“I WANNA WALK AWAY! I WANNA WALK AWAY!”

Aimee Sherbat knew how to scream. It wasn’t that Jack didn’t know that - he knew her and her band well by now. They’d been coming up through the New York rock scene more or less at the same time. They ran in the same circles, they shared beers, he’d been to her shows and she’d been to his.

Still, it was… something else, hearing her dig that deep over the lower, steadier notes of his own voice.

( It's a demo, Jack said defensively. )

Raiden was feeling tropically inspired today, which was fortunate because he had a lot of pineapple to work with. Made crafting the specials board kind of easy.

Specials
Pineapple Upside Down Pancakes
Pineapple Upside Down Baked Oatmeal
Pineapple Sriracha Breakfast Bowls

Over Easy is open! And very pineapple-y.

Good morning, everyone! I hope you are ready to hear all the news of yesterday, because I have been most cruelly dragged out of bed by rodents to provide it, and I've much packing to do before we leave! Let us begin, shall we?

At the school, Driver's Education used simulators to prepare for our beach adventures, whilst Weather & Storms learned what a 'dead man walking' is. No, thank you. I don't see any notes from the dormitory, but in the town Mr. Henry of Skalitz was learning how things worked at the forge, and at the Trooper Station Detective Watts dealt with some troublesome raccoons before having luncheon with Mr. Grant. At Needful Things, Dr. Quinn was doing some seasonally appropriate advertising, and was visited by Dr. Isley, who approved. Mr. Morningstar quite sensibly refused to allow Mr. Tiny a musical instrument at The Devil's Nest, and Miss Skywalker was still trying to adjust to the alterations at her warehouse. And that does seem to be all of my notes, so I shall be off now. I still don't have a swimming costume, and I really don't know what to do!

Rey wasn't trying to run the course today. She was still not getting the new additions to it, and she refused to spend all of next week explaining where she got that bruise or how she broke her own face or whatever.

Instead, she was sitting on the course near where the pop-ups started, meditating. Maybe she could figure out a pattern, but mostly she was focusing on how they moved, what it did to the space around them. Was this the right way to go about this? Maybe not. But she could also stand to chill out around these things a bit.


[Open!]

"No, Tiny, I'm not getting you an upright bass," Lucifer sighed. He sipped his drink from his prime spot behind the piano. "Why? Because you can't play it, that's why."

The tall bartender said nothing, glaring in one direction, away from Lucifer.

"Don't give me that," Lucifer told him. "You remember how Eric used to be about DJs."

Tiny ignored him. The words '50% OFF ON DISAPPOINTING DRINKS' appeared on the specials board not long after.

[[ open ]]

Over the course of the past week, Harley had finished decorating the store for Halloween! For... a given, admittedly very loose definition of "finished", anyway. The store was already all decked out for spooky season, but Harley also kept adding more whenever she found more stuff that seemed like it worked.

Also, a sign in the window, amid all the vintage cardboard cutouts in the shapes of witches and pumpkins and other theme appropriate things, said WE GOT HAUNTED STUFF!

Well, you couldn't fault a gal for trying, could you?

(open!)

Watts's day began with Calvin marching in to the station, holding two hissing raccoons at arms length. The raccoons clearly had some sort of beef, judging by the amount of hissing going on.

"Drunk and disorderly," Calvin informed Watts before he went to go throw them in the cells. "Mostly disorderly, really."

Today, the class was once again on the open plains, under that eerie green sky. In the distance, a multi-vortex tornado was raging.

"Behold," Thor told his students, "the dead man walking. It is said that the Native American tribes of the plains held the wisdom that if you saw it, you were about to die, which is not inaccurate, especially in an era before modern forecasting and storm shelters. Do not fear, we are quite safe. This is a simulation, and even if it were not, I am a god of storms. What you are actually looking at is a multi-vortex tornado, a rare form of tornado that only happens with the strongest of storms, as a phase they go through before reaching their greatest strength. The best-known incidence of a dead man walking was the tornado that hit Jarrell, Texas on May 27, 1997--an F5, the strongest on the modern Fujita scale for measuring tornadic strength. An image was taken in which two vortices resemble legs, while a third resembles the scythe commonly seen in imagery of Death, though the phenomenon has been observed on many other occasions.

