Fandom High Welcome Picnic, Front Lawn of the School, Saturday, All Day

[bigdamnprincipal]

If anyone in Fandom could control the weather, they weren't doing a particularly good job with it today. It was quite hot and sticky outside, so the lawn was filled with as many pop-up tents as could be acquired to provide some well-needed shade. There were plenty of cool drinks and moddable food that would hopefully survive the heat--it might not have felt like summer would be ending any time soon, but it was time to celebrate the coming fall nonetheless!

[Flying OCD-free! Have at it and stay cool!]

Comments

[professionalweirdo]

"Oh wow! A welcome party!"

Gonzo was so ready for his first official day as a college student. (Well. First official day as a college student in this century, anyway. He'd done a whole stint at Danhurst College in the early 80s, but that hardly counted.) He was dressed in his best college student swag, with a blue and yellow letter sweater bearing a very collegiate "FU" on the breast, and a matching blue and yellow visor. He even had a blue and yellow pennant flag in one hand to show his full school spirit!

. . . Did the newly opened Fandom University even have a spirit store?

Did it matter?

Just don't ask Gonzo to sing the school's fight song.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Oh, dear god." Jon was facepalming already, and it had nothing to do with the appearance of this student. "I can't believe they're actually going with that abbreviation on things."

[atreideslioness]

It had taken Ghanima a little longer than she'd hoped to return to Fandom, but duty had called, and Ghanima had Responsibilities.

Said Responsibility was fast asleep in his sling, wisps of red hair peeking out as his mother deftly navigated the lawn, piling a plate high with food before retreating to the shade. The heat wasn't bad, Ghani could handle the heat, but Responsibility was not used to it yet.

And she would never get used to the humidity of this planet.

[unusual_sith]

"Lady Ghanima! It's good to see you back." Lana smiled and headed over before noticing the tiny being on the sling. "Ah, and with company, I see."

[itsananomaly]

Cutter was still feeling a little tired from the adventures with the Raptor at the airport but he and Connor were teaching again this semester and the rest of the week had gone by without any incident so they'd been able to portal back to Fandom in time for the Welcome Picnic.

He was feeling a little self conscious about the bandage on his arm but he was looking forward to the picnic and getting back to teaching after everything that had happened back home.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"Well, another semester about to start. You ready?" Connor asked with a grin as he walked over with two drinks in hand - handing one over to Cutter. "I think it will be a good distraction for us with everything else that's been going on. Get back to simpler things like teaching." And that said a lot when teaching at Fandom was considered the easier side of things.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Obviously, Summer was there, and she was planning on sticking mostly to the shade and to a nice cool beverage in her hand at all times, and she was not thinking of enlisting Stark to just follow her around with some big fan or something, how dare you.

[stykera]

It's not like Stark would object!

He also was making sure he had a nice cold beverage, and some food. He didn't mind the heat all that much. He'd much rather be hot than too cold.

[amicia_the_amazon]

Amicia had not handled Hugo's brief return... well. It had sent her back into her room for the remainder of the term, lurking in the corner of her room. Making sketches.

But it was a new term, now. Her head and her heart felt lighter. And so, cautiously, she made her way outside, to the picnic. She chose her seat carefully, off in her own little corner. But still, she was there.

[hashtag_chocobro]

Prompto was really hoping that going to the welcome picnic would help get him back in the mindset of teaching again (especially since he was back to his solo photography jaunt, and thus didn't have Gladio and Ignis to kick his ass into gear as much if he fell back into moping), but, honestly, he was mostly here because he wanted to get himself back in the habit of getting out in general, especially with Noctra, although it was so humid out that he wasn't sure how long she'd feel comfortable being outside today.

They'd play it by ear, though, and make sure she kept plenty cool, especially in her still summery dress, even though Prompto was itching to start busting out some of the cute autumnal drip he'd been getting for her, too.

They, of course, both had their cameras--Prompto's real, Noctra's an adorable little cloth one--and in lieu of fussing with her, he was encouraging her to 'take pictures' and complimenting her on her 'excellent shots,' though, really, mostly what she was doing was chewing on and drooling on the corners of the toy camera.

Had to start somewhere, though, right?

[flamesburned]

Liz was trying to stay as distracted as possible with these next few days so she thought spending some time at the Welcome Picnic would help, “I think Noctra’s starting to get the hang of the camera,” she said fondly as she watched her start to chew on her toy.

[suitably_heroic]

Right. So he was still here. Teaching class about something he actually cared about, this time.

