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purplesurveys · 3 years

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1313

survey by -egocentricity-

the last time your mind wandered, where did it wander to? What I plan to wear tomorrow since I’ll have to be out for work again.

what do you think of obama's choices in office so far? I don’t...really know, as a non-American. I’ve read some takes on him that have made me view him in a different light, like bombings and such; but ultimately I’m not very knowledgeable enough to give an informed opinion.

---has he done anything yet to change your opinion on him? ^ Yes. Overall though my sentiment towards him is much more positive compared to like, fucking Donald Trump.

what is one thing that you have taken for granted? I dunno, maybe my time in high school. I passed up on some opportunities because I was too shy or because I knew there were people more capable than I am.

how important are sports to you? which is your favorite? least favorite? Not too important, honestly. I don’t really watch sports – haven’t watched wrestling in years – but if I see a table tennis set literally anywhere I would definitely pick up a paddle and have a few rallies with whomever I happen to be with. Least favorite would be baseball or football.

who or what inspires you? how do they inspire you? Eh, I don’t have any these days. My biggest role model would have had to be CM Punk - his outspokenness was crucial in helping me get out of my shell.

when was the last time you felt like your feelings / opinion didn't matter? It’s been a while. I’m surrounded by good people.

has anyone ever referred to you as nosy? Probably, behind my back. I wouldn’t know for sure.

have you ever been a featured member on any website? if yes, which? No. But one of my viral tweets made it to a local lifestyle publication once without my consent, lmao.

in which do you believe: evolution, or intelligent design? Evolution.

---explain your choice? Well firstly I’ve never heard of the latter; and secondly evolution is the theory that just makes the most sense to me.

---which should be taught in school? or should both be taught? Again, evolution.

could/would you date someone with a different religion? why / why not? I don’t think I could be with anyone religious. Clashes are inevitable and this honestly isn’t the kind of thing I have the patience to deal with.

do you take any prescription drugs? No.

generally, after waking, what is the first thing you do? I check the time to see if I still have extra time to sleep in before I’d have to get up for work. I also go on YouTube and look for a video to have as background noise.

how do you celebrate valentine's day? This year I had merienda by myself at a fancyish place.

have you ever been in a situation where you've had to "choose sides"? I guess, yeah. Back in the beginning of college Athenna was starting to be a pain in the ass and bringing friction to our group, so there was that tangible need to decide if I wanted to stick with her or go with Angela. Naturally, I went with Angela.

---have you ever wanted anyone else to choose between you and someone else? I haven’t felt this actively, no.

what is your favorite color combination? I’m not a super artsy person so to be honest I don’t have the first clue which colors go well together; but idk, pastel combinations in general are quite pleasing to the eye.

did you watch the last superbowl, or were you doing something else? I could not care less for the Super Bowl, unless an artist or group I really like is doing the halftime show lol.

which web browser is your favorite? what makes it better than the rest? Chrome. It’s not that I find it better; it’s just the browser I’ve been using ever since I started going on the internet when I was like 10 haha. I’ve tried tinkering with other browsers like Safari or Mozilla, but I’ve just been too accustomed to Chrome to start a different habit altogether.

what was the last thing you explained to someone else? I was explaining Reena’s Christmas gift surprise for Angela (which nearly failed) to my sister over dinner earlier.

what was your favorite part about yesterday? When my work day finally ended because FUCK was yesterday downright brutal. I received a last-minute notice to completely overhaul a deck in the morning, so I took care of that while simultaneously managing a virtual event; my afternoon started with a draining brainstorming session, then for the rest of the afternoon I had to monitor and manage a whole bunch of virtual media interviews. At the end of the day I had to send out press materials and still had to attend our weekly company townhall. It was draining.

what does it take for someone to be considered your hero? Successfully break out of the mold.

who challenges you most in life? My director, I guess? Not in a bad way at all; she’s just so damn good at her job I want to be everything she is.

a friend is pregnant and considering abortion; how do you react? Advise her to think about it more and to consider the possible health risks it could bring, like never being able to get pregnant again. But if they already seem headstrong about it, I’d be in full support and would remind them that I’m just around if they someone to talk to.

do you live according to the saying "live and let live"? I mean I never refer to this saying, not even internally. But I guess to some extent, yeah.

is there a religion or culture that has fascinated you for a long time? All kinds of culture fascinate me; I can’t say the same for religion as I genuinely don’t care for any form of it.

---what drew you to it initially? As for culture, I’ve always found the different ways people live and see things interesting. When I go to different cities or countries I soak up their culture, everyday life, everyday food, etc as much as possible.

is there a band you listen to that almost no one else knows about? I don’t think so.

---where did you discover them? ––

what is the name of the last website you joined? Idk, some awards show website so I can vote for BTS haha. It was something under MTV I think?? idk.

how did you choose the name of your last e-mail account? My friends and I were figuring out how to stream In the Soop (we bought Season 2 under one account but only one device could watch at a time) so we can all watch it together and someone raised Discord, so I made a Gmail with a completely random email address so that Hybe can’t track us down and blacklist us if ever we got caught streaming lol. I don’t even remember what email address I came up with anymore lol. Something about pizza I think??

ANYWAY in the end it didn’t work because I was too stupid to figure out Discord and we ended up having our In the Soop nights over Google Meet.

what song did you last look up lyrics for? To Be Loved by Adele.

when was the last time you contradicted yourself in some way? When I said I wasn’t gonna get food delivery last week but got sushi anyway.

who in your life is the hardest to get along with? In the grand scheme of things probably my mom, but even she isn’t being so difficult nowadays. Like I said, I’ve been surrounded by good people lately.

have you ever gone back to someone after breaking up? Yep.

what would you change about the way you were brought up, if anything? I’d have loved to be raised in a generally healthier household. Healthy in a way that my parents preferably would’ve been more present, and that I wasn’t regularly smelling gin and cigarettes permeate the house on a daily basis.

have you ever planted a tree? Yeah, in like 2nd grade.

what is the best way for someone to get to know you? Roadtrips, I wanna say? I tend to share a lot and open up during roadtrips; the atmosphere is just more chill and opening that way.

describe the best april fools prank you have played on someone? I don’t pull pranks.

are there any stereotypes you buy into about other countries? No.

do you think that the world's view of america has suffered lately? As an outsider, I can’t really say.

would you rather live with your significant other before marrying them? Yeah, that seems ideal. But I also wouldn’t mind if we didn��t get to.

is there anyone that you wish you could see more often? who / why? Yeahhhh, Reena. We’ve gotten a lot closer in the past few months so I wish it were easier to make plans with her.

what was the last "change" that you experienced? Our new client for one of our accounts fiiiinally got onboarded a week ago. For the last two months our team had been like a group headless chickens while that client was looking for a replacement.

when was the last time that you learned a vital life lesson? That I should always bring cash when traveling to the province lmao. The whole time we were in Zambales, my co-workers shouldered my expenses since I only had my card with me :/ I’ve since paid them back though!!

when are you the most likely to feel confused? When a million discussions are happening at the same time at work.

who was the owner of the last myspace profile you looked at? ––

how often do you look at your own profile, if at all? Eh, not too often. I know what I post anyway; I only really just go back if I wanna revisit a photo or meme I shared or whatever.

is there a letter (or letters ) that is fading away on your keyboard? No, since I have a keyboard cover to protect my actual keyboard.

what is the worst abuse that your cellphone has suffered? Well right now the edges are completely cracked, weird colorful lines show up on my screen, and I also have two big black blobs on the lower left side of my screen. Thankfully we’re getting up to 16th month pay so I’ll most likely be able to save up for a new phone by next year.

have you ever been blackmailed? what happened? Nope.

when was the last time you were proven wrong? Idk, probably recently. Kata usually corrects me on stuff I should’ve been aligned with to begin with, but with 8457387038 things happening at work I tend to miss a detail or two.

when was the last time you said "i told you so"? Last night. My sister and I were discussing the final episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine and I tried to guess the ending of that episode’s plot, which I ended up getting right.

what brings you a sense of satisfaction? Rewarding myself with wants lmao, like food or unboxing new merch.

which do you prefer: steaming-hot showers, or luxurious bubble baths? Bubble baths, since we don’t have a bathtub at home and I don’t get to have bubble baths often.

would you feel comfortable living with someone that owns a gun? NO. Fuck no. Not even if that were my parents who were simply keeping them for self-defense.

when was the last time you were extremely disappointed about something? Oh when that whole Kim Seon Ho thing blew up for sure and when we all thought he was actually an asshole. Such a pity how that turned out.

---how about the last time you were extremely excited? Friday, because I got to wear my new pajamas for the first time HAHA and because it was the weekend.

what do you look forward to in the future? Having more money, getting promoted, traveling overseas again.

who do you think should pay on a date, and why? I really don’t care. As long as someone isn’t extremely inconvenienced, I’m not too fussy when it comes to this.

are you a man-hater / woman-hater? I am definitely wary of most men based from a number of experiences with them, but I don’t hate them as a whole.

---what experiences influenced your opinions of the opposite sex? Being catcalled, having my private space invaded, getting whistled at, getting lunged at, being a victim of homophobia, getting winked at, being stared at from head to toe.

have you ever worn clothing meant for the opposite sex? I don’t think so.

---what was the occasion? ––

---do you think that it is wrong to do so? why / why not? No. It’s literally just clothes.

how do you, personally, console a heartbroken friend? Depends on what they need at the time.

if you've had an imaginary friend, what kind of things did you tell them? I don’t even remember anymore. but I imagine talking about my day and inviting them to play and such.

#survey #surveys

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achaoticeternal · 4 years

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BACK TO YOU

PETER PARKER X POC!READER masterlist // taglist

Request: anon - “76 and 80 with Peter Parker and T’challa Sister Reader”

Summary: When you look back on it, life before the Snap was simpler and nearly perfect. You had family, purpose, and a sense of home. Now you have to search for that purpose and home again. Word Count: 1.8k A/N: This is my first work where the reader is explicitly intended to be POC/ BIPOC. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this and I hope that I did the reader proper justice. I researched to make sure I avoided anything sensitive or touchy. If I have missed something or need to further look into something, please correct me and let me know. Warnings: Angst, Death, Loss

You remember life before the Snap all too well. The prosperity of Wakanda, exploring the outside world, meeting people from all walks of life - it was simply astonishing.

You remembered sitting with the tribal council to talk about starting the Outreach Program. Wakanda would continue to disguise itself as a third-world country that refused aid from the Western cultures, while also reaching out to the nations in need throughout Africa. The hopes of welcoming in the rest of the world sat not only of your shoulders but T’Challa’s and Shuri’s as well. That hope had existed in your father too, until the bombing of the UN Meeting.

You remember traveling with your siblings to America to visit the Avenger’s Compound. While Shuri was excited to see what science America and Tony Stark offered, you were just excited to meet people from all walks of life. You had read and watched so much from your research about the States, but now you could finally experience it.

As a guest of Tony Stark, your stay was just as lavish as your life at home. You didn’t know where to start with your exploration and studies that you needed to gather in order to consult with the Council upon your return to Wakanda. Yet, that’s when you met him. Peter Parker - a regular boy from New York City who also happened to be an Avenger. He was your sister’s age and just as creative and inventive as Shuri. The pair of them became friends easily. But Peter was also a kind soul, who wanted to make sure that everyone felt welcomed when they were around him.

It was easy to befriend Peter. He was goofy, always lightened the mood, and constantly put others before himself. You remember the first night that the pair of you accidentally stayed up all night while asking each other questions about all matters of life. As time went on; Peter, Shuri, and yourself became a trio that caused quite a ruckus in the compound.

But you’d never forget one night when you were chatting about the differences between adolecense in America versus Wakanda. Peter told you about high school, Prom, American football, and the awkwardness of the talking phase.

“Are you in the friendzone with somebody?” You asked, wondering if he;d be honest.

“I definitely have been. This one girl, she was super cool, but her dad literally tried to kill me. And now he’s in jail, and she’s across the country... so I guess I’m technically in the friendzone anymore,” He laughed awkwardly.

“Sorry... that sounds weird.”

“It was, but that doesn’t happen like... with everyone. Just superheros, I guess,” the two of you laughed together.

“Even though Wakanda is an advanced nation, we still treasure some of our traditions and custom. Not dowries and arranged marriages, but the idea of courting is widely popular.”

“Well, is someone courting you?”

“Me?” You laughed, not at him, but just the thought, “No, I don’t have anyone that is trying to, nor am I looking for someone right now. It’s not the priority for the women in my country. We always serve Wakanda before any man. Okoye serves to protect and lead the warriors of Wakanda, Nakia serves our country by helping others, Shuri serves by offering new science and knowledge”

“And you?”

“I serve my country by seeking allies outside of borders, by offering harmony, and by seeking no only what Wakanda can offer the world- but what the world can offer Wakanda. Even though I want to open our nation to the world, I will not let those in who seek to exploit it.”

“Wow, I- that’s just amazing. It puts my life into perspective. Your life constantly seems to have a purpose and a reason”

“Yeah,” you smiled, “well, we also make sure to keep life fun, and simple”

“Can I just say something? Even if I sound dumb and goofy...”

“Of course, Peter. I would consider us friends so go ahead,” You responded, shifting yourself around in order to pull your legs up onto the couch.

“Well, you’re just so interesting and fascinating. You’re so knowledgeable about the world around you and also extremely sincere about everything you say or do,” his cheeks tinted a light pink as he spoke.

His words came as a pleasant surprise and a fuzzy warmth settled in your heart, “I- Peter?”

“Yes?”

“There’s one thing I’m not very familiar with, but I’m hoping you can teach me,” you said while leaning towards him.

Instinctively, Peter also leaned into you, “What can I teach you?”

“Will you teach me how to kiss?”

It’s been five years and four months since that night. You hadn’t seen Peter in five years and two months. Because that’s when he arrived and took everything away.

When Steve Rogers and the Black Widow had contacted Wakanda in an emergency, you knew something was wrong. T’Challa and you had seen the spacecraft that had landed in New York along with various pictures from news outlets and social media that showed Iron Man, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man all protecting the city. Yet, apparently they ended up in the ship on it’s way out of orbit.

You hoped it wasn’t true. So you called Peter. If he picked up, you knew he wasn’t lost in space. You dialed his number and let if ring. There was no answer. Maybe he was changing back into civilian clothing. You dialed again - voicemail. Again - voicemail. Again - voicemail. You dialed and listened to his voicemail continually.

“Hi! This is Peter Parker and I’m super sorry I missed your call. Leave me a voicemail and try again later!”

You kept trying to call him, tears streaming down your face. You called, listened to the ringing followed by his voicemail until your phone died. Peter was gone, lost in the void of space, and for the first time in a long time, you were scared.

But then Thanos’ army arrived in Wakanda. Shuri was working to get the Infinity Stone out of Vision’s head while T’Challa helped Captain Rogers lead what was left of the Avengers and Wakanda’s armies. You assisted by offering air support from the lab Shuri was in - simultaneously protecting the skies and your sister.

When Thor arrived, hope filled your heart. Until an alien attacked the lab, your sister, and Vision. You tried to fight it off and keep it out of the lab, but it hit you upside the head with it’s staff. You only woke up when Shuri grabbed your shoulders and shook you into consciousness.

“Sister, sister - the borders have fallen and now Thanos has arrived. Okoye and T’Challa are fighting in the forested areas. The armies remain battalking on the plains, but all the support we can offer is gone. Vision is gone. I’m afraid, we have lost.”

The pair of you scrambled onto your feet and ran towards the window when the sky and land seemed to flash white. Out on the fields, ash appeared to be rising into the air. But it wasn’t thick and smokey like ash from a fire. You didn’t realize what the ash was until it was drifting in the air above your face.

“Sister,” you turned towards Shuri as her right arm slowly became transparent. But she seemed to be fixating on your arms. Then your eyes met as you realized what was happening.

You stumbled into each other’s arms, tears escaping your eyes, “Shuri?”

