‣ Max holds the 100% reply rate to a middle-of-the-night text from him. And most probably George would text back as well

‣ Lando most likely to leave him on read

‣ Nico Hulkenberg would hate to be stuck with Daniel in a lift. Like no shit

‣ Witty banter: Lando. And also Fernando (whatever has been going awn there since testing)

‣ Jack is apparently the one who changed his phone number recently. And definitely not him ‼️

‣ Most likely to get along with his parents: apparently Lando with his Dad (even though it must be noted the answer is based purely on more recent teammates)

Have you noticed the thing in fanfics of children's lit where the writer gives the protagonist new parent figures? The parent figures say things like "no child should have had to do x!". PF's don't prevent protagonist from doing heroism but might ground them for it after. Under their care, the protagonist is likely to get a job, often at the business of the PF. Seems less common for the Animorph (more in ATLA and Harry Potter), but if you have seen this, what's going on? Why do writers do this?

Why do writers do this?

Welcome to the fandom renaissance, Nonny!  My best stab as to what’s going on here is that we’re seeing fewer and fewer shipping wars due to a whole range of forces from “the average age of fandom is increasing” to “there’s an ongoing post-monogamy societal shift.”   BUT that there’s still a desire to see relationship-building fic go in the gaps where (for instance) Pro-Jacob Anti-Edward fic used to go.  So instead of writing about Edward and Bella’s romance, people are writing about Edward and Carlisle’s mentorship, or Leah and Rosalie’s friendship.

What’s going on?

Again, a stab in the dark: it’s a really fun story premise, one that can get away from the way ships are sometimes fraught with baggage.  Found Family is intensely cathartic, in the sense that it takes characters who are miserable and/or lonely in canon and allows them to build loving relationships with each other.  It also (IMHO) reflects that trend among Millennial Whippersnappers to move away from nuclear definitions of “family” and toward embracing everything from polyamory to sexless romance to adult adoption.

Not only that, but it’s awesome in that it lets writers play so much with foils.  Stranger Things obviously does this Up to Eleven (pun intended): Steve’s an arrogant jerk when he’s interacting with Nancy but a dorky sweetheart around Dustin, Hopper’s at his worst around Joyce but at his best around El, Billy’s evil to Max but might be redeemable around his mom, etcetera.  This premise gives fan writers the chance to get wildly different characters into a room together — what if the Tonks family adopted Neville Longbottom? — and start playing out the fun potential.

Why Avatar and Harry Potter (but not Animorphs)?

In a word: FOILS.  Both AtLA and Harry Potter are series filled with good, bad, and ugly mentors, and both series have contrasts between the good and the bad.  For AtLA, it’s no accident that Zuko finally reuniting with his father in S3E1 is intercut with the scene of Katara finally reuniting with her father.  Katara’s fam airs their grievances, talks things out, yells, cries, apologizes, forgives, hugs, and affirms their ongoing love.  Zuko’s fam deals with having 500 times as much baggage by... Zuko kowtowing silently on the floor while Ozai talks about everything but their problems with each other.  After that sequence, the desire to get Zuko into a room with Hakoda for some proper fathering is practically overwhelming, and many brilliant fan writers have obliged us by doing exactly that.

For Harry Potter, there’s no scene that’s as in-your-face with the contrast between healthy vs. unhealthy disagreement with one’s father, but there are still plenty of mentor foils.  Sirius and Petunia are probably the clearest examples.  Sirius is a raging mess who (on the surface) has nothing to offer Harry: he’s an ex-con with a drinking problem and untreated mental health issues who spends much of the series homeless.  Petunia has her shit together and (on the surface) is the perfect guardian for Harry: she’s a wealthy full-time parent who lives in a large suburban house, and is both his closest surviving relative and his legal guardian.  But of course all Harry needs from a parent is love and support, and Sirius offers that in spades while Petunia has none to spare.  Again, the desire to rip Harry away from the Dursleys and ship him off to go be a Black is overwhelming, and many beautiful works of fan fiction have done exactly that.