Atton didn't know what the hell to think about that. But at least things at the home-- the New York front were okay. He'd spent a week there, doing rehearsals, a gig or two, cracking jokes and making fun of Dane's lack of knowledge about 80s music (which would've been funnier had anyone there known Atton wasn't even from Earth, but he knew he passed well these days). He'd gotten a few furtive glances, but no one had chosen to pick a fight about it.

And now he was back, leaving all of that behind again. Drifting around the picnic, watching without letting on that he was watching, wondering-- well, wondering why coming back was still so easy.

[unusual_sith]

"I'm guessing you're a coffee rather than a tea person," Lana said, handing him a cup.

[onlyajones]

Jo had mostly lay low the last couple of weeks after everything had happened, she was starting to feel better about everything and she was looking forward to the picnic and the start of the new semester.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Jo." Jon was a little nervous around her, but at least she hadn't been exactly there when he was going all Fear avatar. And he did worry about her. "Hello. I hope you're doing well."

[in_sidon_we_trust]

Sidon had not been on the island much these last few weeks, as the situation with Vah Ruta...well, it hadn't necessarily gotten worse, per se, but it had remained consistent, and that in and of itself was worrying. The monsters throughout Hyrule were getting more restless, too, and so a good deal of attention was being spent on trying to keep them back from getting too close to Zora's Domain, and, in general, there was a nervousness in the air, wondering if the Calamity they had been spending so long trying to keep back was finally about to rise up again and doom Hyrule for all time.

You know.

No big deal.

But Sidon, even if he wasn't going to be teaching again this semester, feeling his distractions would be terribly unfair to his students, still did not want to miss the welcome picnic if he could make it. Which he could! Huzzah! Honestly, it was nice to get back and have a small break from the oppressiveness of potential impending doom, and he was, of course, going to do his best to be his usual bright and cheerful and exuberant self, but anyone who knew him well could easily see that his attention and his focus was clearly far, far away from this lovely little picnic at his alma mater for the new students in its exciting new collegiate direction.

[guillermothegreat]

Guillermo had spent his break at home and had tried to see if he could find out if there were any vampires living near nearby but he hadn't had any luck, still it had been nice to spend some time with his family when he wasn't out trying to prove that vampires existed in his world. He had gotten back at that morning and headed down to the picnic where he was definitely stocking up on the food.

[pun_king]

Graham and Triumph loved a good picnic, so of course, both of them were there, spending about half their time just riding around the park, ready and eager to greet people and maybe spot out some new faces, and the other half over by the food tables, piling up plates and maybe occasionally slipping a few things into the pockets of Graham's cloak to save for later. Next year was going to be the Tournament of Knights, after all, so they were really in crunch time for really getting those gains and bulking up for their potential knighthood, so they'd need a lot of energy and fuel to get into fighting form!

[wildgalegirl]

"Hello, my fair knight and his trusty steed Triumph!" Charlie exclaimed. "It's good to see you both."

[mylandmyrules]

Nell was here, more by accident than anything else. It was a nice day to be out and about so that's what she'd been doing when she realized what day it was.

So, here she was, enjoying some tasty food that she didn't have to make herself and just seeing who else was around.

[unusual_sith]

Lana smiled and came to join her for a while. "You look exceptionally happy today."

[sword_chocobro]

All this reflection he'd been doing about the fact that he'd been back on this island for a full year now had Gladio thinking he might spend a good portion of the weekend out camping in the preserve, just like he had spent the better part of a month when he first got back here (no decision yet on if that might turn into a month of camping again, but he was definitely considering it, for old times' sake), but he figured before he did any of that, he should at least swing by the picnic in his capacity as an instructor and be social before kicking off some kind of wilderness wildman mode for a bit.

Plus, someone had to drag Iggy out to be social every once in a while, too.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

And here he was getting an awkward but friendly wave from Jon, and a very demanding meow for pets from Issa.

[chef_chocobro]

Ignis would like to make an objection to any suggestions that might be made that he had to be dragged here; he was certainly already planning on going to the welcome picnic regardless, even if it was just because, really, he didn't have anything better to do, anyway. Not even a class to plan for this semester, which he figured would be good for him. He was already feeling an itch to get back to it again, so this semester off would hopefully inspire him to think of exactly what he could still effectively teach without the assistance of Gladio and Prompto anyway.

Hopefully, he did not get so desperate for ideas that he started wondering if he should join forces with Summer in some sort of kitchen class, gods help them all.

