#well and because i gossip a lot with people who were in the program 10-15 years ago. 'academic soft skills' or whatever

[ephemeral-winter]

my gay cataloging professor i guess is like the ex chair of the dept and still organizes most of the professionalization/career events for them and anyway the next event stars his literal husband yet nowhere in the advertising does he mention this

[moral-turpitudes]

Could you write a story with 8 and 16 from angst Peaky prompts list? With Thomas Shelby x reader That would be great, thanks a lot! 😀

Here u go love!

Bets & Beatings:

Trigger Warnings: Swearing, Violence/Fighting, Blood, Knives.

Characters: Tommy Shelby x Reader

Word Count: 1,608

Summary: Y/n gets a first-hand look into some Peaky business while at a horse race with Tommy. She had been warned about them while out with friends, but sometimes people ignore what they know, for what they want instead.

Requested by: anon

You sat with your hand resting in his, not knowing exactly what you were getting yourself into. About 10 months ago you had met Tommy at the Garrison while out with your friends. You two hit it off instantly, not knowing at the time that the men jokingly cheering him on in the distance were his brothers. You distinctly remembered your friend tensing up when he came over, a cold yet unguarded look in his eyes. He was drunk, but still handled himself better than over half of the pubs occupancy. 

“What do you drink miss?” He asked, licking his lips before rubbing a cigarette along his bottom lip and lighting it.

“Oh...um whiskeys fine...” You said, watching his ocean eyes pierce through yours.

Your friend quickly leaned over to you as he struck up a conversation with the bartender, whispering in your ear.

“My god look at his hat Y/n...he has a blade in it. He’s one of those Peaky Blinder men...be careful, they’re no good.” She said.

You quickly glanced at the small razor glinting from the peak of his cap, your eyes widening a bit at the realization. They were some of the most respected - yet feared people in Small Heath. They were also very wealthy and you knew from town gossip that they would pay cops hush-money regarding some of their “actions.” 

As you turned back to your nervous friend, you put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. You weren’t scared or really on edge about him, which was odd, but all it did was make you curious.

As you turned back to him, you watched as he nodded at the bartender as he poured two shots of the brown liquid. You lifted an eyebrow at him as he didn’t put any money down for them.

“I’m Tommy Shelby, and a Shelby’s drinks are on the house.” He said before clinking his glass with yours. You smiled and knocked back your shot, the cool burn from it flowing down your throat.

“and I’m Y/n. Y/n Y/l/n...” You said winking and extending a hand to him. Instead of shaking it, he took it and gently kissed the top of it. 

As the night went on, your friends grew tired so they went home, but not before checking to make sure you were okay. With a wink, you sent them on their way and continued talking with Tommy, and eventually meeting his brothers.

You smiled at the memory as your hand still rested in his, the smoke from his cigarette filling your lungs as you waited for the boys, aunt Polly, and her son Michael to come in for the latest family meeting. About a month into your relationship you got to meet everyone and they fell in love with you, which was a huge weight lifted off your shoulders at the time.

Soon enough everyone came in, except for John who strolled in a tad later looking disheveled. You and Tommy smirked at each other as you both knew he was with Esme not long ago. 

“Hey John, nice of you to join us.” You said, next to Tommy who smirked.

“Oh fuck off.” He said jokingly.

“Alright, enough with the pleasantries, we have business to discuss.” Tommy said shortly after your remarks.

Everyone looked at him as did you, awaiting whatever crazy plan was going to come out of his mouth this time.

“We’re going to the races, but keep an eye out for a certain group of people. They’ll be wearing white suits. They fucked with some of the Lee’s things and we’re going to help them out a little bit since we’re on better terms now.” He said.

Y/n smirked slightly. “Is Peaky business funny to you love?” Tommy asked, lightening his stern tone slightly.

The smirk you had only grew. “No of course not, but I find white suits to be a hilarious looking dirt trap.” You said, cringing at the thought of a dirt and horse-shit covered suit. Tommy smirked and nodded in agreement.

“These men never had a good fashion sense dear. Luckily, you’re with the people who do.” Polly said walking by you and placing a hand in your shoulder. You clasped your hand over hers and smiled as Tommy continued. 

“We’re going to take over their books because we know horses, we know the odds, and we know what we’re doing.” He said. 

“Alright, well I’ll go get the car.” Michael said and left. Polly pulled you along to get ready in some race attire. You wore a nice hat with bright flowers adorning the top in extravagant fashion, and a black lace dress with black heels to match. Tommy and you rode separately so he could scope out the scene and get a feel for the place. He looked around slyly and you sipped your drink and made pleasant conversation with some nearby women. Lost in the chit-chat, you briefly lost sight of Tommy, panicking a bit until one of the women pointed past you in the distance. He was talking to one of the men in a white suit. Your eyes grazed down the man, his hair barely visible from his matching white top-hat. You smirked as you saw the hems of his pants slowly browning from the dirt covered tracks and stables. You walked near them and before you get to Tommy you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“Not so fast Y/n. He’s working the bastards, don’t interrupt.” Arthur said.

“Oh. okay, I’ll just sit with Pol, watch the races I guess.” You said, seeing Polly taking a seat in the distance. 

“If you hear a bell toll three times, that’s our signal that something’s happened. You’ll meet us round back in that case.” He said motioning towards the dimly lit area behind the racetrack, near the stables. 

“Alright, thanks for the heads up.” You said patting his shoulder as you took another sip of your drink and taking a seat with Polly. 

You watched as Tommy came back to the boys and discussed something and then went over to you both. He sat by you, kissing your forehead as he often would.

You heard the trumpet signaling the start of the races, the jockeys mounted and the horses ready to go. Then a shrill bell rang once as they sprinted out, passing each other as dirt flung from their hooves. The horses had different names, each with a number on the silks of the jockeys and draping under their saddles. You looked at the program in your hand at the varying numbers by each horse. You were handed it when you had walked in. 

“That horse there went up 5 to 1, instead of 15 to 1. We got them to change it. More people will bet on the 5 to 1 because it’s considered a favorite.” He explained, motioning to a black horse. But you had your eye on a leaner one. It was a beautiful gray color, and you read its name was “Up in Smoke.” You watched as it raced around the track, speeding past the others while still at 23 to 1 odds. “Oi. Now this gray one might do it though, it’s more of an underdog. Now that one will bring in some money.” He said and you smiled.

You saw them go neck and neck and you cheered as your favorite horse won.

“You liked that one aye?” Tommy asked.

“Yeah. It’s beautiful.” You said. You glanced at him as he looked at it’s trainers in the distance. You tensed as you saw a couple of the men in white suits near the black horse that came in second, their faces full of anger as they realized Tommy and the boys fucked with their earnings. 

Tommy noticed too and quickly left to head towards the back near the stables with the rest of the boys following in shifts to not cause suspicion. You nervously sat with Polly as the second race was about to start. Then your stomach dropped as you heard three bells in the distance. “Let’s go.” Polly said, guiding you to the back where Tommy and the boys went. You entered the dimly lit room warily, scared of what you’d see. 

You held back a scream as you saw Arthur, Tommy and two of the men in white suits fighting, each of them covered in blood. Polly took your hand and tugged you towards the exit but you stood there silently, watching to make sure Tommy and Arthur were okay. You shuddered as you caught Tommy pulling out a blade and slitting the mans throat, covering him in blood as Arthur beat the other man to a pulp. Tommy turned around panting a bit and saw you standing there, Polly looking down with her hands folded, waiting for them to be done, but you just stood there staring at him. He walked towards you as his brothers came through, Arthur going to the car after being dragged off the guy by John. 

“Y/n...” Tommy said, walking towards you carefully. 

“Don’t-don’t touch me.” You said, avoiding his hand moving to touch your shoulder, the blood dripping off it. “...not until you wash that shit off.” You said, gulping and looking away. 

“They warned me about you...they really did.” You said, thinking back to that night in the bar with your friends. 

He looked at your bewildered expression, and then glanced at the blood-stained white suits of the men he killed for the bets and for the Lee’s. 

Smirking at his handy work, he turned back to you. 

“That’s just business, sweetheart.”

[simping-on-the-daily]

Get to know Chelsea uncomfortably well! I just hope I can give credit to the person who wrote out the questions. XD

1. What is you middle name? “Not for me!” 2. How old are you? “Well, Thomas is twenty-nine and I was created when he was five, so........twenty-four?” 3. What is your birthday? September 25th!” 4. What is your zodiac sign? “Libra!” 5. What is your favorite color? Pink! Or black! Depends.” 6. What's your lucky number? “19th of December!” 7. Do you have any pets? “Oh, I wish!” 8. Where are you from? “The Mindscape.” 9. How tall are you? “6′1!” 10. What shoe size are you? “I think I mentioned this in another post?” 11. How many pairs of shoes do you own? “As many as I want! We don’t need to ‘buy’ stuff.” 12. What was your last dream about? “Virgil and me were riding on a giant carrot. Don’t ask. XD” 13. What talents do you have? ”Really good at Origami!” 14. Are you psychic in any way? “I can sense when people are feeling sad, so sorta?” 15. Favorite song? ”It’s All Love from Trolls: World Tour.” 16. Favorite movie? “The BNHA/MHA movies!” 17. Who would be your ideal partner? “I already have my ideal partner.” 18. Do you want children? “WE CAN HAVE KIDS?!?!” 19. Do you want a church wedding? “I’d prefer a garden wedding!” 20. Are you religious? “Not me personally, but Thomas was raised with a Catholic view.” 21. Have you ever been to the hospital? ”My boyfriend makes sure that never happens. Virgil truly lives up to his name as the protector!” 22. Have you ever got in trouble with the law? “Nah. We don’t even have laws here! Just basic human decency.” 23. Have you ever met any celebrities? “I was literally created by a celebrity. Of course!” 24. Baths or showers? “Baths! They’re so relaxing!” 25. What color socks are you wearing? “Same as before; black and white striped socks.” 26. Have you ever been famous? “Probably! I am part of a famous YouTube program, so maybe. XD” 27. Would you like to be a big celebrity? “I think I already am.” 28. What type of music do you like? “Inspirational Songs! Virgil’s gotten me into Panic! At The Disco.” 29. Have you ever been skinny dipping? “This question better fits Remus. :p” 30. How many pillows do you sleep with? “Already answered this!” 31. What position do you usually sleep in? “I’m always hugging something! Whether it’s Virgil or a pillow, nothing can escape my cuddles. >:3″ 32. How big is your house? “It’s always changing because of Roman.” 33. What do you typically have for breakfast? “Usually a pop tart or some pancakes.” 34. Have you ever fired a gun? “Noooooooooooo........” 35. Have you ever tried archery? “Saw Roman try it, did it, broke my foot, cried, and got cuddled.” 36. Favorite clean word? So......just a word?” 37. Favorite swear word? “None!” 38. What's the longest you've ever gone without sleep? “Thirty-one hours, I think?” 39. Do you have any scars? “If I had, they would’ve healed.” 40. Have you ever had a secret admirer? “Nah. Virgil was more like a non-subtle piner.” 41. Are you a good liar? “Not really? I don’t lie a whole lot, so I’m a little rusty.” 42. Are you a good judge of character? “I’ll leave that one in the air.” 43. Can you do any other accents other than your own? “My ability to make my voice more relaxing does instinctively change to people’s preferences. If some people think a British accent is calming, I get a British accent.” 44. Do you have a strong accent? “Nah!” 45. What is your favorite accent? “This is a question?” 46. What is your personality type? “?????????” 47. What is your most expensive piece of clothing? “I don’t it’s ‘expensive’ when you didn’t even buy it in the first place. :p” 48. Can you curl your tongue? “Yep!” 49. Are you an innie or an outie? “Insert the “I AM CONFUSION MEME” right now, please.” 50. Left or right handed? “Men to the left, because woman are always right. :D Quotes aside though, I’m a leftie!” 51. Are you scared of spiders? “Unless they’re watching me in the shower like a perv, then no.” 52. Favorite food? *insert a starry eyed Chelsea rambling about junk food* 53. Favorite foreign food? “Pizza counts, right?” 54. Are you a clean or messy person? “Depends.” 55. Most used phrased? ”I’m here for you.” 56. Most used word? “Love.” 57. How long does it take for you to get ready? “Not long! We can just snap our fingers and poof, we’re camera ready.” 58. Do you have much of an ego? “I’d like to think I’m pretty modest!” 59. Do you suck or bite lollipops? “Who. Bites. Lollipops?” 60. Do you talk to yourself? “It’s instinctive. I don’t know I do it until someone points it out. ;p” 61. Do you sing to yourself? “More like I hum to myself!” 62. Are you a good singer? “I’d like to think so!” 63. Biggest Fear? “Letting people down.” 64. Are you a gossip? “.........No?” 65. Best dramatic movie you've seen? “Thinking face: activate.” 66. Do you like long or short hair? “Hair’s hair!” 67. Can you name all 50 states of America? “Nope-” 68. Favorite school subject? “Art was always fun! Even if you technically never went to class....” 69. Extrovert or Introvert? “Extrovert!” 70. Have you ever been scuba diving? ”I think Thomas has, but not me myself.” 71. What makes you nervous? “Not helping others. ‘We need to talk’ is also pretty nerve wracking.” 72. Are you scared of the dark? “I’m not scared of the dark, I’m scared of what's in the dark.........YES I AM-” 73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes? “Only if it’s like ‘hey, you used that word wrong and it’s actually really offensive.’“ 74. Are you ticklish? “Please don’t let Virgil know-” 75. Have you ever started a rumor? “It was a very minor rumor that never hurt anyone!” 76. Have you ever been in a position of authority? “Does being part of the jury in the courtroom count?” 77. Have you ever drank underage? “I was a very good rule following child!” 78. Have you ever done drugs? ”NO-” 79. Who was your first real crush? “Virgil. By extension, he’s my first boyfriend! Hopefully my only.” 80. How many piercings do you have? ”Nippity nopeity none!” 81. Can you roll your R’s? “Bold of you to assume I can even roll my R’s.” 82. How fast can you type? “Pretty fast!” 83. How fast can you run? “Pretty slow!” 84. What color is your hair? “Already answered this, but it’s sorta like a light salmon? Lightish reddish pink?” 85. What color is your eyes? “Magenta and pink! It’s got a sorta effect to it.” 86. What are you allergic to? “I feel really bad for the people who are allergic!” 87. Do you keep a journal? “Used to, and I still have it!” 88. What do your parents do? “I don’t have parents, try again.” 89. Do you like your age? ”Not sure on how to answer this?” 90. What makes you angry? “Like Mr. Rogers said, people hurting other people.” 91. Do you like your own name? “Why do people like this question so much-” 92. Have you already thought of baby names, and if so what are they? “I have! For a boy, I think I said Aiden, Connor and Jacob. For a girl I went with Faith, Hope and Harmony.” 93. Do you want a boy a girl for a child? “My child is my child, and I’ll love them regardless of their gender!” 94. What are you strengths? “I’m upbeat, optimistic, and comforting! At least, that’s what I think.” 95. What are your weaknesses? “I don’t like these kind of questions? I don’t wanna dwaddle on the bad bits of myself.....” 96. How did you get your name? ”We all came up with our names during high school! Aisha came up with her name and since we both imaginary friends created in the same year, I stuck with the ‘ending with a’ pattern and got Chelsea!” 97. Were your ancestors royalty? “I don’t even have ancestors-” 98. Do you have any scars? “I’m pretty sure we had this question already-” 99. Color of your bedspread? ”Black and pink!” 100. Color of your room? “My bedroom walls? Well, it’s white.”

[petewentzworld]

Dear Past Self: Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz Interviewed

Why looking back once in a while is integral to embracing the future...

Pete Wentz is driving around LA, speaking to me over the phone about his newly-launched range of jewellery and apparel, Ronin.

As far as rock star business enterprises go, it’s certainly extravagant, and the website’s description of the rings, pendants and hoodies held therein – “born out of the idea of wandering, a samurai without a master, and the free dreams that accompany facing the world on your own” – adds to the initial sense that Wentz’s professional career may have ballooned into parody, the kind of project Connor 4 Real from Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping might have signed off on.

“We would go and sample products in the jewellery district in downtown LA, learning why one gold looks more yellow than the other,” he tells me when I ask about it. “It’s been a really interesting learning experience.”

But then Pete Wentz, to borrow Lana Del Rey’s favourite American poet Walt Whitman, is large; he contains multitudes, and some of those multitudes just happen to involve samurai-themed lockets. Among other projects, he owns a clothing company, a film production company, a nightclub, and a minority share in American USL soccer team Phoenix Rising.

