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

Entry tags:

!event: welcome picnic

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

There were tables and chairs set up all around the lawn. Some were in the sun, where folks could soak up that precious vitamin D, and some were in the shade where folks could stay cool.

All of the tables had at least a little glitter on them though. It was a welcoming gesture to get glitter someplace you didn't know glitter could go!

[OCD is up! This is the picnic post for general mingling. Roommates, fake siblings and teachers are all here. Since it's outside, the picnic is open to all students, teachers, and townies!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"That makes sense."

"If you don't want to do something, you shouldn't have to, so being sure that you do want to is a really good idea."

Though.

"But maybe it also is good not to worry about too far into the future? I mean, I guess you're closer to having to know than I am, but the future will take care of itself. Or something?" She was pretty sure that there was some cliche.

"And med school is a lot of time and money if I'm not 100% sure I want to go through with it," Kathy agreed. "Though if it turns out I don't want to become a doctor, I'm going to need all the time I can get trying to convince my parents not to disown me."

The Li family had very specific expectations for their daughters, oh yes.

Ringo started to smile at the joke, then frowned as something in Kathy's tone registered. "They wouldn't really disown you, would they?"

"It would probably depend on what I decided to do instead," Kathy said, entirely too seriously for it to be a joke, yes. Then she noticed Ringo's frown and immediately smiled, trying to play it off. "No, of course not. Not really. They're just really excited about their little girl being in such a respected profession. That's all."

Nice try, Kathy, but Ringo didn't look entirely convinced.

"Are they very strict, then?" And, relatedly, "And is it so important that you be a doctor?"

"Well, they just want what's best for me, you know?" Kathy asked, sounding a little defensive. Which probably answered several of Ringo's questions right there. "They wanted to instill a decent work ethic in me and my sister so we'd be successful, you know?"

"Well, that makes sense," Ringo had to admit. "Just as long you get to have some fun, too. And get to do what you want to with your life."

She frowned slightly. "Doing what other people want you to at the expense of your own dreams can be pretty tough."

"Sounds like you know about that from experience," Kathy said, deflecting the conversation back to Ringo. "Does that fit in with why you're here?" She flushed a little. "If I'm getting too personal, you can absolutely tell me to back off."

"Well," Ringo's smile was still there, but it was definitely a bit more strained, old memories clouding her eyes a bit. "I suppose it is, really. A chance to get away from old expectations and responsibilities and just, well, see who I am underneath it all?"

There were parts of who Ringo had been that she wasn't really happy about.

"This is a really good place to do that," Kathy said. "Trust me. Speaking from experience here."

Kathy had done a lot of that since she'd arrived as a sophomore. And she was really starting to like who she was becoming.

"You have the freedom to find out who you are when no one's looking and because of how weird the island is, it's also a good place to figure out who you are when the chips are down, too."

It was subtle, but Ringo's stance relaxed just a bit in relief at the reassurance. She'd been hoping! But it was always nice to have a voice of experience agree.

"Weird like all the glitter weird?" she asked, amused. "Or Pinkie Pie?"

Because definitely weird!

"Weird enough that even Pinkie Pie seems normal," Kathy said with an amused shake of her head. "Did your big sibling cover invasions? Or the dragons that showed up this past graduation? Because, yeah, those are things. That happen. Sorry."

"I think I can handle a little weird. Maybe it'll even be good for me. But," she hesitated before asking, "are they dangerous?" Because Pinkie Pie didn't seem dangerous.

"Some things are," Kathy said. "I mean, Pinkie isn't, not unless you have, like, a glitter-allergy or something. But sometimes things happen and, yeah, they can be pretty dangerous. But the dorms are usually safe and I think Caritas has some kind of safety spell on it, so if you're not a fighter, you can stay in either of those places and you'll be fine."

So...maybe a little reassuring?

Ringo frowned down at her feet, looking thoughtful. When she spoke, her voice was soft. "I just don't like people getting hurt."

Again with the voice of experience.

"Neither do I," Kathy agreed. "It's one of the reasons I'm leaning towards being a doctor. So I can help people who have been."

There wasn't much else she could say to that, either. People were going to get hurt, regardless of how either of them felt about it. That wasn't a Fandom thing, it was a real life thing. But Kathy had a feeling Ringo knew that already.

When she looked up, Ringo had a hesitant smile. "I think that's a neat idea," she said. "Helping people."

"Me too," Kathy said, fiddling with her hair. "There're a lot of different ways you can do that on this island."

You know. Like running around Baltimore in a costume busting criminals. As a random example.

Totally random.

Ringo's smile warmed, and she began nodding, slowly at first, but then more quickly. "I think I'll have to see where I might be able to help." Because it sounded fun. And, well, just nice.

"There's a branch of the Wayne Foundation on the island, if you're thinking of getting a job," Kathy said, mirroring Ringo's smile. "It's a huge charity organization. Even if you don't want to work there, they might have ideas of places nearby you can volunteer."

"So, what would I do?" Ringo asked, frowning thoughtfully. "Just walk in and ask them to help me help people?" Maybe it really was that easy!

Kathy's smile grew a little broader. "Sounds about right," she said. "It's not really all that complicated around here. I don't know anyone who actually had to apply for jobs or anything. It's usually as simple as someone saying they need help and someone else offering to do so."

"I can probably manage that," Ringo decided with a little laugh. Her own smile was broad and bright. "Thank you for the idea, Kathy."

"Anytime," Kathy said. "And I'm serious about stopping by anytime you'd like, okay?" Just to make sure Ringo didn't think she'd just been offering out of politeness, or whatever. "You have a great rest of your picnic, Ringo. And welcome again to Fandom!"

"Then I will stop by," Ringo said with a grateful smile. "And," her eyes darted downward awkwardly, "if you want to stop by my room," as if there was any reason to do so given Ringo's inexperience, "you can."

"Thank you." And there was another of those polite bows.

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

spin_kick_snap - 2015-05-05 22:23 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Mingling and Such [Summer 2015]

soniaroadsqueen - 2015-05-06 01:00 (UTC) - Expand

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only