[giveittoyoursister]

It was a picnic, which meant Vi setting up near a buffet table and demolishing everything in sight.

[what_big_teeth]

Even though she'd felt far more comfortable here than she ever had at her old school, Eleanor still found a spot to sit with her plate of food and her all-too-quickly warming cool beverage to just sort of quietly pick at it while she just sort of people-watched. She was generally better at that than socialization, really, even if all it seemed to accomplish for her right now was thinking that she really did need to get out and interact with these people more...

...eventually. Clearly, she'd sort of already decided she was too set on the whole outsider thing to really work too much at it right now. Besides, it was hot and sticky and she would also just kind of rather be swimming right now anyway.

[needsacatchphrase]

Jane took a deep breath as she looked around for who she was supposed to be mentoring here. And, honestly, the extra height as Thor? Doing great at moments like this.

Doing just great.

[special_rabbit]

After procuring as many of the foods on sticks as she could from the food tables (mostly meats, of course, but, on a day like today? The little fruit kebobs were actually a welcome and refreshing change of sticked-food pace), Amaya found herself a nice little spot to enjoy and...well, be teacherly, she supposed, because thatwas the name of the game today, wasn't it?

[died8yearsago]

Rosa was there for the free food. That's it.

In a leather jacket, despite the weather.

So, okay. She was there for that, too.

[stykera]

Stark wasn't teaching this time around. That wasn't a problem but it was a change and he was fine with that. Really.

He was still going to the picnic (and probably sticking close to Summer). He always went to the picnics if he could. He did love all the food and had made up a plate full of things before finding a spot in the shade.
He didn't mind the sun so much. He'd rather be warm than cold but it was easier to talk to others when they didn't seem to be melting.

[imafuturist]

With radio done, Tony was ready to check out the welcome picnic. Which was a little different this year, but the usual keeping an eye out for anyone from back home (or a version of home) was on.

On the plus side, he had a very large coffee for the process.

[outofthequiver]

Libby had only a couple of these picnic things to experience before the went off to nursing school (sorry, FU! But she was looking for something far more...comprehensive in her higher education!), so she was sure to make the most out of the ones she still had left! Which did include a lot of pictures and even a few videos to send to Zo as the day went on, complaining just a little bit about the heat and showing off the food spread to spark at least a little bit of envy.

She was pleased to see that Zo was also wearing one of the summer shenanigan shirts Libby had sent her for the occasion, but, eventually, she also put her phone away for a little bit to eat some fruit and some nice sandwiches and hopefully connect with some of the people here as well.

[napking]

Gray was here, of course.

Gray might be asleep slumped on a picnic table, but he was here! And maybe in a little bit he'd manage to drag himself up and get some food, meet some new people, all those fun things he'd been looking forward to before Sloth decided to strike. He really hoped so, anyway.

Or maybe someone would come say hi to him? Who knew.

[pun_king]

Well, at some point, while Gray was sleeping, Graham may have noticed and rode Triumph over, hopped off, pulled a nice fluffy pillow from his cloak, and went to oh-so-carefully, hopefully without disturbing him, slip it under head head for a more comfortable nap.

Sure, sure, he knew Gray could sleep just fine anywhere in practically any position, but it just seemed like a nice thing to do for his roommate.

Why did Graham have a pillow in his cloak anyway?

Look, you never knew when a pillow could come in handy! Case in point!

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle was back in Fandom. Belle was confused by this, slightly, but Belle was happy about it.

She had a large glass of iced tea in hand and found herself a spot in the shade to watch people.

[somethingwithturquoise]

Well, Belle, maybe your faculty advisor could help with making you a little less confused! Because as soon as she spotted Belle, Summer kicked it into her newfound FU FA mode and began to make her way over.

"Belle! Hiiiii! How's it going? Good to see you!"

It definitely made this part easier when you actually knew who the person you were advising even was.

[carbsliftthespirit]

Raiden wasn't sure if he was, like, invited, considering he wasn't currently affiliated with the school, but...there was free food. You couldn't expect the bearer of Gluttony to not show up to the free food, could you?

He was being very careful not to take more than his share (even if what he considered his share might be considerably more than most people would have), but he had to try everything, of course.

"Oooh, fruit salad!" He was a simple man sometimes. (Most times.)

[needsacatchphrase]

An entire plate of fruit salad would be a bold choice. But not at all surprising if you knew Raiden for more than, you know, five minutes.

"Raiden!" Jane said, waving over at him.