Fandom Radio, Monday, December 14

[likethegun]

Sam: Good evening, Fandom. I hope everyone's finals are off to a good start. Or work, I guess, if you're not part of the school.

Andy: And just remember there's only 10 more shopping days 'till Christmas, so if you're not concentrating on finals, you might want to concentrate on that.

Sam: I think I'm all done with that, surprisingly. How's your shopping going, if you're doing any?

Andy: I'm pretty much done too. I like to get it over with so I can concentrate on having fun.

Sam: You? Concentrating on the fun part of anything and everything? No, I find that hard to believe.

Andy: I'm going to drag you along into the having fun part too. Kicking and screaming if I have to.

Sam: That's totally unnecessary, really. But I appreciate the thought.

Andy: Fun is always necessary, Sam.

Sam: Maybe for some people, but not for everyone.

Andy: See that? Is proof that you need dragging along.

Sam: Yeah, well, we'll see how well the you dragging me part works when the time comes. For now, our fun consists of living it vicariously through the notes about others.


School News

Sam: Finals week started today, so it's time to see what the teachers came up with this semester. The Applied Science class had to write a small paper on what they learned over the course of the semester, and then make soap. Dinah and Priestly tried to decide what extra ingredients to add to their soap, and talked about the thankfully sane weekend we just had. You know, minus the Santa hats. After everything was done, Dinah stopped to thank Tyler for the awesome class, and they talked about the philosophy class he's planning on teaching next semester.

Hubris from Revelation had a discussion-based final. First, everyone talked about what religion they would manipulate, if they had to mess with one to get by in a foreign place, and which religion intrigued them the most this semester. Then, the class discussed whether or not they'd feel guilty about using a religion to their advantage. And before class, Kate apologized to Lady Ghanima for missing class last week, due to leftover insanity from the weekend. It's the excuse that keeps on giving.

The Physical Films students had to put on their uniforms one last time to climb up a scary cliff and then settle in to watch The Princess Bride. The Care for Magical Creatures students had to read a book and talk about how they'd treat the creature in the book if they were the protagonist. And the Sex Ed class had a written final. Not a practical one, thank goodness.


Dorm News

Andy: Over in the dorms, Emma was working on math in her room. The squirrel added a note that it was voluntary, but really, was that necessary? It's not like she was shoving bamboo under her own fingernails or anything.

Jean confronted Emma about her giving Jono a mental valium because that wasn't a good thing to do. Y'know, I'm of two minds about that. I mean yeah, probably an actual physical real valium -- or herb equivalent -- would be better, but if someone's really freaking out and you have the mental equivalent? Isn't it better to actually help them calm down than stand there and watch them freak?

Sam: Maybe, but what if the person doesn't want people messing with them?

Andy: If they were freaking out though, would they be in the right frame of mind to make that kind of decision?

Sam: You'd rather act, and ask for forgiveness later?

Andy: I don't like to see people in pain if I can help. Karla and Emma had a conversation that was only half out loud and involved assurances that Karla wasn't in love with Emma. Wonder what the non-out loud part involved.

It was Monday morning so Arthur was practicing his drills in the salle. Dinah asked him how he fared with the bike and then they teased each other about being short. Merlin, in addition to reading spellbooks, discussed with Arthur various methods for training and discipline, which the squirrels assure me was not kinky in any way. Which I hadn't actually even thought about until they brought it up. Dinah told Merlin she was going home over the break and they discussed what they should tell newbies. There really should be a guide of some kind for that.

Sam: That's what the big siblings are for, which you should all consider signing up to be if you have the capacity to be nice, and not scary to people here for their first days. Sorry, I had to sneak that plug in there where I could get it.

Andy: I totally signed up. In the first floor lobby, George Cooper had sugary-sweets and caffeine all brought to you by the Student Council. Which I'm sure I speak on behalf of the entire student body when I say that's totally the way to get high approval ratings.

Sam: I'm glad you think so, 'cause we're doing it all week. It's kind of a tradition to try to keep everyone sane.

Andy: Good. Jack Burton approved of the idea and toasted Karla with his mug of coffee. Mat asked George about the point of the cart and then told him he wasn't concerned about finals or fond of reading books. That's probably because you haven't given it a chance yet, Mat. Books are really cool.

Karla told George she might die if she didn't get coffee, which he graciously provided for her. She then apologized to Mat for declaring her undying love for him while mind zapped and reassured him she didn't love him. Wow, how many people did she declare her undying love for?

