fandomhigh | Return of Fandom Gladiators; Thursday, Third Period [07/09].

~~Assuming the school was on a generator, at least for the duration of workshops, because I did NOT have a good back-up plan~~ Rosa generally looked forward to running this class, but she had to admit, this week in particular had an added interesting element because she figured it might be a little easier getting everyone into absurd spandex when the other options provided by the island really weren't that much better.

They would also find themselves in a ridiculously obnoxious stadium. Today, the center was set up with a series of platforms in a row on one side, and a much higher set of platforms on the other side with ropes hanging down, all set over a vast pool of water. Water that might look nice and refreshing and cool but was actually just slightly warmer than lukewarm because Rosa was mean and thought it was hilarious.

Rosa, already decked out in her own spandex because what she had left to wear was really not appropriate for class anyway, waited until it looked like everyone was there to get started. "Welcome to Fandom Gladiators," she said, "a reference I'm sure very few of you actually get, unless you've had this class when I've taught it before in the past, in which case, why are you back, and should I be worried about you? Anyway, this is a competition class, where I'm going to pit you all against each other in stupid games and over-the-top challenges for no reason except for the fact that I think it's funny. I guess you could argue that it might help better your atheletic prowess, your skill, your stamina, but that arguement would be dumb.

"First things first," she gestured toward a collection of helmets, knee pads, and elbow pads. "Suit up. Yeah, I know it's the Danger Shop so no one gets hurt, but it's a traditional uniform for this kind of thing." Which was kind of true? "Also, the island has been nice enough to not take away these fantastic singlets to really get everyone in the spirit of the tournament.

"Now, since this is the first week, there's usually some kind of introductions, but here's the thing: I don't care who you are. Especially not in the class, because as soon as you enter this arena, you're going to be someone else. You are a Fandom Gladiator, and that means you have to pick your gladiator name. Make it something cool and intimidating, like Hawk or Nitro or Storm. Bonus points if you put together a backstory or gimmick, but choose wisely, because once you pick your gladiator name, you're going to be stuck with it for the rest of the class.

"With one exception." Here, Rosa seemed to almost grin a little. "For today's competition, we'll be doing the Human Cannonball, which is not as cool as it sounds, because there are no actual cannons involved. But you will get to fly at each other and try to knock each other down, so there is that. I've added a water element, too, in the spirit of the week, and a prize. Whoever wins today gets the prestigious honor of getting to rename one of their fellow Gladiators, and the name they choose will be their new name for the rest of the session.

"Any questions? If not, let's suit up and get started."

[[ and ~~you know I've got~~ OCD ~~for this one~~ is up! Go forth and gladiator! ]]

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Don't, like, take forever with it or anything, it's not a big deal. Obviously, not a whole lot of thought went into Malibu or Gemini or Zap.

Or Exterminator, which was Rosa's, which she was definitely keeping, thanks.

But give Rosa your new Gladiator name, and talk about why you picked it. If you have to. And that's who you are for the rest of the semester, if you're lucky enough to not avoid the wrath of whoever wins, so don't make it too lame.

"The Hammer!" said Amaya, without even a moment's hesitation. "I'm sticking with the Hammer!"

As if she was worried someone else might claim it and then she'd have to think of something else, and what else could she possibly be except the Hammer??

"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," Rosa murmured, though there was some appreciation and fondness in there. "Welcome back, the Hammer."

Freya had to admit, the concept of this class, especially its competitive elements, sounded very appealing, even if the costumes seemed a bit silly to her, and perhaps even the idea of a gladiator name. But it also felt like the sort of thing you'd do when you were starting out, making a name for yourself, that would be carried out through all the annals of history and for centuries to come. Because of that, Freya was thinking she had to pick a very strong name, a solid name, the sort of name a hero from the stories might possess...

She considered and rejected a few before finally coming up with one that that seemed to resonate nicely.

"Dragon's Bane," she decided, and realizing it was perfect from the way her chest swelled with pride imagining the people all across the Mist Continent huddling together, whispering That's Freya Crescent! They call her Dragon's Bane, for there is no monster, not even the strongest of dragons, that doesn't quake at the sight of her lance!

Fanciful, perhaps, but now she just sort of loved it?

For the briefest of moments, Rosa almost made a comment about Rat Girl apparently being too obvious for her, or something, but this whole reinvention thing was holding back a lot of really good snark.

But she also wanted to kind of give it to her because that one wasn't actually too bad. Hard to see it really fitting for a rat girl, but alright.

"Not bad," she allowed, "although I don't think dragons are going to come up a whole lot in the course of the session. You never know, though."

It only took Breq a moment to come up with: "Justice".

The backstory for that was personal, obviously.

Rosa's brow furrowed a little.

"I really want to point out that that sounds incredibly corny," she said, "but, wow, yeah. That is actually kind of a perfect Gladiator name..."

"Why corny?" Breq asked, just curious.

Rosa was not side-eyeing Roger's for a second, don't be silly.

"It's just one of those over-arching ideals that goody-two shoes tend to put up as an immutable banner of their goodness," she said with a shrug. "You know, Truth, Justice, anything having to do with the words Brave or Righteous or...Freedom."

"Isn't the word you're looking for presumptuous rather than corny."

By now, Breq assumed that Rosa didn't care if she made an effort to use facial expressions or not, so she didn't.

Rosa wasn't fond of facial expressions much herself, either.

"Like it's presumptuous of you to presume what word I meant?" she asked. "It's corny. Trust me. But corny is this whole thing in a nutshell, so it's perfect."

"I'm going to be the Chosen One," Anakin said with a smirk. It was completely obnoxious and it made him laugh internally.

Rosa wasn't even going to dignify that with a verbal response, Skywalker, but she was definitely still going to give you a look.

“The Xelayan,” admittedly it did take Alara a lot longer than what it should have before she finally went with her choice, which admittedly wasn’t all that creative but she thought it could work for her.

"Xelayan?" asked Rosa. "Is that some sort of space animal?"

She'd gotten some interesting ones in the past sessions of this class, after all, and looking at Alara, it didn't seem like too far to stretch.

"Well, I already have a call sign," Steve said, "and it'd be confusing to go by anything else, so I'll go by Cap here, too."

He was hoping he sounded authoritative enough because the shirt he'd come through the portal wearing had managed to disappear on the way to class.

Yeah. No one was going to complain about that, Rogers.

"Well," she allowed, "it's short..."

Steve smiled. "That's a good thing, right?"

"I probably won't forget it," answered Rosa, which was...really not an answer.

Grog already had a perfectly short name as far as he was concerned, but inspired by Amaya-- "Can I be the Axe?" That sounded sufficiently scary to him.

"If you're going to pick a name like the Axe," said Rosa, who would never disapprove of an axe--

--well, except that one time--

--"you better live up to it."

Grog not living up to a name like the Axe would be disappointing on so many levels.

Return of Fandom Gladiators; Thursday, Third Period [07/09].

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