpenters. The short-sleeved black shirt he wore that pulled on his huge biceps every time he moved in the slightest was just one more point to add to the list of things that made him appealing.

"So," he began, getting back on the road, "what's your favourite colour?"

Nesta snorted, "Are you serious?"

Cassian seemed to blanch, "What?"

"Have you ever been out with a girl?" she asked him sarcastically, knowing full well what the answer would be.

He clenched his jaw so hard that a muscle popped out on his face, "Only on dates."

"And this isn't a date." pointed out Nesta, holding back a laugh at how tortured he sounded.

"It's not."

Nesta touched the tip of her nose, thoughtful, "Shouldn't this be easier for you then?"

Cassian released a breath through his nose, "I'm under a lot of pressure right now."

"Yeah?" she asked, looking away and smiling.

"Yeah, and stop looking like you're enjoying it." he retorted.

She feigned innocence, "Enjoying what?"

"My pain." he sheeted.

Nesta laughed, unable to contain herself any longer and when he glared at her, she covered her mouth with one hand, laughing harder. Only when he snapped his fingers against the steering wheel did she stop, laying a hand on his arm, just for a few seconds, "I'm so sorry." she wheezed, "I just don't understand. When you're hanging out with my sisters or Amren, or Mor, I don't know, you don't seem to be in this much discomfort."

Cassian sighed again and Nesta chuckled one last time, stopping when he smiled slightly. "I'm just trying not to make you uncomfortable. You accepted I take you on this non-date, and I'm doing my best not to flirt badly with you every chance I get." he confessed, nodding slowly, as if to convince himself that he was doing the right thing and not wasting their time.

Nesta was genuinely surprised at his answer and decided to offer him an olive branch.

"My favourite colour is blue."

"Nice." he smiled, showing a hint of a dimple, "Mine is red."

"It's too bright of a colour," she said lightheartedly.

Cassian chuckled, "I'm pretty sure it reflects my peppy personality."

Nesta nodded, "I read an article once about how a person's favourite colour says a lot about the person themselves," she said annoyed, "It sounded like one of those quizzes you find in gossip magazines, like it was written by a third grader. I hate those things, like horoscopes."

He grunted, "God, Mor's obsessed with horoscopes..."

The conversation continued without any more awkward silences for the remainder of the ride, and when Cassian turned onto a bumpy road, Nesta knew they were close. Of course, even if she hadn't looked at the directions from her house to the place, the myriad cars parked along the road would have been an indication.

They parked in the first vacant spot they could find and as soon as Nesta was out of the car, an icy gust of wind hit her face, making her shiver with cold. She looked over the bonnet at Cassian and found him staring at her with a half smile on his face. He'd left his glasses in the car and had let his hair down again, her hair band on his wrist, and he looked even prettier than before.

"Do you want my jacket?" he asked her, with a conflicted look on his face, as if he didn't want to. Nesta narrowed her brows and he hurried to add, "There's no hidden agenda to my offer, just a friend lending a jacket to another friend."

Nesta watched him for a moment, trying to really understand his intentions, but then remembered reading in one of the reviews that the library was heated inside and shook her head.

Cassian gave a small nod of assent and then pointed down the street, "Shall we?"

From where they had parked to the library it would have been about a ten minute walk and Nesta couldn't help but notice the way Cassian kept his distance between them as if he was afraid she would get scared and run away.

He was back to fidgeting nervously with his fingers and when he realised she was looking at him, he put them in his pockets, smiling tensely at her. He took a deep breath and then said, "So, what do you know about this library?"

Nesta looked ahead, hoping to catch a glimpse of the building, but the foliage of the trees was still too thick and they were still too far away for it to see anything. She brought her hands to her stomach, crossing her fingers, "I actually did a bit of research before I came. Did you know that the Peace Treaty between Prythian and Hybern of 1864 was signed here?" she asked in an excited voice.

Cassian smiled at her so naturally that she felt herself blush. He had an expression she couldn't decipher, but Nesta had never been good at cracking people in general, so she didn't venture to continue until he said, "Tell me more."

And Nesta launched into a detailed description of the events that had taken place inside the building, which only a hundred years before had become a bookstore. Only one wing of the building had been furnished in such a way as to become a real shop, the rest had been set up to be visited as a museum, one of the oldest libraries. She talked about the architecture and how it was obvious that the palace had been built long before it became an important meeting place for scholars and researchers.

"And in 1932 a fire destroyed the science wing, burning more than a hundred textbooks." Nesta sighed, thinking how devastating that loss had been. She lit up with happiness when she remembered what happened next. "But luckily, one of the most important literary clubs in the city got together and they managed to recover a small portion of the books. It took them years to rewrite every manual, but they got help from one of the local researchers, a certain Mr. Hawthorn, I can't remember the name or details of the research, only that he's mentioned often in the article I read."

When she paused to catch her breath, Nesta realised with immense horror what had just happened. Cassian had not spoken a word after asking her if she knew anything about the place and she had monopolised the conversation without even acknowledging him once. She felt herself flare up and knew in that moment that any hope they had of becoming real friends was gone.

Sometimes she would get lost in thought and ramble on about the things she was passionate about. Quite often people had stopped her, letting her know they weren't interested in the subject, but Cassian had never interrupted her and she was afraid to look at him, convinced she would only find boredom and disgust on his face.

That was why, when he spoke, she was struck dumb.

"I'm impressed." he breathed, chuckling immediately afterwards.

Nesta pushed herself to look at him and he stood admiring her with his mouth slightly open, as if he couldn't find the words. She felt her heart clench in her chest so tightly that she didn't know if she could survive the pain. Who knows how many times he'd tried to stop her and she'd gone on and on about windows and arches and treaties of peace.

But when she got a better look at him, stopping in front of him, Cassian looked... happy.

He let out a laugh, running a hand through his hair, and Nesta was distracted for a moment by the sway of his arms before she was brought violently back down to earth when he said, "You surprise me more and more every time, Nesta."

And the way he said her name - Ne-sta - made her toes curl.

"Why?" she managed to throw out in a weak voice.

Cassian laughed again, raising his eyebrows so high they ended under the hair on his forehead, locking his eyes to hers. "I have a degree in history and my final thesis happened to be on this very library." Nesta felt the ground open up beneath her feet and hoped it swallowed her alive. "I came out of university with top marks and various accolades for finishing my studies on time and you, dreadful creature that you are, have just taught me at least three new things about this place."

His gaze was so intense that Nesta had to lower her head to hide the satisfied and surprised smirk that popped up on her lips.

"You're amazing." huffed Cassian, "Perfect in every way."

She shrugged.

"Although," he clicked his tongue against his palate, "You made a mistake."

Nesta looked up at him, frowning, "Oh, yeah?"

Cassian nodded, smirking fiercely, "Why don't you turn around and admire the palace, and once we're inside, I'll explain what it is?"

She must have been so lost in her chatter that she hadn't noticed that they had arrived in the large entrance forecourt, because when she turned, her back to Cassian, the building stood among the forest trees, as imposing and splendid as ever. The photos had not done it justice in the slightest and Nesta was left speechless.

Living in a country with a history going back millennia, it wasn't hard to stumble upon historic streets with old buildings and monuments, but this was completely different.

She was still admiring the way the stone around the windows had been carved to look like trees trying to get into the building when she felt something settle on the small of her back. A hand.

Nesta stiffened slightly, before closing her eyes and relaxing.

Cassian must have noticed her discomfort because a moment later his hand was no longer touching her.

They entered the museum part of the building in silence and Nesta paid the entrance fees, reminding him of the tea he'd offered her last Sunday and Cassian hadn't been able to argue with that.

They had just passed the doors to the first room, the smallest in the entire palace, when he leaned towards her, to the point of touching her ear with his lips.

The fact that he was whispering as if they had been in a sacred place did things to her little icy heart, "Mr. Hawthorn was not a man."

Shocked by that information, Nesta's head snapped in his direction and she realised too late that she had miscalculated the space.

Her lips brushed against his cheek, the corner of his lips, before Cassian reacted so quickly he startled her, but avoiding them both an involuntary first kiss. His sudden movement caused him to lose his balance and he reached out his hands towards her, straightening as he held on to her shoulders.

Both of them were holding their breath.

Cassian cleared his throat, shifting his gaze to the wall of books, but returning to look at her soon after, "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, you just surprised me," she said when she had recovered. "I must have read the article wrong."

He was still watching her and shook his head, "Oh no, I don't think it's that. They only found out a few months ago that it was Georgina and not George Hawthorn. They found letters in the house of what was thought to be Hawthorn's wife. Some people think they were just friends, but anyone who has read the letters they exchanged knows full well that they were lovers. Anyone who says otherwise is either homophobic or stupid."

Nesta realised that she could have listened to this for hours on end. And so it was.

The visit continued relatively quietly, Cassian explaining every detail to her, expanding on things she already knew and when he forgot something, she would step in and have her say, commenting on every little aspect.

She'd noticed how Cassian hadn't tried to touch her anymore and how whenever someone was about to bump into her, he'd vocally warn her instead of wrapping an arm around her shoulders to move her out of their way like he had on Sunday.

The visit to the museum lasted less than expected unfortunately, because Nesta hadn't had this much fun in too long. It was becoming easier to smile at him or tease him when he said dumb things and even he seemed to finally be more at ease when he had to make jokes that smacked of him.

When they finally got to the shop, Nesta couldn't stand on her feet anymore, she just wanted to buy all the books she saw and go home and arrange them on her shelves.

"Which section do you want to see first?" she asked him, even though she had started hopping impatiently about the place.

Cassian gave her a smug look, "Why don't you go wherever you want and I'll look for the manuals for the gazebo in the meantime? That way you don't waste time keeping up with me. I'll be right there."

Nesta let out an excited squeal and ran off, hearing only the echo of laughter that shook Cassian from head to toe.

***

As Cassian flipped through the various books to find a picture of a gazebo that looked similar to the one Feyre had requested, he kept casting glances at Nesta.

Her eyes sparkled as she grabbed book after book without even reading the synopses. She was in the romance novels section, from what he could see from where he stood, but soon ended up in the classics, where she grabbed just as many books. She moved to the mystery books section, this time stopping to read the plots and putting most of them back on the shelves.

Then, surprising Cassian, she walked over to where the historical novels were and turned to face him. He bent his head to the side, raising an eyebrow to ask her what she was doing there. Nesta seemed at a loss, trying to move all the books from one arm to the other to point him to join her, but Cassian was already halfway there and when she looked back up at him and found him standing in front of her, she gave him a bright smile.

"Hello." she exclaimed.

Cassian's breath caught for a second before he too sighed a greeting.

"I was thinking," Nesta began, running her eyes over the titles in front of them, "that you could recommend something about..." she wiggled her fingers as much as she could, trying to point to the shelf, and Cassian leaned forward, cursing himself for not thinking of it sooner.

"Here," he removed the first stack of books from her arms and she sagged a little, giving him a thankful look. "I can go get a bag so you can put them all in there and you don't have to carry them like this," he said taking all the books and having her help him arrange them so they wouldn't fall out.

He smiled at her over all the books, looking down at her and she smiled back just as happily.

Hell, if she looked at him like that every time he took her to a bookstore he should do it more often.

He had just turned to go towards the entrance, where he had seen special bags for carrying books, but Nesta stopped him by putting a hand on his arm.

"Wait!" she exclaimed almost impishly.

Cassian turned his head, genuinely worried that something had happened to her in the mere seconds he had been shot. He must have moved too fast, because one of the smaller classics flew off the top of the stack and landed right in her face.

Nesta groaned at the impact and brought her hands to her face, rubbing her forehead where it hurt.

"Oh my God, are you okay?!" he asked with wide eyes. And then Nesta laughed, her eyes sparkling with amusement as she stared at him and he visibly relaxed. "Christ, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw a book at you."

She waved a hand in mid-air, to let him know it was nothing, and bent down to pick up what he realised was A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. Of course Nesta was reading feminist classics.

She turned back to the books as if nothing had happened and Cassian had the urge to look for a list of all the bookstores in the world to take her to if it meant having her in such a good mood by his side, it didn't matter if she would never agree to go on a real date with him, he realised. As long as he could see her smile like that, he didn't need anything else.

"So, I was saying, before you battered me with a book-" she cast an amused glance over one shoulder at him.

He frowned, muttering, "I said sorry."

Nesta ignored him, "What do you recommend?"

Cassian blinked.

"You said you read historical novels right?" she asked, looking for confirmation, "You could recommend your favourites. But not the English or Russian classics. Or French ones. Chances are I've already read those."

Cassian was stunned. Nesta wanted advice on books. From him.

They were silent for too long as she turned around impatiently, "You lied?"

He looked surprised, "When?"

"When you said you were reading. Were you just doing it to impress me or were you serious?" she asked and maybe Cassian imagined it, but she looked disappointed.

He was quick to reply, "The Black Coat, by Neamat Imam. It's pretty recent, but set in the 1970s in Bangladesh. It's about a man who needs help and seeks it from a journalist he asks for work and one of the main themes is the famine that hit the country after it became independent. It's not my absolute favourite, but it certainly gives you something to think about."

Nesta nodded, searching through the titles and finding it almost immediately, "Anything else?"

Cassian felt his neck heat up and coughed a little before resuming speaking. "The Long Ships by Frans G. Bengtsson. Set in the tenth century, it's about a Viking who is called Red because of his hair and focuses on the European political outlook in the late Viking Age. Again, it's not as good as the historical classics, but it's nice and shows a way of life that we're definitely not used to. It's different."

After looking for a few minutes, Nesta gave up reading and turned to him, crossing her arms. She tilted her head to the side, watching him closely, "What's your favourite book?"

Cassian shrugged, settling the books against his chest, "I think at the moment it's The King Must Die by Mary Renault. But I change my mind every month when I find something more interesting or captivating."

She nodded thoughtfully, "I'll take that one then."

And Cassian wished he could change the title immediately because... what if she didn't like it? Or if she thought it was a stupid book? What would she think of him then?

But Nesta had already found a copy a few shelves down and there was no turning back.

He could counterattack, though, "What about yours? You're not going to give me any advice on feminist classics or blatantly trashy romance novels?"

Nesta opened her mouth wide, looking outraged as she placed the latest addition on the pile, settling the book under her chin, "How can you say they're trashy if you don't even know what they're about?"

Cassian chuckled, "On the cover of You Came," he said as he gave her a sly look, "there's something called a 'spicymeter'. How am I supposed to take you seriously?"

Nesta blushed, "I read erotic novels, so what? I have to keep myself busy in my spare time somehow."

And then he challenged her, "Get me the hottest book you've ever read," he said in a joking tone, "I'll go get the bag in the meantime."

She had already left for the section when he had an idea that would surely doom him depending on how Nesta would react.

He walked up to the cashier's desk, making sure she didn't notice, and begging the clerk behind the counter to be quick, paid for all her books, gently placing them back in the bags.

When he reached her again, she seemed not to have noticed anything.

"'So, what did you get me? Ride Me? Fucked You Good? Last Night I Gave You A Thousand Orgasms?" he teased her with an annoyed grin on his lips.

Nesta gave him a fiery glance before noticing the bags, quite different from those you put the things you wanna buy in, and closed her mouth tightly. She frowned and looked at them for so long before speaking that Cassian began to feel self-conscious.

"You paid for my books?" she whispered, looking at him.

He nodded.

"It's not a date, Cassian," she reminded him for the umpteenth time.

"I know, but-"

"So why would you pay for things that are mine?"

He couldn't read her. She wasn't hinting at anything.

She didn't look angry but she didn't look impressed or grateful either.