Animorphs... doesn’t have mentor characters.  Like, none.  Elfangor dies, Toby does her own thing, Erek can’t be trusted, neither Ax nor Jake wants to mentor, and all adults are possible controllers.  Eva’s the closest we get, but by the time she’s free, everyone (especially Eva) recognizes that the Animorphs are already more experienced than her.  We don’t even see a dynamic like the Teen Titans show where the villains mentor the heroes — Jake and Marco might occasionally parallel Visser Three and Visser One, but they don’t learn from the vissers the way that Robin does from Slade or Raven does from Trigon.  The kids just... find their own way.  So while people have written fic where Elfangor or Eva or Mertil or Tom mentors the team, there’s not this in-your-face missed opportunity for the kids to get the parenting they deserve in Animorphs the way there is with Harry Potter and Avatar.

Have you noticed the thing?

Personally, I love this trend.  I’m not much of a shipper — I’m not fond of “will they or won’t they” romantic premises, and actively dislike “they will because they’re soulmates” premises.  My favorite Ship Dynamics are all platonic.  Like, my faves include (but are not limited to):

Grubby Semi-Feral Mentee and Aloof Socially-Incompetent Mentor Bond with Alarming Speed Over Niche Magical Interest (see: Briar and Rosethorn in Circle of Magic, Boy 412 and Marcia in Septimus Heap, Jason and Bruce in Batman, Wart and Merlin in The Once and Future King)

Well-Intentioned Loving Parent Irretrievably Fucks Up Child, Copes with Fallout (see: John and Dean in Supernatural, Adam and Cal in East of Eden, Soichiro and Light in Death Note, Elaine and T.J. in Political Animals)

I’ve Only Known This Person With Extremely Specific Shared Trauma for 10 Minutes But If Anything Happened to Them I Would Kill Everyone (see: Toph and Zuko in AtLA, Luke and Annabeth in Demigod Diaries, Ax and Tobias in Animorphs, Spike and Angel in Angel, Parker and Eliot in Leverage, Johanna and Finnick in Catching Fire)

Saving the World Sucks But At Least My Ultra-Competent Siblings Are Suffering With Me (see: Edmund and Lucy in Chronicles of Narnia, Sam and Dean in Supernatural, the Hargreeveses in Umbrella Academy, the Crains in Haunting of Hill House)

Just Because I Tried to Kill You That One Time Doesn’t Mean I Won’t Help You Hide a Body, JFC We’re Still Family and I Don’t Know What You Take Me For (see: the Robins in Batman, Septimus and Simon in Septimus Heap, Kyle and Ian in The Host)

We Were the Weird Cousins At All the Family Reunions and We’ve Only Gotten Weirder Since (see: Kate and George in Story Time, Jake and Rachel in Animorphs, Po and Bitterblue in Graceling Realm)

1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 22, 28, 35, 39, 41, 43, 44, 55, 58, 67, 68, 70, 84, 85, 87, 88, 91, 93, 99 : GOOD LUCK 👍

1. Three teams you like 

Juventus, AS Cannes (and Valenciennes FC) and Liverpool

2. Three teams you do not like 

Inter, R Madrid and Nice

3. A team you can’t tolerate and you do not even know why

idk… I usually have a rugh idea why I don’t like a team of football especially if it’s at a “can’t tolerate” level. So no idea.

4. A team that surprised you in recent years (negative way or positive way) 

Actually the Spurs. I’ve never followed them apart from reading results or other relevent articles. They’ve progressed and have a strong team. There’s also Liverpool who has come back being a serious contender for titles, Klopp’s has done wonders.

6. The thing you dislike the most about your club or NT 

For both Italy and France it’s the lack of patience of the fans (and I know I can lack some at times). For France NT it’s especially that kind of French mentality that I’ve seen countless times : if we win, we’re the best, we’d known all along we would win but the minute they lose everyone’s like “Of course, french in sports are always so inconsistant, overpaid brats, smh, I knew we’d lose.” and stuff like that and it drives me mad.

For Juve, it’s that lately, there’s this big clash with the spirit of the club and a huge “marketing ideal” for lack of better term : the new logo, billion years away from the historical one, the huge rise in seats prices and a disdain for the ultras who pretty much are the only one who sings at the stadium and it just look like a big enterprise being run for maximum profit forgetting parts of what is essentials to the club in the process.

