#Rachel Grant Coaching

[grantmentis]

Women’s Hockey News Round Up 6/16-7/1

Everything here is official only, and try to list the most relevant transactions globally but may miss something, so always feel free to add! Since a lot of people who follow this blog are North American/most familiar with the PWHL, i put less context there than I may for other leagues

Extended indicates they did not change teams. buckle in this one is long as hell

PWHL (North America)

RETIRMENTS: Becca Gilmore (OTT) and Erica Howe (TOR) announce their retirements

PWHL Ottawa signings: - Alexa Vasko (PWHL Toronto) for one year -Logan Agners (Quinnipiac, undrafted) for one year -Rebecca Leslie (PWHL Toronto) for one year -Anna Meixner (Brynäs) for one year -Shiann Darkangelo (extended) for one year,

PWHL Toronto signings: -Daryll Watts (PWHL Ottawa) for two years -Emma Woods (PWHL New York) for two years -Raygan Kirk ( Ohio state) for two years -Izzy Daniel (Cornell) for two years -Megan Carter (Northeastern) for two years -Julia Gosling (st Lawrence) for two years -Hannah Miller (extension) for one year -Allie Munroe (extension) for two years

PWHL Boston signings: -Lexie Adzija (extended) for one year -Hannah Brandt (extended) for two years -Emily brown (extended) for two years -Sidney Morin (extended) for one year -Sophie Shirley (extended) for two years

PWHL Montreal: -Mikyla Grant Mentis (extended) for one year -Cayla Barnes (Ohio State) for three years -Elaine Chuli (extended) for one year -Mariah Keopple (extended) for one year -Amanda Boulier (extended) for one year

PWHL New York Signings: -Abbey levy (extended) two years

PWHL Minnesota signings: -Liz schepers (extended) for one year -Denisa Křižová (extended) for two years -Michela Cava (extended) for one year -Klára Hymlárová (st cloud) for two years -britta Curl (Wisconsin) for one year,

Josh Sciba joins PWHL New York as assistant coach. He has experience as Union College's head coach of their women's program as well as with the USWNT as an assistant coach

SDHL (Sweden)

The league has announced they will have goal cameras in place next season!

Finnish national team defender Sini Karjalainen joins Skellefteå AIK after playing with Brynäs last season

18 year old Swedish defender Thea Liodden signs with Linköping HC from AIK

Clarkson University forward Darcie Lappan signs with MoDo hockey

Providence College captain Rachel Weiss signs with HV71

16 year old Ebba Westerlind, who has shown very strong success in Sweden's youth programs, signs with Frölunda HC

Ann-Frédérique Guay, who played 4 years at Norwich University on the D3 level before transferring to UMaine and having a successful final year, has joined Linköping HC

American forward Naomi Rogge, who was successful last season with SDE, has joined Linköping HC

SDHL veteran Emmy Alasalmi joins Linköping HC

Lily George of University of New Brunswick joins Leksands

Dominique Kremer, most recently with PWHL Minnesota, has signed with SDE

Jakob Löf joins Brynäs as an assistnt coach. He previously coached the programs u16 team

Swedish National Team forward Michelle Löwenhielm extends with SDE for another year

Naisten Liiga (Finland)

Rising Finnish national team star Emma Ekoluoma changes teams from Kärpät to Ilves

Norweigan national team defender Iben Tillman will join the league and HPK specifically after a strong performance at the D1A World Championship

24 year old finnish forward Anni Montonen returns to Kiekko-Espoo after spending a season in the SDHL. She previously played for Kiekko-Espoo from 2019-2023 and was one of their top producers

Susanna Viitala, who played for TPS last year and was just under a point per game, joins Kiekko-Espoo

Julia Kuusisto get a one year extension in Ilves after a season where she took a big step forward and played with the u18 national team

defender Nelly Andersson will be back with HIFK after playing 23 games with them last year for the first time and getting experience with both the u18 and senior team

Defender Ilona Palin who spent time with the team last year as well a the u18 Finnish team, will return to HIFK for another year as well

SWHL / Postfinance Women League (Switzerland)

HC Davos ladies make four big signings -Swiss national team defender Alessia Baechler who played with ZSC Lions Frauen last year -Renee lendi who also played with ZSC and their B league affiliate -American/Canadian defender Lucie Tenenbaum. This is particularly interesting because Tenenbaum played prep school with Bishop Kearney last year and is committed to Minnesota State for the year following next season, so cool to see her develop in Switzerland for the year in between -Italian national team forward Aurora Abatangelo who was with Ladies Team Lugano last year

EWHL (Central/Eastern Europe + others)

The rebranded KSV Neuberg Highlanders also add five new players -Bishop University graduate and defender Marie-Camille Théorêt -Slovenian national team forward and EWHL Veteran/consistent top forward Sara Confidenti -Slovakian forward and EWHL top scorer Nikola Rumanova -American forward and SUNY-Oswego graduate Kensie Malone -American forward and Franklin Pierce University graduate Claire Casey

[dalekofchaos]

How is Blackwell even a school?

Blackwell is insanely weird.

It has dorms but also lockers.

A barely functioning staff. We have two teachers, a principal, a custodian and a head of security. There is Mrs Hoida, but we never see her in LIS or BTS. Mr Keaton exists in BTS, but we never hear about him in LIS. There’s a nurse, but we never see her. There’s a coach for the Otters and Bigfoots, but neither Max nor Chloe are athletic, so we never see them. According to Chloe’s report card. There is an Art teacher, Phy Ed teacher, Practical Math and Life Skills Teacher, Social Sciences teacher and Personal Health Teacher. But we never see any of them.

Only two whole classrooms in the whole game.

It’s apparently the only school the town has and also is a super expensive exclusive private school.

It’s a high school that recruits world renowned artists and scientists to teach basic high school level classes.

It’s graduates supposedly go on to become famous successful people yet the school itself resides in a tiny rundown coastal Oregon town.

It costs a fortune to attend and yet it looks like it hasn’t been seriously repaired or renovated since the 1970’s.

Hell it doesn’t even have security cameras on campus.

According to google

"According to a student survey from the National Center for Education Statistics, 86 percent of middle school and high school students have security cameras installed in their schools."

Despite David being an asshole, it's standard procedure to have cameras up in the first place. David is wrong to put cameras in his home to spy on Chloe, but not wrong to have cameras in the school. If there were cameras already placed in Blackwell.

Frank Bowers would never be able to sell on school grounds

Frank never would've been close to Rachel

Nathan never would've gotten away with bringing so many illegal drugs to the Vortex Club

Kate never would've been dosed

Speaking of David. Why is he just a security officer? Why isn't he a cop? Wouldn't it make sense for David to work two jobs since the Prices are in debt? As a cop and as a security officer? The most unrealistic thing about LIS. David was too unstable to be a Arcadia Bay cop. The police have no standards and I'm shocked that David wasn't an instant recruit considering how the police in America wants people with low IQs and doesn’t care for obvious red flags.

Also, School Resource Officers exist.

Then there is the fact that Max…BARELY uses the school of her dreams. We get one or two classes at best. Going to Ms Grant’s class does not count cause Max only went there to help Warren.

Chloe not using Blackwell makes sense. She hates the damn place and would rather learn about Rachel’s anatomy break the rules and chill in the junkyard.

But with Max, shouldn’t she actually be attending classes? I mean if I were attending a big private school at Blackwell, but didn’t attend classes. I think my ass would’ve been suspended within weeks and my tuition set on fire.

What kind of school, a HIGH school lets their students freely roam the halls, leave school grounds or chill in the dorms instead of doing class work?