“It scares me sometimes, watching him,” Patrick Stump once joked. “The two seconds you're not with that dude he's made 30 decisions that are going to affect our band for the rest of the year.”

Ah yes: he’s also, you may recall, the bassist in Fall Out Boy.

The band recently released a new single, ‘Dear Future Self (Hands Up)’, to accompany the release of their second career-spanning retrospective, ‘Greatest Hits: Believers Never Die – Volume Two’.

Such records are inevitably a time for bands to take stock of what they’ve already achieved and what value they might continue to offer the world, and the single seems to acknowledge that duality: “Dear future self, I hope it's going well / I'm drunk on cheap whiskey in an airport hotel,” Stump reflects on the new track. Like Janus, the Greek god of beginnings, endings, and Wyclef Jean collaborations, Wentz finds himself gazing in all directions.

In the near future lies a reminder of the past. Despite the fact that all three bands have new albums coming out, it’s perhaps an easy take to view next year’s ‘Hella Mega Tour’ – Green Day, Weezer, and Fall Out Boy performing at a number of stadium dates together on a triple-headliner bill – as a nostalgia trip.

Is it something Wentz worries about?

“I think about that for sure,” he says. “There’s a danger that, once you become known as one thing, the world knows you as that thing forever. When you’ve been doing art for 15 or 20 years you do have to think about your legacy, but it’s really important to remember why you did it in the first place.”

However cynical your view, it’s hard to argue that the band don’t deserve a victory lap with two of the most influential acts in pop-punk history. “It would be insane for us to turn this tour down because we grew up on ‘Dookie’ and the ‘Buddy Holly’ video – those things were super influential on the early years of our band. So this is wish fulfilment in that way. But then I think that’s why it’s important that we did the Wiz Khalifa tour, that we do remix albums, you know? We wanna do both.”

On musical terms, at least, Fall Out Boy have often done just that. Their first two albums, ���Take This to Your Grave’ and 2005’s breakout ‘From Under the Cork Tree’, are perhaps their most straightforward in genre terms – but even then, ‘Dance Dance’ was arguably more playful and inventive than anything the cross-sections of pop, emo and punk had served up in the preceding decade. By the time 2007’s ‘This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race’ hit number two in the Billboard charts – their commercial peak to date – the band were already steadfastly toying with hip hop and R&B in both their production values and collaborators.

“I think that there was a time when we were doing that and people were scratching their heads a little bit,” Wentz says. As he rightly points out, the days of cultural tribalism in listener habits are all but dead now in the Spotify age. “I think genre has broken down so much more now, the way people listen to music, that people are more open to it.”

‘Make America Psycho Again’ is a fine example, a collection of remixed tracks from 2015’s ‘American Beauty/American Psycho’ featuring guest appearances from Azealia Banks, Migos and Big K.R.I.T. among others. The title, of course, is a direct reference to the campaign slogan Donald Trump was using in his Presidential election campaign at the time. I ask whether the band are cautious about straying into political territory.

“I don’t think you can avoid it anymore,” he tells me, picking back up after the signal drops on our international call. “We live in a time of super inauthenticity – people taking pictures of food that you don’t even know if they eat, people having fear of missing out – and so I think, in a weird way, to cut through you have to be super authentic. Which is, to me, what people like Lana Del Rey, Billie Eilish, Skrillex, Kanye, and whatever do. You just gotta be who you are and cut through all the noise. And I think people are… maybe not more forgiving, but more appreciative of you being honest about that stuff.”

There was a period in the 00s when Wentz was unavoidable; the video for ‘This Ain’t a Scene…’ hilariously parodied the bassist’s newfound gossip-mag status – later compounded by his marriage to Ashley Simpson in 2008, and subsequent divorce less than three years later – but inevitably, it wasn’t always something he could brush off. In February 2005, Wentz attempted suicide by taking an overdose of the anxiety medication Ativan, and ended up spending a week in hospital recovering.

Today he still finds the pace of modern life extremely deleterious to mental health, not least dealing with the quagmire of social media on a daily basis. “Every day you wake up and there’s a new take, and it’s kind of relentless,” he says with a sigh. “It can get a little numbing when you look out across social media. It can feel really lonely.

“I think that now, more than ever, who you are and what you project into the world will inform your politics, how you interact with people, how you feel when you wake up in the morning. I just want to craft things that are important to Fall Out Boy, to insert something meaningful into people’s lives. That’s really, really what’s important.”

For all the extracurricular projects, it’s clear that Wentz’s heart still beats faster for Fall Out Boy. He’s ready to keep taking the band forward, he tells me. “But it’s got to be something interesting. It’s got to have a perspective. There’s something exciting about Quentin Tarantino being like, ‘I’m just doing 10 or 12 movies and that’s it’. It’s exciting because it makes every movie have meaning. So to me, whatever it is, the next thing has to have perspective, has to have meaning, has to have feeling.”

And what might that look like?

“Maybe it’s scoring a movie, I don’t know. It’s got to be something a little bit different, I don’t think it can be a straight-up album from us.”

Beyond the nightclubs and bling, Wentz is a remarkable philanthropist – a term which has perhaps been sullied in recent times for its application in sanitising billionaires, but which feels appropriate given Wentz’s personal history, and the fact that his work directly supports those who suffer from the same mental health issues that he’s battled over the years. His work as a spokesperson for The Jed Foundation’s ‘Half of Us’ campaign, a program aimed at lowering the rate of teenage suicide, has been invaluable. It’s the kind of supported he could have used 15, 20, 25 years ago.

“I think we live in a time where there is less of a stigma around mental health, and I hope the next generation will feel even more open to speak about it,” he tells me. “Knowing that you’re not alone and other people are going through similar things is so important for our culture to move ahead. So many times when I was younger I thought: am I the only person who feels this way? I think it can be less isolating to know that, hey, Jay-Z feels that way sometimes too.”

For Wentz, who now has three children, the idea of young people today facing those problems alone is terrifying: “I’m raising kids in this world, and I think it’s important for them to know that talking about this doesn’t mean you’re weak or alone. None of it’s weird, none of it’s you by yourself. Young people need to feel that they’re part of the community as a whole.”

Across such an extraordinary life and career, I wonder if he carries any regrets. There’s a brief silence on the line, one that transcends the usual delay carried between the pink-sunset streets of LA and the Cardiff Travelodge I’m calling home for the night.

“In my twenties I felt lots of anxiety and lots of stress about every decision that we made, instead of just living life. I’ve realised that sometimes you’ve just got to live life and trust that you’ll make it from A to B to C. Live through the ups and downs. I think that’s something important that we don’t always impart on young people.”

Spoken like a man who knows real gold when he sees it.

[meanderings0ul]

Philinda & Timelines

I wrote most of this in a more disorganized form a few months back, but now I’ve fleshed it out and done some more calculations. I hope it might be interesting to fans of these characters or useful for those who write fic for them. I personally like to have some dates and characterization timelines to look at when writing fics set in a “real world” type show, so I generally keep some notes for myself in word docs. Here I just kinda dove into it. 

I don’t go into plot timeline details here because I just don’t care. Marvel does an incredibly shit job of taking travel time and medical times into account. They can try and convince me something happened in two weeks, but I’m always going to ignore it. This uses info from the show itself and from an online date calculator. I am mostly not pulling from the various wikis. The wikis are great for trivia, but they are massively self-contradictory due to tie-in comics, stuff said in various interviews, etc. It’s Marvel. [Edited 03/20 to finally include workable theories for Captain Marvel]

*

Phil Coulson was born July 8, 1964. This makes his sun sign Cancer and his Chinese zodiac year the Dragon. He was an active and outgoing kid who wished he had a brother to play with. His dad died or was killed in 1973. Coulson was only 9 years old. They’d either finished restoring Lola together earlier that year or in 1972. It is implied in season 2 that he and his mother moved after the death, either to a different part of the town or somewhere else entirely as he did not attend the high school his father worked at. Coulson finished high school and went to college to study history, both because that was the subject his dad taught and because he was always a giant history nerd. He worked as a lifeguard as a teenager. We do not know anything about his mother’s work or their relationship when she was alive. A research project into the S.S.R. brought him to Shield’s attention. He was recruited from college by Nick Fury, an agent at the time.

Melinda May was born November 20, 1965 (a reference from the scanned back-page of a tie-in comic I cannot find again - Fury’s Secret Files from somewhere I think). Obviously, they’ve just used Ming’s birthday with a different year to parallel the actors. Her birth location is always listed as classified, so it’s possible her mother was involved with something for the CIA at the time. Her sun sign is Scorpio and her birth year in the Chinese zodiac is the snake. May always picked up new physical activities quickly according to her dad in S3. She started ice-skating at 7 and quickly began skating competitively. At 12 she switched from skating to martial arts. May has a trusting relationship with both her parents. We don’t know anything about when they seemingly separated, decided to live separately for Reasons, or got divorced. There is around a year unaccounted for between when she most likely graduated high school and when she likely joined Shield. She might have joined against her mother’s wishes. We know nothing of how she was recruited.

Star Wars Episode IV came out in May of 1977. Coulson was 12 and May was 10. This is totally relevant information.

These dates mean May is just shy of two years younger than Coulson. More precisely, Coulson is 17 months older.

We know they were at the Academy together (Comms and Ops shared some classes and electives) and graduated at the same time because of 2x4. Comms and Ops would have been in different facilities, though reasonably close together for logistics purposes. There would be a significant amount of overlap for field agent hopefulls. They probably wouldn’t have seen each other every day. They probably usually saw each other multiple times a week, depending on their classes.

They also shared classes with future Agent Blake and Agent Garrett. (It’s important to remember that Agents Hand, Hartley, Sitwell, and Hill are younger in the MCU and did not attend the Academy until the previous four Agents had already left.)

From common practices in American educational law, Coulson very likely started school (kindergarten) in the fall of 1969 (at 5). He would have graduated in 1982 and started college that fall. It is also possible he started school in 1970 (at 6) and graduated in 1983. May likely started school in 1971 at 5 and would have graduated in spring 1984 at 18 or she possibly started school at 1970 at 4 and graduated in 1983 at 17. (At the time, starting kindergarten at 4 years old was common if you would be turning 5 soon. Start ages were lower in the 70s.)

Here’s where a couple different things could have happened.

I’m going to move forward here with the (imo) more likely graduation ages for them both. These aren’t official. These events could have happened a year earlier or a year later, but anything more than that would be very unlikely.

It’s spring 1984. Coulson just finished his sophomore year of college and is about to turn 21. May just graduated high school at 18.

We know the Shield Academies at this point were legitimate in the eyes of the U.S. Government, though mostly under the radar. There was enough of a structured curriculum schedule in place we know they had a yearbook (as of season 5). Taking on recruits under 18 generally requires parental permission, as Shield is still paramilitary.

Option 1 - Coulson’s research has already drawn Shield’s attention and he is approached by Fury. Someone recruits May or she becomes aware of Shield some other way. They start at the Shield academies fall of 1984. They are 21 and 18 when they join.

Option 2 - Coulson continues through his junior year of college. His research into the S.S.R. draws Shield’s attention. Fury goes to recruit him. May spends a year doing any number of things. Her mother might want her to pursue the CIA. May picks Shield. They start at the Shield academies fall of 1985. They are 22 and 19 when they join.

Option 3 - Coulson is about to finish college when he draws the attention of Shield and is recruited by Fury. May is an unknown for two years. They start at the Shield academies fall of 1986. They are 23 and 20 when they join.

Star Trek IV (the whale movie) came out in November of 1986. Coulson was 23 and May was just 21. This is also totally relevant information.

Let’s say MCU Shield’s training program lasted 3-4 years. (Fitzsimmons strongly implied in season 1 Seeds that Scitech usually took about four years.)

The absolute earliest (3 years) May and Coulson (and Garrett) should have been in the field was 1987/1988/1989. Their most likely brand-new Level 1 Agent year was 1988/1989/1990.

Coulson and May were most likely Level 1 agents at 23 and 21/24 and 22/25 and 23.  

The Sausalito mission mentioned in episode 2x4 probably happened later in 1988/1989/1990.

John Garrett, who they were trained with, was injured in Sarajevo and became a Project Deathlok subject in 1990. He probably was only Level 2. He’d only been an agent 2-3 years maximum.

We knew from season 1 that Coulson’s mom Julie was long gone. The wiki puts her death as September 22, 1992, exactly 19 years after her husband’s death. Coulson was only 28.  

This is where I take issue with one of the semi-official dates. Big issue.

We got a flashback to a younger Agent Coulson and Agent May in season 4. May was a Level 3 specialist and Coulson was recently Level 4. We know they knew each other pretty well at that point, enjoyed each other’s company, and also frequently went weeks or months without seeing each other. They worked on missions separately and together and kept track of each other through company gossip. It’s at this point in their lives that a little, badly-kept-secret, mutual crush is going on that is ultimately not pursued for multiple reasons. They stay close friends and work partners for the next 10-15 ish years.

Parts of the wiki claims this flashback was to 2003. However, this is basically a retcon and in my oh so professional and classy-sounding opinion is just dumber than fuck. (Also, that date was never used in the episode.)

The absolute latest Coulson and May started as field agents was 1990. So *13 years* later they’re still Level 3? I don’t think so. Level 1 is your entry level. Anyone who is performing well is only going to stay there 1-3 years max. Level 2 is your no longer a noob level. If you’re doing great work let’s say people stay there 2-5 years. Agents would stay longer in Levels 3/4/5 than Levels 1 and 2.

Let’s be generous and give them 5 years at Levels 1 and 2. It could have easily been 4, maybe even 3 depending on how fast they got their groove after the whole “in the bay for five hours” thing. Coulson and May logically made it to Level 3 anywhere around 1993/1994/1995.

The Captain Marvel movie makes dubious use of existing aos canon, but if we use the perspective that Phil is a brand new Level 3 field agent instead of one fresh out of the Academy (which is completely incompatible with aos’s timeline) than we can say Phil and May were new level 3 agents sometime early in 1995. 

A sensible placement for the Russian 0-8-4 mission would be anywhere from late 1995-1997. With Phil having recently made Level 4 (strongly implied the the flashback), I would suggest 1996 or 1997 as the most likely placement. 

From the tie-in comics, MCU Agent Barton is recruited by Nick Fury around this same time, Agent Romanoff “recruited’ by him a few years later.

By 2003, both Coulson and May should have advanced a Level again and be taking on more complex missions. Strike Team Delta is part of Shield now. Fury is Director.

The Bahrain mission happened in 2008. Coulson was likely a Level 6 operative and May would be Level 5. Coulson took a lot of orders from a lot of people in episode 2x17. I highly doubt he was Level 7 at that point. The agent in charge of the operation, Agent Hart, was one of the ones Katya took over. Big Shield headquarters forbade Coulson from sending May into the building. He gave her the clear to go anyway and covered for her. May was 42. Coulson was 43 or 44.

May worked on administration for mostly Level 3s in the basement of the Triskelion for the next 4.5 years. This does not mean she became a lower ranking agent; you would likely want a higher-than-3 managing your level 3s.

Coulson is sent to make contact with Tony Stark later in 2008. At some point he advances to Level 7 then 8. Given Shield viewed the Bahrain rescue as a legendary success, not knowing how it unfolded, it is reasonable to think Coulson was promoted to 7 shortly afterwards. 

Coulson died on the Helicarrier on May 4th, 2012 during The Incident. He was 47. May was 46 when she found out he was dead.

When we met them in season 1, Coulson was recently 49 (technically…) and May was 47. May is a Level 7 agent and Coulson remains Level 8.

After season 5 they are on a beach in Tahiti. Coulson is 54 and May is 52. They’ve known each other 34/33/32 years.

*

Now, I’ve tried to structure this whole thing in a way that should you want to change their school-dates and use any of the three options you should be able to go through and add/subtract from the existing numbers pretty easily. So I hope that’s useful if you’ve been trying to math and write fic or if there’s just been general confusion.

I greatly prefer to write from the Option 2 set, with adjustments made for Captain Marvel. That just makes the most sense to me as far as events we know about from season one and the other life events for these characters. So if you’ve read any of my stuff, this is generally where I’m coming from.

I really hope this was useful and interesting. I spent far too much time on it.

[loveraids]

advice for incoming freshmen

hey guys! here’s a list of some tips i made for incoming freshmen. i thought i’d share some advice/knowledge i’ve accumulated over the years too. everything’s under the cut. if you have any questions/concerns, feel free to message me! ☀️ (tw: long post)

1. one of the biggest fears many people have entering high school is not making friends. however, there are MANY opportunities where you can make friends! besides being friendly with who you sit with in class, try joining a sport, club, extra curricular, etc. i’m not saying making friends is the easiest thing in the world- i still struggle with it today. but don’t put yourself down if you’re not immediately friends with everyone in the school in the first week- it’ll take some time to develop. remember that everyone else is just as scared as you are, and they aren’t gonna come out of their shells until you do as well.

