the graveyard boy

Some days, the store got historical artifacts on incalculable worth, like Kayla's music box or the Thran book. Other days, it got fascinating new magical puzzles and treasures that left her intrigued and mystified. Still other days, it received creepy clockwork dolls or hideous monsters with the heads of baby dolls.

And then there were days like today, when they got something that basically looked like...junk? Or, at least, something you could find at any toyshop in the US.

She stared at the ball, willed it to do anything interesting, and then stuck it in the display window. Perhaps some sports enthusiast would show up and take it off her hands.

throughaphase posting in

When the students got to their simulations today, they'd each find themselves in a room with a simulated Kitty. Notably, there were also two microwaves set on tables, with a jug of milk atop each, and a task.kitty was holding a timer, which she started when they entered the room.

"You don't want to open the task yet," Kitty told them.

sharp_man posting in

The class met this week at Portalocity again, this time to head out to a local butcher's shop in a lovely market.

"In future, we will be discussing how to cut meat," Hannibal began, "but there are any number of different meats you may encounter. Different cuts of different animals are useful for different things, and it's important to know how to make the most of them. And even given the overall qualities of a species, the flavor and texture of meat on an animal varies depending upon which part of the body it comes from. Also, different strains of species have different flavors, and their diet can make a very large difference." As did their frame of mind upon death, but that tended to distress people.

He led them toward the butchery to one side of the building. "I have arranged for the butchers to show you the various cuts of beef, pork, and lamb; where on the carcass they come from; and how to acquire them should you be performing your own butchery. Then we'll be moving to the stall next to it, which I have rented temporarily so that I can show you how the various cuts cook up. There won't be time for you to cook yourselves today, but I'll be feeding you. Provided you pay attention while I work." This was still, after all, a class.

intheeyeofthebeholding posting in

Jon waved tiredly at the class. He'd reserved the Danger Shop for this period, but there was nothing in it so far; he was fiddling with the controls. "I, um. I apologize for last week. I got...well. Distracted." He cleared his throat. "I hope you all enjoyed Greece. That said, one of the things suggested to preserve focus is getting enough sleep. Which Daylight Saving Time does not help with. So."

He finally got it to do what he wanted, and around them appeared a...well, a sort of plush and padded cat tower, if the cats were human-sized. There were tunnels and cubbies and all kinds of places to hide. Or to climb around and play if you were so inclined.

"Today's class is for napping. If you don't feel like doing that, you can use it for exercise, which as we've discussed is also good for focus."

Just don't climb on him, please. He was going to be sleeping.

not_a_haint posting in

The kitten let him give it head scritches this morning, but balked at anything further than that. Caleb thought that might be the highlight of his shift but then he glanced into one of the other cats' cages and noticed a few extra occupants.

"Hey did y'all know this cat was pregnant?"

The vet tech paused in their own morning rounds. "She's pregnant?"

"Well not anymore, unless she ain't done yet."

Caleb had more work to do but was of course distracted by brand new kittens.

throughaphase posting in

Morning, everybody. I don't know what time it is and it's still dark, so happy time change to us all.

Quiet day yesterday: Gregorith was dealing with a rogue butterfly at the museum, and Rey dropped Anakin's kids off after a trip with all of their limbs attached. Which is nothing I've asked a babysitter about but maybe I should.

That's all I've got. Have caffeine. Come to my party.

thatwaslucky

Rey had taken Juliet and Christopher home this weekend. It gave Anakin a break, and it gave her some opportunity to show them the galaxy, specifically Jedi-related parts of the galaxy. And to teach them some things. She felt like she didn't suck at teaching as much these days? Or maybe she just really didn't want to screw up her Master's kids and was trying harder.

She reached out to let Anakin know when they were back and headed to his house (as if he couldn't tell through the Force) and walked the kids up to the front door.

[For the owner of the house and children.]

apologizeswithpie posting in

Gregorith went through the latter half of his routine at work without realizing there was a butterfly chilling on one of his horns, apparently unconcerned with it's resting place being so mobile.

