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Fandom Radio, Monday July 14th

Good morning all, I trust we've all recovered from having our sleep so cruelly interrupted the other night. I'm sure you'll be surprised to learn that all of the action yesterday was in Town.

Raiden was concerned whether they had enough potatoes and eggs at Over Easy. Steven and I stopped in, and I was introduced to the concept of brunch. Clever idea, that. Raiden greeted us and Steven congratulated him on his new business, while Raiden and I discussed the possibility of gremlins stealing headwear. Stark was also there and filled Raiden in on the kraken drill and discussed the restaurant's opening with Steven.

Elsewhere, at Stark Industries Miss Skywalker was dealing with telephone calls regarding broken washing machines. Still? I thought that issue was resolved.

And finally, Steven and I ate dinner together.

That's all that the squirrels claim to be newsworthy yesterday. Have a good week, everyone.

Entry tags:

internet for dummies

How to Waste Time on the Internet, 3rd period

Jon looked a little better this week, though that meant his professional demeanor and dress were probably a bit much for this class.

That wasn't going to stop him.

He nodded to the students. "One of the more popular ways to waste time on the internet is by what is termed 'doomscrolling' - scrolling through social media, particularly involving current news and events, in such an endless way as to invoke a sense of doom. We are going to attempt to scroll through social media in a way that does not invoke doom."

Largely because Jon had no intentions of feeding off his students. But also it was probably bad for their mental health.

He cleared his throat. "One of the better ways to do this is to open the social media site of your choice - today I will be demonstrating with Bluesky," he pulled out his phone and opened it to show the app, "and search for 'timeline cleanse'. This will, unless people are being horrid, bring up things such as cute animals, good news, and generally positive things. This will also work on Tumblr, if you prefer that. You can also just search for it on a search engine. I do not recommend it on the site formerly known as Twitter, as that place is a hellhole regardless, and also supports Nazis and Tories."

Jon had feelings about things.

"So today let's each do that. And share the best thing you find so we can all enjoy it."

Teamwork- Monday, 1st period

Jaina had left for home yesterday, and Jag had gotten caught up with meetings, which meant before class an email went out.

Class will be canceled today and will resume next week.

Short and to the point.

[I am in hell. Hopefully next Monday is less hell.]

Fandom Clinic, Monday 7/14

Mondays meant clinic shifts as they had for years now. Clinic shifts meant coffees for the nurses and himself as they had for years now.

Hot weather meant iced coffees even though the clinic's air conditioning worked quite well. He even brought a Crab Cup with him from the Perk for Stabby. It was just like a Pup Cup only with a tiny frozen fish stuck in it instead of a tiny dog biscuit.

"Enjoy?" Stark said uncertainly as he placed it on the tiny picnic table inside Stabby's tank.

The nurses, at least, were going to enjoy their drinks. And so was he.

The clinic was open, the crab was having whipped cream and fish, and the alien was in.

Penthouse Apartment of Stark Baby Tower, Monday Morning

Tony was regretting the number of dogs he'd ended up with here. Mostly because he was presently covered in them as he tried to go through work emails. Tried was the key word there because they were being needy and competitive for the attention he could provide.

"Steve, you can turn back any moment now," he just sighed as he was up to his neck in fur.

It'd be so nice if things worked that way, wouldn't it?

[for the husband!]

Entry tags:

Monday: Covent Garden Flowers

Nell spent a lot of time on the phone today, dealing with deliveries that had somehow gone awry. Whose idea had it been to hire squirrels to deliver flower arrangements? Certainly not hers.

And now she not only had to apologize to disgruntled customers, but also find a way to politely suggest to the squirrels that their talents might best be served doing other things. Someone come save her!

Entry tags:

43 unicorn,
hot tub

Monday evening: 43 Unicorn

Nell had spent a very long day at Soulwood on Sunday, working the land and setting out everything that needed to be take care of. Today, before and after work, she'd done more planting and digging here, which meant that by the end of the day she was amazingly grateful that there was a hot tub she could sink into to ease her tired muscles and joints.

Yes, it might be ridiculously hot outside and yes, she'd be grateful to be back inside in the air conditioning afterwards, but for right now she was content. Though she'd be much more content once Gladio got home.

Entry tags:

destiny and free will

Destiny & Free Will [Monday, Period 4]

The class met outside by the pond, as ~~handwavily~~ ordered. The flamingos were wandering around Ghanima's improvised classroom, which had plenty of overstuffed pillows for laying about. Along the edges of the area were small low tables, each with two cushions to sit on and various items placed upon them.