2. depending on your school, they may start throwing college shit at u on day one (although unlikely). no matter what, don’t stress right now!! the college process really doesn’t begin until the weeks leading up to the summer of junior year. you have time!! it’s ok to not know what you want to do. college has an “undecided” major for a reason.

3. V O L U N T E E R. i cannot stress this enough. it has soso many benefits and freshman year will most likely be the most time-free year you have. find a position at your local zoo, library, camp, hospital, etc. it’s a great resume booster and can aid you in the college application process (additionally, if you have an honors society that requires volunteer hours, you’ll need them anyways). also, you get to help people !

4. freshman year is going to teach you what real high school work is. you may struggle, and it’s ok! i was one of the “bright” kids that had their grades drop once i entered high school, and yeah, it did a lot to my self esteem. but throughout the years i picked myself up- i embraced help from my peers/teachers, i figured out what method of studying works best (pro tip: studying for math? look over the basic rules and do thousands of practice problems. science that isn’t math based? quizlet and khan academy. history? quizlet.), i learned that it’s OK to get a grade under a 90/A-. it’s going to seem tough at first, but just remember that you’re adjusting to a completely new environment and work ethic. you will get through it!! please shoot me an ask if you ever need help i’ll always answer. (edit: also do ur homework!!! it could be the difference between a B+ and an A-.)

5. imagine the crustiest person in your grade right now. now imagine them trying to hit on a kid that’s four years younger than you. gross, right? that’s exactly what a senior hitting on a freshman is like!! do not do that shit!!! there is NO reason why a senior should be trying to hook up with you when they’re 17-18 and you’re 14-15. that shit is NASTY. do NOT date seniors (even juniors are sketchy).

6. high school is where you will probably encounter alcohol/drugs/sex/etc at some point. do not be pressured!! if you don’t wanna smoke or drink then don’t do it (if you’re with the type of people who pressure, you better run). ive personally never had an experience where i was pressured, and people were usually respectful, but i can’t speak the same for everyone else. wanna get fucked up and party with your friends? be careful! i’m not promoting underage drinking but lets be honest a lot of kids do it. no sense in trying to pretend like that isn’t the real world. if you’re invited to some party by someone you KNOW has a bad rep, then don’t go!! you’ll have more opportunities.

7. if you’re worried about SATs/college admissions exams, you have a year. kids in my school are kinda crazy and were studying freshman year which made NO sense to me. end of sophomore year/beginning of junior year is usually adequate (plus- the main rule with SATs/ACTs is that you should take the test NO MORE than three times- that’s three chances!! i personally did well on my SAT, so if u have any questions feel free to ask me.

8. back to the point of pressure - if you’re going to a gifted and talented program/school, you will most likely feel academic pressure. with so many bright and smart peers, your standards will end up being much higher than the general population. i’m speaking from experience.

9. student government is usually a popularity contest. if you don’t win, don’t beat yourself up. if you do, congrats!

10. take pictures! save holiday cards! make memories!! i sincerely regret not taking photos (with me in them!!) during my freshman and sophomore years. there are a lot of great memories that i didn’t record because i was too embarrassed to get in front of a camera. i’ve learned that i’d rather cringe at a photo i look bad in in the privacy of my own phone, rather than not have a picture at all.

11. start developing good studying habits right away. what motivated me was getting cute/colorful pens, highlighters, erasers, post-its, etc., and making my notes look really pretty. i have my own personal post-it collection now. if you find ways to make studying even remotely fun/interesting, it will be extremely beneficial in the long run. i remember the summer before my junior year, i was excited to go back literally because i wanted to use my new pens.

12. this is a future piece of advice, but i would say there’s a 99% chance that you will be friends with mostly different people by senior year. you might have a core few, or a bestie, but myself and many others know that there are people who we were best friends with freshman year that don’t say hi to us in the halls senior year.

13. listen, there are gonna be some snake ass bitches. there’s no avoiding it. just don’t pay attention to them!! they get off on thinking they’re better than you. the best way to no longer deal with someone you don’t like is to just not associate with them. i’m obviously over simplifying these situations, but its usually not that deep. if it’s to the point where it’s causing you a great amount of stress, then it may be something you need to talk to a guidance counselor about.

14. please. do. not. run. and scream. in. the. halls. who do u think u are?? it’s 8 AM i don’t want to hear your screeching voice as you run into 7 people!!!!!

15. the freshmen are usually the joke of the school. you’ll hear you guys referred to as gremlins in some way, shape, or form. just deal with it, you’ll understand when you’re no longer freshmen (unless someone’s being unnecessarily mean!!).

16. make friends with your teachers!!!!!!!!! stay after class to have a little conversation with them. email them after school. bring them gifts on major holidays. IT WILL PAY OFF. letters of recommendation? done! need a teacher to sign off on something? done! minorly messed up in class? they’ll let it go bc they like you! this will also probably result in an increase in your character/participation grades.

17. make a travel pack that you keep in your bag - a few small bills,  pads/tampons (for those who need), pen, pencil, bobby pins, nail file, hair elastic, gum/mints, small perfume, band-aids, charger, etc.

18. thrift books sells books for really cheap!! also, ALWAYS check other places before ordering from normal bookstores (i’m looking at u barnes & noble)- they’re most likely cheaper.

19. i’m not gonna be one of those people who is like “school is the best!! it can be great for anyone if you just try!!” bc that shit aint true. it might suck ass for some of you. just know that high school isn’t your life. some people act like your life ends after high school. we’re 14-18 years old and still have so much to learn and see. if you set up a countdown to the end of high school your first day of freshman year, so be it.

20. your teachers are people too. they’re not there for you to use and abuse. they have families, problems, LIVES. they also have 3289472 students besides yourself, and assuming they should put you above the rest will only end up in disappointment.

21. social media is not all that matters. esp in this day and age, people will definitely be using snapchat and instagram (and hey! tumblr too). but don’t think you need social media to fit in. one of the most popular girls in my school literally made her instagram just the other day. to reiterate: it’s not that deep!!

22. you’re gonna change a lot (which is ok!!). freshman year i only wore hot topic and watched supernatural & doctor who. now, i just watch cooking vids and fawn over shawn mendes. it’s ok to change!! even just though freshman year you’ll change. i know i got like. super gay

23. if you find yourself having free time (or having study hall), do your homework!!! once you get home you’ll probably get distracted/lazy. what i used to do was go to my local library after school and get all my homework done so that i wouldn’t leave my school mindset and not wanna do anything. even if you don’t get everything done, you’ll thank yourself later.

24. there’s a difference between “forming your own opinion” on someone and completely ignoring their reputation/what your friends say. i can’t tell you how many people have gotten burned by the SAME guy in my school because none of them even kept in mind the warnings they had heard about him. it’s ok to give people a chance, but remember that most people’s reputations hold some truth (but not everyone!).

25. this seems pretty obvious but like. be nice. don’t talk mad shit about people you don’t know. rumors fly FAST in high school. what’s even worse is when they’re not true. fact check your shit if you ARE gonna gossip.

26. ok last point (for now). everything is gonna be new. there’s no getting around it. you WILL feel out of place. you’ll most likely be anxious. but everything will end up ok (cheesy, i know). the first week of high school is one the scariest weeks you’ll have in high school. things need time to settle. you’ll make friends, you’ll find things you like, you’ll be happy!! enter high school with a growth mindset. it may not seem like it, but your attitude WILL impact how things turn out.

overall, you guys will be fine. good luck to all of you !! if you have any questions or need advice on a specific thing, please feel free to send me an ask!! i’m always here. love u bbies

[news-mashable-yahoopartner-blog]

23 things on 'The Office' you've never noticed before

The Office is truly the show that keeps on giving.

Though the NBC comedy has been off the air since 2013, the discussion surrounding it is still very much alive. To this day, fans keep finding new, hilarious Easter eggs in the show.

The more than 750,000 diehards who come together on r/DunderMifflin to chat about the program are experts at pointing out the hidden details they pick up mid-rewatch. 

We've compiled 23 of the best. Find out how well you really know your stuff.

SEE ALSO: The 65 absolute best moments from 'The Office'

1. David Wallace *also* has a world's best boss mug

If you thought Michael Scott was the sole best boss in the world, you're wrong! At least according to the desk mugs ...

Turns out David Wallace, chief financial officer of Dunder Mifflin, has a World's Best Boss mug on his desk, too. It's visible in the Season 2 episode, "Valentine's Day." It's black and has a more obnoxious font than Michael's. It's unclear whether David Wallace bought his own mug.

Will the real World's Best Boss please stand up? Oh look, it's Michael!

Image: the office/netflix

2. Michael uses his own brand of salad dressing

In the second episode of Season 4, Michael and Jan are chatting about ageism in his office while eating salads. Everything seems normal until you look closely: The salad dressing on the table is Michael Scott's own personal brand, "Great Scott."

Great Scott!

Image: the office/netflix

The jar is adorned with a homemade label featuring Michael's face and a bowl of salad. Thanks to a deleted scene from the previous episode, "Fun Run," we know all about it. 

"What do I look like to you, Paul Newman? That's actually not a good example, because I have been compared to a young Paul Newman, my eyes and my face. And I make my own salad dressing," Michael says in the deleted scene, which starts around 4:10. "I mix Newman's Ranch with Newman's Italian. Sell it at flea markets for a slight loss. I could make ... I could make a profit if I changed one of the ingredients to Wishbone, but I won't do it."

3. That Dunder Mifflin Newsletter was trolling us

In Season 1, Episode 4, viewers get a glimpse of an old Dunder Mifflin Employee Newsletter. The Easter egg lies within the text.

In a classic move, the people writing the words didn't take the time to crank out a full article. Rather, they wrote a bit of sensical information followed by absolutely anything.

"A lot of useless information"

Image: the office/netflix

"Welcome to yet another exciting edition of the Dunder Mifflin Employee Newsletter," the article begins quite reasonably. But by the second paragraph, things get meta.

"As anybody can easily tell, this newsletter doesn't really have a lot to say. It's really just a prop to fill some space and sort of look like a newsletter without really being much of a newsletter at all ... In fact, at times we can probably get away with not using real English words, such as kjgavbiwiwpo..."

This isn't even the only time The Office writers did this. Now you know!

4. Jim signs Meredith's pelvis cast "John Krasinski"

Remember when Michael hit Meredith with his car and she had to get a cast on her pelvis? John Krasinski does! Because in Season 4, Episode 3, he signed it ... as himself, not his character Jim Halpert! Whoops.

Hmm ...

Image: the office/netflix

5. Stanley's resolution was, um, telling

In "Gossip," the first episode of Season 6, Dunder Mifflin Scranton learns Stanley's been cheating on his wife, Teri, with some woman named Cynthia. In Season 7, Episode 13, it's crystal clear that hasn't changed. Stanley's resolution card literally says, "To be a better husband and boyfriend." Boy, have you lost your damn mind?

To be fair, everyone's resolutions are a lot.

Image: the office/netflix

6. Oscar's drinkin' prop wine

Oscar was so excited to drink the wine in Season 8, Episode 12, no one realized the prop label was still on the bottom of the bottle. If you pause the episode you can clearly see a piece of tape with the word "Oscar" on that bottle of, um, Chateau Galmon?

"I am Bacchus, God of wine!"

Image: the office/netflix

7. Michael keeps his broken plasma on the wall for a while

Michael and Jan broke up after all hell broke lose in the Season 4 episode, "Dinner Party," but he held onto a key reminder of his ex well into Season 5.

In "Dream Team," Pam visits Michael's place to start the Michael Scott Paper Company, and his pride and joy — the mini plasma TV Jan shattered by throwing a Dundie Award at it — is still mounted on the wall. The most hilarious part of the situation? Michael clearly got a new television, which he placed directly under the broken flatscreen, neglecting to trash the old one. 

Could it be he wasn't ready to let go — or that Jan mounted it on the wall and he had no idea how to take it down? We may never know.

Two TVs ...

Image: the office/netflix

8. He then attempts to sell the broken plasma

Finally, in "Garage Sale," Episode 19, of Season 7, Michael is finally ready to part with his tiny broken plasma. But rather than throw it out, he attempts to SELL IT at the warehouse garage sale. Come on, dude.

Nope.

Image: the office/netflix

9. Return of the clown art

Speaking of that warehouse garage sale, another familiar object was for being sold: That creepy clown painting that used to be stuck to the walls of Jim and Pam's house (aka, Jim's parent's old house). Wonder how they finally got it off the wall ...

No one will buy that clown painting.

Image: the office/netflix

10. Bob Vance was possibly a marketing genius

Any fan of The Office knows that Phyllis' husband, Bob Vance (of Vance Refrigeration), loves to plug his business whenever he gets the chance. 

But one theory considers the idea that Bob Vance wasn't simply trying to market Vance Refrigeration to Dunder Mifflin employees — instead, perhaps he was constantly repeating his company name for the cameras filming the Dunder Mifflin documentary in hopes that if the footage ever aired it'd be free advertising. Genius.

11. Michael ate tiramisu from the trash

This one's kind of a long story, but in Season 5, Episode 10, Jim gives Pam a piece of tiramisu as a peace offering after going out to lunch with Michael.

Pam rejects the offering and throws the tiramisu away, but in a later scene we see Michael eating a piece of tiramisu at his desk. Though some speculate Michael also brought tiramisu back from the restaurant, he's seen walking into the office alongside from Jim empty-handed and even claps at a joke.

Michael later takes a shot at Pam, scolding her for throwing away "perfectly good tiramisu" just because it has a hair on it, so all signs point to him digging Pam's dessert out of the trash.

12. This extremely deep paper clip find

In Season 5, Episode 1, Michael introduces Pam to the office's replacement receptionist, Ronnie, via video chat, explaining that Ronnie is unable to find "those little colored paper clips" he likes so much.

Somehow, an Easter egg mastermind discovered that Jim and Pam's license plate, CHD-0032, is the model number for those clips Michael likes. (If you Google the plate number, they come up.) 

13. Jim's title in Stamford was "Assistant Regional Manager"

Dwight spent season after season begging for the title "Assistant Regional Manager" instead of "Assistant to the Regional Manager," and all Jim had to do to get it was transfer to the Stamford branch. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In Season 3, Episode 6, Jim falls asleep at his desk, and we get a peek at that nameplate, baby!

The real deal

Image: the office/netflix

14. Creed's fake name is the actor's real name

In Season 4, Episode 4, Creed Bratton — the character on The Office played by actor Creed Bratton — explained that whenever he gets into financial trouble, he transfers his debt to a man named "William Charles Schneider." Turns out William Charles Schneider is actor Creed's real name, and there's a good chance that's his real passport.

15. Michael's wallet looks like a '90s DIY project

Does Michael Gary Scott carry around a bedazzled wallet? That's absolutely what it looks like...

16. Jim wears a wig in Season 3

John Krasinski's received some feedback on Jim's floppy hair over the years, but if things looked a little off in Season 3, it wasn't his fault.

Krasinski had to cut his hair short for his role in the film Leatherheads, which gave him no choice but to wear a wig during the last six episodes of The Office's third season. Krasinski further explains his hair challenges in this interview starting at around 2:15.

Wig Tuna

Image: the office/netflix

17. St. Patrick's Day celebrations were lit

Season 6, Episode 19 is dedicated to St. Patrick's Day, and the office really goes all out. For example, did you notice Michael has an Italian flag on his desk instead of an Irish one, or that they dyed the water in the community water cooler green? LOL.

The closest the Irish get to Christmas

Image: the office/netflix

Image: the office/netflix

18. Andy's Call of Duty username is extremely Andy

Viewers get a glimpse of Andy playing Call of Duty in Season 3, Episode 5 of the show. If you look closely you'll see his username is a very fitting "Here Comes Treble" — named after his college a cappella group, who we later hear about in the Season 9 episode, "Here Comes Treble."

Image: the office/netflix

19. Creed possibly has a mugshot hanging at his desk

Does Creed casually have his mugshot hanging above his desk? Honestly, we wouldn't put it past him.

20. Jim's last name is misspelled on his wedding sign

Congrats to Pam Beesly and Jim HalpRET on their wedding. Was this a typo or an intentional joke? We can't keep track anymore.

Hmm...

Image: the office/netflix

21. Wait, who is that?

You know when TV shows like actors so much they bring them back to play other roles in the future? How about when they replace a character with a different actor and expect viewers not to notice or to be totally fine with it? The Office is guilty of doing both of those things.

