Fandom High Dormitories

The Garden, Monday Early Afternoon

2015-09-07T15:41:00Z

Posted by: intraspective

Karla had let her pick the place for where the healing was supposed to take place and, while her hotel room had the advantage of privacy, Zack wasn't the only one of them who wanted to be out amongst nature for as long as possible before heading back to Midgar.

So Ino had picked her old garden, the one that she'd planted ages ago, behind the stables.

She arrived early, making sure to get there before Karla did, and took her time wandering through the trees, eating a few chocolate cherries off the chocolate cherry tree and inspecting the pillow tree and the blanket tree (and thinking about that period of a few months, back then, that she and Zack had camped out here, since he couldn't bear to leave Angeal's sword in the locker) and all of the plants that she still considered hers in some way, despite the fact that it had been five years and counting since she'd seen them all.

They were still alive. Thriving, even.

Ino found that comforting.

[Expecting one, but totally open!]

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Fighting Reserves: Outside the Dorms, After Classes (Tuesday Afternoon)

2011-02-15T08:17:00Z

Posted by: inneedofcoffee.livejournal.com

Another week, another Reserves meeting! Do try to contain your excitement.

... Someone has to, because Zack is doing that bouncing on his toes thing again, and so he obviously won't be the one to do it, here.

"Hi, guys! I guess you probably all noticed the kids, huh? Were any of you wondering over the weekend what you would have done if something had hit the island during the weekend? I mean, plenty of the kids that show up are handfuls when there isn't anything huge going on, just imagine them trying to run headfirst into an invasion of big, hungry things. That would be... pretty bad."

Yes, Zack. That was a good way to put it.

Maladicta's eye twitched at that. Because really, Zack. Really. You were too Zack-like for your own good sometimes. "So we will be discussing plans for protecting those who aren't as inclined toward a fight as we are. The dorms appear to be safe, but that may not always be the case."

"Especially if you let your kids have a lot of sugar," Kennedy added. Right. Focus, Kennedy. "...anyway. If getting people to stay inside and letting the magic users ward the dorms isn't an option-- say the dorms are possessed by a poltergeist and trying to kill us or something-- what are we gonna do to keep them safe?" Though, you know, hopefully nobody would be making that happen here. (Out of control frat party, her ass.)

"Is there anything that you guys know of from where you're from, that has been used to protect people who aren't capable of doing so? Especially in crazy situations where maybe they're not used to their surroundings either?" Zack bounced on his toes one more time, for good measure. "Or any ideas that you have, just from being here on the island and knowing the terrain yourself? What do we have around here that we can use to our advantage? What might get in the way? What's it going to take to keep your kids safe, or maybe your parents, or even one another, if something hits when we're all kids, too? Come on, guys, I know you're all smart, so let's hear some ideas!"

It was the Valentine's chocolate. It had to be.

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Magic Reserves, The Preserve, Wednesday After Classes

2011-02-09T13:12:00Z

Posted by: glacial_queen

Karla had been surprised how easy it was to catch the little naked baby-things. Apparently, you only needed to stand outside with someone for a little while before attracting a horde to come and shoot arrows at you. After several near-misses, the leaders of the Magic Reserve had a number of them and a few ideas for today's meeting.

"Kiss kiss," Karla said, jerking her thumb back at her shield, where the naked baby-things were milling about and pointing at the members of the reserves. They seemed quite good-natured about their captivity. "Today's activity is two-fold. The first thing we're going to do today is practice shielding. People are going to pair up and run from one side of the field to the other, trying to keep themselves and their partner from getting hit by an arrow, either by magic, ingenuity, or both. If you do get hit, the arrow won't hurt; instead, you'll find yourself madly in love for a few minutes, but it wears off quickly and we won't let you do anything stupid. That's a promise." Karla's mouth twisted a little. She really didn't like love potions, but at least with these little guys flying around, they'd all know what was wrong and why. "Which brings us to the second half of our meeting: dealing with friends when Fandom's whimsy affects their minds."

"It is probably best to make sure they are somewhere safe," Dolf tried. He was mostly lurking near Karla in hopes that that would help him stay out of the arrows' range. He was not fond of arrows. "Though sometimes that isn't possible. In that case you should probably keep them busy before they do something bad. This might sometimes be hard, so it is probably a good idea to talk about it, and to keep it in our heads at all times."

