#global engineering college

[indoglobalgroupofcolleges]

How to Choose Best College In Chandigarh Students

When selecting the best college in Chandigarh, students should consider various factors such as accreditation, faculty expertise, infrastructure, placement records, and extracurricular opportunities. It's crucial to research each institution thoroughly, visiting campuses if possible, to get a feel for the environment and facilities. Reading reviews and speaking with current students can provide valuable insights. Additionally, analyzing the college's curriculum and comparing it with personal academic goals can help make an informed decision. Ultimately, choosing the right college in Chandigarh entails finding the perfect balance between academic excellence and overall campus experience.

[jcmarchi]

Study finds health risks in switching ships from diesel to ammonia fuel

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/study-finds-health-risks-in-switching-ships-from-diesel-to-ammonia-fuel/

Study finds health risks in switching ships from diesel to ammonia fuel

As container ships the size of city blocks cross the oceans to deliver cargo, their huge diesel engines emit large quantities of air pollutants that drive climate change and have human health impacts. It has been estimated that maritime shipping accounts for almost 3 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and the industry’s negative impacts on air quality cause about 100,000 premature deaths each year.

Decarbonizing shipping to reduce these detrimental effects is a goal of the International Maritime Organization, a U.N. agency that regulates maritime transport. One potential solution is switching the global fleet from fossil fuels to sustainable fuels such as ammonia, which could be nearly carbon-free when considering its production and use.

But in a new study, an interdisciplinary team of researchers from MIT and elsewhere caution that burning ammonia for maritime fuel could worsen air quality further and lead to devastating public health impacts, unless it is adopted alongside strengthened emissions regulations.

Ammonia combustion generates nitrous oxide (N2O), a greenhouse gas that is about 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide. It also emits nitrogen in the form of nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2, referred to as NOx), and unburnt ammonia may slip out, which eventually forms fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. These tiny particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs, causing health problems like heart attacks, strokes, and asthma.

The new study indicates that, under current legislation, switching the global fleet to ammonia fuel could cause up to about 600,000 additional premature deaths each year. However, with stronger regulations and cleaner engine technology, the switch could lead to about 66,000 fewer premature deaths than currently caused by maritime shipping emissions, with far less impact on global warming.

“Not all climate solutions are created equal. There is almost always some price to pay. We have to take a more holistic approach and consider all the costs and benefits of different climate solutions, rather than just their potential to decarbonize,” says Anthony Wong, a postdoc in the MIT Center for Global Change Science and lead author of the study.

His co-authors include Noelle Selin, an MIT professor in the Institute for Data, Systems, and Society and the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS); Sebastian Eastham, a former principal research scientist who is now a senior lecturer at Imperial College London; Christine Mounaïm-Rouselle, a professor at the University of Orléans in France; Yiqi Zhang, a researcher at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology; and Florian Allroggen, a research scientist in the MIT Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics. The research appears this week in Environmental Research Letters.

Greener, cleaner ammonia

Traditionally, ammonia is made by stripping hydrogen from natural gas and then combining it with nitrogen at extremely high temperatures. This process is often associated with a large carbon footprint. The maritime shipping industry is betting on the development of “green ammonia,” which is produced by using renewable energy to make hydrogen via electrolysis and to generate heat.

“In theory, if you are burning green ammonia in a ship engine, the carbon emissions are almost zero,” Wong says.

But even the greenest ammonia generates nitrous oxide (N2O), nitrogen oxides (NOx) when combusted, and some of the ammonia may slip out, unburnt. This nitrous oxide would escape into the atmosphere, where the greenhouse gas would remain for more than 100 years. At the same time, the nitrogen emitted as NOx and ammonia would fall to Earth, damaging fragile ecosystems. As these emissions are digested by bacteria, additional N2O  is produced.

NOx and ammonia also mix with gases in the air to form fine particulate matter. A primary contributor to air pollution, fine particulate matter kills an estimated 4 million people each year.

“Saying that ammonia is a ‘clean’ fuel is a bit of an overstretch. Just because it is carbon-free doesn’t necessarily mean it is clean and good for public health,” Wong says.

A multifaceted model

The researchers wanted to paint the whole picture, capturing the environmental and public health impacts of switching the global fleet to ammonia fuel. To do so, they designed scenarios to measure how pollutant impacts change under certain technology and policy assumptions.

From a technological point of view, they considered two ship engines. The first burns pure ammonia, which generates higher levels of unburnt ammonia but emits fewer nitrogen oxides. The second engine technology involves mixing ammonia with hydrogen to improve combustion and optimize the performance of a catalytic converter, which controls both nitrogen oxides and unburnt ammonia pollution.

They also considered three policy scenarios: current regulations, which only limit NOx emissions in some parts of the world; a scenario that adds ammonia emission limits over North America and Western Europe; and a scenario that adds global limits on ammonia and NOx emissions.

The researchers used a ship track model to calculate how pollutant emissions change under each scenario and then fed the results into an air quality model. The air quality model calculates the impact of ship emissions on particulate matter and ozone pollution. Finally, they estimated the effects on global public health.

One of the biggest challenges came from a lack of real-world data, since no ammonia-powered ships are yet sailing the seas. Instead, the researchers relied on experimental ammonia combustion data from collaborators to build their model.

“We had to come up with some clever ways to make that data useful and informative to both the technology and regulatory situations,” he says.

A range of outcomes

In the end, they found that with no new regulations and ship engines that burn pure ammonia, switching the entire fleet would cause 681,000 additional premature deaths each year.

“While a scenario with no new regulations is not very realistic, it serves as a good warning of how dangerous ammonia emissions could be. And unlike NOx, ammonia emissions from shipping are currently unregulated,” Wong says.

However, even without new regulations, using cleaner engine technology would cut the number of premature deaths down to about 80,000, which is about 20,000 fewer than are currently attributed to maritime shipping emissions. With stronger global regulations and cleaner engine technology, the number of people killed by air pollution from shipping could be reduced by about 66,000.

“The results of this study show the importance of developing policies alongside new technologies,” Selin says. “There is a potential for ammonia in shipping to be beneficial for both climate and air quality, but that requires that regulations be designed to address the entire range of potential impacts, including both climate and air quality.”

Ammonia’s air quality impacts would not be felt uniformly across the globe, and addressing them fully would require coordinated strategies across very different contexts. Most premature deaths would occur in East Asia, since air quality regulations are less stringent in this region. Higher levels of existing air pollution cause the formation of more particulate matter from ammonia emissions. In addition, shipping volume over East Asia is far greater than elsewhere on Earth, compounding these negative effects.

In the future, the researchers want to continue refining their analysis. They hope to use these findings as a starting point to urge the marine industry to share engine data they can use to better evaluate air quality and climate impacts. They also hope to inform policymakers about the importance and urgency of updating shipping emission regulations.

This research was funded by the MIT Climate and Sustainability Consortium.

[townpostin]

RVS College of Engineering & Technology Signs MoU with California Miramar University

RVS College of Engineering & Technology partners with California Miramar University, enhancing global academic collaboration and research. The prestigious collaboration between RVS College of Engineering & Technology and California Miramar University aims to foster student and faculty exchanges and collaborative research. JAMSHEDPUR –RVS College of Engineering & Technology recently made an…

[dronacharyacollege]

"Global Digital Innovation." It was 7th edition of IMC, a three day program scheduled for 27th, 28th  and 29th October 2023, at Pragati Maidan.

Students of Dronacharya College of Engineering, Gurugram visited IMC 2023, Asia's most extensive telecommunications, media, and technology forum on 27th October, 2023.

The theme of event was "Global Digital Innovation." It was 7th edition of IMC, a three day program scheduled for 27th, 28th  and 29th October 2023, at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, India.

[saintobio]

⊹₊ ⋆🏍₊˚⊹ ON TRACK.

when being the WAG of a rookie MotoGP rider earns you the front-row seats to a thrilling race and... an unsightly amount of groupies.

▞▞ pairings. ryōmen sukuna, fem!reader

▞▞ genre. fluff, established relationship, biker boy au, motogp rider au

▞▞ tags. biker!sukuna, motogp rider!sukuna, sukuna rides for ducati, WAG!reader, ooc, profanity, mentions of reckless driving, jealousy, insecurities, accidents, mentions of injuries, sukuna gets a little touchy in the end

▞▞ notes. 1.8k wc. do we miss biker!sukuna? i think we all miss biker!sukuna !! bahaha the influx of biker!sukuna fanarts made me write this. and also bcos i watched motogp clips on tiktok. rbs and comments highly appreciated! :D

Have you ever imagined Sukuna as a MotoGP rider? 

Well, his passion for bikes didn’t just stay confined to the open road. He knew he was destined for more than just the city’s freeways and the thrill of 1000cc machines. He was, as a matter of fact, made for the track. 

Yes, the scary, dangerous, exhilarating world of high-speed competition.

When he had first told you about competing in MotoGP, you were thrilled for him. Truly, because you knew that the series had been his lifelong dream. Before, he was just a little boy who collected bikes for toys, and now he had the chance to make his dream a reality. So, who were you to stand in the way of that?

In fact, you were incredibly supportive—always present at his races, always cheering for him from the stands. It didn’t matter if you’d lose your voice the next day. You had to be his biggest supporter. And today was just another one of those days where your duty as his #1 fan called for you to be there and root for him with all your heart. 

Today’s MotoGP race was in full swing, and your heart pounded in rhythm with the thundering bikes tearing down the track. They all passed by in a resounding zoom! where your eyes could barely keep up from their otherworldly speed. From your vantage point in the VIP section, you watched intently as the riders navigated the circuit, your eyes never straying far from one rider in particular—Sukuna, your longtime boyfriend, riding a Ducati Desmosedici GP24.

“I’m so nervous,” you murmured, hands clasped together as your eyes remained glued to your lover. 

Sukuna was a sight to behold on the track, and he always told you that his bike was an extension of himself as he maneuvered with precision and aggression. Honestly, it must be scary to be the one riding such powerful superbikes, especially when the roar of engines alone was a symphony of speed and power that sent chills down your spine. And while you were filled with anxiety watching your boyfriend on the circuit, the red and black Ducati eventually flashed past, neck and neck with the Aprilia rider, and the two bikes locked in a fierce battle for the lead. 

You could imagine the commentators keeping a close eye as they narrated the race on live television.

But you trusted in Sukuna’s talent. His ability to escape from cops with his old R6 back in his college days was proof enough of how ridiculous he could get with his speed. He didn’t get a single ticket because he managed to outrun them all. Though, of course, that wasn’t something you should be mentioning to anyone. He wasn’t actually proud of notoriety and history of reckless driving before, especially when he recalled having endangered your life once before while you rode with him as his backpack. 