Image: the office/netflix

Dwight's nephew in the show's final season was also an extra in Season 7's "WUPHF.com" episode. Elizabeth, the stripper hired throughout the course of the show, appeared in the "Ben Franklin," "Fun Run," and "Finale" episodes, yet not everyone seemed to remember her. Andy's parents and Pam's mom were recast throughout the series. And Dwight hired Devon, the employee Michael fired in Season 2, back in the finale.

22. John Krasinski shot the opening Scranton footage

This one's less of a "did you notice?" and more of a "did you know?" but John Krasinski, the man you know and love as Jim Halpert, is semi-responsible for the iconic Office intro. According to TV Guide, Krasinski shot scenes from the opening credits sequence while on a research trip.

23. There's a nod to the UK version of the show

What would the U.S. version of The Office be without a reference to the UK version of the series? 

The address of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton office is 1725 Slough Avenue, Scranton, PA, which is special because there's a town in the UK called Slough, where the UK version of the show just so happens to take place. 

Image: screengrab/google maps

And that's not all. When you search in the Scranton branch's address in Google maps it shows Pennsylvania Paper & Supply Company, the building that's featured in the intro footage, and Poor Richards Pub, the Dunder Mifflin employees' go-to place for Happy Hour.

So there you have it, fans. The writers, cast members, and show runners of your favorite comedy were even more clever than you realized. Now it's time to re-watch the show and see if you can spot any other hidden treasures.

WATCH: What is the cast of ‘The Office’ doing now?

[rory-the-rude-blog]

Task 001: The Devil is in the Details

((Trigger warning: Question 60 asks about self-harm.))

The computer screen lit up in front of Aurora, showing her her own face as picked up by the small camera. She looked bored - and what a coincidence, because she was bored. But this session was necessary, according to the medical staff. “To make sure your memory hasn’t been affected by the cryostasis,” one of the doctors had told her, like she was speaking to a child. What they didn’t say was that they were checking their psychological profiles again - because that had to be a factor, right? Space madness was not great for crew morale.

The screen changed. Her face was replaced by the Apollo Corporation logo, formed out of lines of code. Samson’s voice rang out clear from the speakers.

“State your name and access code.”

“Aurora Roth, Access Code 13122101. But you knew that already.”

Samson did not respond to her sass. ‘He’ only proceeded to explain the rules of the test. Respond as thoroughly as you can, so your answers can be compared to the results on your file. Do not purposefully lie. Do not answer ‘I don’t know’. 

“Are you ready to proceed? Only answer in the affirmative if you have understood the assignment.”

Aurora sighed. “Let’s get this s**t over with. Ready.”

Personal

1)      Age?

“Twenty-five. Twenty-six this December. No, I have not forgotten my own birthday.”

2)      Gender?

“Female. Cisgendered.”

3)      Romantic/Sexual Orientation?

“Not f**king interested. S**t, wait, I didn’t put that before. Fine then. Heterosexual.”

4)      Height?

“5′1, but tall enough to kick ass. Make a note of that, robot.”

5)      Race?

“Caucasian.”

6)      What do you look like?

“Christ, this is like a first grade homework activity. Um. F**k. How do I describe myself? I have light-brown-slash-dirty blonde hair that hangs just past my shoulders, with bitchin’ bangs. My eyebrow game is strong. I have blueish-grayish eyes. And I’ve been told I have resting bitch face. Good enough?”

7)      Any disabilities?

“The inability to suffer fools. It hinders me on a daily basis.”

8)      Is there a meaning to your name?

“My mother picked it. If there was ever a special reason why, she never told me. With her personality though, I’m just grateful I wasn’t named ‘Crystal’ or ‘Jewel’. Hey, are all these extra comments going to register negatively? Am I going to be told I have memory loss because I’m being a f**king chatterbox?”

9)      What makes you, you?

“I...? What??? F**k. I guess my sparkling personality? ... Hey, what do you mean ‘incorrect’?! That’s f**king rude. Is it my trucker mouth? I put my trucker mouth before, didn’t I?”

10)   What did you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to do with your life?

“... Be happy. And needed.”

Family

11)   Do you have parents? What are they like?

“Growing up, it was just my mom and I. Mom never really spoke about Dad - unless we were fighting, and then he was everything wrong with me. ‘You’re a demon, Aurora, just like your father.’ ... Yeah, I don’t hold out much hope for him being a nice guy.”

12)   Do you have siblings? If not, do you wish you had siblings?

“I’m an only child, and I liked it that way. I was pretty solitary growing up.”

13)   Extended family? Do you see them often?

“None. Again, pretty solitary.”

14)   Do you like where you live? Is it a safe place?

“Back on Earth, I lived in The Bronx. The neighbourhood could be pretty dodgy, but our apartment block at least had mild security. I could handle myself though. Do I like the Atlas-7? Sure, I guess.”

15)   Where do you live? Are they wealthy, poor or middle-class?

“Mom and I were lower middle-class. And now... do I get paid for this? S**t, I better get some kind of luxury for risking my neck out in space.”

16)   Do you have a lot of expectations or pressure on you from family to do great?

“From my mother? Hah, f**k no. I don’t know if she even knows I’m up here. ... I hope she does. I hope she’s proud of me.”

17)   Do you have pets?

“We never had the space for one. I would’ve loved a snake. Or a snapping turtle. Something mean-looking, like me.”

18)   Who do you look up to the most in your family? Are you close with them?

“Not really much of a choice when it’s just me and one other person, is it? I guess Mom and I were close at times. I have some good memories, at least. I drifted away a bit in high school, and, well, she never pulled me back. That’s that.”

19)   Is there anything special about your family?

“I come from a long line of psychics. I s**t you not. Some of my ancestors were spooky accurate with predictions.”

20)   Do you wish you lived in a different household?

“Nah. What’s the point of fighting the hand you got dealt? I made do with what I had, and it wasn’t all bad. It made me strong.”

Friends

21)   Best Friend(s)?

“A few good friends, but only one best. Matthew Reyes is, without a doubt, my best friend. He’s the one who inspired me to do this.”

22)   Who was your first friend?

“Matt, again. We clicked pretty quickly once we actually had a chance to interact.”

23)   What is your friend group like?

“Pretty f**king big. We were one of those groups that split off into different groups, and mixed and matched. There was my group - Matt, Nathaniel (Matt’s then-boyfriend and now-husband, and very sweet Latino boy), Jeanette (the eternal ball of sunshine), Vaughn (the mysterious one) and myself - and then the “popular” group - Evangeline (the ice queen), Benji (the jackass), Angela (the cool bitch), Gabe (the stoner-who-wasn’t-a-stoner-but-looked-like-a-stoner), Lavender (tailor aboard the Atlas-7. Never liked her) and her boyfriend, Will (the worst person alive). Despite our differences, we were pretty tight. Lavender and I managed to get all of the others aboard the ship as civilians. It’s one of the only nice things I’ve ever known her to do.”

24)   Do you have a love/hate relationship with any of them?

“I love Matt and Nate, and hate Benji and Will. Does that count?”

25)   Do you consider any of your friends to be like siblings?

“Matt is like my brother. I was one of the first people he came out to, and he was the first person to ever just accept me for me.”

26)   Have you ever hurt a friend or lost one?

“I’m sure I’ve hurt them plenty, but it’s not my problem. They know I’m blunt and honest. If they didn’t want to get called out on their bulls**t, they shouldn’t have f**king done it in the first place. Loss-wise... does having friends frozen in time count as losing them? Because I’m feeling that loss pretty hard.”

27)   Do you have a crush on any of your friends?

“God no. It was bad enough watching them all shack up with each other. I’d hate to actually be part of one of those relationships.”

28)   Do you share classes with good friends?

“We all used to have at least one class with each other - well, Matt, Nate, Jean, Vaughn and I did. The others were a year above us. They probably shared some classes.”

29)   Who do you go to the most when you need a shoulder to cry on?

“No one. I was the strong one of the group. I don’t really need anyone to share girly emotions with, since I’m 100% pure man.”

30)   What would you do without your friends in your life?

“Spend my days charting, navigating and mapping stars and other space matter, and my nights rooming with a treehugger.”

School

31)   Did you complete your school career?

“I finished high school and went on to college before joining the space program. I wasn’t studying anything special.”

32)   Did you like your teachers? Was there a good one? Bad one?

“Does anyone really like their teachers? I had a few average ones, one or two that didn’t quite click with my learning style, and a handful who I enjoyed. Same as everyone.”

33)   Did you listen to your teachers or were you goofing off a lot?

“I was a good student. I pick up a lot just by listening, so I tended to pay more attention in class so I could study less.”

34)   Were you a good student grade-wise?

“I was steady. Nothing to write home about, but nothing bad. Mostly Bs.”

35)   Did you need extra help?

“Nope. Matt and I used to help Nate with his English though. That was fun - and f**king hilarious too. I love Nate, but his English wasn’t bueno.”

36)   What was your school like?

“School was like school. I went to public school for a few years, then got into one of those psuedo-fancy academies for my later years of high school. We had one of those uniforms with the blazer-and-skirt combo. Blazers do not look good on short people.”

37)   Did you have bullies in your school?

“Every school has their s**theads, you know? And it’s always important to remember that anyone can be the villain in someone else’s story. I’m sure a few people would call me a bully - not that I ever actively went out of my way to be a bitch to someone. But not all bullies are the stereotypes you see on TV.”

38)   Have you ever gotten into a fight at school?

“Plenty. My crowning achievement was when I split Benji’s lip after he made Jeanette cry. For the next week, he flinched every time he tried that sleazy smile of his and made the wound bleed again. Good times.”

39)   Have you ever done something stupid or embarrassing at school?

“I was involved in Nate’s promposal for Matt. It... it was so gay. Was it embarrassing for me? Nope, I loved it. For Matt? That’s another story.”

40)   How far do you plan to go with school? Do you want to go back?

“I think I pretty much hit my peak. This is what I’m doing with my life now, and when we’re done and rehabilitated onto another planet? Well, who the f**k knows?”

Other

41)   Are you dating anyone? Do you want to date? Are you married? Divorced? 

“Jesus Christ, Samson, what are you, a trashy gossip mag? No, I’m single - always have been - and that’s the way I like it, thank you very much.”

42)   What is your favorite hobby? Do you keep it a secret?

“I like plotting the demise of my foes. No, seriously. I sit and think about ways to hurt people who’ve hurt my friends, in the privacy of my head. Is that a tad sociopathic? Maybe. Do I look like I give a f**k?”

43)   If you could have one thing in life, what would it be?

“Matt, happy and unfrozen.”

44)   Do you work?

“Do I work? Yes, dips**t, I’m a navigator. I didn’t forget the whole reason I was here in the first place.”

45)   Do you use social media?

“Nope. Never been interested.”

46)   Have you ever been in the hospital?

“Does when I was born count? If not, then no.”

47)   Do you believe in the supernatural, that there is more than the eye can see?

“Surprisingly enough, yes. Judge me if you must. I don’t care. My family have had ‘experiences’.”

48)   What do you do when you get angry, stressed, or upset?

“When I’m angry, I blow up. Punch things. Swear. That kind of thing. I don’t really get stressed, to be honest. And my ‘upset’ equates to my ‘angry’. No room for sadness here.”

49)   Would you consider yourself to be a good person, bad person, or morally grey?

“Chaotic good, maybe? Just because I’m rough doesn’t make me a bad person. I don’t know if I necessarily qualify as a ‘good person’ either. Morally grey, I guess.”

50)   Does this OC have any part of you in them? (I.e, personality traits, similar background, etc)

((OOC: Hahahaha. Aurora is probably one of the most opposite characters of my own personality that I play. We both don’t take bulls**t, and can be a bit confrontational, but she’s way more extreme than me. We both have great eyebrows though.))

Health

51) Have you ever been seriously injured?

“Surprisingly not. Some scratches and bruises from fights, but I’ve never broken a bone or anything.”

52) Any allergies?

“I’m severely allergic to bulls**t. Other than that, I’m allergic to nothing.”

53) Do you get sick often?

“Whenever I started coughing or sniffling as a kid, Mom used to give me this godawful herbal concoction. I think that disgusted my body into never being sick again. I had perfect attendance at school.”

54) Do you need to take medicine for anything?

“Luckily not. A few of my friends were on the pill for their sex lives or cramps or some s**t, but I was never one of them.”

55) Are you a hypochondriac?

“That’s a negative.”

56) Do you even like going to the doctors?

“Seriously, Samson? This s**t is on my file? No, I very rarely went to an actual doctor, so it isn’t something particularly dear to me.”

57) Do you brush off injuries or seek help?

“I brush them off. I’m tough, and I don’t want people worrying about me. That’s just how I’m built.”

58) Do you know first aid?

“Nope. If I’m your last chance, you’re f**ked, I’m afraid.”

59) Do you have health insurance? If so, how good is it?

“Didn’t really read the fine print, but I’m sure the crew has some kind of insurance. Not that we have to pay for any kind of treatment while we’re up here. It’s free real estate.”

60) Have you ever harmed yourself?

“No, Samson.”

Favourites

61) Favourite animal? Why?

“The honey badger, because it doesn’t give a s**t. Ravens are cool too.”

62) Favourite type of music? Why?

“Kelly Clarkson is a goddess, and all of her songs are cool, punchy ballads for cool, punchy chicks.”

63) Favourite place? Why?

“My bed. It beckons me into the sweet, sweet abyss of sleep, where I am free to do whatever I want.”

64) Favourite food or drink? Why?

“Matt’s mom used to make the best strawberry cheesecake. I’d sell a kidney to taste it again.”

65) Favourite type of clothing? Why?

“Knuckledusters, because they get the job done. Other than that, I like hoodies. They... make me feel safe.”

66) Favourite time of day? Why?

“3AM, when I am deep in the clutches of sleep. I don’t know. I don’t really have a favourite time. Things like that don’t matter to me.”

67) Favourite season? Why?

“Winter, when the outside world is as cold and grey as my soul. Plus you can live in your hoodie and people won’t give you weird looks for wearing a hoodie because it’s hot.”

68) Favourite story, be it from a book or something like a myth or fable? Why?

“I don’t like fairy tales. They’re unrealistic and make people act like idiots in the hopes of finding their ‘happily ever after’. That s**t doesn’t exist for everyone. I like stories where people get their comeuppance.”

69) Favourite thing to learn? Why?

“A bit of everything, I guess? I might not like people, but I like learning about them. I’m observant. I pick up on a lot. I like learning curse words in foreign languages too.”

70) Favourite scent? Why?

“Rose water and bad quality incense. It smells like home.”

World

71) Do you live on Earth or somewhere else?

“I lived on Earth. Now I have no real home except for a big metal spaceship.”

72) What time period do you live in? 

“Last I checked, it was 2038. Unless something got f**ked up along the way.”

73) Anything special about your world?

“The fact that it’s a spaceship is special enough, yeah?”

74) What are your world leaders like?

“I, for one, support our AI overlord, Samson.”

75) What is the state of your world like?

“Structured. Orderly. Routined. Let’s see how long that lasts.”

76) Do you wonder about your place in the world?

“No. I’m hardly the philosophical type. I’m more of an ‘in the now’ kind of girl.”

77) Is your world in contact with other worlds?

“Does Earth count as an ‘other world’ now that we’re not a part of it? If so, yes. If not, then no. No green squigglies have tried to probe us yet.”

78) What area of your world do you live in? 

“I live in the f**king Amazon Rainforest. No, Samson, I know we’re in space - it’s a f**king analogy. My room is super f**king humid because my roommate is growing her own plants. Doesn’t she have a whole farm lab for that? Christ.”

79) What is the wildlife like?

“By ‘wildlife’ I’m assuming you mean ‘men’. They’re big and lumbering. Or they drink. Nothing new.”

80) Do you have a religion or belief in a higher being?

“I’ve never believed in a higher being. Too much s**t happens in life for it to be part of some grand plan.”

Skills

81) Do you know how to fight?

“F**k yes. Please tell me there’s a demonstration needed.”

82) Can you drive? 

“Nope. Mom and I could never afford a car or anything like that. I used to walk everywhere.”

83) Can you swim?

“Yeah. We had swimming at school. I hated it.”

84) Are you handy?

“Relatively so. I’ve had to do a few DIY fix jobs in my life.”

85) How quickly can you learn something new?

“I taught myself everything I could about the stars and interstellar navigation in less than a year. So, pretty f**king quickly, I’d say.”

86) Can you speak more than one language?

“Fluently, no. But I can hold a basic conversation in Spanish. Gracias, Nathaniel.”

87) Can you read and write?

“I, indeed, can.”

88) Do you have any survival skills?