“Yes, my sister,” you could feel her hold on you fading.

“I’m scared”

For five long years, you were trapped in the soul stone. Alone, surrounded by a white void. Time didn’t seem to exist. Nothing seemed to exist. You sat there. You could never tell if you were asleep, dreaming, or wide awake. Honestly, you didn’t want to know.

It stayed like this until one day, a visitor appeared. The small blazing orange circle presented itself to you first, but then grew to reveal a hand. Then a body and then a face. The face of Doctor Strange, and their behind him - T’Challa and Shuri.

The Doctor stepped aside and allowed your siblings to step forward. T’Challa’s hand extended out to you, “Come, little sister. It’s time to return home to Earth.”

When you left the soul stone and returned back to the Earth, a war presented itself. The final battle of the Avengers against Thanos’ army. The battle for the universe to return to it’s former self.

When Thanos fell, you also felt the sadness the spread across the battlefield. But you also heard Peter. So you ran to him, as fast as your legs would let your grieving body. You were a few steps away when you realized the scene taking place in front of you.

Tony Stark, the only human to wield the power of all six Infinity Stones, was dying. Rhodey, Pepper, and Peter were all gathered around him. You ran up next to Peter, taking his hand into your own to show him you were there while the grief began to hit him.

“Mr. Stark - hey. Mr. Stark, it’s Peter,” Peter stumbled over to his mentor, his only father-figure left. You squatted slightly behind him as he said his goodbye, “hey, we won, Mr. Stark. We won, you did it, sir, you did it.”

Tony’s eyes flashed over to you and you nodded to show your appreciation and gratitude towards the man. In his eyes, you could tell he was trying to tell you something. ‘Take care of Peter.’

His eyes turned back to Peter as Rhodey approached you both from behind, “I’m sorry, Tony.”

You helped Peter stand and Pepper took her place with her husband, saying goodbye to the man she had loved for so long.

In the end, the Avengers were able to defeat Thanos and his army. But not without a great price to pay. Not only were the original Avengers no longer together, but Iron Man and Black Widow had died in order to save the Earth and the surrounding Universe.

Peter and you mourned the death of Tony with the others at Tony’s funeral. You hadn’t left his side since the battle and you would remain by him not only to offer him unconditional support and love, but to fulfill your promise to Tony. You watched the video Tony left to his close family with Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Steve, Happy, and Peter.

Before the processional began, the pair of you stepped into another room so that Peter could dry his tears, “(Y/N)...”

“Yes, Peter. Even though, I thought I had died in space, lost you to Thanos, and now- Tony being gone,” he took in a shaky breath, and you squeezed both his hands tightly, “I am happy about one thing.”

“And what is that, Peter?”

“We found each other. That’s all that matters.”

SPIDER-MAN TAGLIST: @underratedmisfit @inactivewhore

ALL MARVEL TAGLIST:

@underratedmisfit

In order to join a taglist, click the link at the top of this post.

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frasier-crane-style · 4 years

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Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

You ever watch a movie just because it’s fun to see a few million dollars go to recreating Greek myths and because Alexandra Daddario is a cutie? Meh.

- I guess they can’t call it Percy Jackson And The Sea of Monsters because this is cooler and more American than Harry Potter. It has a colon, like a Marvel movie!

-It’s probably a good sign when a movie starts with a bunch of characters running away from a threat and they’re a little ways away from safety, so one of them goes “I’ll hold them off!” or “I’ll lead them away!” And then they all stop to have a debate about it. Like, if you just kept going, then you all could get away. I mean, I’m not the son of even one of the crappy gods from the later God of War games, and I could figure that out.

-We go from the prologue to a war game between the various demigods, which Percy is about to win when he sees a classmate is trouble, so he just has to give up the W to help him out. Only the classmate didn’t seem to be in any real danger, he was just inconvenienced by hanging upside down for a while in a game that was about to end anyway, so Percy looks like a real dumbass for pulling a Harry Potter there.

-The fact that he only technically lost does not keep him from having a crisis of confidence and the rest of the camp from treating him like shit. Even though it’s pointed out that he saved the world in the last movie--who cares about that, he lost at flag football! I guess all that Greek god inbreeding catches up to you after a while.

-These things can only have one hypercompetent female sidekick per ensemble, so Annabeth gets demoted to being a chick (signature fighting move: getting shoved to the ground) and someone who looks a lot like Mackenzie Davis, but isn’t, gets the job, getting me all excited to make a crack about Terminator: Dark Fate but then preventing me from doing so. Thanks a lot, Leven Rambin! Enjoy your Star Wars name.

Notkenzie Davis is basically playing a female Draco Malfoy, and I’m sorry, but there’s only room for one of those in my heart.

-Now, conventional wisdom is that if one of your main characters is a cyclops, you should probably have enough of a budget to make them a cyclops all the time, but this jigga Tyson spends half the movie either with sunglasses on or with a magic spell that makes him look like he has two eyes.

-What’s also weird is that everyone seems cool with satyrs and centaurs, but they’re racist against cyclops, particularly Annabeth--that’s her whole character arc here. On the one hand, prejudice is bad, but on the other, Alexandra Daddario is super cute and has big mommy milkers, so fuck those cyclopses. Go back to your own country!

-Anyway, they play it like Tyson’s whole thing is people being prejudiced against him, but he also seems mildly... well, there’s a word for it, but let’s put it this way... he seems less than untarded. This conveniently ambiguous disorder varies dramatically from scene to scene--at one point, he mistakes the Capitol Building for Olympus, but at another, he has encyclopedic knowledge of Greek mythology. In the end, it comes off a bit like he’s just stoned throughout the whole movie. Which probably makes him the smartest guy in the room.

-The Graeae show up to give Percy a somewhat meaningless plot coupon (I know he’s the Son of Poseidon, but he can see map coordinates? Like, literally latitude and longitude? And has there even been a character given a seemingly random string of numbers who doesn’t later figure out that they’re coordinates?). They also make an “oh no you dinnit” joke and I think it should count as a hate crime to force Yvette Nicole Brown to be in the presence of dialogue that unfunny.

-This is probably a problem with the source material, but why conflate the Golden Fleece quest with the Odyssey? They’re going after the Fleece, but they run into Charybdis, the Cyclops, Circe is name-dropped. No harpies, no skeleton armies, no Talos, no hydra. That’s just going to bug people who get anal retentive about this stuff and who else is Greek mythology for????

-You know, these things never have Greek accents, but I think I should make bingo cards of all the non-Greek accents they do have. I mean, British is a gimme, that would have to be the center spot, but in Wrath of the Titans, they have Edgar Ramirez as a Spanish-accented Ares (!) and here, Shohreh Aghdashloo voices an Oracle with an Indian accent. Man, talk about rubbing it in. (Some Southern accents also show up courtesy of some Confederate zombies, so expect riots if Disney doesn’t edit them out.)

-Said zombies also come with an ironclad/submarine, which I know was a thing, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t have recoilless rifles installed on them.

-Nathan Fillion shows up, once again typecast as the One Good Thing In This Mess. And man, if you thought Kylo Ren was a whiner for complaining about having Han Solo for a dad, the villain here is bitching about Mal Reynolds being his pop.

-In case poor Alexandra Daddario and her milkers haven’t suffered enough from being portrayed as a candyass and a racist, she gets a Disney death in the climax. The narrative has already had one with Tyson and they have a magical blanket that can heal all injuries right there, but the movie still has the audacity to milk this for a tearjerker. Like, maybe if the movie were aimed at small children, but they aged everyone up to sexy teenagers, so who’s going to fall for this? Shut up.

#percy jackson

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oh-obrien · 4 years

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Inscrutable {1}

Inscrutable: Impossible to Understand or Interpret

Relationships: Stiles Stilinski x Original Female Character

Word Count: 5,611 6,683

Warnings: None

Author’s Note: My first Stiles fic!! I’m super excited to share this series with y’all, especially being new to the Dylan O’Brien / Teen Wolf Fandom. Send me an ask or message me if you want to be tagged!

THIS PART OF INSCRUTABLE HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH MORE CONTENT AND HAS ALSO BEEN EDITED MORE THROUGHLY!

Finley Mannulv carefully scooped a second heaping spoon full of protein powder into her shaker bottle, hoping that the drink would give her a well-earned boost of energy for her first class of the semester. Knocking the scooper on the side of the bottle, she watched as some of the white powder stuck to the sides of the clear-blue plastic of the bottle, the rest forming a thick layer on top of the water. Finley dropped the plastic scooper back into the container and a small cloud of powder puffed out of the top, accumulating on the black fabric of her t-shirt. She hugged the protein powder container to her chest and closed it tightly before she tucked it back into her locker, wiping off what had gotten on her shirt afterwards.

Moving her bottle off of the bench in front of her locker, Finley kneeled on the wooden bench and let out a deep sigh looking into her messy locker. “Dad would have a hemorrhage,” she mumbled to herself before pulling out her dirty clothes from conditioning that morning. She made sure her number, eleven, had been printed on each piece of clothing before she clipped them on to her laundry clip and dumped them into the bin that their coach had brought in earlier. She made sure her clothes for practice later that night, along with her pinnies, were in her locker before deciding it looked clean enough for the time being.

She had never been the neatest, a controlled chaos being the easiest for her to navigate more often than not. The same philosophy also held true for any living space or locker she had prior to starting college. As soon as she made a space spotless, she suddenly couldn’t find anything she needed, and it just fell back into some sort of disarray a couple of days later anyway. A little bit of mess made her spaces feel more comfortable, more lived in.

Finley pulled one of her many school provided hoodies off of a hook inside her locker and slipped the white fabric over her head. She looked down at the American University logo that had settled in the middle of her torso, the reality still not fully sinking in that she’d be spending the next four years of her life at the university. Her junior year of high school Finley had verbally committed to the University, contingent on the fact that she produced favorable grades through her senior year and also kept up her performance on the lacrosse field. Now, nearly two years later, she had just finished her first pre-class conditioning session and was in the process of getting ready to attend her first class of her college experience.

Finley just shook her head, not needing to be reminded about how quickly her life seemed to be blowing by, and tucked some of the extra fabric of her hoodie up under itself so she could prove she did, in fact, have on shorts. Her hair, which had mostly dried during team breakfast, got pulled out of the back of her hoodie and settled in messy, half damp auburn strands on her back.

“What do you have going on this morning?” Finley asked Cameron, one of the other freshmen on the team, who had been filling up her own shaker bottle at the water station when Finley approached.

Cameron screwed the top of her bottle on tight and looked down at the unmixed powder that had been pushed down when she had poured the water in. “Caramel,” Cameron replied as she started shaking the container, “it’s good. My go to in high school.” Finley nodded and started filling up her own bottle, the fresh water pushing the powder down into the small amount of water that Finley already had in the bottle.

Finley made note of the flavor as she watched the bottle’s water level rise. “I need to order a few more, vanilla and cookies and cream get old after a couple weeks, but they’re all I brought with me.” She flipped the switch on the water fountain, turning the water flow off. “My brother stole a few containers for himself before he left for school so I’m low on my stock.”

Cameron took a long sip of her drink before tilting the bottle towards Finley in some sort of ‘cheers’ motion, “I’ll drink to that one. See you tonight.” Finley offered a smile in acknowledgement as she screwed the top to her own bottle back on tightly.

She held the top tight with her index and middle fingers and shook the bottle vigorously, watching the spring ball bounce around inside as the drink mixed. After she made sure her drink had been properly mixed, she took a long sip, swiping her tongue over her teeth to remove the film that stuck to them from the protein powder. “I’ll see you tonight!” She waved to Savanna, her locker-room neighbor, and adjusted the straps of her designated ‘class’ backpack on her shoulders.

When she had helped to move her brother into college a few weeks prior, she had made fun of him for taking his ‘Notre Dame Football’ backpack with him everywhere. But, to his defense, he had been gifted quite a lot of gear by the university prior to even getting to college and he had also used a similar backpack throughout his senior year of high school. Now though, Finley looked at herself in one of the mirrors and snorted, realizing she was now in the same position. Team sneakers were on her feet, team shorts her choice attire of pants and an ‘AU Lacrosse’ hoodie topped off her outfit with the matching t-shirt underneath.

“Good luck with your first day of classes!” Savanna offered Finley an excited smile. Finley nodded in thanks while she picked up her lacrosse bag with her free hand, she needed to bring it back to her dorm to tighten the pocket of her stick, and bringing the bag to class with her was a better option than having to travel back to the locker room after her class just to pick it up.

“This entire year will go a lot faster than you think it will now, the countdown to graduation in four years really starts now.” Jayden, a junior, added. Finley nodded as she grabbed her lacrosse stick and gripped it in the same hand as her bag, off to officially start her first day of college.

She received the opportunity to move on to the American University campus two weeks early, along with the other athletes who attended the school. The two-week period seemed to allow her, and the other freshmen athletes, a cushion to comfortably adjust to college life and the campus itself. It felt like it gave her a leg up on the other freshmen, she already looked, and felt, comfortable on campus that was a huge part of adjusting to college life and she already had it in the bag.

In her two weeks already on campus, Finley had been able to find where all of her classes would be, as well as settle into a routine. Six o’clock morning workouts, seven fifteen shower, seven-thirty team breakfast. After breakfast she knew her classes started at eight-forty-five or eight-fifteen depending on the day.

Taking all early classes would allow her plenty of time to nap in the afternoon if she felt like she needed to before attending evening practices. On the days when she didn’t feel like sleeping a little extra, it would allow extra time for homework and studying. Her brother had settled into a similar routine at Notre Dame, although a little busier because football was in season at the university, but it was comforting to know her twin was in a similar mindset.

At eight-thirty Finley stepped out of the William I Jacobs Recreational Complex, the sun had finally risen within the timeframe she had been inside the facility. The early mornings would begin to get old near mid-terms, but for now the early start felt somewhat refreshing, she was already awake and nearly three hours into her day while most of the other students had probably just woken up.

Despite her classes being in the first time block of the day, Finley noticed that campus had already started to bustle with activity. Students who were excited, nervous, and overwhelmed for their first day of classes were all on the way to the multiple academic buildings. Some were chatting in small groups, others walked alone with headphones in, and she even noticed a few couples holding hands. Must be nice.

The late-August morning air had a slight chill to it and Finley felt the hair on her legs stand up when a breeze passed. The morning air seemed easier to breathe than the stuffy August afternoon air she had been practicing in for the past two weeks during two-a-days. Her first class for the day was Introduction to Law, a class she didn’t feel all that excited for.

Finley liked to think she had a solid knowledge of the basis of the legal system. Thanks to her parents, of course. Her father’s current job title read ‘Director of the Central Intelligence Agency’ on various news channels when he would give interviews, and her mom had once worked for the Department of Homeland Security, she felt well versed in the basics of the law. However, Finley had also accepted that fact that she couldn’t use her father’s government position and the stories he had told her to get out of introduction level classes for her major.

However, Finley had been able to use many of the dual enrollment and advanced placement classes to get out of many of her core curriculum classes. She only had two freshman level classes to take this semester and would then be fully immersed into the classes for both of her majors, and with her starting out on campus as a sophomore, she would be able to register for what she needed next semester rather than getting stuck with the leftover dregs for classes.

Carefully reaching back to put her protein shake in her left backpack pocket, Finley pulled her phone out of the waistband of her Nike shorts and saw a text from her twin brother. Cian was a freshman quarterback at Notre Dame and hoped to start a couple games in the upcoming season and be named the permeant starter his sophomore year.

“You cheating on the field yet?” Finley snorted reading the text message over to herself a couple more times before trying to think of a witty response, she felt too tired to think of one, her brain not being awake enough to muster a proper insult.

“It’s not cheating when it’s my natural athletic ability. Same goes to you man.” She responded before tucking her phone back into her waistband before scaling the steps to the academic building her first class took place in.

