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

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon waved at Gonzo's sweater. "You're very...um. Festive." If this student wasn't seeing a problem with it, Jon wasn't going to be the one to mention it. "Congratulations, I suppose."

[professionalweirdo]

"Thanks! I always try to look the part." Gonzo waved the pennant "I'm Gonzo! Nice to meet you."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Oh!" Jon gave Gonzo a fairly decent smile. "Hello, I'm Jonathan Sims. Jon or Mr. Sims, I suppose. I'm your faculty advisor. Welcome to Fandom University."

[professionalweirdo]

"Go FU!" Gonzo cheered. "My first question: when are cheerleading tryouts?"

Oh honey.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"You, um. Might want to go with 'Fandom U' instead of 'F'," Jon said, a bit pained. "And I don't believe we have cheerleaders. Or anything to cheer for, honestly." Maybe the summer shenanigans, but they were over for now. "You could, um. Ask the moose in the office, or Dean Skywalker, if you'd like to start something up."

[professionalweirdo]

"There's a moose in administration?" Gonzo asked. "In this heat?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"The building has air conditioning," Jon pointed out. "He seems comfortable enough. And hopefully it will cool down soon."

He was guessing Gonzo was going to be fine with a lot of the island, at least, but that did leave the regular things. "I'm not sure where you're from, but it can get both very hot and rather cold here, so you'll want clothing for all weather if you haven't got it already."

He dug in the folder he had with him. "There are coupons for local businesses in here, and one of them is a clothing store." He held the folder so they could both see it, glad for once that he wasn't too tall and wouldn't have to kneel down.

[professionalweirdo]

"Oh thanks!" Gonzo accepted the folder and tucked it under his floppy, floppy arm. "I'm a bit of a clothes horse, that'll really come in handy."

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Right, um. Well, there's also someone there that does tailoring if you need it. Oh, and the island can get...well, odd...at times, so you might also want clothes for an older or younger version of yourself, or for you as a different gender."

He eyed Gonzo. "Speaking of which, may I...that is, I'd like to know your pronouns." He'd hate to assume just because Gonzo sounded like they smoked a pack a day.

[professionalweirdo]

"Oh, I'd probably still wear this if I was different," Gonzo said. "Well, except the overalls I wear when I'm a baby."

Did that clear anything up?

"I'm a . . . whatever. But 'he/him' works fine!"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon nodded as if the overalls thing made any sense. "Noted; thank you. I am also he/him. You'll want to read the things in the folder soon, but if you have any immediate questions about the school, I'd be happy to answer them."

[professionalweirdo]

“How many of the students are armadillos?”

You did say ‘any questions,’ Jon.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

He did, god help him.

"None that I'm aware of." Look, after the moose discussion, he was guessing sentient animals were a thing where Gonzo was from. Maybe he and armadillos had a vendetta or something? At any rate, it wasn't the strangest thing he could have been asked.

"One of the boys has a very large capybara with him. I don't think there are any other noteworthy animals in the school. Although that does remind me - the squirrels here are our reporters. They'll take notes about everything that goes on around the island, and have people report on it on the radio. If you want to keep something private, you can bribe them with rum."

[professionalweirdo]

“The squirrels are reporters?” Gonzo sounded more excited than surprised. “Do you think they need a photographer?”

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon shrugged. "You could ask if they're interested, but since we report on radio, there isn't much call for that, I'm afraid. There is a photo shop in town if you want equipment or to talk photography, and there's a detective firm if you're looking for work."

He nodded toward the folder he'd handed Gonzo. "Those will be the Photo Hut and Diaz and Associates, respectively."

[professionalweirdo]

"Cool! But I'll probably just stick to my performance art if I decide I want to work. Or plumbing. Is there a local plumber?"

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"Not that I know of," Jon admitted. "I've been using Dwight when I need things; he's more a general handyman as well as a woodworker. He's at the Fix 'n Clean. I manage one of the local blocks of flats," he explained. "I hope you have a place to stay, but if not, I've flats available."

[professionalweirdo]

“I found a room at the boarding house, but thanks! I’m gonna be the super!”

Marc had not even remotely agreed to that. But he hadn’t actively said no either.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Those words filled Jon with dread. Not even the super part!

"Please be careful. I know Marc and Steven insist that house can be trusted, but eldritch beings aren't known to be...pleasant."

[professionalweirdo]

“Really? It seemed nice enough to me. It had dancing starfish!”

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I assume those are a good thing. But just be careful, please."

[professionalweirdo]

“I’m always careful!”

That wasn’t even remotely true.

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Yeah, Jon had his doubts. For one thing, Gonzo had come to Fandom.

"I'll take your word for it. And remember, I've got flats if anything goes wrong. Even if they don't have dancing starfish.

"As far as I know."

[professionalweirdo]

“That’s too bad. Maybe you should hire some! Might help with your vacancy issues.”

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

"I'll...consider it."

It would be hard not to, for better or worse, now that he'd had the image put in his brain.