#Junior Science Sleuths

[ogdencollegerp]

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

On behalf of Ogden College, we’re pleased to offer you admission for the next semester. Please complete our new member checklist, and let us know if you need an extension !!! If you were accepted with a secondary FC choice and need to adjust anything about your app, please submit the changes with your account.

SKELETONS

{ BRIANNE TJU, 21, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that PERSEPHONE "SEPHIE" SHERIDAN? A JUNIOR originally from LOS ANGELES, they decided to come to Ogden College to study FINE ART. They’re THE FEMME FATALE on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

{ ALEXA DEMIE, 21, CIS-FEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that RILEY VANDERFORD? A FRESHMAN TRANSFER STUDENT FROM YALE originally from THE HAMPTONS, they decided to come to Ogden College to study FORENSIC SCIENCE. They’re THE INFLUENCER on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

{ DREW STARKEY, 20, CIS MAN, HE/HIM } Is that EVERETT MORRISON? A SOPHOMORE originally from MANHATTAN, NY, they decided to come to Ogden College to study BUSINESS. They’re THE PROUD ELITE on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

{ SOPHIE THATCHER, 20, CIS WOMAN, SHE/HER } Is that SLOANE MORRISON? A SOPHOMORE originally from MANHATTAN, NY, they decided to come to Ogden College to study FILM. They’re THE UNFAVORITE on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

ADDITIONAL CHARACTERS

{ MEGAN SURI, 19, CIS-FEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that MIMI MADISON-BHATT? A SOPHMORE originally from WASHINGTON, DC, they decided to come to Ogden College to study LINGUISTICS & ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES. They’re THE AMATEUR SLEUTH on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance. 

{ MAIKA MONROE, 23, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER } Is that IDA CLARKE? A SENIOR originally from SEVIERVILLE TN, they decided to come to Ogden College to study ANTHROPOLOGY & RELIGIOUS STUDIES on an ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIP. They’re THE SIREN on campus, but even they could get blamed for Greer’s disappearance.

[wvldcvrd]

[SHAWN MENDES, CIS MALE, HE/HIM] have you seen MARCO SPIEGELMAN around sedona? MARCO is a BEEKEEPER, but they’re also THE WILD CARD in the sedona sleuths, so you’ve probably seen them around the firehouse shed. they’re known for being WARMHEARTED and OPTIMISTIC, but they’re also known to be OVERWROUGHT and NAIVE. when they’re not at the shed, i can usually find them at THE SEDONA FOREST. i can always recognize them by (a worn guitar neck with old strings, coming home three minutes before curfew, a crackling woodfire, and freshly blown out birthday candles).

hi friends ! my name is reed, i use they/she pronouns, and am so stoked to be here ! keep reading to find out everything you’ve ever wanted to know about my boy, marco.

tw: cancer, death, car crash, addiction

marco joshua spiegelman was born on an overcast august day in the city of boston, massachusetts. he was the fourth child and the youngest by seven years, meaning that in some way, he was his parents’ last hope.

the spiegelman family practiced orthodox judaism – his dad was raised orthodox and his mom converted from reform judaism in order to marry his dad– so marco’s childhood was very much focused on religion. the spiegelman family went to services every friday night, celebrated every holiday, forced marco to wake up early on sundays to go to hebrew school, and treated him they same as they had treated his older siblings. however, as his siblings grew up and moved out, they all stopped devoutly practicing judaism and moved into a more modern and laid back interpretation of their religion. marco craved this from a young age, but because he was stuck at home with his parents, he was forced to follow their rules and beliefs.

marco went to jewish private school for elementary and middle school, had his bar mitzvah in the seventh grade, and tried to blend in as best as he could. he liked history and english, eager to learn more about the past and help shape the future. at this point in his life, he had his goal of becoming a politician pretty much set. he would help the end the fighting in israel, solve world hunger, and just be an all around awesome guy.

however, his plans shifted on valentine’s day his eighth grade year. after coming home from school, his parents sat him down and told him that his dad had stage four exocrine pancreatic cancer. he knew that his dad had been losing weight and not eating as much recently, as well as complained all the time that his back hurt, but marco didn’t realize that it was something so terrible and life threatening.

with a survival rate of about one percent, the spiegelman family knew that his dad’s chances of survival were not good. the next few months were difficult, his dad went through lots of chemotherapy and experimental trials, but nothing seemed to be working, and he passed away before june. this crushed marco and his mom; his dad was a kind, gentle, and loving person, and the three of them had grown extremely close with each other due to marco being the youngest and the only child still living in the house.

it was hard for the two of them to live by themselves in a town that his mom didn’t really have any connection to, so a few months after his dad’s passing, marco and his mom moved to sedona, the place where she had grown up, to try and start fresh. their new beginning came coupled with the loss of their connection to their religion, and marco and his mom no longer practiced judaism

freshman year in a brand new town was intimidating for marco, and this resulted in him being extremely quiet and shy for the majority of the year. however, his history teacher saw how invested in history and current events he was and convinced marco to join the debate team. this is where he found his voice once again.