Entering the old building Finley inhaled the stuffy air before trying to remember which way she went to find her classroom last week. The strong smell of mold and sheetrock made her sneeze and she realized that she would need to take one of her ‘allergy pills’ every morning to be sure none of the buildings would bother her going forward. After deciding to take the hallway to her left she quickly found the room she had located once before and pushed the door open with her elbow. She stepped into the lecture style room and saw a few students already inside the tiered room, scrolling through their phones or laptops.

Surveying the room, she noticed plenty of prime seat options and opted to climb the stairs and slide into the first seat closest to the middle aisle in the third row. She grabbed her protein shake out of its pocket and settled it on the table in front of her along with her water bottle. Finley set her lacrosse bag on the floor, tucking it up against the end of the table that spanned her whole half of the row, making sure nobody would be able to trip over it. She stood her stick up next to her bag before sitting down and pulling one of her headphones out.

Scrolling through her team’s group chat she followed along with dinner plans and made a mental note to remember to go after practice later that night, their coach stressed team bonding, and team meals fell under that umbrella. Finley would look up every time the door opened, and her classmates started to trickle in. So far only one other girl had settled into Finley’s row, on the complete opposite end from her.

At eight-forty a middle-aged man entered the room and started logging into the computer, no materials with him other than his reusable water bottle and cell phone. Finley assumed he had to be the professor and nodded before looking back down at her phone. Something about him just felt off, but she couldn’t pinpoint what the ‘offness’ he gave off was.

A couple minutes later she heard someone move past the girl at the end of the row, mumbling a ‘sorry’ as they slipped behind her chair. The footsteps indicated they were most likely a male, and as they got closer Finley got a whiff of their body scent. It could only be described as ‘boy’. The cologne and deodorant he had on clashed and the smell of the two mixing with his normal scent made Finley sneeze. Fantastic.

She heard the stranger get closer and closer until his erratic heartbeat settled right next to her, he also smelled like some type of medication, something with amphetamine in it. “Hey,” his voice distracted her while she was in the middle of typing out a message to her brother, trying to concentrate on the message she had been through the fog that was this boy’s natural scent. She hoped he would leave after she didn’t acknowledge him, but after he didn’t leave after a few seconds Finley caved.

She looked up and noticed the boy had dark hair and soft brown eyes, his facial expression definitely gave away his anxiety about his first day. His thumbs were hooked into the straps on his backpack while he rocked on the balls of his feet. “This seat free?” He asked while pointing at the chair next to where Finley sat. She gave him a quick once over and noted how he nervously chewed on his bottom lip, his cheeks getting a little bit red as his heartbeat quickened, his nerves only growing.

He was nervous, and kind of cute, he could stay. Finley nodded and pulled her other headphone out, “yeah.” She didn’t understand why he had to sit right next to her when there were plenty of other seats free that weren’t near anyone. There were also a few seats two away from her but decided not to point it out.

He wore a loose red and black open flannel shirt that contrasted the fitted white tee he had on underneath; his spindly muscles visible through the material. His legs sported a pair of dark jeans and he had a black leather belt tight around his waist. To anyone else he would smell like old spice deodorant and fabric softener if they were sitting this close to him. However, Finley smelled the anxiety that seeped out of his pores.

“Some boy just sat next to me,” Finley sent her brother.

“He reeks of anxiety,” she added, wrinkling her nose and trying not to sneeze again after she had sent it. She went to slip her right headphone back in but instead felt the boy next to her stealing a nervous glance at her. Finley knew he considered saying something to her and instead opted to unplug her headphones and slip them into her school bag in a messy tangle of wires.

“I’m Stiles! I’m from California!” He offered Finley a nervous smile after his more than awkward introduction, his heart beating ever faster than after he sat down. Did he know introductions didn’t have to be so formal and forced?

Before Finley mustered a response to Stiles’ introduction, she watched his eyes trail to her lacrosse stick that peeked over the top of the table. “Oh woah! You play lacrosse here?” She looked down at her hoodie which had ‘American University Lacrosse’ printed on it, to make sure she pulled on the hoodie she thought she did before leaving the locker room. Maybe he thought it could be her boyfriend’s? But American didn’t have an NCAA men’s lacrosse team, they only had a club men’s lacrosse team.

Holy shit, Finley thought to herself, he also had too much energy. “I’m Finley. I’m from the D.C. area,” she replied slowly. “And yes, I do play lacrosse here,” she could have ended her introduction there, but her dad telling her to be ‘diplomatic’ with her classmates the night before flashed across her mind. “You’re familiar?” She added after the fact.

He nodded enthusiastically, “I played in high school! I’m also playing on the club team here, since we don’t have a varsity men’s team and all. I also probably wouldn’t have been asked to play on a varsity team if there was one.” He reached back to scratch the back of his neck nervously. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, just nervous about being across the country. Or maybe he had ADHD, just like one of her and Cian’s younger cousins.

With a nod at his response Finley turned back to her phone and saw another text from her brother. “The downfalls of being supernatural. Suck it up Fins.” She rolled her eyes at his response and tried to think of something to snap back at him when Stiles’ voice caught her attention again

“So, are you a Justice and Law major also?” Finley could feel his eyes on the side of her face. “Wait no!” He cut her answer off before she could even begin. “This class is for my Legal Studies Major!” He had decided to double major, that had to mean he was pretty smart, right?

Taking another sip of her protein shake to prevent herself from sighing, Finley turned her chair so she faced him this time. “Accounting and Legal Studies.” She saw Stiles ready to ask another question and felt thankful when she instead heard the professor’s voice carry a full ‘good morning’ through the room.

Her eyes turned to the man at the front of the room as she pulled her legs up on to the chair she sat in, with her legs ‘criss-cross-applesauce’ on the plush material. She felt herself start to swivel back and forth as the professor started his introduction but avoided the urge. “I’m Robert,” their professor seemed to run a very informal classroom. He wore dark jeans and a polo shirt, an unzipped American University hoodie over it.

All of high school Finley’s teachers had spent time telling their classes, ‘this will never fly in college!’ However, that statement quickly had seemed to becoming false as one of the classes for the next day had already been cancelled and the Professor had sent them an email that just stated, ‘read the syllabus, ask any questions in out class on Thursday.’ Mix that message with this professor’s relaxed attitude, casual dress and lack of materials and Finley really believed that her high school teachers had just been trying to scare the students into listening.

“If you’re not here for Introduction to Law, you’re in the wrong place,” he leaned against the table at the front of the room. Finley watched as a few students stood and left the room, they all had their eyes on pieces of paper which most liked contained their schedules. “Anyone else?” Robert gave others the ability to leave if they needed. After he received no response to his question, he pushed himself off the table and clapped his hands together. “Fantastic!”

“Seems nice so far,” Stiles mumbled from his place next to Finley who tried not to show her annoyance with him. She just simply nodded in response and continued watching their professor, still slowly turning back and forth in her chair.

Robert picked up a piece of blue chalk and started writing on the chalkboard. “Since we’re in a freshman class I’ll do the whole introduction thing!” He scraped a few more words on to the board. “So, give us your name, where you’re from, you major, and I guess a fun fact about you or some shit like that.”

Oh, so it would be this kind of class. He pointed at the student who occupied the very first seat in the front row and prompted them to introduce themselves. Finley listened as others introduced themselves mentally taking note of who seemed to give off anxiety and those who were confident going into the first day. Most of the room stank of anxiety, but Finley tried to ignore the smell. She took frequent, small sips of her protein shake to fill her nostrils with the scent of vanilla instead of anxiety. After the boy in the row next to her, David, introduced himself she watched Robert’s eyes flicker over to her.

Mentally groaning, Finley pulled the protein shake bottle away from her lips. “Hi, I’m Finley Mannulv. I’m-”

“Wait. Hold on,” Finley audibly groaned when her professor cut her off. Why did professors or teachers always have to do this? Especially in D.C. didn’t they get the kids of government officials, congressmen, ambassadors, anyone else with a title seemingly ‘important’ to the function of the country and the world, all the time.

“Yes, Mannulv as in Maxwell Mannulv Director of the CIA’s daughter,” she finished for him while rolling her eyes. “Now that we addressed the elephant in the room I’m moving on. I’m here for an education just like everyone else.” She saw Stiles’ jaw open slightly next to her and shook her head. Fantastic, already off to a great first day. “Anyway, I’m from around D.C., originally from New York though, but I’m sure you knew that already,” she glared at her professor. “But I’m an Accounting and Legal Studies major and I’m on the lacrosse team.”

Robert narrowed his eyes at Finley who just offered him a lopsided smirk in response. “And no, my dad didn’t get me in here. I had at 35 on the ACT and a 1550 on the SAT.” She wasn’t going to let him intimidate her.

Robert smiled through clenched teeth, “so nice to have a student with such close ties to the legal system in the class.” He turned to Stiles. “And you?”

Finley coughed when she smelled his anxiety grow even stronger, did this boy ever relax? “Umm hey,” he awkwardly waved around the room. “I’m Stiles Stilinski, I’m from Beacon Hills in California, and I’m a Justice and Law and Legal Studies double major. Umm-” he hesitated, “a fun fact? I’m on the men’s club lacrosse team here.” Stiles took in a deep breath of air after he finished speaking. Finley allowed herself to breath after that and noticed that the air of anxiety around him decreased greatly. She had more important things than Stiles’ anxiety to worry about right now though.

Finley made sure Robert no longer looked in their direction before pulling her phone out. “There’s a guy in my class from Beacon Hills!” She quickly typed out in the group chat she had with her dad and brother knowing they would be interested in the information.

“Is it anxiety boy?” Cian replied.

At the same time her dad sent, “Is he one of us?”

“Yes and no!” She quickly sent. She followed it by saying, “his first name is Styles? I don’t even know if that’s how it’s spelled and I didn’t catch his last name but it started with like Still.” Finley wasn’t sure if that was how he spelled it but that’s how it had been pronounced. Hopefully it would be enough for her dad to work with.

“Just pay attention in class. I’ll send a few messages out and see what I can find.” Maxwell replied while his son answered with “Who the hell names their kid Styles?” Finley locked her phone and slid it face down on to the table in front of her with the ringer turned off.

Still having heard most of the introductions of her fellow classmates, Finley tuned back into class while watching the boy who sat next to her closely.

He definitely seemed human, another supernatural tended to be incredibly easy for Finley to sense, her father had been training her how to do it from a young age. He also didn’t smell like he had recently been in contact with any other supernatural creatures, maybe that was because he had just moved into college? If he lived in Beacon Hills he had to know about all the supernaturals there, especially after Scott McCall managed to somehow chase most of the hunters out of town and create a ‘supernatural sanctuary’ of sorts.

Finley felt a migraine creeping into the back of her head and knew she had to stop stressing about this Styles boy before she wouldn’t be able to make it through the rest of the day. Instead she focused on Robert as he began speaking about what the class would entail.

“As you all know this is an introduction to law class.” No shit, Finley rolled her eyes and took another long sip from her protein shake. “Let me start with this question. Is anyone here somewhat comfortable with the legal process?”

Finley’s hand shot up with absolutely no hesitation and she gave Robert a fake smile, as if she asked him to challenge her. She watched as Stiles’ hand slowly raised from his place next to her and her suspicion of the boy only continued to increase.

Robert looked at Stiles with shock, his hand coming up to point at the pair. “Now I know about Ms. Mannulv’s legal background of sorts. But what about you Mr.,” he trailed off forgetting his last name.

“Stilinski,” he filled in the missing word. Finley would need to remember that as best she could. “And my dad’s the Sheriff of our town back home. I also had an FBI internship for part of the summer.” Finley almost choked on her shake and had to cough again to cover it up, her eyes widening.

“Are you okay Ms. Mannulv?” Finley held a hand up at Robert’s question and nodded for him to continue. She set the shake down in front of her and her fingers were itching to pick up her phone to text her dad and brother with the update, but she knew she needed to wait.

Robert walked back to the computer and pressed a button that had a projector screen coming down from inside the ceiling. “Well, since you two are so comfortable with the basis of law already,” Finley watched as the screen lit up. The words ‘Partner Based Case Study and Mock Trial’ were written across a PowerPoint slide. “You can be our first pair for this semester!”

Finley actually choked on her protein shake this time and spiraled into a coughing fit. She quickly reached out for her metal water bottle and unscrewed the top taking a long sip to clear her airway. “Sorry, practice this morning has me wiped out, especially with the air being cool.” She let the ice water coat her suddenly dry throat. That had been a total lie, her body easily adjusted to the change in air that morning, but it would need to be a good cover for now.

She felt Stiles’ eyes on her and carefully listened for his heartbeat. After detecting a quicker than normal resting heartbeat again she realized he felt just as anxious about this assignment as she did. Maybe they would be able to pull it off.

“So now that we all realize this is a case-based class, if the rest of you would like to partner up with someone else in the class we can go through the syllabus after.” Finley watched as other students started talking with one another, trying to make compatible pairs for their projects. She took the opportunity to open her laptop and pull up the syllabus, also grabbing her phone.

“His dad’s the sheriff.” She quickly sent in the group chat before flicking her ringer back on and turning it all the way down so she would feel the phone vibrate.

Finley quickly made herself come to peace with the fact that she would have to talk to this Stiles boy more often than she originally intended to and turned to face him. “So, this just took an interesting turn.” She offered him a small smile, taking note of the indifferent expression on his face, but she did note that his heartbeat had slowed slightly.

Stiles nodded then looked over to Finley again, his eyes were soft and carried some hints of nervousness, but a genuine smile spread across his face. “Definitely not what I expected to say the least. But I think we’re both pretty experienced so we should be a great team.”

“Definitely,” Finley suddenly decided the rings on her fingers were interesting and started spinning them. “I wasn’t a huge partner work person most of my life, but this should be an easy introduction.”

Stiles snorted out a small laugh and his smile grew, “seems like all I’ve done the past few years is group work.” He shook his head slightly, “this should be a nice transition into college though. A little calmer than life back home.”

Robert clapped his hands to get the attention of his class, waiting for the room to fall silent before speaking. “Hope everyone has a partner,” he walked over to the computer and pulled up an excel spreadsheet. “So, we have Mannulv and Stilinski to start us off.” He typed their last names in and looked up. “Who’s next?”

Finley tuned out after that and picked her phone up off her thigh.

“Stilinski?” Her dad had asked. After replying with a simple ‘yes’, Finley looked to see the spreadsheet almost completely filled out.

Robert filled in the remaining rows and turned the PowerPoint back on. Finley quickly read the ‘Types of Cases’ slide and immediately had her mind set on completing the murder case with the added mental state determination element and wanted to argue on the state’s side.

She turned to Stiles whose eyes still traveled across the slide and waited until he finished reading it and also looked over to her before speaking. “Four?” She asked him, making sure she had the case number right.

“I mean, since you knew what you wanted that quickly,” he shrugged, “sure.” After agreeing on the case, Finley tuned back into the instructions Robert read to the class off another slide.

“So! With that being said after discussing with your partner which case and side you would like to argue for,” he flicked back to the slide. “I would like one of you to raise your hand and let me know.” He leaned back on to the desk.

Finley made eye contact with Stiles again and raised an eyebrow. “Go ahead,” he laughed lightly, giving Finley the go ahead to lock their case in. She quickly raised her hand and watched as Robert raised his eyebrows at her.

“Ms. Mannulv, Mr. Stilinski. That was awfully quick.” He crossed his arms over his chest while speaking.

Finley shook her head with a small smile. “We’re experienced right?” She didn’t wait for the professor’s answer before continuing, “by those standards we should know what we want then. The homicide case, which I’m assuming is actually murder charges, with the mental state element, state’s side.”

Robert smiles after hearing her choice and nodded. “Now as most of you will find out, your case is based on real life cases!” Robert’s voice filled the room, cutting off other student’s conversations. “Which will be expressed in the email I send to those working on each individual case after class. Some cases are closed, others are cold. Cold cases are much harder to work with,” he turned to Finley with a smirk. “After I take down which case, you’re doing you’re free to leave!”

