Fandom Island and Town

When Summer came into the store that morning, she was genuinely surprised to find things as quiet and normal as they were. Surprised...and suspicious. What? No Coast Guard Day? White Wine Day? Not even a Single Working Women's Day celebration (rude!)? Of course, she had to ask Apu what was up, if everything was okay.

It....did not help.

"What do you mean," she asked, "you couldn't pull it together because you're at work right now and it's too difficult to write it? Isn't that the whole point? When you're at work? And write what? Like a post or whatever?"

This was what happened, Summer, when you played loose and fast with the meta of it all. But she was determined not to worry about it, and was mostly busy working on ordering extra jello supplies for herself while she was here.

Today's Squishy Flavors
White Wine
Chocolate Chip Cookie
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

Ragefest had actually been over since the weekend, but Summer clearly hadn't been ready to let the party finish quite then, staying on a few extra days to just sort of suck down those last few dregs of debauchery and dalliance and turn her eyes toward a more chill presence there. The jello shots, after all, had been a hit and her partying/networking, of course, got people buzzing, but there were a few logistical hurdles she was having trouble clearing. And, of course, last night was meant to be one last hurrah of District jumping and Guild gallivanting, which was slightly dampened by the unexpected arrival of an ex-turned-koala.

Of course she didn't let that stop her, but it did sort of screw with her hook-up plans. Postpone them, really. Because she was going to figure out a way to make this new jello venture happen, even if she had to pull some strings with the Living Guildpact himself.

(Which, wouldn't you know it, definitely seemed like an option!)

But she wasn't thinking about any of that today, because today, she was back at Fandom, back behind the bar, and serving jello to her loyal friends and fans for at least one more time. With a koala set up nearby with his own special tray of eucalyptus jello (she considered making them boozy, but realized that she did not have the energy after nearly two week so straight off-the-walls partying to deal with what a koalalien was like when drunk), she was here and feeling pretty excited about it.

Featured Special
Pink Squirrel

Featured Jello
Pink Lemonade
Pink Whitney Hennessey
Cherries & Cream
Bubblegum Bliss

Caritas is open!

When Summer came in and started setting up for the evening, she noticed that Tino was inspecting her tray of jello she'd brought in a bit more closely and more skeptically than usual. It made Summer feel a little suspicious about why he was paying so much attention, and, after some debate with herself about whether or not she really wanted to know what the issue was, she did eventually ask him what was up.

....which then turned very quickly into a debate about the fact that, technically, they are all still jello shots, and, actually the specials board didn't even say Featured Jello Shots, it said Featured Jello Periodt, and why was he trying to suppress her art like this with stupid pedantics anyway?

UGH. This is why shilling her jello art in other dimensions was so incredibly appealing.

Featured Cocktail
Frozen Banana Split

Featured Jello
Bomb Pops
Blue Raspberry Lemonade Jello Slush
Neapolitan Ice Cream Sandwich
Root Beer Float

Caritas is open!

After a day of hard work (not by Summer herself, of course, she had other people to do that for her while she mostly just lounged and got a good suntan and pregamed while directing the preparations), the beach was set up for her big birthday beach party, and she couldn't be happier. It had, of course, all the trappings one might expect from such a thing: tiki torches, bonfire, volleyball court, and so, so much more, but she'll get into that in the OCD threads!

Summer herself was, of course, feeling those beach vibes and at that point was pretty much just eager to have people show up, barely even worried anymore that people wouldn't, which, you know, was a nice thing to reflect on, because that showed character growth and maturity as she moved on into this, her twenty-fifth year of life.

Also, well, as you'll see, she pretty much hired about half the town to help her out, so she was already guaranteed a small crowd from that alone.

[[ and open beach party is totally open! ]]

Summer had gotten ahead of Apu a little bit and saw what days he might be celebrating and seized an opportunity to jump on at least one holiday for herself. Which meant that Turtle & Canary was getting a new temporary friend, because it was Take Your Cat to Work Day, and so Pancakes was definitely coming with her.

Of course, Summer did realize there was a problem with this whole plan the moment Pancakes caught sight of the canary, which was definitely on Summer. But sometimes, you know, you just forgot about those guys, you know?

She was keeping an eye on them both between her inventory and orders, and feeling glad that the holiday Apu was leaning into today was Fresh Veggie Day, which was normal and lead to useful discounts on produce...as long as you ignored that Apu was wearing a broccoli costume, anyway.

Summer was definitely ignoring the broccoli costume.

Today's Squishy Flavors
Cannoli
Tortilla
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

For a brief moment, Summer was slightly thrown off by the cheese panda wearing a nametag. Not only that, but also what the nametag actually said.