And since Sukuna upgraded to being a professional rider now, you had your fair share of an upgrade, too. That manifested in the form of being part of the so-called WAGs—or wives and girlfriends of the racers. Life as a WAG wasn’t drastically different from your previous one, except now your boyfriend was a huge global sensation in the biker community, and you had become somewhat of a fashion icon yourself. That wasn’t even an exaggeration, because every time you were seen with him publicly, people would soon be talking about your off-duty looks and outfits all over social media. 

But going back to the main star of the show, your hands clenched around the railing, knuckles white, as the race progressed. It annoyed you that the Aprilia rider was pushing him to the edge but never quite managing to overtake. Tailing the two were the riders for Honda, Gresini, Pramac, and KTM among the few.

Cupping your hands around your mouth, you cheered for your boyfriend. “Go, baby! Let’s go!”

The giant screen above the track zoomed in on Sukuna, his Arai helmet fitting the aesthetics of his big, red bike. The effortless way he handled his bike sent a ripple of excitement through the crowd. There were lots of cheering, screaming, roaring, and… well, squealing. Your head naturally turned to the group of girls nearby who were the very cause of the high pitched noises, their squeals of delight making the other WAGs around you shake their heads in amusement.

“Oh my God, he’s so hot!” 

“Look at him! He’s perfect!” 

“Sukuna, marry me!” 

“I’ll give you my number later!” 

“God, I wanna hook up with him.” 

“Girl, me too!” 

“You think we should wait outside his hotel later?” 

“Count me in!” 

Groupies. You felt a surge of pride mixed with a twinge of jealousy as you watched their frenzied adoration for your boyfriend. Literally. Your fingers were itching to gouge their eyes out. You wondered if he had ever been tempted to cheat, that when you were busy with your own corporate life outside of being his girlfriend, he might have rewarded himself by sleeping with an influencer or two. Probably models, too. Those tall, gorgeous women who often get partnered with him on ads and photoshoots.  

But the thing was, you couldn’t blame them—yes, your boyfriend was undeniably handsome, and his chiseled features and intense gaze made him a magnet for attention. A true eye-candy if you may add. Not to mention, he had the most attractive tattoos you had seen in a man. Ever. 

But he was yours, and that knowledge filled you with a sense of triumph over the hundreds and thousands of girls that were fantasizing about him.

Then, in the middle of your trance, an accident struck.

It was a blur of red and black as Sukuna’s bike suddenly wobbled after the rear wheel slipped on a patch of oil left behind by another rider. You held your breath in, praying to every saint that he remained safe, as you watched him struggle to regain control while the bike fishtailed dangerously. 

“Oh, gosh. Oh, gosh.” Your brain rattled with anxiety as you gripped onto the railings. “Baby, no. No, be careful! You got this!” 

For a moment, it seemed he might manage to stay upright, but then the inevitable happened. Sukuna went down in a matter of seconds, and his bike skidded out from under him in a shower of sparks.

“Oh, shit!” 

A collective gasp rose from the crowd, and your heart was lurching in your chest as you saw how your lover hit the tarmac. The medics immediately rushed onto the track, while you were still awestricken as you stared at the screen displaying his fall. 

“Please be okay, baby! Please,” you muttered under your breath again and again. 

A fellow WAG eventually placed a hand on your shoulders, rubbing you comfortingly. “He’ll be fine. Don’t worry. Their gears are made for this.”

She spoke like true champ, and you knew you could put some trust in her words since she was a seasoned WAG. She had probably seen worst accidents that her husband had gone through while on track.

Still, you couldn’t help yourself. What if Sukuna sustained really terrible injuries? What if he broke a bone or two? What if he experienced a concussion? And if he did, what if he’d no longer remember you when he wakes up? Oh, Jesus. Your overthinking was the true culprit here. Yet there was nothing you could really do but wait for good news and hope that nothing too serious happened. Seconds felt like hours, and you were almost about to faint until you saw Sukuna finally standing up between the medics that surrounded him, waving to signal that he was okay albeit limping a little.

“Thank fuck!” 

“See? I told you he’s fine.”

Relief flooded through you, but unfortunately, such joy ended up being short-lived. Sukuna had lost precious seconds in the fall, seconds that allowed the Aprilia to pull ahead. And by the time he got back on his bike and rejoined the race, the gap was already too wide. 

He crossed the finish line in fifth place, a position that felt like a heart-shattering defeat after having been so close to victory.

As soon as the race was over, you didn’t even think twice when you made your way down to the paddock, pushing through the crowd and the throng of zealous fans just to reach your boyfriend. Your heart was still racing, almost akin to the superbikes that were speeding on the track moments ago, as you desperately looked for the love of your life. Only when you rounded the corner did you finally see him, helmet off and leathers dusty from the fall, talking with his team.

“Lovey!” you called out, face full of worry.

Sukuna was quick to turn at the sound of your voice, his expression softening the very moment his eyes landed on you. With long strides, he removed hi’s gloves and closed the distance between you two, and before you knew it, you were wrapped in his arms, the scent of leather and motor oil enveloping you in a comforting hug.

“Are you okay?” you asked, pulling back just enough to search his face for any signs of injury. “I was losing my mind back there!” 

As if he didn’t just experience a dangerous fall, he had a mischievous smile displayed when he looked at you. “I’m fine, baby. Just a little bruised ego.”

“It’s not a joke,” you whined, arms crossed at his lack of seriousness to the matter. “I was so scared when I saw you go down."

Very sweetly, he cupped your face in his hands and nuzzled his nose against yours. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m still alive, right?”

That’s true, you thought. But also… “You came in fifth,” you said, letting out a quieted sigh. 

But the Ducati rider himself was merely chuckling. Not even an ounce of heartbreak was shown on bis face. “Fifth place isn’t the end of the world, babe. I can live with that.”

You shook your head, not understanding how he could be so calm. Really. “But you were so close. You could have won!” And you’d blame it on your hormones, but you remembered the group of girls who cheered him on and decided to bring it up. “By the way, you had all those girls ready to throw themselves at you earlier. One of them even suggested waiting outside your hotel to hook up with you.” 

“Really? Where are those baddies?” he joked, looking around and trying to spot the girls until you flicked his forehead. “Ow! I was just kidding, babe. You’re the only one riding this dick day and night.” 

“Not funny.”

“But you’re so cute when you’re jealous.” He started attacking your cheeks with squeezes. 

While you, you tried your best to swat his hand away. “I’m not. Stooop—! You’re so annoying!” 

“Okay, okay!” He let out a deep chuckle as he raised his hands in surrender. “Anyway, I don’t care about them. I’ve already won the most important race of all."

You blinked twice in the same second, not comprehending his words. “What do you mean?”

Sukuna’s eyes soon softened into a teasing gaze. “I have my beautiful girl in my arms right now. That’s the only victory that matters to me.”

As much as you tried to contain it, a smile eventually broke across your face. “You’re such a sap!”

“Only for you,” was his elfish response, pulling you closer. 

The celebrations continued around you as the media and the crowd swarmed into the paddock. Sukuna held your waist tightly the entire time, all while acknowledging the people that greeted him and asked him for signatures. While in his arms, you realized that he was right. Winning or losing on the track didn’t matter because he already had you—and that was his true and greatest victory.

As cringe-worthy as that may sound. 

“I do have a request, though.” Your boyfriend focused his attention back on you, giving your bum a playful squeeze in front of everyone before he moved his face closer to your ear. “Make me feel like a winner in bed tonight.”

[reasonsforhope]

Scientists have developed a new solar-powered system to convert saltwater into fresh drinking water which they say could help reduce dangerous the risk of waterborne diseases like cholera.

Via tests in rural communities, they showed that the process is more than 20% cheaper than traditional methods and can be deployed in rural locations around the globe.

Building on existing processes that convert saline groundwater to freshwater, the researchers from King’s College London, in collaboration with MIT and the Helmholtz Institute for Renewable Energy Systems, created a new system that produced consistent levels of water using solar power, and reported it in a paper published recently in Nature Water.

It works through a process called electrodialysis which separates the salt using a set of specialized membranes that channel salt ions into a stream of brine, leaving the water fresh and drinkable. By flexibly adjusting the voltage and the rate at which salt water flowed through the system, the researchers developed a system that adjusts to variable sunshine while not compromising on the amount of fresh drinking water produced.

Using data first gathered in the village of Chelleru near Hyderabad in India, and then recreating these conditions of the village in New Mexico, the team successfully converted up to 10 cubic meters, or several bathtubs worth of fresh drinking water. This was enough for 3,000 people a day with the process continuing to run regardless of variable solar power caused by cloud coverage and rain.

[Note: Not sure what metric they're using to calculate daily water needs here. Presumably this is drinking water only.]

Dr. Wei He from the Department of Engineering at King’s College London believes the new technology could bring massive benefits to rural communities, not only increasing the supply of drinking water but also bringing health benefits.

“By offering a cheap, eco-friendly alternative that can be operated off the grid, our technology enables communities to tap into alternative water sources (such as deep aquifers or saline water) to address water scarcity and contamination in traditional water supplies,” said He.

“This technology can expand water sources available to communities beyond traditional ones and by providing water from uncontaminated saline sources, may help combat water scarcity or unexpected emergencies when conventional water supplies are disrupted, for example like the recent cholera outbreaks in Zambia.”

In the global rural population, 1.6 billion people face water scarcity, many of whom are reliant on stressed reserves of groundwater lying beneath the Earth’s surface.

However, worldwide 56% of groundwater is saline and unsuitable for consumption. This issue is particularly prevalent in India, where 60% of the land harbors undrinkable saline water. Consequently, there is a pressing need for efficient desalination methods to create fresh drinking water cheaply, and at scale.

Traditional desalination technology has relied either on costly batteries in off-grid systems or a grid system to supply the energy necessary to remove salt from the water. In developing countries’ rural areas, however, grid infrastructure can be unreliable and is largely reliant on fossil fuels...

“By removing the need for a grid system entirely and cutting reliance on battery tech by 92%, our system can provide reliable access to safe drinking water, entirely emission-free, onsite, and at a discount of roughly 22% to the people who need it compared to traditional methods,” He said.

The system also has the potential to be used outside of developing areas, particularly in agriculture where climate change is leading to unstable reserves of fresh water for irrigation.

The team plans to scale up the availability of the technology across India through collaboration with local partners. Beyond this, a team from MIT also plans to create a start-up to commercialize and fund the technology.

“While the US and UK have more stable, diversified grids than most countries, they still rely on fossil fuels. By removing fossil fuels from the equation for energy-hungry sectors like agriculture, we can help accelerate the transition to Net Zero,” He said.