Cassian placed the bags on the ground between them and Nesta followed his every movement with her eyes.

He ran a hand through his hair, sighing, "My adoptive family is filthy rich. I have a trust fund that I never get to spend on things I really want to do, the only way I get to use it is by giving gifts to my friends, so just accept these as my first gift - friend to friend - and call it a day."

Nesta continued to be impassive as she kept her eyes fixed on the books.

Perhaps he had gone too far. After all, she had taken more than a hundred and fifty euros worth of stuff, but he really didn't mind.

He was about to apologise, tell her she could give the money back if it made her feel better. Cassian would find a way to spend it back on her at other times anyway.

Then she raised her head, handing him two books with hilarious covers to say the least, "These two have storylines full of plot twists. You won't be able to put them down, but don't expect big epic battles or Viking warriors. It's just two college kids trying to survive in the modern world while finding solace in each other."

He didn't even have time to thank her that she was already across the room and waiting in line so she could pay them.

He scoffed, shaking his head.

"I guess you'll be paying for these two," he said as he caught up with her.

Nesta didn't even look at him, pulling out her wallet, "A gift from a friend to a friend."

As they walked back to the car, Cassian offered to carry the bags, but she didn't want to hear one more word so they had managed to compromise and had split the load equally.

They'd been on the road for about thirty minutes now and Nesta had gone through every book he'd bought her, talking about all the previous works by the authors she was holding in her hand at the moment.

Cassian could have died like that. Happy, relaxed, listening to the plots of those dirty books with no moral lessons to teach the reader, just pure entertainment.

He wondered at that moment if he would make it through the first few chapters of the books she had offered him and let out a heavy breath through his nose as he turned right towards the coast.

Nesta looked at him wide-eyed, stopping her rant about the headmaster's son getting the occasional model student to fall in love with him. She brought a hand to her mouth, "Oh dear, sorry, I'm boring you. I'm sorry."

He gave her a confused look ready to tell her she didn't have to apologise, but she continued.

"Sometimes I do and I don't even realize it. And I realize they're not challenging plots where you have to apply some hidden lobe of the brain to understand them, but they distract me from everyday problems, you know? It's fun to be able to unplug a few hours after I get home from work and-"

"Jesus, Nesta, stop!" he laughed, placing a hand on her thigh. She sighed. "You don't have to apologise. Not when you're so excited about something." he looked at her slyly, offering her a reassuring smile, "In fact, I'm glad you're talking so much today. Normally I have to pull the words out of your mouth."

She blushed slightly and then grew sullen soon after, sitting up straighter, "This isn't the way to Velaris, where are we going?"

Cassian didn't answer.

"You're taking me into the woods aren't you?"

"We literally just came out of a forest."

She ignored him.

"I knew it. You're a serial killer."

"Nes-"

"You're a little dense though. Why would you spend so much on someone if you're going to murder them?"

He decided to ignore her, chuckling, "I'm taking you to the beach."

"Why?" she asked, somewhat unconvinced.

Cassian shrugged, "I wanted to see the sunset."

"You didn't ask."

He sighed, gripping the steering wheel, "Okay," he whispered, then louder, "You want to go to the beach and watch the sunset?"

She nodded in assent and then continued to read the plots aloud.

And Cassian could have sworn he was in heaven.

***

Nesta gathered more sand, making a small ball out of it and placing it on the top of one of the towers she had made so far.

"Where did you learn to make such good sandcastles?" asked Cassian suddenly from behind her, startling her.

She jumped in the air, turning to face him and noticing the satisfied smile on his face for having taken her by surprise.

Nesta didn't answer him immediately, but allowed herself to admire him a bit.

Since they had arrived at the beach, they had taken off their shoes and were now both barefoot and then Cassian had bent down and started to roll his trousers around his ankles, offering to do it to her jeans as well, but Nesta had refused. She had sat down, looking at the sea for a while, while he walked along the shore and collected stones and shells.

When he had come back to her and shown them to her, asking her to make a sandcastle, she had laughed at first, but faced with his serious expression, she had been unable to do anything but get up and roll up her sleeves, moving to where the sand was a little more workable.

She looked away from that heavenly vision and made another ball, placing it next to the one she had just made. "When I was little my mum never let me do these, she said I'd get too much sun and forced me and Elain to stay under the umbrella all day," she replied truthfully, remembering the cruel bite of jealousy watching the children on the shore.

"And Feyre?"

Cassian had joined her, kneeling beside her and had begun to place the shells so that they served as windows to the towers.

Nesta sighed, "Feyre was still too little when Mini Me wanted to build sandcastles, but as soon as I became 'too old to play like a kid'," she gave him a knowing look, mimicking her mother's voice, "and Feyre started to figure out she was an actual being, Mama let her do whatever she wanted. Even stand in the sun for hours on end." she shrugged. "Whether it was out of indifference or love, I never understood."

Cassian had been silent the whole time and now he watched her, hands on his thighs as he waited for her to give him more. For her to tell him another little piece of her soul.

So she offered him a forced smile, "So to answer your question, it's all pent-up creativity."

"Well, you're very good at it," he granted her. "I can imagine what you could have done if your mother hadn't been so strict."

Well, yeah.

"What about you?" she asked him.

"What about me?"

"Did you go to the beach a lot?"

Cassian smiled weakly, getting up and heading towards the water to collect more shells. He nodded a couple of times and then said, "My mum and I loved coming to the beach and she loved making castles. And she always put so many 'windows' on the towers-"

Nesta turned to look at their work, realising how many shells he had placed on the piles of sand. She smiled softly, covering her eyes from the sun and watching him walk towards her.

"We always came when she was free from work."

A charged silence settled between them until Cassian chuckled, drawing her attention, "What?"

"You said this wasn't a date. And that we're just friends. Right?"

Shifting her gaze to him, she noticed how he kept his hands hidden behind his back and the mischievous glint in his eyes didn't reassure her at all. Slowly she stood up, nodding.

"So, I must treat you as I would treat my friends. Correct?"

"Cassian, I swear to god that-"

She didn't have time to finish her sentence that something wet and sticky landed in her face with a resounding splash, making her jump back.

She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it when a strong smell of stale water and seaweed flooded her nostrils.

When she opened her eyes again, wiping the seaweed from her face, Cassian was doubled over in laughter.

She didn't even give him time to get up when she started to run towards him - to do what, she had no idea - but he started to run away too and soon they were chasing each other all around the beach, not noticing the sweet looks they were getting from the people around them.

At that moment, Nesta was running so fast that she could feel the wind in her hair and the smell and sound of the sea, together with the laughter of the man who was chasing her, mixed with her own and the continuous tapping of her feet on the sand, made her feel alive.

She felt Cassian come closer every few metres until two strong arms wrapped around her waist and she was pulled up and spun around in the air.

A surprised yelp escaped her as Cassian laughed in her ear, "Gotcha!"

It wasn't until he stopped spinning with her in his arms that they realised the position they were in and immediately broke away, laughing embarrassed.

Nesta turned to face him, her face red from running and her breathing laboured. He was in no better condition. His hair was pointing in all directions and his sculpted chest was rising and falling with haste under the black fabric of his shirt.

He looked away first, scratching the back of his neck and fixing his eyes on the sunset, and offered her his arm as they returned to where they had left theirs things unattended.

Nesta shook her head, laughing one last time and started to run, " Last to reach the castle is stupid!"

Cassian burst out laughing, but he caught up to her in the blink of an eye and they both knew that she had doomed herself to lose. That's why, when he fell tripping over his feet, Nesta knew he had done it on purpose.

She helped him up and they sat back as in silence they watched the sun go down, disappearing past the horizon and the blending lights of the sky created a breathtaking spectacle.

Nesta couldn't have noticed, too busy admiring the clouds, but Cassian had been watching her the whole time, trying to understand how something as sombre and secretive as her could look so bright just by being.

The journey back was silent, but this time the silence was not awkward. They both welcomed it with open arms, a new awareness that there was no need for it to be filled with chatter and that gave Nesta the opportunity to close her eyes for a moment and doze off.

When the car stopped outside her flat, Nesta was surprised to find that she didn't want to get out.

She turned to Cassian after she had gathered her things and nodded, "I had fun today."

He gave her a genuine smile, looking surprised, "Me too."

And then she permanently shocked him, adding, "I'm not working on Saturday, we could do it again. Changing location."

He blinked once. Twice. Then he nodded, "Sure."

He didn't seem to want to say anything more, so Nesta waved goodbye to him and then got out, not waiting for an answer from him.

Cassian stood motionless in the car park of her flat for another half hour, trying to figure out what had just happened, and when the reality of things finally dawned on him, he smiled, "Fuck yeah."

acotar tag list (if you wanna be added or removed just dm me or send me an ask)

@sjm-things @kris10maas @awesomelena555 @sannelovesreading @queenamydien-of-nargothrond @ireallyshouldsleeprn @messyhairday-me @ncssian @observationanxioustheorist @my-fan-side @booksstorm @maastrash @sayosdreams @thedarkdemigod @courtofjurdan @thewayshedreamed @hellasblessed @nahthanks @archeron-queens-blog @sleeping-and-books @bri-loves-sunflowers @thegoddessofyou @ghostlyrose2 @claralady @queenestarcheron @oop-theregoesgravity @firebirdofscythia @anne-reads @fantastypenguins @laylaameer01 @thalia-2-rose @darkshadowqueensrule @bookstantrash @lanyjoy-13 @the-regal-warrior @lordof-bloodshed @dealingdifferentdevils @swankii-art-teacher @rowaelinismyotp

[seashq]

students, your spring 2021 final exam results are in !!  congrats on all of your hard work and ... not so hard work. 

andrews, asher:  B, B, B, A

alvarez, tessa:  A, A, A, A

bahe, lilith:  A, A, A, A

bennett, rhiannon:  C, D, B, B

blumenthal, carter:  A, A, C, A

braxton, lucas:  B, B, B, C

evermore, fable:  A, A, A, A

evermore, ophelia:  B, B, B, B

fieldhouse, troy:  B, B, B, A

giordano, patrizio:  B, A, C, A

han, nabi:  A, B, B, C

harris, jude:  A, A, A, A

harvey, sierra:  A, B, B, B

jeon, james:  A, A, B, C

jin, minjun:  A, A, A, A

kaufman, reagan:  B, B, B, A

kwon, blue:   A, A, B, A

lambert, victoria:  C, B, B, B

lockhart, marley:  B, B, C, A

lopez, theodore:  C, C, B, B

lozano, cameron:  C, A, A, B

mackenzie, tyler:  B, B, B, B

mills, matilda:  A, A, A, B

mi-young, jewel:  A, B, B, A

moretti, naomi:   C, C, B, A

navarro, river:  C, B, A, B

park, hajune:  B, A, B, B

pham, daphne:  A, A, B, B

reich, logan:  B, C, A, B

rhodes, brandon:  C, D, B, B

rossi, romeo:  B, C, C, B

ryu, miles:  A, B, A, B 

shik, hyun:  A, A, A, A

shin, zara:  A, A, A, A

shin, zelda:  A, B, B, B

shredder, cooper:  B, B, A, C

shredder, noah:  A, A, A, A

silva, cassidy:  A, A, C, C

somsri, chanthira:  C, B, D, B

song, hana:  B, C, A, B

thomas, joey:  C, D, C, A

valdes, isabella:  B, B, C, A

vitale, eleanora:  B, B, C, B

yu, vivian:  A, B, A, A 

zhao, bellamy:  B, C, A, B

[crimsoncityhq]

The Washington Gala: Chicago Day of Giving Part II

The night winds down, and the guests gather up their belongings for the long trek home when a voice rings out from the stage, presenting the winner of the door prize. Everyone holds their breath in hopes they’ll be presented with the Bugatti parked out front, draped in a bright red bow and the object of every patron’s desire. The speaker sucks in a breath as he tears into the envelope, just wrapping his lips around a name when a high-pitched, technical beep shrieks from under the stage. The platform bursts into flame, blowing debris, blood, and entrails into the first few rows of tables—and the panic sets in. The guests turn on their heels and find the exits blocked by burly Vasiles cradling machine guns in their arms and wolfish grins on their lips. There’s only one escape, and that’s to the maze garden, but anyone can guess it’s a mouse trap with its winding walls and dead ends. Still, choices are limited and adrenaline is rushing, so the crowd takes the bait, scurrying past the threshold and into the garden. The Vasiles are locked and loaded, hidden in the shadows and thirsty for victims. 

In part II, your character has a choice. You may stay with your group and work together—even with your enemies—to survive, or you can search for a familiar face and pray you all make it out alive. Only the Vasiles and police officers have weapons, save for the tableware your muse may have swiped up before fleeing to the maze garden. Avoid the fountain in the center of the maze; there will be someone waiting for you. No matter how you choose to go about it, there’s one rule of thumb to abide by: don’t get c a u g h t.

The Washington Gala: Chicago Day of Giving Part II begins now and ends on Monday, June 1st, at 11:59 p.m. EST. You’re welcome to have your characters injured ( or injure others, with permission from the mun ), just please let us know beforehand. Again, you may opt to stay in your groups, or your character can find their respective families/connections and work in tandem to escape.

As a reminder, your groups are under the cut—sans the Vasiles, of course.

GROUP 1 — Audric Noire, Fletcher Hargrave,  Rosalie ‘Rosie’ Halliday, Jacob ‘Thorne’ Louthorne

GROUP 2 — Christopher ‘Chris’ Evans, Kitty O’Shea, Xavier Harris

GROUP 3 —  Daniel Adler, Gerald O’Shea, Nova Devereaux, Allegra Cooper, Darren Murphy, Joel Maddison

GROUP 4 — Esmeray Demir, Hana Faust, Koa Naihe, Sebastian Hargrave, Cassandra Harris

GROUP 5— Adrian Brooks, Davut Demir, Juliet Leon, Levi Bohan, August Brooks, Julianna Hellthorpe

GROUP 6 — Audrey Rousseau, Oliver Faust, Chaeyoung Moon

GROUP 7 — Amelia O’Shea, Effie Faust,  Ophelia O’Shea, Veronica Pierce, Logan Washington

GROUP 8 — Angelique Calore, Hayden Dixon, Kian Hannigan, Peyton Bridges

GROUP 9 — Angelo Madden, Clara Davila, Isaak Peters, Tia Valentine, Tyson Kane, Milena Washington

GROUP 10 — Ingrid Vasile, Autumn Dawson, Cecilia 'Cee’ Cavendish, 

GROUP 11 — Amara Ricci, Summer Moore

GROUP 12 — Caleb Duval, Eva Clarke, Faith Williams, Leslie Adal Galahad, Richie O’Shea

GROUP 13 — Calhoun O'Farrell, Erin Cerci, Gemma Faust, Nathan Anderson, 

GROUP 14 — Asli Demur, Charlotte O'Day, Gabriel Hill, Maisie Kane, Samuel O’Shea

GROUP 15 — Arielle Hernandez, Diamond Washington, Penelope 'Poppy’ Levenberg, Ren Daae, Teagan Michaels

GROUP 16 — Blair Faust, Edgar Ortega, Giovanni Rossi, Holden Mercer, Zoe Washington

GROUP 17 — Brayden Adler, Darcy Faust, Liam O’Shea,  Maggie Lee,  Isabella Rossi

GROUP 18 —  Evander 'Evan’ Montague, Wynter Ellis, Christian Yi, Edith Cohen

GROUP 19 — Rylin Dixon, Harley Kincaid, Maeve O’Connell, Teddy Cohen, Sawyer Nichols

GROUP 20 — Alexander Washington, Dawn Montgomery, Andromeda O’Shea

GROUP 21 — David Sharpe, Jace Dubois, Lenny Navarro, Rahi Kumar

GROUP 22 — Dominic Murphy, Sloan Washington, Wesley ‘Wes’ Ahn

GROUP 23 — Aurora O’Shea, Caroline Shepherd, Jesse Valencia, Rosalia Leon

GROUP 24 — Avery Simmons, Genevieve Bisset, Monika Adler, Andrew Whitmore

GROUP 25 — Birdie Mendoza, Zane Washington, Andrea Reed

GROUP 26 — Blue Daniels, Marizia di Greco, Violet Madden

[sunshinevanfleet]

summer ‘78

c h a p t e r  t w o - the after party

[disclaimer: none of the images in the banner/any graphics belong to me, all credits go to the respective owners; all i’ve done is edit the images. please excuse me in advance for any historical inaccuracies/discrepancies, i was not alive in the 1970′s. i’m doing my best to research, but i’m not checking every minuscule detail. all events and characters in this series are fictional, or used in a fictional manner.]

a/n: i know things are going a little slow at the moment, but the action will pick up later! i’m also planning to have longer chapters as the series goes on. hope you loves enjoy!

word count: 2.5k

summary: y/n runs into a familiar face at the gvf afterparty.

warnings: swearing

Saturday night came faster than you expected. Your shift had been dead, presumably because the whole town had run off to the Greta concert, while you were stuck working. The day before, you begged your father for hours to let you off for one night. Hours of groveling later, you still ended up bored in the shop, selling absolutely no records. In fact, the only thing you sold all day was a single magazine to some little boy who’d come in at about five.