For that matter. Why the fuck is Blackwell Academy a fucking High School? Why not a college? Art Colleges exists. I'd rather Blackwell be a college and for everyone to be of age, it'd explain a lot of stuff such as the drugs, parties, guns, and just a lot of stuff. Not to mention going through college you are still figuring out stuff, what you want to do with your life, and still figuring out who you are. Would've imo a lot better and explained why half the shit that was happening was.

I get this is an episodic game and there are more pressing concerns, but honestly Blackwell should’ve been like say Bully. We do the day’s worth of classes and then progress to the story. Hell, you could even implement a sort of friendship system. Maybe you pick who you sit next to and that raises Max’s friendship with them. Anything would’ve been better than Max skipping school altogether and just focusing on Chloe. Like we have an entire school, we should not have our focus be on Chloe. There could’ve been ways to work classes into the main story, but no. Blackwell is just background noise and it shows.

But the lack of a full faculty staff or an actual care that anyone actually attends class? What kind of fucking school is this?

[coochiequeens]

Is this kid even able to start transitioning? West Virginia placed restrictions on minors being able to transition.

 By RACHEL BOWMAN FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 21:27 EDT, 21 April 2024 

A West Virginia transgender athlete won her shot put competition in her first sporting event following an appeals court ruling that allowed her to participate - as other contestants refused to play against her.

Becky Pepper-Jackson, 13, competed in the Harris County Middle School Track and Field Championship on Thursday, two days after a court ruled West Virginia’s transgender sports ban violates the teen's right under Title IX.

Pepper-Jackson took home first place in the shot put competition with her 32-foot effort, three feet further than second place, and she placed second in discus.

Despite being legally allowed to compete, some athletes protested Pepper-Jackson's participation by refusing to play against her. 

Five girls from Lincoln Middle School stepped up to the circle for their turn, then refused to throw the ball.

Becky Pepper-Jackson (pictured), 13, won her shot put competition in her first sporting event following an appeals court ruling that allowed her to participate

In addition to taking puberty blockers and estrogen hormone therapy, Pepper-Jackson has legally changed her name and has a birth certificate listing her as female

Offering the teen a 'choice' between not participating in sports and participating only on boys' teams 'is no real choice at all,' Judge Toby Heytens wrote in the ruling.'

The defendants cannot expect that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers, and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches, and even opponents as a boy,' Heytens wrote.

In a statement, ACLU West Virginia attorney Josh Block deemed the ruling a 'tremendous victory.'Following the decision, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey said he was 'deeply disappointed' and vowed to continue fighting to safeguard Title IX.

'The law was passed more than five decades ago and was meant to address sex discrimination in education by ensuring that women had equal opportunities to participate in federally-funded programs.''We must keep working to protect women’s sports so that women’s safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field,' Morrisey said on Tuesday. 'We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.'

In the ruling, the appeals court reaffirmed that government officials had the authority to establish separate sports teams for boys and girls and enforce the line between them.

'We also do not hold that Title IX requires schools to allow every transgender girl to play on girls teams, regardless of whether they have gone through puberty and experienced elevated levels of circulating testosterone,' the court proclaimed.'We hold only that the district court erred in granting these defendants’ motions for summary judgment in this particular case and in failing to grant summary judgment to B.P.J. on her specific Title IX claim.'

In a dissenting opinion, Judge G. Steven Agee wrote the state can separate teams by gender assigned at birth 'without running afoul of either the Equal Protection Clause or Title IX.'

West Virginia is among the 24 states barring transgender women and girls from competing in sports consistent with their gender identity.

Pepper-Jackson told NBC News in October that she would not give up on her fight to compete in girl's sports.

'I want to keep going because this is something I love to do, and I’m not just going to give it up,' she said. 'This is something I truly love, and I’m not going to give up for anything.'

Her mother, Heather Pepper-Jackson, said, 'She likes to do the best in everything, be it algebra or running or shot put or discus.'

'She tries to excel in everything that she does, just like any other kid... if she didn't start the fight, who's going to?'

[storiesfabled]

updated muse list

under the cut you will find the most up-to-date muse list.

911

evan buckley

maddie buckley

charlotte buckley-diaz // rowan blanchard // buck & eddie daughter

eddie diaz

athena grant

may grant

howard han

tommy kinard

bobby nash

harper nash // er registrar // ashley benson // bobby & marcy daughter

jonah nash // firefighter // tyler blackburn // ray & margaret son

raymund nash // principal // d.w. moffett // bobby’s brother

russell nash // lawyer // jack coleman // bobby’s brother

matthew ransone // police officer // casey deidrick // lou’s son

josh russo

ashlynn wilson // college student // victoria justice // henrietta & karen daughter

henrietta wilson

karen wilson

911: lone star

nancy gillian

trevor parks

arianna reyes // maiara walsh // tk & carlos daughter

carlos reyes

gabriel reyes

gabriella ryder // troian bellisario // judd & grace daughter

grace ryder

jackson ryder // football coach & pe teacher // eric stonestreet // judd’s brother

judd ryder

weston ryder // oil tycoon // jeffrey dean morgan // judd’s brother

aubrey strand // madison davenport // owen & npc daughter

owen strand

tk strand

victoria strand // liana liberato // owen & npc daughter

paul strickland

billy tyson

billy tyson jr. // firefighter // steven r. mcqueen // billy & npc son

destinie tyson // nursing student // phoebe tonkin // billy & npc daughter

chicago fire

tricia boden // aisha dee // wallace & donna daughter

wallace boden

sylvie brett

matt casey

gabriella dawson

christopher hermann

stella kidd

patrick mcholland // hunter parrish // mouch & trudy son

rachel mcholland // anna kendrick // mouch & trudy daughter

randall ‘mouch’ mcholland

peter mills

kelly severide

leslie shay

allison shay-severide // zoe levin // kelly & leslie daughter

brian ‘otis’ zvonecek

chicago med

anna charles

daniel charles

will halstead

maggie lockwood

connor rhodes

chicago pd

kevin atwater

antonio dawson

eva dawson

hannah halstead // willa holland // jay & erin daughter

jay halstead

erin lindsay

trudy platt

adam ruzek

savannah ruzek // dianna agron // adam & kim daughter

emmaline voight // shay mitchell // adopted by hank

Hank voight

Madeline voight // police officer // charisma carpenter // hank & trudy daughter

Criminal minds

Penelope garcia

Aaron hotchner

Alexandra hotchner // ssa bau // alona tal // aaron & haley daughter

Jennifer jareau

Emily prentiss

Derek morgan

Brynnlee reid-morgan // aisha dee // derek & spencer daughter

David rossi

Rylee rossi // hayden panettiere // david & erin daughter

dallas

Ann ewing

Bobby ewing

Christopher ewing

John ross ewing

Olivia ewing // britt robertson // bobby & ann daughter

Bryan jones // history professor // colin donnell

fire country

Bode Donovan

Sharon Leone

Vince Leone

Gabriella Perez

Manny Perez

Grey’s anatomy

Teddy altman

Jackson avery

Miranda bailey

Tuck bailey-jones

Stephanie edwards

Lexie grey

Meredith grey

Zola grey-shepherd

Alex karev

Chloe montgomery-shepherd // er nurse // madelaine petsch

Arizona robbins

Mark sloan

Sofia sloan-torres

Callie torres

house

Robert chase

Lisa cuddy

Gregory house

Veronica house // hailee steinfeld // greg & lisa daughter

ncis

Anthony dinozzo jr.

