Classical Genre [Tuesday, 1st Period]

[cuff-me-once.livejournal.com]

The windows were shuttered and the lights in the class room were turned down. The only light in the room came from a small braizer, and the torch that Rick was holding under his chin. Instead of the usual coffee and pastries, there was an ungodly amount of candy and other sugary treats.

"Good morning children," Rick, who was wearing his space cowboy costume specially for this, intoned. "Today we're going to be talking about the spine-chilling terror that is horror fiction. And we're going to be doing it the best way possible, by sharing scary stories over a not-so-open fire."

Rick twirled his torch around. "Person with the torch shares the scariest moment from their chosen book. However, no one is allowed to mention certain book series involving glitterfied monsters. They're only scary in their lack of research and the stalkery controlling behaviour of the male protagonist."

Rick held out the torch to the nearest student. "Also, while you're waiting your turn you may roast marshmallows over the coals. Just try not to set off any alarms."

[OOC: OCD up.]

[Class Roster|Syllabus|Class Rules|Previous Classes]

Adventures in Literature, Wednesday, Period Three [Class Eight]

[carpe_demon]

Drake was totally prepared for Halloween -- well, the class room was, at least. Somehow the front of the class was in black and white only (so anyone stepping up to talk to Drake would find themselves suddenly desaturated), completely with the occasional fluttering bat, mists, and the howling of wolves. Drake had the black cape thing going, but he was still wearing jeans and a t-shirt underneath. "Children of the night!" he said around a mouthful of fake fangs. "SHUT UP!" The wolves obediently stopped howling. The blonde woman (who was still in color) sitting off to the side was probably rolling her eyes.

Drake popped the fangs out of his mouth. "How does anybody talk with these?" he complained, tossing them down on his desk. "Anyway, today we're going over Dracula, the 1897 novel by Bram Stoker. Fortunately, this time I found out ahead of time that there's someone in Fandom whom Stoker might have based his book upon. Mina Murray will be giving her opinion on the book and answering any questions you might have." Drake snapped his fingers, conjuring up a popcorn machine on one side of the class room. He had a feeling it would come in handy.

"Dracula isn't the first vampire novel," Drake said, "but it's the one that's had the greatest influence on the genre. Feel free to blame Stoker for vampires taking over the young adult section at your local bookstore, but I wouldn't hold him responsible for any sparkling. That just came out of someone else's severely deranged imagination. The book's been interpreted dozens of times in film, from creepy horror" -- and that would be a clip from Nosferatu playing now on a screen at the front of the room -- "to a more romantic and sympathetic bloodsucker" -- and now it was a scene from Bram Stoker's Dracula that had Drake totally fanning himself (Mina? Well, you'd have to ask her) -- "to humor." And a clip from Love at First Bite finished up the trilogy.

"So you've got Dracula," Drake went on, "stuck in his old crumbling castle in Transylvania and itching to move to London. He gets Jonathan Harker to hike out to see him and help him buy property and teach him about the modern Victorian world. Then he dumps Harker in the pit of vampire bimbos and takes off to England, where he starts stalking his fiancée, Mina, and her BFF Lucy. Lucy gets vamped, Jonathan escapes, the good guys rally, and Drac get staked. Or at least that's how it goes in Stoker's book. Ms. Murray is going to tell us how it really went down."


[Syllabus | Class Roster]

DADA for Muggles [5th period]

[lycanthromoony.livejournal.com]

Today, the class was set up as a perfectly normal classroom, with one exception: there was a television at the front, and Remus, for one, was sporting a part of mildly-singed eyebrows due to his prior struggle with it.

"Good afternoon," he said evenly. "Today we'll be having a rather light day, I'm afraid. I'm certain you're all terribly upset about that. We'd like you to tell us about your attempts to disarm one another. What worked? What didn't? How were your experiences with the assignment?"

"And after that," Sirius said happily, "we'll watch a movie!" On the third DVD player of the day. Shh. They didn't think to ask the TAs for help. "It's completely inaccurate when it comes to witchcraft, of course, but the women are very attractive."

Art 101 - Wednesday, Period Four - 10/28

[notsobadatall.livejournal.com]

Nick had been a little wary of dealing with today's subject. After all, his personal knowledge of this particular period was, how do you say, extensive.

Which was why he opted for something a little different today.

As the students entered, it was into an old world studio, probably belonging to someone of note, given the strange gadgets strewn about and under tarps. The materials for mixing paints, materials for canvases, a few covered pieces, sketches, "notebooks" of a sort were all scattered around as well; there was order, of a kind, but also a friendly sort of chaos.

On one easel, a painting sat, almost entirely done except perhaps for the signature. Nick couldn't quite help himself from smiling at it.