Once everyone had arrived, Ghanima looked up from where she was sprawled on the ground playing with some strange hexagonal... tiles? cards? and smiled. "Destiny," she began with preamble, dropping the cards into Trebor's lap and pushing to her feet. "Refers to a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual. It is a concept based on the belief that there is a fixed natural order to the universe."

"Destiny may be seen either as a fixed sequence of events that is inevitable and unchangeable, or that individuals choose their own destiny by choosing different paths throughout their life." Ghanima paused to smile at them briefly. "Confusing, isn't it?"

"Many Greek legends and tales teach the futility of trying to outmaneuver an inexorable fate that has been correctly predicted. This form of irony is important in Greek tragedy, as it is in Oedipus Rex or Thornton Wilder's The Bridge of San Luis Rey, where in spite of all the character's attempts otherwise, it does not preclude a horrible fate," she said, wandering among them to pass out a handout on Oedipus.

"Some believe that one's destiny may be ascertained by divination. In the belief systems of many cultures, one's destiny can only be learned about through a shaman, babalawo, prophet, sibyl, saint or seer. In the Shang dynasty in China, turtle bones were thrown ages before the I Ching was codified. Arrows were tossed to read destiny, from Thrace to pagan Mecca. In Yoruba traditional religion, the Ifá oracle is consulted via a string of sixteen cowries or oil-palm nuts whose pattern when thrown on to a wooden tray represents the 256 possible combinations whose named "chapters" are recited and verses interpreted for the client by the babalawo." Ghanima grinned. "Every society has their own way of foretelling a future, from worm entrails to crystal balls. My empire put its fate in the hands of a family that can walk the veils of time, forward and back, to see what lies beyond, and now they're stuck with the future that the Mahdi chose. Oracles can be a tricky bunch, and you must always assume that they may have a hidden agenda of their own."

"Today, it's time for you to see if you can chase destiny." Ghanima gestured to the tables ringing the room as Trebor waved one of the cards and laughed. "First, we'll talk, then we're going to pair up, wander around, and pick a method of divination that speaks to you. Read your own destiny, or that of your partner, and then discuss if you agree or disagree with the results you obtained."

Entry tags:

Pizza Planet, Monday

Raiden had been made aware of a gremlin...situation in the supply closet.

Maybe more like a gremlin situationship in the process of breaking up, from what Tito could tell.

"Okay, just, uh...close the door and don't open it. And maybe turn the music up a notch or two."

He hoped the problem would stay in the supply closet. If gremlins tried to take their squabbling near his pizza he was going to get after them with a broom.

Specials
Summer Mushroom Grilled Pizza with Pistachio Vinaigrette
Chile Lime Chicken Street Corn Pizza
Goat Cheese Pizza with Tomato and Mint

Pizza Planet is open! And hopefully won't need anything from the supply closet any time soon.

Entry tags:

Karlov Manor, Precinct One of the Tenth District, Ravnica, Mondayish? Maybe? (Fandom Time)

For all that the weekend had gotten off to a very shaky start, to the point where Liliana had been very close to decamping from Ravnica altogether, the latter half of it had been a most satisfactory exploration of Ragefest. Their paths had mostly not crossed Summer's (and, more importantly, none of Summer's consquesst) as she was deeply in the thickest, wildest aspects of the festival, while Liliana and Ignis were staying to more...hmm, sedate certainly wasn't the right word for what was basically an entire plane's descent into madness via orgies of destruction, violence, sex, and drugs...but they were avoiding most of the rowdiest elements.

(Most. Even Ignis could occasionally fall prey to impulse and vanity, which was why Liliana had several pictures and a short video of him battling in one of the impromptu fighting pits that had sprung up around the Tenth District. Listen, she hadn't made him jump into the rings, but it wasn't her fault if she also benefitted.)

Now, however, they were firmly ensconced in the opulent luxury that was only possible when one had been wealthy for generations. The wealth on display was only rivaled by the debauchery and hedonism also on display. But this was more than just simply a Ragefest celebration, Karlov Manor was celebrating the return of its most prominent (living) scion, the Former Grand Envoy of the Orzhov Syndicate, Teysa. No expense had been spared to welcome Teysa home--a fact Liliana found very interesting, knowing what she did about Obzedat politics. (Which, admittedly, wasn't as much as she'd like considering the Obzedat was entirely made up of ghosts of long-dead Orzhov matriarchs and patriarchs, which really cut into her preferred methods of spying.)