Tobias fornell

Hannah gibbs // haley ramm // jethro & jenny daughter

Leroy jethro gibbs

Timothy mcgee

Jenny shepard

Private practice

Cooper freedman

Addison montgomery

Jasmine montgomery-reilly // dove cameron // addison & jake daughter 

Jake reilly

Station 19

Travis montgomery

Theo ruiz

Ben warren

Zoey warren // college student // amber riley // ben & miranda daughter

supernatural

Annabelle buckley-moore // hunter // josephine langsford // evan buckley & jess daughter

Castiel

Crowley

Bobby singer

Rufus turner

Dean winchester

Johanna winchester // danielle campbell // dean & castiel daughter

John winchester

Sam winchester

[sunshine-zenith]

You like Beedabop ? ;-; I mean I know people like his design but he's really an underrated character in the fandom, I get he is niche and has one map (yet) but he deserves the world fr

(Sorry this took so long to get to)

I adore Beedabop — while the use of live action dancers and footage is what drew me to JD (thank LittleSiha’s documentation of her becoming a coach), maps like Heat Waves and Wasabi instantly stand out and deserve so much recognition for being done with different mediums. Heat Waves in particular is just so much fun to watch, and it really can’t be praised enough how cool it is when JD completely recontextualizes songs

Granted, alas, it doesn’t seem that elegant to actually dance to, which might be why this guy hasn’t caught on. I’m not a dancer, but when I watched a few videos of other people trying this map, I’ve only found one that managed to pull it off without seeming a little awkward (though everyone who does dance to this maps seems to be having fun at least, and when they pull it off, they really pull it off)

I seriously hope the JD team uses Beedabop in a couple more maps, since they gave him such a heart tugging backstory and fun character design (I feel like “Sunshine” from OneRepublic fits his vibe, for a start). If he had been from any other game, I guarantee he’d be a fan favorite. Shoot if Heat Waves was an animation posted independently online (think Vivziepop’s Die Young, or even Rachel Kim’s Diamond Jack), it would easily be one of those much beloved cult classic videos.

Alas, it’s hard to truly stand out in a game of stand outs like Just Dance. Hopefully one day this guy will be allowed to truly shine

[daughter-of-melpomene]

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆… 𝐌𝐘 𝐆𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑, 𝐁𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐀𝐘𝐋𝐎𝐑

❝ To be perfectly clear, Bailey had not wanted to move to Lima. Sure, she’d been thrilled when her dad had gotten his newest promotion - he’d been working really hard for it, and besides, it came with a huge pay raise that would hopefully be able to go towards the car Bailey had been hoping to get for her sixteenth birthday. But she had been significantly less excited to hear that with the promotion came the responsibility of opening and managing a new branch of the company her dad worked for, meaning that the Taylors would have to move from Austin to a tiny nowhere town in Ohio, where the new branch was located.

Still, Bailey could content herself with the fact that their new house in Lima was still a decent size, she wound up getting the car she’d wanted before her birthday as something of a sorry-we-uprooted-your-life gift, and best of all, everyone at McKinley High, her new school, really seemed to like her. Granted, it was probably just because she was a pretty new girl with money, nice clothes, and a “cute” Southern accent, but she was perfectly willing to enjoy the attention of McKinley’s cheerleaders and athletes, all of whom seemed to want to sit with her at lunch and invite her to their parties.

Until she tells off a football player in defense of the cool (and kind of cute) Goth girl from her English class, receiving a slushy to the face and immediately being bumped a long way down McKinley High’s social ladder. Now just as much of an outcast as the girl she stood up for, Bailey decides to follow through on an offer she had been presented - to join the school glee club, the New Directions. After all, in this group she’ll be among her fellow misfits, and she’s always enjoyed singing. Why not hang out after school and do it for fun and a little competition?

But in becoming the club’s newest member, Bailey gets much more than she bargained for. Between constant bickering from the group’s three main divas, attempts at sabotage and verbal abuse from a wacked-out cheerleading coach, and even developing feelings for that Goth girl from English who’d suggested she join New Directions in the first place, Bailey is beginning to think that living in Lima won’t be half as boring as she first thought.

Which might, potentially, be a good thing. If she doesn’t wind up in jail for murdering Sue Sylvester or Rachel Berry first. ❞

General Taglist: @hiddenqveendom, @auxiliarydetective, @foxesandmagic, @artemisocs, @reyofluke-ocs, @endless-oc-creations, @stanshollaand, @ginevrastilinski-ocs, @luucypevensie, @arrthurpendragon, @fakedatings, @impales, @claryxjackson, @dancingsunflowers-ocs, @lucys-chen, @ocappreciationtag. (Also tagging @carmens-garden since it’s a Glee OC.)

[sillyname30]

I just listened to the latest episode of and that's what you really missed on Glee.

Jenna and Kevin said there was a lot happening in this episode. (not enough happening is bad, but a lot happening is bad too. What do they want?)

They weren't allowed to perform a group number, make a change from the original musical book, song or story or changing the diagogue of Westside Story. Glee had done a lot of things that were forbidden. Jenna didn't know if they asked for permission or got a penalty later. (They know the people who could answer that. Why don't they ask?)

Kevin said when it comes to relationship stuff Artie is so bad. It's hard to watch. Kevin was shocked several time by his behavior in this episode. Jenna defended Artie's behaviour towards Beiste, because they were close. (still inappropriate)

It was Artie's first voice-over. Artie had a really long monologue. Kevin wasn't used to it. After he learned his lines they told him they rewrote it and Kevin started to panic. (This might be the reason Artie's storyline wasn't bigger. I don't know if it's true, but Kevin was panicking a lot.)

Artie's storyline (as a director) is very relatable to Kevin in 2023. He still loves performing, but he has realized he loves the behind the scenes stuff too.

About Mike and his father: Jenna said a lot of parents don't want their kids to persue the arts and she's happy that was addressed. (I know Mike's father is the villian in this story, but he has a point. You can be a dancer only for a couple years and then what? Harry lucked out that he turned from dancer to a quite successful actor, but he is the exception.)

Jenna hated herself in the Rachel's emergency meeting with the girls. The camera was to close to her face. (I get it. When you look at yourself you tend to see the flaws. I like the way Jenna looked back there.)

Grant is the sweetest human possible and the most adorable. Kevin loves him and then he plays that. (It's called acting, Kevin. Artie is an asshole a lot of times. I hope Kevin is nicer than that.)

Kevin likes the Blaine/Sebastion back and forth. It's fun. He is like a male Santana.

Jenna said Blaine visiting the Warblers and them doing that number was so random. She was confused by the look of the teacher and the teacher dancing with them felt inappropriate. (Blaine was there to invite the Warblers to opening night. Not random. I always wondered though if a boys school really would have a young hot teacher. The dancing: Did she forget Mr. Shue danced with the New Directions? Toxic felt really inappropriate.)

America took a long time to shoot, but it was fun. It's one of the best memories Jenna has.

Cringe moment: Artie with Rachel and Blaine, Artie with coach Beiste, Brittany's comment

best dance move: America

best song: America

performence mvp: Dot-Marie (Jenna), Naya and the whole ensemble (Kevin)

[hallmark-movie-fanatics]

ISABEL AGREES TO HOST CANYON’S GALA OF THE YEAR, BUT ‘THE MCMURRAY CURSE’ IS THE TALK OF THE TOWN IN ‘RIDE’ PREMIERING APRIL 9, ON HALLMARK CHANNEL

STUDIO CITY, CA – April 6, 2023 – When Isabel (Nancy Travis, “Last Man Standing”) and the McMurrays step in to host Canyon’s gala of the year, tongues are wagging about “The McMurray Curse,” in this week’s episode of “Ride” premiering Sunday, April 9 (9 p.m. ET/PT), on Hallmark Channel. Travis, Tiera Skovbye (“Riverdale”), Beau Mirchoff (“Good Trouble”), Sara Garcia (“The Flash”), Jake Foy (“Designated Survivor”) and Tyler Jacob Moore (“Shameless”) star.

