So, last week had been kind of a weird one by Chuck's standards. Not that it took much to make it that for him. Attacking food just hit all the right criteria.

And one of the best ways (in his opinion) to counteract any residual nerves regarding killer veggies and whatever other crazy this place could throw at him, was to squash pixelated things... While eating pizza.

If anyone asked, Chuck was the muscled ninja-looking guy, and not Princess Peach.

[[The boy really needed to get out of his room for once. Open!]]

The banner in the window today said:

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL TOLERANCE DAY

Inside were many decorations and cards and things celebrating diversity. Somehow he wasn't surprised that werewolves and vampires were not among the cultures being celebrated.

givesushope
It's that glorious time of year when we reunite with loved ones (we neglected all year), stuff our faces to excess, and pass out in front of the TV. Perhaps a recalibration of the thanksometer is in order. A spin-off of the popular GivesMeHope.com site, this community invites you to document moments of kindness, generosity, and pure human love.

veggieslackers
Despite its mainstream appeal, Thanksgiving is not for everyone. There are those struggling with food disorders, for whom this day causes endless conflict. There are the cash-challenged, who can't afford the gluttony we've grown to expect. There are the lonely, who don't have loved ones nearby. And let's not forget the vegetarians, who decry the animal cruelty. But there's one more group we often overlook: the terminally lazy! This community of lazy vegetarians offers easy recipes for an animal-friendly feast.

fashin
Just in time for holiday shopping season, this fashionista community brings you the world of haute couture in the form of sumptuous photos, video clips, and candid commentary. There's also a sugary sprinkle of mainstream movie discussions and debates on such pressing social issues as manicure styles and celebrity colonics. If you need a break from the daily grind to indulge your girlie side, this is twinkly pink on steroids.

Dani had spent the weekend in California, helping Junior's would-be bride pick out a wedding dress. Her new sister-in-law also thought they should spend some time "bonding." As far as Dani was concerned, the girl was certifiable.

She had tried to discuss the matter with Junior, but her brother had made himself scarce all weekend. Instead, Dani had to deal with Ken's gloating. She'd only lasted an hour at the Davis house before packing her bags and heading down the road to stay with the Ritters for the remainder of the weekend.

Now that she was back in Fandom, Dani was spending her day in the office, plotting ways to break up her brother and his fiancee.

The Gig was open!

[No OCD. Mondays are already complicated enough.]

Alex opened up the Magic Box, intent on practicing some spells that would be useful in a fight or invasion-type situation.

The random vegetable attacks had her convinced she needed to be ready at the drop of hat. That would be why Alex had her wand out and a couple of spell books open on the counter in front of her.

The Magic Box is open.

Ghanima had had a sense of tingling unease all weekend, like something was scratching behind her eyes, wanting to be seen. A tingling she had pointedly ignored, which had only served to make it so bad, she had taken to bed and not gotten any of the prep for today's class finished.

She wanted no part of the prescience of her brother or father, thank you.

"We're watching a movie today," she said as everyone came in. "There's a handout right over there, and we'll actually discuss Hinduism as a religion next week."

[OCD up!]

It was a warm morning, at least for November, and Jack had a little spring in his step as he returned to the dorms from a weekend visit home. After going upstairs to drop off his bag, he clattered back down to the deck with a large thermos of coffee, an apple, and a new-to-him novel of Hungarian history. It wasn't half-bad, for what it was.

He was eying the fire pit idly as he turned the pages, wondering if the warmth and appeal of a fire was worth the effort of collecting the wood.

[OOC: Open like a deck, yep!]

Today the lights in the classroom were dimmed and a television was set up at the front of class.

"Good afternoon, class," Bond began as the class finished entering. "Now, this afternoon we'll be watching a film about how being anything other than completely and utterly heterosexual can have a negative effect on a person in the everyday workplace, and while I doubt that any of you would engage in discriminatory behaviour, I hope you will all take something from it."

[ooc: wait for ocd up.]

[Class Roster|Class Rules|Previous Classes]

It was probably best not to ask why there was a pony observing class today. Actually, the pony had been around for a while; the ribbons braided into his mane and tail, however ... well, therein lay a story about Tyler and Steve Rogers both being that combination of bored and worried a long animal transformation can bring, and Tony being annoyingly cranky, and the pink and purple ribbons all but literally falling into their lap.

Tyler had pony bites on his hands, but it was worth it.

"Gunpowder," he announced, glancing to the horse a final time before talking. "We're making it. We aren't in the Danger Shop today, so put your lab coats, goggles and gloves on, and, ladies, pull your hair back." He waited for his instructions to be followed before talking again.

"What you're going to do is combine sulfur, saltpeter and carbon. You're going to grind them all up, then mix them, four parts saltpeter to one of carbon -- your carbon is in charcoal briquettes -- and one of sulfur." He turned to scrawl 2 KNO3 + S + 3 C → K2S + N2 + 3 CO2 on the board. "That is the reaction behind it," he said, going on to explain the equation,, and ignored the pony's reaction to any flaws in the formula. "Once you've got the powder fine enough, show me and, if it looks okay, we can go outside and set off model rockets with it."

