Lies, Truths, and Dancing Chairs: Exploring NSA’s Chaotic Lore
By Zoe B.
Desk Chair BE by PhotoObjects.net from Photo Images Created in Canva
September 18, 2025. The Back to School Bash, an event hosted by NorthStar Academy’s Student Council, was in full force. As I looked through that day’s schedule, one call caught my eye: “Lore Drop #25-26.” As StuCo’s Vice President, I had already seen the call and knew who was hosting it, but it was only then that I realized I should join. I was already planning on writing an article on NSA Lore, so I figured this was a great opportunity to do some research. A surprisingly delightful call was waiting for me.
It started like any other. Right from the start, a student asked to be updated on the recent lore. In response, Nathan, one of the hosts, explained how NSA families have dominated for the past year. About the families, he said: “If you’re not involved in them... lucky you,” which seems to be a sentiment shared by most. Of course, they still tried to adopt one of the students in the call. That is just tradition.
After that, Nathan and the other host, Andrew, dove right in. The first thing they covered was what the lore is. In a previous interview with me, Nathan shared how the lore is what makes NSA, NSA. In his words, “It’s a combination of people's stories, [...] imaginations, [...] personalities, and ultimately the school's story and personality.” In the call, he shared how the lore and wiki (a student-run website) hold the history and personality of NSA.
After the explanation, we launched into what was the main game of the session: two lies and a truth. Apparently, the hosts came up with the idea when they were both sleep-deprived, so that explains the unusual nature of the game.
Now, after some confusion on whether the goal was to guess the truths or lie (we had to guess the lie), we got started. The first one was fittingly about what the lore is. The only truth was “Lore is everything that makes NSA what it is.” However, one of the students said something very interesting in the chat: “The lore has become less today sadly, so I don’t think that [the truth] is true.” While many probably do not wish this to be true, it seems to be the reality.
When explaining one of the next aspects of the lore, Sir Quackers Quackules, Andrew said, “Quackers is... Quackers. I don’t know how to explain it, to be honest.” This seems to reflect a common trend when it comes to anything relating to the lore. Many parts of it are too complicated to explain simply, so the common solution is to tell others to read about it in the wiki.
One of the next topics is of the most famous: the @tom bomb. Bombs (not real ones though) are among the things that NSAers love discussing the most. Therefore, this was a popular topic. After saying how the bomb was banned by a group of people in a top-secret meeting, one of the students pointed out how the meeting must have been very secret if we all knew about it.
Once the truth about the bomb had been revealed, Andrew boldly stated, “Anyone have any questions about this? I can most likely answer them.” After a student asked, “What’s it [the @tom bomb] do?”, Andrew replied with, “Ah... that’s a good question. I can’t answer it.” That was one of Andrew’s best moments in the call.
During another topic, Nathan made a reference to another popular wiki topic, Gary the dancing chair. People in the chat went crazy, so we got distracted and went to look at the wiki page on Gary. For those unaware, getting off-topic is very common at NSA. Regardless, Nathan continued explaining the history of Gary and his love life, or, at least, attempted to. He eventually gave up and finished with, “I don’t know how romance works with a chair,” which is a statement I believe many of us can relate to.
Now, after this off-topic tangent, Andrew attempted to bring it back to the game by saying, “Moving on to a more popular topic that everyone at NSA loves... communism.” And no, he is not joking. Apart from discussing NSA’s communist war, we got into debating the USSR, Stalin, Lenin, and more. No NSA student who has been on Teams much at all is surprised by this.
After a few more topics, Andrew said in closing, “If you take anything from this [call]... it’s to read the wiki.” I agree. Is the lore chaotic? Very. But the truth is, it is so much fun. Go read the wiki, get involved in the “Legends and Lore” channel of the High School building, and be a part of the people who bring back what makes NSA, NSA.
Columns: 🧑🚀NSA Culture, 👤NSA People
Zoe B. lives in Argentina with her parents and one of her two brothers. This is her fourth and last year at NorthStar Academy, as she's currently a senior. This is her second year in the Navigator and in Student Council, where she currently holds the position of Vice President. In her free time, she enjoys going to the gym, reading, baking, and watching Formula 1.