Closing at nine couldn't come fast enough, and your head was pounding by the time you finally got home. Heather said that she and Jackie would meet you behind the concert venue at 11, so you had a couple hours to get ready and nurse your headache before you went to the party.

You downed a couple of painkillers when you got home, then made a dash for the shower. The steaming hot water soothed your muscles, and you hummed along to the thrum of your brother’s music playing on the other side of the wall. Once out, you raked a brush through your tangled hair and then wrapped a towel around yourself.

Staring into your closet, you couldn’t decide what to wear. You eyed your favorite pair of bell-bottoms, but decided you would probably get too hot. With a huff, you flopped onto your bed and eyed the ceiling. Why were you even going to this party? You really didn’t mind staying in…

As if on cue, the phone on your nightstand starting ringing off the hook. You jumped, then rolled over and grabbed it off the receiver, twisting the cord around your finger as you brought it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Y/N!” Heather’s voice was high and excited on the other end. You could practically see her disheveled appearance, all smeared makeup and dark hair in sweaty tangles. The energy of the concert carried through in her voice. “When are you coming?”

You glanced at your clock. It was 10:37.

“I don’t know. I can’t find anything to wear,” you sighed in frustration.

“Just put something on!” came Jackie’s voice. “You’ll probably take it off by the end of the night, anyway!”

You wrinkled your nose at her suggestion. “Absolutely not.”

“Wear something sexy!” shouted Heather, her voice muffled from being away from the receiver. You grumbled under your breath; how were you going to deal with your drunk friends coupled with your headache all night?

“Okay. I’ll be there in a few.”

You hung up and stared at your closet. It looked barren, like all of your decent clothes had gotten up and walked away. It felt like the universe was telling you to stay home, but you had no choice but to go and make sure your friends didn’t get into any trouble.

Finally, you settled on a simple t-shirt and jean shorts. You weren’t trying to impress anyone, anyway. You fluffed your hair, tucked a bit of money and your house key into your back pocket, then slipped downstairs and out of the house without making a sound.

-

You squinted in the darkness as you approached the back alley of the venue. You spotted your friends instantly—Jackie’s electric blonde hair was hard to miss anywhere, glowing white in the dark. You saw Heather, leaned over a guardrail batting her eyelashes at a security guard. Pushing through the other people crowded outside, you joined both of them.

“I’m sorry, but the name Heather Navarro is not on this list,” the security guard was saying. You blinked curiously, catching sight of Heather’s exasperated expression. The defeat on her face told you that she wasn’t used to security guards doing their jobs correctly.

“What about Jackie Mitchell?” Jackie asked.

The guard shook his head. “Sorry ladies.” He shrugged at both of them, then glanced at you. “What’s your name?”

You blinked. “Uhh, Y/N Y/L/N. I doubt I’m on there either.”

The guard flipped through his list, then glanced back up at you. “You said Y/N Y/L/N?”

“Yeah.”

The guard scribbled on the list, then nodded. “You’re right here. Says you’re VIP. Come on in.” He flicked open the little metal gate, then stepped out of the way.

You stared at him in disbelief. You were VIP? “What? It must be—”

“It must be really decent in there,” Jackie cut you off. “Are we allowed to come in with her?”

The guard eyed you, “Do you know these girls?”

“Yeah,” you nodded. “They’re with me.” You offered a half-hearted smile, and sighed in relief as the three of you walked past the guard and headed for the back door of the venue.

“I can’t believe it! I never thought someone would have the same name as you,” laughed Heather. “That’s kinda freaky.”

“Kinda? That’s really freaky,” replied Jackie.

“Yeah,” you agreed, leading the way down a dim hallway toward a room where you could hear music thumping steadily. Already, you noticed the pungent smell of weed, and the odor of dozens of people drinking alcohol. You were searching for the bathroom, while Heather and Jackie were gushing about being able to get in so easily.  

“Can we stop at the bathroom?” you asked, your hand stopping against the bathroom door knob.

“Can’t we just meet back up when you’re done?” Heather asked innocently.

You huffed, brushing your hair behind your ear. You glanced from the pleading face of Jackie to the clueless face of Heather, then you conceded. “Fine, but if you guys ditch me…”

“We would never,” Heather breathed, slinging her arms around you and planting a kiss on your cheek.

“Come find us when you’re done,” Jackie gave you a quick hug, then they were off.

You were hoping to find silence in the bathroom; your head was pounding furiously. It felt like your skull was shrinking with every sound, but you were unlucky enough to find out that the bathroom was just as busy as the party down the hall.

Girls crowded in the mirror, layering on lipstick and fluffing their hair carefully. Others were sat on the counter, smoking while gesticulating animatedly. You could see bare legs beneath the stall doors, hear heels clacking against the floor, and smell cigarettes mixed with floral perfumes. All of this worsened your headache, and your skull was screaming at you by the time you finally got into a stall to do your business.

Once finished, you trudged down the hall and into the party to find your friends.

The foggy haze of smoke clouded your vision as you waded through the mess of people in the room, searching for either Heather or Jackie in the crowd. Knowing the two of them, you probably wouldn’t see them for a couple of hours. They’d be off smoking pot, or hitting on the band, or taking body shots.

Sighing, you pushed past a couple of drunken people and found a lonely couch in the corner, occupied by no one. Relief flooded your senses instantly, and you took a seat while you played with the hem of your shirt and cradled your head in your hand, closing your eyes. The last thing you wanted to look like was a total loser at this after party, but your head was killing you. Tuning out the buzz around you, you took a deep breath and massaged your temples. If you just let yourself relax, you’d feel better. You would be fine, find your friends, and have a good time. Or at least, that’s what you were telling yourself.

As you nursed your aching skull, you didn’t even notice the palpable silence that had fallen over the room. Even the drunks had stopped their slurred blabbering, and you glanced up to see Jackie running at you, her shocking blonde hair mussed and her eyes an irritated shade of red. Her face was bright and open, her mouth wide in an expression of disbelief as she grabbed your hands and sat on the couch next to you.

“They’re here!” she hissed, her voice cutting through the thick layer of silence that had fallen over the room like a blanket. She grabbed your chin, directing your face to the other side of the room, where you could see the crowd shifting slightly.

The first one to catch your eye was the lead singer; you could recognize that from his very demeanor—that smile and his tufts of curly hair coupled with the way he gathered the attention of everyone. The room felt his energy instantly, like a spark that ignited the very souls of everyone in his vicinity. You felt short of breath as you stared at him, even the glimmering of his sequined shirt in the royal blue light of the room not enough to pull your eyes away from his face. At first, you had questioned Jackie and Heather’s obsession over the band, but already you could feel their hypnotizing vibe, just from one look.

He looked vaguely familiar, like you’d seen him in a dream. Something like deja vu.

“Who’s he?” you asked, quirking an eyebrow as you glanced at Jackie. She was as enamored by him as everyone else in the room, and you couldn’t blame her. He was mesmerizing.

Jackie’s voice fell to a whisper, “That’s Josh.”

She said nothing else as Josh blended into the rest of the crowd, effectively disappearing in the ghostly light of the room. Plumes of smoke clouded your vision slightly, but you waved your hand in search of the rest of the band. You could see a bit of a crowd forming by the door, probably waiting for the rest of the band to show up.

Still, you could feel the electricity in the room; the excitement felt by friends, roadies, groupies, and randoms alike. The hairs on the back of your neck stood erect in anticipation—if Josh could have this effect on you, how would it feel to see the entire band? You wished desperately that you would’ve been able to see them in concert. Even for one song.

“God, I can’t believe we’re here,” whispered Jackie. You met her dreamy-eyed gaze, her brown eyes looking hazier than they had a couple minutes ago. The atmosphere of the room had even become intoxicating enough to drown out your headache.

Another moment passed, and in came the rest of the band. Jackie filled you in quickly. The first in the succession was Sam, the bassist of the band. He was stunning, glowing in an almost ethereal manner as the blue light haloed around him. He crossed the room gracefully, moving out of the way for the next member of the band.

He was Danny, all sweet smiles and dark curly hair. He greeted everyone with the warmth of a close friend, offering hugs and small-talk to everyone that turned to him. He brought a certain warmth to the room, something that made you feel like you were in a familiar place. He felt like an old friend, even from across the room.

You pulled your eyes away from the doorway for a split second to say something to Jackie, and when you looked back you had to do a double take. You recognized the fourth member from work the other day—Jake!

You couldn’t believe it; your eyes bulged out of your head as you stared at him. No wonder he was in town, he was on tour with his band! You could’ve laughed at yourself. He did say he had a pretty awesome job, and you hadn’t believed it at the time.

“Earth to Y/N?” Jackie waved her hand in front of your face, trying to catch your attention.

You glanced at her, “What?”

“That’s Jake. He’s the guitarist.”

“I know who he is.”

“What? How?”

You shook your head, still in disbelief. “He came into the shop the other day.”

Jackie’s jaw dropped. “Oh my god! No wonder your name was on the list!”

Your eyebrows pulled together. “What? How could he know my full name?”

“Are you joking?” Jackie stared at you as if you’d just grown wings. “The shop is literally called Y/L/N’s.”

A shocked laugh fell from your lips as you realized she was right. But what was the chance that Jake had even remembered you, much less decided to make you one of his VIP guests? It was one in a million, if that.

“I’m sure it was just a coincidence,” you waved it off, your face brightening as you caught sight of Heather approaching. She fell onto the couch, on Jackie’s other side with a wide smile and glassy eyes.

“Did you see them? Amazing…” she relaxed into the cushions, crossing her legs as she lit a cigarette and stared out into the crowd. She was blissed out, her eyes empty, eyeliner smudged softly around her eyes, and her mouth slightly ajar as she sat there. She was hauntingly beautiful, and you knew how she could get her way so easily.

Jackie turned to speak to Heather, but she was cut off by the sound of a voice familiar to you. “Y/N!”

Your head turned so quickly that you thought you’d get whiplash as you caught sight of Jake approaching. You practically jumped out of your seat, your face heating up as Jake opened his arms for a hug, like you two were a couple of old friends. His embrace was warm, and he grinned brightly at you as he pulled away.

“I was hoping to see you here.”

“Really?” you wondered, unable to stop the smile that came to your lips.

“Yeah,” Jake laughed sheepishly. “I had you on the list just in case. Told you my job was decent.”

You began to reply, but Heather felt the need to interrupt. “How do you two know each other?” She blinked at the two of you, looking suspicious.

“We met—”

“A few years ago,” Jake cut you off, winking discreetly at you as Heather glared daggers at you. You gaped at him for a second, and he looked amused.

You rolled your eyes, then turned to Heather with a sweet smile. “Yeah,” you said casually. “Never knew you were in a band, though,” you said sharply, watching the amusement dance in Jake’s eyes.

“Wasn’t that important at the time.” He shrugged. “Why don’t you introduce your friends, Y/N?” His tone was facetious, and you forced a false smile at him.

“This is Heather,” she offered her hand, but Jake pulled her into a hug. “And Jackie.” He shook Jackie’s hand, then watched as Jackie scrutinized you.

“I thought you two just met the other day,” she frowned.

“We did,” you caved, giggling at the look on Heather’s face. “Jake was pulling Heather’s leg.” You threw an arm around Heather’s shoulders, planting a kiss on her cheek. “Love you, H.”

She wrinkled her nose at you, and took a long drag of her cigarette as she pouted.

“Now, where’s the rest of your band, Jake?”

tags: @mr-stank-i-dont-feel-so-dank @gretavanfic @chocolatealmondmilkshake @mountainofthesunn

[peppermintstranger]

oof here's a long one. I need a Spanish guy, shaggy looking with rounder features. light brown hair, any eye color A girl with blonde almost white hair, blue eyes, super pale. Another girl, dark skinned, afro-texture hair, preferably blonde but not required. A dark skinned Hispanic guy with super curly longer hair and dark brown eyes. And finally a white guy with features so sharp they could cut sum1. blonde hair, brown eyes. kinda pretentious looking. I'm sorry this is so long I'm desperate.

Hello!

· Spanish guy: Yon Gonzalez, Maxi Iglesias, Miguel Herrán, Carlos Cuevas, Mario Casas.

·  Blonde girl: Evanna Lynch, Leven Rambin, Hermione Corfield, Julia Garner, Lucy Boynton.

·  Afro girl: Jaz Sinclair, Letitita Wright, Amandla Stenberg, Jessica Sula, Maisie Richardson-Sellers.

 · Hispanic guy: Tyler Posey, Christian Navarro, Rome Flynn, Sean Teale, Rafael de la Fuente.

· White guy: Louis Hunter, Dylan Sprouse, Hart Denton, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Finn Cole.