marco did a type of debate called public policy debate, a style of debate where you talk extremely fast and have to do an insane amount of research to ensure that you know what you’re talking about. in order to participate in that style of debate, his teacher assigned him a partner and he grew extremely close to her very quickly. the two of them went on to win the national title their sophomore and junior years

after joining debate, marco grew more confident in himself and began to talk more both in and out of class. being good at something gave him the boost he needed to no longer be shy, and he was well liked by most people at school. marco’s sophomore and junior years were quite possibly the best years of his life.

however, right before the trophy ceremony his junior year, he got a call from his mom, telling him that his sister had gotten in to a car crash and that she was in a coma in a hospital in san francisco. marco flew to san fran immediately after receiving the call, leaving his partner to collect the trophy on his behalf.

for the following two weeks, marco rarely left the hospital for fear that his sister would pass away without him there. although the two of them were not that close, losing another family member was something that marco could not imagine. on the fifteenth day of her being in the hospital, the doctors said that there was nothing they could do to save his sister. so they harvested her organs as donations, and the spiegelmans were forced to put another member of their family into the ground.

senior year came around and marco was a changed person. he was not as passionate or confident as he used to be, he quit debate, and he focused on judaism again to try and give his life some meaning. however, he explored the type of judaism his sister was into, reform judaism, based more on learning and exploring the ideas of religion than sitting in a sanctuary and praying.

although he skipped school often and had mediocre grades, he managed to graduate, his dreams seeming unimportant and his life in shambles. throughout this, he still managed to keep a positive attitude, now convinced that god had a plan for him and that everything would work out fine. he does have really bad anxiety tho, so it’s this classic combination of trying to have faith in the way things work out but never really being sure that they will

without his debate professor, he wouldn’t have even gotten into college, but with the help of someone making sure he followed through, he got into college t to study sustainable food & farming. this seemed like a out of the blue choice, but it combined marco’s love of research & science, and allowed him to feel like he could have a greater impact on the world than he could as a politician.

college went by without incident, but here are some highlights (joined hillel and loved being w/ other jews, was a nerd, did nerd things **including a lot of acid, lived his best life)

he recently graduated, and has found a love for beekeeping ! he has two hives and thousands of bees and he loves them all.

headcannons !

marco worked as a waiter at an italian restaurant in high school so that he could have spending money. money was never a problem in his household as his mom is a cardiologist, but he always felt bad asking for money for things, so he made his own money instead

if marco was a crayola crayon, he’d be pine green. the color is a bit darker than most of the other greens in the crayola family, just like marco in his family, but also has a hint of blue in it, hinting at the sadness that lies beneath marco’s outer layer.

marco really loves old school video games. his old nintendo 64 is collecting dust in his closet, and although he rarely has time to play it anymore, he refuses to throw it out. while growing up, video games were his way of connecting to his two older brothers, his older sister always watching on with a disapproving gleam in her eye. whenever the siblings get together, however, they always manage to turn on an old, favorite game of theirs, and the competition is always heated

in high school, marco smoked a lot of weed. he would always be seen outside at any high school party, smoking by himself or with a group of other people. however, after graduating, marco switched to cigarettes. he smokes frequently, but will furiously deny being addicted if approached about it

marco plays as waluigi when he plays mario kart/party

marco is a night person. he utterly hates getting up early in the morning, but staying up late comes easy and natural to him.

marco recycles religiously. if something is recyclable and you don’t put it into the recycling bin, he’ll lose a bit of respect for you as a person

marco absolutely loves space and the universe and stargazing (part of his appreciation for nighttime), but he also wholeheartedly believes that aliens are real, no doubt about it.

1/2 wholesome sunshiney boy, 1/2 sad and lonely and lost kid

[blackpinehq]

THE CONSPIRACY THEORIST 

facts

. name: mateo antony jiménez . age: 27 . gender identity & pronouns: cis male, he/him . occupation:  owner of the watering can florist

backstory

you were one of the town’s many surprises. you were born to two scientists renowned within the community, so before you were even alive, there was a shadow cast for you to fill. you proved to be a kid genius soon enough, and your peers expected you to be the first one to effectively get out of this wicked town. still, you were as unsuccessful as the others, ending up stuck in blackpine after your plans fell through. you didn’t beat yourself up over it - you knew full-well that you had the wits, and because of this, the mysterious, binding character of the town begged to be put under your scrutiny. after abigail’s disappearance, the mystery intensified, swallowing you more and more. now you’re determined to find the answers that keep you up at night, whatever it takes. 

connections

. the bibliomaniac » you were mere acquaintaces back in high school, but you never truly got to know each other. they were clever, as were you, and now that they too seem determined to dig out the skeletons in the town’s closet, it seems inevitable that you’ll gravitate toward one another to do so. 

