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

Entry tags:

!event: welcome picnic

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

With all the rain that had blown through earlier in the week, the school administration had been worried that welcome picnic day would be wet and gloomy. Thankfully, it was sunny, warm, and beautiful outside, and everything had been set up just in time for the shuttle of new folks to arrive. There was a buffet table of food and drinks waiting, along with the list of Big and Little Siblings, the list of roommates, and more name tags than they'd probably need for three picnics.

Also, there wasn't a single flower out on the lawn after last weekend. Just saying.

With everything in place, it looked like it was time for the first summer term to begin!

[OCD up! This is part one of the picnic, specifically for meeting siblings, roommates, and teachers. The rest of the picnic is happening here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

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Four cringed slightly before striding over quickly. "I'm Four," he said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Call me Four. Not...that other thing."

Hello, family issues. Nice to see you.

"Four, then. Like the number? I hope there's a story behind that, and it's not, like, a serial number or something. If you get all 'I-am-four-of-nine You-will-be-assimilated,' that's gonna ruin my day. Speaking of:" Joker tucked a crutch under his arm so he could hold out a hand for Four to shake. "I'm Joker. You were lucky enough to get me to show you around this place! You may thank me, now."

"Thank you," Four said dryly, shaking his hand. "And there's a story. I'm just not telling it right now."

"Wow, you are a super-exciting guy, Four," Joker said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Bet you get all the ladies with that attitude. Okay, so, let's start with the basics: Where are you from, and when? Do you believe in magic? Looking around the lawn, what strikes you as the most odd?"

"I'm from Dauntless," Four said, "a faction in...the city." He frowned. "I don't think it has a name. It's been several generations since the civil wars that destroyed the rest of the population."

Just adding to that cheery impression.

"I don't believe in magic, and I think that everyone wearing different colors and not having weapons is very odd."

"Oooh," Joker grunted in sympathy. "So, future dystopia-type-thing. That's... okay, we can work with that. Sounds like it might be one of the worse sort of worlds, so... yeah, that sucks. You'll like it here, though. No uniforms, no thought police, no radioactive wastelands, no -- is yours an 'evil dictator' or 'evil council' sort of place? Regardless, none of that. you're free to be whoever and whatever you want."

Four waggled his hand. "The council is run by Abnegation, who are pledged to be unselfish. The theory is that people who don't want the power should be given it. So far it's worked out. Our wastelands aren't radioactive but they aren't something you'd want to swim in, either. It's just...there."

"Oh, wow, that is... Well, sounds like a fun place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Full of boring people trudging through a predetermined existence like cogs in a machine? Desperately needing a young iconoclast to topple the council and bring back things like 'color' and 'the power of love'? My friend, welcome to the complete opposite of that. Like, you have no idea. You've probably guessed by my nosy questions and the bright, cheery flora that you're not in Kansas anymore, but let's take it a step further: This place? is WEIRD."

"Well, some people wear colors," Four said. "Amity wear yellow and red, Erudite wear blue, Abnegation blend into the background in browns and beiges...yeah, it's depressing," he admitted. "How weird is this place?"

"Well, for one thing, we don't base our fashion choices on someone abusing a thesaurus looking up personality traits," Joker pointed out. "This place is an interdimensional nexus -- we've got all sorts of strange and weird converging here. There are people from all over -- different places, different times, different planets. Some of them have superpowers, some of them have magic... I'm not really clear on the difference, to be honest. This is the year 2014, by the way. The school and the city are called Fandom, and we're in the state of Maryland, in a country called the United States of America. How's that for starters? Am I going too fast?"

Four had paled slightly. "Maybe a little," he offered.

"Okay, rollin' it back a bit: No oppressive anything, here. You can wear something different, if you'd like, and nobody's going to arrest you for saying or thinking or being something they don't like. Classes are fun, and come with room and board. We good, so far?"

"Yeah," Four decided after a moment. "But I'm going to stick to wearing black."

"Well, yeah, no, that's your prerogative," Joker answered. "I mean, it goes well with the whole 'badass' vibe you've got going on. Not very original, of course, but nothing wrong with it. So.... okay, so moving forward... You're not from a place where technology was destroyed or made illegal or anything like that, right? Not gonna freak out at television, computers, telephones...?"

Four shook his head. "We have them, just not all the time--electricity is rationed too. I grew up eating in the dark."

And not just because his father was a huge dick.

"Well, that sucks," Joker told him. "So, no late-night movie marathons in your home? Then that's another fun thing about this place -- the power's always on. And free."

"Sounds amazing," Four admitted. "Back home we go drinking and get tattoos."

"Well, you do have that option," Joker told him. "I mean, I never thought of getting tattoos as entertainment, but I guess it's better than poking yourself repeatedly with a sharp needle."

"That's another Dauntless thing," Four agreed. "Piercings. Not for me."

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

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