-via Good News Network, April 2, 2024

[deadrobinthoughts]

Bat Kids & Their College Degrees.

Dick Grayson - Criminology and Law. - Dick has always been involved in crime fighting. A major in crime and law would easily fit in and deepen his understanding, which only aids in combatting criminal behavior.

+ definitely a performing arts major. he would love being able to explore and express himself through dance and theatre.

Jason Todd - Criminal Justice and Psychology. - during his time as the Red Hood would instill an understanding of crime from a pov that could easily be etched in a psychological perspective. This would be able to aid in his navigation of the darker corners of his vigilante methods. ( Ignore him when he says it's to get answers, with a smirk. )

+ literature and philosophy. it's never been a secret that jason loves to read and study things. he would also get to explore complex composition and moral questions.

Barbara Gordon - Library Sciences & Information Technology - Barbara's initial career in the librarian field would be a dead give away for library science. Her expertise lies within collecting, organizing and checking information, along with hacking, which would be helped by a strong IT background.

+ creative writing. i'm not sure why, i just feel like her level of knowledge and intellect would lead her to enjoy writing and creating new worlds.

Tim Drake - Computer Science & Detective Minor. - Tim is very much known for his computer and detective skills already, majors and minors in these areas would definitely pair with where his interests already align.

+ i feel like regardless of the universe, he's got something to do with computers. even if it's graphic design. i feel like he'd enjoy creating things, too. or, he could go the way of being an agent of some sort but i'm not sure, outside of everything, if he'd be okay knowing the things that agents do. because that's beyond even what the batfam sees.

Stephanie Brown - Forensic Science & Journalism. - considering the time she's spent uncovering the truth and mystery solving, it would be easy to stick her with forensic science. plus, her determination to bring justice to light could easily be an end with journalism.

+ sociology. she'd probably enjoy studying the structure of society and understanding issues better. ( i don't like steph, i'm sorry otl so this isn't great. )

Cassandra Cain - Martial Arts & Linguistics. - her background is already deeply rooted in martial arts, so a major focusing on that area would make sense and be a breeze for her. her communication barriers are what would lead her to want to learn to read, speak and write on an effective level.

+ going the same route as dick, i feel like she'd major somewhere in dance and performing. it would be something expressive.

Damian Wayne - International Relations & Strategics. - damian would be very interested in global affairs and strategic combat. his upbringing would aid in his international relations, while other studies would align with his intellect and training. ( let's not pass up the fact he would have a minor relation to animals, medicine or plants. )

+ fine arts ( still with a double major or minor with something involving animals or plants. ) but, damian does have talent with art and i think he would enjoy the silence and time to delve into that outlet.

Duke Thomas - Electrical Engineering & Urban Studies. - duke's abilities would make it easy to work with concepts of engineering. his focus on protecting and improving, during daylight, aligns well with urban studies.

+ environmental science and, hear me out, music theory. i think duke deserves the ability to explore his creative side, as well.

[luneengene2]

Enhypen Members and Their College Majors (+Their 'behavior' at college)

A/N : I made this according to my opinion about the college major they might take 😆

Warnings : Contains Grammar Errors

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

• YANG JUNGWON

|| Faculty of Health / Medical Sciences ||

|| Department: Pediatric Medicine ||

- Jungwon really fits this major, his personality is very adorable.

- If there is practice with children, Jungwon will make parcels containing candy or chocolate so that the children are not afraid of him.

- Will be the lecturer's favorite student because his grades are always good.

- Dreams of opening a free hospital for children.

- The girls who were 'reportedly' close to him usually came from the dentistry department.

• LEE HEESEUNG

|| Faculty of Social Science and Political Science ||

|| Department: Communication Sciences ||

- Will be the most active student regarding issues of debate in the masses, advertising, politics, etc.

- Relatively active in participating in organizations on campus.

- Always arguing with the kids at Law faculty 💀.

- Can be a leader when there is a community demonstration.

- The most updated about the latest news circulating on television, especially those related to advertising.

• PARK JONGSEONG / JAY PARK

|| Faculty of Economics and Business ||

|| Departement: Business Management ||

- The heir to a family company who was told by his father to major in business management to become an expert in managing companies.

- He is targeted by girls on campus because he is rich.

- His father quite often made 'donations' to his campus.

- Go to campus using a BMW 8 The 8 840i Gran Coupe

- Often wears a Rolex watch when going to campus.

• SIM JAEYUN / JAKE SIM

|| Faculty of Social Science and Political Science ||

|| Departement: International Relations ||

- Using his bilingual skills in this major.

- Always the most serious in class and material.

- Often sent to conduct seminars outside campus because he is most fluent in English.

- Most updated about global issues or war.

- Internship at the South Korean Embassy in Australia.

- The lecturer's favorite student because he is the most active among the other students.

• PARK SUNGHOON

|| Faculty of Teacher Training and Education ||

|| Departement: Early Childhood Education Teacher ||

- Sunghoon can be 'close' to children well (I can see him when he was an ice skating teacher with Ben and Will). So, I think this college major is suitable for him.

- Often makes unique handicrafts as learning materials.

- Apprentices at a kindergarten, and becomes a favorite of the children there because of his affectionate personality.

- He is also targeted by girls because he is very fatherable.

- When his internship is over, the children he taught will feel very lost.

- His bag is full of modules and teaching materials.

• KIM SUNOO

|| Faculty of Arts ||

|| Departement: Theater and Drama ||

- One of the students who is good at writing drama scripts.

- Most active in setting up the stage.

- The most cheerful among his friends, that's why he always gets roles with a cheerful character.

- Always chosen to be chairman of the campus committee at festival events, more precisely in the stage arrangement section.

- Often praised by the campus chancellor for his stage management skills.

• NiSHIMURA RIKI

|| Faculty of Engineering ||

|| Mechanical Engineering ||

- The group of boys who are 'bad' on campus, because his emotions like to explode or often cause problems 😮‍💨✌️.

- He rarely goes to class but his grades are always high, so the lecturer certainly can't get angry.

- Always labeled a 'playboy' even though he was only loyal to his girlfriend who was majoring in English literature (Bro, he wants to hit the one who made those stupid rumors).

- Often hangs out at cafes near campus after class is over.

- Riding a ninja motorbike with a full face helmet.

- Targeted by girls too.

[riallasheng]

Good day, Sheng I hope you've had a lovely day!

I was curious to know if you had any information on what the TB TOS boys studied and specialized in? Were they awarded with anything?

Hello my lovely anon! I apologize for the delay, but I was out visiting friends until late yesterday. ^^ I'm home again, which means I can dig through my novels and comics to answer this as best I am able!

Of the various sources, the official bios (there's at least 3 versions there of), the TV21 comics, and the Fleetway comics are the ones that are most likely to give the answers. There are also bits and bobs scattered around the various canon sources. Overall, I'm pulling mostly from the Fleetway for this, as it actually went the most into depth for what you're asking and while Fleetway / complete Thunderbirds Story DOES have some continuity / canonicity issues the education and specializations parts overall are solid.

Going in my preferred age order (because there's actually more than one XD )

This got long, so readmore deployed! ^^

Scott:

Given the ages involved, Scott skipped grades to one degree or another, because he seems to have graduated high school at 16-17 rather than 18. (Spoiler Warning: Gordon is the only Tracy that didn't skip grades. TinTin and Brains skip grades too, although Penny did not)

Scott seemingly went to a 'normal' college / university for ~2 years (Fleetway puts it as Tracy University, where Scott specialized in astronautics and got his astronaut wings, which at minimum DOES explain where / when Scott GOT his astronaut wings, which he DOES canonically have as all his official bios mention he is a trained astronaut and he is one of Three's canon pilots with a fair amount of knowledge / skill in space) as he doesn't start Yale until 18

At 18, Scott went to Yale for 2-3 years and finished his formal education at Oxford for 1-2 years (these numbers bounce around a bit in the various bios/mentions - though it being ~4 years in total is constant across all of them) and graduated top of his class - though not valedictorian or salutatorian, simply in the top 10 / top 5 - specializing in aeronautics / aeronautic engineering, mathematics, and navigation. We know he does have SOME education / degree in engineering as he the one that helps in designing / engineering / etc alongside Virgil. We also know he was heavily involved in the design of Thunderbird 1 and 2, with some refs to him being the primary designer on One. Scott definitely has a Bachelors and might have a Masters in one / two / all of his three degrees, but there's no indication that he has a Doctorate in anything. He seems to have had aeronautics / aeronautic engineering as his primary.

All of Scott's bios state that he served in the Air Force right out of College (so he would have joined at 22 to 23 years of age, then would have served 4-6 years). He was an officer, rather than enlisted, although his stated final rank ranges between Captain (of-3) to Colonel (of-6) so you likely can go with what you please there, although Scott IS referred to as a 'commanding officer' in the Air Force, which usually means Major (of-4), Lieutenant Colonel (of-5), or Colonel (of-6) though. We've no idea what his callsign would have been, though some fanon ones I've seen are Flyboy, Ace, Scooter, Falcon and Eagle. I use Mercury myself (Mercury Seven, and it refs his speed AND 'silver tongue'/communication skills)

There's multiple references to Scott serving in 'the War', although what War that is is VERY vague and hard to pinpoint. (Oddly, Fleetway using the 2020s timeline DOES make IDing the war in question easier... With Scott serving in his 20s, that would make the war in Fleetway the Global Conflict / WW3, which took place ~2010 and was how the Global Government / World Government formed.) For the most common 2060s timeline, it's really unclear what 'war' Scott would have been fighting in in the 2050s. outside of the confusion of 'what war', Scott was at minimum an 'ace' (5 kills in aerial combat / dogfighting), might have been an 'ace ace' (25+ kills) although that one MIGHT be a misprint where the word ace was accidently doubled, and there is a passing reference in either the novels or comics (I forget which ^^;; ) to him being 'War Ace', which is a title awarded to the 'best pilot / most skilled ace' in a war. So 'War Ace' is a potential accomplishment for him

He is officially a 'test pilot', and can fly pretty much anything / everything. It's mentioned he CAN fly the Tiger Moth so he can mange bi-planes, he apparently flew a stunt plane (so propeller), he's helicopter (and apparently helijet) certified, and he's flown a wide array of jets, rocket-planes, and space craft. (He has a pilot's license, helicopter / helijet license, and astropilot license). He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and he apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle so a Class-M license too. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and would have had a military license that functioned as a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license and might have gone through the work to get that again as a civilian. We do see Scott driving heavy equipment and the like when not 'IR' so he might have the commercial license. He has a non-commercial boating license, and miiiiight have a civilian submarine-craft license. Seems to have a diving license. Definitely has a sky-diving and paragliding license.