But her curiosity only acted as a spice to elevate the rest of the experience. Passing bodies clutching one another in various figures and configurations and ducking past platters that held only the purest, most expensive (and some, most illegal) drugs, Liliana made her way over to their hostess. Like herself, Teysa was a tall woman with thick black hair, though Teysa was only half her age - though she also looked to be only in her thirties. As was befitting an Orzhov, she was dressed in black and white--and gold, of course. You couldn't be an Orzhov and not appreciate gold in all its forms--though, Liliana had often noted, Teysa's labret and eyebrow piercings had always been silver.

"Why, if it isn't the lady of the hour! Teysa, darling, hello," she said as she stepped around a triad in the process of losing what remained of their clothing and adroitly helped herself to a glass from a passing tray. From the slight rainbow sheen, it wasn't alcoholic but instead, a liquid narcotic. "Barely home a few hours and what a lavish spectacle you've already created!"

[For, well, me but also the gentleman accompanying her, should time and brains will it!]

Entry tags:

problem solving

2 Problem 2 Creative [Monday, 2nd period]

Good news, class! Anakin was not a cat today!

Bad news, class! You now have to present him with amazing cat toys anyway!

However your cat toys were being judged by Ahsoka, so you weren't all going to come equal last (however much Anakin wished you would).

"Welcome back," Anakin said, not looking thrilled to be there. "Please show Ahsoka your homework."

"I'm sure you all picked worthy offerings," Ahsoka said, looking for too pleased with herself.

Anakin shot her a baleful look, which was still a strangely cat-like expression.

Good thing Ahsoka had practice ignoring that look!

A decade of it, even!

"And then we'll get to your real task."

Also cat-themed! Completely coincidentally, no doubt.

Utterly coincidental. That was Ahsoka's story and she was sticking to it.

Once she'd finished judging the cat toys, she led that class outside one by one to where a large number of small red bags were laid out in a pattern. One that if they happened to get to a high enough viewpoint looked a lot like this.

"You need to let the cat out of the bag," she told them. "Fewest attempts wins."

"Hilarious," Anakin said dryly.

Entry tags:

summer shenanigans

If You Let Him Shenan Once...

...he will shenanigan!

Okay, I'm a little punchy from all the driving. Anyway, sign up for this week's ridiculousness here.

Midnight Manor Private Residence, Sunday Evening

After being dragged out of bed at an ungodly hour for, of all things, a kraken drill, Steven and Watts had collapsed back into bed to get what scant sleep they could before heading out to their synagogue yesterday, where as soon as someone's keen eye had spotted the matching rings on their fingers, there had been much catching up and congratulations, even though all Watts personally wanted to do was go home and sleep. Which did happen eventually, but it meant that his usual Saturday routine was something of a wash.

So he was doing it today, instead. After coming home from a thoroughly enjoyable brunch, Watts headed to the kitchen to bake some cookies, and then the library to sit down at his piano and get some practice in before dinner.

Entry tags:

$sparky,
rey

Stark Industries- Sunday

Look at Rey, in clean clothes that weren't like, sports bras. And she was well-rested!

She did get a call complaining about someone's washer being broken and they did not want to accept that the machine could be regular broken instead of Fandom broken. She clearly wasn't equipped to blitz anything Fandom broken anyway.

[Open!]

Entry tags:

Over Easy, Sunday Morning

Okay, well, they had gotten through an entire week without the restaurant burning down, going broke, or being swept out to sea by the merciless arm of a kraken. And their laundry delivery had finally come in, meaning everyone had clean kitchen towels and uniforms to work with. Raiden was feeling pretty good about this.

"We have enough potatoes, right? And eggs? 'When will I stop asking?' I don't know, we're always going to need enough potatoes and eggs."

Specials
Prime Rib Benedict
Strawberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Honey Butter
Baklava Granola with Vanilla Yogurt

Over Easy is open! Welcome to brunch!

Fandom Radio, Saturday, July 12

You can't be serious. I did this yesterday.

*chittering*

I only just went back to bed.

*more chittering*

'We know,' is not helping your case. No, no, there's no need to pull my hair. I shall simply...oh, dash it. Why are there so many--right. Right.

*clears throat*

( Kraken Drill Radio )

Entry tags:

Liliana's Townhouse; Precinct Five of the Tenth District; Ravnica; Saturday Morn-Afternoon [07/12].

RageFest had only been a few days for Summer at this point, but she was already having a blast. And she hadn't even debuted her jello yet! That was for next week, when things were really going to amp up, but, boy, things were off to a great start. She'd already....well, things were all sort of a blur, and she hadn't really been spending a whole lot of time at the townhouse. But last night, there was this whole fire show that went horribly wrong (or, depending on who you asked, gloriously right), and she, like so many others in the crowd, fled the scene in a hurry, lest they all get caught in the far more personal than intended pyrotechnics. In the rush, she ended up all but colliding with some guy, which was pretty irritating until she actually got a look at this absolute stud, and then, well, one thing led to another, especially once he told her he could read mind, and she made him prove it by thinking the most depraved, dirtiest things at him, and she didn't even need to say a word after that.

