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

Okay, admittedly, having a picnic at the beginning of January wasn't the best idea the school had ever come up with. Thankfully, the weather was sort of agreeable today - it wasn't too chilly, the sun was out, and there were still pretty pockets of unmelted snow on the lawn.

In the middle of the lawn, a bonfire had been set up for warmth and light--mostly the warmth--and the tables and chairs had been set out to mostly be in the sun. There was a long table with a variety of ~~moddable~~ warm foods, and there was the usual table of nametags and lists to help folks find their siblings and roommates. With everything set up, it was time to welcome the new folks!

[OCD is 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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Oh, it definitely existed. Velma's friend Jackie was on the Naughty list all the time.

"Uhh, yeah," she said, digging into her back pocket for where she'd shoved her schedule. "I have--whoa, wait, what?" She looked from Eric to the castle and back. "That's our school? Fucked up times five--I'm going to need to call the Princess about this one."

It was no Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle, but it wasn't a slouch, either.

"Yep! I mean, the inside's totally modern," not to mention whatever you'd call the Danger Shop, what with its technology that didn't quite exist on most versions of Earth, "despite the fact that the exterior looks like it was lifted right off the cover of a fantasy novel."

"So I'm not going to have to slay a dragon or riddle a sphinx every morning before class?" Velma wanted to sound like she was joking but again, one of her dearest friends lived in Crystal Glitter Unicorn Cloud Castle. She wasn't taking any chances.

"Noooo," Eric shook his head. "I mean, I wouldn't discount it happening in some of the classes we get here, though."

"Wait, really?" Velma asked, remembering to look at her schedule again. "I mean, I know one of my classes was about punching people, but I kinda thought someone was being cute with naming conventions."

This was starting to feel more like the classes she'd taken with The Super Patriots, Inc. than the ones at her old middle school.

"Last semester I had a class where I turned in to a pony temporarily," Eric informed her.

"Was it a full on physical transformation, or did you slip into an alternate reality and your body took on those attributes instead?" Velma asked, sounding surprisingly well-versed in the subject.

"Um," Eric blinked. "Well, we took a magic portal thing there," as opposed to the somewhat less magic portals one could also take. "So I think the second thing?"

"At my, uhh, last school..." which was a very interesting way to explain The Super Patriots, Inc. "...we had to take units on alternate realities and stuff. They're pretty common where I'm from."

At least for superheroes.

"Huh," Eric said thoughtfully. "That wasn't the sort of thing I had any idea about before I came here, so I guess maybe you've got one up on me there."

"Well, alternate reality science is still a newer branch of science and they're still hashing out a lot of the theory, but even before we started looking into that, there were still reality-warpers to learn about and dreamscapers and the Seasonal Lands," Velma said. "I think several hundred alternate realities have been documented and cataloged, ranging from dimensions of pure fantasy, the seasonal universes, upwards of fifty places claiming to be Hell, an equal number of places claiming to be Heaven and, like, the inevitable variant timelines."

She was quoting directly from her notes from her Alternate Reality Survival unit. They'd had to memorize a lot in that class, since you never knew what you'd have access to once you fell into an alternate reality.

"... That sounds confusing," Eric finally managed after a few seconds of stunned silence.

Velma gave him a 'what are you gonna do?' smile. "There's a lot of theory behind all of that. I just know the more basic stuff. I care more about what I need to know to survive when I wake up in one."

"Which is, uh, a distinct possibility?" Eric hazarded.

"Uhhh, kind of?" Velma said. "It sort of depends on your lifestyle. Statistically speaking, a small segment of the population will encourter at least one parallel dimension, alternate continuity, or externally manipulated reality in their life."

That segment was superheroes.

"But the more often you travel to an alternate reality, the more often you'll get pulled into one, too," Velma said. "So, if a wormhole opened up right next to us, I'd get sucked in before you would because I've left my reality a few dozen times already."

"A few dozen? Okay, yeah, even with the weekly visits to Equestria- that was the place with the ponies, but the actual turning in to ponies only happened once- I think you've got me beat." He paused. "Do I want to know why you've left your reality so much?"

Velma hadn't exactly planned to cop to this so early (or at all, really) but since she'd been the one who had brought it up in the first place, it only seemed fair.

"Well, I used to be with The Super Patriots, Inc."

She said that with the full expectation that it would mean something to Eric.

"And I'm a frequent visitor to the Seasonal Lands. Winter by choice, Autumn not so much."

It really, really didn't.

"I don't actually know what either of those things are," he admitted. "I mean, I can kinda guess with Seasonal Lands, but- Super Patriots?"

"Oh. Uhh. Oh. Huh." Velma had never been in this position before, having to explain The Super Patriots, Inc. to someone.

At least this would be some practice for when she had to do so again to her roommate.

"It's the company in charge of training and trademarking damn near every superhero in the world," she explained. "Branding, merchandising, housing, oversight, legal council, healthcare--it's in charge of everything relating to the individual superheroes. For 97% of the superhero population, they oversee everything from manifestation to death."

Not retirement. The average superhero didn't survive to retire. Life expectancy for a member of The Super Patriots was around thirty-five years old.

"That explains the 'Marketing' comment," Eric realised. "I thought maybe you were an athlete or something. And, no offense, but that sounds awful. I'm glad you're here and not there."

"Fucked up times five thousand might be a more accurate way of describing it," Velma said, looking grim. "I was with the company from twelve to just a few months ago. Not I'm not."

She wasn't looking to go into any more detail than that.

"Santa said this school would help me transition back to civilian life. I don't think he knew about the ponies."

"Well," Eric mused. "The weird stuff sure happens a lot but nobody looks down on you if you just wanna lock your door and wait until the land-sharks go away," he said. "Maybe that's what he meant? That this would be a place where you could use your abilities if you wanted to, but there's no crazy mega-corporation forcing you to?"

"Huh. I hadn't thought of that. Yeah, maybe," mused Velma. "I've hung up my costume for good. Learning how to sit back and let other heroes deal with problems for a change might do me some good."

No one wants a second-rate superhero on the front lines with them anyway. Velma would really appreciate it if her various self-esteem issues didn't use her ex-best friend's voice when they reared their ugly heads, but what were you going to do? Shut up, Yelena.

"A whole world of good."

"And, you know, if you ever wanted to- talk about things- I do actually know a little bit about dressing up in weird costumes and doing unusual feats. You are looking at the most recent Southern Regional Junior Champion in men's singles figure skating." Yes, he knew that was really only loosely comparable to Velma's situation, but that was kind of why he was bringing it up.

Velma could kind of see what he was getting at, though.

"Mine was a bunny suit," she said. "Well, not like a giant bunny suit. Wire ears, a fake cotton tail, spandex bodysuit, tights, boots."

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

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