Library, Monday [4/5]

[ancientbschamp.livejournal.com]

After being away almost an entire week that had really only been two days and arriving back in Fandom just in time to scurry for the library, you'd think Gabrielle would be more disoriented upon arrival.

You wouldn't be taking into account that Gabrielle's concept of time was unique. 'Wow, Xena, just one more second and I would have been plummeting to the bottom of a flaming pit with spikes in it' was about as precise as she tended to measure it, long before watches had been invented, and any more specific time-telling than that felt . . . awkwardly inappropriate, somehow. Like she knew too much about time, and really, she hadn't even met Chronos, much less be sure she was on those kinds of terms with him.

Anyway. The point was that Gabrielle made it into the library just in time to get the coffee started before scrambling about to tidy and reshelve. When she wasn't up and about in the stacks, she was sorting through the various trinkets and presents she'd picked up for friends while in Kaeleer. That part could take a while -- buying presents for Amazons was more complicated than she'd thought.

Japanese Etiquette & Tradition, 4/05/10, Period 5

[shiroi_tiger]

Screw it. Between the holiday, the invasion last weekend, and changing his best friend's diapers a few weeks before, Algren had pretty much taken his syllabus, cut it into a perfect square, and then used it to fold an origami toilet.

Which he then went and flushed.

"This weekend, we'll be talking about Japanese fashion subculture," he said after the students had filed into the danger shop. "After the past semester and a half, you're already acquainted with the kimono," all too well, considering his song and dance number a few weeks ago, "and I won't bore you too terribly with talk of hakama and yukata. Today, you're going shopping."

The scenario loaded, and now they were standing on a bustling streetcorner in the middle of Tokyo's Shibuya district. Tall buildings, bright lights, and billboards as far as the eye could see were the backdrop, today. And, milling around them, were people who seemed to be hell-bent on representing every walk of life imaginable.

"Your mission today is to go shopping around Shibuya, and try to emulate the modern fashions that you can see wandering about. Don't be afraid to go a little crazy. Odds are that here, nobody is likely to stare." A pause. "Unless you want them to."

[Open!]

Horror 101, Monday

[chosehumanity]

If Mitchell looked a bit groggy, well, that could squarely be blamed on a bad portal connection that morning. He really needed to have another good word with Portalocity, as long as it didn't invalidate their Agreement about anything.

"Hey," he started, thusly subdued, "Today, we'll be talking about the origins of horror. Because long before we had films, long before we had the printing press, we still had scary stories. Throughout time, people have reminded each other of their fears, shared them, made them lessen with jokes. Sometimes, the stories have been warnings, or cases of triumph over evil."

He rubbed at his forehead. "Fear has been with humanity for as long as it's existed. Fear lives in animals, in their instincts, but they don't tend to share it. We talk about our fears with each other because it makes us a community, because it's terrifying once you stray past the fringes. Sharing scary stories is a way of forming a bubble, of pushing that fringe away, of forming a tribe."

"This goes beyond telling ghost stories around the campfire. Most of the horror fiction we know today hails from folklore. The Romans feared the Gods, as did the Greeks, as did many before them. They feared the fantastic: their own kinds of werewolves, vampires, ghosts and other terrors. In a way, our fears bind all of humanity together: the fear of death, the fear of change, the fear of everything that lurks alone in the dark."

"The Albanians talked about Constantin, who was raised from the dead to bring back his sister Doruntine. The Japanese have the ghost story of Yotsuya Kaidan, where a wronged woman comes back after death to set things to her own justice. In Brazil, they talk about Negrinho do Pastoreio, a slave boy whipped to death, now returned to help people find their lost things."

He smiled briefly. "Now it's your turn," he said, "Gather 'round the center of the room, get some tea in, and tell each other scary stories from your own culture."

World Mythology -- Third Period -- Monday

[atreideslioness]

"We're going back around the world," Ghanima announced without preamble as the students arrived, "Back to Europe, and slightly north, past England and its stodgy weather to the madmen of Ireland.  If you need a good story, there's no better land for myth than Éire."

( Cut for the random academic babblings regarding sources, that quite possibly only Ghani cares about. )

"Looking over the two handouts of the story, I'd like you to pair up and discuss why this particular story is usually classified as myth by scholars, and if you see any parallels to other myths we've studied.  Begin."


[OOC: The OCD has landed, and is not a swan.]

Build Your Own Philosophy, Period 2, 4/5/10

[tyler_gone]

"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Today," Tyler announced with a slight smirk once the class was assembled, "we're talking about nonviolence. Pretty weird, I know, but it's one of the most important philosophical movements of modern times." And total hooey, in Tyler's opinion, but he'd stay neutral as he taught.

"Nonviolence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence. It's an alternative to passive acceptance of oppression and armed struggle against it. Practitioners of nonviolence may use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms of education and persuasion, civil disobedience and nonviolent direct action, and targeted communication via mass media."

He continued his lecture, for a while, then cued up the DVD player. "This is from a film about Gandhi," he said. "It's a speech recommending nonviolent resistence."

"I want to watch it, and then I want you to discuss whether being nonviolent is a solution to social problems, or a slow road to nowhere."

Flight Club: Flight Shed, Monday After Classes

[weetuskenraider]

"Hey, everybody," Tahiri said, raising a hand in greeting; the time disparity hadn't thrown her off too badly, all things considered, and she looked in good spirits. "I hope it wasn't too quiet around here over the weekend. If it was, well, maybe the first sim option you've got today will make up for it. You've got an experimental Bell X-1 for your atmospheric craft today, which according to the research I've done is the first Earth manned aircraft to successfully break the speed of sound."

Not all that long ago, either, which still amused her. Really, Earth tech? Really?

"As for your spaceflight option . . ." Her expression turned sheepish, and she rubbed at the back of her neck. "I was trying to set up a scenario in Ben's uncle's ship --" this with some effort not to look amused until she noticed Leia didn't seem to be around -- "but for some reason it keeps giving me this flying Winnebago instead. Um . . . try not to overshoot the planet and crash-land, okay? I can definitely speak from experience when I say crash-landing is no fun. Well, maybe sometimes it is, but I'm not supposed to endorse it."

She read over the overview of both crafts' controls from her datapad (not without a significant amount of comical face-making over the flying Winnebago's schematics) and as an afterthought, added, "Oh, by the way -- if any of you are interested in seeing what an actual X-Wing snubfighter looks like, come talk to me; I've got one in the junkyard."

Study Hall, Monday [4/5]

[takesaftermom.livejournal.com]

Loaded with leftover Easter candy, Summer opened up study hall, setting it out with the rest of the snacks.

She made a cup of tea and snagged a couple pieces of candy (she couldn't resist!) and settled at a computer. She had a soft spot for holiday themed candy.

[OCD up.]