Scott somehow was given the Medal of Valor and quite possibly Medal of Honor as well. both are EXTREMLY difficult to achieve medals, almost always only given out in wartime, and we never are told what he did to achieve them

Scott retired in his 'late 20s' (probably around 28) 'with honors', which would mean an Honorable Discharge. That's right about when IR would be in the final set up stages / Tracy Island buildings and silos being built and the like.

It's strongly implied in the comics that Scott was a POW at some point, but nothing officially states it flat out. There's a vague refence to him having been shot down at some point in the comics as well. These have lead to the widespread fanon that Scott was a POW, usually in Bereznik. If this is the case, Scott would have a Purple Heart Medal and a Prisoner of War Medal. It also would explain why no one finds it odd that he retired as young / early as he did.

John:

Rather like Scott, John seems to have skipped grades, as he graduates High School at ~15 years of age (there's a VAGUE hint in TV21 that it might have been as low as 14. It's also implied to have been that low in Fleetway because John is only around 21 when he starts at Tracy University, AFTER finishing 6 years at Harvard).

While John has always been deeply interested in manned space flight and the heavens in general, his real passion (and career) is canonically in communications.

John starts attending Harvard University, and graduates as Valedictorian (he's top of his class, but there's a mention to him giving a speech at his graduation, which usually goes to Valedictorian) getting his degree in electronics and laser communications / communications in general. Since he wrote a thesis, he must have gotten a doctorate in ONE of these fields (likely communications)

John was HEAVILY involved in the design / building of IRs communications gear and might even have been the lead in it. both the 'listening in' and the 'communicating between each other' parts. He also seemingly was very heavily involved in the designing of TB5

He created a laser communications device that was 'revolutionary' and won him awards and accolades. (An achievement that was later stolen by Lt. Green in his bio... Spectrum bios had a VERY bad habit of stealing accomplishments of previously existing characters. In further example, Green also stole 'best communications officer / specialist WASP has ever had' from Phones, Harmony stole 'best pilot alive' from Scott, Grey stole 'back messed up and 4 months in hospital after a sub/high speed boat crash from Gordon AND 'first captain of the Stingray' from Troy, and Rhapsody stole quite a few of Penny's spy achievements)

John also located a previously unknown quasar, which became known as the Tracy Quasar System.

He's published at minimum 4 astronomy and outer-space textbooks, and at least 1 book on communications

After getting a doctorate in ~6 years at Harvard at 20-21 years of age, John then got his astronaut wings / became an astronaut. Fleetway puts him at Tracy University for this as well. (He might have been Valedictorian again, as he's referred to as being such for his astronaut training in... Countdown? I legit forget where the ref is. There's an implication that John was Valedictorian more than once, basically). All of the Tracys are genius level smart, but John seems to be the brightest star of them all

John worked on a civilian (or at least non-military) space station / space program for at least a few years. What group and station is debatable. It could be NASA, the World Space Program, etc. He further could have been on the International Space Station, Freedom Station, etc. The only things off the table are military groups, and he CAN'T have served in the World Space Patrol (Fireball XL5)

John has his pilot's license and space-pilot / astropilot license. He likely has a rocket-plane license (ie: a atmospheric craft that can escape the atmosphere and is space capable). He MIGHT have a helijet license, but he doesn't have a helicopter license. He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and he apparently knows how to drive a motorcycle so a Class-M license too. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license. He has a non-commerical boating license, and miiiiight have a civilian submarine-craft license. Seems to have diving license. Might have a sky-diving and paragliding license.

John also is a highly skilled athlete, having achieved many awards and records. We only know about him being involved in running, but WHAT KIND of running varies between sprinting (rare), long-distance (more commonly reffed) and cross-country (most commonly reffed), or trail or obstacle course (middling)

I'm not sure how John left his space career / stopped working on the space station without attracting attention, oddly he's the ONLY one that doesn't have an easy excuse for joining IR! Scott apparently had SOMETHING happen that gave him an honorable discharge and had no one questioning him retiring from the Air Force, Virgil apparently intended to work as an engineer FOR Jeff's company once he graduated, Gordon had the hydrofoil crash and an Honorable or Medical Discharge from WASP, and Alan was only 19 and hadn't really STARTED a career. TinTin either was just finishing her University education and/or like Virgil was working for Jeff's company as an engineer. Brains started working for Jeff at his company while Brains was still in college. John's the only one with a career outside of Jeff's company that DOESN'T have a coinvent 'stop working there' excuse.

Virgil:

continuing the running theme, Virgil seems to have skipped grades - more than Scott did, but less than John, graduating High School at 15-16.

Virgil started higher education at 16 at Denver School for Advanced Technology, but he's sometimes put in Yale or another Tech school. What his degree was varies. Fleetway has it as 'Advanced Technology', but he's also had Engineering / Nuclear Engineering listed in his official bios. He usually took art classes and music classes, and sometimes he has a degree in art or music mentioned, so he likely minored in art and/or music alongside his Advanced Technology / engineering major. He seems to have graduated at 20-21 with a Masters in Tech/Engineering and a Bachelors in art/music. There's no refences at all to him having a doctorate (only John and Brains have that), and while he seems to have been 'top of his class', there's no indication he was Valedictorian or Salutatorian. So, like Scott he would have been in the top 10 or top 5, but not the number 1 or 2 slots.

Fleetway claims that Virgil was on the Denver Football team and was a good player on it, but that is the only reference to it or sports in general. Something to remember is that Virgil is actually NOT the heaviest / buffiest in build of the brothers in TOS. He's well built, but Scott and Alan are both heavier /buffer in build than he is, as is his father. Virgil isn't LEAN, but he'd be a Middleweight, built sort of like Tony or tom Cruise or the like. Muscled, but not a brick house. Scott is consistantly referred to as 'powerful' in build, and is drawn as heavier / bulkier in muscles than Virgil. Heavyweight class or something like the traditional 'superman' build like Cavill or the like. Alan and Jeff are a bit more powerful / bulky in build than Scott, so upper end of the Heavyweight. Not modern day Body builder / the Hulk bulk, but say Hulk Hogan, Dwayne Johnson, Arnold in Terminator / Predator type build. Gordon is about Virgil's build / a swimmer's build. John is lean /lithe but not lanky. Built like a runner.

Virgil HAS sold art and had it on display at galleries, possibly even at a museum or two, which is quite the accomplishment. He's also played music semi-professionally, although I can't find or recall an refences to him winning awards or contests in music.

Like John, Virgil got his astronaut wings / went to a second school after his primary (Fleetway again puts this as Tracy University) and he seems to have gone to this second school when he was ~21. Fleetway has a fun incident where, while at Tracy U, he used his advanced technology degree to service a faulty space capsule during a training space-flight.

So far as I can tell, Virgil's plan was to graduate and work for Tracy Tech / Tracy Industries / whatever version of the MULTIPLE names that Jeff's company has you'd like to use XD upon graduation. He likely DOES officially work as an engineer for his Dad's company (his brothers as well) on top of IR duties.

Given when IR got started (September of 2065) and Virgil's age AND his graduation date(s), Virgil would have been working at Jeff's company for at least a couple of years before IR got started.

He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, but no Class-M / motorcyle that we're aware of. He ABSOLUTELY has a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and has a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license. We know he has a pilot's license. While he has his astronaut wings, he might not have an astropilot license, but he would at least he have a 'limited' one - equivalent of a 'student driver' where he can be a co-pilot but not a solo. He has a helicopter and helijet license. Seems to have both a commerical and non-commerical boating license. Seems to have a civilian submarine craft license. Might have a diving license. Probably has a skydiving and paragliding license.

Gordon:

Only one of the brothers NOT to skip grades, as he goes straight from High School to WASP Academy at ~18.

Gordon was showing skill in swimming at only 3 years of age, and joined a professional swim team as early as possible (13 or so, though he would have been on school swim teams / training prior to that)

Gordon was one of, if not the, fastest freestyle swimmers in his prime. We know he won Gold in the Olympics for the Butterfly Stroke at 16 (Considering his birthyear, he might actually have been 17 given the years the Olympics fall on). We know he also got other awards / medals, but we can take it as fact that his only Olympic Gold was this. He might have gotten Silver and Bronze in other races. However given the 4 year gaps, this would have been the ONLY Olympics Gordon took part in - he would have been too young for the previous, and the ones after would be either after his hyrdofoil accident or IR.

Gordon went from high school straight into WASP. He probably was 18, buuuuuuuut there are hints that Gordon might have served in whatever War Scott and Phones and Troy and others in that age group fought in, so Gordon MIGHT have been able to sign up for WASP at 17 and basically before he graduated high school. To quickly explain, while you can sign up for the military at 17 with a guardian's permission for most branches… submarine service (and thus WASP) is not one of them, as it's strictly volunteer and 18+. You have to VOLUNTEER to be on a sub, and outside of wartimes you must be 18 or older. Thus IF, and only if, there was a 'War' on, Gordon could have joined WASP at 17.

Gordon was put in command of a bathyscape, which means he was an officer. You usually have to be 19 to become an officer / begin officer training BUT you can start at 18 during wartimes so... Gordon would have started his officer training at 18-19 and become an officer at 19-20. We've no mention of what rank Gordon was at his retirement, but to command a submarine, even a bathyscape, he has to have been a Lieutenant-Commander (of-3) minimum, but he can't have been more than a Captain (of-5) as he wasn't part of the admiralty. I make him a Commander (of-4) because I am an old geek woman and I love him having the rank level of 4 XD

While in WASP, Gordon came up with a revolutionary and unique underwater breathing apparatus... it's implied that the scuba gear we see used in Stingray are the ones that Gordon designed. Gordon later improved these for IR.

Gordon was in a high speed hyrdofoil crash (I know it says 400 mph, but I honestly would prefer it to have been going FAR slower... 400 km/h maybe XD ) that almost killed him, injured his back, and left him in a WASP hospital for 4 months (note that is his FULL TIME in the hospital, including his initial / in hospital Physical Therapy). The crash happened VERY recently, btw, like two years MAX before the pilot episode, but no less than a year and a half prior to the pilot, so it would have happened no earlier than Sept 2063 and no later than Mar 2064. A lot of fans give him lingering physical issues from this (heck I'm one of them), BUT it's important to remember that we see Gordon getting up to fairly normal physical activities in all canon material (even Fleetway where his accident is directly mentioned / shown), so he is not HEAVILY impacted by this. If he has chronic pain, it's mild for instance. If he throws his back out on occasion, it's rare and he recovers quickly, etc.

