fandomhigh | Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

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!event: welcome picnic

Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

It was a new year, and with the new year came the new spring term, and Fandom High was all set to welcome its new students, along with those just returning from holiday trips home. It was a familiar setting for the latter bunch: there was the requisite bonfire, with tables and chairs scattered around it, as well as the buffet table with ~~moldable~~ warm food and drinks.

And of course, name tags and lists of Big and Little Siblings as well as roommates. Yep, the weather was okay for early January, and Fandom was all ready to celebrate the start of a new term.

[OCD up! This is part one of the picnic, specifically for meeting siblings, roommates, and teachers. The rest of the picnic is happening here and here, in an effort to keep browsers from breaking for as long as possible. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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"Um,okay, wow, nothing you just said made any sense," Bay informed her, after a pause in which she accepted the gift basket and held it awkwardly in both hands. (When somebody offered her a present, she took it.) "Maybe back up to the 'galaxy far, far away' part and start over."

She didn't sound upset, just intrigued and totally confused. Mostly, the confused thing.

Karla could handle confused! Confusion was awesome! It wasn't disbelief!

"If you take a class with him, he'll probably go into it in more detail," she offered, "but he's literally from another galaxy. I don't know if it's a galaxy that's actually part of this world's universe, I never asked. I don't suppose the phrase 'inter-dimensional nexus' means anything to you? It hadn't to me when I showed up, but it never hurts to try."

"Kind of? I mean, I never heard it before but I know what the words mean. It sounds like a sci fi thing," Bay said, faintly dismayed. "I don't even like sci fi."

She eyed Karla again. "Toby and Emmett didn't put you up to this, did they?" She didn't really think so. Neither one of them was committed enough to pranking to procure a robotic dinosaur.

"Nope," Karla said. She understood that impulse. So much easier to believe in a prank (or insanity in her case) than a world-view burst wide open. "Basically, there are an infinite number of dimensions out there and we're kind of the middle of them. So this school gets people from all over. Literally."

Like galaxies far far away and other Realms filled with witches and Queens and worlds just like hers only populated with mutants and robots and other kinds of witches, too.

"And the Fandom crazy isn't just limited to people, either. This is the real reason you get assigned a sibling. Because you're gonna see a lot of weird things and you're probably going to get hit with stuff, too. I'm here to try and help you through some of it. Or prepare you as much as can be."

That wasn't ominous at all, right?

"Dun dun dun," Bay supplied, because that was ominous-sounding indeed. "Okay, so everything in every movie I ever saw is real here? Like, zombies?"

She hoped not zombies. Dawn of the Deaf had left a bad taste in her mouth.

"They're the band at Caritas," Karla said solemnly. "Which is a bar that doesn't card, by the way. They're generally kind of smelly and falling apart, but the staff keeps them duct-taped enough to play."

If that's what you wanted to call if. And were feeling generous.

Bay had picked zombies because of the amateur movie; she really shouldn't have been surprised they apparently existed too. And the smell -- well, that was no surprise at all.

Karla had said something else important, too. "Tell me more about this bar that doesn't card."

That earned Bay another smile. "It's a bar that doesn't card," she said, because what else did Bay need to know? "Called Caritas. It's in town and it's open every night of the week. There's a stage for karaoke, a lounge with a TV, and a spell that keeps things peaceful. You can work there, too, if you want. It's also a good place to stock up on these."

She reached into the basket to grab a nipper of rum; she'd made sure to add a bunch. "Squirrels. They love this stuff. They also love gossip. If you don't want something you're doing ending up on radio for everyone to hear, bribe the squirrels with these and they'll leave you alone."

Bay picked up another nipper of rum and eyed it like she'd never seen such a thing before. "Literal squirrels," she said, and held her hands like paws. "Like, trees, acorns and fur kind of squirrels, they listen to us? I'll never look at wildlife the same way again."

"Those would be the ones," Karla said with a sigh. "Tiny, four-footed rodents. Listen to the radio, you'll understand."

This little sib was taking this all very well! Karla was feeling very pleased with herself. Four years of trying had finally paid off.

"We have a bunch of weird wildlife, though. Teal deal, alots, squirrels with attitudes..." She held up her hands. "I know it sounds crazy, but believe me, they're all there. You can wander through the preserve and see them."

After you find out your whole entire life is the way it is because some nurse worked a double shift and lost track of which baby was which, it took more than sci-fi bizarro world to throw you.

"All right," Bay said slowly, though she didn't sound like she was going to do it because yeah right, her in the preserve. "What's an alot?"

Okay, that was a kind of hard one to define. "Um....a kind of big bear-like thing made of...a lot of one thing?"

That was the worst explanation ever, Karla.

"Like...there's alot of fire and it's made of fire. And alot of pillows that's all shambly and made of pillows. Mother Night, this sounds like the weirdest and worst lie ever, but I swear it's not."

She was facepalming now and making a note that if she ever had to do this again, she was never going to mention alots.

"The teal deer are regular deer, just teal?"

"Sure. Because blue fur is a thing." Bay was leaning heavily on the sarcasm -- not because she didn't believe Karla, but because she just had no idea how else to react. "Is there an alot of cake, or an alot of rainbows? I could deal with those."

"On this island? Probably," Karla said with a sigh. "But let's leave the wildlife for later. You probably need to hear about turning into a boy, or a pony, or random animals first."

This was Karla breaking her in gently. Really.

"I put both boy and girl clothes in your basket, because I didn't know which gender you were to begin with. You should keep the male clothing, because you'll need it."

"...No. I opt out."

Bay's identity was a work in progress to begin with. The idea of not being Bay-shaped was not something she could deal with right then.

Karla had a boyfriend Bay could talk to about that...

As it was, she was giving Bay a sympathetic look. "It's not that easy, I'm afraid," she said gently. "I mean, you might be one of the lucky few that Fandom weird skips over, but odds aren't in your favor. If it helps, I still have a hard time adjusting to being male--and most people are usually going through it at the same time, so you won't be alone."

"It's more that I don't want to be anything besides me at all," Bay scowled. "Seriously, you do not know the drama I've had lately. If my body changed too, I would completely lose my freaking mind."

Yeah, there wasn't much to be done about that, sadly. Fandom did what Fandom wished. "If it does happen, it's the duty of a good big sister to take you out and get you too drunk to care," she offered. "And leave a decent hangover remedy for the next day."

She was just going to leave the crazy weekend explanation for another time. That seemed best.

Bay smiled, though there was still something strained about her eyes. "It might take a whole lot of alcohol," she cautioned. "But -- thank you. Guess I just need to deal with it when it happens."

"Not a problem," Karla assured her. "I'm not too proud to admit that a friend of mine ended up slipping me an anti-anxiety pill in my coffee the first time I changed into a male. Don't feel bad for freaking out. It's understandable. And, don't worry. I always get the good booze."

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Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, All Day: Part I

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