It wasn't strictly cowering what he was doing.

Tara wasn't cowering either, but the cupids got an askance look.

"And don't tease them about it, if they're sensitive," she suggested. "I get that it's tempting, but sometimes people just don't want to be reminded. Ever. I know it's tempting to film things, but I seriously think that's probably bad karma."

Even if it wasn't bad karma, it was still rude. Hilarious, but rude.

"Most of the time, people who are affected by Fandom don't try to do anything really crazy," Karla continued, "but people's feelings can be hurt or strain can be put on relationships and whatnot. An important thing to keep in mind is that those affected really aren't themselves and can't help it. Talking about things--either before or after an incident--may be very helpful, too. Open and honest communication usually is."

Glancing up at the shielded creatures, Karla nodded at the assembled members. "All right! Pair up and get ready to run!"

[Co-written with life_inshadow and swordsandsoccer. OCD ~~coming~~ up]

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Reserves: First Floor Rec Room, Tuesday After Classes

2011-02-08T06:14:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

"Heya, guys!" Today's Reserves meeting was being held indoors again, down in the rec room of the dorms for anybody interested in gathering. Zack, of course, was doing his usual grin-and-bounce combo, which was possibly being fuelled by the really, really big mocha that he was clinging to like a lifeline. Run. "We're going to be taking it a little easy this week, at least physically, but that doesn't mean that you guys can doze off or anything! Where would the fun be in that, anyhow?"

This, from the boy who did squats as a hobby.

Maladicta shot him an amused look, shaking her head. Someone needed to learn to handle their coffee better. "While this is only a moving picture, we hope the action and ridiculous, not to mention unnecessary explosions, will help you learn something about handling yourself on... a beach? What are we watching now?"

"Uh." Kennedy was scowling at the cover of the DVD case. "Okay, who rented this? Because I'm pretty sure we didn't decide on... Let's Hope There's a Heaven? Seriously?"

...she'd rented the DVD. And she'd been pretty sure it wasn't this one at the time.

"Oh, the hell with it. Hope you guys brought popcorn. You can, like... practice your throwing arm or something if you really have to."

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Reserves: Danger Shop, Tuesday After Classes

2011-02-01T18:05:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

The Reserves had been ~~handwavily~~ notified to meet in the Danger Shop again today, and to wear warm clothes. When they arrived, they'd find the area set up to look exactly like their usual meeting area behind the dorms, right down to the coffee, hot chocolate, and snacks (except those were real).

"So we thought we'd do a little exercise in navigating in really bad visual conditions today," Kennedy announced, chucking a thumb back at the area behind her. There was a large, brightly-colored archery target set up on a table at one end of the clearing, and eight stations well stocked with ~~a moddable array of~~ ranged weapons, or snowballs if you really wanted to go that way, scattered at various distances across the clearing.

Any resemblance to a series of snow forts was purely coincidental, of course.

"It's gonna be snowing really hard when you guys go through the course, but what you're gonna do is work your way backwards through these stations. You've got three chances at hitting the target from each one, then you have to head to the next one. Bonus points if you do it in five minutes or less; hit the target at least once from each station and I'll buy you lunch sometime."

And who didn't want a free lunch? Really now people.

"While you run the course, we will be ~~AMERICAN GLADIATORS~~ adding to the challenge by trying to hit you with snowballs or whatever else we have on hand," Maladicta added. "In case you thought it might be a little to easy."

"Careful," Zack added lightly, smiling at the group at large. "We've got pretty good throwing arms!"

[Open, if a little late!]

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Reserves: Tuesday After Classes, Danger Shop (1/25)

2011-01-25T06:29:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

The reservists had been ~~handwavily~~ notified to meet in the Danger Shop this week, because the exercise was... something different. Behind where the leaders were standing was a field (that inexplicably had highway lines) that was constantly being hit by very large, very erratically-timed snowballs. Splat! Running across the field, between the highway lines, were intermittent packs of... very large rabbits. Hopping energetically.

"For the record, this was not really my idea," Kennedy felt the need to point out. "But today we're working on mobility, so you have to make it from one side of the playing field to the other without getting hit."

Any resemblance to a certain video game was beyond her; she wasn't a nerd.

Maladicta, at least, had no clue what this was in reference to. "With snowballs," she added slowly. "Are you certain this is an actual exercise?"

"It's not exactly what I was going for, but it works," Kennedy argued. "It's dodging things from multiple angles. It totally works."

