SFEERS

Robynne and Fretribution at the SFEERS opening social.

The **Science-fiction, Fantasy, and Electronic Entertainment Research Society**, better known as **SFEERS** (pronounced like the word "spheres") and nicknamed the "Nerd Club", is an organization in *Magical Girl Policy*. It is a club at SAU with activities that appeal to a nerdy demographic. Several major characters join the club, and its ballooning size makes it a notable player in Student Association voting and thus a major target of Cammy DeCroix's schemes.

## Description

SFEERS was founded so people with shared nerdy interests can easily find each other. President Fretribution believes a greater goal of the club is to let its typically shy demographic be more at ease about reaching beyond their comfort zones. The scope of the club is quite large, so it is divided into numerous groups. As much of its business is conducted online, members tend to call each other by their online handles rather than their real names.

### Activities

SFEERS has two major parties in the form of an opening and closing social, with each one also featuring a respective opening and closing ceremony. While much of the club's business is conducted online and in fractured groups, the socials present opportunities for the frequently insular members to interact in person. Club dues are mainly used to fund these socials, primarily for refreshments.

The club has a weekly anime watching group. There was a similar film watching group in the past, though it is not stated if it is still active.

Zemiron heads a board gaming event held every Tuesday night in the Billot Building's mezzanine, where participants play whatever games are brought and are welcomed to bring their own. Other forms of tabletop games, such as pen-and-paper RPGs and card games, fall under this category as well.

ergoAwesome heads the weekly writing group, where members discuss their current projects. There is also a group for books in general.

The club has an unofficial cosplay group headed by GalleyGirl, who often go together to conventions.

SFEERS has several divisions dedicated to video gaming, with SaltStorm as its officer. Among its popular games are *Corona Forge*, *Hop Dance Mania*, *Mega Mash Family*, *Tour de Rock*, and miscellaneous LAN parties. Its most active group is an *Aspect Realms* guild called the Knights of the Spherical Table.

## History

### Background

SFEERS was established as a club at Schuyler Adamson University about twenty years prior to the start of the series. The name was apparently chosen in order to make an acronym that wouldn't imply the club is simply for reading books, watching film, and playing games.

A freshman Eddie joined SFEERS at the suggestion of his older sister, who was also part of the club, and uses the handle Fretribution. Next year, he finds that no one is running for club president and decides to take up the mantle himself. SFEERS began to grow at a breakneck pace under his leadership, apparently due to his emboldening aura getting his fellow officers to be more active in recruitment and for prospective members to more readily join. The now massive club poses a threat to cheerleading captain Cammy DeCroix's controlled Student Association votes, so she sent a pair of cheerleaders to the opening social in hopes of manipulating the club, but they failed to fit in with their feigned nerdy interests. Fret finds that SFEERS's requests for promotion are being ignored, which slightly impedes the club's growth.

### Week 1

Cammy decides that if she wants to take control of SFEERS, she'll need a cheerleader who's genuinely interested in the club and can integrate with its members. To accomplish this, she has the cheer team be on the lookout for attractive nerds during promotion duties. Much to her frustration, the team fails to recruit anyone matching said criteria.

### Weeks 2-4

During Club Week, SFEERS has its recruitment booth set up just outside the main circle, as Cammy had rigged the floor plans so the cheer team can easily watch those who approach the booth. Fretribution lends his *Tour de Rock* setup so interested visitors can play. Eli, Cory, Kara, and Vivian visit the booth and are greeted by ergoAwesome and Zemiron. Eli finds out the club has an *Aspect Realms* guild and decides to recommend it to Robynne later. Eli, interested in the club's *Invokers* and *Corona Forge* groups, signs up along with Cory under their respective handles Quack and CannedBurrito. Kara joins as well despite her only overlapping interest being *Hop Dance Mania*, as she wants to be there for Robynne, hoping to get closer to Eli as well. Vivian follows her lead, deciding she'd enjoy anime watching nights and the chance to be with Cory too.

The next day, Robynne visits the booth at her friends' suggestion, wanting to find an *Aspect Realms* group that won't associate her character with Robert, and is greeted by Fretribution and GalleyGirl. Fret recognizes her voice as Blustery's from when they played *Corona Forge* yesterday, but she writes it off as a mistake due to her handle now being Waveform. As an officer of the club's Knights of the Spherical Table guild, GalleyGirl is excited to have a skilled player like Robynne join, adding that the NightKnight-led PvP group could use the help. Robynne signs up for the club and plans to attend its opening social. She is unknowingly spotted exiting the booth by Cammy and Jodi, who decide she's the hot nerd they need and make plans to recruit her.