8. The one time football made you so happy you couldn’t stop smiling for days 

The first time was Italy NT’s win in 2006. I felt invicible at 10 years old. I had spent a whole month being teased at, Italy being insulted at recess, some kids not speaking to me because I was the only one supporting Italy and being shamelessly vocal about it. I spent all that journey on my own, even my parents thought it weird and I was devastated french TV wouldn’t show all the games of Italy NT or when my parents didn’t let me watch because I had school in the morrow. I was also very sad because I was being transferred in another school when I knew nobody and I’d lose all my friends because the school was in the neighbouring city. I learnt that the day before Italy - Germany and gosh, I cried and I cried again at the late goals of Grosso and Del Piero. It helped lessen my dramatic 10 year old self. And then the final, when Italy won I was so happy. I had to hid the remote control so my parents wouldn’t turn off the TV because they didn’t understand the point of watching since France had lost but I argued. I couldn’t tear my eyes of all my heroes lifting that golden cup and the next day when I faced everyone at school that had told me Italy was shit and would never win all month long. Biggest smile on my face. Three days later my mom took me to the sports shop and bought me the 4 stars jersey and I still have it today.

The second was when Cannes, while in 4th division, beat Saint-Etienne right for my birthday in the round of 32 of the Coupe de France. It was super cold and it went all the way to the penalties and we won and it was the first time I saw the stadium full, completely full with about 12000 people. It was magical. At the end there was a pitch invasion and players celebrated with fans it was amazing. We went to win against Plabennec and then against Montpellier, another Ligue 1 club ! We went up until the quarter finals but ultimately lost to Guingamp. But that feeling was… Amazing.

9. The one time football made you so sad you cried for days. 

First there was Cannes getting sent to 7th division. I thought it was so unfair since the owners had done fuck all while the team gave their max. There was Alex leaving Juve the way it happened. And more recently it was Italy not qualifying for the World Cup and Gigi leaving Juve. Gosh that one was a hard blow I spent the whole week crying from his press conference to the game and after.

11. Five players you really admire purely based on football

Giorgio Chiellini (what ??)

Paolo Maldini

Thierry Henry

Eden Hazard (saw him twice when he was in Lille and it was already a recital)

Iker Casillas

13. Five most underrated players in your opinion

So many qzesrdtfygu ! Any GKs and Defenders go there. For having many OM fans in my acquatainces and being up to date with their club as a result, I’d say Hiroki Sakai is really underrated. Unpopular opinion but Pippo Inzaghi was constantly underrated for saying his goals are easy and he’s lucky and he doesn’t know how to play. I said what I said. Danijel Subasic, my good peeps and that’s the truth. Hm Olivier Giroud and Hugo Lloris ???? ANYONE ???? (that counts as a two for one package). And as a very great and Scouse philosopher once said : “Gary Neville is the most underrated player”

14. Five most overrated players in your opinion

Ronald, Titbot, Rami (and even more since the world cup win), Ratmos, Müller (sorry Garance)

15. Name 3 most despicable figures in football in your opinion (coaches, players, owners, companies, anyone…)

UEFA and FIFA tbh.

16. What makes your favorite coach better than other coaches?

He screams like a metal rock star ! And he’s super intense :

Also because he’s done a tremendous work winning 4 Coppa Italia, 4 Scudetti, getting to two UCL finals and keep the team hungry for more !

22. Favorite Left Back today

Me of course aqzesrdtfqzesrdtfyghj ! Ugh today ? I’d go with De Sciglio (he’s polyvalent)

28. Your dream eleven

Buffon, Maldini, Chiellini, Scirea, Gattuso, Pirlo, Giggs, Beckham, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Vieri

35. Favorite tactical formation

4-3-3 or 3-5-2. Although my first love in managing games was the 4-1-2-1-2. Or as I like to call it : 4-4-2 losange !

39. A moment in football that changed you as a person. (e.g injuries, trophies, or transfers)

It’s honestly quite a rollercoaster when you’re ten years old to see your heroes win the world cup and then learn a week later that your favourite team is going to Serie B. I didn’t understand. That was the first time I really read all articles and papers I could find on the matter, even going to the public library to look at the ones I couldn’t buy and try and read everything to understand.

There was also Riccardo Montolivo’s injury just before the 2014 World Cup and Laurent Koscielny’s injury before the 2018 World Cup. I saw both happening in front of my very eyes and I felt awful, I almost wanted to cry. Injuries at such a time are, truly, the worst thing. And Montolivo wasn’t left alone by injuries afterwards and it breaks my heart.