Riiiight.

"We could at least make the rabbits more frightening," Maladicta grumbled, shooting Kennedy a look from beneath her umbrella. Stop being 'helpful', Maladicta. "But, if you're all ready, get to it. Dodgers."

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Fighting Reserves: Dorm Lobby, After Classes (Tuesday Afternoon)

2011-01-18T08:09:00Z

Posted by: inneedofcoffee.livejournal.com

Today's reserves meeting? Was so totally starting off indoors today. The leaders had set up a table with hot chocolate and hot coffee (the water had been heated in one of those convenient fireplaces that had appeared) in the lobby of the dorms. Because, really, who wanted to be out in that?

Crazy people, that was who!

"Heya, guys!" Crazy people like Zack, who was standing there with his usual short-sleeved attire, grinning at the people gathered. "I guess you've probably all noticed the weather, huh?" And the cold. Yes, Zack. "Stuff like this doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's important to know how to handle ourselves in it. Dealing with problems that crop up in inclement weather like this might seem like a Support job at a glance, but if something hits the island, we're the ones that have to be out there in it, so we really have to know how to prepare ourselves for the worst, when the worst has muck like this falling from the sky to help it along."

Well someone here was used to no electricity, so this was hardly a blip on the radar of ohdeargodswhy. Maladicta shot Zack and his short sleeves a look before continuing on with the discussion. "Being able to defend against attack in the most extreme of conditions are something you all should learn to do. Consider this a dry run in case yetis attack."

Yes, yetis. Or even worse... Time monks.

Kennedy had probably read something about time monks in one of her Watcher's books. Or maybe it was demon monks. Whatever; all that stuff sort of ran together for her after a while. Anyway, she definitely didn't look like she was up to her usual mood standards today, but dammit, she was trying. So... basically, she was all serious-face. "Especially if you're not used to fighting in snow," she put in. "From a world without it, or the wrong climate, or whatever. It'll mess up your footing, for one, and you're gonna have to figure out how to keep warm and stay mobile enough to be effective." Unless you were Zack and didn't believe in sleeves. Or Gabrielle, or something.

"So, if you guys aren't already dressed for it," et tu, Zack? "then go and grab your winter gear and pull it on! It might still be snowing like crazy out there, but that's what the hot chocolate and coffee is for! We? Are totally going to have a snowball fight!"

Yes. He did pose when he said that. Would you expect any less?

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Fighting Reserves: Behind the Dorms, After Classes (Tuesday Afternoon)

2011-01-11T06:30:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

Maaaaan, it had been a while since the Reserves had met like this, hadn't it? If anything that wasn't going to do anything but encourage Zack to peer curiously around the group, trying to see if he could spot any new faces. Sure, it was a little chilly out, but that was what the coffee was for. Really, he was kind of starting to see what Maladicta saw in the stuff!

"Hey, guys! Welcome to the first Reserves meeting of the new semester! You're probably all introduced half to death by now, right?" He took a mouthful of sweet, sweet coffee, and offered the group a grin. "Sorry, but we're going to make you do it one more time, for good measure."

Maladicta peered out from under her umbrella ~~ella ella~~ to give him an amused look. "We'll at least try our best to make it interesting for you to do for no doubt the twentieth time these past two weeks."

"Because this isn't class." Kennedy paused long enough to take a swig of her own coffee. "Not to say this isn't serious business. So, new kids, let's just give you the quick rundown. If you're here, we're assuming you wanna help out next time something ugly goes down and we need to kick some ass. So-- introductions this time? You kinda get to brag about yourself, 'cause we're interested in knowing what you can do."

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5th Floor Common Room, Saturday Afternoon

2010-12-18T15:09:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

No more school for a few weeks could only mean one thing!

... Well, okay, for Zack it meant a few things. He had options, after all. He could take on some missions back home, but he was kind of iffy about that sort of thing after all of the excitement there last week. Or perhaps he could sneak back to at least take in the tree ceremony in Midgar, but even that kind of seemed like a bad idea right now. There were always things going on around here, though. Even if the relative peace and quiet seemed to be boring him out of his skull.

Clearly, on a Saturday morning with two weeks free from worry about classes, the best thing to do was to find himself a comfy place to sit, grab the remote control, and turn the TV to the most action-packed, violent show he could possibly find.