"Do not," she said firmly, "tell me that this whole time, your name has been Earl."

Earl the Cheese Panda? Ridiculous. No. She refused to believe it.

Thankfully, her doubt proved to be well-founded, because he was only Earl for National Earl Day. Apu was also wearing a nametag that said Earl, and wouldn't you know it, he also had one for Summer.

"....fine," she said, taking it with a sigh and only because he'd made it very pink and sparkly and so it was pretty funny, actually.

Today's Squishy Flavors

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
Duck à L'orange
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

"Here, Tino!" Summer sang out brightly as she swept into the bar that evening for her shift. "Hold these limes!"

Before he knew it, Tino was struggling to keep within his arms all the loose limes that Summer had shoved into them, and he was about to ask how he was supposed to hold all of them before she cheerfully added, "But whatever you do, don't put them in the coconuts!"

Tino, confused, waited for further information, but come on, what did Summer look like? Someone who would actually explain things to him? She went about getting her shots set up and getting the bar ready, leaving him standing there with his limes.

Eventually, he'd end up setting them down on the counter, where some of them would roll away to random places here and there, to, you know, do his job, but he stood there just holding the limes for an unprecidented amount of time, really.


Featured Cocktail
Citriburst Lime Mojito

Featured Jello

Key Lime Pie
Black Hot Lime
Cherry Limeade
Watermelon Lime

Caritas is open!

Summer had an idea for a theme with her cocktail and shots this morning and she was really hoping she didn't regret texting Tino to get him in on it. But when she showed up, he was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and flip-flops (sorry, health department!) and a straw hat, with a little swash of sunscreen across his nose, and she wouldn't be even more delighted.

He claimed he never got her texts, and was actually just coming directly back from a pool party, but Summer wasn't believing that for a second. Either way, she had cleaned up after shenanigans and looked cutely like she herself was ready to host a pool party and one of the zombies had even brought out a steel drum specifically to appease her.

Featured Cocktail
Summer Peach Iced Tea

Featured Jello
Pool Party
Cheeseburger
Corn on the Cob
Strawberry Lemonade

Caritas is open!

Summer was, thankfully, not being exposed to Tino's recent Tinder match-ups, which she could only assume had to do with the fact that she would be far less polite or considerate about them, which then also meant that Summer was a little disappointed, because, man, she was really looking forward to digging into some of those matches.

So, instead, she was just going to criticize her own.

"Nature enthusiast? Yeah, okay, pretty sure that means just judging people for not rinsing out their recycling well enough. And you know all these dog enthusiasts have that and only that as their personality. And, seriously, though, why are there so many profile pics of guys just holding giant fish they presumably caught? Ohmygod, your profile pic is a fish pic, too, I bet, isn't it?"

It was worse.

It was denim-related.

"Goddammit! I should have known! Well, I will give you this, Tino. At least people know exactly what they're getting into."

Featured Cocktail
S'mores Martini

Featured Jello
Fish Bowl
Banana Cream Pie
Shenanigan Style
Hot Dog

Caritas is open!

Summer had been sent something yesterday that made her absolutely squeal with delight once she realized what it was, and she was still riding that glee and anticipation by the time she came into the bar that evening. Which had the added bonus of having Tino being suspicious and skeptical about her good mood, for a change, which was really nice. It meant he was generally avoiding her, because he, like she so often did with him, figured if it was something making her so damn pleased, then it had to be something he was better off not even knowing about.

It didn't help that Summer noticed this behavior and started acting even more smug and mysteriously satisfied just to make him question and doubt and worry more. Because, really, at this point, he was just asking for it.


Featured Cocktail
Dark & Thunderstruck

Featured Jello
Pop Rocks
That's Me Espresso
If You Like...
Strawberry Fields Forever

Caritas is open!

Was Apu celebrating Cinco de Mayo today? No. Of course not. That would actually make sense.

He was, instead, celebrating Hug a Shed and Take a Selfie Day.

Yes, that's right. Hug a Shed and Take a Selfie Day.

Which meant that, if you showed off a picture of yourself hugging a shed, or even just a selfie with a shed (the hug was being assumed), then you'd get 25% off of your purchases that day.

Summer could only shake her head. "Sometimes," she stated, "I hate it here."

('Here' being the store that she owned, not the island as a whole, omggggg, but also, well...)

And that wasn't just because she was a little bitter over the fact that she didn't already have a shed selfie and would apparently now need to go and get one, because she hated not being able to just immediately answer to some ridiculous thing presented to her. Really!