He has a military boating and submarine license, as well as a non-commercial boating license and civilian submarine-craft license. he miiiiiight have a commercial boating license, but he's never shown with commercial craft so *shrug emoji*. he ABSOLUTELY has a diving license. He has a Class-D (standard driver's) license. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, and would have had a military license that functioned as a CBL (commercial) Class A/B/C license and might have gone through the work to get that again as a civilian. Likely has a piloting license, might have a helicopter and helijet license.

Alan:

Alan was interested in both car racing and space from a young age (and unlike TaG, it looks like he actually had a stronger interest in CARS than in rockets). He seems to have skipped grades, as he was in college by 15 years of age as he was far enough into his astronaut training to be in space at 16 as one of Alan's accomplishments is that he is the youngest astronaut / lunarnaut known, having been either in space OR on the moon (or at minimum he got his astronaut wings) at only 16 years of age AND he still holds the record for highest number of passes and holds the current record for graduating in record time.

It looks like Alan went first to college for his astronaut wings (Fleetway has it as Tracy University) and likely got a Bachelors, graduating at 16 years of age.

He then went to another school (Fleetway lists Colorado Tech / Denver Tech) and got a Masters at 17 (maaaaybe 18). WHAT he got it in varies wildly across canon sources though. He's got astronatical engineering, space travel, CAR engineering / design, and communications listed. So likely pick and choose as ye please. I personally go for Vehicular (car) and astronautical engineering. To be totally honest, I'd replace the Tech school with a Racing Academy and have it where Alan got a Bachelors in astronatical engineering at Tracy University at 16, and a second Bachelors in Vehicular Engineering & Design at a Racing School at 17, then went from there to join the World Space Patrol Astopilot Academy for 1-2 years before going back to his racing career for the 1-2 years before he joins IR

Alan then joined the World Astronaut Patrol Academy... aka the military branch that Fireball XL5 is part of. Alan was in the Astropilot program, but for unknown reasons in canon, he left WSP / Astropilot program before graduating when he was still 18. To solve this issue, I replaced one of the astronovices in the Fireball comic story 'The Astronovices' with Alan, as that would have given him a General or Dishonorable Discharge. Alan DOES hold the record for youngest Astronovice as he joined at ~17 or so, and he apparently was pretty likely to be one of the few to pass the grueling requirements and graduate (seriously, out of an intake of 200 potentials, less that 25 graduate for each 2-3 year training cycle).

Alan started his racing career while still in college, likely starting driving at 16-17 as it's said he's been racing for 'a few years' when he wins Pararola at 19/20. He probably paused the racing career for the 1-2 years he was in the Astronovice program, then resumed it at 18 when he left WSP (for whatever reason he DID leave). He apparently has a few wins / medals in racing under his belt and left a successful racing career to join IR, although he WAS young enough (only 19) that him deciding to join Jeff's company as a vehicle engineer who occasionally tests the vehicles the company makes likely wouldn't draw too much attention. (Alan was a 'champion' race driver and officially a car designer by the time he joined IR at 19.)

He ABSOLUTELY has a Class-D (standard driver's) license, and seemingly has a Class-M / motorcyle, and obviously has a SCCA (racing) license. He might have a Class-B (farming equipment) license, but that's debatable. We know he has a pilot's license. He might have a helicopter license, but we never once see him piloting a helicopter. He's a bit more likely to have his helijet license. He ABSOLUTELY has an astropilot license, even if he didn't get the military / Fireball craft license. Seems to have a non-commerical boating license and a civilian submarine craft license. Has a diving license. Probably has a skydiving and paragliding license. Certainly has a rocket-plane (aka astmospheric craft that can escape gravitational pull and is space capable) license.

If anyone wants, I'll do these for TinTin, Brains and Penny - I'll even try it for Jeff, Kyrano, and Grandma Tracy, although we have FAR less to go on for them

[arlana-likes-to-write]

Second Chance - Chapter 1

Master list 

Warning: mention of a car accident/coma, mention of having cancer and treatment not working anymore. 

Word Count: 3.3 k

You stepped out of the taxi after paying the man and giving him a generous tip. He was nice. You learned that being a taxi driver was his second form of income, he was helping his daughter pay through medical school. So you didn’t feel bad slipping him an extra $50. You stood on the sidewalk of New York City, fixing your beanie that rested on your head. It wasn’t cold but people always gave you weird looks when they saw your bald head. You stared at the Avengers Tower. Letting out a shaky breath, you ventured inside. You didn’t want to be here but it was your last resort. You much rather be on your sailboat, miles away from any land mass but life had other plans for you. Those plans included talking to a man who was your biological father. You pushed open the door and stepped into the excited lobby. 

People walked around with a purpose. Arms filled with papers and briefcases and even small Stark Inventions. You were ignored by some and offered a small smile but others as you walked over to the receptionist. According to her nameplate, her name was Rebecca and she was talking to a man that wasn’t thrilled at what he was being told. Soon he stormed off mimicking a child throwing a tantrum. As you stepped forward, her phone rang. She gave you a kind smile and answered, “Stark Industries, how can I help you?”

“Take your time,” you whispered and zoned out to the conversation she was having on the phone. You looked at the stuff she had on her desk. It was filled with family photos, and a few figurines but what caught your eyes was a picture of Rebecca on a research boat, holding a measuring tape to get the length of a black tip reef shark. You loved ocean conversation. You double majored; in marine biology and mechanical engineering in college then got your doctorate in marine biology. 

“Hi,” you looked back at Rebecca. She was exhausted. “How can I help you?” 

“Hi, Rebecca,” you said, putting your arms on the counter. “I’m looking to speak with Tony Stark,” you suppressed a groan. “I’m guessing you get a lot.” 

“Do you have an appointment?” You winced. 

“So no but I tried. I called and I was told he wasn’t available till 6 months from now,” you didn’t have the heart to tell her that in 6 months you’d probably be dead. “And I can’t wait that long. It’s really important.” She gave you a look that screamed, ‘I hear that all the time.’

“Look, the best I can do is schedule an appointment in two months.” It was better but you needed to see him today. Your eyes went back to the picture of her on the research boat. You recognized someone else in the photo, Captain Henry Mills. You were close to him. He allowed you to shadow him when no one else would because of your age. It was a cheap card to play but you were desperate. 

“Is that you with Captain Mills aboard the Auro?” You asked, pointing to the picture. She seemed surprised. 

“How-how do you know him?” She questioned. You smiled. 

“I got to join him for a trip when he was researching mating patterns of black tip sharks on how global warming is affecting them,” you explained. “What were you doing with him?”

“I was helping him track sharks off the coast of Florida,” she said. “I won a contest that paid for the entire trip.” She blushed. 

“Are you interested in marine biology?” You asked. She nodded. 

“I take night classes,” Impressive. Now that you looked at her she didn’t seem that much older than you. 

“Look, I’m not normally this type of person but I know Henry well. He took a chance on me when no one else would. If you call Tony and tell him that someone that knew Jessica Stone is here to see him then I will get you back on that boat with him,” she looked conflicted. It was a little unethical to put her in this position but you were desperate. She sighed. 

“I can call him but I can’t promise he’ll see you.” You smiled, it was better than nothing.  

“Thank you! Thank you! You are beautiful.” She smiled, picking up her phone. 

“Hello, Mr. Stark. I-” Pause. “I know you are busy but I have someone here that wishes to speak with you,” you rolled your eyes. “She said she knows Jessica Easton.” Another pause. “Jessica Easton,” Rebecca repeated. “Will do, sir. Yes sir.” She hung up. “He said to take the elevator to the main floor and he’ll meet you there once he finishes in his lap.” Your stomach dropped. You did it. You managed to see him. 

“Thank you!” You said, snapping out of your shock. You must have looked like a fish out of water. “Thank you! I promise you I’ll get back on the Aurora.” She laughed, blushing slightly. 

“I’m glad it worked out. Have a good one.” 

“Bye!” You waved and headed towards the elevator. You pressed the button and waited for it, bouncing on the balls of your feet as you waited. Finally, the metal doors opened and you walked in. 

“Hello, Miss,” a female’s voice said overhead. The doors closed behind you. “I am FRIDAY, an AI created by Mr. Stark, who will meet you on the common floor. May I have your first and last name for my voice recognition software?”  

“Woah! That is so cool!” You weren’t surprised that Tony had an AI software that controlled the entire tower. Maybe once the heavy conversation was out of the way you could ask to see how he did it. “Oh, sorry. My name is Y/n Easton.” The elevator began to rise. 

“Welcome to the tower Miss. Easton,” you thanked the AI and were grateful for the silence. Your leg began to shake as anxiety began to find a home in your bones. You suffered from anxiety from a young age, your mom used to say your head was filled with too many thoughts. You slowly exhaled for 5 seconds and inhaled for 5. You did it a few times before the elevator door opened and you stepped out. It was quite beside the TV that was playing. You were staring at the few Avengers on the floor. 

“Hi,” you said, waving. You recognized the people in front of you immediately. Sam Wilson was sitting on the couch with Steve Rogers by his side. Behind them were Wanda Maximoff and Vision, standing in the kitchen. They stared back at you, a level of confession written all over their face. 

“Hello?” Steve slowly said. “Can we help you?” You shook your head. 

“No,” you didn’t elaborate further, choosing to look around the floor. They had a beautiful view of the city. Their eyes were still on you. “I’m just waiting for Tony.” They relaxed immediately. 

“Pop a squat stranger,” Sam said, hitting the spot on the couch next to you. “Sam Wilson.” He introduced himself. 

“Steve Rogers.”

“I know who all of you are,” It was hard not to know. The Avengers were everywhere. With their fight against Thanos and bringing half of the population back, it was impossible to not know who they were. “I’m Y/n Easton,”

“So Miss. Easton,” Vision said, you turned to face the android. “How are you acquainted with Mr. Stark?” 

“Old friends,” you said. Wanda turned her head to the side, matching the way a dog did when they didn’t understand a sound. “It’s complicated,” Sam laughed as you turned back around. 

“That is the only way to describe Stark,” you giggled, putting your attention on the movie they were watching. The Sound of Music. You were surprised by the movie choice since the man watching it fought in the very war it was depicting. 

“Sound of Music?” You questioned. “Kind of a strange movie to watch when the man sitting next to you is old enough to have lived through it.” The others laughed as the tips of Steve’s ears turned pink. You smiled. 

“We have to show this fossil some of the classics,” Sam said. “And between you and me I love Julie Andrews.”

“Who doesn't,” Wanda said from the kitchen. “She’s a national treasure.” 