It wasn't until he caught his reflection in one of the glass displays that he noticed.

"How long have you been there?"

He took a quick selfie to send back home before heading back to the butterfly room. Fortunately the insect did not make like a cat and make a break for it the second a phone's camera was put into use.

mustbeawitch posting in

Good morning, everyone! It is I, Miss Lydia Bennet, here once again with the news of yesterday...today! Let's see what the squirrels bothered to take notice of this week, shall we?

At the school, Overcoming Obstacles was a 'free run' and Combat 101 learned about hitting people with sticks, whilst Cupcakes of the World(s) learned of the cupcakes of France. The French do do sweets particularly well, I shall give them that. In the town, Mrs. Pryde-Barton was posting announcements for a party on Tuesday at Caritas--I shall expect to see you all there!--and at the Trooper Station, Detective Watts found a raccoon under arrest...and thus ends my notes, so I shall away until next week, dear listeners!

throughaphase posting in

Hello, everyone! This is Kitty on a different day, when more things seem to happen than on Sundays. What's up with that.

Anyway, at school, Philosophies of Mana went to somewhere called Kylem to talk about blue and white mana pairings, and Liliana stuck around in class a while before her office hours. And in the library, Belle was inspired by Arden's cleaning to do some herself.

And in town, Steph was at the Magpie Emporium where today was all about a cat rescue game, though Vi had her attention when she came in and they could get their flirt on.

That's all I've got! I'm throwing a party Sunday. You should come. I'll mention it again on Monday. I'll annoy you into it. Till then, bye!

pocketpretzels posting in

There was a soggy-looking raccoon in the cells when Watts arrived this morning.

"Drunk and disorderly?" he asked Calvin.

"Mostly the second thing," Calvin confirmed. "Haven't figured out how to tell a drunk raccoon from a sober one, if I'm entirely honest."

You know what? Fair enough.

ifwebeworthy posting in

"Today we continue our exploration of various weapons with the staff. The staff has much to recommend it. It is versatile and unobtrusive. One can carry a walking stick even in modern times without being perceived as armed. It is not, however, the most lethal of weapons, although never count blunt force trauma out. Please watch this instructional video, and then try out some of the movements for yourselves."

imafuturist posting in

Class today was outside! Because spring weather was springing and they could do that.

"Welcome back," Tony said. "We hope everyone had a nice vacation. I know I did."

Despite Hydra Island!

"The dogs missed us, though," Steve said, "and they have a lot of energy."

"Which means this will be a free run!" Tony added. "Please take the towels we provided. They will be muddy and they will want to play with you. I'm sorry."

Not as sorry as he and Steve would be in having to bathe all three dogs after this, but still.

Fee was already off, tearing through the park after a squirrel.

throughaphase posting in

Kitty had spent the early art of her morning mocking up and printing up flyers, and she was going to spend the later part of her morning putting them up. Well. Not the whole later morning. The island wasn't that big.

ICEBREAKER PARTY
TUESDAY, MARCH 10 @ CARITAS

MEET NEW PEOPLE!
TALK TO OLD PEOPLE!
JUST TALK TO PEOPLE NOW THAT IT'S NOT FREEZING OUT

All right, if this did take her whole later morning doing this, it was because it wasn't freezing out.

[Open if you want to catch her!]

stykera posting in

Once again, cupcake class was meeting in the Home Ec room because that was where the ovens were.

“France today,” Stark said, pointing to the map. “I went there once, on a trip like last week’s but not exactly the same. They’re never exactly the same. I don’t remember ever seeing this sort of cupcake but there were things with the same flavors. There were lots of very good things to eat there. So many pastries…Pastries and very good butter and of course there’s the wine…”

A week of warmth and sun had done wonders for Stark but he was still going to wax nostalgic about trips and treats past.