Hope it helps c:

[chrancecriber]

Radio NET Bulgaria (November 07, 2022)

23:58 THE SAX PACK - Fallin' For You 23:54 KAYLA WATERS - Apogee 23:50 NORMAN BROWN - Heading Wes 23:47 DEE LUCAS - All In (feat. George Freeman) 23:42 KEN NAVARRO - Time And Love 23:38 NILS - Jump Start 23:33 ART RUPRECHT - M & M 23:30 PAUL BROWN - Blues for Jeff 23:26 NICHOLAS COLE - Secrets (Remix) 23:22 ROBERT HARRIS - Cry of my Heart 23:18 DARREN MOTAMEDY - Too Close 23:12 NICK COLIONNE - Whatcha Gonna Do 23:09 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Dancing Galaxies 23:04 VINCENT INGALA - I Think I'm Falling In Love (With You) 23:00 RANDY SCOTT - Heaven Sent 22:59 VITO FOGNINI, CARI - True To Myself (Original Mix) 22:54 VLAD ZHUKOV - Nothing (W&D Chill Out Vocal Mix) 22:49 TITIYO - Come Along (Naid Remix) 22:43 RED - Pieces 22:37 PREMASARA COUNCIL - Sensual Ecstasy 22:32 PAUL ADAM - Backwards (original mix) 22:27 NUAGE, N4M3 - Sunday Morning (Original Mix) 22:24 MODJO - Lady (Acoustic Version) 22:20 CLAES ROSEN, NATALIE PERIS - Stay (Original Mix) 22:16 GABRIELA MENDEZ FUENTE - Romance in Ibiza (Orchester Lite Edit) 22:10 20SABANCI - As Faces Fade (Domenico Cascarino & Luca Lombardi Chill Out Remix) 22:06 PAROV STELAR - You Got Me There 22:01 HARD GREY, HOUSE REPUBLIC - Music Sounds Better With You (Eat More Cake Remix) 21:58 GUSHI, RAFFUNK - Travel (Lemongrass Couch Remix) 21:55 HARDWELL, COLLIN McLOUGHLIN - Call Me A Spaceman (Unplugged Version) 21:52 OCEAN DRIVE, DJ ORISKA - Without You (Acoustic Version) 21:48 COSMIC GATE, EMMA HEWITT - Be Your Sound (Live Acoustic Version) 21:44 NOMOSK - Don't Hold Back (Soty & Seven24 Chillout Remix) 21:40 CUEBRICK - Safe (C-Systems Alternative Mix) 21:33 NO HORIZONS, SHEEMA - Summer Son 21:29 NITIN SAWHNEY - Breathing Light 21:25 NIK LLOYD - Number 1 (Acoustic Cover) 21:17 RED BUDDHA, LINDA WONG ENSEMBLE - Stone Buddha 21:12 REUNITED - Sing It Back (Shazz Man Chill Mix) 21:05 RAYAN MYERS - Pleasant Calmness (Original Mix) 21:00 POLISHED CHROME - Secret Of Sound (Album Version) 20:56 RICHARD MARX - Right Here Waiting 20:52 RUSSELL SIMINS - Comfortable Place 20:48 RUTH ANN - Beautiful 20:45 DJ CHART, DOBA, PRINCESS LARISSA - Danger Games 20:39 BRAVE - The Muse (Chill Out Mix) 20:36 DISCO FRIES, NIKO THE KID - The Light (Acoustic Version) 20:33 DEEP'N PURE, RADBOY - R We Ever Gonna Be (Original Mix) 20:28 MAX MILLION - Do You Believe (Original Mix) 20:25 ZAZA, JORGE NAVA - Broken (Chill Mix) 20:22 ZARA, SNATT & VIX - No Angel (Zetandel Chill Out Mix) 20:17 JIMMY ROQSTA, THALYA HILL - Endless Summer Dance (El Gambrero Remix) 20:12 ATB - Remember That Day 20:07 FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE - Seven Devils 20:02 TENISHIA, KIRSTY HAWKSHAW - Falling (Original Mix) 19:56 YIRUMA - River Flows In You (N-Drew Fate Remix) 19:53 YIRUMA, RUVIN - River Flows In You 19:48 LEO ROJAS - Friendship 19:44 KENNY G - My Heart Will Go On 19:40 IIO - Rapture (Lametta Made 2 Chill Remix) 19:36 RADIO KILLER - Lonely Heart (Kenny Hayes Nitelite Mix) 19:32 OXYGENE - The Ocean (Goldtripp Remix) 19:28 THE FUSION, JANE MAXIMOVA - Behind Rain Waves (Chillout Mix) 19:24 G-SPLIFF - Won't Part 19:19 GROOVE THIEVERY - Killer 19:15 MATT DAREY, ERICA DRISCOLL - Too Far (Zetandel Chill Mix) 19:11 ROBERT NICKSON - Maybe Next Time (Chill Out Mix) 19:04 LA NUIT DEL MAR - Everybody (Luxury Lounge Cafe Mix) 18:59 LA CAINA - I Gotta Know Now 18:55 CHRIS REECE, ROMINA ANDREWS - Right Back (Album Mix) 18:52 C.CIL - Sunset 18:48 ANDAIN - Promises 18:44 E ONE, ARUNA - Still Holding On (Aruna vs Conjure One Chill Mix Lounge Edit) 18:39 VARGO - You're Not Alone 18:32 MACIEJ LABUDA - Be Free 18:28 MARCELA MANGABEIRA - Don't Stop The Music (Lounge Version) 18:25 JOE SATRIANI - Always 18:21 JOHANNES HUPPERTZ - Freeee 18:16 AMEDEO BIANCHI - Spring Water 18:12 BLUE METHENEY - Don't Be So Shy (Sirius & Nyla Mix) 18:07 MARK WATSON - Submission 18:04 PUBLIC SYMPHONY - Wings 18:00 BENYA, PENNY NIXON - Serendipity (After Meridian & Dave Costa Remix) 17:56 DAVID TORT, NORMAN DORAY - Chase The Sun (Musica Feliz Ibiza Beat Remix) 17:52 PAT APPLETON - Crimson (Original Mix) 17:49 LATE NIGHT ALUMNI - This Is Why 17:44 RICHARD DURAND - Wide Awake (Zetandel chill rmx) 17:39 SOLARIC INC - Children (Chill Mix) 17:34 RHEINGOLD ENSEMBLE - Deja Bo 17:29 SOLANOS - Get That Feeling 17:23 ANDY SOL & ECOLYTE - Ponse Passing (Original Mix) 17:18 CHRIS WONDERFUL - History (Original Mix) 17:12 ANGE - Some Day (Perception Of Sound Mix) 17:07 CIARAN McAULEY, ROLY, OONAGH - Forgotten (Ambient Mix) 17:00 SALTWATER - Chicane (Thrillseekers Ambient Mix) 16:56 OLI SILK - Latin Haze 16:52 PIECES OF A DREAM - Fired Up 16:46 DEAN JAMES - Thing Your Man Wont Do 16:42 MEKIEL REUBEN - I Just Wanna Be With You 16:38 DARRYL WILLIAMS - Harveston Way (feat. Euge Groove) 16:34 CAROL ALBERT - Fly Away Butterfly (Reprise) 16:31 RICK HABANA - Island Hopping 16:27 LOWELL HOPPER - Night Song 16:22 JOHN E. LAWRENCE - Just Chillin' 16:18 WILL DONATO - Illuminata 16:15 DREAMING IN COLOUR - No More Goodbyes 16:11 LES SABLER - Crescent City Strut 16:07 SAM BASSMAN JENKINS - All That Bass 16:04 BRIAN SIMPSON - Bonita 16:00 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - Bouncing Back 15:55 BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Rendezvous 15:50 ADAM HAWLEY - While You Were Dreaming (Feat. Michael Lington) 15:46 DANNY LERMAN - No Words 15:43 JEREMY HECTOR - Finally Home 15:39 BEN TANKARD - Remember Wayman 15:35 FREDDIE FOX - Still Lovin' You 15:31 CHRIS GODBER - Sizzle (feat. Adam Hawley) 15:27 RONALD BOO HINKSON - Round the Corner 15:22 BONEY JAMES - Without A Doubt 15:18 UNDER THE LAKE - Breaking Through 15:15 PHILLIP DOC MARTIN - Paradise 15:10 ROCCO VENTRELLA - Hypnotic 15:05 DAVID PETROSYAN - Talk to Me 15:00 LOUIE FITZGERALD - Plantation Key 14:57 MARC ANTOINE - Corto Maltese 14:53 JEFFERY SMITH - Groove You Tonight 14:49 JULIAN VAUGHN - Amore 14:45 TIM BOWMAN - Travelin' Road 14:40 SPECIAL EFX - Garden of Eden 14:36 DARREN RAHN - I Can't Go For That 14:32 SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION - When The Stars Go Blue 14:27 PEET PROJECT - Overseas 14:22 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - She Speaks American English 14:18 PAUL TAYLOR - Goodnight 14:14 MARION MEADOWS - Miami 14:08 KEIKO MATSUI - Antarctica A Call To Action 14:05 STEVE OLIVER - Fiesta 14:00 LISA ADDEO - Touch Me In The Night 13:59 ERIC DARIUS - Retro Forward 13:55 PAUL TUVMAN - For No One 13:50 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Wake up! 13:45 DAVE KOZ - Only Tomorrow Knows 13:41 JODY MAYFIELD - Summer Rain (feat. Michael Tarpley) 13:37 AL DEGREGORIS - Into the Sun 13:33 ROB TARDIK - B Positive (feat. Dave Koz) 13:29 QUINTIN GERARD W. - Air Beneath Your Wings 13:24 EUGE GROOVE - Vinyl 13:19 JOY RIDE - Fly By 13:16 VANN BURCHFIELD - You Can Do It 13:12 WALTER BEASLEY - Lovely Day 13:07 WARREN HILL - Skinny Dippin' 13:04 JOYCE COOLING - Coasting 13:00 WILL SUMNER - Jolon Road 12:57 KIM WATERS - In The Fast Lane 12:52 BRAD ALEXANDER - Just Between Us (feat. Donald Hayes) 12:48 PAOLO RUSTICHELLI - Mondorama 12:44 PATRICK YANDALL - Last Flight Home 12:40 THREESTYLE - Desert Moon 12:36 KIM SCOTT - Back Together Again 12:31 JEFF KASHIWA - 3 12:27 ZOLBERT - Find the Light 12:23 TONY SAUNDERS - All Alone 12:18 WAYMAN TISDALE - Conversation Piece (feat. Bob James) 12:15 TERENCE YOUNG - Dance with Her 12:10 JACKIEM JOYNER - J Street 12:07 RICK BRAUN - Love Will Find a Way 12:04 MARCUS ANDERSON - Psalm 42 12:00 DREW DAVIDSEN - I Can't Help It (feat. Bobby Lyle) 11:58 THE SMOOTH JAZZ ALLEY - EBF 11:54 BLAKE AARON - Sunday Strut (feat. Najee) 11:50 DARRON COOKIE - Your Smile 11:45 RONNY SMITH - Smooth 11:41 NELSON RANGELL - Welcome Home 11:36 GREGG KARUKAS - Show Me The Way 11:32 MARK JAIMES - Trigger Happy 11:28 PETER WHITE - Deja Vu 11:24 CHRIS STANDRING - Change The World 11:20 JIM ADKINS - Time With You 11:16 DANIEL DOMENGE - Latin Flavours 11:12 NAJEE - Bottom To The Top 11:08 DEE BROWN - Smooth Talk 11:05 RICHARD ELLIOT - Authentic Life 11:00 REZA KHAN - Clear Skies 10:59 DEON YATES - When We Meet Again 10:54 RHYTHM LOGIC - Call Me Tonight 10:50 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Electric 10:45 BLAIR BRYANT - Sapphire Rain 10:41 RYAN LA VALETTE - AMG Power 10:36 THE SAX PACK - Like Old Times 10:31 KAYLA WATERS - Heaven Said (vocal) 10:26 DEE LUCAS - The Grady Curve 10:21 KEN NAVARRO - I'll Tell You What 10:17 NILS - Play It 10:12 ART RUPRECHT - Wine and Dine 10:08 RAINFOREST BAND - God's Nature 10:04 NORMAN BROWN - Wes Side Story 10:00 AL GOMEZ - Groovetimez 10:00 NICHOLAS COLE - Let's Take a Ride 09:56 PAUL BROWN - Love You Found Me 09:51 ROBERT HARRIS - Cool Breeze 09:46 DARREN MOTAMEDY - You're Incredible 09:42 NICK COLIONNE - On the Move 09:38 BRANDON WILLIS - Seduction 09:34 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Domino Effect 09:30 VINCENT INGALA - Vintage Vibe 09:25 RANDY SCOTT - Jade Mountain 09:21 OLI SILK - New Bounce 09:17 PIECES OF A DREAM - Ear Candy 09:12 DEAN JAMES - Neon Skies 09:09 MEKIEL REUBEN - No Where Love 09:04 CAROL ALBERT - Fly Away Butterfly 09:00 DARRYL WILLIAMS - How Long Has It Been (feat. Jeff Lorber & Marcus Anderson) 08:58 FUNKTASTIC PLAYERS - Feeling Happy 08:54 RICK HABANA - Eclipse 08:50 LOWELL HOPPER - Change of Seasons 08:46 JOHN E. LAWRENCE - Slammin' & Jammin' 08:41 BRIAN BROMBERG - Come To Me 08:37 WILL DONATO - Everlasting 08:32 DREAMING IN COLOUR - The Dream Merchant 08:28 LES SABLER - Three Dee 08:24 SAM BASSMAN JENKINS - That's The Way Of The World 08:20 BRIAN SIMPSON - Daybreak 08:16 JAZZ FUNK SOUL - Hustle 08:13 BIRDS OF A FEATHER - Phoenix Rising 08:09 ADAM HAWLEY - 35Th St. (Feat. Eric Darius) 08:05 DANNY LERMAN - Gotcha! 08:00 ANDRE DELANO - Full Circle 07:57 ERIC MARIENTHAL - Your Move 07:52 JEREMY HECTOR - Spray Bay 07:49 BEN TANKARD - Thicker Than Water (Reality TV Mix) 07:45 FREDDIE FOX - No U Turn 07:41 GABRIEL MARK HASSELBACH - Vanishing Summer 07:35 NATE WHITE - Step up to the Plate 07:31 CHRIS GODBER - Essential (feat. Jordan Love) 07:27 RONALD BOO HINKSON - Second Look 07:22 BONEY JAMES - Camouflage 07:18 UNDER THE LAKE - Can't Believe It's True 07:12 PHILLIP DOC MARTIN - Rock the Boat 07:08 ROCCO VENTRELLA - In My Arms 07:04 DAVID PETROSYAN - Forgive Me 07:00 LOUIE FITZGERALD - Surviving the Storm 06:59 GERRY SMOOTH - Rise Above (feat. Maestro J.) 06:54 MARC ANTOINE - Silk And Steel 06:48 JEFFERY SMITH - The Chill Zone 06:43 JULIAN VAUGHN - Loving You 06:39 TIM BOWMAN - Into The Blue 06:34 SPECIAL EFX - Mother of Pearl 06:30 R. HARRIS - Blu Twilight (feat. Andrew Nixon, Ignacio Nunez & Dean Rickard) 06:26 DARREN RAHN - Sonic Boom (feat. Jonathan Fritzen) 06:21 SPONTANEOUS GROOVIN' COMBUSTION - Double Deuces 06:18 PEET PROJECT - Lightyears 06:13 ACOUSTIC ALCHEMY - Lilac Lane 06:09 PAUL TAYLOR - Club 702 06:05 MARION MEADOWS - No Wind, No Rain 06:00 KEIKO MATSUI - A Night With Cha Cha from Soul Quest 05:56 STEVE OLIVER - Ba Aye 05:52 LISA ADDEO - Stay With Me Tonight 05:48 ERIC DARIUS - Nu Trane Of Thought 05:43 PAUL TUVMAN - Norwegian Wood 05:39 JEANETTE HARRIS - Passing Time 05:36 MARCIN NOWAKOWSKI - Tell Me Why (Feat. Paul Brown) 05:31 DAVE KOZ - Just To Be Next To You 05:27 JODY MAYFIELD - Right Now (feat. Bill Hart) 05:23 AL DEGREGORIS - All Over The Place (Feat. Eric Marienthal) 05:18 ROB TARDIK - That's a Strut 05:13 QUINTIN GERARD W. - Changing Signs 05:09 EUGE GROOVE - Talk To Me 05:03 JOY RIDE - Trade Winds 05:00 VANN BURCHFIELD - We Can Do This 04:58 WALTER BEASLEY - La Nina 04:54 WARREN HILL - Oh Girl 04:48 JOYCE COOLING - Jelly on My Jacket 04:44 WILL SUMNER - First Light 04:40 KIM WATERS - Walking On Air 04:36 BRAD ALEXANDER - Like the Dew 04:32 PAOLO RUSTICHELLI - Vagabond 04:28 PATRICK YANDALL - Viejo Amigo 04:24 THREESTYLE - Bring It Up 04:20 KIM SCOTT - J's Groove 04:16 JEFF KASHIWA - The Attraction 04:12 ZOLBERT - Above the Clouds 04:08 TONY SAUNDERS - Unlimited Access 04:04 RAGAN WHITESIDE - How Do You Know (vocal) 04:00 WAYMAN TISDALE - Watch Me Play Again (feat. Robert Wilson from The Gap Band) 03:56 TERENCE YOUNG - Island Love 03:52 JACKIEM JOYNER - Close 2 You 03:48 RICK BRAUN - Missing in Venice 03:41 MARCUS ANDERSON - Clean Heart 03:37 DREW DAVIDSEN - Don't Delay 03:33 THE SMOOTH JAZZ ALLEY - Let's Ride 03:28 BLAKE AARON - Groovers and Shakers (feat. Darren Rahn) 03:24 DARRON COOKIE - Other Places 03:20 JEFF RYAN - Sweet Spot 03:16 RONNY SMITH - I'm Beside You 03:11 NELSON RANGELL - Reasons 03:07 GREGG KARUKAS - Happy The Man 03:04 MARK JAIMES - ABC 03:00 PETER WHITE - Say Goodnight 02:57 CHRIS STANDRING - Too Close for Comfort 02:52 JIM ADKINS - A Kiss From You 02:47 GREG MANNING - For the Love of You 02:44 DANIEL DOMENGE - French Connection 02:39 NAJEE - Modern Lovers 02:35 ALEXANDER ZONJIC - Nature Boy 02:31 DEE BROWN - Love You Too 02:27 RICHARD ELLIOT - Summer Madness 02:22 REZA KHAN - Midnight Runner 02:18 DEON YATES - Quintastic 02:13 RHYTHM LOGIC - There for You 02:08 JONATHAN FRITZEN - Turn Back Time 02:04 BLAIR BRYANT - Red Tiger 02:00 RYAN LA VALETTE - No Limits 01:58 THE SAX PACK - Can't Help Myself 01:55 KAYLA WATERS - Spirit Awakening 01:50 DEE LUCAS - To Be Continued 01:46 KEN NAVARRO - Walking Each Other Home 01:43 NILS - Shine Your Light On Me 01:38 ART RUPRECHT - Living in the Son 01:34 RAINFOREST BAND - Caribbean Sunset 01:30 NORMAN BROWN - Back At Ya 01:25 3RD FORCE - Follow Me Home 01:20 AL GOMEZ - Closer to You 01:16 NICHOLAS COLE - Whodat 01:12 JAY KING - My Song 01:08 AMANDUS - Chrome Improvement 01:04 ROBERT HARRIS - New Day 01:00 PAUL BROWN - Right Back At Ya 00:57 DARREN MOTAMEDY - After the Storm 00:54 BRANDON WILLIS - Its Always Been You 00:50 KEITH MASON - End of Days 00:46 NICK COLIONNE - Just Being Me 00:40 PAUL HARDCASTLE - Soaring like an eagle Sax Remix 00:36 KENNY PORE - Touching Hearts Today 00:32 VINCENT INGALA - Can't Stop The Rain From Falling 00:28 WAKANA - Go for the Sound (feat. Darren Rahn & Koh Mr.Saxman) 00:24 RANDY SCOTT - Sanctity 00:21 OLI SILK - All We Need 00:17 SHAUN LABELLE - Desert Nights 00:13 ALTHEA RENE - Pastel Leather 00:09 PIECES OF A DREAM - Gettin' Through It 00:04 DEAN JAMES - Can You Feel It 00:00 LIN ROUNTREE - Me for Me