“The Nazis apparently,” Steve deadpanned. The living speech devolved into laughter at his joke and it died down as a pair of footsteps walked over. You turned around to see the one and only Tony Stark. He looked like he saw a ghost. His eyes were wide. 

“Hi,” you said, standing up to face him. You knew all about the man standing in front of you. You just never saw him in person. He was created by what the papers wrote about, the interviews you watched, and your mother’s letters. 

“You look so much like her,” you said. You smiled. You got that a lot. Everyone said you and your mother were twins. 

“I got that a lot,” you told him. “Besides my eyes.” Jessica’s eyes were blue and yours were brown. “She said I got my eyes from my dad.” His brown eyes flickered to yours. “Hi dad,” The room was silent besides the pounding of your heart you could hear in your ears. 

“Oh shit,” Sam whispered. You heard a slap followed by a yelp but your eyes didn’t leave Tony, trying to gauge his reaction. Sam’s comment snapped him out of his trance 

“Why don’t we go talk somewhere private?” You nodded, picked up your bag, and followed him. You ignored the eyes on your bag. The silence between you and Tony wasn’t awkward but tense. He opened a door and held it open for you. It was a simple office room with a desk and TV. You sat down and Tony closed the door and then sat down next to you. You weren’t sure to start this conversation. Hell, you never thought you would need to have this talk. “I didn’t know Jessica was pregnant. She never told me. Are you sure-?” 

“That I’m your daughter?” You cut him off. He nodded. It was a valid question. You wondered if other people have come forward and claimed to be the billionaire’s kid. You unclipped your bag and pulled out an envelope. “I found this,” you handed it to him. You watched him open it. It was a letter written by your mother the day you were born. She included a photo of you. “She was going to tell you. There are more letters all addressed to you.” Tony held the picture of you in his hand. You pride yourself on the ability to read people’s micro-expressions. Those expressions showed the person's true feelings when they tried to hide behind a mask. Tony went through a mix of sadness, anger, and happiness. 

“Why didn’t she tell me?” He asked, putting the letter and picture back into the envelope. “I would have been there for you.”

“Would you have?” You asked. You didn’t want to hurt him with the question but you were curious. “Maybe she didn’t think you could have been. You both became successful so maybe it was for the best.” Tony sighed, rubbing his hand across his face. 

“Does she know you are here?” He asked. You smiled, looking down, and shaking your head. 

“No,” she whispered. Gods, you missed her so much. “She died 6 years ago. We were in a car accident. I woke up from a 2-week comma and she never did.” It was a hit-and-run. The police tried to figure out who caused the accident but the trail went cold. “During the Blip, I went through her stuff and found these letters. I put the pieces together.” 

“I’m sorry,” he tried to keep his voice from shaking. You’ve thrown a lot at the man. “What your mother and I had was brief but she was an amazing woman.” 

“I know,” you said. She was a remarkable woman, putting herself through law school and working her way up to become a state attorney all while being a single mother. 

“Are you living in the city?” He asked. You were surprised by the sudden change in the conversation. 

“I am,” you moved here at the beginning of the year. So you’ve only lived in the city for 4 months. It was easier than commuting to your doctor's. 

“We could get you a room here,” he said. “So we can get to know each other.” He added quickly. Oh. You weren’t expecting that. To be honest, you weren’t sure what to expect from America’s Playboy. 

“I’d like that a lot,” you said. He smiled. 

“Great, I’ll show you around.” Tony stood up and opened the door, almost running into Pepper Potts. You saw Tony panic not expecting to see his wife. 

“Sam told me I could find you here.” That didn’t surprise you. Sam seemed like someone to cause trouble. She looked at Tony to you then back to Tony. 

“Mrs. Potts,” you said, standing up and extending your hand. “My name is Y/n Easton. I’m a huge fan of how you’ve transformed Stark Industries.” She shook your hand. 

“Your mother was Jessica Easton,” you nodded. “I was sad to hear of her passing. My condolences.” She glanced at Tony with a tilt of her head as if she was trying to put all the pieces together. “Tony, what’s going on?” That was your cue to leave. 

“I’ll be in the kitchen,” you said, putting your bag on your shoulder. You didn’t miss the pleading look from Tony for you to stay. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen. You left with a smile. 

*

Tony watched as the door closed the door behind him and felt all the air leave his lungs. Your question stumped him. Would he have been there for you? His gut instinct was to say yes. He would have been there; to see your first steps or hear your first words. But he had to be realistic. Everything he created was here, not in DC. Now you were here and he wasn’t going to lose his second chance. First, he had to explain everything to Pepper. With a sigh, he sat down. “What’s going on, Tony?” She asked, sitting down in front of him. He pulled out the letter from Jessica and handed it to her. 

“She’s my kid,” he answered. His wife blinked at him before opening the letter. “Jessica and I slept together, once maybe twice before you and I were together,” he rubbed his hand over his face. “I didn’t know she was pregnant.” Pepper was silent as she put the letter away and tapped it against her hand. “Please say something.”

“What does she want?” Tony wasn’t stupid maybe a little dense but not stupid. You were here for a reason and he had a feeling it was a medical reason. Maybe you needed help with bills. God knows he could fork over a few hundred to help. 

“She hasn’t said.: 

“And this,” she pushed the letter back to him. “Is the only proof that you have that she’s yours.” Tony nodded. Pepper sighed, resting her chin on her hands. “Tony..”

“I know, I know this whole thing is ridiculous,” he stood up and leaned on the back of the chair. “We’ll do a DNA test but if she is mine and she needs help I can’t turn her away,” he looked at the door you left through. “When I’ve already missed so much.” 

“Okay,” his head snapped back to look at his wife so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. “Okay, we’ll help her.” 

“We?” Tony questioned. Pepper rolled her eyes and stood up, walking over to him. 

“Yes, we,” she said. “We do things together.” Tony kissed her, cupping her cheeks with his hands as he tried to pour every ounce of love he had for the woman standing in front of him. 

“Have I ever told you that you're amazing?” He asked. Pepper laughed. 

“It’s always good to be reminded,” she smiled. 

*

You sat at the kitchen island staring at the glass of water. You’ve learned to manage the symptoms but some days were better than others. There was a deep ache in your bones today. You contributed to all the emotions you were feeling. You fished a bottle of ibuprofen out of your back and took two pills, washing it down with water. “Here,” you jumped at Wanda’s voice. “Sorry,” she placed a small bowl of gelatin and a sleeve of saltine crackers in front of you. 

“I’m guessing you know then,” you said, taking a small bite of the gelatin. She nodded, smiling sadly at you. 

“I didn’t mean to,” she said. “Sometimes I just travel into people’s minds.” You weren’t mad at her. They were all going to find out shortly. “Have you told Tony?”

“Not yet. He’s explaining to Pepper who I am. Can you imagine being a fly on that wall?” Wanda giggled but soon her laughter stopped and her smile fell. 

“Is your treatment not going well?” She asked. You bit your bottom lip. There was no reason to lie so she could see through your mind. 

“No,” you admitted. Before you could explain more you saw Tony walk over to you. 

“Ready for a tour of the tower?” You nodded, downing the rest of the water from the glass and taking the role of saltines as you stood up. You ignored the look Tony gave you, questioning why you had those. That conversation would come, all in due time. 

Touring the tower was a whirlwind and it didn't help that your body protested every step. But you put on a brave face and listened to Tony explain all the features of the tower and met some of the other Avengers. You were impressed and excited to explore after a much-needed nap. At the end of the tour, you were joined by Pepper and walked outside to one of the tower's many patios.  

It was beautiful outside and the patio provided a great view of the city. “I’m going, to be honest with you both,” you looked at the couple sitting next to you. “I was never going to reach out. You were living your life and I was living mine and I had no reason to. But I need help,” you took off your beanie. “About a year ago I was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia or AML. I’ve gone through chemotherapy and treatment but now it’s not touching it. My doctors said I need a bone marrow transplant and you are all I have left.” 

“There is no one on your mom’s side?” You shook your head, playing with the beanie. It was a gift from your old neighbor back in DC. 

“Mom was an only child. I’ve met her parents once and it was at her funeral,” you looked back at them. “I know this is insane and I came here and turned your life upside down so I’m not expecting anything. I just-” you sighed, rubbing your hand over your bald head. “I’m a little out of options here.” You laughed. 

“How long are they saying you have?” Tony asked. You looked back at the city skyline. You hated this. You hated telling people you were dying because of the pity in their eyes. 

“6 months. Another year if I’m lucky.” You didn’t look back at them. “But you know life has been good for me.” 

“We’ll help you,” you looked at the couple in front of you. Tony wasn’t looking at you with pity but determination. Pepper had love in her eyes and it was something you haven’t seen since your mother. 

“Yeah?” You questioned. Pepper nodded. 

“We’ll figure it out. Together.”   

_

Welcome to this AU! I’m excited to show you what I have in store!

[aimeedaisies]

The Princess Royal’s Official Engagements in March 2024

01/03 In Dubai Princess Anne; 🇦🇪

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, visited Dubai Ports World in Port of Jebel Ali. 🚢

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, attended a Women in Shipping and Trading Conference Panel Discussion at Dubai Ports World Pavilion. 👩‍💼🛳️

Opened Donnelly Lines British Forces Headquarters at Al Minhad Airbase. 🛫

Called upon HH Sheikha Hind bint Maktoum bin Juma Al Maktoum (wife of the Vice President and PM of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai). 👑

Attended a Royal British Legion Reception on board the QUEEN ELIZABETH II floating hotel. 🍾

As President of the Royal Yachting Association, visited Dubai Offshore Sailing Club. 🛥️

As President of the Mission to Seafarers, this attended a Dinner at the One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel. 🍽️

02/03 Departed Dubai International Airport and returned to Heathrow Airport 🇦🇪✈️🇬🇧

04/03 As Guardian of the Chaffinch Trust, held a Management Team Meeting at Gatcombe Park. 🤝

As Guardian of Give Them A Sporting Chance, held a Management Team Meeting at Gatcombe Park. ⚽️

unofficial Along with the Duke of Kent (President of the RNLI), Sir Tim (Vice President of the RNLI) attended a Service of Thanksgiving to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the RNLI at Westminster Abbey. 🛟

05/03 As Patron of Livability, visited New Court Place, to mark its 180th Anniversary. 🦼

Opened First Garden Cities Homes' Sheltered Housing Scheme at John Coxall Court in Letchworth Garden City. 🏡

As Patron of the Butler Trust, visited HMP/Young Offenders Institute Aylesbury. 🔗👮

06/03 On behalf of the King, held two investiture ceremonies at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