“Thank god,” Finley began putting everything back into her backpack and zipping it up. She watched as Stiles did the same, standing up afterwards and looking over to Finley expectantly.

He watched as she tucked her empty protein shake bottle into the side of her backpack, and she also did the same with her water bottle on the opposite side. She reached down to pick up her lacrosse bag and her stick. She seemed to have everything under control, but should he offer to help her anyway?

Stiles nervously scratched the back of his neck before speaking, “do you umm need, I mean want, do you want help?” He asked her. She stood up straight again, her phone in one hand and her lacrosse bag and stick in the other, a soft smile on her lips.

“I’m okay,” she shook her head. “I mean I’ve been doing it for years now, but I really do appreciate the offer.” Stiles noticed her blue eyes were softer now as they made their way down the middle stairs of the room and out the door. Maybe she wasn’t as cold as she gave off in class.

He wasn’t sure if she had class after this or not, but he knew they finished their class about half an hour early and had been interested in making new friends at college. Lydia told him he should get to know people early on and establish a couple friendships he could see lasting past college. “You’ve played for a while now?” He asked her as they walked outside of the building and into the warming morning air.

“Me?” She laughed a little bit. “Started in second grade, haven’t stopped since. Always wanted to play with the boys though like my brother did.” She shrugged. She didn’t seem to give off the ‘girly’ attitude that Lydia and Allison had through out high school. Finley didn’t ‘dress to impress’ like they had and clearly went for comfort and functionality.

Stiles laughed lightly, “I mean, I didn’t get a ton of playing time in high school, but the pushing and shoving was fun sometimes, especially if I had a little pent up frustration.” The pair stopped once they were outside the building and Finley dropped her bag and stick. She sat down on the top stair of the staircase and looked up to Stiles motioning for him to sit.

He dropped his backpack next to both of hers before sitting next to her. “What brought you all the way out here though?” She asked. “I mean California is across the country and all.”

Stiles carefully thought over his answer, he didn’t want to give away too much about exactly why he had left Beacon Hills. He hoped he didn’t have to open that part of his life up to anyone new so quickly. “Umm, I’m looking to work in the FBI after college, so thought it would be a good place to go to school.” That part held true. “That and my girlfriend is at MIT, we’re close enough to visit when one of us has time.” Right being close to Lydia had also been part of the original plan.

Stiles had been so busy in the past week he had hardly been able to talk to Lydia, or any of his other friends from back home for that matter. Diving across the country had him absolutely exhausted, mixed with the stress of moving in and trying to get settled pretty quickly it had taken up the remainder of his energy. He felt guilty, but he also realized that the lack of communication would sometimes be the consequence of a long-distance relationship.

He watched as Finley reached back to pick up her water bottle and unscrewed the cap, taking a long sip. “Oh god that must be stressful,” she cleared her throat. “I’m only like half an hour from home at most, and I never had time for relationships. That and I think any boy I brought home would be scared of my dad.”

Stiles gave her a curious look and raised his eyebrow, urging her to continue on her thought. “You said he worked for the CIA or something right?”

“Yep, he does. Head honcho of the CIA.” She grabbed the edge of her hoodie and quickly pulled it over her head, resting it across her lap once it came off. “Sorry I started to get warm. But sorry if I acted like kind of a dick in class, I don’t like people questioning my intelligence because of my dad’s position in government.”

Stiles could understand where that frustration could be coming from. He had often used his father’s position as Sheriff to his advantage but had never really experienced the negative consequences that his position could have brought as everyone respected his dad. “I think we’ll be a pretty great team though.” He looked over to Finley who swung her water bottle back and forth between her legs, his eyes momentarily focusing on the object.

“I think we’ll be the best team that guy has ever seen!” She smiled. “I’ll make sure of it.”

A silence fell between the pair and Stiles closed his eyes and allowed his face to tilt up into the morning sun, it’s warmth quickly spreading out across his body. He opened his eyes when he heard one of Finley’s bags being opened. She shoved her hoodie into her lacrosse bag and put her water bottle back into the open side pocket on her other backpack.

She huffed and closed the bag again, standing up. “I need to get to my next class soon,” she offered. “If you want to get lunch and stat looking over our case if we have the materials in time that could work. Here-” She held her phone out to him. “I usually eat at the gym with my team, but I know a couple good places off campus that the meal plan covers if you’d want to do that?”

Right. She grew up around here of course she would know what to eat in the area. “I get finished at 12:20 but after that would work for me.” Stiles hoped their schedules would line up.

“Oh yeah same,” Finley watched as Stiles typed his number into her phone. “I have all early classes, easiest option for me.” She took her phone back before picking all her things up. “I’ll text you after my class gets out!”

“Sounds good!” Stiles threw his backpack over his shoulder before waving goodbye to Finley who went the opposite direction from him. She seemed nice enough, maybe this would be the beginning of his life settling into a new normal.

Finley returned the wave with the hand she gripped her phone in before making her way down the stairs and off to her next class, financial accounting. She flipped her phone over in her hand and unlocked it, looking through texts her dad and brother had sent her.

“Best friends with McCall for years now, human part of his pack basically.” Fantastic, Finley groaned audibly after reading the message her dad sent. She finds a nice boy and he’s best friends with Scott McCall and has a girlfriend.

Finley felt her phone vibrate and looked down to see a message from her brother this time. “Well at least McCall is intelligent unlike some of the others we’ve worked with.” That held true.

Finley sighed deeply as she pushed open the door to the business building, why would she be getting herself wrapped up with a guy from Beacon Hills?

#stiles stilinski #stiles stilinski imagine #dylan obrien #dylan obrien imagine #teen wolf #teen wolf imagine #teen wolf fanfiction #stiles stilinski fanfiction #werewolf #werewolf ofc #werewolf character #human stiles #anna writes #inscrutable fic

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truenvrth · 3 years

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ᵖʳⁱᵛ. & ʰⁱᵍʰˡʸ ˢᵉˡ.

hello hello again tags !! my name’s ollie ( 22, they / them, est ). i’m looking for some rad writing partners to write some slow burn one / or fun stuff stuff with !!

as a para-leaning rper, i’m looking for some literate writers to rp across from ( but not purple prose either ?? ladsjf ). muns 18+ and with muses 20+ !! i feel my own personal sweet spot lies with replies ~300-450 words long, but that’s just a ballpark and not set in stone especially if the vibes are strong !! i’m going to be honest in that i’m going to need to see your writing and vibe with you ooc before i fully commit to anything. and like, that sounds super intimidating and i don’t want it to be. honestly i just want a really chill ooc vibe that comes naturally. literally come into my dms with all caps if you want ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ .

i have such a soft spot ( as you can probs tell from looking at this blog ) for hockey / sports related muses. but that’s not all i can write, promise, and i do love VARIETY. nor are the muses listed on this blog comprehensive — i am in the process of adding more muses as i write this, and will likely generate a new muse for our plot. really i’m just looking for some good ooc vibing and writing that makes me feel inspired bc if i’m vibing and feeling it, i can write just about anything. that being said, i’m not smut heavy at all, tending to strongly trend away from that / fade to black so if that’s a main goal of yours, sadly i do not think we will vibe.

shoot me a message or give this a like if you think you might be interested. i’d drop my discord but i’m constantly changing my name on it so that feels counterproductive.

some plots i’m aching for :

— the captains of rival college sports teams ( mlm ) : i’d like play the hockey captain, and i imagine the other team being something like soccer / american football / lacrosse. a difference in captaincy approaches a bonus !!

— the closeted hook up ( mlm ) : they’re both in the closet for whatever reason, perhaps they’re both stars on their respective sports teams, perhaps your muse’s family wouldn’t approve, whatever reason, but they’ve found each other, and there’s no one safer than hooking up with someone else in the closet to scratch that itch. but that’s all it is... really. or is it ??

— in GENERAL, i love writing “soft / gentle jocks” and love even more writing across from rougher characters !!

note for those who write hockey muses : i prefer to write across hockey muses with muns who have some knowledge of hockey. preferably some irl knowledge not just from che/ck please. it doesn’t have to be a lot, promise. just a little to help with points of realism is definitely helpful !! that being said, i absolutely don’t need to write across from another hockey muse and would love to explore other plots !!

note 2 : i do tend to gravitate toward mlm ships, but that is not COMPLETELY set in stone — especially if we vibe. and i would also love a plethora of platonic / non-romantic connections for my muses as well !!

#indie rp #1x1 rp #oc indie rp #sports rp #athlete rp #( i haven't shown myself in the tags in a while so #... there i go alsdkfj )

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joehillsong9510 · 4 years

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Basics on the Physio Sudbury

As the good weather approaches, so too does the athletic season and an array of triathlon events begin to take place. Recent physiotherapy and sports rehabilitation news articles have focused on triathlon and overuse injuries and where on the triathlon course those injuries occur and iliotibial band (ITB) injuries are a common injury, but just what do they entail and how are they treated? Iliotibial band syndrome is accredited to being one of the leading reasons for lateral knee pain in athletes, specifically with runners. Running from the pelvis and down the not in the thigh, and inserting below the knee on the outer aspect, the iliotibial band, or ITB, works in conjunction with another muscles of the hip to give, abduct and rotate the hip outwards, and additionally, it works to stabilise the not in the knee through extension and flexiom. Therefore, it's used continually when walking and running. A few of the training habits that will contribute towards iliotibial band injuries include; consistently running on banked surfaces. This causes the downhill-positioned leg to bend slightly inward. This triggers extreme stretching of the band contrary to the femur. Excessive up-hill and downhill running (and indeed upstairs and downstairs) also have an adverse effect. Inadequate warm-up and cool-down is another common contributory factor. But it's not totally all running-orientated activity that could negatively contribute towards ITB problems; rowing, treading water, breaststroke and positioning the feet'toed-in'to an extortionate angle when cycling are all linked to the condition. For their adoption of a lot of the above activities, triathlon athletes often encounter problems with the iliotibial band and the thing is once the band begins to rub on the thigh bone, causing pain on the knee joint; pain that might extend up the not in the thigh, or down the outside of the shin. Athletes experience pain during activity and pain relieves when resting. The rubbing experience can occur for numerous reasons and it's often related to changes to the mechanisms of the hip, knee, or foot. A big quantity of sportsmen undergo surgeries annually while they take part in events. Knee surgery is the most common type of surgery that you hear about. Arthroplasty and Arthroscopy are both most frequent kinds of surgeries that you hear about. Osteoarthritis is the most typical condition that certain hears about. This disorder gives rise to the much known joint and bone problem that wears down your cushion joints and protective cartilage. The physical activities of your system are restricted with a certain redness and pain caused because of swelling. Surgeries concerning joint replacement yield specific outcomes that are due to sports injury physiotherapy. Healing items that follow following the surgery is the principal objective. Once the individual has undergone the trauma of these conditions, then the physiotherapist can just only help him overcome the mental and physical agony. A few controlled workout programs are accustomed to toughen the joint muscles of the patient, enhance his knowledge and prevent Contractures. The knee injuries are followed with physiotherapy. Physio for runners demand sessions to be conducted at health centers or of their residences. Softer and smaller bodily movements are followed after performing knee surgeries under most circumstances. It begins with performing movements like climbing, stepping and walking as the patient remains seated in a chair. Besides natural exercises like swimming, a physiotherapist may suggest covering short distances through softer steps than walking. Your knees are bound to get more of mobility and parts of your muscles are likely to gain more strength, when you perform these workouts consistently. Whenever the players are in action, it's natural for them to suffer from injuries regardless of following all precautionary measures. Games that demand great heights of stamina and physical strength often cause ligament or muscle sprain amongst players; you could have observed this with the Rugby players. Likewise, there are a few other games that demand exhaustive physical movements; injuries concerning wrist, elbow, arms and knee. Pains experienced around one's neck and those caused by cervical and spine injuries are the principal factors behind sufferings for athletes; these athletes are also recognized to suffer from headache, back pain and insomnia as they take part in events like javelin throw, shot put and high jump. Participants of events like boxing, ice hockey and Super bowl may also be likely to see such sufferings. The injuries caused during sporting events in many cases are quite minor, but they're proven to cause long-term discomfort, sufferings and pain for the players. For all kinds of physical problems arising out of sports, the only good solution is apparently physiotherapy. Physiotherapy or physical therapy is a questionnaire of treatment that uses physical or mechanical (as opposed surgical and chemical) methods for correcting an injury. Most sports injuries could be corrected through physiotherapy alone or in conjunction with surgery. You will find several sports injuries that will take advantage of this therapy. One is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, which really is a knee injury. Sports activities that put lots of demand on the knees -- like kickboxing, hockey, running, skiing, basketball and football -- have higher risks of players'developing a knee injury. ACL is quite common among those who play these sports. Some cases of ACL may be so severe that surgery may be necessary. Likewise, physiotherapy is almost always recommended, before and/or after surgery. There are three main categories of therapy exercises which are recommended for the treating ACL, the most typical that would be the heel slides. Doing the heel slides basically consists in lying down, the affected knee bended and foot on the floor, then slowly pulling the foot towards the buttocks, and finally sliding the foot back out. This exercise bends and stretches the knee and may hurt, but it is effective. It's usually recommended as a preparation for surgery, but sometimes it can also heal the injury and surgery may no more be necessary. It can be effective for elbow injuries like tennis elbow. Tennis elbow happens in sports activities that involve chiefly forceful movements of the wrists and elbows, like tennis and badminton. The physical therapy for tennis elbow usually consists of a program of exercises plus ultrasound procedures that apply heat on the affected muscles to relive pain. Ultrasound can also be used sometimes for other sports injuries where there is muscle pain. Another form used for many types of sports injuries is massage. Massage helps remove the tension in muscles, tendons and connective tissues. It can be used to crush or soften nodes that form in overused muscle tissues. The kind of physiotherapy used will usually depend on the explanation for the injury, whether it's caused by trauma (as in colliding with a co-player in sports like football or basketball), or by way of a wrong movement of a body part, or by sheer physical overwork. It has been found very effective -- and often essential for sports-related injuries and has become part of the regular sports management programs of some sports teams and sports facilities. Without physiotherapy, some sports injuries can also continue steadily to cause pain and limit the movements of athletes and players their entire life. Sports are a big element of a nation's culture and identity. Every country on the planet has a unique kind of sport from the planet famous football to the present day day archery. We only can't eliminate these adrenaline pumping activities since it's a thing that unites us in one of the ways or another.To generate extra details on Sudbury Physio Get The Facts However, sports can cause different physical injuries which can be quite alarming if they are not treated the proper way or if they are not given the right and proper medical attention. Extreme physical exertion can be usually seen during sports exhibition as this kind of activity requires constant physical effort. Due to the continuous modernization in the health care field, these unwanted injuries can now be prevented or alleviated through the applying of sport physiotherapy. Sport physiotherapy is the application form of the principles involved in physiotherapy to different sports. The benefits of sport physiotherapy give you a whole new perspective to the sporting world and a few of its benefits includes: The constant application of physiotherapy in athletes improves the ability of your body to handle physical stress. Normally, our body has a unique and efficient means of repairing itself. However, during extreme physical exertions as what goes on during sport exhibitions - some of the damage might be too complicated or too large for our body's normal function to cover. That's when sport physiotherapy comes in. The programs involved with sport physiotherapy help the body to boost its durability. It can help strengthen the bones, muscles, joints and small ligaments to withstand pressure thus which makes it stronger in the long runs. That is quite important particularly for athletes who constantly take in blows from direct contact sport like American football, rugby and basketball. By making the body more effective in taking in blows, athletes might have a longer amount of time in the playing field without fretting about some nasty injuries. Another benefit of sport physiotherapy is so it dramatically decreases the possibility of someone to obtain injured during the game. By carefully monitoring a player's capacity which includes their flexibility, coordination, strength, and joint flexion during a typical training session, a real therapist can formulate some helpful exercise routines to help minimize any sport related injuries like cramps, strains, sprains and torn ligaments.

