fandomhighdorms | Magic/Support Reserves: the Preserve, Wednesday After Classes

After all the candy and sugary treats devoured when most of the island's inhabitants were transformed into children, Raven was very careful to provide a lot of healthy snacks for this meeting of the Reserves. There were fruits and veggies and whole grain goodness, but in the end she'd caved enough to provide some sweets as well.

"We are celebrating the end of the semester," Raven said to begin the meeting. "We have survived not only our classes, but everything that Fandom -- and our own worlds -- have had to throw at us. We thought we would take this time to take a break from the stress of finals and relax among friends, though perhaps we can also speak of what we have faced over the past several months and what we learned from it, about ourselves and our companions and our abilities."

"I think the most important thing I learned," Tara began, "and this might sound cheesy, is -- trust yourself and trust your friends. I've seen people do amazing things. Things they, they would have sworn they couldn't do if you'd asked. But stress people out enough, and bam. Magic happens. Not just literal magic, either."

"But there are always consequences to your actions," Karla added, sounding a little subdued. "And those consequences can have much further-reaching effects than what you might expect. Be careful of those around you, especially your friends. Just because they are likely to forgive you doesn't mean you have the right to treat them poorly, even for the sake of the 'greater good.'"

"Sometimes you owe your friends more than that," Dolf piped up. "Sometimes the 'greater good' is your friends, and sometimes you need to just look out for them to get the right things done." Not that he had any idea what Karla might have been referring to, but it had been his experience. "So we want to talk about it, and help make this part of the preserve a nicer place for today. Just to talk about the things we have done this year, and what they mean. Because everything means something, and everything we fight for is something important."

The boy was really ridiculously earnest.

"For my part, I have learned much the same as Tara has said," Raven said. "No matter how frightening something is, no matter how ashamed you are of something that is happening to you, you should not keep it to yourself and deal with it alone. The friendships forged in Fandom are strong, and our unique abilities and upbringings may bring valued insight into one another's problems. None of us are alone here."

She smiled and looked around at each of the students attending the meeting. "And if you have any words of advice for new students that will be arriving in Fandom, we would like to hear those as well."

[Co-written with the fabulous

glacial_witch,

life_inshadow, and

swordsandsoccer.]

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Snack on, snack off.

Snack off, thank you.

But Jono was here nevertheless. It was the last week of classes. He was trying to take in as much around the island as he possibly could, one last time.

Snacks for Steph, yes.

Steph, who was wondering if she could hit Bruce (the one at home) over the head with what they were saying. She wasn't sure it would do much good, but hey, at least some people got it.

Sure, Kennedy would have some snacks-- and a handful of carrots for Bailey, who'd apparently forgiven her for the weekend and was perched on her shoulder as she leaned back against a tree.

Like she'd have missed this meeting, one way or the other? She could've lived without the extensive reminder of her last semester of high school being over, but she wasn't not going to be here.

Sookie hadn't brought any of the pictures she'd taken over the weekend, but the fact that she was knowingly glancing around might have told people they were in her possession. She took an orange, peeling it as she listened.

Squall was there, lurking in the back and looking over everyone approvingly.

Snack on for Cally, though she was leaning towards the nutritious ones today. Mmm, strawberries.

Snack on, definitely. Scully was celebrating being done with all Finals, and looking into a loooong summer of... weird classes.

What have you learned about yourself, your abilities, or your friends this semester? What words of advice might you have for any incoming students?

Oh, lord, where to start?

//Not just this semester, but over my entire time here, I've learned that my own worst enemy is more often than not myself, and that if I spend all of my time being afraid of what I might do, I stand th'risk of completely missing out on th'things that I can do.//

No, he hadn't brought his crown today. But he'd thought about it.

//More than that... I've learned that nobody needs to be alone. Not even those people who spend every waking hour believing they always will be, and every sleeping moment re-living all of th'reasons why. I've learned that you don't need a heart for it to break, you don't need a mouth in order to kiss, and that second chances do happen. I only hope that whoever the new students are, they don't take nearly as long learning those things as I did.//

Okay. Jono was stepping down from his little soapbox, now.

[And I'm fleeing for school, myself. But if anyone wants to chime in on this or whatever, I'll totally be around to pick up pings in the evening.]

"You know," Kennedy said once she'd halfway formulated an answer in her head (waiting until she had it completely thought out took too long), "I kinda have a hard time deciding? But I guess the really important one is that it totally doesn't matter what people tell you you can or can't do, you know? Like, you could've gone your whole life being told what you're supposed to be and what the rules are and blah blah all of that, but you know? Screw that, it doesn't matter."

She paused, and Tara and Raven at least got brief, knowing grins.

"The hell with all that. The kind of person you wanna be? Go for it. If your friends are all that, they'll have your back... or smack you down if you're being stupid. Actually, that's my other thing. If your friends are being stupid, go ahead and smack 'em down for it."

Nobody ever said it would be a good speech.

"I have a gift," Sookie said softly, looking around the group. "We all do. It's not a curse, it's not insanity, and it's not something to be afraid of. I spent my entire life hating what I can do, and having everyone around me think I'm insane for it, because it couldn't be explained. But after two years here, I'm...it's a gift. No matter how bad off it seems, and how much you didn't want it, there's a reason you can do what you can do. And at some point, you're probably going to save someone's life with it. Maybe your own, maybe someone else's. But if there's anything at all my time in Fandom taught me, it's that no matter how many times someone tells you you're a freak, it's irrelevant the moment you realize that what you can do is part of you, and an important part at that."

"I learned that friends are important," Squall answered.

There was a lot more to it than that... but that summed it up nicely.

"Where I come from," Stephanie said slowly, "it's sort of a bleak place. There isn't a whole lot of room for people to hope. Sure, there's a few people who stand up and try to do what they can. Most of us just duck our heads and keep going."

She tucked her knees up against her chest and looked around, half smiling. "But people here . . . they stand up. They don't just lie down and take it."

And it's nice to know there's more of us out there.

"It's not really something I learned. More of one I discovered. But it's nice. Comforting."

"To take each day as it comes; that it never does really stop being surprising," Scully said after a little thought. "Also that many people have bigger problems than high school, so don't expect them to be shocked by the same things you are."

Once they ping in.

Raven was there, relieved to be all done with her finals now, but sad about what graduation would mean.

Dolf was present, and in a relatively sunny mood. But today's topic had kind of thrown his memory back towards some of the better days with the kids, and the thoughtfulness was apparent in the way he occasionally lost focus.

Tara was there, if a bit distracted. She couldn't work out where the year had gone.

Karla was there, if rather subdued and introspective.

This Easter-Mother's Day one-two punch is going to kill me, I swear.

Magic/Support Reserves: the Preserve, Wednesday After Classes

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OOC