When Canyon, Colorado’s most important annual gala loses its venue the day before the event, Hank (Greg Lawson, “Wynonna Earp”) offers for Isabel and the McMurrays to host at their barn. Unfortunately, the dusty, old barn is nowhere near the standards of the gala chair, Barbara Sutton (Rachel Crawford, “Heartland”) – Isabel’s friendly rival. Not one to give up, Isabel mobilizes everyone at the ranch to help spiff the barn up overnight. With the gala quickly approaching, the venue isn’t the only thing that needs a makeover, as Isabel persuades Cash (Mirchoff) that charming the judges there is as important a step to winning as any of his other training. Thankfully his coach Missy (Skovbye) is just the person to help. For her part, Missy is struggling with her own riding and must figure out why or risk losing her sponsorship deal. Now stepping into her role as co-foreman alongside Tuff (Foy), Valeria (Garcia) is frustrated when the ranch hands are not taking her promotion seriously. Tuff – still reeling from witnessing her mysterious encounter the other night – tries to uncover what Valeria’s really hiding. Despite everyone’s hard work, they realize that won’t stop the town of Canyon from gossiping about the McMurray family curse.

“Ride” is a Blink49 Studios / Seven24 Films Production. Executive producers are Rebecca Boss, Chris Masi, Sherri Cooper, Alexandra Zarowny, Paolo Barzman, Greg Gugliotta, FJ Denny, John Morayniss, Carolyn Newman, Virginia Rankin, Elana Barry, Josh Adler, Jordy Randall and Tom Cox. Alejandro Alcoba is co-executive producer. The series is produced by Brian Dennis. Lesley Grant is supervising producer. Paolo Barzman directed from a script by Rebecca Boss & Chris Masi.

[ulkaralakbarova]

Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim’s team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field–until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim’s still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there’s no telling where he could go. Credits: TheMovieDb. Film Cast: Jimmy Morris: Dennis Quaid Lorri Morris: Rachel Griffiths Joaquin ‘Wack’ Campos: Jay Hernandez Olline: Beth Grant Hunter Morris: Angus T. Jones Jim Morris Sr.: Brian Cox Rudy Bonilla: Rick Gonzalez Joe David West: Chad Lindberg Joel De La Garza: Angelo Spizzirri Henry: Royce D. Applegate Brooks: Russell Richardson Frank: Raynor Scheine Catcher: Chris Sheffield Orlando Manager: Brandon Smith Film Crew: Casting: Ronna Kress Director of Photography: John Schwartzman Music: Carter Burwell Producer: Mark Johnson Executive Producer: Philip Steuer Writer: Mike Rich Production Design: Barry Robison Editor: Eric L. Beason Costume Design: Bruce Finlayson Director: John Lee Hancock Producer: Mark Ciardi Producer: Gordon Gray Music Supervisor: John Bissell Movie Reviews: r96sk: A cracking sports drama about the career of Jim Morris. Absolutely loved this, the 127 minute run time flew by real quick; thoroughly enjoyable. It portrays, with extra drama I’m sure, the events of Morris’ real life baseball career in a fantastic way. There’s great character development right from the get-go, by the conclusion I was utterly invested in Morris. He is played by Dennis Quaid, who is superb in the role. I felt every emotion of his character, best I’ve (currently) seen of Quaid so far. The film does a great job at making you care for not only him, but even his high school team. Speaking of which, they did a terrific job with the casting of those guys – I felt like I was watching a bunch of real teammates; Chad Lindberg, of ‘The Fast and the Furious’, is one of them. Even away from Quaid and Lindberg & Co., you still have Morris’ family to feel for as well. There’s many characters to get attached to, but I was very interested in all of them. Fantastic stuff, I’d highly recommend you watch ‘The Rookie’.

[dan6085]

Top 20 NBA Analyst of 2024:

1. **Greg Anthony** - A former NBA player and current analyst on CBS Sports, known for his in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

2. **Steve Smith** - A former NBA player and current analyst on TNT, known for his humor and insights on various NBA topics.

3. **Chris Webber** - A former NBA player and current analyst on TNT, known for his in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

4. **Reggie Miller** - A former NBA player and current analyst on TNT, known for his humor and insights on various NBA topics.

5. **Tracy McGrady** - A former NBA player and current analyst on ESPN, known for his in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

6. **Grant Hill** - A former NBA player and current analyst on TNT, known for his humor and insights on various NBA topics.

7. **Doris Burke** - A former WNBA player and current analyst on ESPN, known for her in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

8. **JJ Redick** - A former NBA player and current analyst on ESPN, known for his in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

9. **Richard Jefferson** - A former NBA player and current analyst on ESPN, known for his humor and insights on various NBA topics.

10. **Stan Van Gundy** - A former NBA coach and current analyst on ESPN, known for his in-depth analysis and strategic insights.

11. **Shaquille O'Neal** - A dominant center and a charismatic analyst, known for his humor and insights on TNT.

12. **Kenny Smith** - A former NBA player and current analyst on TNT, known for his in-depth analysis and witty comments.

13. **Mark Jackson** - A former NBA player and coach, now an analyst on ESPN, offering strategic insights and player evaluations.

14. **Stephen A. Smith** - A prominent sports personality and analyst on ESPN, known for his strong opinions and debate skills.

15. **Max Kellerman** - A sports personality and analyst on ESPN, known for his in-depth analysis and debate skills.

16. **Jalen Rose** - A former NBA player and current analyst on ESPN, known for his humor and insights on various NBA topics.

17. **Doug Collins** - A former NBA player and coach, now an analyst on NBC Sports, offering strategic insights and player evaluations.

18. **Marcellus Wiley** - A former NFL player and current analyst on ESPN, known for his humor and insights on various sports topics.

19. **Brian Windhorst** - A prominent NBA insider and analyst on ESPN, known for his in-depth analysis and breaking news.

20. **Rachel Nichols** - A sports journalist and analyst on ESPN, known for her in-depth analysis and reporting on various NBA topics.

[fredvanvlecksuperintendent]