#Physiotherapy Sudbury

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erinptah · 5 years

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Super Drags review (tl;dr Show Good)

The post where I do my best to spread the Good News, that there exists a saucy gay drag-queen magical-girl animated comedy and everyone should watch it.

Okay, not everyone -- I'll give some caveats at the end -- but definitely a heck of a lot more people than Netflix has bothered to advertise it to.

Look at this! Why did nobody tell me about this??

What is Super Drags?

Fast facts:

It's a 1-season, 5-episode adult animated comedy series, released in November 2018

Here's the official page, with a free-to-view trailer

It packs more explicit, unashamed queerness into those 5 episodes than any other cartoon I can think of

The only possible competitor would be if you took the whole 5000-episode run of Steven Universe and pared it down to a supercut of Just The Gay Parts

This in spite of being produced in Brazil, which (in my broad understanding, as a total non-authority on the subject) is more oppressively, dangerously homophobic than the US

The original is in Portuguese

There is an English dub, fabulously voiced by contestants from RuPaul's Drag Race

It's wrapped in "for adults only!" warnings, not because the content is any less child-friendly than (say) your Bojacks Horsemen or your Ricks and Mortys, but because Brazilian authorities tried to get it shut down on the grounds of this much gay being Harmful For Children

It was (heartbreakingly) not renewed for a second season

Here's a promo video, in which the main characters (Portuguese, with subtitles) play Drag Race judges for Shangela, who ends up voicing Scarlet in English.

And here's a beautiful flashy music video of the big musical number! (Also Portuguese, no subtitles, but the melody and the visuals stand on their own.)

Plot and worldbuilding stuff!

The elevator pitch is "What if Charlie's Angels, but also drag queens, with superpowers, because magical-girl transformations?"

In this universe, all LGBTQ people have magical energy. The Big Bad is an evil magical-drag-queen nemesis who tries to drain our energy for her own purposes. It's like if Ursula from The Little Mermaid was a first-season Sailor Moon villain.

...sidenote, in case you were worried, the representation isn't "cis gay men and nobody else." There's a butch lesbian in the recurring cast, a genderfluid person (in that specific word!) as a one-off love interest, and all the ensemble scenes are wonderful collages of different races, body types, and gender presentations.

Our heroes also fight non-magical everyday homophobes, who get written with scathing realism.

The moment I knew the show wasn't pulling any punches was in the first episode, where a newscaster complains about being Silenced by the Law of Political Correctness, then chirps "however, we have a special guest who is thankfully above the law!"

According to the reviews I've found from Brazilian viewers, it's also pitch-perfect when it comes to local queer culture, community dynamics, slang and speech patterns, even memes. All of which flies right over my head, so here's a post (with no-context spoilers) about one viewer's favorite details.

The handful of reaction posts on Tumblr have a dramatic split between "Brazilian viewers fiercely defending the show as culturally-accurate, uplifting, and brave in a terrifying political moment" and "American viewers complaining that the show is problematic because it's a comedy about drag queens with no perfect role models and lots of sex jokes."

As the Super Drags tell their nemesis (and this is also in the first episode): "How dare you try to turn the LGBTQXYZ community against each other? We do enough of that on our own!"

In between missions, our girls work sitcom retail jobs and deal with other everyday problems. All of which are written in amazingly nuanced and thoughtful ways for a show that also features "defeating an orgy monster with a lip-sync battle."

Detailed character stuff!

Our heroes are Color Coded For Your Convenience!

The Super Drags themselves go by "she" in-uniform, and a lot of the time when out of it. Like the Sailor Starlights, only more so. I'll roll with that.

In blue: Safira Cyan, or Ralph by day, an excitable college-age kid who's built like a football player and squees like a fangirl. (She's an anime fan in the original, and for some reason all the otaku references were replaced in the dub, but you can see them in the subtitles.)

Ralph lives with her younger sister (they play video games together!) and their dad, comes out to them mid-series, and is very shippable with another young guy who starts out reciting the homophobic beliefs he was raised with but whose heart clearly isn't in it.

Safira's weapon is a classic magical-girl wand that casts protective force-fields. Which are shaped like condoms. Because of course.

In yellow: Lemon Chiffon, aka Patrick, the oldest of the group and generally the smartest/most strategic. In most cases, the other two treat her as the de facto team leader -- unless she pushes it too far.

By day she's a single guy with thick thighs and thinning hair, who has some body-image insecurities on the dating scene. And this show has Things To Say about unrealistic beauty standards within the community...not to mention, about masc guys who look down on anyone too flaming or femme because straight people disapprove.

Lemon's weapon is a fluffy boa that can be used as a whip or a lasso, especially when there's a bondage joke to be made.

In red: Scarlet Carmesim, also Donizete, the loudest and most aggressive teammate with the most cutting insults, who refuses to suppress that attitude in an attempt to appease racists. (But will give it a shot when trying not to get fired.)

Donny still lives in her religious/homophobic mom's apartment, and I'm pretty sure it's because neither of them can afford to move out. Her rock-solid sense of fierce self-confidence is the reason it doesn't bring her down.

Scarlet's weapon is a fan that she uses to throw shade. Yeah, you knew that was coming.

The Charlie to these angels is Champagne, who runs operations from a cool magitech compound and breaks the fourth wall at the end to petition for viewers' support in getting a second season.

...we let her down, folks :(

So here's a thing. The show never draws a sharp line between "people who become drag queens because it's a way they're driven to express themselves as gay men" and "people who become drag queens because they were trans women all along." That's consistent with how South American LGBT+ culture works. (Again: best of my knowledge, not personally an authority on this, etc etc.)

Many of the characters, including Champagne, never describe themselves in ways that translate to one of our sharply-defined Anglo-USian identity categories. And I'm not going to try to impose any English labels on them here.

But I can say (in contrast to Safira, Lemon, and Scarlet), Champagne never switches out of her "drag" name/voice/presentation, not even in the most candid off-duty scenes, and still has the same bustline when naked in the tub. Make of that what you will.

You Should Watch This Show

If you have a Netflix subscription, watch Super Drags!

If you ever do a Netflix free trial month in the future, make a note to yourself to watch Super Drags!

It's one of their original productions, so there's no risk of missing your chance because the license expired. But it's absolutely not getting the promotion it deserves. Which means potentially interested viewers won't find it, which means Netflix will think there's no interest, which means they'll keep not promoting it...etc etc etc.

No idea if there's any chance of getting it un-canceled, but maybe we can at least convince them to release it on DVD.

And the sheer gutsiness it took for a group of Brazilian creators to produce this show in the first place -- that deserves to be rewarded with your attention.

In spite of various anti-discrimination laws that sound good on paper, the country has serious problems with homophobia, transphobia, and anti-LGBT violence (warning, article has a violent image which is only partly blurred).

Maybe the creators could've gotten a second season if they made this one softer, less sexually-explicit, more restrained...but honestly? I bet that wouldn't have helped.

Consider Danger & Eggs, an Amazon original cartoon. It was made in the US, thoroughly child-friendly, and restricts its LGBT+ representation to things like "characters go to a Pride celebration...where nobody ever names or describes the quality they're proud of."

And it didn't get renewed past the first season either.

(Note: it had a trans woman showrunner and a queer-heavy creative staff, so I blame all that restraint on executive meddling, not the creators themselves. The showrunner even liked the tweet of my review that complains about it.)

So there's something very satisfying about how Super Drags went all-out, balls-to-the-wall (sometimes literally), all the rep explicit and unapologetic, packing every 25-minute episode with all kinds of queer content that would be censored or muted elsewhere -- but here it's exaggerated and celebrated and just keeps coming.

(...as do jokes like that, and I'm not sorry.)

Okay, there are a few legitimate reasons to not watch this show

Some caveats.

None of these things are Objectively Bad Problems that the show itself should be shamed for...but maybe they're genuinely not your cup of tea.

It does have actual Adult Content beyond "the existence of gay people." This show loves to swing barely-clothed cartoon genitalia in your face. There is, as mentioned, an orgy monster. If that kind of humor is going to bother you too much to appreciate the rest of the show, give it a pass.

I wasn't kidding about how realistic the homophobes are. Opening of the first episode has a guy trying to murder a busload of people while shouting slurs at them. If that level of hatred on-screen is gonna crush your soul, even in a show about sparkly queens flying to the rescue with dick-shaped magical weapons, don't push yourself.

Any fiction with this much crossdressing and gender-transgressing is going to hit some trans viewers in a bad way. Because trans people are such a broad group, with so many different experiences, that Every Possible Trope Involved pushes somebody's buttons. (See also: "some trans readers complain about a storyline that turns out to be drawn from a trans writer's actual life experience".) If this show goes does gender things that turn out to be personally distressing for you...or even just distressing for this specific time in your life...don't feel obligated to keep watching.

It has aggressively-sassy queer characters making jokes and calling each other things that are affectionate in-context, but would not be okay coming from straight/cis people. If you can't wrap your head around that, go watch something else.

Other Than That, Go Watch This Show

For all its big heart, big ambitions, and big gay energy, Super Drags is tiny enough that I've binged the whole show 2 times in the past 2 weeks. Thankfully, it's highly re-watchable -- lots of fun background gags and subtle foreshadowing that you don't catch on the first round.

(Pausing one last time to appreciate that a show with elements like "the high-tech robot assistant is called D.I.L.D.O." can be subtle at all, let alone be this good at it.)

I've also paged through all the fanart on Tumblr and Deviantart, looked up the single fanfic on the AO3, and started brainstorming plans to request it in Yuletide next year. Someone, please, come join me in (the English-language side of) the itty-bitty fandom for this ridiculous, glittery, over-the-top, fabulous series.

#Super Drags #lgbtq #recommendations #recs

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lightsandlostbells · 5 years

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Skam Austin season 2, episode 1 reaction

Finally, Skam Austin returns, this time without Julie Andem behind the wheel. Honestly, no matter your opinion on this version of Skam, I’m actually quite curious as to where they’re going with this. Noorhelm, American-style? In the #MeToo era??? Will this season be a pleasant surprise and a sensitive rewrite of the original season, or will it just raise my blood pressure?

Episode 1

Clip 1 - Less dance, more cupcakes please

Big establishing shots of Austin and Bouldin High, a “national outstanding high school” according to a banner. Abby talking a selfie with her girls. Tyler and his boyfriend sloppily kissing??? Congrats on being the first gay couple to get the S2 opening clip makeouts! Also, just gotta say, nice that a gay couple can engage in the same PDA as a straight pairing at a high school in a red state, although Austin’s less conservative than a lot of Texas.

Megan and Grace observe the makeout, as well as Shay sitting by herself on the stairs. Megan feels bad for Shay. When Grace asks why, Megan says she’d feel bad if Grace had a boyfriend. HMMM FORESHADOWING. Also, gay. Megan, the solution is to go be Shay’s girlfriend so she’s not alone. (For real, I have kinda mixed feelings on Megan and Shay actually getting together, because while I love their longing looks and hand holding, Shay betrayed Megan’s confidence in a huge way that would require tons of effort to repair the relationship, and I can only really buy it during a Shay season where there’s lots of focus on them. And I think it’s more likely they’ll give Shay an Even who’s brand new. But I wouldn’t object if there was a good story arc for Megan and Shay!)

Grace thinks Tyler’s boyfriend has a long tongue, Megan thinks Marlon’s is longer … well, that statement feels loaded. Like, we-won’t-need-Jonas’-Blue-Monday-power-walk kinda loaded.

Megan and Shay exchange an awkward wave. Almost a year later and things still aren’t normal, I guess. Shay fucked it up.

Josefina has tried to do her own hijab, I guess? Zoya helps her do it properly. It’s really cute. Jo is my MVP of this show. I adore her. They need to make sure to do Shay and Zoya seasons on time so we can squeeze in a Jo season before they graduate.

Kelsey runs up. She made it onto the Kittens! I guess that’s one way to not have a dance team anymore. Some of the Kittens got busted for cheating on tests and got kicked off the team and L M A O obviously this wasn’t planned but I love this development happening now with the college admissions cheating scandal featuring Felicity Huffman and Aunt Becky.

Jo wants to tattoo Kelsey’s eyebrows, continuing the thread of her using Kelsey’s face as her cosmetic guinea pig from the first season.

Kelsey is excited because she can be on both the Kittens and the girl squad dance team. LMAO, so that WAS a thing. Did they actually dance??? It sounds like it. Apparently the team unofficially disbanded when Grace stopped going to the games and parties to focus on the school newspaper.

But I do love Grace being on the school paper; I worked for my campus newspaper so I am unreasonably excited to see where that goes. I’m assuming Noora’s Constitution Day article will become a column that Grace/(Daniel) writes for the newspaper?

Grace says she loves working at the newspaper and Kelsey tries to guilt her because it’s junior year and it’s the year colleges look at, you need to have extracurriculars. You can’t just be good, you have to be amazing. Well, that’s true, junior year is a big deal and the pressure to have a million extracurriculars is real. But lmao, newspaper is an extracurricular, as Grace points out. Kelsey thinks Grace needs more than “repetitive feminist essays” and OK, rude, and I also feel personally attacked. But if you’re going to get on Grace’s ass, Kelsey then what are your other “amazing” extracurriculars? By the same logic, wouldn’t you need more than dance teams? (I should not expect logic from Kelsey when it comes to dance teams, I know. Or Daniel.)

Jo gives this conversation the attention it deserves, which is minimal, because she has a cupcake. Her priorities are accurate. She says it’s the best cupcake in Austin so her search is over. Lmao, that Instagram content paid off. Now she should take on her quest for other top desserts. Megan can assist her in finding the best smoothie in Austin.

They’re talking about spring break. Kelsey needs to get her body ready, a hint toward her body image issues and concerns over her weight. Then Daniel’s voice comes out of nowhere to tell Grace that juniors can’t park in the senior lot. Grace says it’s not a big deal, Daniel says it is. Zoya, BLESS HER, is like, “So what are you going to do? Kick our ass?” YESSSSSSS someone besides Grace is not taking Daniel’s shit.

It is downright uncomfortable how much Kelsey is trying to cozy up to Daniel playing hall monitor and how Daniel just ignores her when she’s right there to flirt with Grace. He says he hasn’t seen Grace in a while. At first I thought they did have their infamous date during the long hiatus - can you imagine not including that scene in a Noorhelm remake - but as it turns out, it still hasn’t happened. He asks about Grace’s boyfriend, and Kelsey blows Grace’s cover by saying Grace doesn’t have a boyfriend. Grace tries to save it by saying it’s her ex. So that’s how she got Daniel off her back. You know, if you lie about a fake boyfriend, that should be a giant clue to back off, dude. But instead Daniel knows she’s single so you know he’s gonna go after Grace again.

Kelsey tells Daniel she’s a Kitten and wants to take a pic with him. God, this is cringe-worthy. Someone stop Kelsey from doing anything. Ever. And it is so deeply awkward how the girls just stop and watch as Kelsey snaps some selfies of her with Daniel. In front of Grace.

Something super interesting in the comments: a few people commented how it didn’t feel like a Julie Andem clip. I assume people who recognize Julie Andem by name are fairly involved in the fandom, but I’m not sure how widespread the knowledge of Julie’s departure was. I wonder if they guessed it on their own.

Clip 2 - First rule of being an Eskild: never lock your door

Grace is cutting up vegetables for dinner. And dancing. I like they had her do this, it’s goofy and humanizing, and in line with her characterization from season 1. Noora would sing to Justin Bieber, Grace loves dancing like a fool. The irony of course being that Grace doesn’t give a fuck about the dance team, lol. She dances for herself and HERSELF ONLY (and sometimes Megan, when Megan needs a pick-me-up).

She talks to Megan, who is with Marlon. Megan told Marlon about what happened with Grace and Daniel, so errrr, thanks Megan? But Grace says she’s going to tell Kelsey everything, presumably about her and Daniel’s deal, so Daniel won’t have anything over her head. Daniel holding something over Grace’s head? Grace thinking Daniel might tell Kelsey something incriminating? Trust is an essential foundation of a relationship, just saying.