... Even if it meant that even the action movies were Christmas-themed right now.

[Open! Zack and I are totally in the same boat right now, sans mission trauma, so I'll be about all day being booored at you.]

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Reserves, The Salle, Teusday After Classes

2010-12-14T08:51:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

"Hey, guys." Zack still looked a bit on the tired side as the reserves group gathered for their meeting today. But, considering he was on what looked to be his fourth cup of coffee since the leaders had arrived to set up, that probably wouldn't last long. "Crazy stuff last week, huh? I'm sorry I missed it, but I think we can all agree that taking it easy this week is the way to go, huh?"

Zack would not have any problems with taking it easy at all. Especially once the caffeine crash hit.

"So today, we're going to work on strategy," he continued. "Running through scenarios in groups to get us all some practise in critical thinking in tricky situations."

That, and Zack just wanted to cast Magic Missile. At the darkness.

That's because Zack was a weirdo, but Kennedy was cool with that. Also with the taking it easy, since she was still pretty beat from last week herself. "Totally understand if you don't want to talk about goblins or talking stone faces or anything like that," she said, and she looked like she might hurt you if you tried to take that double red-eye out of her hands. "But we gotta stay on our toes, even if it is just figuratively. 'cause you can so sit down for this meeting."

Next time they tried this exercise, they really ought to have some Mountain Dew. And Cheetos.

"Though, what the dice are for, I'm not really sure," Maladicta said, jiggling the bag of all those 20-sided little things. "Just have a seat and work out what you'll be doing with your party."

A beat.

"Unless you're a bard."

Look, bards were useless even on the Disc.

[Open!]

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Class

2010-11-09T07:18:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

Wasn't it refreshing to be having today's Reserves meeting outside? Outside in the sunshine, with the trees turning and the soft tickle of pollen on the breeze?

"Hey, guys!" Really, it wasn't possible for Zack to get much more antsy than he usually was, was it? "Today we're going to cover some more physical drills, working on hand-to-hand combat. There are plenty of techniques to choose from, from speed-based martial arts to strength-based grappling, and they all have their benefits. If you don't know your fighting style, that's fine! You can partner off and practise today, after Maladicta and Kennedy give us a quick demonstration!"

This couldn't possibly go wrong!

Of course not! Why would there be anything wrong with two girls demonstrating hand-to-hand combat techniques? Other than... oh dear. Was that mud on the ground in that only patch that was in the shade and therefore safe for Maladicta to, oh, do anything in?

"One of the most important things to remember is that there will always be someone stronger or more skilled than you," Maladicta said, taking off her jacket so it wouldn't get mussed. Even though, being a vampire, it would only serve to enhance the look. "Kennedy has more training than I have, for instance."

"And Maladicta's stronger than I am," added Kennedy, shrugging her hoodie off, and exercising an amazing amount of discretion in just leaving the explanation at that. "So she's got one kinda edge over me, I have another over her..." Wow, Kennedy, pick less picturesque prepositions. "Anyway, it's a whole thing."

She was all distracted, and words were all... evasive. "So screw the explanations, let's just go for it. Also, since this might get messy today?" She eyed the patch of mud. "Not that we're keeping score, but you might be, so bonus points to you if you partner up with someone for cleanup afterward. 'cause... fun."

Which meant this was the best time for Maladicta to tackle Kennedy into that mud. It ended up less 'graceful predator' and more 'Girls Gone Wild', unfortunately. Okay, not so unfortunate at all for most people watching.

And Zack... Zack was going to just stare.

"So, uh... get to it, guys?"

[Open!]

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Third Floor Common Room; Saturday Afternoon [ 11/06 ].

2010-11-06T11:55:00Z

Posted by: daventryprince.livejournal.com

Yesterday had been so strange that Alexander felt the need to just sort of relax a little and find himself some nice distractions. He didn't typically watch a lot of television, but decided it was the sort of entertainment that might be called for after a day like the one before.

Of course, that was before he turned it on and started changing the channels to a horrible discovery. He didn't know if it was the television or what, but it seemed that every channel was playing nothing but musicals.

"That is not amusing, television," Alexander informed it with a frown, clicking the machine off.

He was just going to read a book instead.