Also, that 2005 ucl final like. The d r a m a (tm)

41. A player you are ashamed of loving

No shame, no regrets, just love !

43. Your achilles’ heel. The player who is your weakness.

Gigi Buffon (and Pippo Inzaghi)

44. Which team did you support the last time two teams you hated played against each other?

None, I wished for a draw aqzesrdtfygu

55. Three players from past generations you wish you had seen

Gaetano Scirea, Giampiero Boniperti and George Best (and Lev Yashin)

58. Most undeserving winners you can think of

Portugal at Euro 2016. They had the crappiest run and yet…..

67. A rival player you wish had joined your team

MON-TO-LI-VO, Icare about nothing ! Otherwise, although he’s a milanista through and through, would have love Gattuso at Juve, see how it would have been.

68. The time you really thought about leaving football

I never wanted to left but I had breaks. It especially coincided when I was playing football myself and the club’s environement was shit. I received insults just because I was 100% at training and dared tackle the ball away from the starlette diva of the team and the coaches didn’t bat an eye. Spent a whole year like this before I had enough and changed club.

70.The best transfer decision your club made

Just saying but buying Andrea Barzagli from Wolfsburg for 300k was like. Genius.

84. A player you wish you could’ve known in real life because you really think you guys could’ve been best friends.

I’d go with Andrea Pirlo, my good bitch I love dearly

85. A player who you want as your partner (lover, boyfriend, husband)

Pippo Inzaghi or Alessandro Del Piero.

87. Five players who others find attractive but you just don’t see it

Max Allegri for Beatrice Icardi, Luka Modric, Griezmann,

88. A player you think you totally would have had a crush on if you were born in another generation

Probably George Best and Paolo Rossi

91. A player who you think has the worst sense when it comes to fashion

Pretty much all players who lived the 90′s and early 2000s. But like… Gigi Buffon always delivered….. looks™ lmao

93. Top 5 bromances that you swear by.

Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci bitch !

Pippo Inzaghi and Bobo Vieri

Dejan Lovren and Mo Salah

Rino Gattuso and the Dickheads™

France 98 is a whole bromance by itself

99. The 5 most attractive players in your club and NT

Juve : De Sciglio, Matuidi, Bernardeschi, Dybala and Chiellini

France NT : Samuel Umtiti, Raphaël Varane, Blaise Matuidi, Benjamin Pavard and Nabil Fekir

Italy NT : Salvatore Sirigu, Ciro Immobile, Mattia De Sciglio, Federico Bernardeschi and Giorgio Chiellini

Thanks !

It’s Strange - Chapter 19

Previous Chapters: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve , Chapter Thirteen, Chapter Fourteen, Chapter Fifteen , Chapter Sixteen, Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen

~

April 25th, 1987

It is Saturday afternoon, and for the first time in a long time, Stanley returned with his seasonal bird watching, now that the weather was warmer, and the grass was getting greener

Stan had convinced Mike Hanlon to come along with him, and just him. The two of them were really close, and he wanted to spend time with just Mike today.

Sometimes they would ask the other losers or party (the ones who were interested), but every once in a while they would just want to spend time together one on one.

They had took in the breezy 15 degree weather, while laying down in the tall grassy field observing the birds

“Hey look! I spotted a canary over by that tree!” Mike pointed out

“Impressive,” said Stan, “So we got one canary, two robins, six sparrows, and I guess we’ll just keep watching.”

“This is actually amazing,” said Mike, “And this is a hobby my grandfather finally approves of.”

Stan smiled at just about everything Mike had said, and the fact it was a lovely day outside, and the only sound in the air was the breeze swaying in the trees or the sound of birds tweeting. 

They were now there an hour, just watching and chatting away. 

After a while, they just decided to lay down in the tall grass, taking in the peace and waiting for more birds.

From a distance, the sound of twigs could be heard snapping in the forest, which made both Stan and Mike perk up their heads.

“Did you hear that?” Mike whispered

“Yeah, sounded like -”

“Footsteps? How many?”

“I don’t know,” said Stan, “It’s probably nothing.”

The two of them brushed it off, while their bodies faced up towards the sky, closing their eyes again.

Minutes had passed, and both Stan and Mike now felt as if they were being watched by someone, or something. Hopefully birds.

“Do you think we should cut this short for today?” said Stan

“Yeah, feels like we’re being watched,” Mike replied, “It’s kinda creepy.”