“Survival like camping? F**k no. Survival as in protecting myself on the streets? F**k yes. I’m pretty good at self-defense.”

89) Can you cook?

“A few basics. I used to make lunch for myself a lot. It wasn’t anything special though.”

90) Any unusual or unique skills? 

“Did I mention previously that I’m slightly psychic? Because that’s unique. I have way too many premonitory dreams for it to be a coincidence.”

Other II

91) Do you believe in destiny and fate? Do you think it can’t be changed?

“There’s no such thing as fate. It’s an excuse people use to be lazy, or to explain away s**tty things. Situations can always be changed if you get your ass into gear.”

92) Do you have any regrets?

“No use crying over spilled milk, hey Samson? I am who I am. I’ve done what I’ve done. No regrets.”

93) What do you fear the most?

“Letting my friends down.”

94) Do you believe in love at first sight? Soulmates? That love never dies?

“None of the above. There’s no such thing as ‘true love’. People waste way too much time and energy deluding themselves otherwise.”

95) Can you play an instrument?

“Nope, I have next to no musical talent.”

96) How messy is your room?

“I’d prefer it to be tidy, but apparently my f**king roommate has already decided otherwise. There’s nature junk everywhere.”

97) Can you dance?

“Yes. Take that secret to your grave, Samson.”

98) Do you like to meet new people? Do you like people in general?

“No, and no. I’m not what you’d call a people person. Being frozen for ten years hasn’t changed that.”

99) Are you hopeful for the future?

“I suppose? I’m not getting my hopes up or anything, but, I mean, this mission has to succeed..... right?

100) Why did you make this OC and maybe even the world they live in? Just cause? Or for some other reason?

((OOC: Aurora is one of my most refreshing characters, simply because she is just absolutely 100% unapologetically herself. She’s always been quietly self-sacrificing - so what better position to put her in than in space, where she could quite literally sacrifice her life for her friends? She’s a lot deeper than you think. I look forward to sharing her with everyone.))

[surflove808]

All things “queerbait”, “so gay”, cranky shippers, etc ad infinitum.  Here’s my long-ass essay on why I think it’s destructive to this show and fandom mentality in general.  Part 1 :D

This is going to be sooo long.  Because I am sooo fed up with the bullshit I keep seeing on here.  So, I am going to break this into 2 parts.  Part 1 deals with the show and its FICTIONAL characters.  Part 2 will deal with the actual actors involved in making this show.  I'm pissed because what could have just been supposition and discussion among fans took a wrong turn somewhere, and turned into a forum for bullying and scandalizing the actors/show.  And seeing that even when they try to have a sense of humor about it, or be ingratiating to the fans about it, it always backfires on them....and ultimately, something that should be harmless (a ship) has become a toxic force of nature.

I'm going to give my 2 cents on the most annoyingly common misconceptions that I've seen being used as more can(n)on fodder because if I post and get this reblogged enough, maybe, just maybe... more people can be exposed to a more balanced interpretation.  

My problem is not with the possibility of Dean being gay/bi. My problem is not with Dean and Cas possibly exploring a romantic relationship.  Not at all.   My problem is with the dedicated and rabid group of people that have gone over the top with their harassment on public forums regarding these characters sexuality, and linking it to the real, live human beings that portray them.  Both crossing and blurring lines in a very destructive way, on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, you name it... This show has so many incredible themes and messages regarding friendship, love, loyalty, trust, perseverance and family and THAT'S your takeaway?   An unhealthy obsession with Dean's sexual preference??

Dean, by virtue of his looks, charisma and personality, has chemistry with almost EVERYONE.  Have you noticed??  The character of Dean is written and portrayed as a naturally charismatic, flirtatious and sensual person.  He wholeheartedly dives into anything that he enjoys.  Eating, hunting, fucking, drinking.  He doesn't seem to really appreciate boundaries or restrictions.  So, what's stopping him from exploring his sexuality with men?  

As far as I can see, the character of Dean as originally conceptualized and executed brilliantly by his frigging creator, Eric Kripke, was then, as you see him now, many things.  But also hetero. He's also accepting, scarred, goofy, resilient, co-dependent, loving, protective, the list goes on and on.  

But what he is NOT and has NEVER been written as, is gay or bi.  And if you have a problem with that, that’s not a flaw in the program you’re watching.  That’s your problem.  If he undergoes character development that radically redefines not only how he sees himself, but how the viewer sees him, after 12 years?  That's a delicate task that I don't envy the writers having to undertake, considering, the only reason they would do that so late in the game, is because they caved to pressure from the "fandom".  And I use quotation marks there because, if you want an iconic character to represent your views?  Write them yourself.  Create them.  But don't try to bully your way into another persons creation.   Here's the kicker.  Out of 264 episodes that have aired so far, and countless canon instances of Dean being hetero.... here are the handful of examples that certain people have latched onto as gospel:

1. Dean and the Siren, season 4, episode 14, Sex and Violence:  I can't tell you how many times I've seen some Jr. detective go "A-HA!  Deans siren was a MAN!  Therefore, he is GAY!"  If you use just a smidge of deductive reasoning and pay attention to the season leading up to this episode, and the description of a siren that was helpfully included in the episode, you could easily and reasonably deduce that because a siren's powers of seduction come from the ability to be ANYTHING to ANYONE and be that persons greatest desire.... that it makes sense for the siren to take the form of a cool, non-judgemental, trustworthy younger brother-type who has the same taste in and love for music that Dean has.  Someone he can relate to.  A peer.

What do you get the man who can have almost any woman that he wants?  

Not a stripper, folks.  

And what does Dean really want?  At this point, he wants a brother who trusts his experience and instincts.  A  brother that he can trust.  A brother who doesn't feel like a complete stranger.  A friend, for fucks sake.  It's not implied.  It's not a theory.  It's literally written and discussed IN THE EPISODE, people.  Move on.

2.  Dean and Gunnar Lawless, season 11, episode 15, Beyond the Mat: If you know any guys who are into sports or bands, and have never seen them go batshit fanboy over one of their sports or music heroes...then you just haven't spent enough time with them on their turf.  

3.  Deans "gay thing", season 8, episode 13, Everybody Hates Hitler: If you've never been hit on when you weren't expecting it, especially by someone you weren't expecting it from, I could see why you couldn't comprehend his behavior.  If you HAVE, you were probably flustered by it. Probably didn't react as smoothly as you thought you would, amiright?  I know I haven’t.

It seemed he was flattered, but didn't know what to do with himself.  If he were bi/gay, and attracted to the possibility of a no-strings hookup with a willing and  anonymous stranger... a blow-and-go in the mens room, for example... I think Dean could/would have easily pursued it, based on his hit rate thus far.  The one area in which he has 100% confidence and zero shame, is sexual conquests. Sam wasn't around.  There was nothing holding him back.  So, aside from being uncertain of how to extricate himself from an awkward situation, and being flustered, I got nothin’.

4.  Dean and Dr.  Sexy, season 5, episode 8, Changing Channels:  Not much to say here.  Dean clearly had a man crush on Dr. Sexy.  Would he have boned him if given the chance?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Ask a guy friend who idolizes Aaron Rogers or Eddie Vedder (for example) if he'd let them stick it in his pooper based on principle alone.  Chances are, that guy friend would probably say "Hall pass!"  If the situation actually presented itself though?  He might just gush over the guy and call it a day.  Who knows?  WE don't.

5.  Dean and Crowley: Again, ask a guy friend if he would share a room and triplets with a buddy if there were no consequences (girlfriend, things getting "weird, etc), and see what he says.  The answer may surprise you.  Maybe I just know a lot of uninhibited, sexy bastards!

6.  Dean and Benny:  Brothers in arms who go through intense combat together can and more often than not, DO form close bonds.  There was nothing in this friendship that even intimated at these two having any sexual or romantic designs on each other, yet.... people still try to make it work.  Bless their hearts.

7.  The Big One:  Dean and Cas:  Dean has had countless opportunities over the years to make a move.  And I DO believe he loves Cas, very much.  Cas clearly loves and admires Dean.  They have been through some serious shit together since day one, that neither Sam nor anyone else can compete with. But some very good advice I heard once, applies here (and this is why the 10-year crush turning into romance in rom-coms is such bullshit):  If someone likes you - you WILL know.  They will make a move.  Or you will.  And neither of you will take 10 + years to do it if there are no barriers (significant other).  And if a move is made and not reciprocated?  It's not because they or you is holding something back.  That's just a lie we tell ourselves.  SOMEONE is just not interested.  

Though I love their dynamic, I'm not a Destiel shipper, but I'm willing to go either way with this one.  I will say, I don't by any stretch of the imagination think the writers, actors or directors are 'queerbaiting", though.  That's like accusing a crush of leading you on when it was really in your head the whole time. Their chemistry is incredible.  But from what I've seen with my eyes, in the actual episodes, his relationship with Cas does not say unrequited love, sexual attraction or romance.  However, if I went by the slowed-down, out-of-context gifs that are prevalent on Tumblr, I could see where people get the idea.  And because these are two men who love, admire and respect each other and sometimes bicker like an old married couple, I suppose that makes them different than us and our best friends, somehow?  This makes me sad, because this is a unique show, in that it deeply explores mens relationships with one another (because they're human beings too), and they just can't do that without a group of immature people giggling behind their backs in the hallways because intimacy is so intimidating that it must be mitigated by making fun of it or spreading nonsensical theories about it.  Right?

Small wonder that heteronormative men, as a general rule, have so much social conditioning and shame to wade through when it comes to expressing love and care for their same-sex friends and family.  (Yes, men have problems too.  Not as many as us, by a long shot.  But this is one of them) 

You see, menfolk are expected to behave in a manfolk way, and if their behavior isn’t within the traditional and narrowly defined parameters as “hetero male”, they face the perceived stigma that accompanies “coming out”, which involves the very real fears of supposition, persecution, politicizing, backlash, gossip, undermining. etc.

This show has taken many chances.  And they’re not afraid to write for and represent LGBTQ characters.  But Chuck forbid that emotionally resonant, well-written, vulnerable and emotional male characters exist AND allow them to be straight.  Unthinkable!  And that snarky, gossipy, “tee-hee” mentality is just what enforces rigid gender roles on men and women in the 1st place.  Every post I see that giggles about Cas and Dean being gay for each other because....gifs...just throws us back 50 years.  Your words do have meaning, people.

If you want to know what you can do to pave the way for LGBTQ representation in entertainment and the world at large?  Take the small step of acknowledging that same sex characters can feel the same range of emotions that you do for your same sex friends.  Can have sustained eye contact.  Can love one another, and can tenderly care for one another without you sexualizing it, fantasizing about it and policing it.  I’m asking you to think about this, because this way of thinking affects everyone.  Gay, straight, etc. 

Season 1 Sam and Dean:  Hetero.  Sam in an LTR at beginning, Dean with potential to re-enter his relationship with Cassie.  

This show was marketed towards males in the 18-24 demographic, but curiously, more women are interested in these boys and their story.  Because they’re allowed to care without judgement.  Ahem.

 *As seasons go by...*  Clearly, judging by the polls and hate mail...neither brother can ever have or sustain a romantic relationship with a woman.  EVER again!*  And it as been widely acknowledged by the cast and producers that the fans don’t want to see the Winchesters spend too much time with what they deem as a threatening female.

Why do you think Castiel was even allowed to make it this far?  Sure, he’s an amazing character.  But if it were Anna who dragged Dean from Hell and ultimately stuck around?  Yeah, no.  That was never gonna happen.  

Basically, these fuckers can’t win.  If they’re hetero and stay hetero, that’s a bad thing.  If their characters do a 180 to please the most vocal (unfortunately) fans - then they’re caving in to pressure.

Either way, I think it's safe to say, us fans are ultimately invested (I hope) in these characters achieving happiness, wherever they find it.  And personally, I'll be happy either way.  But seeing this hyperbolic, over the top bullshit online that this crew are queerbaiting, etc...and that "If Destiel isn't made canon, I'm gonna do X,Y,Z..." is disgusting to me.  

The musings, wishful thinking and conspiracy theories are one thing.  And that's perfectly fine.  I’ve got nothin but love for fanficiton writers!  But drawing parallels and conclusions from some of the flimsiest crumbs available, and using that limited intel to cajole, threaten, bash and attempt to shame the actors, the crew, and the producers who work their asses off to bring us this amazing show, is pretty fucking shitty in my opinion.

These aren't public servants, guys.  We're not paying them to make this show.  If you want to know how a show on the CW gets funded and made - google it.  If you want to know how much of a time crunch/pressure cooker situation the writers are working in, not to mention the entire team in order to produce 23 episodes per season....again, google it.   And then tell me how they're able to not only craft compelling episodes and cram so much storyline, exposition, dialogue, character development, arc support, scheduling, casting, art direction, stunt coordination, set design, etc ad infinitum into each and every week, and STILL have time to drop easter eggs, and "queerbait"....

Just.  To.  Fuck.  With.  You.  And undermine LGBTQ efforts at representation? They are very kind and loyal to their fans.  And we DON'T OWN THEM.  If you don't like what you're seeing, don't watch.  But for fucks sake - do the fandom and yourselves a favor and direct your crusade towards ACTUAL threats to LBGTQ freedoms and rights.

Here's a list of places to lend support (to name a few): Family Equality Council Human Rights Campaign GLAD PFLAG Transgender Law Center Your local congressman, FFS

Rant over.  If you made it this far, thank you.  I owe you a fruit basket!  And feel free to engage, put me on blast if you want.  Let's have a discussion.  But if you agree with me at all, please reblog this.... just to give some folks another point of view.  

Blanket statement for those who are offended and have already called me an “asshole”, etc on their own tags:

1.  This is NOT by any stretch of the imagination an anti-shipper or anti-Destiel post.  I clearly stated that I don't have a problem with either.  And if it happened organically in the show, as opposed to under pressure?  More power to them.  And I do adore Castiel.

2.  This is NOT an anti-LGBTQ post.  Again, clearly stated throughout the post.

3.  This is NOT and never was anti-headcanon post.  We all have headcanons to some degree.   And If anyone wants to step up and tell me not to support an organization that's doing good work, just because I sunk their battleship... they can suck it.  I also belong to some of these organizations, and I'm pretty sure they're not as invested in your headcanon as you are.  And thejabberwock, I still admire your insights and posts, but am bummed that you missed the damn point of mine entirely.  Per your request, I have removed your association from the original post.

4.  This IS an anti-harassment post, directed at individuals who have taken this ship so far, that they've tainted the word and the concept for almost everyone else with their shitty, pushy behavior.  If this describes you?   I'm happy to have offended you.

5.  This IS an anti-ignorance post, directed at individuals who are presented with facts and reliable data from the writers, the actors and the episodes themselves, yet refuse to acknowledge anything out of their own headcanon.  Who insist on "knowing the truth" and using that arrogance to try to *Out* the characters, *Out* the actors and use threats and insults towards anyone who disagrees.  If you thought I was talking to you directly, after reading that?  I probably was.

6.  This IS an anti-misinformation campaign post aimed at clearing up some common misconceptions.

Lastly, reading comprehension is really crucial here.  I know it was a lot to read, I apologize for that. But if you're skimming through and picking and choosing something to be offended over, and continuing to feel personally persecuted regardless of whether or not that's the reality... rather than reading and understanding the entire message?  Well, there's nothing more I can say or do.  

[librarybunny13]

9/5/2020

I am trying to be more proactive in trying to understand why I’m so angry.

  So what am I angry about? My new co-worker, C. Why am I angry about her? 

  Well, let’s go back. Over two or three years ago there was a guy named B who worked at the library. B was single. One of my co-workers named S invited J to go to a movie with a group of friends. Apparently B was going along as well. I wasn’t invited. So next week, both S and J show up shit talking about how B was being treated by C. Apparently, J sat near B. B sat beside C. All through the movie the group went to see, C had her hand on B’s upper thigh, kinda stroking it. Well, C is married. This is some juicy gossip. So we all agreed that this was gross because of C being married. She didn’t work with us at the time so we decided not to talk about it.