[[ open common room is open! ]]

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Reserves: Salle, After Classes

2010-10-26T07:45:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

Reserves members had gotten notice to meet in the salle again today, since weapons were on the agenda again. Sharp, shiny ones this time: like the axe Kennedy was holding in a possessive kind of way. Or maybe just an "oooh, shiny" kind of way. Look, the point was you weren't going to pry it out of her hands for a while.

"So today's sort of a repeat of last week, except without getting over random chromosome-swappage and less possible concussions, guys," she said. "Except the chances of accidental mayhem? Way higher."

And Maladicta had a nice, reasonably sized sword at her hip. The kind better suited for a theatrical performance than any actual fighting. Because sword fighting was just messy business, thank you. But it was more elegant than an ax.

She wasn't a dwarf after all.

"So, while you may have brought your own weapons in, we only have practice blades to be tried out for those without," Maladicta added kindly. "If you manage to cut yourself with them, I believe you will deserve the long walk to the clinic."

In other words, please don't cut yourselves, Reservists. Otherwise Zack might end up with less than 99 Potions and that would be sad. Or Kennedy might have to stake Maladicta. Again. Awkward.

"And I'm going to ask the people who do have experience with blades to grab a practise weapon if they're going to pair off against newbies," Zack added, casually standing around with the Buster Sword resting on one shoulder. You know, because it totally wasn't a big deal that he could lift it, he had to just hang around with it sitting there like a sack of potatoes, too. "Real blades are just for the experienced against the experienced, unless you're planning on hitting with the blunt side, if your sword has a blunt side, and ruling out any possibility of thrusting."

Because a conversation about swords wouldn't be complete without Zack making it ten times more awkward with mention of thrusting, after all.

"If anybody needs help figuring out what they're doing, they can feel free to grab one of us for pointers! But for now?" He gave the sword a twirl, and helicopters everywhere became envious of the spin on that blade. "Get to it, guys!"

[Open!]

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Reserves: Salle, After Classes

2010-10-19T05:22:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

Today, there was a notice set out in the usual place for the reserves group to pack it on up and meet at the Salle, where they would find an assortment of weapons set out, mostly of the 'blunt force trauma' variety.

Fun times with beating on one another today!

"Heya, guys!" And girls, all of whom, Zack was pleased to note, seemed to be back to their usual varying standards of normal, today. He hoped. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday and the mustard attack again. "We thought that today would be a good day to get into handling weapons again, since most of us got to take it easy over break week, and all. No blades this week, but we do have some batons and things like that to work with."

"Nothing you can puncture each other with," Kennedy had to put in. Because that way occasionally lay accidentally dusting your friends. Oops. "Which isn't to say you can't hurt each other a hell of a lot with this stuff, so do we have to remind you to be smart about it?"

"If you don't think you can manage to keep from bludgeoning someone with the batons, we have those noodle... things from last time," Maladicta added. Because there was just no cool way to say 'pool noodle'. Unfortunately.

"So," Zack said, grinning, because... really, there wasn't any way to talk about pool noodles without being seriously uncool, sorry Maladicta, "grab yourself a baton and pair off to spar, but be careful about it. If you're not familiar with the weapon, people can get hurt, and we don't want any clinic visits today."

... He totally had his hot pink pool noodle slung over one shoulder again. Just because.

And got a smack upside the head with a purple noodle. But whoever could have done that? Certainly not Maladicta!

Or Kennedy. Because hers was the dark blue one aimed at his shoulder.

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Classes

2010-10-05T07:56:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

There was nothing at all awkward about this meeting today. Nope, nothing awkward at all. Even if Kennedy somehow managed to look everywhere but Maladicta's direction.

"So, everybody survived Parents' Weekend," Kennedy noted, scratching behind one ear. Nice choice of words there. Really. "Good to see, 'cause, uh... it was questionable there for a while. Family and guardian types can make you crazy, we get that. Like if they're not so down with you doing what you do, or kind of wigged out by some of your classmates just being who they are, or..."

Keep talking yourself into a hole there, Kennedy.

"Anyway, point being, we made it, right? That's good. But if it was a stressful weekend, we get that. So it's a decompression kind of day. Talk it out if you want to, figure out ways to keep from going crazy, all that fun stuff." Look, she hadn't exactly planned her part of the speech. Not because it was awkward or anything, though.

And Maladicta was staying on the other side of Zack for now. Just in case. "While it wasn't exactly an invasion like the piranha, I'm sure the appearance of family here can be about the same level of stress." Or more. Probably more! "But, like Kennedy said, today we'll be relaxing a bit after everything this weekend."