[bigboxcar]

Mugshot Monday - “Punch A Nazi” mug by Melissa Michel of SCUMUGS with Morning Glory Blend by Peace Coffee

I refute the blatant racism and nationalism and straight-up NAZI messaging coming out of the current Republican party.

I’m a non-violent person and I don’t condone violence, so consider my mug a metaphor:

** Don't punch them out, VOTE THEM OUT! **

Please VOTE BLUE on November 6. Enough with this garbage because this is America my goodness.

Who wins matters.

I love this mug by Melissa Michel. I raise it with hopes we can fix what the Republican party has become. We need to start by voting every last one of them out. Please VOTE!

Twitter is usually a tiresome cesspool, but here are some tweets I found inspiring last week leading up to the midterm election:

I’m sick and tired of Trump. And I’m sick and tired of Republicans who go along with Trump—defending, abetting and imitating his egregious excesses. If you’re sick and tired too, here is what you can do. Vote for Democrats. For every office. My latest: https://t.co/ZiA2oVtq5c

— Max Boot (@MaxBoot)

October 31, 2018

"Brian Kemp's office" opened its OWN investigation for political purposes. I did nazi that coming.

— 𝐴𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑟 𝐷𝑒𝑛𝑡 (@__Arthur_Dent__)

November 4, 2018

13 Americans died b/c of hate crimes last week. I can’t rationalize voting for anyone embracing Trump as he continues to divide Americans & peddle bigotry. For 1st time, I won’t be voting for a Republican for Governor. I'm voting for ⁦@AndrewGillum⁩ https://t.co/IbWft8LskN

— Ana Navarro (@ananavarro)

November 2, 2018

.@RepJohnLewis: "I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma. I almost died. Some of my friends and colleagues were murdered. I'm not asking any of you to give any blood. I'm just asking you to go and vote like you've never voted before." pic.twitter.com/EzKlYxE3Nx

— Robert Reich (@RBReich)

November 3, 2018

Vote like a bunch of school children were shot and a bunch of other children were put into camps indefinitely bc they werent white and like a journalist was murdered and like you are being lied to daily by rich liars who harass / assault women & wont renounce white supremacy

— Chelsea Peretti (@chelseaperetti)

November 2, 2018

New York Times updates Steve King story to call his remarks "racist" https://t.co/9Ky85Kh6Rw pic.twitter.com/imnNzxZwMw

— The Hill (@thehill)

November 4, 2018

ABC finds “at least 17 criminal cases where Trump's name was invoked in direct connection with violent acts, threats of violence, or allegations of assault. … victims represent an array of minority groups—African-Americans, Latinos, Muslims and gay men.” https://t.co/6fdRY3hBo3

— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw)

November 5, 2018

Cheers! Let's vote!

See also my 460+ photos from the Mugshot Monday project here: www.MugshotMonday.com – Every Mug Has A Story

[courierdusters-a]

STATS REPOST, DON’T REBLOG

・・・・・★ BASICS.

FULL NAME: elena days NICKNAME: elle AGE: verse dependent (22 at the start of fnv, 23 at the end, 27 at the start of fo4) BIRTHDAY: feb 23 2259 NATIONALITY: american PLACE OF BIRTH: small cattletown near the coast of california CURRENT LOCATION: verse dependent PRONOUNS: she/hers S-ORIENTATION: gray asexual R-ORIENTATION: panromantic RELIGION: n/a LANGUAGES: english, bits and pieces of the languages of the sorrows and dead horses  VOICE: katie gray

・・・・・★ PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES.

EYE COLOUR: blue HAIR COLOR: black HEIGHT: 5′0″ BODY BUILD: undernourished, lanky in proportions

・・・・・★ NOTABLE FEATURES.

she’s so fuckin’ short, guys

any strength-oriented character could prolly pick her up with one hand.......

dat scar tho

also worth noting are the surgery scars from big MT. you can’t see the one on her head any more for her hair, but depending on what she’s wearing, sometimes you can get a look at the spine and heart surgery scars

・・・・・★ PHOBIAS & DISEASES.

PHOBIAS: bomb collars, radscorpions (early fnv) DISEASES: n/a

・・・・・★ PERSONALITY.

GENERAL IMPRESSION: fnv: friendly, warm, and open (more than a little too much so, especially in early fnv). easily flustered, but eager to please and eager to prove herself. awkward, but still manages to be charming and persuasive. definitely does not look like the courier everyone talks about (late fnv). fo4: reserved, but treats others fairly. a little too good at killing things. too nice to be a typical merc (early fo4). doesn’t draw attention to herself (despite her roles and reputation in late fo4) MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic good

・・・・・★ MISC.

・・★ LIKES:

animals

robots (synths included)

pre-war fashion

heights

rain (monsoons and other storms included)

flowers

western music

big band music

・・★ DISLIKES:

sunset sarsaparilla

B O M B C O L L A R S

cold weather

tunnelers

navigating vaults

forgetting just about anything

TAGGED BY: @actuatoric TAGGING: @starkunlimited @beenpole @inplakabl @justificd @dearestrevenant @remnantrecruit​ @mayflowermarred​ @mementomorphosis @papergun @remember-navarro​ (take ur pick between aidan and deacon)

[blackkudos]

Billy Eckstine

William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer, and a bandleader of the swing era. He was noted for his rich, resonant, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. Eckstine's recording of "I Apologize" (MGM, 1948) was awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. 

The New York Times

 described him as an "influential band leader" whose "suave bass-baritone and "full-throated, sugary approach to popular songs inspired singers like Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock and Lou Rawls."

Biography

Eckstine's paternal grandparents were William F. Eckstein and Nannie Eckstein, a mixed-race, married couple who lived in Washington, D.C.; both were born in 1863. William F. was born in Prussia and Nannie in Virginia. His parents were William Eckstein, a chauffeur, and Charlotte Eckstein, a seamstress of note. Eckstine was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; a State Historical Marker is placed at 5913 Bryant St, Highland Park, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to mark the house where he grew up.Billy's sister, Maxine (married name Whedbee), was a well-respected Spanish teacher at Taylor Allderdice High School in Pittsburgh.

He attended Peabody High School before moving to Washington, DC. He attended Armstrong High School, St. Paul Normal and Industrial School, and Howard University. He left Howard in 1933, after winning first place in an amateur talent contest. He married his first wife, June, in 1942. After their divorce in 1952, he remarried shortly after to actress and model Carolle Drake in 1953, and they remained married until his death. He was the father of four children by second marriage and two step-children, including Ed Eckstine, who was a president of Mercury Records, Guy Eckstine, who was a Columbia and Verve Records A&R executive and record producer, singer Gina Eckstine, and actor Ronnie Eckstine.

Heading to Chicago, Eckstine joined Earl Hines' Grand Terrace Orchestra in 1939, staying with the band as vocalist and trumpeter, until 1943. By that time, Eckstine had begun to make a name for himself through the Hines band's juke-box hits as "Stormy Monday Blues" and his own "Jelly Jelly."

In 1944, Eckstine formed his own big band and it became the finishing school for adventurous young musicians who would shape the future of jazz. Included in this group were Dizzy Gillespie, Dexter Gordon, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Charlie Parker, and Fats Navarro, as well as vocalist Sarah Vaughan. Tadd Dameron, Gil Fuller and Jerry Valentine were among the band's arrangers. The Billy Eckstine Orchestra is considered to be the first bop big-band, and had Top Ten chart entries that included "A Cottage for Sale" and "Prisoner of Love". Both were awarded a gold disc by the RIAA.

Dizzy Gillespie, in reflecting on the band in his 1979 autobiography To Be or Not to Bop, gives this perspective: "There was no band that sounded like Billy Eckstine's. Our attack was strong, and we were playing bebop, the modern style. No other band like this one existed in the world."

Eckstine became a solo performer in 1947, with records featuring lush sophisticated orchestrations. Even before folding his band, Eckstine had recorded solo to support it, scoring two million-sellers in 1945 with "Cottage for Sale" and a revival of "Prisoner of Love". Far more successful than his band recordings, these prefigured Eckstine’s future career. Eckstine would go on to record over a dozen hits during the late 1940s. He signed with the newly established MGM Records, and had immediate hits with revivals of "Everything I Have Is Yours" (1947), Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s "Blue Moon" (1948), and Juan Tizol’s "Caravan" (1949).

Eckstine had further success in 1950 with Victor Young’s theme song to "My Foolish Heart," and the next year with a revival of the 1931 Bing Crosby hit, "I Apologize".

His 1950 appearance at the Paramount Theatre in New York City drew a larger audience than Frank Sinatra at his Paramount performance.

Eckstine was the subject of a three page profile in the 25 April 1950 issue of LIFE magazine, in which the photographer Martha Holmes accompanied Eckstine and his entourage during a week in New York City. One photograph taken by Holmes and published in LIFE showed Eckstine with a group of female admirers, one of whom had her hand on his shoulder and her head on his chest while she laughed. Eckstine's biographer Cary Ginell, wrote of the image that Holmes "...captured a moment of shared exuberance, joy, and affection, unblemished by racial tension." Holmes would later describe the photograph as the favorite of the many she had taken in her career as it "...told just what the world should be like". The photograph was considered so controversial that an editor at LIFE sought personal approval from Henry Luce, the magazine's publisher, who said it should be published. The publication of the image caused letters of protest to be written to the magazine, and singer Harry Belafonte subsequently said of the publication that "When that photo hit, in this national publication, it was if a barrier had been broken". The controversy that resulted from the photograph had a seminal effect on the trajectory of Eckstine's career. Tony Bennett would recall that "It changed everything...Before that, he had a tremendous following...and it just offended the white community", a sentiment shared by pianist Billy Taylor who said that the "coverage and that picture just slammed the door shut for him".

Among Eckstine's recordings of the 1950s was a 1957 duet with Sarah Vaughan, "Passing Strangers", a minor hit in 1957, but an initial No. 22 success in the UK Singles Chart.

The 1960 Las Vegas live album, No Cover, No Minimum, featured Eckstine taking a few trumpet solos and showcased his nightclub act. He recorded albums for Mercury and Roulette in the early 1960s, and appeared on Motown albums during the mid to late 1960s. After recording sparingly during the 1970s for Al Bell's Stax/Enterprise imprint, the international touring Eckstine made his last recording, the Grammy-nominated Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter in 1986.

Eckstine made numerous appearances on television variety shows, including on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Nat King Cole Show, The Tonight Show with Steve Allen, Jack Paar, and Johnny Carson, The Merv Griffin Show, The Art Linkletter Show, The Joey Bishop Show, The Dean Martin Show, The Flip Wilson Show, and Playboy After Dark. He also performed as an actor in the TV sitcom Sanford and Son, and in such films as Skirts Ahoy, Let's Do It Again, and Jo Jo Dancer.

Culturally Eckstine was a fashion icon. He was famous for his "Mr. B. Collar"- a high roll collar that formed a "B" over a Windsor-knotted tie. The collars were worn by many a hipster in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

In 1984 Eckstine recorded his penultimate album, I Am a Singer, arranged and conducted by Angelo DiPippo and featuring Toots Thielemans on harmonica. Eckstine's final recordings were made in November 1986, with saxophonist Benny Carter and released on the 1987 album Billy Eckstine Sings with Benny Carter.

Illness & Death

Eckstine suffered a stroke while performing in Salina, Kansas, in April 1992, and never performed again. Though his speech improved in hospital, Eckstine later had a heart attack, and died a few months later on March 8, 1993, aged 78. Eckstine's final word was "Basie".

Tributes

His friend Duke Ellington recalled Eckstine's artistry in his 1973 autobiography Music is My Mistress: "Eckstine-style love songs opened new lines of communication for the man in the man-woman merry-go-round, and blues a la B were the essence of cool. When he made a recording of Caravan, I was happy and honored to watch one of our tunes help take him into the stratosphere of universal acclaim. And, of course, he hasn't looked back since. A remarkable artist, the sonorous B." ... "His style and technique have seen extensively copied by some of the neocommercial singers, but despite their efforts he remains out front to show how and what should have been done."