  Fast forward to about December 2019. We had to go to a childrens program. It was long and boring. After the program I had to go back to work to finish up the night shift. I had recently heard that my mom’s cancer was getting worse. I really wanted to get out of the system wide meeting and speak to my mom over the phone. I couldn’t though. Anyhow, there was a HUGE Harry Potter program that several branches worked on the year before. Our branch didn’t do anything with it because simply there was no time. We have 80 plus unattended kids every day. We don’t have time for that. Anyhow, they were suppose to give us a short presentation about the program, how it went, how many people they had etc. It was supposed to be 15 minutes tops. It lasted over 45 minutes. The presenter was C. She went way over time and eventually one of the heads of the childrens department for the whole county had to force her to stop talking. It wasn’t even that she talked about it so long. It was just a lot of the presentation was her tooting her own horn. Example: She made herself the new head of Hogwarts. She was the head mistress etc etc etc. She came up with this program. Her craft made wands were better than other branches etc etc etc. The next day we talked about what an absolute windbag the presenter was, how full of herself she sounded, how the supervisors there seemed to adore her, and how we were much too busy to do anything that took that much time. They spent weeks just making decorations. We don’t have the time to do those kind of things. Then of course the rumor that she was having an affair with B came up. We were glad she was not at our branch.

  Now to a time a little closer, J did a lot of on line programs. This was like in July, so about two months ago. Anyhow she came up with different ways to use the camera that they were not teaching us on how to film our on line programs. Well, C calls up, finds out how J is doing it, repackages the idea and sells it to her manager as her idea. They (about 12 librarians in the county) all go on line on the company website and congratulate C on being a genius, when in reality the whole idea and half the things were stolen from J. J was really upset by this at the time.

  After I come back from the hospital, there’s our new librarian, C. Everyone is super friendly with her and acting like they didn’t think she was an inflated windbag and that they thought she was cheating on her husband with B. They sure don’t bring up that they thoughts C stole J’s whole filming ideas. They’re acting like they’ve been best friends with her forever.

  I’m just stunned. Is this like normal behavior? I had never interacted with C before I meet her at work just last week. Everything I heard about her made her sound like a back stabbing brown nosing bitch. But everyone is acting super friendly with her, taking her out to eat etc. I mean did I miss the memo or something?

  I’m the oldest in childrens at my library. The next youngest is 10 years younger. I haven’t felt like I’ve belonged for a while. Maybe its time I packed up and got a job somewhere else? I mean I’m not a fan of doing programs. I’m not even close to doing it well. Everyone claims I know the materials and most of the patrons love me and ask for me by name. But I don’t feel like I stand out in any way. Maybe I’m too old for this and I should just move on?

  I feel kinda defeated because C is already making ti clear she wants to take on the teens at our library. But literally, that’s my title, teen librarian. I mean I could use some help. Never turn away help. At the same time though, she is used to white nerdy teens. About 98% of my teens are black females. She’s alraedy pushing Harry Potter at us and she wants to do more Harry Potter programing. Not many of the local teens like Harry Potter. We have a reglious section including lots of people who think Harry Potter is satanic. I mean when I first started I was told to NOT do anything on Wednesday because all the teens would be in church. And the other half of the kids are white, but they’re LGBT. Or rather the ones who come to the library programs are. I get a lot of kids who are activist as well. I don’t think they want to do HP. I’ve mentioned it in the past and they wanted nothing to do with it. I’ve tried things like HP before and gotten no one nothing, zip. And she wants to spend over $300 buying HP related merc from Rowling, and I feel like that would go against my moral compass. Ugh.

  She does seem super nice. At the same time though, I can’t stop thinking of all the awful things I’ve heard that she’s done. I don’t really trust her that much. At the same time though, she likes some of the same characters I have enjoyed in the past. I feel so conflicted by this. I guess the only thing I can do is just see how things go and keep my mind open, but at the same time don’t trust her. Sigh, sounds about right. Looks like more stress is coming into my life.

[hangrypa]

Didactic Year, Concluded

What a year.

What I Learned:

- IT’S IMPORTANT TO TAKE BRAIN BREAKS: Which in my case, meant Netflix binges (note all New Girl gifs), working out, and painting. Yes, there is limited time, especially when you spend the majority of your waking hours in the classroom. I tried my first semester without any breaks and got burnt out very quickly. My second semester, I forced myself to take several breaks a day of at least 20 minutes each. I would set a timer and not think about school until the timer brought me back to reality. Even though our second semester was busier than our first, my grades looked better, and I retained much more.

-  CARDIOLOGY IS TERRIFYING: I know, I know. Come on, Hangry! It’s the heart! It’s an organ with four chambers. Yep, I know. But whenever I have to figure out the squiggle of an EKG (forget PQRST, it’s a freaking squiggle) or figure out how to get a patient’s pulse back (anyone who saw me during ACLS watched me basically sweat a puddle around myself) or decipher a murmur (I’m sorry, but you cannot seriously tell me that that noise sounds like it’s a click; there’s nothing click-ish about it). This is my weakest system, which is not good considering that the heart is a superduper important organ that many living things have. And cardiology is also the largest portion of the PANCE, the PA certifying exam. Yipes. This is something I’ll have to review every night through every rotation.

- DRAMA IS EVERYWHERE: Students talk about each other. Faculty talk about each other. Students talk about faculty. Faculty talk about students. Lots of opportunities to burn bridges, and I saw a lot of promising relationships (in the nonromantic sense) destroyed by just a few simple words. Lesson here: don’t talk about other people.

- IT’S THE SIMPLE THINGS: I get to school early to watch the sunrise from the top floor of our building. It’s a beautiful sight- our city line warmed by the yellow rays of the sun slowly rising above the horizon. Between classes during the winter, I go outside, make a snowball, and roll it into a snow boulder. It’s purposeless, yet it brings me an odd sense of accomplishment. Are these strange things to do? Maybe, but I don’t care. I’m happy, and that’s what matters.

- THERE’S STILL A LOT TO LEARN: When I was leaving to start PA school, everyone was telling me, “You’re going to do great!” and “You already know a lot. You got this!” Meanwhile I was trying my best not to crap my pants. I knew it would be tough, and it is. As someone who’s never worked in emergency care, things like aortic aneurysms and Battle’s sign were entirely new to me. OBGYN scares me beyond words, and kidneys still barely make sense to me (to the patients I’ll be seeing soon: please don’t worry, I’ve been studying electrolytes, and I’ll have a preceptor who will watch my every move). 

What Changed About Me:

- MY OUTWARD PERSONALITY: I am a stubborn, impulsive person, but I’ve learned to suppress the stubbornness and impulsiveness over the years. I’ve made an extra effort to do so during this program. Also since starting PA school, I’ve become far less talkative. I’ve never been a chatty person, but I’ve found that by being silent 75% of the time, I can take in what is happening around me and stay out of trouble. Ironically, whenever I do speak in class or clinic, people get really quiet. Whether that’s a good thing, well, haven’t quite figured that out yet.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- MY STUDY METHODS: I used to read and reread my notes. I found out quickly that this would not work for me in PA school (thought it does work for others). Now I study only by quizzing. I don’t organize my notes. I don’t rewrite anything. I don’t read. I quiz. By using textbook questions and PANCE practice questions, I am forced to think through the material and use critical thinking to find an answer. It also induces a sense of panic many days prior to the exam and tricks me into thinking that I don’t know anything and that I absolutely have to learn it right then and there, keeping me from procrastinating. This method made it easier for me to recall material both during exams and on clinical days.

- MY WEIGHT AND BODY COMPOSITION: As a way to deal with stress, I started lifting heavy weights during PA school. I also started eating a ton. As a result of this, I gained weight during school (more muscle, some fat). Luckily I still fit in most of my clothes (there are some skinny jeans that I just can barely pull over my quads), and it’s interesting because I can see more definition in my arms and legs. As someone who used to count every calorie, this was a good change for me. 

- MY GOALS: I came into school thinking, “I’m going to go into neurosurgery!” Several cadaver lab hours later, I realized that surgery is not my thing. Now I’m more interested in critical care. I have a rotation in the MICU and one in the PICU, so I will find out more about it soon. I also used to think that I would want to work a full-time job as well as pick up a part-time (20 hours) somewhere else. Now I’m not sure. Good thing I have a year to decide.

Thoughts:

- DATING/HOOKING UP: No one in my cohort hooked up with or dated anyone else in our class. However, in another class, there were two people who did, and it turned ugly. I’m not saying that you can’t find The One in your PA class. You can. But remember that you’ll be stuck with the person for the next 2 years. In our program’s situation, the failed relationship/FWB/whatever-it-was led to a huge scream fest at a party the other week, and one of them may or may not have resorted to throwing things.

- SHARE: Doing something as simple as sending a copy of your notes to your classmates every so often or sharing Quizlet sets can be helpful to your classmates. Why would I share my hard work? Good question, especially when you find that no one else is, it can seem pointless. But here’s how I see it: every shared piece of information benefits a patient. Let’s say that you’re in class learning about managing a pleural effusion. You’re diligently taking notes, but Jamie over there is sleeping and basically missed everything. He also doesn’t seem to care. You send the class your notes. Later that night, Jamie is scrolling through his email and happens to see your notes and takes a quick read. For some reason, the way you phrased your notes made the pleural effusion management material really stick. Four months later, Jamie is on his ED rotation. It’s crazy busy, and someone comes in with a pleural effusion. The patient is panicking Jamie remembers your notes on managing pleural effusions and tells the preceptor, “Hey, I can take care of that.” And he does. The patient stops gasping for air and feels much better. And that’s all because of your notes. Sure, Jamie should have paid attention in class. Sure, you might not get direct credit for taking care of the patient. But at the end of the day, it’s all about the patient. As long as the patient gets better, everyone wins.

- DON’T COMPLAIN/GOSSIP (at least not to any students or faculty in the program): Whenever we, the students, have a complaint/criticism of the program...it backfires. Our faculty tells us to suck it up and deal. Literally. Personally, I have a lot of beef with the program, but I don’t talk to anyone in the class about it. When I’m feeling really incensed, I’ll call up family or friends outside of the PA program and drop every single expletive in the dictionary. Or I’ll just type something up on this blog (THANK YOU, PAblr). Also, gossiping about another person will bite you in the ass. The reality of PA school is that people often turn cliquey, and many are also quick to stab each other in the back. Maintain some distance. Save the rants for your family and non-PA school friends (and then buy them a ton of chocolate as a thank you for the listening ear).

- BE NICE: I know that I just said people stab each other in the back and get cliquey. They do. And, yes, I said to maintain some distance. But it’s still important to be nice even if you’re the only nice person in the room. As a class of only 20-something students, we spent at least 12 hours a day, 5 days a week together. And this doesn’t even include weekends when we had outreach events or cadaver lab. When you put a bunch of stressed out people in the same room, people tend to snap or explode at each other. Don’t let that happen. Whenever I found myself close to my breaking point, I left the room and walked the stairs to burn off angry energy. When I returned to the room, my legs would be a little sore, but I found it easier to deal with people. Some of my classmates will be my colleagues one day. Being a PA is about being a teammate. And to be a cohesive team, it’s important to be kind to each other. 

- DON’T CALCULATE YOUR GRADE: I mean, definitely check them from time to time, but don’t sit there and do calculus to determine how many A’s you need this semester to maintain a certain GPA. It’ll stress you out on all levels. You’ll be taking an exam, get freaked out by one question, and think to yourself, “Shit! How many more can I get wrong and still keep a B on this test? Wait! No, I need an A on this test to keep a B in the class! SHIT! I HAVE TO GET 100% ON THIS EXAM!” And then you’ll probably forget all the material you need to know while you sit there calculating and recalculating how many questions you can get wrong on this test. Do not panic yourself. Just focus on learning.

- FLOWERS, CHOCOLATES, AND CARDS: A large bunch of flowers at the grocery store is $5, 1 pack of 10 mini Kit-Kat bars is $2, and a pack of 15 generic cards is $5. In the middle of a stressful week, give everyone - faculty, staff, and students, both male and female - a single stem from the flower bunch and a mini Kit-Kat bar. Write a simple “Happy Birthday, Jamie! Thanks for being an awesome classmate!” on a generic card and give it to Jamie on his birthday. At the end of the semester, on a generic card, write each faculty and staff member, saying, “Thanks so much for your help this semester!” They’re simple gestures that require little money and minimal time, yet they can make a difference in someone’s day. My male faculty and classmates picked on me a little bit for getting them flowers, but it still made them smile. PA school is a stressful time for everyone, and just a little effort on your part can help alleviate some of that tension and stress.

Takeaway Message:

PA school is tough, and there are many ups and downs- academically, professionally, and personally. Am I better than the person I was one year ago? Am I more knowledgeable? Am I a better provider? Yes, I am.

And now I shall go celebrate my one-year anniversary as a PA student.

Best of luck to all those starting their clinical year, didactic year, interviews, or applications!

[storiesbyshel]

It was a Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, but I did Bravo Zulu!

(skipping Japan stories for this one)

 As a new recruit in Direktorat Jenderal Perbendaharaan (Ministry of Finance, Directorate General of Treasury Affairs) Year 2019, I had to go through several trainings which are:

1.      In-class Training

2.      On The Job Training

3.      e-Learning

4.      DTU (Diklat Teknis Umum/General Technical Training)

5.      DTSD (Diklat Teknis Substantif Dasar/Basic Technical Substantive Training)

6.      Latsar (Pelatihan Dasar/Basic Training; includes a lot of programs)

Anyways, on January 5-17 all new recruits received a DTU or Diklat Teknis Umum/General Technical Training in Bumi Perkemahan Saka Wira Kartika Group 1 Kopassus, Serang, Banten. If that didn’t make your stomach grumble, please note that Indonesian Army received The Best Elite Forces in The World from NATO. It’s tenfold of how scary and exhausting you think their trainings are.

And I, the laziest person alive, went through it.

I prepared everything on last minute. I bought two shoes (IDR 150.000 for Ardilles & IDR 100.000 for a fake Nike), three hijabs (IDR 25.000 each, two blue and one black), two socks, and other stuff I can’t seem to recall. Also, Biro SDM Ditjen Perbendaharaan/Human Resources Bureau suggested us new recruits to make a health certificate from Puskesmas/Public Health Center—and I made the papers on Friday, literally on the last working day. At first I felt nothing, but after some time talking with my friends, I began to feel timid and disturbed due to the Indonesian Army Special Forces will train us and they’ll most definitely make us suffer on the worst torture possible!!! thought. So on the fourth, I didn’t get enough sleep and kept waking up every 30 minutes until three AM.

I locked my doors on the morning of the 5th and said good bye to the comfort life I knew (it sounded like an exaggeration but dude, I cried that morning). Didn’t even bring my phone to the meeting point because I was toooooo scared!!

We arrived on the training place at 9.30 and immediately Army officers greeted us with yelling, telling us to hurry. Made one of the new recruits slipped on the stairs and received an ankle treatment. After some greetings and all, at 10.45 they gave us our first meal; FIVE different types of snacks and a mineral water cup. Of course, they timed it for THREE MINUTES. I spent the first minute trying to open the snack box. Ate everything in the end AND helped three other people to avoid punishments. And on 12 sharp, they gave us our first lunch; a box of over packed white rice, meat, veggies, and a meehoon/vermicelli. We need to finish all of those in 5 minutes. FIVE. I used to be a fast eater but under pressure, I just couldn’t think of anything and in the end I spent 10 minutes to finish them; along with three times gagging because my stomach was in a huge shock. On 15.00 we received another snack. My stomach felt full already, so after we finished the snack box, I threw up on the side of the road. What a beginning.

We were almost always be given a 30-minute time to clean ourselves with water. I didn’t say a shower; because it’s impossible to shower for that short of time and with limited water supplies and limited shower room available. Imagine almost 300 girls trying to shower, with only 15-20 shower rooms available. Don’t even dream to have a 10-minute shower, or you’d be walking squatting to the field.

I do remember almost everything that happened on my 13-day training. BUT I WON’T SPOIL THE SURPRISE. But I do, want to tell you some stuff that left a huge mark on my soul.

1.      Tips on eating as fast as you can: eat rice FIRST. Don’t chew, just drink it with the help of water/soup. Eat the proteins and veggies later.

2.      Drink A LOT. You’ll be sweating like a pig due to heat AND intense amount of physical trainings. Water will save you.

3.      Finish everything you’re given. Some people who didn’t got sick easily.

4.      Ask the doctor for Imboost if you feel tired to the point you know you’re going to get sick.

5.      You’ll worry about a lot of things, but do worry about your digestive system first. Try to dispose your shit once a day. Make it on either Muslim Praying times, or on three AM, or by the time you shower. Will save some hassle.

6.      How to shower fast: after evening agenda, you’ll be given a time to clean yourself before the evening rollcall. RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN TO THE SHOWER ROOM. Try to shower with two or three other people to save some hassle. While you’re running to save a spot, ask the other friends to pack your towel and soap, then tell them to run to your shower room. It saved me A LOT of time. I showered everyday thanks to this logic. Also consider showering at three in the morning. Most people are still asleep and you’ll get to enjoy a untimed shower time!

7.      CHANGE YOUR BRA AND UNDIES ONCE A DAY, AT LEAST. Don’t get affected with heat rash and other fungal or bacterial problems.