"What can you do if you see the dead man walking, or, more practically, if you have become aware through an alert or news broadcast that a tornado is headed for your location? You can seek shelter in a basement or the lowest floor of the building, in an interior room with no windows. If you are in a manufactured building, such as a mobile home, it is unsafe. Seek shelter elsewhere. If you are traveling in a vehicle, and have no other options, get out of the vehicle and lay down in a ditch. It is better than nothing. And then you wait, and you pray." After a moment for that to sink in, he asked, "Are there any questions?"

When any questions had been dealt with, Thor decreed that, "Class is dismissed. Enjoy your vacation. And remember to wear sunscreen!"

We did this one in February but who cares! It's been quiet and I'm bored!

01. My sexual orientation.	26. My future plans.
02. What I'm really bad at.	27. One of my internal conflicts.
03. The one person whose arms I'd like to be in.	28. My favorite foods.
04. My idea of a perfect date.	29. Biggest vanity.
05. A description of my self-esteem.	30. My most embarrassing moment.
06. Who my best friends are.	31. Two of my insecurities.
07. Post a picture(s) of your island crush (or crushes).	32. My (potentially) honest opinion of you
08. Biggest turn-offs.	33. What I love most about myself.
09. Last time you were the hero.	34. My biggest pet peeves.
10. My favorite place on the island.	35. One of my quirks in bed.
11. Someone I miss.	36. What was my last sexual experience like.
12. The reason behind my last break-up.	37. Three things would you bring to a deserted island.
13. What I did yesterday.	38. What I'm really excellent at.
14. My greatest achievements.	39. My most traumatic experience.
15. My biggest vice.	40. Last time I was really angry.
16. A description of my last kiss.	41. The nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.
17. What I find attractive.	42. Last time I cried.
18. What I'd like to do with you right now.	43. My relationship status.
19. My biggest secret.	44. My relationship with my siblings.
20. The one place I wish I was right now.	45. What's currently worrying me the most.
21. The most cruel thing anyone has ever said to me.	46. How you deal with pain (mental/physical/emotional/etc).
22. My biggest failure.	47. My relationship with my parents.
23. Qualities that make me more likely to love a person.	48. What I dislike most about myself.
24. What bores me the most.	49. Last time I let someone down
25. My theme song.	50. My happiest on island memory

Answers are IC and don't affect gameplay. Ask as many as you like. Come back through the day to throw more numbers at people.

Also if you could add the prompt along with the number, it's hugely helpful for those of us on mobile!

Good morning everyone! Did you know that Leroy has somehow found a squirrel-sized bikini? Because now I know that.

*chittering*

I didn't say it looked bad! I'm just surprised you found one. So the squirrels are excited to leave on Sunday for our Fall Break trip. Let's get through yesterday's news and see if anyone else is, too.

In classes, Jesse took over Liliana's class and they watched a movie, Tony and my baking class made delicious chocolate things, and Food Adventures went to Mexico City to enjoy art and culture and to eat tacos. In the library, Belle was dealing with a supernatural book skirmish.

In town, Liz didn't make it off of the couch yesterday and chose to work from home instead of going to the Photo Hut, and Steven gave newcomer Gregorith a tour of the museum.

Thor was experimenting with dry ice in drinks at the Devil's Nest, and the Supper Club went to the Perk for dinner. Rey and Lydia fondly recalled the last time they went to the Perk for dinner and Logan was shirtless. Harley was very disappointed to have missed knowing shirtless Logan, and Henry was more concerned about why Logan had been shirtless.

*chittering*

Pollen. Ah. Gotcha. Harley was aghast to learn that Henry hadn't been to the Perk until now, and Lydia hoped that Harley wouldn't be put off by the Perk's non-traditional dinner options, but not as put off as Lydia was to learn that Henry hadn't tried tea yet. I'm assuming that was rectified immediately.

And that's everything! See you in the Maldives on Sunday!

Henry had been told to come back each Friday, and so come back on Friday he did. The forge was still quiet, and he was by himself again, and...

Well, this time around, he got bored enough a while in to actually try to light the thing. See how it worked.