Sammy Davis, Jr. made several live appearances and impersonated Eckstine. Not just for comedy reasons, but because Eckstine was a close friend and a supporter of Martin Luther King. Eckstine was a pallbearer at Davis' Funeral in 1990.

Quincy Jones stated in Billboard: "I looked up to Mr. B as an idol. I wanted to dress like him, talk like him, pattern my whole life as a musician and as a complete person in the image of dignity that he projected.... As a black man, Eckstine was not immune to the prejudice that characterized the 1950s." Jones is quoted in The Pleasures of Jazz as also saying of Eckstine: "If he’d been white, the sky would have been the limit. As it was, he didn’t have his own radio or TV show, much less a movie career. He had to fight the system, so things never quite fell into place."

Lionel Hampton: "He was one of the greatest singers of all time.... We were proud of him because he was the first Black popular singer singing popular songs in our race. We, the whole music profession, were so happy to see him achieve what he was doing. He was one of the greatest singers of that era ... He was our singer."

The Title of a 1956 promotional movie by the C. G. Conn Company, Mr. B Natural, is derivative of Eckstine's nickname "Mr. B." (The title character bears no resemblance to Eckstine.)

Discography

Albums

With Howard McGhee

1948 Howard McGhee and Milt Jackson (Savoy [rel. 1955])

LP/CD releases/compilations of note

1960 Mr. B: The Great Billy Eckstine and His Orchestra (Audio Lab) – 12" LP reissue of The Great Mr. B from DeLuxe/King

1963 Billy & Sarah [with Sarah Vaughan] (Lion) – compilation

1971 Billy Eckstine Together (Spotlite) – 1945 live "radio broadcast" recordings

1979 Billy Eckstine Sings (Savoy Jazz) – compilation

1986 Mister B. and the Band: The Savoy Sessions (Savoy Jazz) – compilation

1986 I Want to Talk About You (Xanadu) – This compilation features Eckstine's earliest recordings, thirteen selections from his 1940–1942 Bluebird sides with the Earl Hines Orchestra; plus three ballads from a 1945 live "radio broadcast" with his big band.

1991 Everything I Have Is Yours: The Best of the MGM Years (Verve/PLG) – 2-CD anthology with 42 tracks (note: the original 2–LP set was issued in 1985 with 30 tracks)

1991 Compact Jazz: Billy Eckstine (Verve/PLG) – compilation

1994 Jazz 'Round Midnight: Billy Eckstine (Verve/PLG) – compilation

1994 Verve Jazz Masters (Volume 22): Billy Eckstine (Verve/PLG) – compilation

1996 Air Mail Special (Drive Archive) – reissue of the 1945 live "radio broadcast" recordings.

1996 The Magnificent Mr. B (Flapper/Pearl) – anthology/compilation of material recorded with Earl Hines (for the Bluebird label), and Eckstine's recordings with his orchestra (for the DeLuxe and National labels).

1997 The Chronological Billy Eckstine And His Orchestra 1944-1945 (Classics) - anthology/compilation

1999 The Chronological Billy Eckstine And His Orchestra 1946-1947 (Classics) - anthology/compilation

2001 Mr. B (ASV/Living Era) – anthology/compilation

2002 Timeless: Billy Eckstine (Savoy Jazz/Denon) – compilation

2002 The Legendary Big Band 1943–1947 (Savoy Jazz/Denon) – 2-CD anthology (all of Eckstine's recordings for the De Luxe and National labels).

2003 The Motown Years (Motown/UMe) – 2-CD anthology

2004 Love Songs (Savoy Jazz/Denon) – compilation

2004 A Proper Introduction to Billy Eckstine: Ballads, Blues and Bebop (Proper) – anthology/compilation

2005 Jukebox Hits 1943–1953 (Acrobat) – anthology/compilation

2005 Early Mr. B: 1940–1953 (Jazz Legends) – anthology/compilation of material recorded with Earl Hines (for the Bluebird label), and Eckstine's recordings with his orchestra (for the DeLuxe, National and MGM labels).

2006 Prisoner of Love: The Romantic Billy Eckstine (Savoy Jazz/Denon) – this is a reissue of Timeless: Billy Eckstine.

2008 All of My Life (Jasmine) – 2-CD anthology (contains 35 tracks recorded for MGM; includes all 10 of his 1956 RCA recordings; and 10 of his 1957–1958 Mercury recordings).

2013 Billy Eckstine: Seven Classic Albums (Real Gone Jazz) – 4-CD reissue package includes these 7 albums, Billy Eckstine's Imagination; Billy Eckstine & Sarah Vaughan Sing the Best of Irving Berlin; Billy's Best!; Basie-Eckstine Incorporated; No Cover, No Minimum; Once More With Feeling; At Basin Street East.

Wikipedia

[your-dietician]

15 years ago, 'Rock Star: Supernova' rocked reality television

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/entertainment/15-years-ago-rock-star-supernova-rocked-reality-television/

15 years ago, 'Rock Star: Supernova' rocked reality television

Gillby Clarke, ‘Rock Star: Supernova’ winmer Lukas Rossi, Tommy Lee, and Jason Newsted in 2006. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Before David Cook became the first rock winner of American Idol or Adam Lambert made TV history with his game-changing, Jeff Buckley-esque “Ring of Fire” cover, there was CBS’s Rock Star: Supernova — a search for the lead singer for a new supergroup comprising Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee, ex-Metallica bassist Jason Newsted, and ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke. (Lambert even credited Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana’s “Ring of Fire” performance as an inspiration for his Idol arrangement.) 

The Dave Navarro-cohosted talent show, which premiered 15 years ago on July 5, 2006, was an “anti-Idol” of course, featuring covers of songs by Nirvana, the Verve, Hole, Radiohead, the Killers, Dramarama, Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Depeche Mode, the Kinks, Living Colour, Failure, Franz Ferdinand, the Police, Talking Heads, Cheap Trick, Bob Dylan, Soul Asylum, Stone Temple Pilots, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, and even the actual Jeff Buckley — at a time when that was unheard-of on all other singing competitions.

“It was real. It wasn’t like karaoke with somebody up there just singing some dumb s***. It was real music,” Lee tells Yahoo Entertainment. “I really think [Rock Star: Supernova executive producer] Mark Burnett was way ahead of his time in wanting to deliver that kind of thing to prime-time America. Like, ‘Here’s some real s***. These guys are going to look for a singer. They’re going to make a record. They’re going to go on tour.’ … It totally was ahead of its time.”

The blueprint for Rock Star: Supernova was arguably created a year earlier with Rock Star: INXS, a questionable and somewhat distasteful reality show set up by Burnett and the surviving members of Australian pop-rock band INXS to replace late INXS frontman Michael Hutchence. (Another future American Idol rock trailblazer, Chris Daughtry, actually unsuccessfully auditioned for that show.) Canadian glam-rocker Lukas Rossi eventually won Rock Star: Supernova after performing his self-penned original power ballad “Headspin” on the finale (which, again, was not typical for reality shows of the era), but he tells Yahoo Entertainment/SiriusXM Volume that when his friend suggested he try out for Burnett’s new Rock Star spinoff, he balked — because initially, Rock Star Season 2 was going to be a search for the replacement singer of another big, established rock group, not for the singer of a brand-new band.

Story continues

“My life seemed pretty grim at that point. I was in Montreal, going from friends’ to friends’ houses and trying to get my band, Rise Electric, off the ground. I was literally in minus-40-degree weather, living in an abandoned bowling alley and covering myself up with newspaper just to keep warm. I got a call out of the blue from a friend of mine, [EMI Music Publishing executive] Barb Sedun, and she was like, ‘Hey, there’s this show and they’re looking for a singer.’ And she mentioned another band. I was like, ‘I can’t replace that singer! That’s just not right!’ … It was Van Halen — that’s what she said to me. And I was like, ‘Absolutely not. I don’t want to pretend to be their new singer.’ I mean, I love Van Halen, but that’s just not my persona. I’d be lying to the fans and their fans and to myself.”

Rossi was homeless and destitute after leaving his home base of Toronto following a breakup with a cheating girlfriend, and he had focused all his energy on the fledgling Rise Electric. “I put all my eggs into one basket, because I’m a firm believer. My daddy used to say, ‘Whaddya got for plan B, after all this music s***?’ And I’m like, ‘If you need a plan B, that means your plan A is pretty s***ty, dude.’ So, I didn’t have a plan B. Or a plan C.” Still, Rossi admits that he was tempted to try out for what he believed was going to be Rock Star: Van Halen. “It was a hard freakin’ pill to swallow, because I was frickin’ broke, dude. I had nothing.”

However, a week later Sedun phoned Rossi again to let him know that Rock Star had changed direction, and its second season would instead center on a new hard-rock supergroup featuring A-list musicians, with superstar producer Butch Walker set to record their album. “I was like, ‘Hell yeah, dude! That’s what I was like!’” When Rossi had no way of affording a trip to the nearest audition city, Vancouver, Canada, Sedun footed the bill. “She’s like, ‘I’ll pay for you to get there. Just go and kick ass. I know you can do this. I believe in you.’ I packed up my backpack — I had all my belongings in a backpack — and I went there, terrified.”

Rossi confesses that he “drank a few too many pints” before he tried out with “Headspin” (which he’d written just a week earlier) and Live’s “Lightning Crashes,” and he initially thought he’d ruined his chances. “I was so nervous. I walk in, and there’s this dark room. It’s like really weird, like this little stage lit up with one light and the rest is this empty theater,” he recalls. “And then halfway through that I hear, ‘Why are you sweating so much?’ I was like, ‘Who said that?’ I’m looking around, and then I see Jason Newsted through the darkness. And I said, ‘Oh, hey, dude. I just had a couple of pints and it’s hot as s*** in here. That light above me is hot, dude!’”

Apparently the skunk-haired Rossi’s rock ‘n’ roll attitude — which likely would not have impressed the stuffier powers-that-be on, say, Idol or America’s Got Talent in 2006 — was an asset on Rock Star: Supernova. “There was a chuckle in the darkness,” Rossi remembers. Moments after he left that audition and started walking down the street with his guitar case in hand, a casting agent from the show chased him down and invited him to return the next day. And even later, when Rossi got on the show and botched his live, televised performance of Hole’s “Celebrity Skin” — when his “brain took a big dookie” and he forgot the words — that rawness and authenticity worked in his favor. “When you take your life too seriously, man, that only goes so far. That’s, like, a real person. [Rock musicians] trip over things once in a while. We do things wrong. You have to be yourself,” Rossi shrugs. 

Unfortunately, the Rossi-fronted band that formed after the show’s finale was not nearly as successful as the show itself. First, there was a branding issue when the new group, which was supposed to be called Supernova, had to officially change its name to the clunkier Rock Star Supernova (minus the TV series title’s colon), after an established Orange County pop-punk trio named Supernova sued and was granted an injunction. (One key piece of evidence was a Myspace message from Butch Walker noting that Burnett Productions, CBS, Lee, Newsted, and Clarke had been informed that another Supernova already existed, but they had proceeded anyway.) 

The hastily renamed Rock Star Supernova’s surprisingly solid, Walker-produced self-titled album, which included “Headspin” as a single and featured Rossi’s writing credits on four other cuts, debuted at No. 4 in Rossi’s native Canada, where it eventually went platinum. (Check out two circa-2006 performances by the band at Yahoo’s studio below.) But in the U.S., the album stalled at No. 101 on the Billboard 200 and received virtually no radio airplay. It was likely that the reality-television stigma hurt Rock Star Supernova’s chances of being taken seriously in the hard rock world, despite the project’s A-list pedigree.

“I think a lot of people think it’s baggage, like it is not ‘authentic’ or whatever, like it’s the ‘Hollywood TV version’ of something,” Walker, who also appeared as a guest judge on the show, tells Yahoo Entertainment/SiriusXM Volume. “But that being said, I mean, that’s what people sign up for when they watch.”

“We toured everywhere, all the way to Australia and back, but I’m a firm believer that timing is everything, you know?” muses Rossi. “And honestly, I don’t know, because I went out there every single night and gave it my all, dude. Me and Tommy were hungry, but maybe the rest of them — I’m not gonna mention people — but maybe somebody wanted Dilana to win instead of me. We’ll just leave it at that.”

Dilana, who toured as Rock Star Supernova’s opening act in 2007, was actually happy and relieved to place second on the show, as she ultimately didn’t think she was the right fit for the supergroup’s music. “I wanted to get as far as I could, but after I heard their first original, I was kind of bummed,” she confesses to Yahoo Entertainment. “That was exactly when I knew: ‘I don’t want to be the singer in this band.’ I’m not dissing them — I mean, they’re great songs, and Butch Walker is a fantastic, amazing, creative artist — but they’re just not me. They picked me to be the first [contestant] to sing an original on the show, and it was a challenge for me. After that, I knew there was no way I would be in this band, singing this material. And I made the mistake by actually informing some people about it the night before the finale.

“Someone posed the question, ‘What are you going to say [if you win]? What’s your little speech going to be?’ And, I said, ‘Well, if I win it, I’m going to decline it,’” Dilana continues. “Everyone knew it was either Lukas or I, so I said, ‘Lukas, you’re going to get it.’ And I think they were videotaping us at that point. So, I have a sneaky suspicion that somehow the producers got word to the band, and maybe they decided to make sure that I didn’t get picked. … Maybe they told the band and the band was like, ‘We’re not going to get humiliated like that.’ But, maybe the TV people were like, ‘Oh, this would be great television!’ Who knows what happened? But everyone also knew that Lukas was definitely Tommy’s favorite from day one, so it worked out perfectly for me. I didn’t have to embarrass anybody, I didn’t have to get kind of nervous if I had won, and I got exactly what I wanted. I wanted the exposure, and that’s what I got.”

“There was a lot of people involved. There were a lot of cooks in the kitchen. Everybody had their own manager. I mean, you can just see how that’s going to go,” sighs Walker. “There were a lot of people trying to get squeezed through the same rathole with all of their ideas. But they were all great people. I really enjoyed the experience, and Mark Burnett is awesome.”

Rossi was disappointed when Rock Star Supernova lasted only one album/touring cycle, but like Dilana, he used the exposure to further his solo career, and he and Lee remain buddies to this day. (“He’s the best dude. He’s like my tall, skinny daddy. I love that dude,” Rossi gushes.) Most recently, Rossi sang two tracks on Lee’s 2020 solo album Andro, the original “You Dancy” and a cover of Prince’s “When You Were Mine.” And Rock Star: Supernova changed Rossi’s life in a more important and lasting way: Shortly after the show, Lee and Navarro fixed him up with their friend, former adult film actress Kendra Jade. “We met up at Barney’s Beanery and literally spent the next two whole weeks in bed. It was mental,” Rossi laughingly recalls of their first date. Lukas and Kendra eloped in 2007; adopted a son, Bryden, in 2015; and now happily reside in Nashville. 

“The music was secondary [to the Rock Star: Supernova experience]. Everybody I’ve met through that whole journey was so awesome,” Rossi adds. “Like I was telling you, I was on the street, I had nothing, and all of a sudden I get thrown into meeting all these wonderful people. … We were all there to do what we love most. Plus, we got to have free drinks and be on television and make a bunch of wonderful, wonderful fans. I mean, God, it was the best time of my life.”

