Fandom High School

"Next week is your final," Ghanima said once everyone had gathered in the Danger Shop. "We will be taking you off-campus to an amusement park as a reward for having survived the semester. Your mission will be to enjoy the day without getting arrested, starting a riot, or otherwise calling undue attention to yourselves."

"Which, if I know Fandom students, can actually be a pretty big challenge," Tahiri said wryly. "And believe it or not, I really do mean that as a compliment."

"Starting a riot is actually quite an admirable skill," Ghanima agreed cheerfully, "--but that's a different class I teach, and not this one. Part of survival is learning the ability to blend in, and thriving would be enjoying yourself on an afternoon free of finals."

"Take today to practice anything you want to go over before next week. How money works, what an amusement park is, appropriate clothing, foods available... do as you like, and we'll see you next week."

"And for those of you who went on the fall break trip, it's not that kind of amusement park," Tahiri added. "Sorry to disappoint, but no dinosaurs this time, so you'll have to figure out other ways to have fun."

When students arrived at the Danger Shop this week, they'd find that their teachers had segmented it into different zones.

"Stress," Ghanima said briskly, once it appeared everyone who was coming had arrived. "I am quite sorry to say that you will continue to experience stressful situations once you graduate from Fandom. High School does not have a monopoly on trauma."

"Unfortunately." Tahiri looked apologetic, as if she'd somehow failed to keep trauma from spilling over into life after high school. "It isn't something that goes away, really. Which means . . . you'll have to figure out how to manage it so it doesn't get in the way of dealing with the rest of your life."

Because Jedi were so good at it.

They really were. Ghanima didn't have any philosophical disagreements with the Jedi Code and how they dealt with emotions and trauma. At all. Really. *ahem*

"There are a number of effective coping strategies for stress," Ghanima continued smoothly. "We will be focusing on the ones that are emotionally and physically healthy and productive."

Sorry, kids, no fake booze in the Danger Shop today.

"My personal favorite is sparring," she said, gesturing towards the segment of the Shop set up with training dummies, mats, and other gym equipment. "Physical activity is an excellent method of getting out of your own head, so long as you are following basic safety protocols during your match or while using equipment. Recklessness will only cause more emotional issues in the end, when you inevitably end up causing damage; to property or people."

"That's a good one, and it usually helps to be working with someone you know and trust," Tahiri agreed. "Someone who can help you if you do get too much into your own head during a spar. But on the other hand, opposite of exercising, there's always food. Comfort eating, if that's more your thing. Like ice cream. That's a classic." There was a touch of an affectionate grin on her face.

"Cat videos," Ghanima offered. "Or real pets, if you know one. Animal therapy is a medically-confirmed method of improving your social, emotional, or cognitive functioning. For those who are allergic or cannot have an animal, I hear there is a lovely app for the phones that is full of kittens that play with toys."


"And occasionally do some eating therapy of their own." Not that Tahiri had gotten a little bit hooked on Neko Atsume. Nooooooope. "There's also reading, or going for a long walk, or -- there are a lot of ways to deal with stress, is the point, and it's a good idea to find the ones that work for you, because you're going to need them at some point, if not while you're here. Getting adjusted to going home after Fandom, for one, can be pretty stressful." Even if you didn't end up spending all your time trying to get people from vastly different cultures to learn to live together.

"When I'm not here, I'm the co-ruler of an Empire," Ghanima said dryly. "Somehow, Fandom, in all its whimsy and madness, is less-stressful than the rest of my life. I spend a lot of time making tea and throwing knives. Take that as you will."

From the comfortable cushions strewn around the room and the audiovisual equipment up front, students might be able to guess what kind of class today would be.

"Yes, it's movie day," said Tahiri, pacing back and forth just beside the television. "Now, this movie's an Earth classic, from what I understand, and can actually be relevant to the Fandom experience. Specifically, the 'I just ran into my great-aunt, only she's younger than me and doesn't know she's going to be my great-aunt' one."

She paused, gave a self-conscious chuckle, and shook her head. "Well, maybe not quite that specific, but a very good friend and I used to make a game out of it at every welcome picnic, looking out for older or younger versions of anyone we might know from home." And that was about as specific as she was going to get.

"My family carries the gift of prescience," Ghanima chimed in, willing to get a bit more specific since her instance was no longer quite as... complicated as Tahiri's. "--But that doesn't mean I expected to see my own twin brother arrive at the school as a student a few years ago. Seeing all the lines of the future is not the same as automatically knowing what you can and cannot do to bring about the future you desire. One wrong misstep, and you can close a door forever."

"Which brings up another good point: do those of us who know or see the future have an obligation to preserve the future we know? If know someone must go on a trip, or must not, or that the person they're dating becomes a serial killer, what do you do? Stay silent and pray the present takes the same shape as your past, so that your future is realized? Or allow someone to forge their own future, free of your influence? How do we know if someone is our person, or one from an already alternate reality? Does it matter? What right do we have to dictate the future of another?" Ghanima asked. "For my part, I stayed silent about the future, but allowed Leto to make his own decisions without my interference or guidance. Our paths in the timeline have now caught up to be synchronised again, and I was rewarded with a fine sister-in-law and a darling niece that I was not expecting. But still, the future marches on."