“So. Today’s cupcakes are Monte Blanc cupcakes. A monte blanc is a french dessert but not usually a cupcake. There’s chestnuts, it’s very good. I think it is anyway. You may not agree. There’s some that I’ve already made for you to try, of course.”

They were not as pretty as the ones in the photos on the website but it was sometimes difficult to get the frosting to be tall.

“I’ve done some of the steps already or we wouldn’t have time but there’s time after class ends if anyone wants to try to do all of the steps yourselves. And…of course…you can just eat cupcakes if you’d rather.”

noonedecidesmyfate posting in

Arden had made such progress on spring cleaning yesterday that Belle felt compelled to contusion the task.

As soon as she finished picking up the pile of books that some gremlins (presumably) had knocked over before she arrived. And the pile of plastic building bricks. She really wished those would be strewn about les often!

drumsticksandd20s posting in

Last week, Steph had ordered several copies of a game about cat rescue somewhat on a whim, because as an inveterate cat lover who happened to run a game store it seemed like the kind of thing she had to do. (Also because, well. Cats.)

She probably should have expected that as soon as she put them on the floor today, the copies she'd reserved for the in-store game library would have been the source of the most high-intensity play of any of the tables -- and that was with two tables booked by her most competitive wargaming nerd regulars and a mini TCG tournament going on.

Steph was seriously convinced that someone would end up flipping at least one table before the day was over, and it was not going to be by one of those groups.

[OOC: Open!]

deathsmajesty posting in

Another day, another new topic and new location. This time, the class found themselves sitting amongst the clouds--quite literally. They were perched on a long, arcing skybridge that rose up into the sky past the cloudline. To either side, they could see more bridges making their way through the sky. All the bridges converged at one point: a giant stadium hundreds of stories tall, the two statues that stood outside the entrance visible even from this distance. Closer to their spot, was the omnipresent cushions and blankets to sit on, and the whiteboard showing the five mana symbols. This time, there was a line drawn between blue and white.

"Welcome to Kylem," she said, sounding fond. "That stadium there is Valor's Reach, a gladiatorial arena where individuals travel from all over to test their martial prowess in - usually - non-lethal combat. For wealth, for glory...and, honestly, it's a great deal of fun."

She would know, being a several time Grand Champion. Of course.

( The law is meant to ensure that the gears of society turn smoothly and quietly. )

"And, finally, while it is very easy to see where white and blue are similar, it is important to note their differences as well. This time, the best way to find that is to look to their other allies: black and blue and green and white. So how do green and black differ? Black is all about free will and individualism, while green believes in destiny and interconnectedness. Therefore, we see the differences between blue and white as tension between those ideas. White, like its ally green, believes that everyone has a role to play in society, and, for the good of society, they should remain there selflessly, regardless of their own wants and desires; white's take on destiny and interconnectedness. Blue, on the other hand, believes that every individual has agency and control over their own actions, which they should spend on perfecting themselves, which will, in turn, lead to perfecting their surroundings; their take on black's free will and individuality. So, together, blue/white will struggle to properly define where a person's duty to their society ends and their duty to themself begins, how much control over their own life and future each person should have, versus how they should be bound by the good of the group." Liliana couldn't help but grin. "Blue/white working in harmony is a marvel of peaceful productivity; blue/white at odds with each other gets spicy."

wrongkindofsith posting in

Well, we're back from break week, which means classes were on again at the School, the Long Con watched a movie, Creative Writing attempted to write while listening to "music", and Glitter! made slime. Glitter slime.

Meanwhile, Arden cleaned up the Library.

Things were quiet in the Dorms, while in Town, Adrian was getting literally dirty at Pick Your Poison when Rey joined him.

hasaknightjob posting in

After a pleasant holiday away (and a weekend of things best not lingered on, which was why Steven wasn't doing so), it was good to get back to work.

Even if at the moment work was a bit puzzling.

Moreso than usual that is.

Steven looked over four separate packages of things marked "whale bone." He called the number on the invoice for each of them and, after a great deal of button pushing and shouting answers at at automated system that didn't understand what he was saying, he was at least now talking to a person.