Today's Squishy Flavors
Hoagie
Enchilada
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

A day like National Superhero Day probably hit a little differently in a place like Fandom than most places (though certainly not all!) around the multiverse. Mostly because, like, half the population of this island could probably be considered a superhero in some way, shape, or form.

So, naturally, Apu would want to celebrate that on the day for celebrating it, and Summer was definitely not going to complain because some of her favorite people were, in fact, super heroes.

There was a bit of legalize on how one might define a superhero, of course, with fine print and everything, but Apu was most likely to hold people to that distinction far more than Summer, who was willing to just, you know, go on vibes or convincing arguments. But no matter how they managed to define it, all Superheros were getting a nice 25% off their purchases to day, so maybe a good time to stock up on all your superhero needs!

Unless that need included duct tape. Sorry!

Today's Squishy Flavors
Blueberry Pie
Blue Raspberry
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

So Summer had turned back to herself from being a squirrel that morning, and thankfully, it had very conveniently happened while Stark was off doing radio, which meant that she was spared at least a little bit of awkwardness, of the kind that had nothing to do with the usual things that made this animal transformation bullshit so obnoxious. Honestly, in a way, she was kind of grateful for the timing, even if it had taken its sweet time making it happen the night of, but it gave Summer some time to think about things, actually.

Unfortunately, now that she was human again, she had to actually do something about those thoughts. It was enough to make her want to take a quick jump home and start poking through Rick's stuff to see if he had anything to make being a squirrel a little more perminant, tbh.

Anything to avoid having to confront what she'd been staring down the barrel of before she turned.

(Which was the root of the problem, though, wasn't it, Summer??)

Whatever. She was going to put it off as long as she could, all the same, and Stark doing radio while she change was perfect for that because she could just send him a quick text letting him know she was back, but, hey, it was Wednesday, she really needed to get her jello started! And that meant she could spend the rest of the day groaning and swearing and commisserating and probably drinking, let's be real, without the pressure of keeping anyone else's dumb, stupid feelings in mind.

(She did apologize to Pancakes, though, but also, like, how was Summer supposed to know that she was going to be in the path of whatever she was throwing at the time? Come on.)

Either way, she was herself, venting while making jello had....sort of helped, and she was now sulking behind the bar a little as she got ready for her shift, and trying to figure out just what she was going to do about things now that she no longer had the comfort of just being a squirrel as an excuse.

Featured Cocktail
Pink Squirrel

Featured Jello
Fuzzy Navel
Korean Acorn Jelly
Nutty Irishwoman

Caritas is open!

Summer checked the internet every week before coming in to work now, and she was glad she did, because what she was afraid of happening today was, in fact, happening today.

And she was going to nip it in the bud right away, marching into the office and to the sound system and immediately killing the music.

When she went back out into the store, Apu, inexplicably wearing a track suit, pouted at her, but she was ready for that, too.

"No," she said. "Absolutely not. Just like crumbs will get us ants, Dance Marathon Day will get us Stewarts."

And she'd been blissfully free from that guy lately, and hoped to keep it that way!

Today's Squishy Flavors

Clams on the Half Shell
Taters
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

When Summer came into the store that day,things were set up as if for a birthday party, streamers and balloons and generic banners everywhere, and the cheese panda was on charge of giving people free slices of cake (just regular old birthday cake, not even cheesecake!) and ice cream,and Summer was....suspicious.

"Who's birthday is it?" she asked, pulling out her phone to see which obscure historical figure it may have been, and if this was a new thing Apu was doing to sort of move away from his whole random holiday deal.

But Apu just shrugged and took a bite of his cake and acted like you really shouldn't just question random birthday events.

"....why do I feel like this always happens around this time of year?" Summer then wondered, but then she was being handed cake, and so she just shrugged and decided not to question it either.

Today's Squishy Flavors
Birthday Cake
Ice Cream
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

Summer's biggest fear about what sort of random holiday Apu would be leaning into was confirmed once she walked into through the door and saw him with exactly what she dreaded to see.

"No," she said firmly, as he took a deep breath but before he could let it out to blow through the bagpipes.

He deflated a moment, looked at her ruefully, and drew in a second attempt at a breath.

"I mean it," she warned.

Apu deflated again. The pause this time was longer, and she could just tell he was thinking of taking another breath and trying again, so she just head him off at the pass.

"If your lips even come near those bagpipes, Apu," she said, "I will stick it up through holes you didn't even realize you had!"

Later, she would be receiving a letter, addressed to HR, to file a formal complaint. Which, you know, she was HR, soooo....

Today's Squishy Flavors
Blueberry Popover
Ranch
Red

Turtle & Canary is open!