"I greet you and welcome you on behalf of an old friend," he said with a little grin, "as he won't be here to show you around his studio himself."

He walked over to one of the windows, opened it wide and let the sun shine in.

"I thought about what I should do for this class and decided that, given the great deal of information available and the widespread knowledge of this particular period" as well as the likelihood of Nick screwing up and mentioning something personal while discussing it "that I would do something a little more subtle. So today, feel free to raid the room for art supplies and simply try and absorb what you can from the studio. As always, I'm available for any questions you might have, and if anyone really wants to hit the books, I will happily provide them."

[ocd up! And no giant block of text to read!]

Infantry Tactics [Wednesday Second Period]

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

"Grab your packs and let's get going," Max said as everyone arrived. It was, after all, tradition. "Last week we talked about various skillsets that you each have, and today we're going to see those in action. One thing that makes irregulars a flexible military unit is that they tend to come up with unpredictable approaches to problems. Today I'll be presenting you all with a single problem and you'll each solve it in a way that plays to your skills. The rest of you will observe the solution in order to get a better understanding of your classmates' abilities. If you have suggestions after things are over, feel free to make them. But keep in mind that one of the points of the irregular formation is that you don't all have the same skills. So while you may have an approach that is more efficient for you, it may turn out that none of your classmates can duplicate it."

Max smiled slightly. "The other thing about irregulars is, due to their flexibility, you can tend to give them very general instructions. Instead of telling you to, for instance, take a certain location and hold it against the enemy, irregulars can be issued orders such as 'find the best way to prevent the enemy from moving through this area'. It's less specific, and due to irregular operations the results you get are likely to be very... creative. In fact, let's do a quick warmup exercise." He waved at the rocky terrain with the visible, but unimpressive, footpath they were on. "How would you set things up so that it was difficult for an enemy to move significant forces through terrain like this?"

After giving everyone time to contribute to that, Max took the group down a trail to the left and they went over a hill to find a large villa surrounded by a ten foot high brick wall. Max drew to a stop to explain the exercise and give everyone a chance to catch their breath if they needed to.

"The villa has a small security team, nothing too serious. You job is to get from here to thr basement of the building. How you do that is up to you. Each attempt will be recorded and once everyone arrives there will be a chance to discuss tactics and choices."

He smiled slightly. "And remember to be prepared for surprises."

[Sorry this is late. Way too many meetings, and all of them ran over schedule. *sigh*]

Library, Wednesday [October 28]

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

If Gabrielle looked incredibly late a little scowly today, well, she was -- bent over the parchment spread on the desk in front of her, scribbling away at a frenetic pace and constantly hovering on the edge of snapping the tip right off her quill.

It wasn't that she had a problem with inspiration, but if she'd honestly believed the Muses had a direct hand in her creative process she'd have made sure to rip them a verbal new one the next time she went home. Slavedrivers.

[OOC: No OCD, 'cause can we pretend I didn't completely blank on this until now? Every moment is a blonde moment for me these days. I blame my characters.]

Ethics [Thursday, October 29, 1st period]

[sith_happened]

Judging from what Raven had told him about Tuesday night and what several members of his class had seen, Anakin believed that this lecture probably couldn't have come at a better time.

"Today we talk about diligence, temperance, and forgiveness," he said quietly, "and we're going to use examples from the midterm exam to do so."

He flipped the hologram to life with a wave of his hand and it focused in on a shot of Palpatine's face. "The goal was to save this man, the democratically chosen leader of your galaxy, at the cost--if necessary--of your own lives. After the Sith Lord arrived, you certainly had the option of retreating and leaving the mission for someone else to complete. A Sith's job, after all, is to kill Jedi, and there were only two of you against him. When does diligence turn to foolhardiness?"

The holocam switched to footage of two Jedi, blue blades flashing, taking on an older man wielding a red lightsaber. The battle was moving at least three times as fast as the exercise had. The older Jedi went ricocheting into a wall, then the second one, fire in his eyes, closed in on their opponent. A few moments later the Sith dropped to his knees with two lightsabers held to his throat.

The Jedi wielding the lightsabers looked an awful lot like their teacher.

"Temperance," Anakin said softly. "Do you kill him now? He's dangerous. He held the head of a galaxy-wide government hostage. He injured your partner. He certainly tried to kill you first. Or do you capture him and leave him to the whims of the courts?"

He shook his head. "Finally, forgiveness. You save the chancellor, at great personal expense, only to discover he's not the kind of man you thought he was. Your act of heroism has managed to make the situation at home much, much worse. How do you forgive yourself for it? Can you forgive the others who put you into that position?"