The Danger Shop setup today featured a small computer lab, with a terminal for each student. Beside each terminal was a portable radio, a set of earphones, and a smartphone. (Sorry, those phones weren't real, kids. You could try to walk out with one, but it wouldn't be a very successful attempt.)

( Telephone, Telegraph, Tell A Squirrel... )

"And if you're from one that isn't used to technology, I promise it's not that intimidating." Tahiri tapped one finger against the tabletop. "We'll be here to help with anything that might give you trouble, okay?"

"So this weekend you got a taste of what makes Fandom different," Ghanima said, once everyone had settled. "Namely, multiple universes, our habit of getting invaded suddenly, and gremlins."

"You may have realized over the last week that there are students here from the past, from the future, and some that look familiar but are not quite who you think they are. A friend, perhaps, but slightly different from the person you know, or a complete doppelgänger wearing a familiar face, but with a different name, different personality, and from another world altogether. These are not uncommon occurrences, and can be blamed on the fact that Fandom High acts as a multiversal nexus, connecting with several parallel universes."

"You all got the intense crash course version of it," Tahiri noted. "We don't usually have all of that happening in the same weekend, but I hate to tell you, you'll probably have to get used to it."

Thanks, Tahiri, that was helpful.

"There's also people who might be from your universe, or a different version of it, but a completely different point in time." She nodded slightly to Mara if she was there. "That's fun. You may know a younger version of someone from home, for example, and have to be careful not to tell them what happens to them in the future." And that was as much as she was going to say on that note, or she'd run the risk of making herself an object lesson.

See Ghanima, see Ghanima looking utterly angelic and trying not to snicker.

"Another aspect of the island that you may or may not already have some experience with would be the local wildlife," she continued. "We have the teel deer -- yes, deer that are a teal color, the alots, which are large shaggy animals, our rum-drinking squirrel reporters, and the gremlins."

"I must inform you that people under the influence of gremlin bites often act strangely, like someone completely different from their normal selves. Taking advantage of anyone under the influence of a gremlin bite in a malicious manner is frowned upon. Using your phones to record their antics, however, is a time-honored tradition."

"Just ask Master Skywalker -- or don't," Tahiri said, because she couldn't help herself. Also, she was absolutely not giving Ghanima a Look out of the corner of her eye. "It's likely to end up on radio one way or the other, thanks to those squirrel reporters. What it really comes down to is that this place is . . . sort of hard to write home about. Oh, and if you're uneasy having those deer around, just be careful not to talk a lot within their earshot. They're drawn to that."

"The last subject we'll touch on today is Fandom's history of invasions," Ghanima continued. "From time-to-time, hostile forces have attempted to claim the island for their own. Or worse yet, sometimes the enemy has been one that has no soldiers to fight; a plague, or a magical happening."

"During a hostile invasion, the safest location is in the dorms or at Caritas. For those of you prone not to take the safe route..." Because Ghanima knew the type of student Fandom attracted. "Make absolutely certain you don't travel alone, and you treat whatever invading force you encounter with the utmost caution and respect. This is not a game, there is no 'start over.'"

"And messing around because you're not taking it seriously enough is likely to get you or others, if not both, hurt." Tahiri had abandoned her lighter tone for a more serious one as well, now; perhaps without realizing it, she reached up to brush her fingers over the scars on her forehead as she spoke. "We're certainly not going to babysit you, or assume we know your capabilities better than you do. Just be responsible about it, and don't put someone else at risk because they had to come rescue you just because you wanted to show off, or thought it would be astral to play the hero. I can say from experience that afterward, it's no fun realizing how much of a mess you got other people into."

Today the Danger Shop was set up simply with pillows on the floor, for everyone to sit on.

"This week," Algren said once the students had filed into the classroom, "we're going to discuss a topic that seems to be near and dear to the hearts of most of the residents of the island in one way or another. We're going to discuss sexuality in this day and age, in Fandom's terms, more specifically." If he looked a little uneasy, that was possibly because he was having flashbacks of Sex Thru The Ages class.

Don't mind him.

( Ghanima wasn't going to mind him. Captain Algren was a gentleman, and it was her understanding that they sometimes had Issues discussing these things in public. )

"What we're going to do today is break into groups," Ghanima replied, nodding at Algren. "Gentlemen, with the Captain to the far end of the room, please. Ladies, with me. This will be your chance to ask us any questions that you do not want to ask in front of the opposite gender, and we promise that anything said in the groups will be kept in confidence."

"For your homework after class, we ask that you go out with a classmate -- of either gender -- for lunch or coffee this week. Preferably someone from a world unlike your own. Talk to them. Get to know them. And afterward, think about the type of communication that would go into pursuing a relationship."

[OOC: The OCD wants to be your friend!

When the students filed into the Danger Shop today, they'd be met with two teachers, standing at the back of the room. The first to speak was the man, dressed in his Civil War era military uniform.

No particular reason, really. It was what had been clean this morning when he'd gotten out of bed.

( Good Morning, class, and welcome to Fandom Island, America, on the planet Earth, in the year 2010. )

[OOC: OCD has arrived! Up early since both your teachers work at unholy hours of the morning tomorrow! Tentative class syllabus available here.]