And with Liliana and Ignis still back at Fandom? Perfect. She might not have had to say a word, but she still had plenty of noise to make.

So imagine her surprise when she, eventually woke up, threw on a shirt and bounced down the stairs to find Ignis in her...err, their....kitchen.

She stared for a moment, thinking maybe if she didn't move...

"Hello, Summer."

"Dammit. How are you so good at that?"

"Well, to your credit, anyone could have been fooled by such a graceful gazelle of a descent."

Summer stuck here tongue out at Ignis (was that a flash of something metal on her tongue? Maybe. She'd like to see him hear that!), gave a little finger-waggling wave over to Liliana, and immediately moved over to the coffee pot. She didn't need the caffeine, though, to instantly perk up with bright enthusiasm. "But that's perfect, actually! You being here! Now you can make us some breakfast."

A brow lifted. "Us?"

Somehow, Ignis didn't think Summer was referring to brunching with her esteemed hosts.

"Yeaaaaah." And what Ignis could hear now for certain was the grin in it. "I might've brought someone home last night? I mean, I'm probably going to try and ditch him with the Izzet later because there's word of a secret Dimir pop-up club tonight, so I guess that's like....a speakeasy but with drugs and Russian roulette, although I guess they call it Dimiri blackjack or something, IDK....and he's really fucking cute, like, Ignis. Adorable. But he'll definitely just cramp my style. Either way, he should be down in a moment, he's just up there rocking a piss, so I hope you have a lot of eggs, because my guy is gonna need that protein replenishment."

The intake of Ignis' breath seemed to be taking into account a lot of things, but, in that moment, the only one he was going to address was going to Liliana.

"Remind me again," he requested, "why we thought this was a good idea?"

But if you thought he wasn't already pulling out more ingredients to double the portions of the meal he was in the middle of making, then you clearly didn't know Ignis. But that did remind him of another issue.

"And please, Summer," he said, "tell me you're going to be doing something with all this jello stuff soon, because there's barely any room to work in here with all your paraphernalia everywhere."

"Don't sweat it, my dude," Summer waved a hand dismissively, but she did swoop in to start moving some of her things to a place less in his way, and, in her defense, she wasn't expecting them, if she had she might have already taken care of it. "I'm launching officially next week. I wanna hit up the Gruul with it first, after I totally kick some ass--ooooh, actually, I wonder if I'll have time to whip something up for tonight, that could be a good way to get some whispers already stirring around town..."

Dammit, Ignis! Making her think this early (ish) in the ~~morning~~ ~~day~~ afternoon! But she might be able to pull it off...

[[ for thems that are there, anyone who might want to get in touch, and nfb for distance! ]]

Entry tags:

retail

Markets of the World(s), 2nd period

Class met at Portalocity as they had been ~~handwavily~~ notified to. When they got there, Lana was dressed in casual Earth clothing, a tunic and jeans with boots. "Welcome everybody. We should do introductions in case we don't all know each other, but let's head out first."

Once they stepped through the portal to find themselves on a street near water, Lana spread her hands. "I thought we'd begin close to home, so this is Harbor East, in Baltimore. We probably could have driven here, but portals are much more convenient. They have a lot of stores, some local, and some of the type you'll find throughout this country. So, introduce yourselves to the group, then enjoy yourselves, and I'll see you back here in an hour."

She nodded to the first person on her left.

Entry tags:

Trooper Station, Friday

Watts was, perhaps predictably, in an exceptionally good mood as he got caught up on everything that had happened last week at the station. Which was, also predictably, not all that much.

Entry tags:

Needful Things; Friday

One of the costume jewelry gems was still faintly glowing, as it had been when Remy had first spotted it earlier in the week. Harley had also spotted it, by now - which meant it was now in a little display all its own, complete with a sign that read VERY SPECIAL GLOWY GEM, NO BATTERY NEEDED and a price tag that was now triple what it had originally been.

Harley was considering quadrupling it.

But right now, she was dealing with a clothing crisis. Sure, she'd done laundry semi-recently, but there had been an unfortunate glitter-and-ketchup disaster (don't ask) near and in her wardrobe upstairs, and now she was stuck going through the vintage pieces they had in the back of the store for something she'd like.

Except.

"... Are we having a moth invasion??"

Yes. Apparently they were.

(open!)