Library, Monday

[faithandscience.livejournal.com]

William hadn't any idea that yesterday had been Mother's Day... until he listened to the morning's radio broadcast.

As a result, he was feeling a bit melancholy as he opened the library today, as he thought about his own mother and what he'd possibly say to her were she still alive.

Philosophy of Choice [Monday | Period 1]

[not_in_the_book]

Ronan was looking a little haggard at the front of the class today, but he put on a smile and said, "Good morning, class. I hope you all had a more restful weekend than I did. A word of advice: never play t'krei with a Demisiv."

Because you'd all know what that meant, clearly.

"Today's lecture is about the flipside of last week's: when do you make the decision to sacrifice yourself for others? From what I heard last week, I feel like for some of you the answer is 'always.' That it's your first choice. I have to admit, it's often the first choice for me, too, as one of my world's wizard.

"But that doesn't mean it should be: that it should be everyone's first choice, or that it should be the first choice in every situation. And even if you've come to put others before you, it might not always have been as easy as you might find it now."

It should never be easy, Ronan though, but he had too few illusions about Fandom's students to wonder how many of them would throw themselves headlong into danger if it meant the merest chance to save someone else.

"One of the first major encounters I had, after becoming a wizard, was a reconstruction of the Battle of Moytura. For those of you not familiar with Irish mythology, the Battle of Moytura was fought against the Fomori, twisted creatures under the command of the giant Balor. Balor had one tiny eye and one large, the first shrunk down to make room for the second, which when opened would blast the land and all upon it."

Ronan hopped down off his desk and started scratching out a few notes on the blackboard. "Balor, in my world, is an incarnation of the Lone Power -- basically, the source of death in the universe. All the Irish wizards rose up against him, as well as a few American wizards who'd come across for a visit. We had weapons on our side, the four treasures: Fragarach, the sword, to cut between worlds; the cauldron, to revive our wounded; the Lia Fail, the stone of destiny, to hold the ground together; and, in my hand, the spear of Lugh, ready to be thrown and strike down Balor.

"But it was quiet in my hand. Throwing the spear meant accepting something within myself that I was afraid to: the One's Champion had chosen me as an avatar, but to make use of the spear and save Ireland I had to give myself over to it, which risked destroying everything that was me. It was something I'd agreed to do, when I took up the mantle of wizard, but no choice is final. I could have turned it down, stepped back, and let someone else step up to take over. It wouldn't have been as effective, and it might not have worked at all, but someone would have. The question was, could I live with myself afterwards if I made that choice?

"In the end, I chose the Champion, and the spear, and struck Balor down, though not before others had died in the battle. I don't know that I could have saved them even had I chosen earlier, but that's something that will stay with me for rest of my life: could I have?

"But that's my choice," Ronan finished. "I decided to risk everything I am because it was the best, though not the only, way to end the battle and win. What would you do, though? Have you been faced with a decision like that before? If not, how do you think you might choose, and why?"

[Wait for OCD is up!]

Diversity and You, Class #2, Period #2, May 14th

[boobs-and-evil.livejournal.com]

"Congratulations on making the right decision and coming back to class," Callie said. Demons were to big egos as cats were to ... big egos. "Not that today's class is particularly interesting, but we actually have a topic, and more importantly, you get to spend more time around me. That's more educational than any of this PowerPoint crap I mocked up."

Callie was a fabulous teacher. Would an un-fabulous teacher have made PowerPoint slides? Really, now.

( Zombies: Eat Fresh! )

Relationship Ed, Monday

[scary-jeff.livejournal.com]

Today, Jeff wasn't just in the classroom - he was actually making use of the blackboard as if he were a proper teacher and everything. Be proud, students! Be proud!

He had written three letters on the board. Three big, important letters. N.A.T.

As soon as everyone had entered, he took out a laser pointer and pointed the little dot at the letters in turn. "Nose... avoidance... tilting," he said, drawing out every word like it was the most important thing in the world. "It's the gateway to intimate squelching! This is where every relationship starts. If you've made it through the hello bit, this is the next big hurdle!"

Yes. Indeed.

"It's that moment where you catch someone, or run into them, or stand really close, and they sort of tilt their head a bit, and you tilt your head a bit. It could turn into a kiss, but it isn't a kiss! Yet!"

This was important!

"Though if N.A.T. does immediately lead to a kiss, this isn't a terrible thing," Jeff was quick to assure them. "Your mother isn't actually monitoring everything you do, waiting to attack you with a miniature guillotine if you kiss a woman." Beat. "Or a man. So it's safe! It's completely safe."

Thank you, Jeff. No one had been worried about but you.

"Now, N.A.T. is not an exact science," he continued. "How can you be sure if there's N.A.T.? Maybe she's just trying to see if you've got hair coming out of your nose. Maybe you've actually just acquired a really large freckle. Maybe you've got mustard stuck on your lip and she's actually really disturbed by it."

He gestured towards a stack of hand puppets. "Since making you all practice on each other is illegal and everything," he said, "I brought puppets! So you can all pick a partner and, er, have a conversation, and then if the moment feels right, the puppets can do N.A.T. Or examine each other's moles, if the conversation went badly."

He beamed at the class. "It's all about practice!" he said. "N.A.T. is no laughing matter."

Uh-huh, Jeff.

Photography- Tuesday- 3rd period- Class #2

[fates_jaye]

Welcome, class. Your teacher had a hangover because Jake was awesome.

So please ignore the sunglasses indoors.

"So it's going to be quick today. Hopefully you all figured out how to work your cameras. If not... wow, you had a week," she said. "I'm going to give you an assignment. Nay, a prompt. And then next week you come back and show off your pictures. And the prompt is... animal transformations.

"Which only sounds hard," she said. "Take a picture of a flamingo and say it's your roommate Bob. I'm perfectly okay with lies. Now that you have that... I don't know. Go, stay and attack the cat with your cameras, do what you need to do."

And just before she went back to her desk, she said, "Oh, and I don't think I said it last week, but if anyone gets photographic evidence of a gremlin bite, you get extra credit for life." No, you didn't.