As soon as they had gotten up, they felt the urge to look in the forest, to find out the source of the sound. 

They leaned closer, and noticed four shadows lurking in the woods, close to the steep hill by The Barrens. 

“I told you fuckfaces, don’t mess this up, or I will have to kill you guys the same way I killed my father.” said a familiar voice in the distance, “Do you understand me? Now we gotta wait here for Billy to arrive, he’ll be here in a minute. He will tell us what to do next.”

“Shit is that - Fuck.” Stan croaked

“That sounds like...Bowers.” Mike muttered

Both of them were ducked underneath bushed, and they were about 70 feet away from then

“I don’t get it either, I thought they were dead a long time ago!” said Mike, “This can’t be them.”

“Yes Henry, we understand.” said another familiar voice, “Belch and Victor won’t let you down either.”

“Yeah, you three better fucking hope not. Now keep wearing the goddamn wigs in public, no matter how hot it is.”

Stan turned to look at Mike

“Sorry Mike, but I think they just might be.” Stan gulped

“But how??” 

The two of them couldn’t bare to stick around any longer, to avoid bad memories flooding back and to avoid getting caught by the now undead Bowers gang

They had made their way back to the trail which was by the field they were in, and hopped on their bikes, and managed to not get spotted by the Bowers gang

~

May 15th, 1987

The party had all gotten together that weekend, as they had managed to set some time together before exams in a couple of weeks. 

The weather was getting slightly warmer, and they had decided to make their way to the quarry that afternoon.

“I can’t wait for school to be over,” said Dustin, “Two more months of no nonsense.”

“You and Richie.” said Lucas, “Best of luck to you both.”

“At least I’m the smarter one.”

“Not by much though.”

“Can you guys stop bickering?” Max rolled her eyes, “I’m trying to enjoy the sunset here.”

On the other side of the trees, Eleven and Will had happen to wander into the trees, and Mike followed them

Eleven and Will were now basically siblings after Joyce and Hopper became official weeks ago. Eleven and Will had formed a special type of bond since then, getting along very well.

Yet they seemed to communicate in a strange sort of way; non verbally. Not even Mike could understand their way of communication, and he was both their friend and boyfriend.

Then again, the rest of the party and just about everyone else they knew couldn’t understand either.

“Hey, I’ve always wondered,” said Mike, “I know you guys are now siblings, but what does it mean when you look at each other like that?”

“I told you.” Eleven responded

“We’re psychic.” Will finished

“You even know what each other are going to say next!” Mike laughed, “Come on, I think you should just tell us.”

“We would but, we can’t.” El looked down

“What? Why not?” Mike asked, “Everything okay?”

Will nodded

“Yes,” he responded, “It’s just…not right if we do.”

Just then, Lucas, Dustin, and Max came from around the corner, rustling of the trees moving making the three of them look over

“Mike, tell Dustin I’m right, like I always am.” said Lucas

“No, I’m the right one here!” argued Dustin

Max stood behind them with her arms crossed, huffing in silence at their bickering.

“Guys, now’s not a good time!” Mike insisted

“I think we need to tell you guys something.” said Eleven, “And swear to me and Will, you won’t tell anyone.”

The group nodded and agreed, while her and Will went around to whisper the same thing in everyone’s ears; “We had a vision. The older girls you saw with Billy are not who they say they are.”

“Well, obviously.” Max rolled her eyes, “They’re always at Billy’s plotting some sort of ‘weird scheme’ -”

“Shhh!” said Will, “Don’t let them hear you.”

~

June 25th, 1987

An entire month has past, and both parties only now started to hang out again a few days ago, now that exams were over. Their studying sessions for exams did not count as hanging out unlike junior high studying, which was much easier at the time now that they realize it. But as for high school, as all they did was study.

During that time, none of them got up to anything too exiting or crazy, nor did anything weird happen.

Mike and Bill sat at the Wheeler-Tozier’s kitchen table, as it was a rainy day, while Richie and Georgie were outside sailing boats. Two introverts coming together, and Mike and Bill got along just fine, drawing, and were the ones who made the paper boats for them.

It was the first time Mike was learning how to make paper boats, but Bill showed him how to properly do so.

Sucks that it had to rain on the last day of school, but at least Georgie and Richie were having the time of their lives.

