Food Adventures, Thursday, First Period

[carbsliftthespirit]

"All right, guys!" Raiden exclaimed happily, "today we're doing something a little bit different." And Raiden had a Gray-shaped tagalong for some reason. "We're headed to Frankfurt, Germany, and we're not going to be exploring the city and area's food as a whole. Instead, we're going to be exploring the Christmas markets and all the delicious snacks and drinks in it!" Christmas. Christmas would be the reason for the tagalong. "These markets are common in European cities during December, and they sell things like seasonal decorations and toys, along with all sorts of things to eat and drink! You'll definitely want to get some glühwein, or maybe kinderpunsch if you're not feeling the alcohol, and pick up a bratwurst and some stollen, but beyond that there's a whole range of yummy treats, plus maybe you can get some Christmas shopping in while we're there! So let's get going and get in the festive spirit!"

Little did they know that upon return to Fandom Raiden and his tagalong were going to turn into a chocolate Lab and a sloth, respectively. Weird how that happened.

Library, Thursday 12/4

[noonedecidesmyfate]

The gremlin photographer set up in one corner of the library was rather adorable, Belle thought. Though the constant flashes of light grew old quickly.

And then, of course, there were the other lights. The strings of lights. The ones that kept moving around the library. That was also rather distracting for both Belle and the gremlin trying to take pictures.

Eventually the gremlin made the choice to start trying to convince the lights to pose for portraits. Beetle was watching, fascinated, when she wasn't reading. Or shelving books. Or trying not to trip over lights that kept twining around her ankles.

Surviving the Zombie Apocalypse, Thursday, Per 3

[deathsmajesty]

If Liliana had assumed that resuming class would go smoothly and easily, she had forgotten what December in Fandom was like. Either way, she was waiting for the class in the Danger Shop - which somehow still managed to be infested with slithering strings of Christmas lights - with an expression of pure resignation. The embodiment of 'This May As Well Happen,' as it were.

"An important aspect of continuing to survive in a post-apocalyptic scenario is to not get tunnel blindness," she said once class began. "Yes, zombies may be the biggest threat out there, but that doesn't mean they're the only cause for concern. If you focus only on the dangers shambling after you, you might end up running straight into some other danger that you overlooked completely. And if you break your leg because you didn't notice the potholes in the street, outrunning that zombie is going to be a lot harder.

"Today is going to be more of an athletic class," she continued. "All of the buildings have been sealed off, there's nowhere indoors you can hide. Instead, not only must you fight and/or run from the zombies, you have to do so..." Snow and ice suddenly appeared around them. In some places, it was just enough to make conditions slippery. In others, there were large drifts, or a deceptively thin skim of ice over deep snow. Of course, there were the electric lights present as well, which wanted nothing more than to get underfoot and trip you up, and, just for good measure, there was omnipresent Christmas carols being played just loudly enough to make listening for danger more difficult.

But hey, at least it was just instrumental versions of some of the less twee carols. But that was mostly because Liliana had to listen to it, too, and if she heard I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus one more time, she was going to do something drastic.

"Good luck surviving!" she called merrily. She was going to climb up into the sleigh that had also appeared when the snow did and spend the next hour watching the class in comfort, thank you.

Great British Bakeoff! But American! Thursday, December 4

[heroic_jawline]

Steve arrived in front of the baking students looking a little frazzled and alone. "Right, so Tony turned into a cat today and he'd make an absolutely terrible judge, so I'm calling an audible and changing the plan. We're going to work together and make a gingerbread house!"

This could only go badly.

"I bought a pre-baked one from the store."

At least he knew himself?

"Come on up to this table and we'll get started."