Fred Van Vleck Superintendent Michelle Meredith-Sutke Excellence in Teaching

Shared by Fred Van Vleck Superintendent Eureka City Schools Teachers Honored with 2023 HCOE Excellence in Teaching Awards Grant Elementary Teacher, Michelle Merideth-Sutke, Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient  May 11, 2023 – Eureka, CA – Eureka City Schools (ECS) would like to congratulate Michelle Merideth-Sutke, Kindergarten Teacher at Grant Elementary, for her recent Excellence in Teaching Award from the Humboldt County Office of Education. Merideth-Sutke received this prestigious honor with 14 other local teachers, including First Grade Teacher Mary Stone from Washington Elementary.  Merideth-Sutke shares with us how her love for teaching got started, some of her experiences through the years, and where she’s at today. “I grew up in Humboldt County with two long-time ECS teachers. My brother and I spent a lot of time helping to prep activities, hanging bulletin boards and running around both the Alice Birney and Winship campuses while our parents were working in their classrooms. I watched the amazing relationships they built with their students and colleagues and definitely noticed the hard work that they were putting into their job on a daily basis. My parents’ last year of teaching was my first year of teaching with Eureka City Schools.  I have been with the District for most of my 18 years as an educator. During two of those years I worked as an Interpretive Ranger for Redwood National Park at Wolf Creek Outdoor School which was an amazing experience in outdoor education. While in a traditional classroom setting I have taught Kindergarten, First Grade, Fourth Grade, and Reading Intervention (part-time). Along with teaching, as many of my colleagues also do, I have served on a variety of committees which include site ETA representative, teacher representative on PTA, site leadership and PBIS teams, curriculum committee, curriculum selection teams, and have hosted several student teachers. Teaching is a challenging career however I am lucky to have an amazing group of family, friends and colleagues who are constantly willing to support me. I could not do what I do without them.  Outside of school, I have two young daughters (who also attend Grant) who keep me busy with coaching soccer, attending ballet events, playing the piano, theater, bike riding, hiking, swimming and co-leading a Girl Scout troop.” Merideth-Sutke was accompanied at the HCOE Excellence in Teaching awards event at the Sequoia Conference Center on May 3, 2023 by her husband Dwayne, daughters Reece & Norah, parents Ken and Patty Merideth, Grant Principal Rachel Brakeman, and longtime teaching colleagues – Carla Kraus, Harmony Pelern, Maggie Tedder, Mike Larson, Sandra Osuna, Val Heidger, Marilyn Nilsen, and Emily Rico.  Eureka City Schools colleague Mike Larson says, “Michelle has inspired me in her practices, professionalism, and strength through positivity. I have been directly influenced by her creativity and confidence in executing project-based learning opportunities. In the years I have known Michelle, she has continued to leave an indelible mark on the Grant family in the classroom, our school at large, and extending to the entire community.” Thank you for your excellence in teaching Michelle Merideth-Sutke. Keep up the great work! See a video recap of Merideth-Sutke’s award acceptance at the event here:  Grant Elementary Teacher Michelle Merideth-Sutke – 2023 Excellence in Teaching Award Recipient  —– Press Contact: Sierra Speer Dillon Communications and Marketing Coordinator Eureka City Schools Speerdillons@eurekacityschools.org Tel: 707-441-3373 Originally published here: https://askfredvanvleck.com/michelle-meredith-sutke-excellence-in-teaching/

[grantmentis]

IMO my pwhl free agent ranking of who’s still available

Please note I’m only doing players who were under contact last year and not undrafted free agents

Tier One: their phone should be buzzing

Daryl watts, Michela Cava, Hannah Miller, Kateřina Mrázová,

All these players were highly productive on their teams last season and are immediate impact players

Tier two: maybe not the first call, but should be highly sought after

Kaleigh Fratkin, Rebecca Leslie, Lauriane Rougeau, Gabrielle David, Claire Dalton, Abbey Levy, Sandra Abstreiter

These are proven players who had decent years, but may be called after tier one players and some draft picks get settled in to see where they fit in the roster .

Tier 3: building out your roster

Emma woods, Emma Greco, Lexie Adzija, Gigi Marvin, Amanda Pelkey, Sarah Bujold, Liz Schepers, Melissa Channell, Paetyn Levis, Kayla Vespa,

Fits into two groups; those who are Swiss army type middle six / pairing players who can play up and down the lineup. players who will still be third/fourth liners of depth defenders but were extremely effective in that spot, bumping them up a tier.

Tier Four: quality depth players

Madison Packer, Alexandra Labelle, Olivia Knowles, Carly Jackson, Sarah Lefort, Leah Lum, Jillian Dempsey, Madison Bizal, Catherine Dubois, Taylor Wenczkowski, Kelly babstock, Cami Kronish, Claire Butorac, Amanda Leveille, Lauren Bench, Shiann Darkangelo, Rachel McQuigge, Johanna Fällman, Lindsey post

Third/ fourth liners and third pair defender and goalies. Some of these players have a specific niche they fill, a lot are veterans, thus making me think they’ll get some early training camp invites. Unfortunately with a tight cap and limited spaces, it’s possible not all will be signed, but all will be considered

Tier four: reserves

Sam Cogan, Jess jones, Maude Poulin-Labelle, Jessica Kondas, Emma Keenan, Alexa Vasko, Kaitlin Willoughby, Liliane Perreault, Alexandra Poznikoff, Catherine Daoust, Madison Bizal, Brigitte Laganière, Nicole Kosta, Abby Cook, Brooke Bryant, Clair DeGeorge, Dominique Kremer, Nikki Nightengale, Akane Shiga, Rosalie Demers, Sammy Davis, Sam Isbell, Malia Schneider, Emma Buckles, Lauren MacInnis, Carley Olivier, Olivia Zafuto, Alexa Gruschow, Taylor Baker,

A lot of these players here either played little last year or were already reserves, or are playing a position/niche that is overcrowded. Many of these players are talented and could def earn a spot for a team that they gel right with, but likely wouldn’t be until after training camp. This tier is pretty close to tier three and probs a lot of overlap depending on a coaches evaluation of how players fit in their system

Tier ?: the unknown

Sydney Brodt, Mikyla Grant Mentis, Audrey-Anne Veillette, Ann-Sophie Bettez, Caitrin Lonergan, Fanni Garát-Gasparics, Kristin Della Rovere

These players did not play a lot last year due to various circumstances but were pretty impactful / took on high end roles when they did. Because of that, they separate themselves from other players who saw limited minutes and may be ore sought after. The exception is Veillette, who straight up DNP due to injury, but was thought pretty highly of when drafted. Bettez is also a weird one here because though she missed a lot this year, everyone knows what she’s capable of, but I don’t think she’d be willing to leave Montreal

[rachelgrantcoaching]

Don't give up.

[mediocre-writerr]

invisible string [quinn fabray]

quinn fabray x reader

requested by anon: Hey, I love your writing and I loved Quinn Fabray's miniseries. Could you do a sequel to "Betty", maybe Quinn and the reader meeting in episode 100 and giving them a second chance? I would love :)

pt.1  pt.2 pt.3

*not my gif*

There was once a old folklore. It once said that everyone had an invisible string tying one to their soulmate.

A simpler term for it would be fate.

That everyone decision, good or bad, would lead you to that one person.

The invisible gold string would drag you out of the wrong arms, wrapped all of your past mistakes, and chained your demons back. The one single thread would lead them to you, no matter how far you’ve strayed.

Not many people believe in it anymore because of the time. The time that it takes for the invisible string to tie one another together took far too long, maybe that’s why you didn’t believe anymore.

There you were back at McKinley High School. When Mr. Shue told you that the glee club was shutting down and you were having one last hoorah, you did not hesitate to book a first flight home.

Walking down the hallway with your classic olive green cardigan that made you feel like you seventeen again and straight back into the classroom that made you feel like home.

And there she was the beautiful blonde who held your heart and dropped it all at once, “Y/N,” she let out a breath as her eyes caught on yours.

“Hey Quinn,” you told her with a shy smile, “Long time no see,”

“Yeah, how has college at Penn State?” she asked as the two of you made small conversation in the middle of the choir room.

You shrugged, “It’s been nice, I don’t know if it’s everything I’ve dreamed it would be, but it’s good. How’s Yale?”

The two of you didn’t live far, it wasn’t all the way across the country. It was driving across a few state lines, but you never hung out. In fact, you barely talked after the two of you had broken up.

“Good, good. It uh feels like I’m missing something, but I don’t think I would change my decision,” she told you and you nodded.

She was about to say something else when you heard someone scream your name, “Y/N!” Sam yelled as he rushed over towards you.

You broke out into a big smile as he picked you up from off the ground, spinning you around and around. You let out a hearty laugh as he set you down.

“I’ve missed you!” he told you as he let go.

You smiled, “I’ve missed you too, bud. I wish our third musketeer was still here with us,” you said with a sad smile.

He let out a sigh, “I know, me too,” he turned to Quinn who looked hurt and jealous at the same time. Do you know why? No, but she always has been hard to read.

“Hey Quinn,” he said, giving her a tight hug.

She hugged him back with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Hey Sam, I’m gonna go catch up with Mercedes. I’ll catch the two of you later,”

You and Sam looked at each other with furrowed brows before eventually shrugging it off.