Tommy Lee and Lukas Rossi (Photo: Jordan Strauss/WireImage)

“That’s all it ever was to be — it was a great experience,” says Lee. Rossi does wish that Burnett had continued focusing on rock ‘n’ roll reality shows instead of moving on to the more mainstream and less rockin’ NBC show The Voice (“Why? That’s like McDonald’s cutting off their Big Macs,” he quips), but Lee does believe that Rock Star: Supernova changed music television 15 years ago, attesting: “I think it paved the way for a lot of the shows that are here today, definitely.”

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:

Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, Spotify

This above Lukas Rossi and Butch Walker interviews are taken from their appearances on the SiriusXM show “Volume West.” Full audio of those conversations are available via the SiriusXM app.

Source link

[apod]

2017 November 27

Hurricane Season Animated Video Credit: M. R. Radcliff (USRA) et al., NASA's GSFC, SVS; Music: Elapsing Time by C. Telford & R. A. Navarro (ASCAP)

Explanation: Where do hurricanes go? To better understand dangerous storms, NASA compiled data from several satellites into a supercomputer simulation of this past year's hurricane season. Specifically, the featured video shows how smoke (white), sea salt (blue), and dust (brown) tracked from 2017 August through October across the northern half of Earth's Western Hemisphere. These aerosols usefully trace sometimes invisible winds. In the midst of the many mesmerizing flows, hurricanes can be seen swirling across the Atlantic Ocean on the right. Some of these hurricanes lashed islands and coastal regions in North America before dissipating in the northern Atlantic. Studying this year's weather patterns may bolster more accurate storm forecasts as soon as next year.

∞ Source: apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap171127.html

[theartofdyingrp]

Congratulations!

Welcome, Wren! You’ve been accepted as Roman Navarro. Oh, boy... Things are about to get interesting. I cannot wait to see your portrayal of Roman on the dash! 

Please send in your account to the main within 24 hours and be sure to read our New Member Welcome Page.

OOC INFORMATION -

N A M E

wren

A G E

28 ugh

T I M E Z O N E

est

A C T I V I T Y  L E V E L

REMOVED FOR PRIVACY

A N Y T H I N G  E L S E

REMOVED FOR PRIVACY

IC INFORMATION -

D E S I R E D  R O L E

Roman Navarro

W H O  A R E  T H E Y  T O  Y O U

Roman has always been the person that when they walk into the room everyone feels him. He’s actually more on the quiet side these days, when he was younger he was very much the image of a young entrepreneur visionary. There was a missed opportunity for him to go into more tech start up world but ultimately he was single focused on what he knew. He’s kept a very loyal group by being a leader and spending a lot of time building the culture of his cartel. In a parallel life he would have made a very successful CEO and Founder of business. He likes to spend his time with his men and women and he’s very attentive to their needs. He instilled the culture to “come to me first and we’ll figure it out” with his people, and it’s more weird to see him missing from the people than not. He’s not the type to lock himself in his office and expect people to make him his money. He’s a hands on leader and likes to mentor his group.

Values

Family

Freedom

Despite what outsiders think of him, he’s extremely family and freedom orientated in that he knows that the best way to help both of those values is to make sure that he has enough money and power to make sure that those things are never messed with. He’s aged gracefully in emotions and he hasn’t really looked back, he used to be a lot more wild and chaotic than he is now. There is an inner danger to anyone who is paying attention, he’ll listen and take in information, but every action he takes is extremely calculated. I see his evolution as this young and hungry kid into a full fledged businessman, he’s gotten his hands dirty and he’s personally done every job that he asks his men to do so that he has context and knowledge behind.

Traits/Personality

8w7 Enneagram (he was in the healthy ranks but has slid down the scale to 4-5 average level)

Bold, calculated, charismatic, loyal, observant, vicious, brutal, well read

He tends to lean into the rumors about him because he really, really likes being underestimated

He’s very chameleon like, in that his personality will shift and his mannerisms too depending on the situation and people/person he’s around, it tends to give off the aura that he doesn’t have a concrete personality

Quirks

Left handed, but shoots right handed

He really loves mosaic and tile artwork, and he collects them regularly

He’s been clean since college, never really actually sampling any product of his.

He listens to hardcore/metal music in his truck and used to attend metal shows regularly

He’s an avid runner and fighter, he spends usually about an hour a day fighting with a professional trainer

He’s super meticulous with how he dresses and how his hair is cut

He really loves mid-century modern and the 1940s type of aesthetic for his house and office

When he has time off he goes antique shopping and goes to galleries

Plots to explore/possible plot arcs

Obviously anything with his family and the various dynamics there. He has a very different way of interacting with each of them and most people that he meets.

Anything Ross will be super interesting too, because he’s the man who planned the murder and part of him is fueld by that blood thirst

I’d for sure like to him to have some conversations with Nick because like, they both in the know and I like to think that Roman always knows a lot more than he lets on

C R E A T I V E

Mock blog: rcmannavarro/tumblr/com

Playlist:

Wolves - sam tinnesz

Eight - sleeping at last

Do i wanna know - arctic monkeys

Encoder - we came as romans

Dangerous - royal deluxe

Character Inspiration:

Takeshi Kovocs

Michael Corleone

Frank Underwood

John Dutton

There were moments of clarity. Usually at dawn or during the Blue Hour, Roman had time to reflect on everything around him, and within him. He wasn’t always like this, there wasn’t always this nugget of rage within him that was spreading like a poison. There was the option to carve out the poison with a spoon and leave himself full of holes, but he didn’t want to barter with the emptiness that threatened him.

He knew it was his fault. He was playing with fire. The metaphorical flame was licking and charring all the good things that were ever said about him. He felt twisted, he knew that he wasn’t processing this grief in the way that he should have. Rage was a familiar feeling, he felt it deep down and while his brother processed it with his fists, Roman was more of a long lasting punishment sort of man.

They said he was consumed with the fight for power, that he was a sick, twisted and off the handle man. He took a sip of his drink, pausing on that thought. He didn’t feel off the handle. He knew chaos, he knew that he had made a home in it too long ago. Able to both curate and control chaos, this was not so entirely new to him. It was a different line of curated chaos. It was justice - something had to be done.

A serious action required a serious reaction, and Roman was the King of Delayed Emotions. He had spent so long building himself into something that would be respected that it he knew how to hold space for the information to come to him. They thought he was off the handle… they had no idea how perfectly in control this was. He had never intended to make business personal, but here it was. All so personal and when there was such an invitation, who was he to decline?

There was a path before him - convoluted in grief and opportunity in equal parts, and he needed to decide which was which. This was the first time that he could see what the future held and while people doubted the journey, he knew where he needed to go. No guts, no glory. He did worry about the toll this would take on his family, and the people he considered to be family, but there was only one way to find out.

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/gameday-central-wisconsin-28-illinois-7-end-3rd-quarter-sports/

Gameday Central: Wisconsin 28, Illinois 7; End 3rd quarter | Sports

Beat writer Scott Richey will keep providing updates all night long from Camp Randall Stadium as Illinois takes on Wisconsin in the 2020 Big Ten opener. Follow along right here: 

Tweets by srrichey

***

Meanwhile, back in Champaign. The watch party at Memorial Stadium is drawing a pretty good-sized student crowd.

***

Tonight’s Illini starters:

OFFENSE

LT – Vederian Lowe

LG – Kendrick Green

C – Doug Kramer

RG – Verdis Brown

RT – Alex Palczewski

QB – Brandon Peters

RB – Mike Epstein

WR – Josh Imatorbhebhe

WR – Casey Washington

WR – Donny Navarro

TE – Daniel Barker

DEFENSE

DE – Owen Carney Jr.

NT – Roderick Perry II

DT – Jamal Woods

DE – Marc Mondesir

OLB – Khalan Tolson

MLB – Jake Hansen

OLB – Delano Ware

CB – Nate Hobbs

CB – Tony Adams

S – Sydney Brown

S – Derrick Smith

SPECIAL TEAMS

K – James McCourt

P – Blake Hayes

***

We’re about an hour from kickoff in Madison, and there’s already some rather significant news to report. Illinois released its list of unavailable players for tonight’s game, and there are some big names on it.

Out at Wisconsin

DL Isaiah Gay DB Michael Marchese WR Trevon Sidney DB Devon Witherspoon OL Blake Jeresaty (season)

— Illini Stats & Notes (@IlliniStats) October 23, 2020

Defensive line was already a question mark heading into the season, and no Isaiah Gay only exacerbates that. Getting pressure on Wisconsin redshirt freshman quarterback Graham Mertz could be important. Gay’s absence means Illinois will have to put an inexperienced defensive end on the field to start the game.

Devon Witherspoon being unavailable is just as big a blow. You might remember the sophomore cornerback from his game-saving tackle in last year’s upset of Wisconsin. The big question, of course, is if Witherspoon is out does that mean Tony Adams moves back to corner or does Marquez Beason make his Illini debut as a starter?

***

Looking out from the Camp Randal Stadium press box to no one (save for some cardboard cutouts in the seats closest to the field) is a surreal feeling.

The press box itself is pretty empty, too. Wisconsin is taking the social distancing thing seriously. I’m at an end of a row, and I’ve got more than six feet between my seat and where the Chicago Tribune’s Shannon Ryan will sit. 

Warmups are underway, but for the moment only the specialists for both teams are on the field.

***

The News-Gazette will be represented at Camp Randall Stadium for tonight’s Big Ten opener between Illinois and Wisconsin. Beat writer Scott Richey (that’s me as I shift to first person) is, in fact, set up in an undisclosed Marriott-brand location in Wisconsin right now prepping for his gameday coverage. 

In a typical year I might venture out in Madison. Check out campus (again). In 2020? Hotel. Camp Randall. Nothing in between. Especially in Wisconsin.

The hotel was even a concession to 2020, in a way. The press box at Camp Randall is set to close 30 minutes after the last Zoom interview is complete. That’s not enough time to provide you all with the exhaustive coverage that will wind up right here at IlliniHQ.com in the wee hours Saturday morning. That and much more will grace the pages of Sunday’s News-Gazette.

The strangeness of 2020 aside, the drive from Champaign to Madison was exceedingly normal. I could have done without the rain, but being back on the road for the first time since early March (Illini basketball at Ohio State) was a surreal feeling. Then I hit the construction as soon as I crossed the Illinois-Wisconsin border, and all felt right with the world. It was a sign that at least some things never, ever, ever change.

In our still not-so-normal world, I won’t be joined for tonight’s game by News-Gazette colleague Bob Asmussen. Wisconsin credentialed just six total Illinois media members. It will be nice, though, to see the Decatur Herald & Review’s Joey Wagner, the Chicago Tribune’s Shannon Ryan, 247Sports’ Jeremy Werner, Gatehouse correspondent Gavin Good and Gabby Hajduk from the Daily Illini.

Here we go. I’ll check back in when I can get into Camp Randall at 5:30 p.m.

pic.twitter.com/mHXIAqmxLm

— Kendrick J. Green (@The_fridge53) October 23, 2020

***

Our beat writer caught up with the Illini coach before Friday night’s season opener at Wisconsin

Beat writer Scott Richey breaks down the 2020 season opener

Here’s what you should expect in the Illini’s season opener

Three AP voters give their take on the Illini quarterback ahead of Friday night’s season opener at Wisconsin

‘Last year, when we played Wisconsin, it was an all-around effort by everybody,’ defensive lineman Jamal Woods said

Well, here we go again. The 2020 Illinois football, once thought lost to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, starts tonight in Madison, Wis. The Illini don’t ease into it either, with No. 14 Wisconsin first up in the revised (times two) Big Ten schedule.

No nonconference warmup in 2020. No shot at an Illinois State or UConn or Bowling Green before jumping into Big Ten play. No, it’s a headfirst dive into the deep end immediately instead.

The Illini and Badgers kick of at 7 p.m. at Camp Randal Stadium. Most will be listening (check out Brian Barnhart and Martin O’Donnell on WDWS) or watching from home. The Big Ten has banned fans in 2020, and even the allowance for families of players and coaches has been put on pause in Madison. 

While you get ready for the start of the most unique Illinois football season in more than a century, catch up on our exhaustive preseason coverage leading up to today’s game. It was a team effort by the entire N-G sports staff, including long-time beat writer Bob Asmussen, sports editor Matt Daniels, preps writer Colin Likas with a major assist, copy editor Joe Vozzelli and beat writer Scott Richey.

Richey will represent the N-G in Madison as one of just six Illinois media credentialed to make the trip in the new COVID-19 world we’re living in. He’ll provide updates throughout the day and late into the night as befitting a 7 p.m. kickoff. (Don’t ask his opinion on that. Or do. He doesn’t mind sharing). 

As always, right here at IlliniHQ.com is where all your gameday needs will be answered, including more from our preseason deep dive on the Illini:

Uniform tweaks further awareness of social justice issues

CHAMPAIGN — Illinois football players have taken an active stance on social justice issues in the last few months, including an athlete-organized march in late August against police violence and racial injustice. Redshirt junior offensive lineman Kendrick Green and senior cornerback Nate Hobbs spearheaded that initiative, and others have been active on social media to promote awareness, too.

The Illini will use Friday’s season opener at No. 14 Wisconsin to further that cause. Illinois will replace its traditional orange and blue Block I helmet decal with a black Block I instead.

“We wanted to show that we are aware of what’s happening in our country right now,” Hobbs said in an official release. “We’re willing to take a stand, not as one, but as a unit.”

To continue reading, click here.

Quarterback Brandon Peters leads a deep and talented senior class for the 2020 Illinois football team, which opens the season at 7 p.m. on Friday at Wisconsin.

David Craan/Illinois athletics

Asmussen | Illini, get ready for a college football season like no other

CHAMPAIGN — It’s 11 a.m. on Dec. 5.

Three inches of snow blanket the Memorial Stadium turf. And the white stuff fills the empty stands.

Well, almost empty … except for the cardboard cutouts of fans ($50 to $99 a pop) and the faux Marching Illini.

In five minutes, Illinois and Iowa will run onto Zuppke Field to no applause, other than what’s generated by the loudspeakers and scoreboards.

No smell of roasting hot dogs or popcorn in the air. No beers being spilled on people in the next row.

Outside beautiful Memorial Stadium, the usual hustle and bustle are absent.

If the Dick Butkus and Red Grange statues could talk, it would be some version of, “What the heck is going on around here?”

To continue reading, click here.

More from the 2020 Illinois football special section:

Meet the seniors

Meet the coaches

Big Ten West preview

Big Ten East preview

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley graduate Bryce Barnes is entering his sophomore season at Illinois.

Illinois athletics

GCMS grad Barnes aiming for bigger special teams presence

CHAMPAIGN — Bryce Barnes is readily visible for about 2 seconds.

His nameplate and number 48, in dark blue print on a gray uniform backdrop, are seen bouncing around before being sucked into a sea of humanity.

The then-Illinois football freshman turns into one small piece of a massive celebration, set off by James McCourt’s 39-yard field goal that allowed the Illini to upset No. 6 Wisconsin 24-23 at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 19, 2019.

It’s all archived in a YouTube video on the Illinois athletics website.

Of course, Barnes lived the moment. And the 2019 Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley graduate can provide a slightly different perspective from it.

“I ended up at the bottom of the pile, and (McCourt and I) were face to face underneath everybody,” said Barnes, who was blocking on the line as McCourt booted the ball through the uprights in front of the Illini band and student section. “It was an honor for me to be out there in such a big win for this program. I wanted to start crying just because of how happy I was.”

To continue reading, click here.

More from the local Illini:

Catching up with Ben Schultz and Dylan Thomas

Danville product Caleb Griffin gets creative ahead of season

Center Doug Kramer is the anchor of an experienced Illinois offensive line with the Hinsdale product’s 32 career starts as an Illini trailing only Alex Palczewski’s 36.

