Newspaper Club, Journalism Room, Monday after classes

[iwishiwasbig.livejournal.com]

With it being the first day back after spring break, Dave was just at the front of the room, drinking so much coffee. There were probably legitimate news-related things to discuss, but that would involve not drinking coffee for a moment. Maybe next week.

Library, Monday

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

The holiday had been quite an exciting change of pace despite the fact that William barely showed up in any posts due to the player's brainfail, but now that they were back in Fandom it was time to get back to the regular routine of things.

"That includes you too, you know," William told the books sternly. The section that normally housed the world travel related books was full of entirely unrelated volumes today. Apparently even books were prone to the occassional bout of wishful thinking.

Basic Strategy, Monday, Period 4

[halfman-lion.livejournal.com]

“I hope you’re all awake after your week off,” Tyrion said cheerfully as he sauntered into the classroom. He had reason to be cheerful; he’d had a full week to explore the mainland with no responsibilities whatsoever. He saw no reason to prolong the idleness by giving students an easy day.

“We’re playing a game today – at least, I think it’s a game, and I’m good at it. We’ve had a bit of time as a group, and now we will be judging each other’s characters.”

He gave that a moment to sink in as he went to the first seat, starting a bag of candy circulating around the room. “Take five pieces each. Don’t eat them just yet. In the game we’re playing, you will pair up – with someone you don’t know well already, please – and tell your partner three things about him or herself that they’ve never directly told you. They can be anything at all – hopes, dreams, fears, ambitions, memories, whatever comes to mind. If you’re right, you get a sweet from them; if you’re wrong, they give you one. The winner is whoever has more candy at the end of the exercise.”

“There are a few principles to remember as you judge each other. First, take a moment and read this.” Done passing around the candy, Tyrion moved on to distribute a handout. He’d done some reading on the game over the weekend, and had been not at all surprised to find it had a name in this world.

“In most studies, people rate the personality description in front of you a four on a scale of one to five. A bit over a four, actually. The trick, of course, is that everyone got the same statement. Most people like to be agreeable. You want to agree with what you’re told about yourself.” He paused, went quieter. “It takes strength to fight it.”

He was back to his usual pace when he spoke again. “Second and similarly, clichés are clichés for a reason. A lot of whores had mothers who did it first; most adventurers were never satisfied at home. The violent usually become that way early. Almost everyone is motivated first by fear, then by love, though money can sometimes trump either. And a great many people either have never satisfied their parents, or – if they’ve found the trick of that – are terrified of one day disappointing them.”

He ran a hand through his hair. “That’s as much guidance as I’ll give you now. If anyone is shy a partner and wants to play opposite me, I look forward to taking your candy. Now, pair up.”

Defending Yourself [Monday, Period 1]

[furious-maximus.livejournal.com]

Max looked even more relaxed than usual as he leaned back against his desk. Which looked more than a little out of place on the sandy beach that the Danger Shop was configured for.

"Hope you all enjoyed your week off," he began with a smile. "Let's get back into things." Max pushed himself away from the desk and started walking, not looking to see if his students followed, just assuming that they would. "As anyone who's taken one of my other courses on combat can tell you, terrain plays a big part in any fight. For instance, we're on a beach here, and that means sand. Which tends to be unstable. If you've ever tried to run in this kind of terrain, you'll know that it can be a challenge."

"What does this mean for self-defense, you ask? Simple: part of defending yourself is thinking about terrain. You need to know where you are, and where you can go." Max waved out at where the waves were gently breaking and rolling in. "For instance, if you find yourself on the beach and you need to run away, remember that it's hard to run on sand. For you and anyone chasing you. So you have to figure out who's going to have a harder time with it. If it's you, then you want to get off the sand as quickly as possible. Maybe you head for the water, hoping to outswim whoever's after you. Or maybe you head into the woods inland."

Max smiled. "And you really don't want to make that decision in a hurry. Which means that you need to be thinking, in advance, about your options. And that's true wherever you find yourself: think about where you are and what's nearby. Knowing your options in advance can be the difference between getting away and not."

"Anyway, enough from me. Time to enjoy the weather." Artificial as it might be. "Pair up and take turns chasing each other and running. Everyone's going to have different strengths and weaknesses, so you're going to need to shape your escape and chase strategies to your partner. So get to it."

[Apologies for the lateness on this one. Last day of work has been hectic.]

So You're a Fugitive From Justice, Tuesday, 3rd Period

[cataclysmicluck.livejournal.com]

Class was in the Danger Shop today. Zayne and the students were standing on a platform on a skyscraper in what certainly looked to be an alien planet of some sort. But aside from an ocean in the distance, it didn't look like there was anything here but city as far as they eye could see.

"Okay, everyone. Today's class was an inevitability from the time this class started. And since you could probably use something fun two days after break, I think it was about time," Zayne said. "So today we're going to have some fun with high speed chases."

"Really, being chased was my immediate present and future back when I first saw what my teachers did to my classmates. They chased me through our school building until I got to my swoop bike and led them on a chase through the city. We tore through the sky, some buildings, down garbage chutes... It was pretty intense. And it all happened here in this city."

"Well, a few square blocks of it and some nice backgrounds in the distance," Zayne amended. "But this is roughly what Taris looks like. It's the planet I grew up and trained as a Jedi on. And if there's one thing Taris is known for, it's swoop bikes. If you're not familiar with them, they're like motorcycles here on Earth, but they fly. And there are some right behind you." Zayne pressed a button on the shop remote and a swoop appeared for everyone in the class.

"I may have made the point several times that I was always a terrible student. But to make up for that, I've also always been a great swoop rider. So I'm going to run you through some of the basics of piloting a swoop, then let you have some fun around the few blocks I was able to make in the shop. Three basic tips right away? Be mindful of your surroundings, try not to crash unless you really mean it, and remember that you're not going to get hurt here. But you really could if you were doing this for real."

"Oh, and if you have a good handle for what you're doing halfway through class, I'll let you race a partner to start to get a feel for the chase itself."