It was all, clearly, Apu's fault, but Summer had a natural suspicion and dislike for anyone leaning too heavily into a random holiday, especially anywhere that wasn't T&C, because, come on. She had to deal with that enough one a regular basis especially since she was definitely posting all the time still, why did other people also have to torment her so? And she knew that Tino and Apu did hang out sometimes (allegedly), so some cross over was expected, but that didn't mean she had to like it.

So she was wary when she came in and saw that Tino had set things up for a Tug-of-War contest in the back room for International Tug-of-War Day, but when she saw what he'd actually done to set it up?

"Ohmygod," she said. "You made the pit filled with jello?"

Hold on a moment. Give her a second. Summer was suddenly feeling some emotions that she did not know how to handle, especially the fact that she was pretty sure two of them were flattered and touched.

Featured Cocktail
Mint Chip Cookietini

Featured Jello
Boston Cream Pie
Blackberry Bourbon
Bacon Wrapped Melon

Caritas is open!

Summer was in a very different place than she was last time the island was beset by this particularly sexy bout of whimsy, which mostly just meant that she was slightly annoyed and reluctant to head into the bar that day, but she figured it was good to get, you know, some fresh air and be a productive member of society or whatever. She did come prepared, though, repurposing one of her spray bottles that she usually used on Pancakes when she tried to eat plants and keeping it full of ice water to spray at people who were getting a little too...well...you know...

This was mostly to use on Tino, yes, and, at one point, she did have to threaten to upgrade the ice water to literal acid. So that was fun.

Featured Cocktail
Pink Sweetie Valen-tini

Featured Jello
*~Get One Free if You're Giving It To Someone Elese!~*
Cherries and Creme
Conversation Hearts
Bleeding Heart
Chocolate Covered Strawberry

Caritas is open!

As Summer was getting set up for the bar that evening, her phone started (ugh) ringing, and when she saw who it was, she was very tempted to ignore it, but she also knew that, if she ignored it, he'd just keep calling her back, or worse, insist on getting her attention some other way.

"What do you want, Rick?"

"....Gotron? No, I don't know remember anything about Gotrons, do I even want to know what Gotron---wait, never mind, of course I don't want to know."

But, of course, he was going to explain it to her anyway, and she sighed, rolling her eyes and shaking her head and trying to do the quick math in her head about whether it would be more annoying to go along with this or if it would be more annoying to try and not get involved.

"Yeah, okay, fine," she said. "I'll be there this weekend, but I swear to god, if I end up regretting this, I am not answering literally any of your phone calls until 2026."

She hung up the phone and made a disgusted sound and expression at it, then glowered at Tino because it made her feel slightly better, and tried to find some sort of less-annoyed mood about things before the bar opened.

A little sample of a jello shot before it did should hopefully help.

Featured Cocktail
Serpentine Sunrise

Featured Jello
Snakebyte
Sriracha
Just Pretend They're Snakes Okay?

Caritas is open!

In hearing that there was a cotton candy machine in the bar now, Summer was stoked to get in there and start sort of using it (to potentially nefarious purposes), but when she did, she discovered that it was actually already gone.

Naturally, she was blaming Tino.

"What did you do to it?" she demanded, pouting/accusing. Poutcusing?

One second later, though, she realized, "No. Never mind. I probably don't even want to know!"

She was just going to take some cotton candy flavored vodka and pour a few out for the machine in which she didn't even get to use.

Yes, they had some at the store. Yes, she could just get a new one for the bar if she really wanted to, but that was not the point!

Featured Cocktail
Not Cotton Candy

Featured Jello
Dubble Bubble
Nerds
Butterscotch
Reese's

Caritas is open!

Summer had gotten to the bar early so that she could decorate, because while she might be all about the big, extravagant parties, Stark was not, not really, and so she was opting for something simple, straight forward, and already fit nicely into the fabric of her usual Wednesday workday and the fact that he would be coming to the bar anyway.

So the place was decked out nicely with a bunch of gold and blue balloons and streamers, and there was a "Happy Birthday, Stark!" banner over the karaoke stage, and the zombie were wearing gold and blue birthday hats (there were more available at the bar if anyone else wanted one), and Tino promised not to be too annoying.

Summer wasn't sure she believed him, but she supposed only time would tell, and she had too much stuff to set up, anyway.

Featured (Birthday) Cocktail
Northern Lights Punch

Featured (Birthday) Jello
Caramel Apple Pie
Cherry Pie
Pumpkin Pie
Key Lime Pie
Pecan Pie
Something Gross But I'm Not Telling You What It Is

Cartias is open!