Even though Maladicta hadn't had any guests... Nevermind that now!

"We have coffee--" Sweet nectar of life. "--and biscuits from in town. Not made by anyone here." That last part couldn't be stressed enough.

"And," Zack added, a little weirded out by all of the awkwardness, but kind of terrified to ask what in the world it was all about, here, "there's a bunch of pool noodles here today, if any of you want to use them to smack some of your frustrations out against walls or trees or the gate or one another!"

He'd grabbed a pink one. It was perfectly manly, thank you.

[Open!]

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Reserves: Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Classes

2010-09-28T04:44:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

When the reserves group gathered behind the dorms today, they'd notice that Zack and Kennedy had gone to the trouble of putting up quite the elaborate setup for the meeting today. It was a little too sunny for Maladicta, unfortunately, so the leadership was temporarily down to two. This, of course, wasn't about to stop them.

"Hey, guys! We're going to be doing some simple exercises to help with agility and surefootedness today! We've whipped up a little bit of an obstacle run to give you guys some practise." Zack grinned as he put his hands on his hips and looked over at the... well, actually, it was a bit of a mess, that they'd set up on the lawn. A bunch of garbage bags had been laid out end to end and soaked with water, and on top of them every now and then there sat tires of varying sizes. Like a slip-and-slide that seemed to exist just to send you tripping into things.

Which was totally safe, right?

Completely! If you asked Kennedy, anyway. However reassuring that might be.

She gestured with one arm at the obstacle course, which-- if you thought it resembled a giant pizza made of plastic and rubber, guess what had inspired the whole thing? "So hopefully you guys don't mind getting a little soaked, 'cause I think it might be inevitable today. Unless--" She arched an eyebrow, challenging. "Unless you're just that good, in which case, don't hog the course for people who need to work on it more. Oh, and no diving just to splash around, okay? It's not a Slip 'n' Slide."

No matter how much it resembled one.

"Keep playtime for sometime that isn't now. And try not to get hurt." Much.

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

2010-09-21T09:31:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

"Hey, guys!" Zack was in... what was possibly the best mood ever as people gathered behind the dorms for the weekly Reserves meeting and he passed out colored scarves in black and purple. "First off, I want to say good job to everyone who helped fight off those fish on Friday! You totally showed them all who was boss! Twice!" And the world might never know if he was being completely serious, or if he actually thought that he was being clever. "Today we're going to be doing a bit of team-building. Does everyone here know how to play Capture the Flag?"

If you didn't, he was going to look at you strangely.

"To practice teamwork," Maladicta added, giving Zack and his excessive cheer a look out of the corner of her eye. For someone who lived on caffeine, she really wasn't hyper enough to even attempt his level. "If you don't know what it is, we'll be splitting up into two groups based on the color you are assigned and work on defending your own flag while trying to steal the other teams."

And guess who snagged a black scarf. Go on. Guess.

It wasn't Kennedy; she'd snagged a purple one and tied it rakishly around her head like a headband. "Seriously, it's self-explanatory. Flag, capture, duh, right? It's not rocket science." Oh, god, nobody ask her to explain rocket science. Please. "So go, split up and do that thing."

She could've said more about working together, but like she'd ever been trained in that. Pssht.

[Open!]

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Second Floor Common Room, Saturday Morning

2010-09-18T12:50:00Z

Posted by: endsthegame

Ender had been inside during yesterday's attack, knowing full well there was little he could do except make trips downstairs to make sure support was well-organised. These invasions had a habit of taking care of themselves, though, and so he hadn't been too concerned-- using Ben's brief absence to rewatch some of the videos he'd been sent.

That hadn't been a smart idea. He'd gone back to his Formic research.

But now it was the-day-after, and he'd been awake for a larger chunk of the night than usual. So eventually he removed himself from his room and pottered into the common room, where he rifled through drawers until he'd come up with a stack of leftover sandwiches from yesterday.

They were sparsely topped - just cheese or ham or both - but there were many of them, so he left them sitting on the table in the middle of the room. He curled up on the couch, laptop on his legs, and worked.

[[ open! ]]

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Fourth Floor Common Room, Wednesday Night, With Extra Grey Cells

2010-09-15T19:58:00Z

Posted by: onapalebicycle.livejournal.com

Today, the fourth floor common room was not, in fact, the fourth floor common room. It was, rather, the scene of a murder.