Megan asks Marlon for his opinion and this dude clearly could not give a single shit about Grace and Daniel and Kelsey, he just says that if a girl isn’t into you, you just leave her alone. Not looking at the phone (and Grace) at all, just giving Megan some Looks, in my opinion. Based on later clips where he’s got a new girl, I think he’s trying to communicate that he no longer has feelings for Megan, but that Megan keeps hanging around and clinging to him. That would go along with Megan not getting it and saying maybe the guy doesn’t want to be left alone, showing she doesn’t get it (right after Marlon says “I don’t see why he doesn’t get that”). Also Marlon seems to be checking his phone during this chat so he’s not fully invested - my mind went to Jonas looking up other girls with Eva during the original version of this clip.

I will say, good on Marlon for knowing to leave girls alone if they don’t want you. Which is more than I can say for some characters in the Skam universe. Marlon’s probably my least favorite Jonas so this is a point in his favor, even if it is a low bar, lol.

But also IDK if he’s being Woke or if he’s just swapping out Daniel and Grace for him and Megan and hoping Meg gets the picture.

Megan thinks Grace doesn’t want to be left alone and Grace goes into a rant about how Daniel isn’t her type, he’s not smart, doesn’t read, needs to check his white male privilege etc. Tbh it’s kinda cringy and on the nose in execution, like all of that is true and they’re solid reasons for Grace to not want Daniel, but I feel like they’re just stacking up ideas to be debunked about him. We’ll probably learn that Daniel is actually some sensitive dude who reads books and has political opinions and is a secret genius or whatever.

Grace notices her pasta is gone and waltzes into her cousin Eve’s room while Eve is engaged in some foreplay with her lady guest. Gee, Grace, that’s awfully bold considering you didn’t know what state of undress they’d be in. At least their underwear is still on … and Eve’s shoes … why does she have shoes on??

Anyway, LESBIAN ESKILD. Eve immediately establishes that she is some sort of hipster artist and kicks out Grace so she can go back to hooking up with her girl.

Daniel texts Grace that she’s cute when she gets caught, and thanks her for sending him her class notes when he was in the hospital. What was he in the hospital for? I don’t think that was stated on SM, or did I just miss it? (It’s on the Bouldin Beat Instagram: he had a football injury.) Grace said there’s no need to thank her because the teacher asked her to. He makes a joke abut football players not being able to read, which makes Grace smile, so you know ... she’s not so opposed to him as she lets on. But then he suggests they hang out tomorrow and her amusement fades, because that’s pushing things too far. We end before Grace answers.

Clip 3 - Why are we still talking about Daniel? Zoya’s words, not mine

They’re at SXSW for Marlon’s show. The banner says SX Sessions. I was confused as to why Marlon’s garage band would be playing here but looking at the banner for the event, I see something about all Austin bands, so if it’s an event featuring local talent, it makes more sense as to why Clout is playing.

A girl is talking to Marlon. Grace notices and seems to check in with Megan. Who does look great, by the way, in her leather jacket, her peer-reviewed ensemble. Megan’s still hung up on Marlon after almost a year, it seems. But also … lol, barely anyone wants them back together. They’re one of the least popular Eva/Jonas pairings. Possibly the least.

Kelsey is still talking about Daniel because he texted her and invited them to Penetrator Jo’s beach house for spring break. Grace is like mmmm … that sounds far away. I mean, would you want to be in her shoes, stuck at a beach house with the guy who won’t take no for an answer, where people will be drinking, where you probably couldn’t relax and even go swimming because that dude is definitely going to be looking at you in your swimsuit? Megan tries to help Grace by saying Marlon invited them all to a party. Josefina wants to go to be around mostly naked guys while they are also mostly naked. Kelsey and Zoya do not seem to be happy with the mostly naked part. Grace is like, we can just stay at my place and bake cookies instead! That would be my preferred option.

Kelsey wants some quality time with Daniel (is any time with Daniel quality time)and guilts Grace into going. I love that she’s like “We can talk about the dance team in the car” as if that would make Grace want to go. Grace reluctantly agrees and Kelsey tells Daniel the good news. He responds right away. He also texts Grace right away that they’ll be hanging out. No one notices the suspicious timing of the texts.

Kelsey wants to know if Daniel might like her, Zoya wants to know why we’re still talking about Daniel. THANK YOU. Megan goes off to talk to Marlon and block that girl from getting too close to him, like she literally squeezes between them. Zoya lays out what a rude ass Daniel was to Kelsey and Kelsey is like, but he genuinely apologized!!! And she’s a Kitten now!!! Kelsey loves how direct Daniel is and how he knows what he wants. Yeahhhh, about that. He does go after what/who he wants. It’s just not you.

Also, lol, they conveniently didn’t have to film an actual concert for this scene.

Clip 4 - Newspaper time!!!

Grace is doing newspaper stuff at school with a guy (Nic) and Poonam. Poonam!!!! That girl spoke her first line and I remembered how much I enjoyed her overachieving ridiculousness.

Kelsey texts the girls that she had a dream where Daniel asked her to prom. She was wearing her Kittens uniform in the cafeteria and Daniel came up, knelt, and offered a dozen roses. Lol, I don’t think Daniel would do that shit even if he did like Kelsey. But also … Kelsey. Dear. You’re so embarrassing. Being a Kitten is not going to make you a Daniel magnet.

They talk about the launch, so I guess the newspaper is a new thing? Or they’re adding a new feature? Poonam is nervous about the launch and what people will think of her. Grace says she doesn’t care what people think of her. (Or so she thinks ... I think Grace certainly wants people to think she doesn’t care and that she’s strong and independent, for example.) Poonam says if it fails she’ll pretend not to know Grace. Lmao, classic Poonam.

Grace slides over to Nic, the dude who’s there. According to the Bouldin Beat Instagram, he’s the cartoonist for the paper, but their conversation makes me think he does some graphics design, too. He’s listening to a Hamilton mixtape. Grace didn’t know he likes Hamilton, so she obviously didn’t see that Bouldin Beat IG post where it says Nic has the Hamilton soundtrack on heavy rotation. She brings up that her friend Kelsey likes the Hamilton mixtape. (I’m sorry but LMAO, because on the one hand I do find that totally believable, but on the other hand, my God, imagine someone with Kelsey’s level of racial sensitivity being a Hamilton fan.) Nick knows Kelsey and thinks she’s funny. So I think either he’s going to be the Magnus, maybe, as far as being Kelsey’s eventual love interest (although ... lol, see above comment about Kelsey’s level of racial sensitivity), or Grace will see him as a potential love interest for Kelsey and try to hook them up to get Kelsey’s mind off Daniel.

Shay comes in. It is instantly awkward. Grace: “I like your hair.” Shay: “It’s not real.” Lmao. I missed you, too.

However! In the most depressing development ever, Shay is here to see Nic. He gets up and kisses her on the mouth. It is bleak. Shay looks so not enthusiastic. She was staring at Grace in a pretty hard way, too, what’s that about? Did she know Grace saw her texts and showed them to Megan?

Shay’s “BYE” is passive-aggressive as hell. Grace sits there in shock as Poonam is like, they seem like a cute couple. LMAO GOD.

Just throwing this out there: best acted scene of the season so far, however brief. The power of La’keisha Slade.

Anyway. NOOOOOOO. Shayyyyyyy. It’s not unexpected, considering the trajectory of the Isak character in S2, but I thought, since Shay seemed to have an awareness of her sexuality at the end of S1 - she knows she likes girls and she was OK with telling Tyler about it - that maybe we could skip this stage. There’s something really dark about this, too, because Tyler is out there making out with dudes, it’s not like she thinks her friend group is completely homophobic (and yes, people can view gay guys and lesbians differently and have varying levels of acceptance, but I doubt that’s the case with Shay’s friends) so it’s not just about putting up a show for her friends.

What does Tyler think about Shay dating a guy? He’s not the nicest guy overall but he does care about Shay, and he knows she likes girls, possibly that she likes only girls depending on what she told him in the past. Now I’m wondering if Shay started dating Nic in part because Tyler has his boyfriend now, and Shay presumably feels like she’s left out, as Megan said. Damn. Shay needs a hug in any case.

Clip 5 - Cookie baking

Grace’s J. Didion (as in writer Joan Didion) sweatshirt is a nice touch and exactly the kind of thing I think her character would wear.

I enjoy Eve on principle because lesbian Eskild fuck yeah, but I also feel like her delivery is very ... TV-ish. Like someone who has watched a lot of teen dramas and is channeling the same flow/energy of how those shows present dialogue. I don’t think she’s bad, it’s not that, it’s just more when watching this show I feel like I am watching a typical scripted TV show rather than the very natural Skam style - not just with Eve, a lot of the show, even compared to the first season. I just thought of it with Even because when she entered here, it felt more like a wacky TV neighbor kinda entrance, like she was Kramer or something. Is that because Julie isn’t working on the show anymore?

Anyway, Eve tells Grace about some girl who is lighting dildos on fire and that’s the real story here, I want the clip about the dildo pyre.

Eve sees a text from Daniel on Grace’s phone and says he sounds like a blast. I refuse to believe this lesbian would be impressed by Daniel in the fucking slightest.

He did send a cute dog picture to Grace so that’s one thing he has going for him. Grace has a cute dog, too. If their romance was just them walking their dogs, I could warm up to that. Gradually.

Grace says Daniel is some stuck-up asshole and Eve looks him up on her phone, saying she knows him. His brother was in her grade, a wild athlete who broke records, and his sister had some tragedy attached to her. The mention of tragedy gives Grace pause.

Actually, a point in Skam Austin’s favor: if they talk about toxic masculinity and rape culture in high school/college athletics and how jocks are favored and get let off the hook for heinous actions, that would be extremely culturally relevant. I mean, a football player in Texas? Treated like a god. And there have been some high profile rape cases involving athletes. Daniel’s brother has likely graduated and gone on to college, maybe playing college football if he was that good, but it would be a way to make the S2 sexual assault storyline even more suited to American culture.

Clip 6 - Daniel’s going to be on Investigation Discovery one day, mark my words

The girls are at Grace’s house. They must have had a sleepover. There’s a nice nod to OG when the girls mention using a Ouija board the night before. So I guess we’re not getting that cabin episode (understandable because American school timelines would not allow for it, probably). Jo was afraid the ghosts tried to pluck her unibrow. NOOOOO GHOSTS, LEAVE IT ALONE. IT’S MAGNIFICENT.

Grace comes out with nachos and offers them to the girls. Kelsey looks at that plate and is like, shoot, I can’t do cheese, or chips, or beans. And I know this is Kelsey and she has an eating disorder, but like … people have legit problems with cheese and beans, lol. To her credit, Grace doesn’t make Kelsey eat the nachos or call her out. She offers to make Kelsey a kale salad or a turkey wrap, but Kelsey shuts that down, too. (She was also doing jumping jacks while the other girls were reminiscing about ghosts, just saying.)

Megan is upset because Marlon left her on read, probably because he has that new girl, not that Megan knows yet, and Daniel is texting Grace about when she’s leaving. Daniel then texts Kelsey the same thing. Grace texts Daniel to stop using Kelsey to get to her. Daniel is like, wouldn’t have to if you’d answer me! Grace says he’s messed up. I mean, yeah. He is messed up. Grace doesn’t owe him a response, sorry.

While the other girls are talking, Kelsey mentions that she didn’t pack a swimsuit because she doesn’t like swimming, while Jo says Kelsey loves swimming, so another hint about Kelsey’s body image problems.

Daniel tries to call Grace and she declines the call, so then of course he immediately calls Kelsey. Oh my God, it IS messed up for him to do this. It’s so damn manipulative! (I know this all happened in Skam but we get to live this mess all over again, yayyyy.) And of course Kelsey is excited, but then he wants to talk to Grace. Ughhhh.

Daniel says Grace is messed up, and he knows what he’s doing is also messed up, but they had a deal. Oh my God. YOU NEVER OWE SOMEONE A FUCKING DATE. This is such a dangerous idea! You should always be able to back out of a romantic commitment! If Grace had been like “I will buy you something off the Taco Bell value menu if you apologize to Kelsey” and Daniel was calling Grace to be like “I want my fucking cheesy rice and bean burrito already” then I would find that more sympathetic than this. But dating is something you should NEVER have to set in stone, sorry, and I think this is where some of the split comes between Daniel/William defenders and his haters, because some people think a deal is a deal and some people (like me) think a date should not be ironclad under any circumstances. That mentality contributes to rape culture. (The disconnect between S2′s sexual assault storyline and William’s behavior is wild, tbh. But this is discourse that has been hashed out a million times already.)

Daniel whines that he apologized to Kelsey almost a year ago and that Grace made up an imaginary boyfriend so she didn’t have to hold up her end. No, actually Grace making up a fake boyfriend is what women do to get men off their backs because said men will not leave them alone and it’s a sad fact of life. Because men respect other men’s “claim” on their property (aka women) more than women’s ability to say no.

Daniel sounds like a goddamn serial killer when he’s all “just keep your word and go on a date with me.” Grace sounds downright defeated when she agrees. And of course when Grace hands the phone back to Kelsey, Daniel cancels on them for the beach house. Jesus, so we didn’t even get cute girl squad beach antics? Boooooo.

And actually, how shitty is it that he uninvited them to the beach house? I get that William uninvited them to the party, too, but that was just a party. These girls got packed and ready to drive several hours to a beach house, like imagine if they were on the road when Daniel called, or if they’d already spent money on gas and other stuff for a beach trip, or canceled other Spring Break plans with their families or friends to go hang out with these dudes. Beach house was a bigger time/money commitment for them than just a party, and he uninvited them (via a completely obvious lie that he took no effort to hide on social media) just because he got his date out of Grace. Selfish as hell, dude.

Jo complains that there’s too much girl juice happening and not enough sausage, and Megan is like, “You had sausage this morning.” Lmao. Literally all of these girls should embrace the “girl juice” because there is not a single viable male option so far. Nic from the newspaper seems nice but he’s bearding for Shay at the moment.

Good closing song, though (“Nail in My Coffin” by The Kills).

One of the best things about Skam Austin are the comments, and this clip did not disappoint. Some of the highest-rated comments were things like (paraphrased):

“Daniel is being manipulative”

“Grace doesn’t owe Daniel anything”

“you can see the fear in Grace’s eyes when she’s talking to Daniel on the phone, red flag”

“Daniel sounds like he’s threatening her life”

And my utter favorite comment from this clip, verbatim: “daniel reminds me of those guys in criminal minds who call people on the phone and tell them what to do otherwise someone they love will die - aka a creep lmao”

Social Media/General Comments:

I don’t know what the big holdup was with S2 - probably having to do with Julie’s departure - but it was a big mistake to wait so long, imo. I don’t think it was great for building fan momentum, although I notice that the first full episode of S2 has more views already than some of the episodes from last season that have been out for almost a year (not sure if Facebook was hyping this season or not like they did with the series premiere). They’ve also minimized time for future seasons. We can get Shay and Zoya seasons if they get one in for this fall and next spring, provided the show is renewed for those, obviously.

Anyway, Julie’s no longer the director. The director is Phillip J. Bartell, who has a pretty interesting track record: he was the editor on To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Dear White People (both film and TV series), and G.B.F. Feels like a decent background for someone to take on Skam; he has experience with teen films and with more diverse fare than just straight white people. He also edited a shit ton of low-budget gay films, most notably the Eating Out series, including directing and writing Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds, and I have to include this excerpt from the Wikipedia plot synopsis: The five then start scheming to out Jacob, the closeted leader of the ex-gay ministry, to his mother by tricking him to have sex with Octavio, another member of the ministry, in a portable toilet on wheels. Jacob finally comes out to his mother (after he inadvertently ejaculates on her coat as his sexuality is revealed), and flees with Octavio.