8.      Following to the previous point; buy a disposable undies. They’re IDR 35.000 for 7 pieces available on Alfamart and Indomaret nearby! Thank me later.

9.      Wash your own undies and socks. They did provide us laundry services, but I lost a pair of jeans and a socks, while my friend lost all of her uniforms. Also, they did nothing but wash it with water and a little soap. Although the clothes looked clean enough, they don’t.

10.  Bring two pairs of shoes. If one got wet/muddy, you can wear another while washing and drying the previous. Clean them thoroughly! BRING A LOT OF SOCKS!

11.  GIVE NAME TAG ON EVERYTHING YOU OWN, ESPECIALLY CLOTHES, with a permanent marker!

12.  Bring a thin textile that absorbs sweat to cover you while sleeping. Also, if you’re a woman, you’ll need them when you need to change clothes on the barracks/tent.

13.  SUN SCREENS ARE IMPORTANT. Here’s a proof on what my skin looked like. I spent a good amount of money to reduce the dullness.

14.  Wash your face in the morning, the afternoon, and before you sleep. No excuses.

15.  Bring your personal medicines. Minyak Kayu Putih and Autan/Soffel are charms people should all have!

16.  Pray to God.

17.  It’s okay to doze off for a good five minutes. Try not to get caught, though! If you do, well, do your punishments!

18.  Be as active as possible. If a lecturer ask a question, raise your hand even if you’re in doubt. If they gave a chance for you to ask, go ahead! Your group trainers will personally evaluate your work.

19.  Sing chants in a loud voice. Take it as a stress reliever. I know you love to sing in the shower, now do it while walking with your group.

20.  HAVE FUN. You’re not suffering alone! Make a lot of connection with trainers/army officers and fellow recruits. They’ll make you less tired (and gossips are a natural immune booster!).

21.  I can spoil you this: You’ll experience a lot. Rolling on a mud field? Check. Rolling on asphalt at 1 PM AND AM? Check. Kill, skin, eat, and grill lizard and snake? Check, check, check, and check. Bathe on a lake at 1 am? Major check. It sounds scary but then again, you’re not suffering alone.

22.  You’ll experience some fun parts too, though. Don’t, EVER, be scared on this training. You’ll get stressed and add yourself another problem other than what’s in front of you.

23.  DON’T BE A SPOILED BRAT. It’s just not the place and time.

24.  Kopassus really are the best elite forces in the world. I can tell already, not with the way they trained us (because it wasn’t even 1% of what they went through), but with their discipline, integrity, and will to serve. You’ll be surprised of how much hardships they went through, how many tears they shed on the battlefield, and how frightening their trainings and field works are. They carry a huge amount of responsibilities on their shoulders. I highly respect them.

I admit I cried several times while training, when I was too tired and dozed off on a lecture. I missed everything; my dad, my sister, my bed, my pillow, my untimed hot shower, et cetera. I cried on the last night because of what I’ve gone through and how I dearly missed my home. It’s fucking normal.

Do I want to go back? Yes. To talk to other trainers and reminiscing my time there. Do I want to do it all over again? Hell fucking no.

[december-girl06]

Get to know me uncomfortably well

Thank you dear @rafaelina-casillas​ for tagging me, it was lots and lots of fun <3 <3 <3

1. What’s your middle name?

That’s a secret.

2. How old are you?

26, very soon to be 27.

3. When is your birthday?

Towards the end of the year.

4. What’s your zodiac sign?

Sagittarius

5. What’s your favourite colour?

Pink

6. What’s your lucky number?

I don’t really have one.

7. Do you have any pets?

A cat that’s already 10 years old.

8. Where are you from?

Bulgaria

9. How tall are you?

About 160 cm. so 5′3′‘.

10. What shoe size are you?

EU size - 39, which is 8,5 USA size (according to a chart I found on the web).

11. How many pairs of shoes do you own?

Approximately 8.

12. What was your last dream about?

A singer that I like and in the dream I was playing with some cute little dogs that she ownedq it was very sweet.

13. What talents do you have?

I’m pretty good at acting and playing tennis.

14. Are you psychic in any way?

My intuition and sixth sense are pretty well-devloped so I can often predict what might happen pretty accurately, to an extent logical thinking also plays a part in that.

15. Favourite song?

I don’t have one but since I love MONSTA X and BIGBANG almost all of their songs are favourites of mine.

16. Favourite movie?

The Lord of The Rings is my absolutely favourite movie not only because it’s incredibly well-made and timeless but also because it brings back good memories of when i was younger.

17. Who would be your ideal partner?

Someone who I feel comfortable with and know i can trust; who has some similar interests with me and is open-minded so we can discuss various different topics; someone who’s honest and would speak his mind.

18. Do you want children?

Yes I do but I’m not quite ready to have a child just yet, I’d rather enjoy being carefree until my early 30s.

19. Do you want a church wedding?

I don’t want a wedding at all especially one at a church, I don’t care for either.

20. Are you religious?

Not at all, religion is something of very little interest to me.

21. Have you ever been to the hospital?

Yes but only for small trivial things and hopefully it will stay that way.

22. Have you ever gotten in trouble with the law?

Not for now and I hope i won’t.

23. Have you met any celebrities?

Yes but only local ones that I don’t really care for.

24. Baths or showers?

Showers

25. What colour of socks are you wearing?

Socks with red and white stripes (they’re Christmas themed but keep my feet sooo warm).

26. Have you ever been famous?

No and I don’t want to be.

27. What type of music do you like?

Pop, Alternative rock, Trap, RnB, Hip-Hop

28. Have you ever been skinny dipping?

No and I don’t want to.

30. How many pillows do you sleep with?

One

31. What position do you sleep in?

On my side but I do move around a little bit.

32. How big is your house?

It’s not that big of an apartment.

33. What do you typically have for breakfast?

Just coffee.

34. Have you ever fired a gun?

Yes I have but it was many years ago, I was pretty bad at it.

35. Have you ever tried archery?

No but I really want to!

36. Favourite clean word?

I don’t have a particular one but lilly comes to mind.

37. Favourite swear word?

Shit

38. What’s the longest you’ve gone without sleeping?

A little over 48 hours.

40. Have you ever had a secret admirer?

No

41. Are you a good liar?

Not really and I hate lying.

42. Are you a good judge of character?

Yes

43. Can you do any other accents than your own?

I’m pretty bad at accents so not really.

44. Do you have a strong accent?

People tell me that I don’t but I don’t believe it.

45. What’s your favourite accent?

Scottish

46. What is your personality type?

ISFJ-T

47. What’s your most expensive piece of clothing?

My prom dress and sadly I’ve only worn it once.

48. Can you curl your tongue?

Yes

49. Are you an innie or an outie?

Innie

50. Left of right handed?

Right-handed

51. Are you scared of spiders?

Yes, I have arachnophobia.

52. Favourite food?

Chocolate

53. Favourite foreign food?

French

54. Are you a clean or messy person?

I like keeping things in order.

55. Most used phrase?

Thank you.

56. Most used word?

Yes.

57. How long does it take you to get ready?

Around 10 minutes; I usually have everything prepared in advance.

58. Do you have much of an ego?

No, I don’t have a developed sense of self-importance.

59. Do you suck or nite lollipops?

This question sounds a bit naughty; Suck.

60. Do you talk to yourself?

No, I really hate that.

61. Do you sing to yourself?

No, if I sing it’s pretty loud and only when I’m really excited.

62. Are you a good singer?

Not even a little and a horrible dancer too.

63. Biggest fear?

Spiders, embarrassment, public speaking, failure.

64. Are you a gossip?

No, I hate gossip and see absolutely no point in it.

65. Best dramatic movie you’ve seen?

I’m not sure if Titanic counts but it’s the first one that comes to mind.

66. Do you like long or short hair?

Long even though short is much easier to maintain.

67. Can you name all 50 states in America?

Not all but a good part of them.

68. Favourite school subject?

History and English.

69. Extrovert or introvert?

Introvert

70. Have you ever been scuba diving?

I wanted to as a child but the older I get the scarier it sounds.

71. What makes you nervous?

Overthinking or waiting for long periods of time.

72. Are you scared of the dark?

Pretty scared even to this day.

73. Do you correct people when they make mistakes?

Only if it’s necessary or they’re close to me and I know they won’t be offended.

74. Are you ticklish?

Not at all.

75. Have you ever started a rumour?

No

76. Have you ever been in a position of authority?

No and I don’t want to be.

77. Have you ever drank underage?

Yes but it wasn’t much.

78. Have you ever done drugs?

No, I’m far too scared of the effect they might have.

79. Who was your first real crush?

A boy I was on an exchange program with when I was in 6th grade.

80. How many piercings do you have?

None, that seems pretty rare nowadays.

81. Can you roll your R’s?

Yes

82. How fast can you type?

Pretty fast.

83. How fast can you run?

Not very fast especially at long distances.

84. What colour is your hair?

Dark brown

85. What colour are your eyes?

Hazelnut brown

86. What are you allergic to?

I’m not really sure because I’ve never been tested for allergies.

87. Do you keep a journal?

No, I used to for a short while when I was very young.

88. What do your parents do?

Mom’s a teacher and I’m not sure how to describe my father’s job, something like maintenance maybe but not exactly.

89. Do you like your age?

No, it’s a transaction period for me full of unknowns and I’m not sure what exactly to do but I’m trying to figure it out which is very stressing and pressuring.

90. What makes you angry?

Narrow-minded and rude people, mediocrity being celebrated.

91. Do you like your own name?

Yes

92. Have you already thought about baby names? And if so, what are they?

I have some in mind but I don’t want to share.

93. Do you want a boy or girl for a child?

Why are there so many questions about children??? The gender doesn’t matter.

94. What are your strengths?

Logical thinking, being able to work under pressure, open-mindedness, adaptability.

95. What are your weaknesses?

Very low self-esteem, lack of ambition, overthinking, short temper.

96. How did you get your name?

My mother gave it to me without any specific reason.

97. Were your ancestors royalty?

I wish.

98. Do you have an scars?

Yes but they’re not that visible or big.

99. Colour of your bedspread?

Blue

100. Colour of your room?

White

I tag @mas-lina​ and whoever else sees this and wants to answer ^_^

[just-a-girl-in-the-mountains]

1-100?

1. Is a kiss considered cheating? Yes2. Have you ever faked orgasm? Yes3. If you could have one superpower, what would it be? To help people I can’t help now. 4. Do you think you are going to be rich in 7-8-9 years? Define rich. It doesn’t have to be about money. 5. Tell us some funny drunk story. Well.. I go to WVU so I have too many to count. 6. Why are you no longer together with your ex? It’s different for each ex. One cheated, and the other ones just never worked out past a certain point. 7. If you had to choose one way to die, what would it be? It’s hard to pick one.. but I’d just say for my country or for my family. However it would happen, I would want it to be for them. 8. What are your current goals? To start my life. 9. Do you like someone? Yes10. Who was the last person to disappoint you? Me11. Do you like your body? Yes and no12. Can you keep a diet? If I’m serious about it. 13. If the whole world listened to you right now, what would you say? Be kind. 14. Do you work? A lot. 15. If you could choose only one food to eat to the rest of your life, what would it be? Waffles16. Would you get a tattoo? Maybe. 17. Something you don’t mind spending all your money on? I never really spend money. 18. Can you drive? Yes19. When was the last time someone told you you were beautiful? This morning. 20. What was the last thing you cried for? I was really happy a couple of days ago and so I just happy cried. 21. Do you keep a journal? Yes22. Is life fun? With the right people. 23. Is farting in front of people irrelevant? No24. What’s your dream car? 69 Mustang25. Are grades in school important? Yes. 26. Describe your crush. Army guy who also really likes music and waffles (and going on random 3am adventures with me)27. What was the last book/movie that really impressed you? It’s been a while. 28. What was your last lie? That my bf’s roommate was allergic to dogs. (Long story)29. Dumbest lie you ever told? That I didn’t hit a car (when there was a nice square cutout in my front bumper of someones hitch)30. Is crying in front of people embarrassing? It depends on the people. 31. Something you did and you are proud of? I started a mental health counseling program in high school through our health and phys ed department. Some kids really needed it. 32. What’s your favourite cocktail? Not sure. 33. Something you are good at? Making up my own music on the piano. 34. Do you like small kids? Yes but I still get tired just like anyone else. 35. How are you feeling right now? Pretty relaxed. Happy. 36. What would you name your daughter/son? Elizabeth rose and michael ryan.. always up for debate37. What do you need to be happy? The simple things in life. And mountains. 38. Is there some you want to punch in the face right now? No39. What was the last gift you received? Taco bell gift cards40. What was the last gift you gave? I donated to a charity if that counts..?41. What was the last concert you went to? Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra42 Favourite place to shop at? I don’t really shop. 43. Who inspires you? My dad. 44. How old were you when you first got drunk? 18. 45. How old were you when you first got high? 19. 46. How old were you when you first had sex? 17.47. When was your first kiss? Probably when I was super little. But if we’re talking about a real kiss, either 4th grade or 9th grade. Again, long story..48. Something you want to do until the end of this year? Be happy. And go outside more. 49. Is there something in the past you wish you hadn’t done? Yes. 50. Post a selfie. I will later!51. Who are you most comfortable around? My boyfriend.52. Name one thing that terrifies you. The possibility of not being able to have kids. 53. What kind of books do you read? I used to read a lot of mysteries or romance novels. Now it’s just textbooks. 54. What would you tell your 12 year old self? Don’t be a dumb ass and break all of your bones. 55. What is your favourite flower? White roses and bluebells (they’re tied)56. Any bad habits you have? Keeping all of my emotions inside for wayyyyy too long. 57. What kind of people are you attracted to? Honest people who know what they want in life. 58. What was the last thing you cried for? I was happy and just started crying. I felt like I was where I was supposed to be in life. 59. Is there something you don’t eat? Some food that truly disgust you? Not really. 60. Are you in love? Yes61. Something you find romantic? All of the cheesy things. 62. How long was your longest relationship? 2 years63. What are 3 things that irritate you about the same sex? Females gossip too much. And they complain about the stupidest stuff. And therefore drama happens. 64. What are 3 things that irritate you about the opposite sex? Guys tend to do dumb things. They also lie to cover up things that you already know about. And i currently can’t think of a third thing. 65. What are you saving money for? Incase something happens to me or my car or anything like that. Also to start life and not have to work more than 2 jobs again. 66. How would you describe your bad side? I don’t like to listen to other people sometimes. Sometimes I just like to do my own thing and idgaf about anything else. I also swear a lot…67. Are you actually a good person? Why? I’d like to think so. I try to help people when I can and I’m generally nice to everyone (unless someone walks all over me).68. What are you living for? This is too deep of a question to answer at 10am69. Have you ever done anything illegal? Unfortunately. 70. Do you like your body? Yes and no71. Have you ever made someone feel bad about themselves intentionally? Never. 72. Ever sent nudes? Never. 73. Have you ever cheated on someone? Never. 74. Favourite candy? Chocolate covered pretzels..?75. Is there a blog you visit every day, or almost every day? Tag it! Yes! @ry-rygirl76. Do you play any computer games? What is your favourite game? Yes! And currently my favorite computer game is Call of Duty 2 (I’m throwing it back a bit)77. Favourite TV series? I really like greys anatomy and bones. 78. Are you religious? Does God exist? Yeah and I’m gonna let everyone think about that last part for themselves. 79. What was the last book you read? Did it impress you and why? It was a textbook on sonata form.. and yes it was quite impressive. It was by hepokoski and darcy incase you’re a nerd like me and want to check it out! I’m a theory nerd and everything in their book was so well laid out and explained. 80. What do you think about vegetarianism/veganism? If it works for you then great! But I enjoy meat too much to ever do it myself. 81. How long have you been on Tumblr? Forever. 82. Do you like Chineese food? Yes.83. McDonalds or Subway? Subway84. Vodka or whiskey? Whiskey85. Alcohol or drugs? Alcohol (but I don’t really drink a lot)86. Ever been out of your province/state/country? Yes87. Meaning behind your blog name? I really like the mountains and i am just your average girl..88. What are you scared of? Not being able to have kids, hurting the people I love, not being able to play piano again. 89. Last time you were insulted? Last night90. Most traumatic experience? I was raped. 91. Perfect date idea? Just something simple. I’m not a fancy person. As long as I get to spend time with you, I’m happy. 92. Favourite app on your phone? Tumblr….93. What colour are the walls in your room? In my apartment they’re a gold/yellow color. 94. Do you watch Youtube? Who is your favourite youtuber? Not really but my boyfriend watches funhaus a lot. 95. Share your favourite quote. “The earth has music for those who listen.” -George Santayana96. What is the meaning of life? Too early to answer this. But for now I’ll just say that it’s different for everyone. 97. Do you like horror movies? Yes98. Have you ever made your mum cry? What happened? Yes. And last time it was because I turned 21 and she felt old. 99. Do you feel lucky or special in a way? Yes. He makes me feel both. 100. Can you keep a secret? Yes

[pafsins2]

Everything Wrong With Welcome to LazyTown

Well, I'm done with Phiheas and Ferb. Gotta move on to another show. I'm tired of silly stuff though. I want a sin a super serious show where sins matter! ….So welcome to LazyTown Sins!