"This is the real stuff. People get hurt doing this, so go slowly and be careful. Any questions, comments, anything looks funny, please talk to me before you blow your hand off."

It was a perfectly ordinary morning to start with: open up, make sure the diner was clean and ready to go, maintain the safe minimum distance between the cream sodas, set up her laptop in a mostly-hidden spot behind the counter, check her crops.

It looked like today would continue in that vein -- until Lacey discovered someone had tipped her cows.

And now the poor Farmville programmers were going to get ranted at on the forums, because really, if people were bored enough to go around tipping cows, obviously this four-day crop business was GETTING OUT OF HAND.



Luke's is op -- HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO POOR PIXELATED COWS?!?

Early Monday morning, Fraser was back in his office. After the vegetable situation of a few days ago, he had several stacks of paperwork to get through. Said paperwork included requests for new uniforms due to permanent vegetable staining, requests to make sure the vegetables in the cafeteria were still safe and requests to come up with special vegetable related weapons.

Fraser just frowned at that last one. He didn't just want to shunt it aside and forget so he made a note to look into it and continued on with his vegetable related paperwork.

[open office hours!]

Even though the class was late in the day, Loki was yawning and looking barely awake at the front of the class. He was blaming it on his continued adjustment to teaching a class again. Yes, he was still adjusting even after three weeks. He took things slow.

"Today," he started, not even bothering to get up from his chair while he addressed the class, "we're going to learn about elves."

Loki didn't know why they were learning about elves but that was what he'd picked. To help the students learn about elves, there were worksheets on their desks, outlining different facts about elves. "Elves, if you don't know, are thought of a race of divine or semi divine creatures that possessed some sort of magical power. But, really, on this island, who doesn't possess some sort of power? There are light elves and dark elves and Keebler elves."

Okay, that last one wasn't necessarily true but Loki didn't care. Keebler elves were some of his favorite.

"For today's class, I want you to find your elf name and then create yourself a backstory about what kind of elf you are. It can be anything you want but try to stick with the basic things elves are known for. Got it? Go to it."

"Apologies for the lack of meeting last week. I was called away." He fell down a well. It was embarrassing. "This week we're starting with actual blades. I know some of you have used them before. Please use that experience to be extra careful with the more inexperienced members of the group. I have a range of swords available for you to choose from. Zayne, your weapon of choice isn't exactly practical for this session so I've prepared something more suitable but a step up from the wood. Azula, I promised you an Arming sword lesson. The sword on the end is yours.

Pair up. Take your time, respect your opponent and if you're hurt, alert either myself or Captain Algren immediately. The point of sparring with live weapons isn't to hurt your opponent, it's to practice movements and control."

As students filtered into the Danger Room, they'd find themselves faced with a dark space, save for some flickering candle light. The air in the room was lifted with the scent of soothing incense and the floor was littered with soft pillows and mats. The typical locker room doors were off to one side, masked from obvious view by a decorative screen to keep the serene atmosphere of the room intact.

And then there was the large man sitting cross-legged in the back, hands resting on his knees, palms up. At the proper hour, Ronon began speaking. "Today we're meditating. It's like relaxing while sitting up and breathing properly. Keep your backs straight and maintain position or I'll break out The Guru and no one wants that." No, seriously, no one wanted that.

"Now, get your uniform and take a seat. Sit cross-legged with your hands resting on your knees, palms open toward the sky just like this. Falling asleep means you're doing it too well. I'll leave the music on for background." Ronon always meditated too well. Lucky for everyone there was no Teyla here to hit them with sticks.

"...Why is the watercooler yellow?"

"Food colouring," Ida said, immediately. "Just to work us up to Thanksgiving."

"But it's yellow."

"I know."

"It tastes funny."

"That's the food colouring."

"...Right, but then why is the moose on the roof?"

"Sigh."

Ender's laptop had not survived the ordeal last weekend - which meant that Ender had used his pay to get a new one, complete with extra components to spruce it up to the specs he needed. The first thing he'd done was link up the old hard drive, but he'd put in a new boot for the occasion, and--

Well, he'd be busy for a chunk of the day on that.

[[ ooopen ]]

It was a typical Monday morning, involving no birds (thank God) or other mishaps so far. And so, Arthur (and Merlin) were in the salle, one handling a sword with deadly precision, the other... not handling a sword with deadly precision, despite inferences Katchoo may have made the previous night.

Ahem.

His sword flickered through the air, landing on either side of the dummy. He twisted and turned and struck again.

[[ open! ]]

Lois: You ice cream sandwich thief!

Chuck: Maybe you should keep a closer eye on your food.

Lois: It was in my hand, you thieving whore!

Chuck: I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the deliciousness of this ice cream sandwich.

Lois: I hate you. I hope you choke.

( That boy is a monsterrrrrrrrrr )