“Does your mom know you and Georgie are -”

“I’d m-much r-rather be up here than with my w-weirdo parents.” said Bill, “T-They don’t really c-care what me and G-Georgie do. So we just d-do our own thing.”

Bill’s stuttering was now improving. Aside from the weekly speech therapy, Bill was no longer afraid of stuff, what people thought of him, his somewhat strange parents, he managed to overcome a lot of things in the past year or so.

“You’re lucky your parents don’t care what you do,” said Mike, “My parents are always on me and Richie’s back about everything, more our mom than our dad though.”

“I t-think it’s because you and R-Richie are the y-youngest.”

“One of the youngest, Bill.” Mike continued, “We are much older than Holly, and our mom still flies over us.”

After being out in the pouring rain for a half hour, Richie and Georgie finally come back inside, their clothes dripping wet.

“I had so much fun!” said Georgie, “We need to do this again!”

“Yeah, I agree George,” Richie sighed, “I’m really exhausted.”

As soon as Georgie ran upstairs, Richie turned to Mike and Bill, and they knew something was a bit off.

Richie didn’t have that usual goofy smile he had after having fun, especially saying he was tired right after it.

“Did you and Georgie have fun out in the r-rain?” Bill broke the silence

“Yeah, though Georgie was acting really fucking strange, even stranger than you, Bill.” said Richie

Bill looked down

Mike rolled his eyes knowing that Richie never apologizes for his lack of filter.

“Don’t think he means to offend you,” whispered Mike, “His imagination is just running wild like always.”

“W-What happened?” Bill asked

“Well we were walking along,” said Richie, “And I got distracted and started to pet this old lady’s cat. When I turned back around he’s looking down the sewer, with some creepy expression on his face staring back at me.”

“You should’ve been watching him! Are you crazy??” Mike butted in

“I’m not done,” Richie ignores, “We continued and he started saying weird shit for a few odd minutes.”

“W-What were they?” Bill asked

“I don’t even know, it ranged from complete gibberish to ‘Do you like floating’ and ‘Want a balloon’ in these weird voices. Then he went back to his normal self.”

All of them had confused expressions on their faces, something was weird about what Georgie did, but they could not lay a finger on it. They knew, but they didn’t. It’s like whatever the clue was as to why Georgie was acting weird, was erased from their minds.