"Yes, we are a museum but this isn't the sort of thing we deal with? All our animals and bugs are alive, you see. If we reach the stage where they're naught but bones something's gone horribly wrong. Yes, I'll hold, thank you."

Steven sighed. This was clearly going to take a while. At least he didn't have anywhere to be but behind the Welcome Desk? He certainly wouldn't mind anyone who interrupted him from his call.

[open]

throughaphase posting in

The class was in the classroom again, with the desks pushed together to make a table. You know, like in school. And on those desks were supplies!

"Today we're going to make slime," Kitty announced. "I'm going to be honest, I don't actually know what it's for except that I'm always picking it up in my house. It's just glue, contact solution, and baking soda, and then you can throw however much glitter you want at it. I also printed out some instructions if you need them."

talentforlying posting in

When the students showed up today, John had actually brought coffee for everyone - but not decaf, don't get carried away - and the room was set-up with a television at the front.

"Right. Movie day, you lot, since you're probably still daydreaming of spring break," he said, taking a bracing gulp of his own beverage. Hungover librarian was hungover. "How do you shoot the devil in the back? Well, I can suggest a few ways, but I've used them all and they don't work twice."

"Watch it, then tell me where the con falls down, and where it holds up. What would you have done differently?"

stykera posting in

Wednesday again and we’re no longer on boats or even somewhere warm. At least it’s less cold than it was.

Classes are happening again at the school. Raiden taught his students in Feeding Yourself 101 about salads and how they can be made of almost anything. Even Jello. In Ethics there were pillows and a movie to watch for all of us. And Remy was back for Basic Training after an absence and took his students to fake Florida in the Danger Shop.

Nothing from the dorms for yesterday so let’s look at the town. Sairis was at work at the Infinite Consortium and he put the chair in a box.

*chittering*

Excuse me. He put a box over the chair, which is not the same thing as putting the chair in a box. And finally Kitty was working on a party idea at Caritas. Tino was unimpressed, apparently. Is he ever impressed?
That’s all I have from yesterday for today.

jedigrammarians posting in

There as certainly a noise when the class arrived today. It was hard to describe exactly, but it was loud, discordant, and somehow both vaguely industrial and obnoxiously acoustic.

"Distractions," Aphra said over the...was it music? Possibly.. "They happen, sometimes all week, and you're 'not allowed' to throw the cause of them into the sea."

"But sometimes they provide their own inspiration," Isabela added in the tones of someone who had been Not Helping for a while now.

"So work on your own stuff," Aphra said. "Enjoy the Wookie Thrash Death Techno Jizz."

witchoftheflesh posting in

Everybody had their own spring rituals. Arden's was cleaning, but Adrian's was getting outside in the garden and starting to prepare the soil for planting. Cleaning up the debris from winter, turning the soil to break it up and keep it loose, checking over the planters and beds to see if any of them needed to be repaired. Normally it would also involve pruning back some of the perennials, but that seemed firmly under the heading of Check With Pam First.

He was a smart boy. ~~Mostly~~

afraid_of_marshmallows posting in

Listen, Arden was super-ready for spring. And if she had to manifest it by sacrifice and the sweat of her brow and all that stuff, then that's just what she was going to have to do, dammit.

Which was why anyone coming in today would see Arden deep in a spring cleaning frenzy. Windows were being washed. Shelves were being dusted. Floors swept.

She was going to be very smug about this come the weekend.

sairis posting in

Sairis was relieved to be back to normalcy. Not that the warm sun in Greece hadn't been nice, but being stuck on a boat surrounded by water hadn't exactly been relaxing, and all the history he had no context for had been frustrating.

Which he was perfectly happy to take out on the chair, which sat there somehow expectantly.

"No." He flicked a flame at it in warning.

Liliana seemed to have found a lot of the shoes yesterday, but now Sairis was trying to sort them by what they seemed to do. And possibly by size if he could. He set an empty box down over the chair before it could get away. He wasn't sure if it had eyes to blind, but it couldn't hurt.