07/03 As President, attended the 32nd National Equine Forum at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. 🐴

As Grand Master of the Royal Victorian Order, attended Evensong and a Reception at The King’s Chapel of the Savoy. ⛪️🎖️

08/03 As Chancellor of the University of London, visited King’s College London’s Portable MRI Project at the Denmark Hill Campus. 🩻

As Patron of Save the Children UK, attended the International Women’s Day Luncheon at Bluebird on Kings Road. 👭💪

10/03 Attended the Global Fraud Summit at the Guildhall in London. 💻👾

11/03 Attended the Commonwealth Day Service at Westminster Abbey alongside The Queen, The Prince of Wales, The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, The Princess Royal, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and The Duke of Kent. 🌎🌍🌏

Attended a Commonwealth Day Reception at Westminster Abbey. 🌍🥂

With Sir Tim As Past Master of the Worshipful Company of Butchers, attended the Annual City Food and Drink Lecture at Guildhall. 🍽️🍾

12/03 With Sir Tim Attended a luncheon on board Hebridean Princess to mark its 60th Anniversary in Greenock. 🥪

With Sir Tim Visited Peel Ports Group Limited Greenock Ocean Terminal. 🛳️

13/03 unofficial Attended Style Wednesday at Cheltenham Festival. 👒

14/03 unofficial Attended St. Patrick’s Thursday at Cheltenham Festival. ☘️

15/03 With Sir Tim Attended Gold Cup Friday at Cheltenham Festival. 🏆

16/03 With Sir Tim As Patron of the Scottish Rugby Union, attended the Six Nations Rugby Match between Scotland and Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇮🇪🏉

18/03 As Patron of Save the Children UK, attended the International Financial Review Annual Awards Dinner at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London.🏅

19/03 As Patron of Sense, opened Sense Hub Loughborough.🦻👨‍🦯

On behalf of The King, with the Duchess of Edinburgh, held a Reception for Korean War Veterans at Buckingham Palace. 🪖

As Patron of the Butler Trust, held the Annual Awards Ceremony at St James’s Palace. 🏆

With Sir Tim As President of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851, attended a Presidential Dinner at Fishmongers’ Hall. 🐟🍽️

20/03 Held a morning and an afternoon investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle. 🎖️

21/03 As President of the Benenden Society and Founders’ Patron of Benenden School, attended the Centenary Service in Canterbury Cathedral. ⛪️👩‍🦰

Attended the Commonwealth Youth Orchestra and Choir Presentation Concert at Spencer House. 🎻🎼

22/03 Opened the new North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Allied Rapid Reaction Corps Headquarters Accommodation at the Officers’ Mess in Imjin Barracks. 🌊

Visited the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre and Ministry of Defence Medal Office at Innsworth House in Imjin Barracks. ⛑️🎖️

As Patron of Stroud Hospital League of Friends, visited Stroud Maternity Unit. 🏥👶

25/03 Visited MacRebur Limited. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🛣️

Visited the Lockerbie Air Disaster Memorial at Lockerbie Garden of Remembrance. 🌹👼🏻

As President of the Scotch Chef’s Club, opened Browns Food Group’s new facilities at Kelloholm Industrial Estate. 🐄

As Royal Patron of Friends of TS Queen Mary, attended a Reception at the Hilton Glasgow. ⛴️🥂

26/03 Opened the Rural and Veterinary Innovation Centre at Scotland's Rural College in Inverness. 🩺🐑

As Chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands, attended the Integrated Land Use Conference. 🚜🧑‍🌾

As Royal Patron of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, visited the Saving Wildcats Project at Highland Wildlife Park in Kincraig. 🐯🦁

As Patron and Honorary Member of the Grand Antiquity Society of Glasgow, attended a Dinner at the Trades Hall of Glasgow. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿📜

Unofficial Sir Tim, as Chair of Trustees, attended the opening of the Adani Green Energy Gallery at the Science Museum 🌍🍃💚

31/03 unofficial With Sir Tim Attended the Easter Mattins service held at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle ⛪️🐣

Total official engagements for Anne in March: 49

2024 total so far: 134

Total official engagements accompanied by Tim in March: 6

2024 total so far: 29

FYI - due to certain royal family members being off ill/in recovery I won't be posting everyone's engagement counts out of respect, I am continuing to count them and release the totals at the end of the year.

[indoglobalgroupofcolleges]

Chandigarh, known for its urban planning, hosts several prestigious architecture colleges. Among them, the best architecture college in India offers world-class education, innovative design studios, and industry exposure, fostering holistic development and producing adept professionals shaping the future of architectural landscapes.

[jcmarchi]

New substrate material for flexible electronics could help combat e-waste

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/new-substrate-material-for-flexible-electronics-could-help-combat-e-waste/

New substrate material for flexible electronics could help combat e-waste

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is a rapidly growing global problem, and it’s expected to worsen with the production of new kinds of flexible electronics for robotics, wearable devices, health monitors, and other new applications, including single-use devices.

A new kind of flexible substrate material developed at MIT, the University of Utah, and Meta has the potential to enable not only the recycling of materials and components at the end of a device’s useful life, but also the scalable manufacture of more complex multilayered circuits than existing substrates provide.

The development of this new material is described this week in the journal RSC: Applied Polymers, in a paper by MIT Professor Thomas J. Wallin, University of Utah Professor Chen Wang, and seven others.

“We recognize that electronic waste is an ongoing global crisis that’s only going to get worse as we continue to build more devices for the internet of things, and as the rest of the world develops,” says Wallin, an assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering. To date, much academic research on this front has aimed at developing alternatives to conventional substrates for flexible electronics, which primarily use a polymer called Kapton, a trade name for polyimide.

Most such research has focused on entirely different polymer materials, but “that really ignores the commercial side of it, as to why people chose the materials they did to begin with,” Wallin says. Kapton has many advantages, including excellent thermal and insulating properties and ready availability of source materials.

The polyimide business is projected to be a $4 billion global market by 2030. “It’s everywhere, in every electronic device basically,” including parts such as the flexible cables that interconnect different components inside your cellphone or laptop, Wang explains. It’s also widely used in aerospace applications because of its high heat tolerance. “It’s a classic material, but it has not been updated for three or four decades,” he says.

However, it’s also virtually impossible to melt or dissolve Kapton, so it can’t be reprocessed. The same properties also make it harder to manufacture the circuits into advanced architectures, such as multilayered electronics. The traditional way of making Kapton involves heating the material to anywhere from 200 to 300 degrees Celsius. “It’s a rather slow process. It takes hours,” Wang says.

The alternative material that the team developed, which is itself a form of polyimide and therefore should be easily compatible with existing manufacturing infrastructure, is a light-cured polymer similar to those now used by dentists to create tough, durable fillings that cure in a few seconds with ultraviolet light. Not only is this method of hardening the material comparatively fast, it can operate at room temperature.

The new material could serve as the substrate for multilayered circuits, which provides a way of greatly increasing the number of components that can be packed into a small form factor. Previously, since the Kapton substrate doesn’t melt easily, the layers had to be glued together, which adds steps and costs to the process. The fact that the new material can be processed at low-temperature while also hardening very quickly on demand could open up possibilities for new multilayer devices, Wang says.

As for recyclability, the team introduced subunits into the polymer backbone that can be rapidly dissolved away by an alcohol and catalyst solution. Then, precious metals used in the circuits, as well as entire microchips, can be recovered from the solution and reused for new devices.

“We designed the polymer with ester groups in the backbone,” unlike traditional Kapton, Wang explains. These ester groups can be easily broken apart by a fairly mild solution that removes the substrate while leaving the rest of the device unharmed. Wang notes that the University of Utah team has co-founded a company to commercialize the technology. 

“We break the polymer back into its original small molecules. Then we can collect the expensive electronic components and reuse them,” Wallin adds. “We all know about the supply chain shortage with chips and some materials. The rare earth minerals that are in those components are highly valuable. And so we think that there’s a huge economic incentive now, as well as an environmental one, to make these processes for the recapture of these components.”

The research team included Caleb Reese and Grant Musgrave at the University of Utah, and Jenn Wong, Wenyang Pan, John Uehlin, Mason Zadan and Omar Awartani at Meta’s Reality Labs in Redmond, Washington. The work was supported by a startup fund at the Price College of Engineering at the University of Utah.

[materialsscienceandengineering]

With global demand for lithium-ion batteries fast depleting reserves of raw materials, experts are seeking safe, affordable and reliable alternatives for rechargeable batteries. Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) could be the answer to producing low-cost alternatives from abundant feedstocks, and Flinders University scientists are paving the way for the production of simple and practical polymer AZIBs using organic cathodes for more sustainable energy storage technology. "Aqueous zinc-ion batteries could have real-world applications," says Associate Professor in Chemistry Zhongfan Jia, a nanotech researcher at the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University.

Read more.

[97-liners]

characters: mingyu, a gender neutral y/n

tags: zombie apocalypse, horror

warnings: major character death, gore, gun violence (and other violence, idk this is a zombie apocalypse setting), resource scarcity (see setting), mentions of a global pandemic (see setting)

60-minute free writing exercise

words: 2.3k

.

.

.

Mingyu was silent when he died.

Your hand on the trigger, his knees at your feet, you looked down the barrel to see him crying. In a moment of clarity, he had stopped fighting, and he was Mingyu again. Your Mingyu. And you knew that it was your Mingyu, that he still loved you, because he let his hands still at his sides and sat back on his heels, eyes glassy and wide and terrified, afraid to die, but afraid of what would happen if he didn’t. And because you knew he loved you, and because you loved him, loved him so much it was like a vice grip on your chest and on your finger-- because you loved him, you didn’t let his last little gift go to waste. Before the moment of clarity could pass, you pulled the trigger.

That was a week ago.

Now, you’re in your car-- his car, Mingyu’s old Toyota that he bought when he graduated college and got his first real engineering job. The days are long, and the nights are dark, but you have a destination in mind. The two of you were going to go to California together, where there’s a large settlement on the coast. In the last days before the cell towers went down, Mingyu had been on the phone with one of his old childhood friends, talking about it. “Let’s go,” his hand on yours, chest full of that stupid optimism that got him through junior year and the first six months of his shitty job in Jersey City and the time the two of you were stuck waiting for the MTA for 45 minutes, “Minghao says there's space for two.”