The deceased -- a rather unfortunate looking stuffed animal -- lay just there, behind the sofa.

The police were stumped. The police, they saw and they observed, but they did not use the little grey cells, mon ami.

The police had called in the most excellent services of the most excellent Belgian who had, it should be noted, the finest moustache in all of England.

Monsieur Hercule Poirot was on the case. He would solve the mystery, mais oui? But of course. The great Hercule Poirot never failed to apprehend the criminal.

(Today is Agatha Christie's 120th birthday. Therefore, George is now M. Hercule Poirot. Come and be interrogated over the dastardly murder! Or mistaken for a police officer, or the good captain Hastings! M. Poirot, he will prevail!)

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Reserves: Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Classes [9/14]

2010-09-14T08:03:00Z

Posted by: inneedofcoffee.livejournal.com

Instead of the nearly usual coffee, there was a bend to the whims of the other leaders of the reserve and it was a large selection of mocha lattes. Yes, with a lot of whipped cream. Happy now, Zack?

"Welcome back," Maladicta said, under her umbrella ~~ella ella~~ once again as she addressed the group. "Today we're going to be talking about methods for escaping capture using whatever is available to you at the moment or your own natural abilities."

Like turning into the ever cliche bats!

Zack couldn't turn into bats, but he suspected that he'd totally find a way to escape capture if ever he was in a situation that warranted it. It would probably take him a while, depending on the situation, but sooner or later...

"It's really hard to say just what sort of capture you might face, on an island like this. But the simplest one for us to work with here and now would be the ever classic... Being tied up," Zack intoned, bouncing and smiling and yes, totally happy because his mocha had whipped cream and life was good and he was stupidly high on sugar. "Ropes and handcuffs and all of that!"

Oh, sure, bring up the natural abilities thing. Kennedy at least got to keep the annoyed look off her face by smothering an amused smirk at Zack. "Not like that, guys." Oh, you know someone was thinking it.

...someone other than Kennedy, because that was a given.

"Not like what?" Oh, Zack. You knew better, you silly boy. Stop playing dumb. "Aaaanyhow, today we've got some chairs set out, and some rope, and some handcuffs and stuff to experiment with. Pair off with someone and take turns tying one another to the chair, and trying to get free! Wriggling helps, I've heard! And, uh, if somebody is having trouble getting out, have a heart and let them go if they ask, okay? We're not here to traumatize anyone, just to get some practise in on the chance that we end up in some sticky situation."

Knowing Fandom, it could be literally sticky. But as someone who'd gotten tied to a chair not all that long ago herself, Kennedy spoke up, "And it's cool if you want to, uh, sit this one out today."

Maladicta was giving Zack a very concerned look for that last comment there, but was just going to ignore it for now. ~~Square Enix sure was dirty!~~ "If anyone has tips beside... wriggling... please feel free to share with your compatriots."

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Reserves: Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Classes [9/7]

2010-09-07T04:47:00Z

Posted by: brat_inslayage

Zack was doing that bouncing thing again. This probably wouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who had been here even just last week, right? Zack bounced. Birds flew. Fandom was weird. Life went on. But today, he was doing that bouncing thing with a small stack of notepads in his arms, and a few pens sticking out of his pockets.

"We're having another discussion meeting today," he informed the group as they gathered for the reserves meeting. "We'll get into the more hands-on stuff as the semester goes on, but we have to cover the basics first, you know? And today, we're covering the really, really basic basics. We're covering supplies."

"Like what would be usefull the next time the island is invaded," Maladicta added from her spot once more in the shade of the building. "Whether you were here for the last attack on the island, or new here, we would like to hear your ideas."

There was a pause before she added, "Cookies don't count, no matter how much Zack may claim otherwise."

"Hey!"

Kennedy rolled her eyes mildly at both of them. "We know, discussion time is a little light on the action, but having everybody on the same page is a good thing, so. Shelving the cookie debate." A beat. "For now, anyway. Everybody's gonna pair off here and come up with a little back-to-school supply list. Sort of-- if by supplies you mean stuff you're going to want to have in case we get invaded again."

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday Afternoon

2010-08-31T08:07:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

There was a new person waiting with Zack and Kennedy today. Well, 'with' was too strong a word. She was in the shadow of the dorms, dare we say... lurking?

Like a lurker.

