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

[bigdamnprincipal]

Other places might have been expecting a cold front wtf polar vortex, but the weather in Fandom was just right for welcoming in new people. The bonfire was mostly going for decoration, but there were also the makings for s'mores among the food offerings.

Mmmm, summer food.

The food was ready, the tables and chairs had been spread across the lawn with just the right amount of glitter on them, and everything was ready to welcome a new batch of folks to the island!

[OCD is coming! 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!]

Comments

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, it took some time. There had been plenty of occasions where Kathy had done everything but the meat, and had given the guys the option of 'prepare it yourself or enjoy your vegetarian option.'

"I mean, I miss steak, too," Kathy said with a soft laugh. "I've worked my way back up to sometimes being able to eat fish. And I had a hot dog at a carnival a few weeks ago. But, for me, it's a long, slow process."

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

Whereas Liam had gotten within about ten feet of the hot dog stand, stopped dead in his tracks, and then practically bolted for the safety of the cloyingly sweet smell of the cotton candy vendor.

He blinked, staring at her for just a moment as he processed what she was saying.

"But one that's working," he said finally, a note of hope in his voice. Sure, lots of people chose a vegetarian diet and were perfectly happy with it, and there were plenty of dishes he'd learned to make over the past few months that he enjoyed... but at the same time there were things he missed too.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nodded. "I doubt your reasons for going vegetarian are the same as mine," she said slowly - she might not know how cooked flesh smelled, but she sure did know how it tasted - "but I can tell you that it's been about three and a half years for me."

Though she'd had a bit of a resumption of trauma in the middle there, which had made it last a little longer.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

“Our reasons might not be the same, but it sounds like it wasn’t much of a choice for you either,” Liam said quietly. “That’s- it’s kind of reassuring to know I’m not entirely alone in that.”

Three and a half years was a long time- especially from his perspective- but he was just going to focus on the fact that there was progress.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

"Here's to similar trauma," Kathy said, toasting him with her bottle of Yakult.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

And they’d only find more similarities!

“Not something you hear every day,” Liam pointed out. “Though maybe more common in Fandom than literally anywhere else,” he conceded after a moment.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

"I sometimes wonder if that's why we end up here," Kathy said. "A place to prep us for upcoming traumas, or to help us recover after them." Her eyes went sad as she added, "Still seems arbitrary though. Why one person out of billions?"

Why me and not her?

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

“I know why, in my case,” Liam shrugged.

Still didn’t make it hurt any less, even if he’d spent a lot of time thinking it should. Also wasn’t of much help to anyone else.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

"Ah," Kathy said. "I don't. So it just feels unfair."

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

"Logical, since it was," Liam pointed out.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy just gave him a look.

There were more helpful answers you could have gone with there, Kincaid-Price.

Re: Meet Your Teachers [Summer 2020]

[firstofitskind]

Look, he was still trying to work through his own feelings that he’d deserved everything that had happened to him. So yeah. He didn’t know what the ‘helpful answer’ was here.

“Sorry,” he said sheepishly. When in doubt, apologize?