Sam: I think "a whole lot" might be the best guess.

Andy: Awkward. In the second floor common room, Karla and Raven were baking cookies for Santakin. Santakin? Is that like all of Santa's relatives?

Sam: Maybe the squirrels meant Anakin? I can see why people might bake for him, especially before his final.

Andy: No, they wrote Santakin. So unless Anakin's taken to wearing a red suit and a beard... They discussed what kind to make and made several interesting substitutions in the ingredients. Merlin wandered in and he and Karla flailed at each other over residual love-spell awkwardness. Another one, Karla? Really? Merlin offered to contribute pinenuts to the cookies and told Raven he would be staying over the break and that there possibly would be a solstice fire. Oh that sounds cool.

Hurley was baking an apology cake in the fifth floor common room and Tahiri and Ben were playing in the ball pit like the mature Jedi they are.


Town News

Andy: Down in town, Liz Sherman opened up the Arms Hotel, Millie told the nurses at the clinic about the party last night, Alex Russo dealt with the fruit invasion at the Magic Box, and Lacey was baking in celebration of National Cupcake Day at the diner.

Ender was working on various projects at Stark Industries when Jack Priest came in to see if the telegraph was done and got a lesson in how to wire it. Okay that sounds cool -- you're going to have to show me too Jack. Ben came in with the traditional coffee, and he and Ender discussed what kind of god Ender was going to be. Ender declared he was going to be smitey. Uh, I don't think that's an actual word.

Sam: If he's going to be a god, I'm pretty sure he can make it a word if he wants it to be. Judging from the notes, it looks like there was quite the party at Caritas tonight. Rose stopped at the bar to make fun of Adrian and see if he was actually working. As opposed to hijacking the area behind the bar, I guess? Effy stopped at the bar to get a drink, and Dimitri was being creepy and lurking in a corner, until Adrian mocked him. Rose didn't mock him though, and they ended up talking about Moroi logistics instead, whatever those are.

As for the birthday party for Jack Priest, that was in the lounge, complete with a spot for presents for the birthday boy. Rose and Emma agreed that they're awesome at planning parties, and that this was a much better use of their time than studying for finals. I'd say studying is more important, but I guess it depends on what classes you're taking.

Andy: There's such a thing as balancing the two.

Sam: Says the guy who only really likes having fun.

Andy: Hey, I take my studies seriously too. I just find studying fun.

Sam: ...okay, I can't really argue with that. Jack wanted to know if Rose had anything planned for the tradition of birthday spankings, which doesn't seem like the kind of question I'd ask in the middle of Caritas, but that could just be me. Alex was surprised to find out that Rose enjoyed party-planning so much, and Emma and Jack talked about Jack's weekend while going back and forth between flirting and fighting.

Alex made sure to wish Jack a happy birthday and got his flirt on majorly with Emma. Tony and Jack joked with each other about their weekend together, and Tony and Rose talked about finals and how Rose should get an A in Sex Ed. I wonder if she's sorry it wasn't a practical exam.

Tony and Dinah talked about finals, and Emma asked Tony about how his weekend went. Effy and Rose talked about the "annoyingly hot" bartender - I'm assuming they meant Adrian - Effy and Griff teased each other, and Alex and Griff had some non-dirty roomate bonding time, which is good considering they were in public.

Dinah asked Griff about how his finals were going so far, if he'd had any, and Rose was just glad to see that Griff came out of his room, which he argued he does more often than she gives him credit for. That might not be true though, considering how happy Jack and Emma were to see him too.

Rose was happy to see Jaina at the party too, and they talked about Jaina's latest time-skip. Jack offered Jaina some of his birthday cake, and Sookie checked with Jaina to see if she knows about Christmas. That's always nice to check before the actual day rolls around.

Rose and Sookie caught up after not having seen each other in a long while. Emma was happy to see Sookie too, and they talked about the birthday cake, which Emma brought, but did not cook. Jack was happy to see Sookie too, and she teased him about being old. Dinah congratulated Jack on being legal in at least two universes, and then there was strawberry cheesecake for everyone.

Andy: Sounds like a pretty cool party.

Sam: People tend to throw good birthday parties around here. You only get to do it once a year.

Andy: Actually, if you throw a party for everyone, you get to do it many times a year.

Sam: Ha ha ha. Okay, that's a good point. And that's also the last of the notes. Do you have anything else while we have our captive audience?

Andy: Nope, I think we've covered it all.

Sam: Good night then, Fandom, and to those of you who have them, good luck with the rest of your finals.