Summer Session 2, Scoobying Workshop #5, Afternoon 8/8/2006 (Main Campfire)

[soldtoarmenians]

[Roster]

Like the last time they covered this topic, a handwavy e-mail was sent round letting the students know to wear clothes they wouldn't mind getting messy. Also like last time, there's a table out by the dear God not lit campfire -- but it's not covered with cream pies. Instead, there's plastic laundry tubs full of multicolored balloons.

Sloshy balloons.

Xander grins as he holds one up. "So today we talk about another valuable position on the team that doesn't get a lot of attention in the pre-title credits -- the comic relief."

He waves with the balloon. "Last time we did this, we used pies, but since it's a million zillion degrees out and I'd like to live, I decided to listen to my very smart BFF and give you guys something a little less sticky and a little more cool. It still contains the essential ingredient for funny, though: the SPLAT." He tosses it up in the air, and lets it fall down against the ground with a loud, well... splat. Water sprays in all directions.

"So comic relief: that's the guy or girl or...other, I guess, who de-fuses the tension when the group needs it. Or maybe you distract the bad guy while the powerhouses whomp him on the head, or the gun-people get ready to make with the loud shootyness of bangbang.

Sometimes this means you get the quips; sometimes it means you get the pie or the SPLAT. Some people are better at one than the other, and that's fine too - it's always good to know your strengths."

Xander points to himself. "I like to think I'm good with the quippy, but then again, so're most of my friends, so for me, it pays to be well-rounded. I can take a SPLAT to the head with the best of them."

He looks out over the assembled students and grins. "Anybody wanna test me on that?"

Marie (touchablemarie)	Marie looks everywhere but at Xander. She's getting used to the weirdness of Fandom, but throwing water balloons at a teacher, definitely not.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander, meanwhile, is looking around the group a little despairingly, since not so much with the comedy types, this time around. He's sure Parker would happily volunteer, but... he's thinking more that if you can't get one extreme, go to the other. "Marie! Did I see you waving your hand wildly?" he asks, pointing directly at her.
Marie (touchablemarie)	"What? Uh, I... but..." Marie stammers and blushes.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"Seriously -- well, no, not seriously because the whole point is kind of not that -- it's cool. I want somebody to throw a balloon at me." Xander holds up a splooshy purple one and tosses it up and down in his hand.
Marie (touchablemarie)	Marie bites her lip, but stands up, figuring that protesting will cause a bigger scene than just doing what Xander is asking. "Okay," she says, walking over to him.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"See," Xander addresses the group, "one of the main things that makes something funny is the unexpected. I could pick on, say, Parker, or Zero, and nobody would be too surprised that they're willing to bean me in the head with a water balloon. But who'd expect wee, innocent Marie, here?" He hands the purple balloon over to her and backs away, whistling. Looking at the sky, like he's toooootally not expecting her to throw something at him.
Marie (touchablemarie)	Marie watches him and stares at the balloon in her hands. She just can't bring herself to throw it.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	"It's okay, really," Xander says, not looking at her. "Any threats of detention I may have made to Jamie were totally just part of the show."
Marie (touchablemarie)	"But doesn't knowing that I'm going to throw it kind of ruin the element of surprise?" Marie asks, still not quite sure if she can bring herself to throw it.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Xander blinks, since, well, yes, she's right, and he doesn't have a very good answer for that. "Um. Sort of, and in a normal situation somebody wouldn't be expecting it at all, yeah, but I still don't know exactly when..."
...	This was too good an opportunity to pass up. From somewhere in the trees, a water balloon came hurtling toward Xander--filled with water, not chocolate syrup. The mysterious water balloon bandit was saving those for special occasions.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	SPLOOSH! Xander stands blinking for a moment, water dripping down his neck from where he was hit on the back of the head. "Okay, see, that? Was unexpected." He turns to look toward Maries, finally. "How the hell did you pull that--"
Marie (touchablemarie)	Meanwhile, Marie decides to take advantage of Xander's back being turned and lets loose the water balloon in her hand. Which will probably hit Xander in the face the moment he turns around, if he doesn't get out of the way fast enough.
Xander (soldtoarmenians)	Yeah, since he thinks the balloon that just hit him was hers? Not so much. So more with the standing there sopping wet and a face covered in bzuh. "Thank you for your help with illustrating my point," Xander says, wiping water from his face. "I have no idea how you did it, but thank you."
Marie (touchablemarie)	Since Marie has no idea where that other balloon came from, she doesn't say anything to enlighten Xander, simply smiles and goes back to sit down.

[Preplayed with touchablemarie and special guest star for great thanks, yay, and also to willbedone for the weather-related change in activity. Open! Though I'll be afk for a bit due to work, so replies from Xander may be delayed.]

Comments

Sign In

[soldtoarmenians]

So a guy and a frog walk into a bar -- and then after being treated for the concussion, they sign in, replying to the previous comment.

Re: Sign In

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River signed in.

Re: Sign In

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki signed in.

Make With the Quippy

[soldtoarmenians]

Xander, still soaking wet, gives a wave at the students.

"Okay, slapstick has its time and place, which is... in a few minutes, actually -- but now you get to try the other thing.