Not so different from what he was used to, as it appeared. "Pebbles could use some new horseshoes," he mused, eyeing the available materials. "I wonder if anyone'll mind if I make her some?"

Perhaps he'd get 'round to figuring that one out later today.

[[ open ]]

Today the class was back in the classroom. No, not for a movie or for an exam on the rules of the road. But, instead, to help prepare them for their upcoming vacation! How, you might ask. Well, there were a series of simulators ready for the class to try out! And no, don't be silly about these just being video games. That was fake.

Ignore the scores. Those were for academic reasons.

Academic reasons that required Cara to try to have the high score on all the simulators.

"Well, next week you'll all be on vacation, so we thought this might help for the beach parts of that," Jane said. "And they sort of just... showed up here."

"Clearly the island was just as concerned about you getting yourselves killed on a different island as Jane was."

"I'm not sure what it says about our little school, honestly," Jane had to admit. It said a lot. You adorable little weirdos.

Not that Cara thought any of you were adorable. At all. "So try to keep it happy and yourselves alive."

Spooky season persisted in the library this week. More decorations had appeared, the books about vampires seemed poised to attack the books about werewolves and the books about witches were all huddled around a large bowl on top of one shelf.

Supernatural book skirmishes? More likely than you'd think in those library

And that wasn't even taking into account the zombie books shuffling across the floor in one corner.

Belle waa at the desk with a vampire romance that had chosen to stay away from the likely hostilities.

Yes, yes, all right, the coffee shop was not necessarily what one thought of when one thought of 'supper.' But they did serve food, and Lydia was committed to hitting all of the island's eateries, in the name of fairness, so here they were.

Look, if you were that worried about it you could order decaf.

Welcome to Supper Club, everyone! The Perk is open!

Thor continued to embrace spooky season at the Devil's Nest.

And also dry ice.

Special
Vampire's Kiss

But not a real vampire's kiss...well, maybe. Take it up with Eric if he was there.

"All right, guys, listen up!" Raiden said to his students today. "Today we're going to Mexico City for a taco tour, and you're gonna want to pace yourselves, okay? Today is gonna be a marathon, not a sprint.

"Mexico City is the sixth-largest city in the world, and it's full of delicious food. It was originally founded as Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztec empire, on Lake Texcoco--that's right, I said on the lake, on a series of islands and floating buildings, although most of the lake has now been drained to allow for building on solid land--and it has been occupied since about 1325 CE. It's a really great city full of art and culture and did I mention tacos? Let's stop wasting time talking about it and get to eating, yeah?"

There was a chocolate fountain waiting for the class when they arrived. Because nothing said chocolate week quite like something you used to look cool at parties. Right?

"Welcome back," Tony said. "We've brought treats in case you won't get enough chocolate from today."

Steve definitely didn't startle and jump from the fountain with a strawberry on a skewer. Really. "Hi!" he said oh-so-smoothly. Killing it.

"First off, we'll be looking at your best take on brownies," Tony said smoothly. "And I don't know about other people, but I think the corner pieces are the best parts."

"They are, but that doesn't mean you should overcook the middle," Steve said. "That just makes sad, dry brownies. And please, please don't do weird things to your brownies. We watched the British show and they put in figs and it made me sad."

Tony nodded in agreement with that. Because disappointing Steve was just a crime. "And then, for your technical, we'll have you make us pots de creme."

"And we're on vacation next week, so use that time to get inspired for a chocolate box--made of chocolate and filled with three different flavors of chocolate--to bring us the week after that," Steve said with a grin.

We're not talking about it.

*chittering*

Not. Talking. About. It. Notes. Now.

*papers shuffling*

Quiet day. Up at the School, Space Pirates watched a pirate movie, while in Health Education, Don extolled the benefits of sun protection.

The Dorms were quiet. Again. While in Town, Duke and Lucifer had a date night at the latter's while there was a new old piano at the Devil's Nest.

Like I said, quiet.

It was still the Danger Shop. It was still the normal classroom configuration (though in the middle of it stood an extremely old fashioned projector for... some reason). It was not, however, your normal extravagant dark-haired necromancer at the front, but a tall beponytailed redhead in a neat grey suit and an extraordinarily serious expression.