You thought that coming back here would bring back loads of bad memories from the cheating to the heartbreak to losing Finn, but it didn’t. As the day went on you remembered why you fell in love with her in the first place.

The way she sang, so full of heart. When she crinkled her nose as she smiled. Or how big her heart is for people she actually lets in.

And at first you weren’t too sure, but when the nostalgia of the club forced you guys to sing your iconic duet, it just hit you harder than before.

“I think we need the iconic rendition of Everything Has Changed from Quinn and Y/N,” Mercedes admitted and your heart immediately stopped.

You looked at Quinn who was already staring at you, like she was seeking approval, “Let’s give the people what they want,”

You grabbed your guitar playing the soft acoustic intro, as she stood on the opposite side of the room, both of you unable to look away from the other.

“All I knew, this morning when I woke is I know something now, know something now, I didn’t before. And all I’ve seen since eighteen hours ago is green eyes and freckles in your smile in the back of my mind, making me feel like,” she began to sing and you forgot how soothing her voice was. Like everything in the world kind of faded away at the sound of her voice.

As the song went on the two of you closed the gap between you until you were face to face. The only thing separating the two of you was the guitar that was wrapped across your body.

“All I know is we said ‘hello’ and your eyes look like coming home. All I know is a simple name and everything has changed. All I know is you held the door, you’ll be mine and I’ll be yours. All I know since yesterday is everything has changed,” the two of you sang.

You couldn’t tear your eyes away from her only doing so when they averted to her lips. Like two puzzle pieces that were supposed to fit together, you were about to connect when the sound of clapping tore you from each other. And with one last lingering look, you broke the gaze as everyone was clapping and smiling like we were all seventeen again.

You didn’t know what to do though. Finn was usually the one to give you advice, but he wasn’t here, so you did the second best thing. The boys locker room was empty as his football jersey hung proudly on the wall. The big number five just staring back at you.

“Hey buddy, I’m in kind of a dilemma right now,” you told him honestly, “And I really wish you were actually here to tell me what to do. You were always good at that,”

He probably would’ve chuckled at what you said, recalling the time where he told you to not eat that funnel cake on senior ditch day before the rollercoaster, but you did anyway and puked all over his shoes.

“I think I’m still in love with Quinn and that absolutely terrifies me. I don’t want to get hurt again,” you whispered, tears staring to sting your eyes when you realize he’s not gonna be there to hug you.

“I’ve been so scared to put myself back out there and when I do it just feels like no one compares to him. And God I wish you could be here right now to tell me what to do because you would know, you always did,”

That’s when you heard someone clear their throat. You looked to find the source of the noise, seeing Coach Beiste standing there next to the office door.

“Hey pumpkin, do you mind if I sit here?” she asked as she pointed to the empty seat on the bleacher.

All you did was nod, before wiping your eyes, “I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to be here,”

“Eh it’s okay. You aren’t the first girl who’s come in here to talk to him,” she told you with a shrug.

“Rachel come in here too?” you asked.

She shook her head, “Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ in the word, “Quinn, turns out she needed advice of her own and she asked him a question,”

“About?” you asked, curiously.

“I can’t tell you that,” she confessed. 

“Hey Finn,” Quinn told him, staring at the jersey that was hanging on the wall, “God I don’t think I ever stopped loving her. Actually I know I never stopped loving her, but I’m so scared Finn. I don’t know if she’ll give me a shot or anything, but I don’t want to hurt her,” she confessed.

There was a moment of silence, before she continued on again. 

“I’m so scared that I’m gonna hurt her again and she doesn’t deserve that. But if I don’t tell her how I feel then she’s gonna be the one who got away,” she contemplated it for herself for a second, “Do I have your blessing to love her again? I know how much she meant to you. If you do give me a sign, anything,” 

She sat there on the bench for a moment before something fell off the shelf. She let our a teary laugh, “Thank you,” 

After a little more time she left the room as Coach Beiste left her office to pick up the towel that she dropped. 

“I know I’m not Finn, but do you mind if I give you some advice?”

“Please, I really need it right now,”

She smiled, rubbing your back, “Go for it. If Finn was here he’d tell you something like ‘don’t give up on something that would be good for you’. And I bet if he could come down here right now and tell you one piece of advice it would be dont take life for granted. Don’t let the love of your life slip away like he did. I think that was his one big regret, not being with Rachel before he passed. I think he wants you to be happy,”

“And my advice the two of you are mature now. All of the negative emotions and feelings are easier to talk out now. So talk and just go for it, life’s too short to waste another second,” she told you and you smiled at her with teary eyed.

“I miss him,” I whispered, staring back at the jersey on the wall. 

“Me too, pumpkin, me too,” 

After a few more minutes, you hopped back onto your feet and went to find Quinn. You searched every hallway and every classroom for Quinn, but came up empty. Until you found her outside by the football field. There was a little tree made out in his honor, she was looking at it, just staring, contemplating everything.

“Quinn!” you shouted and her head shot up to the name of her voice.

You were making a bee-line straight for her, “Y/N are you-” but you cut her off and kissed her. Your hands grasping her cheeks and pulling her towards you. 

The two of you pulled away and looked at each other, “Everyone deserves a second chance,” 

“Are you sure?” she asked you, a small smile on her face.

“Very, very sure,” 

The invisible string tied her to you. 

[dalekofchaos]

I think one of the biggest problems I have with Life Is Strange, is the lack of worldbuilding of Blackwell or actually using Blackwell as a school.

For example. We have two teachers, a principal, a custodian and a head of security. There is Mrs Hoida, but we never see her in LIS or BTS. Mr Keaton exists in BTS, but we never hear about him in LIS. There’s a nurse, but we never see her. Say...if there is a nurse, wouldn’t it have been a good thing to choose to defend Warren against Nathan and take Warren to the nurse before leaving with Chloe? There’s a coach for the Otters and Bigfoots, but neither Max nor Chloe are athletic, so we never see them.  According to Chloe’s report card. There is an Art teacher, Phy Ed teacher, Practical Math and Life Skills Teacher, Social Sciences teacher and Personal Health Teacher. But we never see any of them.

For fuck’s sake, there is only two classrooms in the whole fucking building.

Then there is the fact that Max...BARELY uses the school of her dreams. We get one or two classes at best. Going to Ms Grant’s class does not count cause Max only went there to help Warren. 

Chloe not using Blackwell makes sense. She hates the damn place and would rather learn about Rachel’s anatomy break the rules and chill in the junkyard. 

But with Max, shouldn’t she actually be attending classes? I mean if I were attending a big private school at Blackwell, but didn’t attend classes. I think my ass would’ve been suspended within weeks and my tuition set on fire. 

What kind of school, a HIGH school lets their students freely roam the halls, leave school grounds or chill in the dorms instead of doing class work? 

For that matter. Why the fuck is Blackwell Academy a fucking High School? Why not a college? Art Colleges exists.  I'd rather Blackwell be a college and for everyone to be of age, it'd explain a lot of stuff such as the drugs, parties, guns, and just a lot of stuff. Not to mention going through college you are still figuring out stuff, what you want to do with your life, and still figuring out who you are. Would've imo a lot better and explained why half the shit that was happening was.

I get this is an episodic game and there are more pressing concerns, but honestly Blackwell should’ve been like say Bully. We do the day’s worth of classes and then progress to the story. Hell, you could even implement a sort of friendship system. Maybe you pick who you sit next to and that raises Max’s friendship with them. Anything would’ve been better than Max skipping school altogether and just focusing on Chloe. Like we have an entire school, we should not have our focus be on Chloe. There could’ve been ways to work classes into the main story, but no. Blackwell is just background noise and it shows.

