fandomhigh | Surviving (and Thriving) on Fandom Island, Week 1 (Wed., Period 3)

Today, the Danger Shop was set up as what could have been the hallway of any one of the dorm floors. When students entered they'd find themselves standing outside the common room, with the faint sound of the television drifting out from within. A little further down the hallway, the door to one of the dorm rooms was ajar.

Tahiri, her hands behind her back and her feet bare below her Jedi robes, was looking around at the setting with a distinct touch of nostalgia. "Hi, everyone," she said once it looked like everyone was in attendance, "and don't worry, you haven't mysteriously ended up back in the dorms. It's just a simulation. Anyway, welcome to the first week of class. I'm Tahiri Veila -- you can just call me Tahiri, or Jedi Veila if you absolutely have to be formal."

"No formality, I just had to deal with Court for the last two weeks," her companion agreed, wrinkling her nose in both distaste and amusement. "Any more 'my Empress' or 'divine princess' and I might start throwing knives."

"I am Lady Ghanima Atreides," she continued, bright blue-on-blue eyes twinkling with mirth as she stepped forward, long formal gown rustling. "Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or Professor Atreides are perfectly acceptable terms of address, and for those of you who are wondering, yes, my eyes are natural."

"Good Morning, class, and welcome to Fandom Island, part of the United States of America, on the continent of North America, the planet Earth, in the year 2015. That would be AD, not BC."

"Professor Atreides taught me when I was a student here a few years back," Tahiri added with a grin. "So we're both pretty familiar with the island and its unique, um, challenges. One of which is definitely getting adjusted to this place, especially if you're from a completely different place, or time, or world."

"Jedi Veila, you are making me feel old," Ghanima said wryly. "...but as Tahiri said, adjustments are often required, living on Fandom. We're both from other worlds, for example, and I am from a Earth's very far future. A future where complicated machinery such as this--" and she waved a hand to indicate their simulation, "--has been outlawed, due to an issue with A.I. sentience and an attempted human genocide. Therefore, I have had to learn how to use such contraptions as computers and cell phones, as what is available at home is vastly different."

Tahiri at least had the grace to look mildly repentant. "And where I'm from, which is another galaxy entirely, technology's fairly advanced, so it was a different kind of adjustment. And that's not even getting into differences in language and culture. So that's what this class is going to be about: helping you get adjusted, or maybe just get a new perspective on all of this if you've been here a while."

"So we'll start with a place you've all been already; your dorms," Ghanima said. "What do you do for light when it gets dark? What entertainment is available? Where do you take care of hygiene in a culturally appropriate manner? How can you make sure you get up at the right time in the morning for you classes? Luckily, we have answers for all these questions."

"Though we'd like to know a little bit about you first. And if this is your very first class here, then we're going to introduce you to a first-week tradition: introductions. If you've already had to do that this week . . ." Tahiri grinned. "Sorry. I promise we won't need them again after today. So how about your name -- and whatever you'd prefer to be called -- and where you're from, and maybe one thing you'd like to learn about in class this term? An interesting fact about you, too, if you feel like sharing?"

Once introductions were over, she went into a quick overview of the various bits of basic technology students were likely to encounter around campus and then waved a hand. "Go on, take a look around and try things out. If you've got any questions about any of them, just let us know, okay?"

[OOC: OCD is up. Have at!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm Mara Jade," Mara began, focusing mostly on Tahiri, "I'm from Imperial Center--a different galaxy than this one, obviously--and I'd like to learn more about how dating works on this planet."

Because she couldn't very well pretend to be a bubbly teenager if she didn't have a boyfriend, right? Or a girlfriend?

Oh, it was such a good thing Tahiri had checked the roster ahead of time, because this was still disconcerting in a way that was really hard to keep under wraps. She managed, but was pretty sure she was sweating from the effort. (The bubbly persona was really throwing her off here, okay?)

"Imperial Center, huh?" she echoed, ignoring both the part of her brain that still reflexively wanted to call it Yuuzhan'tar and the one that wanted to call it Coruscant. "I'm not too familiar with that name from my time."

That was vague enough, right? That made it sound like she could have been from before Mara's time, she hoped. The Yuuzhan Vong affinity for deception was useful more often than she'd expected.

"And I'm afraid dating isn't exactly my area of expertise, but I'm sure we can work it in this term."

"You're a Jedi?" Mara said, tilting her head. "I'm not familiar with them in my time."

The smile wasn't nearly as sweet as she was aiming for. The sharp intelligence in her eyes was a little too much for a bubblehead.

Tahiri knew Mara -- well, her version -- well enough that she would flat-out refuse to believe that any version of her at all could actually be a bubblehead. So to tell the truth, that flash of intelligence was a relief.

"A lot of things can happen over time," she said, taking a cue from Luke when he had to appear serene and unflappable. "That's one of the . . . unique challenges in a place like this, where people could very well end up being four years older than their great-great-great-great grandmother whom they see in the cafeteria every day." She smiled wryly. "When I was a student it usually turned out to be a regrettable decision, asking for details about things that hadn't happened to me yet."

Not that it had ever stopped her.

"So you asked and then regretted it," Mara said. "What did you ask about?"

This was Ghanima's serene princess face, which had served her through the galaxy's most boring negotiations and executions alike. She had had more time to adjust to the idea of having Ben's mother on the island than Tahiri had, and had reached her own inner peace about the eventuality of timelines.

Being Atreides had, admittedly, helped with that.

She wasn't going to get in between tiny!Mara & Tahiri's verbal jousting, either. Tahiri had it well under control, and Mara was a teenager who needed to test her boundaries. Shai-Hulud help them all.

"I can attest that courting customs, on this planet, can vary wildly by region and time period," she said, sticking to the verbalized question at hand. "Currently in the United States, both hetrosexual and homosexual relations are legal and can lead to marriage if both parties desire it, while polyamorous relationships are not legally recognized at this time. Polygamy is illegal, though some religious sects and cults attempt the practice in secret."

Mara nodded. "Mostly female dominated polygamy, or is in balance? We have both at home."

"Male dominant, actually." Ghanima replied. "Sadly, many cultures on this planet -- the United States included -- have issues recognizing equality between genders, often ascribing anything feminine as a 'negative' attribute and considering women to be the 'lesser' gender."

Mara wrinkled up her nose. "How primitive and...wrong."

She knew fifteen ways to kill someone with a pen. Lesser her adorable ass.

"It is completely possible for male members of this culture to respect and hold equal the female participants, however the social construct remnants of patriarchal rule and ingrained cultural misogyny in this location and time period still holds things up on a wide-scale level," Ghanima said regretfully. "I simply remind myself that things will, possibly, get better for them. I'm from A future that Earth may reach, and we do not have issues of this type."

Mara made a face. "Good."

The Empire was implementing systematic repression of aliens and females, but Mara hadn't been exposed to it yet. She was going to have a thing or two to say about it when she noticed.

Surviving (and Thriving) on Fandom Island, Week 1 (Wed., Period 3)

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