"So Liliana isn't here," Jesse said. "Obviously. I'm mayor Jesse Faden, the school asked me if I wanted to do a little 'Fandom zombie invasion experiences' class for you instead. We had a bad one ourselves years ago that affected several students. At the time, the students set up barriers around the school to keep the zombies out. Fire was a very useful tool. I think King Arthur was involved, too. And we were saved by... gremlins?"

The logs from the time weren't as detailed as FBC protocol would require she'd like.

"I put together what materials we had from that time," she said. "Maps, tactics used, that kind of thing. Should be on a sheet of paper on your desk." Because again. Not as detailed as FBC protocol would require. "And I found an instructional video in the archives. So you can watch that first, and then look at the sheet, and we'll talk about it!"

That sure sounded very confident, considering that when she leaned over and turned on the projector, what it produced sure looked a lot more like contemporary England than Fandom.

"... Uh."

You know? She hadn't prepared for this.

"Or we can have a movie day," Jesse offered. "That also works?"

She was not cut out to be a teacher.

Liz hadn’t felt up to going downstairs to work that morning and she had decided instead to rest on the couch.

She was mostly doing some work on the laptop that she could do without going downstairs, answering a few emails and updating her spreadsheets.

[open!]

Halloween season brought with it many scary things. At the moment perhaps the most terrifying was that the winter holidays would be here soon. (Where had the year gone? Where???)

As such, Steven was in his usual spot behind the Welcome Desk working on ideas for winter themed displays. There were the usual things such as pointing out the bugs and fish which thrived in colder weather. But perhaps this year they could include a special exhibition about winter events? Perhaps something about how the random happenstances in December had changed over the years?

Of course that would involve research, but that wasn't an insurmountable problem. Right now Steven was attacking it by making notes on what sorts of things could be included. He'd narrow down specifics later.

In the meanwhile, he was interruptible for any visitors who wished to talk.

[open]

Lucifer's piano was back in its proper place in the club. It was a relatively small detail, in the grand scheme of things, but it felt like it made a significant difference for Octavia.

... As much as seeing it also made her wonder how soon it was going to become the center of some kind of tug of war between Eric and Lucifer again. But that was its own kind of normal, too.

The Devil's Nest was open, and your Wednesday night bartender (not that one, the other one) was feeling pretty okay, for a change.

[ooc: Open!]

Lucifer and Octavia had done a good job on the immediate needs to get the pool into shape after being neglected for a while. But there was still more to do (there was always more to do) so Duke had been spending a lot of his time down here, cleaning and checking and doing all the little tasks that an indoor pool required.

He managed to only apologize out loud to the pool once, at least.

It also made it extremely easy to just slip into the water and swim or float when the mood struck him. It was painfully tragic too bad he now knew reincarnation wasn’t in the cards for him. He was beginning to think he should have been born an actual otter.

[for the gentleman named in the subject line please! DATE NIGHT!]

"We're going on a trip soon," Don told his students, "so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to talk about some sun safety information." Especially considering where the trip was going to be to. "A sunburn isn't just a temporary painful inconvenience, although it's definitely also that. The sun emits radiation, which is...another class." Maybe one with Tony Stark. "Over time, damage to your skin from the sun can lead to skin cancer. Wearing protective clothing, like long sleeves and a hat, is a good idea, and you should always wear sunscreen, which is usually found in a lotion form but can also be found in stick or spray format, or even a powder, which is good for things like the part in your hair." Don showed them a bottle and explained that, "This number is the SPF, or sun protection factor, number. The higher it is, the more radiation from the sun the sunscreen will block from getting to your skin.

"I also want to talk about heat exhaustion and heat stroke," Don continued, and proceeded to handwavily discuss those topics in more detail. When he was done he asked, "Are there any questions?" Whether there were or weren't, he wrapped with, "Please take a bottle of sunscreen with you when you leave."

Yet again, Aphra and Isabela had a projector set up on the deck of the Danger Shop ship.

"So apprently there's going to be a whole thing with an island next week," Aphra started. "So we thought we get into why islands are important to pirates."

"Through film!" Because why have an actual lecture when this was much more effective?