David Craan/Illinois athletics

Asmussen | Illini O-line learns from earlier struggles

CHAMPAIGN — Kendrick Green, Doug Kramer, Vederian Lowe and Alex Palczewski have learned a lot about each other over the years.

Along with new-to-the-lineup Verdis Brown, they will make up the starting offensive line Friday night at No. 14 Wisconsin.

They are close. Not in a forced way. But naturally.

“I think it’s really simple,” Kramer said Tuesday. “There’s never been too many issues in our room. We’ve been friends from the start.”

“We’ve just seen each other grow up over these past three years,” Palczewski added. “We’ve all grown up from these freshmen who didn’t know what was going on.”

In 2017, they were part of a 2-10 team that didn’t win a Big Ten game. For the offensive linemen, it was a punch in the gut.

To their credit, they got better. Four wins in ‘18 and six last season.

Now, they want to take another step. Toward the top of the Big Ten West.

To continue reading, click here.

More from Bob Asmussen:

Contingency plans on need-to-know basis

Week 1 Big Ten power poll

A unique Illini gameday in C-U

Talking points with Wisconsin beat writer Colten Bartholomew

Ask the beat writer: Playing in an empty Camp Randall

Previewing Illinois’ offense

Previewing Illinois’ defense

Previewing Illinois’ special teams

Illinois linebacker Jake Hansen during practice in August at Memorial Stadium in Champaign.

David Craan/Illinois athletics

Illinois underdogs against Wisconsin again

CHAMPAIGN — Jake Hansen sauntered into the interview room at the Smith Center following Illinois football’s upset of No. 6 Wisconsin last October.

It’s the only way to describe Hansen’s entrance — cigar in his hands and a smile on his face.

Hansen also made a point of noting just how much the people that set the gambling lines considered the Illini underdogs against the Badgers.

“Thirty-one point spread, huh?” the Illinois linebacker yelled out as he made his way from a celebratory locker room to the small lobby outside the Smith Center weight room filled with reporters.

Monday marked the one-year anniversary of the biggest Illinois football win in more than a decade. It also coincided with the line for this year’s rematch with Wisconsin receiving a slight adjustment.

Wisconsin opened as a 23 1/2-point favorite last week for the 7 p.m. Friday Big Ten opener in Madison, Wis. Monday’s adjustment didn’t really make Illinois any less the underdog. The Badgers are still considered approximately a 19- or 20-point favorite.

To continue reading, click here.

More from Scott Richey

Lovie: ‘We’re going to see exciting football’

Starters have Smith comfortable with cornerbacks

[ardeportal]

Premios Graffiti 2020 - Ceremonia y Nominados

Con una ceremonia de lanzamiento en el Teatro Macció de San José, fueron develados en el día de ayer los nominados a los Premios Graffiti 2020.

Por Ginny Lupin.

Con los shows en vivo de AFC, Clarisa Prince, Pecho E Fierro, Francesca y Pólvora en Chimangos; los Premios Graffiti llegaron por primera vez al interior del país.  Fue así como el Teatro Macció de San José fue escenario en la noche de ayer para el lanzamiento de la Décimo-octava edición de los premios a la música uruguaya. En adición al anuncio de las más de 40 categorías y sus respectivos nominados, se conoció el merecedor del primero de los premios de éste año: Mejor Libro sobre Música Uruguaya - que fuera otorgado a “Galemire - Su Música y Su Tiempo” de Eduardo Rivero. 

Los demás ganadores serán anunciados en la Ceremonia de Entrega este 19 y 20 de Octubre en el Auditorio del Sodre; junto con los seleccionados por el voto popular. El público podrá decidir a través de la web de los Premios Graffiti los ganadores en las categorías:  Álbum del Año (teniendo como base los ya nominados), Tema Popular del Año (entre 5 temas elegidos por el jurado) y Artista del Año (libre entre todos los artistas uruguayos que tuvieran actividad en 2019). Éste último recibe - a partir de esta edición - el nombre de Omar Gutiérrez en homenaje al comunicador maragato.  

Sabemos que comprar todos los números de la lotería no garantiza hacerse acreedor del premio, y no necesariamente los artistas más nominados sean los ganadores; pero al menos al momento, las ternas benefician a el Cuarteto de Nos (con 7 nominaciones), seguidos de No Te Va a Gustar y Nicolás Molina (con 5). ¿Serán las figuritas conocidas del rock uruguayo quienes salgan victoriosas en ésta nueva edición de los Grammy locales?. Hay que esperar algunas semanas para saberlo.

A continuación la lista completa de nominados: 

Mejor Diseño de Arte Construcciones - Gerardo Dorado “El Alemán” Isla de Encanta - “Isla de Encanta” Luces - Tom Chris & Tom Paisaje Interior - Diego Juan Pecadores y Corderos - Snake

Mejor Reedición Chopper reedición vinilo 2019 - Chopper Concierto Aniversario - Jaime Roos El Problema de la Forma reedición vinilo - Hermanos Láser Hambre reedición vinilo - Eté y los Problems Repertorio 1991 - Murga Contrafarsa & Mauricio Ubal

Mejor Edición Especial  Amigo lindo del alma - Artistas Varios Isla de Encanta - Isla de Encanta No Recuerdo 20 Años - Fernando Cabrera Tributo a 100 Años - Amalia de la Vega Tributo a Larbanois & Carrero - Artistas Varios 

Mejor Álbum en Vivo 40 Años En Vivo - Larbanois & Carrero De Espinas y Flores - Carmen Pi y Gustavo Reyna Desde el Olimar - Pepe Guerra & Copla Alta En Vivo en el Solís - Lucas Sugo Otras Canciones (En Vivo) - No Te Va Gustar

Mejor Álbum de Inspiración Religiosa Asombroso - Flavia Guasch Himnos - Leticia González  No Merezco - Jhona Ocaño Pa' Que lo Sepas - Los Renuevos Vida! (Live) - Diego Reynolds  

Mejor Álbum de Música Infantil Cancionero de Juguete - Patricia Robaina Canciones para Viajar - Isla Polonio Giro Como Un Trompo - Tío Mati Una bebeteca - Gabriela Mirza - Santiago da Rosa

Mejor Álbum de Música Instrumental Concierto para piano N° 4 H - Gonzalo Gravina El Gentil - El Gentil Microcosmos - Dual Project Otra Vez Niebla Baja - Mateo Mera Trío - José San Martín, Federico Righi, Tato Moraes Mejor Álbum de Jazz Sujeto - La Jarana Al Viento - Felipe Badaró Grupo Andamiento - Martín Muguerza Ósmosis - Nacho Labrada Sesiones Sondor - María Noel Taranto Mejor Álbum de Música Electrónica Aura - Bajofondo Bubble Boy (Remixed) - Eros White Enemiga - A.M.I.G.A Evolution - Walter Zeinal Origin - Gabetoo

Mejor Álbum de Candombe Fusión Casero - Gonzalo Palmarín Coloreando Sueños - Valores Ansina Iguales y Libres - Las Hijas de Mandela Música Negra de la Ciudad de Montevideo Vol.2 / Víctimas de la Verdad - Sergio Ariel Ortuño Priario Rosa Luna: Una historia de amor - Tribu de Rosa Luna

Mejor Álbum de Reggae Dulce Resistencia - María la del Barrio Junto a Vos - Anya Liberación - Slow Burnin´ Uruguay Reggae All Star Riddim - Soultura Zapatista! - Pasajeros del Malaysia Airlines

Mejor Álbum de Metal y Hard Rock Bruto Dan - Bruto Dan En Blanco y Negro - Calaverazen Encrucijada - Fixion Grial - Herrumbre Hasta el Final - Black Smoke

Mejor Álbum Punk Bien Lejos - Rojo Tres Contratodo - Punkzer D.S.M #2 - DSM El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo - El Bueno, El Malo y El Feo Kreatuphobia - The Moors

Mejor Álbum de Pop Alternativo Alucinaciones en Familia - Alucinaciones en Familia La Fórmula - La Foca Para Siempre - Julen y la Gente Sola Posibles Presentes - Mersey Toda la Música Levanta Vuelo - Ximena Bedó 

Mejor Álbum de Rock Alternativo Mala Voluntad - Desayuno Continental No Tan Solo - Cutinella y Convivientes Pecadores y Corderos Volumen 1 - Snake Querencia - Nicolás Molina Sustentable - The Supersonicos

Mejor Álbum de Folclore Amalia - Arlett Fernández Buenas Nuevas - Copla Alta Homenaje a Santiago Chalar - 80 Años - Carlos Paravis Músico de Campo - Puro Chamuyo Semilla de Tradición - Meta Fuelle 

Mejor Álbum de Tango Crema - Juana y los Heladeros del Tango Del Mismo Río - Malbaraje Metatango - Tatango Orquesta Tanguea a Tabaré Cardozo - Ricardo Olivera Volver - Marisol Redondo 

Mejor Álbum de Música Tropical Amor Eterno - Miguel Cufos En el Camino - Mariano Bermúdez Esencia - La Sandonga Mi Locura - Majo y La del 13 Reencuentro - Voces de Oro y Platino

Mejor Álbum de Música Popular y Canción Urbana Construcciones - Gerardo Dorado "El Alemán" Palabras - Palabras / Nicolás Bagattini Pampero - Diego Drexler Siestas de Mar de Fondo - Estela Magnone Sin Maquillaje - Alejandro Balbis

Mejor Álbum de Hip Hop De Amor Eso Se Trata - AliemRap Hiphopalyptic - Sáez '93 Loser - Berna Por Si Mañana - Zeballos Última Lágrima - Gavo 

Mejor Álbum Pop Amigo Imaginario - Diego Matturro Autoversionado - Cossi Bosque - Julieta Rada Jueves - Cuarteto de Nos Solo Cosas Buenas - Alfredo "Chole" Giannotti 

Mejor Álbum de Rock y Blues Afuera - Hablan por la Espalda Fango - Once Tiros Mecánica Popular - Buitres Negro Rock - Ruben Rada Segundo Tiempo - Pecho e´Fierro

Mejor Single de Música Electrónica Age Of Love (Club Mix) - Fernando Picón Are Spores Dangerous? - Daniel Anselmi ft. VEX Cynical Market - Corvis Go to Russia - Clipper / Wash Your Brain - Eros White ft. Dani Umpi 

Mejor Single de Música Urbana Ayuda - Eli Almic Corré - latejapride* Detenido - Pekeño 77 ft. Homer El Mero Mero El Cielo Caer - Arquero / Juan Campodónico Fuego en la Disco (Remix) - AFC ft. Roberto Musso 

Mejor Single de Música Tropical Bajo Cero - Lucas Sugo Desakato 2.0 - Américo Young ft. El Polaco y Martín Piña Loca - Vanesa Britos Loca Por Tu Amor - Majo y La Del 13 Mi Primer Amor - Luana

Mejor Single Pop Labios Distraídos - La Santa ft. Bambi Importante - Jorge Nasser ft. Max Capote Me Enamoré - Martín Buscaglia No Te Fíes - NME Saber de Vos - El Gavilán

Mejor Canción de Música Popular Uruguaya Construcciones - Gerardo Dorado "El Alemán" La Noche y el Día - Kuropa No Recuerdo - Fernando Cabrera Pétalo de Sal - Christian Cary Un Loco - Lea Ben Sasson

Mejor Single Rock Calma - La Mujer Pájaro En el Pozo - Socio ft. Lucia Ferreira y Nico Grieco Movimientos - Hermanos Láser Negro Rock - Ruben Rada Vos Sabés - Alejandro Ferradás 

Mejor Video de Larga Duración Documental Amigo Lindo del Alma - Daniel Charlone Cordera y la Fábula del Escorpión - Cordera y la Caravana Mágica Inquieto - Matias Guerreros / Eli-u Pena La Historia Que Nunca Te Contaron (Documental Oficial 30 años de LSDVK) - La Sangre de Veronika / Only Noise - Las 65:45 Horas de Gloria de Les Renards - Gonzalo Montes 

Mejor Video de Larga Duración Musical 40 Años En Vivo - Larbanois & Carrero Cero Bola 10 años - Murga Cero Bola Hipervivo - Par Metido en la Corriente - Oro Otras Canciones (En Vivo) - No Te Va Gustar 

Mejor Video Clip Presentación en Vivo Chau - No Te Va Gustar ft. Julieta Venegas El Cielo Caer (live) - Arquero / Juan Campodónico El Hombre Digo - Larbanois & Carrero con Christian Cary Historia del Tacuarí - Florencia Nuñez Solari Yacumenza - Bajofondo

Mejor Video Clip  Ayuda - Eli Almic Contrapunto Para Humano y Computadora - Cuarteto de Nos El Teléfono de Susy - Angeloro Bros Fuego en la Disco (Remix) - AFC ft. Roberto Musso Me Enamoré - Martín Buscaglia 

Compositor del Año Alejandro Balbis - Sin Maquillaje Diego Drexler - Pampero Nicolás Molina - Querencia Roberto Musso - Jueves (Cuarteto de Nos) Parodi / Peluffo / Rambao - Mecánica Popular (Buitres)

Productor del Año C. Lara, Juan Campodónico, E. Cabra, Héctor Castillo - Jueves (Cuarteto de Nos)  Estela Magnone / Fabián Marquisio - Siestas de Mar de Fondo (Estela Magnone) Juan Campodónico, Gustavo Santaolalla - Aura (Bajofondo)  Nicolás Molina - Querencia (Nicolás Molina) Ruben Rada y Gustavo Montemurro - Negro Rock (Ruben Rada)               

Mejor Artista Nuevo (A partir de ésta edición son 10 los nominados en la siguiente categoría:) Clarisa Prince - Clarisa Prince y La Vida-la El Bueno, el Malo y el Feo - El Bueno, el Malo y el Feo Gavo - Última Lágrima La Banderola - La Banderola Lys - Ecuación Niña Lobo - Niña Lobo Noe Santana - Bio Pekeño 77 - Conocí la Muerte y no era tan Mala Película Mala - Cuarto Ciego Rodrigo Inthamoussú - Salir / Independiente

Solista Femenina del Año Eli Almic - Ayuda Estela Magnone - Siestas de Mar de Fondo Julieta Rada - Bosque Majo y La del 13 - Mi Locura Mónica Navarro - Maldigo

Solista Masculino del Año Alejandro Balbis - Sin Maquillaje Gerardo Dorado "El Alemán" - Construcciones Diego Drexler - Pampero Nicolás Molina - Querencia Ruben Rada - Negro Rock 

Banda del Año Buitres - Mecánica Popular Cuarteto de Nos - Jueves Hablan por la Espalda - Afuera No Te Va Gustar - Otras Canciones (En Vivo) Snake - Pecadores y Corderos Volumen 1 

Mejor EP Con qué sueñan los bosques - Los Bosques El Comfort de los Esclavos - La Tabaré La Banderola - La Banderola Niña Lobo - Niña Lobo XO - Daniel Anselmi 

Tema del Año Contrapunto Para Humano y Computadora - Cuarteto de Nos En el Pozo - Socio ft. Lucia Ferreira y Nico Grieco Fuego en la Disco (Remix) - AFC ft. Roberto Musso No te voy a olvidar - Alfonsina Saber de Vos - El Gavilán

Álbum del Año.  Afuera - Hablan por la Espalda Jueves - Cuarteto de Nos Mecánica Popular - Buitres Otras Canciones (En Vivo) - No Te Va Gustar Querencia - Nicolás Molina / Santas Palmeras