Well, maybe the box, but that was its lookout.

carbsliftthespirit posting in

"Today, let's talk about salad," Raiden declared. "Now, what is a salad? It's a word with a wide variety of definitions, covering everything from leafy greens to fruit set in Jell-o. The key thing is that it's cold, and involves a bunch of different ingredients, usually mixed together in some way, and some kind of dressing, sometimes substituted for by the Jell-o if you're in Minnesota.

"The great thing about salads is that they're highly customizable, so you can use what you like, and really control the nutrition too. Need more protein? Add something like eggs or tuna! Use whatever veggies you like. There are a thousand dressings out there, plus recipes for different ones! The sky's the limit.And that's without getting into variations like pasta salad, or chicken salad, or Snickers salad!" A real thing, also a product of the Midwest. "Today we're sticking to your regular old leafy salad, though. You may have to do some cooking, of maybe an egg or some bacon, a chicken breast maybe, and some chopping, but mostly salads are about assembly. So we've got a bunch of ~~handwavey~~ ingredients, and you can try things out, see what you like, what's good together. Have fun with it! Be adventurous!" he encouraged them.

knightinshinarmor posting in

Honestly, Gambit wouldn't blame anyone for just not trying to show up to this class anymore. He'd apparently been out of commission for several weeks, after all.

But, well, no one had fired him yet and he wasn't an opossum anymore, so he was here today, the Danger Shop set up to look like the Big Cypress Swamp in the Florida Everglades.

"Not everything about training is fighting," he said, when he figured he had all the students he was going to get. "Though fighting can be the most fun." Your experiences are not universal, sir. "It's important to know when to fight and when it's not needed." He gestured around them. "There are a lot of creatures out here who could really do damage to person. Most of them aren't doing it to be mean, it's just what they do. Gators want to eat. So do mosquitos. It's not their fault that we're made of delicious flesh."

Did you really have to phrase it that way?

"There's another thing out here that looks dangerous, but is actually pretty chill when you take the time to get to know him." He turned towards a close-set copse of trees. "C'mon out, mon ami."

The Man-Thing didn't understand his words. He didn't understand most things. He did understand the friendly feelings that Gambit gave off, though, and made his slow, awkward way past the trees.

"This is Man-Thing. Well. That's what we call him. He lives here. We don't know where he comes from or how he got here, but we do know that, well. 'Whatever knows fear burns at the Man-Thing's touch.' So if you're nervous . . . I suggest you back up a bit. He can go a little nuts when he senses fear."

A loud rumbling sounded in the distance. Man-Thing lifted his head towards it with a sense of befuddlement. Gambit sighed. "For those who do want to fight today, you can give that bunch a try. That'd be the F.A. Schist company. They want to bulldoze this place to make an airport. I highly recommend going and blowing his shit up."

throughaphase posting in

Kitty had had a party idea, so downtime tidat was being spent with her laptop out at the bar while she tried to do some planning. For a lot of the time she was also trying to keep Tino from looking over her shoulder at what she was doing. Not that she was doing anything he couldn't see, it was just weird.

"Oh my god, fine," she said, turning the laptop towards him.

He immediately turned his nose up and walked to the other end of the bar.

[Open!]

snipsnspecks posting in

"We've recently returned from vacation and so sometimes the moral thing to do is not push ourselves too hard," Anakin announced piously.

"Also the Danger Shop refuses to load any other simulation," Ahsoka said from behind a pile of pillows. Because the Danger Shop was in fact full of them.

"And the Danger Shop refuses to load any other simulation," Anakin admitted begrudgingly.

"So we're going to listen to what the Force is telling us, make ourselves comfortable, and have a movie day," Ahsoka said.

"There might be a quiz, so pay attention," Anakin added.

Ahsoka nodded. "After all, it might get awkward if you can't tell us what happened."

afraid_of_marshmallows posting in