There Will Be Cake [Tuesday, Period Three]

[doubleohblonde]

The Dangershop looked decidedly odd today. Half of it was the familiar kicthen set up, and the other half looked suspiciously like the theatre from Jaye's classes.

"Good afternoon, class," Bond greeted them. "Today we'll be doing something a bit different, since the recipe I'm going to have you make, namely popcorn, is not going to take up a significant amount of time. You may be wondering why I'm having you make it when like last week's pizza it's quite easy to obtain premade, but frankly it takes less effort to cook it at home than to go to the shops and buy it. Once you've finished making your popcorn, we'll settle in and watch a film based in part on Julia Child's memoirs, for those of unfamiliar with Mrs Child, she was a remarkable woman. Unfortunately the other half the of film the story of a self-absorbed prat so we'll be watching a somewhat altered version today."

"But first, the popcorn."

[Class Roster]

Friendship 101, Wednesday, Period 2

[justlurkinghere]

Today the students might have noticed that the floor of the danger shop had a certain bounce to it. Like the kind you would find in a gymnastics gym. Who didn't enjoy a good bounce every once and awhile, after all?

Derek, don't answer that.

Speaking of which, the man was somehow managing to exude brooding rage in a room that was both bouncy and bright pink. That shit took skill. "Today we're learning about trust."

You may laugh at the concept of Derek trusting now. Go on. You know you wanna. Oh the things he did thanks to his both bouncy and bright pink teaching partner.

Speaking of, the combination of the bouncy floor and her own somewhat rubbery nature meant that Pinkie was getting some fairly impressive air in here. And bouncing around joyously next to -- and around -- and behind -- Derek letting out little ^eeee noises on each bounce.

"Trust ^eeee is ^eeee key ^eeee in ^eeee maintaining ^eeee good ^eeee friendships!" she said.

Between Derek's reticence and Pinkie's distraction, this could potentially be the least useful lecture in the history of classes about friendship.

Derek would have said that all the lectures were useless. Because he was a ball of issues, but that's not the topic right now. "We're doing--" Oh god, it pained him to say. "--trust falls."

"^{eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee}" said Pinkie.

Derek reached over to attempt to stop her from bouncing any higher. This was an accident waiting to happen. "This was a terrible idea," he hissed like the class couldn't hear him.

Pinkie looked wide-eyed and serious faced at him. As she kept bouncing. And ^eeeeing. "What ^eeee makes you ^eeee say ^eeee that?"

Then she bounced wrong way and ended up flying, limbs flailing, at his head.

"That could be why," Derek grumbled from his spot on the floor. See, all it took to knock him down aside from angry werewolves was a bouncy, pink pony. His life was magical.

"Oopsie!" Pinkie said, climbing remarkably stably to her feet. "Sorry about that." She offered him a hoof up. "Everypony pair up, and start falling! And remember, if you see tweety birds flying around your head, those weren't programmed into the computer, so it probably means something's gone horribly wrong!"

It was amazing how the cheer in her voice never wavered, even when discussing the students' potential brain injuries.

Library, Wednesday, All Day

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

The charm of her birthday necklace kept catching the lights as Sholeh moved around the library, stacking and shelving and doing other responsible library aide things. Or, well, trying to do those things, except the charm would glint and catch her attention and then she'd pause and smile a bit and then laugh at herself for being silly and then hastily quiet and blush on the off-chance anyone had come in and heard her giggling to herself. Like a ninny.

The saddest thing was when you knew you were being a ninny and still couldn't help yourself. That was downright inexcusable.

When she wasn't working or giggling or otherwise embarrassing her sisters, Sholeh could be found at the desk, flipping through magazines and wondering how she would look in some of the outfits worn by the models in them. Though if anyone asked, she was going to claim it was homework for Pop Culture. Ninny or not, she had some pride.

Supernatural Studies, Wednesday, Period 1

[bitten_notshy]

Jack was leaning against his desk as the class filed in, hands behind his back. “As I promised, we’re talking about exorcisms today,” he reminded the students. “Which is an ancient spiritual practice believed in some cultures to rid an individual of demonic possession. We’re going to watch a brief video clip of a child being exorcised in recent years. It’s not graphic, but if you feel you cannot watch it or find the topic offensive in general, please feel free to leave the room now. Call it a week off.”

He waited a moment for anyone who wanted to leave, then cued up a video. “This gives a decent overview of what an exorcism is and how it might look in modern times,” he explained.

Once the video was done, he began talking again. “If you’ll notice, the narrator mentions the family’s priest thinks the boy’s problem is psychological damage caused by his father’s death, not demons. I’m not here to say one way or the other, but it is worth noting that many alleged possessions are now believed to be undiagnosed epilepsy, schizophrenia, or other organic disorders.”

“But families may still turn to possession as a way to explain symptoms that are otherwise inexplicable and untreatable. One famous fairly recent case was Anneliese Michel. She’d been diagnosed with epilepsy and hallucinations, and her family attempted drug treatment. It did nothing and they turned to religion. They had to go to several priests before they found one who said she didn’t ‘look’ epileptic and agreed to perform an exorcism.” Jack’s tone was dry on this, measured, and a bit angry. “Her priests attempted a total of 67 exorcism rituals over ten months. As the … treatment progressed, she started refusing food and drink as a way of atoning for the sins of the world. The exorcists remained convinced she was possessed and did not halt what they were doing to seek medical treatment. Anneliese finally died of malnutrition and dehydration, and the priests were charged and eventually convicted of manslaughter.”

“My question for you is this,” he said. “If a spiritual adviser honestly believes an individual is possessed by demons and, like Anneliese Michel, the individual dies as a result of an attempted exorcism, is the exorcist a murderer? Or is something else going on?”