Your team's trapped in a tunnel, waiting for somebody to dig you out from the other end. Your second-in-command's about to strangle your team leader due to unresolved sexual tension issues about why the hell he's second in command when if you'd listened to him you wouldn't be trapped in a tunnel. Your brainiac's about to kill them both or cry, possibly both, and the spiders on the ceiling are really freaking out the big guy with the itchy trigger finger.

And it's up to you to calm everybody the hell down. Tell your best joke or the funniest story you know. Maybe it's hilarious, or maybe it's awful and it makes everybody groan; doesn't matter as long as it works.

Everybody else? You're the team who were about to kill each other; feel free to laugh, groan, give pointers on how the joke could be better or more awful, and let 'em know whether the comic relief would actually relieve you."

Re: Make With the Quippy

[chasingangela]

Angela? Not so much a funny story person. In the real world in this situation, she'd be crying with the braniac.

But for class ..."So, so the spiders? Remind me of this really geat joke I heard," she said earnestly. "See, a grasshopper walks into a bar, and the bartender said, 'Y'know, we have a drink named after you.'"

She paused, hoping she was telling it right.

"And the grasshopper said, 'You have a drink named Frank?'."

And closed her eyes, hoping no one decided to bring out rotten tomatoes over that joke.

Re: Make With the Quippy

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River began to laugh hysterically at that, so much that she fell over.

Re: Make With the Quippy

[lilpunkinbelly.livejournal.com]

Dawn giggled. "Impressive, Angela."

Re: Make With the Quippy

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Sakurazaki was never particularly good with the humour part of things, but she did have a favourite joke.

"A Buddhist goes to a hot dog stands and says 'Make me one with everything.' "

She smirked lightly. Ahh, Buddhist humour.

Re: Make With the Quippy

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River blinked, then burst into a giggle fit.

Re: Make With the Quippy

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker can't think of a single joke. "I don't *do* comic relief. I do the thing where the tension increases until I shoot someone." She sighed. "Okay. One joke."

"There was an African king who lived in a beautiful castle made of grass." Parker paused, trying to remember the next bit. " In that house was his prize possession, a golden throne. One day, he got word that the neighboring king was planning to invade and steal the throne. The king decided to hide the throne in the attic. Yes, he was terribly stupid. Or they don't have metaphors in his tribe, I don't know...." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, the ceiling collapsed under the weight and the throne hit the king on the head and killed him." She waited a beat. "Moral? People who live in grass houses shouldn't stow thrones." After a second she added, "And people who life in earthquake country shouldn't have mirrored ceilings."

Re: Make With the Quippy

[soldtoarmenians]

"And people who live in glass houses should change clothes in the basement!"

SPLAT!

[soldtoarmenians]

"Okay, you can all see the tubs of balloons, so I'm betting you get the idea. Everybody gets to practice their splat-taking. But lining up for it is boring, and you lose the surprise factor, so..."

Xander indicates the table. "Free-for-all. Just load up, let go, and try not to hit too many innocents in the crossfire. Also, avoid using the balloons, water, or... I dunno, air, to actually damage each other or yourselves. In a normal world, I wouldn't have to say this, but I've met Nadia you people."

Re: SPLAT!

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River picks up some ballons and looks around for potential victims.

Re: SPLAT!

[bound2blade.livejournal.com]

Air? Now who in the world would use air for such things? Smirking a little, Sakurazaki gets used to the weight of the projectille by tossing it in her hand a little. This was going to be a lot of fun; she needed some harmless play like this to get out of her post-mission funk.

Re: SPLAT!

[chasingangela]

Angela grabs a couple balloons and looks around happily for people to hit.

Re: SPLAT!

[dorky-broots.livejournal.com]

Broots stuck his laptop where it wouldn't get wet and looked around for potential victims.

Re: Make With the Quippy

[swerval_zero]

All right, now here's an assignment she can get behind. Zero loaded up with water balloons and surveyed her classmates thoughtfully. Who looked like they needed to get more wet?

Re: SPLAT!

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

There are definitely worse ways to spend an afternoon. Isabel grabbed two balloons and looked around for victims.

Talk to Xander

[soldtoarmenians]

Or splat him with a balloon. Whatever.

Re: Talk to Xander

[moonbrain-tam.livejournal.com]

River splats Xander with a balloon and beams happily.

((ooc: Predictable, but I couldn't resist it.))

Re: Talk to Xander

[willbedone.livejournal.com]

Willow didn't have a balloon to throw.

She did, on the other hand, have a water pistol.

She aimed at the back of Xander's head and squirted.

Not dirty

Re: Talk to Xander

[bridge-carson.livejournal.com]

Bridge came to class totally prepared: wearing the swimming-gloves, and armed with a water balloon or two of his own.

Of course, the combination of *boyfriend* + water ballon = Bridge stands there with a "guh!" expression on his face for a few seconds before he remembers what he was supposed to be doing and hurls a water balloon at Xander.

Re: Talk to Xander

[swerval_zero]

Zero fished her slightly soggy pass out of her pocket and proferred it to the professor. "Hey, Xander? I won't be here next week. The fam wants to make sure I'm not a cat or somethin' again."

Re: Talk to Xander

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

*Splat!*

"Because you didn't pick me earlier. Nyahhh."

OOC

[soldtoarmenians]

...it's hot.