1.Hiding Sportacus' face is pointless if you're gonna show his face BEFORE you start hiding it. Not to mention showing him in the theme song right after!

2.Okay we get it, you can sick tricks. This won't be get tiring.

3.They say LazyTown is where you'll wanna stay, than right after mention the villain. Yeah, I'm convinced. (Even if Robbie is the main reason we're all watching)

4.What is Sportacus standing on here?

5.Stephanie is lucky there are no cars on the narrownest street ever.

6.”Defacing people's face with a mustache” cliche

7.Also, Relect? There was never an election episode. That's a sin.

8.These puppets were never meant to be seen with their full bodies...or at all, frankly.

9.Honestly, why did Robbie expect this trap to work?

10.And he forgets his trap was there because comedy!

11.Why do so many preschools have the title read out loud? Are kids that stupid?

12.If these kids are so lazy, why do they go the trouble to go all the way to Pixel's house to play?

13.They always play it again but now Ziggy is asking this?

14.Mayor cleans the 4th wall.

15.Also, he's Steph's Uncle but he's more or less the dumbass dad trope.

16.”Gossip” cliche

17.So how is a puppet the uncle of a human? ...I don't wanna know.

18.He clearly has never met/got go no info onSteph if he doesn't know she isn't Lazy.

19.Question, where is Robbie's Perriscope peeping out from? It seems to just appear wherever it wants.

20.”It is exactly how I Robbie Rotten, planned it. LazyTown is the laziest town on the planet” Exposition.

21.”I meant to do that” cliche

22.Also, why does he have...a whatever this is right here anyway?

23.Okay obvious question, but why are some characters  puppet sand some human? If say, only LazyTown residents were and Stephanie was not, that would make sense at least.

24.By the way, we quickly learns there's like 9 or so people in this entire freaking town.

25.Milford is surprised she's strong enough to carry tiny suitcases.

26.On the day your niece visits you make a cake...for someone else. K.

27.”Busy body?” Even Stephanie questions these oddly specific names.

28.SO MUCH PINK.

29.Stephanie is shocked to find out a place called LazyTown is lazy.

30.Lazy Kid Ziggy is outside because the plot says so.

31.Also, Big Eater cliche

32.Steph feels a sticky substance we can't see.

33.”She takes my candy and hides it” That's not very Lazy.

34.Also, Prankster cliché and stuck up rich brat cliche

35.”There is no problem” Unless she convinces him to do something else...which she does.

36.Should I sin Pixel having a crush on Stephanie because it's weird or because it's never mentioned again....eh, both.

37.Oh, and smart guy cliche PLUS Token Black character!

38.Where did that Soccer ball come from? She had  a ball but it just a toy one.

39.If these kids are convinced this quickly, it's shocking they've been lazy for so long.

40.Yes to all Steph. We just covered this.

41.The location this song is set is far enough from Pixel's house for them getting here so quickly to be a sin

42.Robbie doesn't interrupt the song because even he has manners

Yeah, let's take a sin for an awesome song. You know the drill.

42.These are officially the most easily swayed kids ever.

43.Because video games with tons of levels are always high quality, right Action 52?

44.Stingy chasing after Pixel is not lazy. Yeah yeah I know the point is to get him away but come on.

45.Speaking of not being lazy, breaking a window would be even less lazy. She'd even be outside!

46.Sad Reprise.

47.It just hit me: Neither the Mayor nor Bessie are Lazy, and Robbie has no problem with this?

48.”I can't change that” Yes you can, you're the mayor! Even with the backstory we get, there's no reason why the Mayor hasn't tried to fix this. Even if Robbie tries to stop, he could easily kick Robbie out or something.

49.We never find exactly who number 9 is or anything else regarding Sportacus origin. LazyTown has DEEPEST LORE.

50.Why hasn't Milford tried contacting him before?

51.Mayor doesn't look at what he's bringing because comedy.

52.Robbie sees her and doesn't do anything about it.

53.Steph doesn't hear him.

54.The letter goes straight up but we see many times the airship is far away from LazyTown.

55.Stephanie doesn't mention the bigger problem in the letter and makes it all about her.

56.You've heard of LazyTown, and even have a book on it, but have never been there and have never heard of it's big issue.

57.Does even have to send letters in style? This is very impartial.

58.Stephanie, it takes time to get letters, read them, and go into action. It's only been like a minute.

59.”Another one?” More lore that is never explained.

60.”I'm a slightly above average hero” ….Did you see those flips? Slightly above average my ass.

61.Wait, what happened to Stingy going after Pixel?

62.And they're outside, so Robbie's plan already failed.

63.Trixie's a bitch just so someone can be in trouble.

64.Sportacus invented dabbing.

65.Stingy and Trixie do not question who this guy is, at least here when they should.

66.It's only been a second and Trixie's in trouble again? And what reason does she have to do this anyway?

67.Robbie doesn't just step out and tell them to go away like before.

68.Also, have to sin the pun in Sportacus' name

69.This trap was a sin in the intro, and it's a sin here.

70.Bessie is an idiot who doesn't watch where she's going.

71.Sportacus, don't you hear Bessie making a fit over there? This is for a last minute save, isn't it?

72.”LazyTown is really starting to feel like home for me” After only one day and only just NOW the kids learning to be healthy.

73.Speaking of, let's recap. Robbie made them leave, then next they are playing for no reason, Sportaflop saves them and after another save, they are on board forever. No wonder they keep being lazy at the start of most episodes in Season 1 after this!

74.”No one's lazy in lazytown!” Damn, Robbie just got burned.

75.Dance party ending, with a song we'll have to suffer through every episode.

76.I don't need to comment on how we see too much when Stephanie kicks her leg up too much, right? ….Ew.

77. A Fall down a small hole hurt him this much?

78.By the way, Sportacus never actually meets Robbie in this pilot, which is just odd.

79.”LazyTown will stay lazy forever” Good luck with that.

80.Extra spin for the fact that that memes are the only reason people got into this preschool show to begin with. Wait, I wouldn't even be here sinning this, whoa..

EPISODE SIN TALLY: 80

SENTENCE:Be Lazy forever.

APRIL FOOLS! Whew, that was fun. Also, DAT SIN COUNT. I know I  had to sin a lot of the problems with the premise and such but yikes. Likely the rest of the episodes wouldn't have as many since this pilot is bogged with tons of explanations.

And yeah, I did this show for our April Fools because memes....and I kinda knew of it already. No, this won't be an option when I do a poll for the next Sin Series, but I won't rule it out for the future, as this was really fun.

But anyway, back to your regularly programming for the big thing to close out P&F Sins soon.

Obligatory Link: https://www.gofundme.com/2tm9tqk

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

can you do a headcanon where riley stays with eric for like a summer?

absolutely

Okay so 9th grade is drawing to a close and Riley’s a bit of an emotional mess

She’s just officially dumped Lucas after a few months of him being a shitty boyfriend and leaving her confused

She’s been picking up hints that Farkle’s actually interested in her, and by now she knows how she feels about him, but the dummy is still dating Isadora and hasn’t outright said anything so she’s just upset and confused about that whole situation

Her self-esteem is at an all time low, she’s fighting with Topanga more and more, she doesn’t want to talk about most of that with Maya and that’s causing them to fight a little

Basically she’s just back in ‘tired’ mode you feel

So Cory picks up on this and knows she just needs a general break so he starts looking up like if there’s any sleep away camps for her but he’s not finding anything he thinks she’d be thrilled with

And he does this for a while and just mentions it in passing to Eric (bc Eric knew something was up with her and wanted details) and Eric’s just like “dude I’m gonna be in DC for most of the summer and they’re running this program where high school kids can intern for their state’s senators. I’m SURE I could pull some strings and get Riley in”

And Cory thinks that sounds perfect bc he knows Riley misses being close to Eric and it’d be a great way for her to just forget about everything back home for two months and learn some things about politics while she’s at it

Topanga is sold because she thinks it would look great for college and job resumes

So one day after a particularly horrid day at school, during which she overheard 10 different classmates wonder when lucaya would get together now that Riley’s not ‘holding him back’, Smackle announced it was her and Farkle’s one year anniversary, and she accidentally toppled a pyramid during cheer practice, this girl is fucking done. She just wants to sleep. But Eric appears from the shadows and drags her off to dinner at some fancy restaurant

Like she appreciates the gesture but she’s not feeling it Topanga dead ass had to get a dress and shove her into the bathroom lmao

But anyway they get there and have a nice dinner. It’s literally just mostly Riley venting about all her problems while Eric nod’s and “no” ‘s appropriately

But sometime during dessert he just out of the blue “hey you wanna live with me this summer?”

This man has no tact there was no build up Riley was caught so off guard omfg

But he explains the whole internship thing, and he’s like “You’re a model student and I already spoke to the head of the program, they have no problem giving you the spot. I’ve got this big place in DC and Jack’s only going to be able to come by sporadically because of the company so that leaves plenty of time for uncle/niche bonding when I’m not at work. You’d get to meet a bunch of new kids your age, and I’m sure all the Smivy League colleges you’re shooting for will think this is great. You won’t have to focus on any drama with your friends until August. So, I’ll give you a few days to think about it? You know you can call me whenev-”

But Riley’s already shouting “YES!!!!” at the top of her lungs and lowkey tearing up omfg she’s so happy about this

Eric was not expecting this enthusiastic of a response but Riley’s hugging him and seems genuinely happy and excited for the first time all night so he’s thrilled

Okay, so she had to leave to be in DC about a week before her school actually got out. (Technically two, if you count the three days for exams) Cory worked it out so she took all her exams early on the weekend before she left

And Riley was like “Now, I could be mature about this and tell all my friends about this…Or I could be me and just up and leave with absolutely no warning and not give them any solid explanations unless I’m feeling better in August.”

She decides to go with that and swears Cory and Topanga and Auggie to secrecy lmao

Like literally the gang walks into History class one day and they’re all “Wtf where the hell is Riley she’s never absent” and Cory’s just like “Oh she moved to Washington please turn to page 394.”

You can imagine the reactions that got lmaoooo

So anyway, Riley’s in awe of Eric’s place in DC cause it’s so big and fancy

She doesn’t have to do anything her first day there so he sets her up with someone to take her on a tour of all the important buildings and stuff and she meets a couple of other intern kids so she has fun

And then when she actually starts the intern job it’s literally basically just following him around to take notes at meetings and getting messages to other senators and making coffee. She doesn’t find it that much of a hassle and really gets to know some of the other kids pretty well

They all have relatively the same grades and college aspirations as her and she’s like!!! Finally!!! People who are as smart as me but not obnoxiously condescending about it as Farkle and Smackle!!!

OR Finally!!!! People who seem to like me and not find any parts of me too annoying like Lucas and Maya!!!

Or Finally!!! People who don’t make me feel like they’re only talking to me out of convenience like Zay!!!

Like obviously Riley still adores her friends, she always will, but this was like a big eye opener that not every single person in the world is going to view her in the same way her friends and family do.

 And that really helped with her self-esteem a bit. Did it also help that Maya wasn’t there so she could constantly feel overshadowed? Yes. Like, she knows Maya’s in her life for eternity, but having a couple months to learn to thrive without her was really helpful for Riley. Same with not having Topanga try to nit-pick everything she does, or Cory constantly worrying over her, or things like that.

Eric was a pretty chill guardian. He gave her space to grow and try to figure things out about herself, he had no problem with her hanging out with the other internship kids. He let her dye the ends of her hair purple (which she pulled into a bun during work hours to look more professional), she got another ear piercing, she started playing guitar again which she hadn’t really consistently done in years (Eric had somehow ended up with one of Alan’s old ones, but he never used it despite his talent for it lol. Riley found it in a space room when she was exploring around one day since Eric and Jack went for dinner)

And Riley loves spending all this time with Eric again. Since he was around daily in her early childhood, and she had never completely taken well to him moving out. While they stayed close through the years there was just something different about it, you know? So hanging out with him every day made her happy and feel a lot more carefree.

He took her out for lunch every day unless he had to work through it, they saw movies whenever they could, he let her drag him onto a couple horrid shopping trips (with all the pink he was starting to have war flashbacks to Desire lol), her Instagram was flooded with cute selfies of them, they ate way too much pizza because cooking will never be Eric’s strong spot, he took her to see a musical one night. They were having a lot of fun.

And Eric was just thrilled bc Riley was deadass thriving like she was so on top of everything for work and was always having fun with the other interns. She was back to huge, bright smiles never leaving her face, there was a bounce in her step at all times, she joked around a lot and everyone at the office adored her.

Riley, true to plan, barely spent any time worrying about any drama she had back home. She was living in the moment and being happy. She occasionally shot her friends short updates like “Having so much fun here! Can’t talk right now, too busy, but can’t wait to see you guys when I get back!” but that was basically all the thought she was giving them. This was a summer of having fun and focusing on herself and her own shit and that’s what she was committed to doing

There were a few instances where Eric and Jack had her go through everything that was upsetting her, just so she doesn’t go back and just immediately fall back into those situations.

Conclusions she came to:

1) She was absolute on her feelings for Farkle, and felt she had dropped enough hints alluding to them. The boy and Smackle had officially broken up sometime in late June, and after all the drama of Lucas being such a passive boyfriend, she demanded that Farkle would have to be smart enough to make the first move.

2) She needed to stop being so symbiotic with Maya, or else she will never escape feeling overshadowed by her. She was sorta getting there with cheerleading, but she shouldn’t let devotion to her friend stop her from joining other clubs she wanted to, like physics club or sci fi club or drama club or GSA or student council or film club or the basketball team or a book club. She just needed some space away from Maya in places she knew she’d enjoy and shine in.

3) She already knew she was completely over Lucas Friar’s ass, but she needed to stop listening to her obnoxious classmates gossip about them. They had no real idea of anything that went on between them, so whatever they have to say shouldn’t effect her

4) Her grades were just as good as Farkle and Smackle’s, and she was going to make damn sure they remembered that when school started back up. She was sick of being made to feel like an idiot just because she didn’t laude her grades over everyone (however unintentionally the duo were doing that). She knew Farkle was mostly better considering she had floored him when she turned out to tutor him in math earlier in the year, so her main focus was just beating Smackle at like every test she could lol. It might be slightly petty but what else do you want from a 15 year old?

5) She was going to sit down and have a LONG talk with Topanga about how she makes her feel.

6) She is going to remain in contact with all her new friends from across the country and make more in the clubs she’s planning on joining. Her little group is still who she feels closest to and she has no plans on ditching them, but she still wants to branch out and not feel dependent on people who don’t feel dependent on her. She doesn’t want to feel dependent on ANYBODY.

And various other ideas on just how to keep herself sane and happy. Eric is extremely proud of her for all this yes he cries a bit

She also has a brief fling with one of the other interns and they both know it’s not serious or going anywhere and tbh that kinda thrills her to just spend a few weeks kissing someone she knows she doesn’t have to feel destined to marry. Having something so non-serious like that helps her feel more like she’s growing into her own person and isn’t supposed to repeat the steps of her parents

Eric gave her a diary so she could keep a very detailed account of all she’s going through and figuring out

Did they spend a bunch of time reminiscing old memories??? Yes. Because Eric has way too many baby pictures of her lol

All in all they just really re-bonded and Riley really started blossoming during this summer. But she did eventually have to head back home.

There was a big ‘welcome back’ party planned at the bakery, and they were all expecting the Riley Matthews who left to walk through the doors right

But instead in walks Riley Matthews, who doesn’t have bags under her eyes and who seems like she’s almost glowing. Spring in her step, bright smile, purple hair, taller, not sleep deprived, looking genuinely happy to see everyone. She seems sure of herself and confident, everyone is fucking floored yo

She did throw glitter in the air for her own entrance though, so they did know their girl was in there lol

She maintains the summer spent with Eric was one of the best moves of her life Topanga and Cory are lowkey like is this an insult lol

So yeah season 4′s happening so we can get the developed and confident Riley we deserve what to you mean cancellation lmao you must have misheard