Mad Kings and Queens [Wednesday, June 18th, 2nd Period]

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

The first thing the class would probably notice this week was that it was not Lady Ghanima in front of them. Lady Ghanima was seated in the back of the class, observing, while one of her two TAs was standing in her customary spot.

Alice laced her fingers together behind her back and willed herself not to fidget as the class filed in. When everyone was seated, she began to speak.

"This is a story of four queens," she said. "All very dissimilar in temperament and logic. The four ruled, together, over one land, until the day they warred among themselves for power. Choosing a side was not a simple issue, for the populace."

Alice stopped to walk over to the chalkboard. On it, she drew four boxes, and inside the first box, she drew the symbol of a heart.

"The Queen of Hearts," she said, turning around and fiddling idly with the chalk. "Known by all, feared by many. Her Majesty had a rather vicious temper, and was fond of making cutting personal remarks. Disagreeing with Her Majesty meant one thing: off with her head. One would be imprisoned immediately and held for execution. This would be dire indeed if Her Majesty had any power at all." Alice couldn't help but smirk at that. "For, you see, the King of Hearts did not share her cruelty, nor her delight in vicious pastimes; he was a meek, quiet sort. Every night, he would wait until Her Majesty was distracted, and pardon every person whose death she had ordered."

She moved to the next box, placing a capital W inside. "The White Queen. Very kind, very gracious, very likely to leave her own head behind were it not fixed so firmly upon her neck. Her Majesty was forgetful, disheveled, and quite easily distracted. She had the best of intentions; unfortunately, very little was accomplished. Her Majesty was far too disorganized to be effective."

The third box received a R. "The Red Queen. Cunning, cruel, and manipulative. Her Majesty the Red Queen believed life was a game, and power doubly so. She could be charming, when she chose; she befriended many of her presumed enemies, perhaps to learn their weaknesses, or perhaps to disarm them at an opportune moment. All of Her Majesty's conversations eventually turned to how her experiences were grander than one's own. If one had seen hills, then she had seen mountains. If one should sprout wings and fly, then she had spent just last weekend as a hawk. It would be unwise to mistake her ego for foolishness, for Her Majesty was never a fool."

"The last Queen was the young Queen Alice." Box four therefore received an A. "Kind, if naive. Resourceful and clever, though ill -prepared for the infighting and politicking that being Queen was to entail. Queen Alice was beloved by the populace, though she had much to learn about power and how to properly wield it."

She nodded to the chalkboard again. "Four Queens. It was a precarious balance, at best, and then it tipped."

Alice erased the fourth box, finding a strange sort of vicious pleasure in it. "Queen Alice fell mad," she explained. "A fire took most of her loved ones, and she had never been terribly stable to start. She was taken to an asylum. This was how it began."

Next to go was the heart. "The Red Queen decided that she wished to rule alone," she explained. "She would not stand for dissent. The Queen of Hearts discovered quickly that the Red Queen was not to be trifled with, that she could be ruthless in pursuit of her goal. She fell in line with a minimal of fuss. She retained her title, but it was well-known that she was little more than a puppet. Her Card Guards served the Red Queen first and foremost."

And last, the box marked W. "The White Queen was brave. She stood against the Red Queen's tyranny. She refused to compromise, for the Red Queen was a cruel leader who was oppressive towards the citizens, and the White Queen had a keen mind for justice. The White Queen was captured and executed."

The eraser was set down again, having served its purpose. "The Red Queen ruled all, for many years. Some were forced into slavery. Others curried favor and received positions of honor in her realm. This continued until Queen Alice awoke from her madness, and fought a bloody war against the Red Queen."

She was nearly finished, now. "The populace then had to choose: a ruthless leader, but one who had kept the land safe and functional for many years, or a young revolutionary, who may fall prey to the same madness that had destroyed her once before. How does one choose?"

Comments

Sign In!

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Royally.

Re: Sign In!

[solo_sword]

Jaina Solo

During the Lecture

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Chat. Take notes. Wonder at the horrible names that royals have in Wonderland.

Re: During the Lecture

[solo_sword]

This class never failed to keep Jaina's attention, a little moreso than usual even.

Re: During the Lecture

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

Lion-o listened to the story with amazement.

Re: During the Lecture

[raspberryturk]

Reno's brow grew increasingly furrowed as he listened to Alice's lecture.

It was the mention of the Card Guards that cut it, for him. Everything, suddenly, made very perfect sense.

Re: During the Lecture

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack did not notice the actual teacher, as she wasn't up front and center, and breathed a sigh of relief that he would not be risking detention.