But the lack of a full faculty staff or an actual care that anyone actually attends class? What kind of fucking school is this?

[appleciders]

Rachel + Leah + Water, the Director’s Cut!

Okay, so I made this gifset exploring Rachel and Leah and the ocean, but because there’s a ten gif limit and a major point of gifsets is for them to look nice, I had to sacrifice a lot of the behind the scenes thoughts and initial versions that came along the way. I still wanted to talk about them though, because I found a lot of them really cool, so I figured I’d stick all that in this post. It’s gonna get long, so you can find the rest under the cut!

So first up, we have Leah as we first see her in the water. (I’m using shitty screenshots because tumblr has a 2mb limit for gifs on text posts and I don’t feel like compressing these down lmao.) Here, she’s face-down, unconscious, floating on a fragment of the plane. This is the first time we see any of the girls in the water.

As Leah gives her dramatic speech talks to the detectives, we see flashbacks to the girl’s lives pre-island. There we see that one of them already has a very strong relationship with the water already, in her before-life: Rachel.

Rachel, as we know, is a diver. We see her take a magnificent tumble into the pool, but when she surfaces, her coach is sternly head-shaking. She corrects Rachel’s form, and after she walks away, Rachel echoes the correction, clearly frustrated with herself. 

Back to Leah. We next see Leah waking up on her lil chunk of flotsam. When she realizes what the hell’s going on, she does what we all would do and starts screaming in terror.

Her panic gets interrupted by Jeannette’s classic Raise Your Glass ringtone. (This was my alarm for two years in high school, and when I watched this for the first time I did have an out-of-body experience). She swims her way over to the Hello Kitty suitcase and—irrationally—unzips it, but we’ll cut her some slack because she’s in some serious shock. As she tries to get the phone, it slips through her fingers and starts spiraling down to the bottom of the ocean. She dives after it.

Unfortunately, she quickly runs out of air and has to give up. She then spots Jeannette floating nearby, checks her out, judges her to be “just a little roughed up,” and then sees land and has a big oh-thank-fuck moment. Because we saw Gretchen’s team placing all of the girls, we know that Linh and Leah were the only two that were put out in the open water. The other girls were put in the beach, or, in Martha’s case, near the shore. This was probably done to quell some of Leah’s suspicions about the crash, but it does give me a couple questions about how they got the other girls wet—did they hose them all down? Pour a couple buckets over their heads? Bob each of them up and down a couple times in a big net like fries in a fryer?? 

Anyway, not important. 

Next that we see, Leah has pulled Jeannette/Linh in from the water. (My Australian parents, who can never pass up an opportunity to give ocean safety tips, chimed in at this point in our first watch to say “See how she’s doing it! You always want to hold someone from behind and pull them in that way. Good job, well done.” So there’s some approval for you, Leah.) As Leah nears the shore, Dot and Toni come tearing in and they help pull the two of them out. 

The rest of the episode after that really only concerns fresh water—Toni and Shelby set out in search of it, to no avail, and Nora helpfully plugs Diet Coke reminds us multiple times that sugar’s heavier than water, so “sugar sinks.” We do set up a goal for the next couple episodes, though: Rachel says, “I'm gonna swim out to the plane tomorrow. See if I can find anything,” and Leah volunteers to come with. Rachel gives her a nod of respect.

Moving on to episode two, we have Rachel and Leah’s (iconic) first real conversation. Rachel says she’s still going out to the wreckage. Leah looks out and looks back at her, incredulous, and says, “Rachel, the water’s insane.” Here’s a big recurring association—the water and “insanity.” (I use insanity here because that’s the language they use, along with psycho/crazy. In no way does that reflect my actual beliefs about their behavior nor am I condoning the way they use those words.) Leah points out the rip current (“well done,” said my mum), and explains her very brief stint as a norcal surfer. Rachel still looks set on going, but then Leah says:

Turns out, Leah can be as ripe with foreshadowing as Fatin. This marks the appearance of their second main association with the ocean—death. After she says this, Leah turns Rachel’s attention inland, and the two agree to climb a big hill to scope out their situation.

Episode two is also obviously Rachel’s episode, so we see a lot of her relationship with diving. 

We see her plunge over and over and over again, drilling technique and form, but despite all her hard work, we learn her coach advised her to quit the team. Instead, Rachel throws herself in twice as hard, and ends up with an eating disorder. By the time the nationals come around, she’s too physically weak to dive safely, and she ends up hitting her head as she goes down. She surfaces in the pool with blood flowing around her.

She refuses to see that as the end of her diving career. She says she’s gonna “get back out there” and “be fucking great again” and she tells Nora at the end of the episode that she needs her to let her believe that.

In episode three, we finally see Leah and Rachel’s trip out to the plane! Nora comes along with them, her relationship with Rachel smoothed over after the events of ep two. “Nora’s a good swimmer,” Rachel explains as she invites her, “We were both water babies.” Water’s clearly been central to Nora and Rachel’s identities since they were really young. 

The three of them make their escape from the rest of the girls as the topic of building a shelter comes up. “Not interested in putting down roots!” Rachel calls. In keeping with the elements theme, Rachel isn’t looking to be grounded. She climbs super high into the air and she dives deep into the water, but earth isn’t her thing. (See: the quicksand scene. Whoops.)

Anyway, the three of them paddle out into the water. Rachel dives down, scopes out the plane, tells Nora she doesn’t expect her to “fucking free dive in open water,” and then looks to Leah and asks if she’s ready. Leah reluctantly agrees. 

We get our first shot Rachel swimming down into the ocean and our second shot of Leah (first the phone, second the plane). In the wreckage of the plane, they discover the black box, affixed to the wall. They keep trying to wrench it free, but it’s stuck, and Leah—who’s primary activity is, like, reading—keeps having to surface for air. Rachel gets frustrated and grabs her leg, holding her down. 

Leah screams and fights, but Rachel doesn’t let go. We cut away, and when we see them again, they’ve emerged victorious (Rachel) and drowned as dogs after a bath (Leah and Nora) with the black box in hand. Later, Leah mutters the above line to Fatin, calling Rachel a “psychopath.” For those keeping score at home, here’s where we refer back to the association between water and “insanity.”

In episode four, the ocean benevolently bestows a bag of takis upon Nora, and we have our whole shelter-building shebang. It’s all very land-based until Leah and Fatin go head to head, which ends with Fatin smearing her blood all over Leah’s face. Leah, with her usual flair, strips off her clothes as she walks into the ocean. She stays down there, passively letting the water wash the blood from her face.

This shot parallels a couple things. First, the drifting blood visually parallels Rachel in the pool after her diving injury. Second, we have Rachel staring out at the water where Leah’s disappeared and going, “Man, that is some real Virginia Woolf-type shit.” Dot has no fucking clue what she means, so Fatin interprets: “It means that bitch is crazy. She said you were the psychopath of the group.” Now it’s Leah who’s done something in the water that’s been deemed insane. The water and “insanity;” the water and accusations of insanity within their relationship. 

Those accusations pop up in episode five, but the episode is pretty focused on the inland search for Fatin, and revolves around fresh water, not salt water. (That could be a whole nother post lol.) It’s in episode six where we again see these two return to the ocean. 

Rachel is diving in the ocean! For fun! She’s picking up pretty shells (which granted isn’t the safest thing to do in the pacific, cone snails are not our friends), and she’s grinning, and she’s generally enjoying herself. With the, uh, finale situation, we’re probably not gonna get to see her smile for a bit, which is sad, because she should get to do this more often! This shot visually echoes her diving for the plane and Leah diving for the phone, except she can be in a better mood because there is no end goal. 