"Welcome to the Reserve," Maladicta said from her ~~lurking~~ limited position in the shadows. "Hopefully many of you are returning, but if this is your first time here, you are just as welcome."

( If expected to steal all the non-poisonous cookies and run before the insanity caught you. )

[You know the drill! Reserve meetings are open to all! Co-written with inneedofcoffee and brat_intraining]

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Fourth Floor Common Room | Afternoon | Thursday | August 26

2010-08-26T07:47:00Z

Posted by: decoder-rings.livejournal.com

Hannibal had been putting this off for months now. Considering he had just forty eight hours left on the island, it seemed that his time of hedging and procrastinating had come to an end. When he made bets, he filled them even if it took him time.

So, he'd move some of the furniture aside and out of the way all while wearing a thick bathrobe. Yes, he was wearing spandex pants under that bathrobe and no, he wasn't going to show that off until he absolutely had to. Kate was just lucky he hadn't tried to find a loophole.

There was a boombox nearby, queued up with the most ridiculous song known to man. In a few minutes, he'd have to click play and actually dance.

He was going to dance. In spandex. To a girly song. He hated his life and yet, he'd keep making bets. Stupid bowling game.

[Oh god, this is so open. I'ma put up some OCD just for my benefit but this is SO open. Not Hannibal's last post in Fandom, btw!]

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The Roof, Monday Afternoon

2010-08-23T14:53:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

Well, that was it for another term of workshops, then, and now there was a week to look forward to not a heck of a lot of anything at all.

Zack, of course, was going to kick that off by attempting to get in touch with the Director back in Midgar, to see if there was any important work for him yet. That phone call was met with no answer from Lazard, and so little success. That idea having fallen through, Zack decided to default straight to... Plan B.

...

The view of the clouds was way more awesome from the roof than it was down on the ground! And, in a rare moment of something not unlike planning ahead, Zack had even brought lemonade.

Now he was all set for whatever break week could throw at him, oh yes.

[Open roof, open post! Hi!]

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Behind the Dorms, Tuesday After Workshops

2010-08-17T10:09:00Z

Posted by: puppy_fair

Fear not, intrepid reservists, the cookies were back this week-- and a variety case or two of Vitamin Water, because dehydration was bad, mmmkay? The latter was courtesy of Kennedy, who looked like she’d put in a strenuous day already and was notably sans guinea pig, who’d been comfortably put up in the dorms since yesterday with plenty of water and food because someone’s Watcher had finally gotten the story of what’d happened in Bon Temps and ramped up the training agenda kind of brutally this week. She didn’t look tired, exactly, just... okay, a little bit tired.

“Last meeting of the term,” she noted with a creased-brow thinky-thoughts sort of expression and a touch of surprise. “Really snuck up on us, huh? We thought we’d sort of do a wrap-up thing this week, since it’s been kind of, uh... hectic lately, plus, finals. No big, just getting your thoughts on stuff you’d like to work on more for the fall semester, seeing if anyone wants to volunteer to do a show-and-tell kind of thing for everybody, stuff like that.”

“Talk about things that you were hoping to see while you were here, if there’s anything we missed out on, if there’s anything that we could have done better,” Zack twitched a wry little grin at that part. There was no way that you could possibly improve on the Katamari, okay? That had been awesome. “We’ll probably touch on things like map-making and stuff like that again next semester, because so many people have come and gone since the start of summer, it can’t hurt to get everyone better acquainted to the island again.”

Particularly in instances when large portions of the island happened to go missing, and people were stuck trying to get a positive ID on what was left.

“When you’re done talking, take it easy. Grab a partner and spar, or just run through your usual training exercises, or whatever you like. Keep an eye on one another, see if there’s anywhere that the people around you can help you along, or offer help if it looks like somebody is struggling. In the end, we’re all here to improve, right?”

“Or at least learn how not to suck,” Jak added. Look, he’d become comfortable with the fact that his role here was to point out the obvious crap Kennedy and Zack tended to forget. “If you don’t know how to shoot a gun, find someone who can shoot a gun. If you don’t know how to kick someone in the ass, find someone who does that. This isn’t difficult. You’ve all been in dangerous situations before, and I bet you’ve all sucked in them somehow. Taking care of that is what we’re supposed to do here.”

Life lessons from the mutant guy from Haven, kids. Listen good.

[OCD ~~coming~~ up, post is open!]

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