“Really fucking weird if you ask me.” Richie shrugged

Next Chapter: To Be Continued

Do the even talk abouts

Sorry this took forever!!! 2: Talk about your first kiss. // Haha what first kiss. 4: Talk about the thing you regret most so far. // Not auditioning for Anything Goes in high school. Nah, just kidding. I actually just really regret working so much in high school and not really taking time to do all the stupid things high school kids do. I got a taste of that life with hanging out with my debate team after meets, or driving around with my work crew after we closed. But I just wish I had done it more, especially now that I see my siblings having so much fun in band. 6: Talk about the worst birthday you've had. // I was turning five, and I invited my whole preschool class to this party at my house. We had party hats, balloons, a fancy cake, the works. I was so happy and excited. And when the big day finally came, well... only two kids showed up, Liam and Max. Both were my best friends at the time, but even playing with them couldn't make me feel better about all the empty chairs around the table. And when it came time to blow out the candles, and gust of wind took the flames and I started crying. So that's probably the worst birthday. 8: Talk about the thing you are most proud of. // Honestly? I am so proud of being a camp counselor, and every time I think about what all of the older counselors said about me when I was in training just makes me swell with pride. 10: Talk about the biggest fight you've ever had. // I can't even remember how it started, but it ended with my sister and I limping into our rooms with cuts and bruises from a huge fist fight that involved a lot of screaming and throwing things. We fight a lot, but it never escalates into something like that. It's so stupid that I can't remember what caused it12: Talk about the worst dream you've ever had.// I've had a few. I had one where my family abandoned me as a five year old, one where my mother died in a building collapse, one where the world shattered, and one when the apocalypse happened. There was also one where I had to relive a traumatic event, only in the dream, everyone who was with me was killed. 14: Talk about a vacation. // Last summer, my whole family went to Washington D.C. and we stayed with my great-uncle in Virginia and drove to the capital every day. My grunkle and his wife breed mini Shetland dogs and there were like ten of them when we were staying there and it was amazing. We also saw a Civil War battlefield, George Washington's house, and all the monuments and statues. My favorite bit was the Smithsonian. Museums are my thing16: Talk about the best party you've ever been to. // I haven't been to an actual party yet, so the closest I can come is my friend's 18th birthday party where we played games at a park, and came back to her house to play CAH and Twister (with dyed shaving cream)18: Talk about something that happened in elementary school. // All the third graders did a project where we picked an animal and studied it for about a month. At the end of the month, we went to the zoo to study our animals in Real Life. I chose reindeer. I figured they were pretty cool, and easy enough to write a report about. And let me tell you, that report was killer. And then we went to the zoo. And my group FINALLY made it to the stupid reindeer pen, and I got all excited, and.... nothing. There were no reindeer. I read the sign posted next to it and discovered that the reindeer had all been moved to another zoo. I was devastated. Also I forgot my lunch on that field trip so I was starving the whole time. 20: Talk about something that happened in high school. // I'm pretty sure most American high schools have a homecoming bonfire. We have ours on the baseball field. It had rained the night before, so the grass was still wet. I met up with a group of my friends, one thing led to another, and we were racing each other to the end of the field. As soon as we reached the end, I whirled around to race back, slipped on the wet grass, and flipped backwards. My head slammed into the ground, and that's the story of how I got mildly concussed during the homecoming bonfire. 22: Talk about your worst fear. // I am terrified of the end of the world. Just thinking about gives me severe anxiety, so let's go with the second worse fear that isn't going to make me sick all night. That would be the ocean. Fuck the ocean. It's too dark and deep and I am so scared of something moving around beneath me where I can't see it. I'm also scared shitless of being trapped in an enclosed space slowly filling up with water. So basically fuck the ocean.24: Talk about something someone told you that meant a lot. // "I would rather lose with you than win with someone else." -Ryan Snow, an absolute sweetheart and my debate partner for three years. 26: Talk about things you do when you're sick. // I watch a ton of Disney movies while huddled under my favorite blankets and try to convince innocent passerby to bring me snacks. 28: Talk about your fetishes. // I don't really.... have any? It just that none of them make any sense. 30: Talk about what turns you off. // Sex. 32: Talk about a place you remember from your childhood. // My summer camp was a pretty rad place. It was in the mountains, nestled in this meadow between two huge hills. There was a small creek in a ditch shaded by huge trees, and we would make forts by digging into the sides of the ditch and using huge branches to cover it up. There was also barn, a swimming pool, an archery range, a rifle range, a volleyball court, a basketball court, a massive council ring with a nightly bonfire, and an old church. By the archery range, there was a long cabin where we took our breaks, eating snacks and reading and playing ping pong. There were also three or four camp dogs who were always around. Anyway, for an eight-year-old kid, it was basically heaven. I never wanted to go home. 34: Talk about the worst physical pain you've endured. // I thought I was gonna die the first month of recovery after the invasive surgery on my ribcage. They slid a curved metal bar between my ribs and flipped it outward, forcing my sternum out and cracking all of my ribs. Then I had to wait for the ribs to heal and the muscle to grow around the bar before I could move around, and it was just unbearable. I'm glad I had a lot of pain meds. 36: Talk about your guilty pleasures. // I love home renovation shows, and also this folk rock singer from the early 2000s whose songs primary feature her old girlfriends. I don't like people to know I love her because it's really not the kind of music I usually listen to but I love to sing along in the car and I get pretty into it. And I love getting manicures. 38: Talk about songs that remind you of certain people. // Turpentine (by the same secret favorite singer mentioned before) reminds me a lot of an ex. It's a cheesy song about missing old friends. And salut d'amour reminds me of my father. It's a slow violin piece, and all I can think of when I listen to it is my father's hand carefully keeping time, waving like a conductor's, as he talked about how much he loved this song. 40: Talk about the end of something in your life. // The end of counselor training was incredibly emotional. I had only spent two weeks with these girls, and already I loved them like sisters. I'm not sure they felt the same way, but it was still heartbreaking to have to say goodbye to so many of them. These girls loved me for who I was, and everyone wanted me to be the best that I could be. I hadn't really experienced that before. At the last campfire, we were all crying. And when I got home, I cried some more. I still see some of them when I go up to camp over the summer, but I always think about how it felt to be a part of something that special for the first time.