So she goes diving, ends up finding a bunch of mussels, gathers ‘em up, and brings ‘em back to camp. They all chow down, but wind up with serious food poisoning. Martha and Toni ring death’s doorbell a couple of times. Rachel blames herself—she’s the one that went swimming out there, she brought the mussels back. Again, we see that connection between the ocean and death.

And that association comes back bright an early in ep seven! The tide surges higher than they’ve ever seen, taking down their shelter and leaving them all scrambling. 

While Leah convinces Fatin that her life is more important than her suitcase, Rachel is left with a decision: help Nora, screaming to her from where she’s clinging to a rock for dear life, or grab the black box. In a move that contrasts Toni’s immediate and unquestioning aid of Martha, Rachel picks the black box. 

After, when they’re debriefing, Nora’s quick to bring it up. She doesn’t hide her hurt. “It happened so fast,” she says, “we all acted irrationally. Like Fatin, who jumped into a rip current to save her toothbrush. Or Rachel, who left me for fucking dead.” I think this counts as a double whammy for the “insanity” and death count—I think “acted irrationally” is as close as Nora gets to calling anyone crazy, and is honestly a better descriptor of all the other instances of “insanity” that we’ve seen, and the ocean was the source of the very real risk to Nora’s life. 

(Honestly, I think Rachel thought she was making a rational choice here—just with some grim fucking calculus. Still, given that nobody’d responded to the black box by then, I think it was a decision fueled by the need to keep hold of hope more than actual rationality.) In a fun contrast to the rest of the episode, it’s Leah that keeps a level head in this situation. 

The rest of the episode is low on water scenes, though Leah’s paranoia about Shelby is fueled by her sneaking off to the water, which could fall under the “insanity” category. It also marks where Nora begins to take an active role in breaking apart Rachel’s fantasy about diving again. 

Ep eight has one of the best montages in a series of great montages, with the playing in the water scene! A plane has seen them, they’re gonna be saved, and they all get to get high and act like kids. 

I have this lingering and probably irrational concern that the entire water play scene is choreographed and that it’s chock-full of foreshadowing. Like I know to some extent they likely were just like “yeah guys go goof off in the water,” but like...the wave pulling Rachel and Nora apart here...I mean.... (Rachel is probably gonna get more blood on Dot in the near future, too. ) That aside, their horseplay gets interrupted when Leah notices some blood on Dot, which Rachel realizes is her own period blood.  

Fatin then chimes in with her ever-gleeful foreshadowing: “Shark week for Rachel.” So while this whole encounter with the water actually seems mostly good for a change, it’s colored by the tie-in to what we know is coming.

In ep nine, reality has set in that rescue isn’t imminent. Everyone’s starving, Leah has started to spiral, and Rachel’s unusually skittish. By the tide’s edge, Nora asks for her help fishing, but Rachel refuses, saying that she’s weak. Nora flicks water at her, and Rachel flinches, clearly scared.

Starvation seems to have triggered Rachel’s trauma around the water leftover from her diving accident. In response, Nora reaches out a hand and says, “Let’s go for a walk.”

Meanwhile, Leah’s spiral has reached critical. She starts ranting about the ocean and the water and pushes past Dot, sprinting into the waves:

And so she’s taken to heart the way they think Jeannette’s body “escaped” the island—the tide—and it’s been spun like cotton candy in her head. She’s right, technically—Jeanette/Linh’s body was moved off the island by boat, and there’s definitely an argument that if they really did all swim out Gretchen’s team would save them, or at least try to. This is also a very real suicide attempt. So it’s kind of a culmination of the threats of death and mental health issues that’ve been wrapped up in the ocean since the start.

On Rachel’s end, Nora has taken her up to a cliff. Rachel calls the whole thing “borderline insane,” walking up when they’re so low on energy, but Nora tells her she needs to make a truce between herself and the water. 

“You’re afraid of it now,” she says, and Rachel replies that, “All it ever did was make me sick.” Nora immediately surges forward to say “That’s not true!” Rachel, incredulous, says, “Isn't this what you want? For me to hang it up? For me to forget the whole fucking diving game?” Nora says, “No. I don't know. I don't want you to forget you.” She then tells Rachel she should dive off the end of the cliff, that she marked it to make sure it’s safe. Rachel says she can’t.

There’s a lot here. First, there’s the first time we’ve seen of Rachel explicitly call herself sick. In episode two, even in a treatment center, she still denies it, says she’s just an athlete who knows what it takes. But now she’s reached a place where she acknowledges her eating disorder—and also probably her recent illness with the mussels—and ties it directly to the water. It’s the reason she’s sick.

Nora’s fear that Rachel will forget herself also just hammers home how central the water has always been to Rachel’s identity. Cutting herself off from the water would be cutting off a core part of herself. (...whoops) And we’ve seen that it does bring her actual joy, when she’s allowed to relax with it, but she’s had such traumatic associations rolled up into it now. Nora doesn’t want Rachel to do diving as a sport anymore, because of how badly it’s hurt her, but she does want Rachel to keep diving and swimming as like, a form of unevaluated personal expression.

At the moment that Rachel’s refusing to jump, she and Nora hear shouts from the mainland. They see Fatin and Dot screaming after Leah. Confused, Nora asks, “Where is she going?” but Rachel understands immediately, with absolute certainty, without needing to be told—“To fucking drown to death.” Seven episodes after Leah called heading into the water a death wish, she’s finally proving it true. Rachel squares her shoulders, takes a few deep breaths, and sprints into a dive. 

Unlike all her other dives high altitude dives we’ve seen her do, this dive isn’t qualified based on aesthetics. This dive matters because of what it will do, not on how it looks. And what it does do is bring her into the ocean, where she needs to be for her friend. So with strong strokes, she swims out towards Leah.

When she reaches her, she takes hold of her, pulls her into her chest from behind. She begins to swim with her back to shore. This rescue directly parallels Leah’s rescue of Linh that we talked about above. It also, as the Out in the Wilds podcast insightfully pointed out, really calls Rachel and Leah’s relationship back to the beginning. Whereas Rachel had initially held Leah down in the water, putting her in danger of drowning, Rachel here pulls her out of the water, saving her from drowning. Together, they make it all the way back to the shore.

Finally (and, like, if you’ve made it all the way down here? bless you. thank you), we have episode ten. The ocean doesn’t really figure into episode ten until the very end. Rachel has had a long episode of healing—she’s happy to be full and she’s in a good place with her sister and things seem to be going pretty okay. She decides to heal her relationship with the water, too. She heads out, telling Nora that she’s “Just gonna float, Nor. Just float.”

Just floating. After all the times we saw her plunging into the water, purposefully, with frustration, with drive, with so much to prove and with so much sacrifice and self-abuse to prove it with, Rachel finally just wants to float. She wants to let herself relax. She wants to let the water carry her.

Of course, that means there has to be, like, a massive marine carnivore waiting to mistake her for a seal.

Visually, this shot really parallels the opening shot of Leah on the fragment of plane. Instead of being face-down, though, she’s face-up, and she’s conscious, just not of the threat from below. 

The shark bites.

In a horrible parallel to Leah’s Virginia Woolf moment and Rachel’s diving accident, we see blood pool in the water. Rachel is pulled under. The girls on the land start screaming and running toward her. We know Rachel doesn’t die, but this is still a near-death experience, one that probably cost her her arm. Leah, covered in dirt and her own blood after crawling out of the pit Nora led her into, can only stand and watch, shocked and horrified.

So that got! Way longer than I meant it to! And honestly most of this was condensed into very concise tags in a post I made a few days ago! But if you made it all the way down here, you’ve now seen everything I wanted to fit into that gifset but couldn’t. Thanks for sticking with me, friend <3