I did get more of a traditional teen drama vibe from this episode, and I do already miss Julie’s style of filmmaking: it was one of the best things Skam Austin had going for it. However, I’m going to give the sloppy seconds guy a shot. Although admittedly, this season of all seasons is one where I’m most apprehensive about handing the material over to a male director, no matter his track record. (Then again, a woman created Noorhelm in the first place, soooooo.)

I feel like Skam Austin more than other remakes has a large percentage of the viewers who watch the whole episodes rather than the clips, or who don’t understand the real time structure (correct me if other remakes have drastically more viewers for the full episodes than the clips). Each clip is flooded with comments telling the show to make the episodes longer or asking where the rest of the episode is. Tbh I find that really interesting because no doubt Facebook wants Skam Austin to be the hip new way to consume media in real time (I mean, assuming you have not seen the original show) but a large portion of the audience does not want to consume the show this way, lmao. And a lot of them cannot figure out how to watch the show! I blame some of that on the confusing Facebook video format, like the original Skam website felt so clean and easy to follow compared to Facebook’s ... everything.

Prior to the season’s start, there was a lot of SM stuff that set up stuff for this season, such as Jo’s epic quest for the best cupcake, Daniel’s car, the Kitten scandal, Abby is dating some football dude who’s one of Daniel’s friends, etc.

They made a point of it being Daniel’s birthday and him turning 18, I wonder if that will be relevant to the plot at all? Because now he’s legally an adult. Maybe if he beats the crap out of someone, like with the Yakuza guys, it’ll matter because he’ll be charged as an adult vs as a juvenile.

Abby’s new football player boyfriend is named Hunter. He has his own Instagram. I’m not sure why so much focus on this guy? I have nothing against him, just not sure why he of all people has an Instagram, compared to like Poonam or another supporting character. Would he be the Niko character since we already know Daniel has a brother? I guess maybe Daniel could hypothetically get in a fight with him over some Yakuza dude? Will Hunter end up dating one of the girl squad instead of Abby? Or does he not have much of a role except to be another of Daniel and Pen Jo’s social circle, lol?

Some information from the Bouldin Beat Instagram:

Grace is a staff writer, Poonam is a researcher (???? do they mean copy editor? if she’s researching stuff wouldn’t she just be a staff writer since ... they all do research ...) and Nic is a cartoonist. And Poonam’s full name is Poonam Para, love me that alliteration. (There’s also a Sullivan Smith and a John Jackson.)

Poonam does write the advice column. She manages to include a reference to Frozen in at least one piece of advice, to no one’s surprise, lmao.

In between reminding students about the 2018 midterms and an active shooter drill, the newspaper took the time to do the most important piece of all, Who Knows Daniel Williamson The Best.

His favorite movie is Dumb and Dumber which is not so subtly a connection to Grace’s IG name (Mary Swanson is a character from that film). So either it’s a thing they genuinely have in common, or he’s been trying to get on Grace’s good side. Or I guess he stalked her, watched the movie, and legit enjoyed it as Isak did with Romeo + Juliet for Even.

Penetrator Jo knows Daniel the best out of those questioned. Hunter does not know Daniel that well. Foreshadowing? Hunter’s a fake friend?

There are lots of horoscopes but I don’t know how to connect them to the characters since I don’t think we know their birthdays.Oh, except Daniel’s a Pisces, but I don’t know if him being so sensitive and “feeling all the feels” fits his personality that well.

The girls took part in the climate strike on March 15 and I do like the show acknowledging youth activism. I’m not sure it’ll play a huge role in the show itself, although frankly it would be a huge missed opportunity to ignore #MeToo considering the content of this season (based on the original).

Meg posted a pic of her with Grace captioned “me and wifey” and I don’t even ship them compared to other Eva/Noora pairings, but that’s just cruel.

There’s a text message and it confused me at first because Daniel says he apologized to Kelsey, and my eyes had glazed over that it was from last June, at the end of season 1. We get a rare glimpse into older texts that happened during a prior season - usually don’t see that with Skams, letting us see what was happening when the previous POV character couldn’t see it.

Anyway, back in the day, Daniel invited Grace for a picnic, she called him a cliche, they bantered, but it seems like she was a little torn about not being into him. He told her he apologized to Kelsey. Eleven days later he asks about their date and Grace says she’s in Dallas all summer and he says that wasn’t part of the deal. She asks if he seriously needs a date as incentive for baseline human decency, GOD, THANK YOU. A Noora finally said it. (Or at this point, it might not be the only Noora who said this. I’m still elated that Grace did.)

In September he texts her “shame about that boyfriend” so either she had a real BF and broke up with him at some point, or she just lied about it. I think it’s possible she said she had someone in Dallas which would be an easy way to keep up the lie. The “my girlfriend who lives in Canada” of Texas. And so that brings us up to now, where he notes she got caught and asks her out again. Daniel, fucking LISTEN to what she said about baseline human decency.

The girls’ group chat is Los Losers, an obvious reference to OG Skam’s girl squad. I got nostalgic as hell reading that, it was a sweet gesture.

I mentioned above that they didn’t stage the actual concert from Clout, which on a practical level I completely understand. But in-universe, it’s pretty far-fetched that there were no concert pics or videos from any of the characters on social media. I guess one of the hazards of Skam’s realism and social media format is that sometimes realism is too expensive to film, lol.

Daniel, Pen Jo, and their crew were all about the beach/spring break selfies this week so LMAO at how people were expecting the girl squad to chill at the beach later and just … that didn’t pan out.

Instead of going to the boys’ beach house, the girls did sheet masks, which is way more fun and also yields terrifying pictures.

If you got this far, thank you for reading!

#skam austin reactions #skamus reactions

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gingerlexi2897 · 5 years

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O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

Psalm 139

CAMP

Wow. Just wow. When we embarked on this journey a month ago, I had no idea what was in store. All I knew was that we were meeting up with a team from Scotland to help run an English camp in a little town in Hungary and what I’ve seen is God work in ways far greater and higher than I could have ever imagined.

After our few days of rest and exploring Budapest, we caught the train (well a horribly hot and smelly bus and then eventually a train) to Miskolc in the northern part of the country where we were met by Dave, an absolute gem of a Scot who roped us into this adventure, and the Hungarian pastor Atilla, and his wife Margaret. We made a few pit stops to pick up some last-minute supplies and a birthday cake for Gregor before we headed the 45 mins further north into the green mountains of northern Hungary for the little village of Bodvaszilas. As we stepped out of the minibus in Atilla and Margaret’s yard, there was this oddly comforting feeling that washed over us. This is where we are supposed to be. From the minute we stepped out of the vehicle, we were welcomed by a small crowd of thick Scottish accents and hugs from all ’round. I have never in my years of ministry seen a team connect as well or as quickly as we did with the team of Scots, Hungarians, Slovakians, and Czechs. There was none of that awkwardness or standoffishness that often comes with the territory. We were made to feel a part of the group and it wasn’t too long before I came to love them as if I had known them all my life.

Since we arrived on that Saturday afternoon/early evening, we had some time to get a little bit acquainted with the local area before we launched headfirst into camp the following day. While camp itself didn’t technically start until Sunday evening, our duties started bright and early Sunday morning with church where we were responsible for leading worship and then down at camp where we finished the last few details of set up as the kids began to arrive.

As this year was the 10th anniversary of camp, things were a little more special than the previous years. As someone who was just having their first experience at camp, it was so cool to hear the stories and see how God has worked through camp in this little town near the Slovakian border and in the lives of people that live in the surrounding areas.

Somewhere between 140 and 150ish kids attended camp this year, but the impact on the community doesn’t just stop there. In some form or fashion, either through the cultural nights like Scottish night or American night, or the concert put on in town on Thursday, or even just afternoon sports down on the football pitch, we would end up with locals joining in on the fun. Not only is that a huge outreach, but this is the second year in a row that a group of Chinese Christians from Budapest have driven the 3 hours to be a part of what God is doing there. Standing around camp you had a glimpse of what Heaven will be like; people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and languages coming together and laughing and worshiping the same God.

The Sunday through Saturday of camp was absolutely non-stop. We were up by at least 8 every morning for team devotionals before heading down the hill to camp where we would do breakfast with the kids, followed by a wee bit of free time and then morning activities. As a way to sort of wake the kids up and get everyone hyped for the day, we would start off with singing, silly games with Stevie, a quiz, and even a small attempt at Zumba with Gregor. (please, no more squat pulses.) We would round it out with a short testimony and then split off in our respective age groups for games and lessons.

Since the kids at camp ranged anywhere from 4 to 18+, each group functioned a little differently. While the younger kids focused more on games and crafts to tell the stories of the week, the older ones had more discussion. Our theme for the week was “ARE YOU WITH ME?” to which we would respond “I AM with you.”. We took our theme from Psalm 139 about how no matter what you have done in your life or where you find yourself, God is always with you. Even in the darkest valley, even on the tops of the mountains, He is there. To illustrate this, we taught the lessons of The Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17-31), The Woman at the Well (John 4:4-26), Peter denying Christ (Luke 22:54-62), and Zaccheus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10). All of these people had made mistakes and many of them in the eyes of the world were beyond redemption. Yet Jesus took time to speak to every one of them and offer them the chance at forgiveness. Each evening after games and free time, we would gather in Atilla’s church for evening worship and evangelism where we would sing a few songs and then hear a message on the lesson that we had covered earlier in the day. When Friday rolled around, we had come full circle back to Psalm 139 and Christ’s love for us.

After evangelism in the evenings, we would go back down to camp for cultural nights and on Thursday, we had a concert in the town hall where a popular Hungarian Christian singer came and lead worship for us. Friday evening as kinda the pinnacle evening, we lit a bonfire and spent the evening chatting with the friends we had made through the week. Even though I don’t speak Hungarian and many of the kids only spoke a little English, it was super cool to see how you don’t have to have a common language to have a connection. It was a good reminder to step outside of one’s self and allow God to work in the space left. Mind the gap.

I want to say a HUGE thank you to each and every one of you who prayed for us while we were at camp. It means so so much to all of us and I want you to know that your prayers worked. There is no way any of us should’ve had the energy to go at the week like we did or have the intentional conversations or the connections we did if not for God. Being involved in missions doesn’t just mean you have to get on a plane and fly across the world. There is so so much more to it than that and I want to thank you for going on this journey with us.

We are already making plans to be back at camp next year, and God willing, we will have the privilege see most of these people again!

Are you with us?

Lexi

Also, huge shoutout to Kieren for making the camp video this year! If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, definitely take a look, it captures the week beautifully.

Tabor 2019 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

#americans #bonfire #budapest #camp #english camp #friends #history #hungarians #hungary #mountains #photography #psalm 139 #rural #scotland #scots #slovakia #slovakians #travel

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lilacpolish6 · 2 years

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jorissportsstories · 2 years

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Football Identity And Narratives Pushed By Mainstream Media

In the world of American Football, different teams have different identities. Some teams are pass first and pass-heavy, while some run through the run game. Some are tight-end heavy, some rely on defense, and some teams not mentioning any names are still searching to find their identity. The objective is to find your identity as a team, and put the right pieces together, create a winning plan, and execute well enough to win enough games, to reach and win the Super Bowl. The end goal is to achieve, maintain, and sustain success in a league where everything is constantly changing. And the thing that I tend to notice in the NFL fandom, is that many fans tend to lean towards teams who are flashier and have the flashier ways to run. Fans want the Sportscenter type plays and flashy moments rather than the inner workings, and the in-depth knowledge of their favorite teams. And often fans and other analysts tend to downplay the less flashy teams because that’s not their identity. Case in point, The Tennessee Titans, who are constantly disrespected in the media and around the league. They are constantly overlooked and shot down as a legit Super Bowl Contender. They are the perfect example of this logic. This type of logic that some of these so-called “analysts” have can easily be picked apart with relative ease, and some critical thinking, and if you sprinkle a few statistics in along with it and you have a relatively strong and possibly correct argument. In sports analysis, it's extremely important to be very objective and look at things from multiple points of view. Every team has its injuries and weaknesses, so the excuse of "such and such" is hurt, and isn't playing and Covid-19 or any type of personnel issue is not valid, especially when they lose to a team that they should have theoretically beat. Both teams have 53-players, various team trainers and coaches, etc.; both teams have 4 15-minute quarters and a 30 halftime to adjust. Each team is given opportunities to practice and plan accordingly until the game on either Sunday, Monday, or Thursday. So, none of the ‘excuses and narratives that the mainstream media tries to push matters. What matters is the team that flat-out lines up and executes the best and wins the game. No matter the circumstances, the injuries, lack of personnel, or luck. What matters is the outcome of the game, which is a lot of credit towards players or coaching. And whatever team has fought through all of that and earned their ranking has earned whatever type of respect that they demand or what they didn’t demand. The analysts do a great job; however, I am personally of when a ‘dark horse’ team turns out to be better than what they expected, and then they continue to downplay and disrespect that team.

For example, let's take the Titans into account, they lost their star running back, for half the season due to a foot injury. They've also been through 91 different players due to covid and other injuries. Yet they are 12-5 and the AFC runs through Nashville because they have clinched the top seed in the AFC, that is due to good coaching, and personnel. That makes a ‘good team’ But let some of these football ‘analysts’ tell it they aren’t the true number 1’s. However, the teams that they think should be number one, the Titans have beaten most of those teams. Another thing the mainstream media tends to do is manipulate statistics to attempt to prove a point. I do believe that statistics are important in sports. But statistics do fluctuate during the season throughout various performances. So, using season statistics to prove a point kind of makes sense but at the same time, most people who use mainly statistics don't account for the strength of schedule and the actual eye-test. Statistics are mainly used to try to form debates by not using all the available statistics, only the ones that help their logic, however, it would strengthen their logic if they would at least allude to the other ones and convey their argument whilst acknowledging other points as well. Therefore, in my personal and humble opinion, when evaluating teams we should use a mixture of the eye-test, consideration of injuries and all of that, and then statistics to have a more thorough and unbiased analysis.

That being stated, along with everything else that I have previously acknowledged, the journalist or analyst who went on Twitter and said that The Tennessee Titans are the worst number 1 seed since blah blah blah was completely wrong. Because when you look at some of the statistics and the strength of schedule, and the injuries and other special considerations, the only logical conclusion is that the Tennessee Titans earned that spot, they earned that #1 spot, they earned the right to be considered among the NFL's best, both the eye-test, and stats prove it. So, I’ll just put it on the line here, that analyst or reporter was coming from a place of bitterness and bias. You cannot make any excuses; the Titans are the #1 seed in the AFC and it's about time that they have earned their damn respect.

#sports #football #analysis #nflnetwork #nfl #nfl playoffs #mainstream #contentcreator #blog #sports blog

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fereality-indy · 6 years

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REVENANT FALLS Ch 2 The Next Day

Wendy shook her head as she sat up, she had taken the last watch and it had been boring. But that should be changing soon, the sun was coming up and the plan was to try to get Tambry and Robbie today and see if there was anyone else they could encounter. She pulled out her cellphone and saw that she still had service. That was good, it showed that most apocalypse movies were wrong and services were still running.

“Com’on Dad pick up.” she said after she dialed the number she had for her family.

If she hadn’t been so focused on whether or not someone in her family would pick up she would have noticed that someone was walking up on her. Fortunately for her the person who had made it so close to her was the one person she trusted to always be there for her. So when she finally noticed him it was when he leaned in kissed her cheek.

“Hey there Wendy, were gonna finish planning as soon as you come in.”, Dipper said as he backed away from the kiss.

“Alright, I’m just trying to try my dad one more time.” Wendy replied after she turned and gave him a hug.

“Ok, I’ll try to save you a couple of the Crispy Bars but Mabel and Lee have been eyeing them.” Dipper said as he walked back inside the building.

“Ok, one moment.” Wendy said before she suddenly turned her attention back to her phone, “Dad? Dad, is that you? Kevin, why do you have dad’s phone? What happened?”

Dipper rushed back towards Wendy upon hearing the distress in her voice.