The following night, Robynne alters her *Aspect Realms* character into Waveform and stays up late playing with her new guildmates. The next day, Stacy treats her to lunch so Cammy can show up and attempt to recruit her. Robynne sees through this, and when she realizes clubs determine Student Association votes and Cammy clearly considers nerds beneath her, she correctly guesses that Cammy wants her on the cheer team due to her SFEERS membership. Robynne shocks Cammy by getting up and leaving.

The Spirit Guard and Noriko discuss Robynne's conversation with Cammy, noting that Cammy must see the expanding SFEERS as a threat and is desperate to have someone like Robynne put it in line. With Angela's theory of Cammy being reincarnated from the Empress, the gang decides they need a way to find out how big of a threat the captain is, figuring the best option is to have Robynne accept the invitation onto the cheer team and act as a spy. Robynne finds herself wanting to take Cammy down regardless of the Empress theory due to being reminded of Evelyn ruining Robert's high school life. She likens the possibility of Cammy's schemes ruining SFEERS for her to Evelyn's ruining football for Robert, not wanting to lose one of the few outlets of release her transformation has left her. They decide to send Robynne in to return the dress she was bribed with and present a list of demands, such as letting Vivian join the team as well so she won't be alone.

Robynne meets with Cammy to negotiate her joining the cheer team. Robynne says she's reconsidered the offer to play Cammy's "game" of manipulating clubs for Student Council votes, wanting to be the cheerleader that gets SFEERS involved so she can protect the club. One of her demands is to return the dress bribe in favor of shipping computer parts to "Bluster" at Cory, Eli, and Dale's dorm, as she'll need to run high-end games in order to get close to the SFEERS officers. Cammy is furious at being ordered around but agrees.

Robynne, Vivian, Cory, Eli, and Kara go to the SFEERS opening social, with Stacy tagging along at Vivian's suggestion due to finding the idea of the party fun. Robynne and Vivian show up in their cheerleader uniforms as ordered by Cammy, but change in the restrooms once they get there. Appearing in uniform makes quite an impression on the club, with Robynne learning about the similar occurrence from last year. Robynne meets several of her guildmates in person for the first time, then finds Fretribution at the *Tour de Rock* setup to observe his aura, deciding that it's a key factor in the club's rapid growth. She lets the aura calm her nerves as she sings in the game, being terrible at it due to never singing with her new voice. Fret thanks her for embarrassing herself to help the others feel at ease, as he believes a goal of the club is to let its typically shy and insular members open up to each other. Stacy overhears him mention the Promotion Squad ignoring the club, so she offers herself, Robynne, and Vivian to help with promotion.

After the social, Robynne talks with Angela about how the night went. When Angela laments how she can't meet Stacy or be seen in public with Robynne due to Cammy's surveillance, Rob convinces her to join SFEERS and borrow her old computer to play *Aspect Realms* with her so she can make new friends, as the club escapes Cammy's watch, uses online handles rather than real names, and has Fretribution's aura to study.

The next day, Robynne receives the new computer she had extorted from Cammy, so she packs up her old one and gives it to Angela. Angela starts playing *Aspect Realms* and quickly finds herself enthralled. She joins SFEERS and the Knights of the Spherical Table guild under the handle Convictiön.

### Week 5

SFEERS finally receives promotion again in the form of a surprise assignment for Robynne, Vivian, Stacy, and Lilly: handing out fliers for the club's upcoming *Mega Mash Family Battle* tournament. This is in blatant disregard of Robynne's agreement with Cammy to be given only skippable jobs, but she is told that this is a test of loyalty now that she's had her extorted computer for a while, and earning the captain's trust will be key in uncovering her schemes. During promotion, Stacy surprises Robynne by announcing her intention of attending the tournament, as she found the opening social enjoyable and sees this as a chance for another new experience.

## Trivia

* In Chapter 21's author commentary, Taralynn Andrews notes she found coming up the handles used by SFEERS members to be particularly fun, having made a list of names each starting with a different letter of the alphabet.