. the sleuth » the two of you are like peas in pod, set apart by a handful of years. you can tell you’re no longer the only one interested and invested in all of this, which might bring out the competitive side to you. you’re not in it for the glory or reknown, but because you owe it to abigal and the myers. you’re ready to let your different approaches speak for themselves, but you fear you might have to approach them and team up if things start to get tricky.

. the paracosmist » your sibling. you grew up as partners in crime, and you continue to be. you are not immune to the occasional argument, but the two are incredibly close, being there for one another in good and bad times alike.

facelaim

carlos valdes

It’s always strange when people you never really got to know have such a powerful presence in your life, it’s sad when those people are your parents. They were always such a driving force within Mateo Jiménez’s life however. He was old enough when they passed away from a car crash to remember them at the very least, that is something he has. Something he has that he isn’t totally sure his sibling does. He remembers the strong sterile bleach smell they both always had when they got home from work. He remembers his father’s laugh, and his mother reading to him every night. He remembers they were good parents, and that were taken away from their children too soon.

The Jiménez children were lucky enough that their paternal grandparents could take them in, instead of going to the children’s home. That’s something Matty thanks his lucky stars for every day. The only time you will ever hear Matty say it’s lucky that it seems like the Jiménez family has been stuck in Black Pine for generations now, is because his grandparents were there for him and his sibling. And they were as good at taking care of the two children as Matty remembers his parents to be – it’s clear where they had gotten it from. They were kind, they were cheerful, they had a strong connection with the community, and ran a lovely little flower shop that always saw a boom in business around the holidays. They never put pressure on the kids, they were always there to support them. Matty remembers them always encouraging his curiosity, and to question things he was told.

He doesn’t know they meant it in the way he took it. He doesn’t know if they always knew something strange was up with Black Pine as well. Maybe they did. Maybe his parents did too. He hates to think about it, but maybe their tragic car accident wasn’t actually an accident … It’s something he doesn’t bring up. Or, it’s something he hasn’t brought up as of yet.

The point being Matty wasn’t just using the genius brain he inherited from his parents in school, he was using it to notice odd things going on around town. The biggest being that no one ever left. He was never the only one, his neighbor, Abigail Myers knew it too. No matter what changed through out the years it was something they spoke about, something they shared with each other. The town was off. There was something going on, maybe something that was even sinister… Who knew. Young minds always run away with ideas like that. And even when he left for college (something Abigail celebrated exuberantly with him) it was something he never stopped thinking about.

But the fact was he did get out of Black Pine. He was offered a full scholarship to the University of Chicago in Illinois, a place known for it’s sciences and specifically chemistry programs. Matty had always wanted to follow his in his parents footsteps and become a scientist – Specifically his goal was to become a Chemical or Nuclear Engineer, but there were so many roads open to him when he left Black Pine.

The city was great, college was amazing. He fit in so well with his fellow students, and there didn’t feel like there was some … unknown entity hanging over his head suspiciously watching his every single move. It was freeing. He loved his family so much, but part of him never wanted to go back to Black Pine. He invited his family up to visit him in Chicago instead. In reality he was worried that if he went back he’d never get out again. It was mid junior year when he was called and told that his grandmother had fallen incredibly ill, and likely wouldn’t make it much longer. That was the first time he went back home, and was lucky enough to say goodbye before she passed on. Matty wasn’t sure if he could leave again after that, but his grandfather insisted.

Finish college. Make something of yourself. They’d be fine.

Okay, if you insist.

So, that was what he did. He finished college with a masters degree in chemistry and he got a nice beginners job in his chosen field like he wanted to. A good one, with room for advancement and possibilities galore. Surely … this meant he was out for good. He thought that for a while. Until he was called again informing him his grandfather had been diagnosed with Cancer. He wasn’t as bad off as his grandmother had been, but he was too sick to work anymore and Matty was faced with a choice.

Ignore his family, or go back and help out. But the Jiménez family had always meant the most to him, so the answer was obvious. He moved back to Black Pine and took over the Flower shop so his grandfather could retire, and get his chemo therapy treatment in relative peace. Or at least without having to worry about his grandchildren. Things rarely work out the way you want them to, but Matty is okay with that. He isn’t angry, or bitter about being back in Black Pine like someone might have expected him to be. Perhaps that was just an experiment. Could someone actually ever truly leave?

It’s something he’s become more and more … interested in. Well, he would say interested, someone else may call it obsessed. There is something going on. It’s clear. And it became even more tragically clear when Abigail’s car was found in the town limits. Matty is absolutely gutted about what happened to her. They were friends. She was one of the very few people in town he could really talk to about his crazy theories, and she would give him some of her own. Something happened to her. Whatever happened wasn’t an accident. And he isn’t sure he’ll really be able to rest until he finally figures it out after all his years of wondering about it.

[superdames]

Junior Science Sleuths, you guys.

Junior. Science. Sleuths!

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