“He what? Who else is there? Well for now stay inside and board up the widows. Stay armed if you can.” she said as Dipper looked on. She ended her conversation with, “Alright keep Gus safe. I love you too bro.”

Dipper quickly took her into his arms and hugged her, “What happened?”

“Kevin said that Dad got them back to their cabin at the logging camp but then he and Marcus headed out to find our Uncle George and his son Don. They, they haven’t heard anything from any of them yet.” Wendy said as she buried her head into Dipper’s shoulder.

“Hey at least you know some of your family is safe, look at Pacifica. We all know what’s happened to her parents. And Mabel tried our house last night but there wasn’t any answer. Lee’s been too scared to even attempt it, I think Nate and Thompson’s deaths really hit him hard. Right now we are the only support we have and the best thing for us to do is try and keep a clear head about the situation.” Dipper noted as he stroked her hair.

“You’re right. Let’s go get this party moving.” Wendy replied as she pulled away from the hug, “Besides I want to get another look at that head wound. I found some superglue in the desk last night and if need be I can use it to seal the wound shut.”

“That might be for the best, we don’t know if the zombies are attracted by smell of blood or not and I don’t want to be the reason we get attacked.” Dipper said as he absentmindedly rubbed his hand over the bandage.

As they head in from the outside they hear, “Ali right you each can have one until they get in here and we can divide them up better.”

Pacifica was standing there holding the stack of Crispy Bars while Mabel and Lee each had one.

“There better still be one of those for me,” Wendy said with a wane smile as she joined the others.

After they finished off a breakfast of the snack bars they made their plans. They decided that they would need a second vehicle incase they encountered any other non-infected. Wendy and Dipper would travel in the SUV while Mabel, Pacifica, and Lee would take the panel van. They split up the supplies and weapons so that everyone was armed. The plan was to go grab Tambry and Robbie, then to Lee’s to grab his gear and check on his family. Wendy also showed everyone how to use the super glue as a temporary suture as she fixed up Dipper’s cut.

Once they had the gear loaded into the two vehicles Dipper wheeled the Van around to have it’s tank topped off. He pulled it back towards the gate and while everyone finished getting ready he climbed onto its roof and surveyed the route they were getting ready to drive. From what he could see it was gonna be clear at least until they get to the town proper. They should be fine. Mabel had just finished picking the lock on the gate.

“Alright all, let’s load up and move out.” Wendy called out when he got off of the van.

She climbed in the driver seat and once Dipper was in SUV she pulled out with Pacifica driving the van behind her. While they were driving Dipper tried calling his parents but it kept going to voicemail.

They made it to the cemetery before they encountered any of the shuffling dead. They recognized a few of them like Sprout the farmer, Steve Decker the free pizza guy, and Sam Tilley the motel owner known for his yellow American flag tank top. As they neared the Valentino’s house Lee popped open the back of the van and pulled something out of his pocket. He then pulled out a lighter and lit the edge of the item and tossed it out of the back. He then shut the door. A few moments later there was a series of loud pops happened back where he had thrown the item. The zombies all headed towards the sound.

“That should buy us a little bit of time.” He said as he slide back up towards the front of the van.

“What was that?” Pacifica asked from the driver seat.

“Well last night the guys,” He stopped as he was choked up there for a moment, “the guys and i were gonna go light some fireworks out by the high school football field. I have some firecrackers in my pockets. I figure they can be used as a distraction if we need it.”

“Good idea, but a little warning first next time. I thought maybe someone was shooting at us.” Mabel said as they pulled up behind the SUV.

As they got out Dipper said “Do I want to know what that was?”

“Firecrackers,” Lee said as he pulled a couple more packs out of his pocket.

“Ok, cool.” Wendy said with a smile, "Lee come on up and keep the engine running. Pacifica do the same with the van. And Mabes, you keep watch ok. Your brother and I will go get these two.”

“Sounds good to me, Wends.” Mabel said as she turned towards the van. She slid her pistol over to Pacifica and grabbed the rifle they had had sitting between them.

“Stay safe, Mabel.” Pacifica said as she placed a hand over Mabel’s on the gun.

Mabel pulled her hand to her lips and kissed it. As she let go she said, “I will, luv.”

Mabel shut the door and walked to the back of he van. She climbed up to the roof where she would have the best view. In a stage whisper she said, “Alright Wends, broseph. Try to hurry up in there.”

“Right on sis.” Dipper whispered back as he and Wendy headed up the house/mortuary.

When Wendy got to the door it was locked. So she knocked once, then two more times, and the once more. They waited almost a minute before they heard her name from the other side of the door. “Yeah, Tambers, it’s me. Open up.”

They heard the locks shifting and then the door creaked open. Tambry looked out from the crack and then she threw open the door. She rushed out and hugged Wendy. “Oh guys, I’m glad to see you.”

“Same here,” Dipper said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Where’s Robbie?”

“Upstairs finishing packing. I had most of my clothes that I kept here packed last night. I came down to grab some of the canned goods and listen for you guys while her finished up.”

“I’ll go grab him,” Dipper said as he headed towards the stairs.

“His room is the last one on the left.” Tambry called up after him. Turning back to Wendy she said, “You want to help me see if I missed anything. You have more knowledge on what we need in this type of situation.”

“Yeah,” Wendy said as she watched Dipper head up. Though they didn’t get along that first summer, Dipper and Robbie had more or less buried the hatchet, but for some reason she was still worried. Once he was upstairs she followed Tambry into the kitchen.

Upstairs

As Dipper walked down the hall he looked at the various pictures of Robbie seeing how he had grown darker as he grew older. When he got to Robbie’s room he wasn’t surprised to find it had a ‘Keep Out’ sign hanging on it.

He knocked before grabbing the handle and saying, “Robbie, it’s Dipper.”

He tried turning the handle only to find it was locked. “Robbie, open up man.”

He heard some shuffling and on instinct he pulled his pistol. The lock was released and the door slowly opened. And Robbie stood there holding his old hoodie. “I’m glad you guys made it. Make sure Tambry gets this.”

Dipper took the offered hoodie before asking, “What’s wrong man? Lee and the girls are all down there waiting on you.”

Robbie turned around and walked over to his bed where he sat down before speaking, “This morning, before Tambry got up, I thought I heard my dad down in the garage. So I went down, I was still tired. Part of me expected this all to be some sort of elaborate prank. I thought I you guys would pull up with Thompson and Nate and it would all be a joke.”

He stopped for a moment to collect himself while Dipper still stood in his doorway. He took a deep breath and then coughed.

“So I went down to the garage. To be safe I had a pistol dad kept for security, this one.” he said as he held up a small twenty two. “I opened the door but didn’t see anyone. So after flipping on the light I went on in. I called for dad a couple of times but got no answer. Then something grabbed my ankle.”

He paused again as if collecting his thoughts before continuing, “I was gonna play this all macho but really it’s not gonna matter much in the long run. When it grabbed my ankle I panicked and threw the gun. By the time I realized what I had done, well…”

Robbie reached down and gently pulled up his pant leg showing a fresh bite, “I was able to smash it with one of the urns dad kept in the garage, but I was bit. I didn’t change instantly so I tied a tourniquet around my thigh to try and slow it’s spread, but I know I’m screwed. I came back up here and watched her sleep while I still could. I was getting ready to explain all of this to her when we got your message that you were on your way. She was so happy that we were getting out of here that I couldn’t tell her. I just couldn’t. Look I want you to promise me that you’ll watch out for them, both Tambry and Wendy. The two of them are all I really have left.”

Robbie was in tears at this point, “Promise me this man.”

“I will.” Dipper promised the man who was once his rival.

“Good,” Robbie replied as he got back to his feet. Dipper tried to help him but he waved him off. He walked back over to doorway where he bent down and grabbed a backpack. Handing it to Dipper he continued, “there’s a couple of outfits in here that should fit Tambry and the rest of the ammo if you guys need any twenty two rounds. I only need one, maybe two.”

“Robbie,” Dipper started before Robbie cut him off by gently pushing him back into the hallway.

“I’m not gonna become one of those things Dipstick.” Robbie said as he slammed the door and locked it, “This way I get to decide my own fate.”

“Robbie, open up man!” Dipper called out as he tried the door he knew was locked.

Sudden footfalls from the stairs him told him the girls had heard the slammed door.

“Dipper, what did you say to him?” Tambry called before she got to the landing.

“Not much, I mainly listened to him.” Dipper said as he stepped between Tambry and the door. He handed her the hoodie as he said, “He wants you to have this.”

“Wha? Why?” Tambry asked as she tried to process what him giving her the hoodie meant.

Wendy came up behind Tambry and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder before asking, “What’s going on Dip?”

Dipper tried to figure out how to best tell Tambry before he went for honesty, “Apparently Robbie heard something in the garage this morning. When he went to check it out he, uhm, well he got bit.”

“What! No!” Tambry yelled as she pushed past Dipper. She tried the handle but she found it locked. She started pounding on the door, “Robert Stacey Valentino, you open this door now!”

She kept pounding the door and calling for Robbie until they finally heard him call through the door, “Sorry, no can do babe. I’m not gonna be able to go with you guys. Dipstick laid it all out for you, I’ve been bit.”

“Don’t do this, don’t make me leave you. I love you.” Tambry called as she dropped to her knees.

“I love you to babe, that’s why I can’t let you see me like this.” Robbie called back through the door. Then he called out, “Wendy if you’re out there do me one last favor, take Tambry on out. She don’t need to be here for this.”

Wendy silently nodded before she lightly gripped Tambry’s shoulder. “Come on Tam, it sounds like he may have already made peace with what he’s doing.”

As she helped her oldest friend back to her feet she grabbed the now discarded hoodie and placed it back in Tambry’s hands. Once she got her up she started moving her towards the stairs. As she maneuvered Tambry down she looked back at Dipper and mouthed “Be Safe.” At his nod of reply she started heading down herself.

“Remember your promise, Dipstick!” Robbie called through the door as Dipper picked up the backpack Robbie packed.

“I will Robbie, I will. If you can try to give us five minutes to pull away so she doesn’t have to hear the gunshot.” Dipper replied as he started back down that dreary hallway. “And Robbie I wish this had ended differently.”

“You and me both Dipstick,” Robbie called back.

When he made it downstairs Dipper found Wendy and Tambry by the front door. Wendy had a box of can goods in one arm, her other one comforting Tambry, and her pistol tucked into her belt. Tambry had on the hoodie and was carrying a backpack.

Dipper peered out of the cracked door and saw that things looked fine so he opened the door. He covered the girls with his pistol as they walked out to the vehicles.

Mabel was the first to notice that Robbie wasn’t with them. She was about to ask when she saw Dipper wave her off. Once they made it to the vehicles Lee climbed out of the SUV and rushed over to hug Tambry. Meanwhile Mabel climbed off of the roof of the van. while Dipper gave the group a brief synopsis of what happened, Wendy helped Tambry get into the SUV.

“Damn it, not Robbie too.” Lee said as he slammed his fist into the side of the van.

”Whoa Lee, not so loud man.” Dipper said as he heard the sound echo off of the house and through the nearby graveyard. Soon the moans and shuffling feet coming from the direction of the road. “Ok, everyone get in the vehicles. We still need to try and make it to Lee’s place to get his stuff.”

Before anyone could move Lee reached into his pocket and pulled out another pack of firecrackers and lit the fuse, then he threw it as hard as he could towards the graveyard hoping that that would distract the zombies long enough for everyone to make it into the vehicles. Dipper ran up to the SUV and climbed into the driver’s seat while the rest got back into the Van with Pacifica climbing up driver’s seat. As they pulled away Dipper heard a muffled gunshot coming from the direction of the house.

Following directions given by Wendy in the backseat, Dipper led the way through the alleys to Lee’s neighborhood. By the time they made it Tambry had seemingly come to terms with what’s happened and she volunteered to help Wendy & Lee get his stuff.

“You sure you’re gonna be up for this? We won’t think any less of you if you need to sit this one out.” Wendy said as she walked around the SUV to meet up with Tambry.

“No, I need to do something. If not I’ll go crazy here.” Tambry responded as she tried to grab for one of the guns.

“I remember the last time I took you to the range,” Wendy said as she pulled the pistol away out of Tambry’s reach. She then went to the back of the SUV and grabbed the tire iron and handed it to her, “till we can get you some more practice this might be more your speed. I remember your wicked backhand when we used to do table tennis in PE. You use that type of force with that tire iron and you’ll be ok.”

“That sounds fair, I guess. I’ve already lost one person today, I don’t want to be the reason we lose another.” Tambry said as she hefted the improvised weapon.

Wendy then surprised her by grabbing a crossbow instead of her pulling her pistol. “We’re in a populated area, a gun would just draw attention that we may now want.”

Upon hearing this Lee picked up the baseball bat, “There shouldn’t be anybody home, mom was supposed to be at work when all this started. I haven’t been able reach her though, I tried while waiting for you guys at the theater yesterday. After what we’ve seen so far I hope we don’t find her here.”

“Let’s just get what we came for so we can head out and find some place to crash for the night.” Tambry said as she started moving towards the house.

“Dipper said he may have an Idea when we got out a moment ago. We’re heading there next.” Wendy said as she watched Dipper take the rooftop perch to keep an eye out.

In and out it took them less than fifteen minutes. Not only did they each have on a backpack, Lee’s the size of a military ruck sack, but both Lee and Tambry had a good size box. Wendy was also carrying a humungous cooler while her crossbow was slung across her back.

As they were putting the stuff into the back of the van, Lee opened the lid and said. “And boosh, mom apparently went shopping yesterday we have several rolls of hamburger, a couple packs of hotdogs, six steaks, and even a pork loin roast. We will eat good tonight.”

“I wish this could last for a bit,” Mabel said looking hungrily at the food.

Lee then pulled a retractable cord out of the back of the cooler before slowly letting it retract. “Mom never was one for roughing it. As long as wherever we go has electricity, we’ll have cold storage. The cooler is pretty much a mini fridge.”

“Yes.”, Mabel said with a fist pump. She then turned to Dipper, “So what’s the plan broseph?”

“We’re heading to the warehouse,” Dipper said as he headed towards the SUV. “Ford put in vehicle doors and reinforced the windows when he and Stan bought it from the Gleefuls to store their trip supplies when they are in town. We can pull in and lock the doors. It has solar panels and a generator if we need to run it. We can probably stay there for a few days if we need to.”

"Sounds good to me,” Pacifica said as she got into the van.

Dipper’s Journal June 19th, 2017

As we drove away they passed a dead end street where it appeared that someone may have went on a zombie hunting spree. There were at least a dozen bodies from what they could see, that normally would not have bother them but it looks like the zombies were baited into the dead end by the fact that whoever had one it had tied Toby Determined to a light pole at the apex of the dead end.

I sped up quickly not wanting anyone who would be willing to do that to see s and possibly follow us. Pacifica did the same behind me. Once Wendy was able to assure me that we weren’t being followed, I drove to Four Twelve Gopher Rd. After taking one last cautious look to be certain we weren’t followed I exited the SUV while Wendy took over. As they were maneuvering to prepare to back into the warehouse I entered the security code to the lock Ford had installed. Once I opened the bay doors Pacifica backed the van in with Wendy following suit. After shutting and locking the doors, I joined everybody in pulling out what supplies we thought we would need for the night. Once the cooler was plugged in and running I searched through the gear our Grunkles had left. I found a camp stove and a couple of propane canisters. Wendy and I cooked up the steaks and a couple cans on veggies. While we were cooking the others worked out a guard schedule with two of us on each patrol with myself and Mabel taking the first one.

Before we left Mabel showed everyone the ladder to the roof where we would probably have the best vantage point for keeping watch. As we climbed we heard Wendy and Lee comforting Tambry after some random comment (I didn’t hear what was said) had seemingly brought the enormity of the situation crashing back down upon her.

#gravity falls #dipper pines #wendy corduroy #wendip #mabel pines #pacifica northwest #mabcifica #lee #tambry #robbie valentino #zombie apocalypse au #zombie au

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