Re: During the Lecture

[walks-two-paths.livejournal.com]

Savannah took detailed notes

Re: During the Lecture

[sixstandingby.livejournal.com]

Gavin took a few notes but spent most of the time listening.

Re: During the Lecture

[minnesota-teen.livejournal.com]

Amber was very intrigued by today's lesson; she took a lot of notes.

Re: During the Lecture

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

This was like a fairy tale; Ella listened, very absorbed and wishing she could hear it from the points of view of the other queens, or from one of the Card Guards.

Sometimes, point of view was all.

Re: During the Lecture

[atreideslioness]

Ghanima was also taking notes, since she was here as the student and not the teacher this time.

Re: During the Lecture

[makescherries.livejournal.com]

Cimorene took notes - with accompanying charts.

Re: During the Lecture

[senor-chado.livejournal.com]

Chad couldn't help feeling a little worriedly disturbed as he listened to Alice tell this story, but, at the same time....it made for much simpler notes than one of Miss Ghanima's lessons...

Class Discussion

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

The White Queen was incapable of ruling her own quarter of the world, much less all of it.

The Red Queen was heartless.

The Queen of Hearts, when threatened, buckled to outside pressure.

Queen Alice spent several years mad and could easily relapse, leaving the kingdom to ruin.

How does one choose a side when all one's options are problematic?

Re: Class Discussion

[solo_sword]

"The Red Queen sounds like she had the best idea of how to actually rule," Jaina said slowly, "but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. When you're oppressive to your people and enslaving them, your time should be up. Queen Alice sounds like she knew what needed to be done, and if she was aware of what could happen, maybe it would leave time for precautions to be made, just in case."

Re: Class Discussion

[lordofthecats.livejournal.com]

"It might take some convincing, but since the four queens each have strengths and weaknesses, perhaps they should form a council to rule," said Lion-o. "That way, one queen could compensate when another failed at her task."

Re: Class Discussion

[raspberryturk]

Reno sat quiet for the longest time, chewing over all of the choices.

"White Queen being dead doesn't really make choosin' her side into an option," he stated. Tentatively. "Queen of Hearts don't got no backbone, that meant her Card Guards weren't loyal to her in the end anyhow. And it sounds to me like while... Alice," he was making a point not to say you, "spent time bein' not alright, and the Red Queen was a cunning ruler, kept the place in order so long as the people stepped into line."

He took a deep breath.

"I think, choosin' between Alice and the Red Queen depends on where that line sits. Revolution ain't an easy thing to choose to take part in. If the order that one ruler is keeping is kept with an iron fist, but people are still livin' decent lives if they know how to step, that's one thing. But if they're livin' in fear of actually livin', that's when it's time for revolution, and the people step in and sort it out in the afterward, yo."

It had been possible to live a decent life under ShinRa. But only if you conceded to live a normal life, under ShinRa.

And even then...

Re: Class Discussion

[inthereflexes.livejournal.com]

Jack thought about the options, as best as he could. He weighed the options, and scratched out a W on the desk as his answer.

Re: Class Discussion

[ella-obeys.livejournal.com]

"I wonder," Ella mused, "if there are other royals in the vicinity who could serve as support. At home, for example, the heir spends time in the courts of other kingdoms, to see things done differently than in Kyrria and learn."

"Perhaps Alice and the White Queen could both benefit from such an arrangement. But I should take their side even without that; life under the Red Queen sounds unbearable."

Re: Class Discussion

[makescherries.livejournal.com]

"It sounds like the perfect opportunity for someone from the outside to come and seize power." Cimorene mused out loud.

Re: Class Discussion

[harrydresden.livejournal.com]

"I'd rather have a potentially crazy ruler than a definite tyrant," Harry said. It's possible Harry has some authority issues coloring this decision. "And if your potentially crazy queen becomes actually crazy, then you have a backup plan."

Talk to the TAs

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

One of whom apparently knows some bizarre people.

Please wait for the TAs to sign in.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Alice was here, amusing herself by picking up chalk, tossing it, and catching it again.

Talk to Ghanima

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Lady Ghanima, if you're nasty.

Please wait for her to sign in, as well.

Re: Talk to Ghanima

[atreideslioness]

Lady Ghanima was here, and looking especially pleased with Alice's handling of the class.

OOC

[notyourpawn.livejournal.com]

Thank you to Ghanima's mun for letting me snag a class and have Alice share a little of her funky canon!

Re: OOC

[cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com]

Dude, this is awesome.