You’re alone now, driving through Nebraska on the I-80. There’s gas stockpiled in the trunk, and there’s still about a hundred miles until you get to Cheyenne, where you’ll get out and look for a gas station with still-functional pumps. The shotgun is on the passenger seat, accompanying you like a friend— like a lover. (There’s still blood and brains in the crevices of the gun. You spent hours with a rag next to a muddy puddle of water by the side of the road, wiping down every square inch you could see. Fresh water is hard to come by, however, and it’s not smart to stay in one place for too long. Hell, you haven’t even been able to shower in weeks. Your skin still bears the chemical burns from when you had wiped yourself down in bleach. It hurt, but you couldn’t risk the virus getting into your bloodstream, even accidentally.)

It’s sunny today. Nearly painfully bright. It feels like it shouldn’t be this sunny, not after everything that’s happened. But the sun is distant and uncaring and beats relentlessly down on the rolling plains around you.

And then, from miles away, you see it— a rest stop. The light-up sign has long since blinked out, but the shape is unmistakeable in the sea of blond grass rippling in the wind. A box-shaped building, next to it the hollowed-out remains of a Wendy’s. And a gas station. The huge kind, with two rows of pumps and a parking lot. Your breath hitches as you get closer and closer and the details materialize into view. There’s even gas prices still posted on the sign — under five bucks a gallon. That must have been put up before people started panicking in earnest and entrepreneurial gas station owners cranked up the prices to fifteen, twenty dollars a gallon, until the power lines went down and cell service went out and paying with a credit card didn’t really matter anymore. This far out into the country, when it’s been hours since you last saw anything but miles of prairie in every direction and the empty cassette ribbon of the I-80 cutting through the land, there’s a real possibility that the gas station and the accompanying convenience store might still be intact.

You pull into the parking lot. The windows are unbroken and the door is still chained shut — a good sign. You reach behind to grab the crowbar from the back seat, and when you twist back forward, you’re almost certain you catch a glimpse of Mingyu in the passenger seat. A flash of golden tan skin, of scruffy black hair, and you swear you could almost see his face, but when you turn around fully, the passenger seat is empty, save for the shotgun. And in an instant, you make the stupid decision to leave the car without bringing the gun. It’s quiet, you rationalize. There’s nobody out here. Nothing out here.

(In the days since he died, you think you’ve been hallucinating. You see the fuzzy figure of Mingyu in reflections, in shadows, in the staticky darkness when you close your eyes. Maybe it’s normal. After all, the two of you were always together, even before the pandemic. Since the first time he told you he loved you, this has been the longest time the two of you have been apart. Will be apart. Forever, you brain supplies unhelpfully.)

The door is easy to pry off its hinges, and the glass breaks but it doesn’t shatter. The inside of the convenience store is everything you had hoped for— dark, cobwebbed, but stocked full of mass-produced junk food filled with preservatives. They’re calories, artificially fortified with nutrients and chemical flavoring, meant to last for years on a shelf. Immediately, you head to where the granola bars are and begin to empty the shelves, filling your backpack in the process. Your mind is thinking ahead — this is more than enough food to last you the entire trip. This is enough to feed a couple of people for a few weeks. Is there food in Minghao’s settlement in California? How much should you take? Can all of this fit in your car? How many trips back and forth should you make?

Your stomach grumbles and you’re reminded that you’re hungry— it’s been a few days— so you take a Clif bar off the shelf and tear open the wrapper. You eat ravenously.

(Mingyu was always good at cooking. He knew how to make every soup imaginable, how to pull together the end of the month pantry staples and wilted produce and fill your tiny Brooklyn apartment with the smell of home. He knew how to fish, how to gut and clean the dirty little perch that he pulled from the Hudson, how to fry them over a fire to make them taste less like mud and more like food. How to build the fire so the smoke wouldn’t be seen, how to put it out so the embers wouldn’t give away your campsite.

You can’t cook. You’ve never had to learn, not with Mingyu by your side.)

Like your own shadow, little piece of Mingyu follow you as you make your way up and down the aisles. It’s just the hallucinations, you tell yourself. At the end of the cereal aisle, you stand still for a moment and stare at yourself in the fisheye reflection of the security mirror mounted on the ceiling. The store is dark, and the mirror is dusty. For a moment, you think you can see Mingyu standing next to you. You see him, tall, broad, alive, so beautiful he might be an angel.

It’s still breathlessly silent around you, however. You know Mingyu can’t be standing beside you, because the air around you feels empty. But there he is, in the blurry reflection of a convenience store security mirror. You blink, and he’s still there.

Suddenly, you begin to feel uneasy. He’s just another hallucination, isn’t he? The mirror is too blurry for you to get a good look at his face, and a large part of you doesn't want to see his face anyway. You're certain it’s him in the reflection. You could recognize him anywhere just from the way he stands. But something about his figure isn’t quite right.

You know what you need to do. You need to look to your side, where he’s standing in the mirror. You know, whatever it is you’re seeing, you need to just turn your head to the side and look to know what it is. Just look, it seems to tell you. I’m right here, Mingyu says.

You blink, and the Mingyu in the reflection is gone.

It’s just you, standing there in a dark convenience store, backpack open in your hands. And uneasily, you laugh. “Hey, Mingyu,” you say aloud. It’s been a week since you last said anything, and your voice sounds thin and reedy in your head. You don’t hear a response.

“Mingyu, wouldn’t it be fucked up if ghosts were real too?”

A few months ago, zombies were just something you’d see in a video game or TV show. Maybe it’s not a hallucination, but you’re not sure if that makes you feel better.

By the time you’re done raiding the convenience store, several trips back and forth to your car later, the back seat is stocked with all kinds of shelf-stable calorie-dense food. Like little luxuries, you made sure to leave some room for toilet paper, for shampoo and soap, for toothpaste, for a few boxes of instant coffee. You still need to fill up the two empty gas cans in the trunk, but first, you think you’ll use the bathrooms here.

The doors to the bathroom are on the outside of the building, and you find the keys hanging by the staff break room in the back of the store. It takes a few tries, but eventually the key turns in the lock and you’re able to push the heavy steel door open with your body weight.

As soon as the door closes behind you with a loud bang, you instantly get a bad feeling. Everything in your intuition is telling you to run. The bathroom is dark, save for one humming emergency light still illuminated overhead, and it’s completely silent. You exhale, and the sound bounces off the tiled walls and floors, whispering before settling back into that tense silence from a moment ago.

By the entrance, there are three sinks lined up in front of a large cracked mirror. You peer around the corner to see three stalls, each separated by a wall, with tall floor-to-ceiling doors that don’t leave even a centimeter of a gap between the wall. It’s still completely silent, but the persistent buzzing undercurrent of anxiety in your head is screaming at you— something isn’t right. You inch forward, skin prickling, and lightly push on the first door. It swings open. Then, you push on the third door, which also opens. You place your hand on the center door, and you can immediately tell that it’s locked.

But the bathroom is so, so quiet. Even when you stand still, glued to your spot in front of the stalls, and listen, you don’t hear anything. It’s empty, it has to be. You glance back over your shoulder at the wide mirror hanging over the sinks, and you half-expect to see Mingyu standing next to you again, but all you see is yourself—dirty, greasy, haggard— and the bathroom behind you. It’s empty.

Slowly and quietly, you walk past the center stall and enter the last one. There’s no toilet paper, but it doesn’t matter. You finish peeing and consider flushing the toilet. There’s probably still water in the tank. But something about creating all that noise doesn’t sit right with you, so you decide to forgo the last little bit of socialization clinging to your brain and exit the stall. You should probably wash your hands, you realize, so you step up to the sink and turn one of handles and, to your surprise, a stream of clean water dribbles out.

You put your hand under the water. It feels decadent. It feels like an unspeakable luxury, as you push on the soap dispenser and let some of the pink slime fall into your palm, as you lather it up into a foam. You scrub at your hands, trying your best to get out every last bit of dirt and blood embedded beneath your fingernails. And when your hands are rubbed raw but clean, you cup your hands and collect some water to rinse your face with. You wash your face with the same pink liquid soap you used to wash your hands, something you would be aghast at in another life, but now it practically feels like a spa day. Weeks of grime dissolving under your fingertips and swirling down the drain.

You shut off the water and reach for the paper towel dispenser. Maybe the bathroom really is empty and your instincts are all wrong. The door to the middle stall could be jammed, or it could have been locked by building staff before the pandemic even broke out. It would be stupid of you not to come back and fill a jug with clean water, no matter what your intuition says.

For a moment, you stand stock-still, just so you can get another gauge on the bathroom. The last bit of water leaves the sink drain and it’s silent again. You watch yourself in the mirror, hold your breath, try to sense even the tiniest shift in the air. It smells like Mingyu, you realize. Clean and soapy and warm. It’s the same scent his skin used to carry. Like he’s here, next to you.

The bathroom is silent.

Your reflection stares back at you. The overhead light casts harsh shadows over your face, leaving your eyes dark and empty.

The bathroom is silent.

Mingyu’s scent, but it’s not comforting at all. Not in the way you used to nudge your nose against his throat during lazy Sunday mornings and inhale his warmth. Not in the way you’d wear his hoodies and press your face against the lining.

The bathroom is silent. And then, with a click, the middle door unlocks.

[thatsrightice]

Iceman, Slider, Cougar, and Goose wear rings that show they are graduates of the United States Naval Academy, supported by their dialogue in the film and the ornate rings they wear throughout the film. I know Goose is married, but that ring is far too large to be just a wedding band. (I promise this isn't an info dump... not like my others anyway)

The USNA is an undergraduate college that is a combination of academics and military development programs. Based on the current list of majors available at the United States Naval Academy, I think that Iceman, Slider, Cougar, and Goose likely would have chosen one of the following majors: Aerospace Engineering, Electrical Engineering, General Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or Mathematics, but they could have gotten a degree in something like English, Foreign Area Studies, Political Studies, History, etc. Again, these are based on the list of current majors offered, so take that with a grain of salt, but I still feel like it’s possible that a majority of these were offered in the late 1970s and early 1980s. 

In my mind, I can see Iceman being a bit of an overachiever. He would major in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Political Science while playing on some Varsity sports team (he’s too cool not to be in). Maybe something like Lacrosse or Swimming and Diving, but regardless I can totally see Ice and Slider meeting by being in the same sport. And swimming definitely fits their vibes ngl. But also Slider could def be a true American football player and if Ice plays lacrosse (which is a spring sport) they could go to each other's games. I’m not sure if they had Men’s Club Volleyball when they would have attended like they do now, but I’m sure they would have made time to play when able. A lot of people headcanon Ice as being Russian, which makes sense because his last name is Russian in origin, but regardless of that fact I feel like he would have participated in the Naval Academy Foreign Affairs Conference. An excellent resume builder and an asset for an aspiring admiral, the NAFAC is a conference hosted by the USNA in which students from around the US come together to discuss a theme from current global affairs.