Mad Kings & Queens: Raving Royals and How To Survive Them (Wednesday, 2nd Period)

[atreideslioness]

When class started today, Ghanima did a quick count to see who was back, and who may have dropped. Once that was accomplished, she gave them all a bright smile.

"Today, we start near the beginning," she said. "Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, more commonly known by his nickname Caligula, was the third emperor of the Roman Empire, and a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which descended from Augustus."

( I, Caligula Caesar, command in the name of the senate and the people of Rome. I, Caligula Caesar, command in the name of the senate and the people of Rome. I, Caligula Caesar, command in the name of the senate and the people of Rome. Rome! Rome! Rome! Caesar! Caesar! Rome! Rome! Rubbish! Rubbish! )

[OOC: OCD is ready and waiting!]

Friendship is Cakes!! - 3rd Period, Wednesday

[justlurkinghere]

Pinkie was having a staring contest with a cake.

Yup. This would bode well.

Didn't it just? It didn't help that the other teacher was a giant wolf, sitting patiently next to her. And also staring at the cake. In case that cake threatened the safety of the students. It was evil, he could just feel it. It was going to be worse than the eel... things.

That was possibly why Pinkie was having a staring contest with it. "Today we're making animal themed cakes. See if you can make the frosting look like the cake is fuzzy or scaly or anything in between!" She pointed to the cake. "Expressions can be hard, so don't get too sad if your cake ends up a little scary."

Or a lot scary. That was a lot scary.

Which was why Derek was now starting to edge close to the cake to kill it before it killed them all. Look, he'd been on this island long enough to know what would happen if he didn't take one for the team and get frosting all over his fur.

He was doing this for you, kids. For you.

Pinkie backed up to give him room. She knew better than to get between a wolf and its prey, yo. "Get goin', kids!" she called, still staring down that cake. "And have fuuuuuuuuuun!"

Modern Day Myths, Wednesday

[toteshammered.livejournal.com]

Thor strode in to class with chunks of eel-slime in his hair, but somehow still managing to look dignified. Also rather pleased with himself. "Today," he began once everyone had assembled. "We're going to talk about an urban legend that is particularly popular in Midgardian sleepover parties- Bloody Mary."

"Originally, the ritual claimed that a young lady who walked backwards up a flight of stairs in a darkened dwelling while holding a candle and a mirror would glimpse the face of her future husband in the mirror. As time went on, somehow this 'apparition' became more sinister, and today the popular version of the ritual involves invoking the name 'Bloody Mary' several times while staring into a mirror in a dimly-lit room. Instead of showing them a vision of a future lover, this Bloody Mary is purported to behave much more violently, screaming or cursing at those who summon her, or even physically injuring them. Fortunately, the legend of Bloody Mary is just that, a legend," unless you happened to come from a version of reality where that sort of thing turned out to be real after all. "The scientific phenomena known as the 'Caputo Effect' explains how some people seemingly experience visions while performing these rituals. There is a portion of the brain that is dedicated to recognizing faces- this is why you can look at something as simple as this," he drew two dots and a curved line on the whiteboard, "and see a smiling face. But when your eyes are deprived of the proper amount of light, your brain gets confused, and can misinterpret what is actually your reflection to be that of 'Bloody Mary'."

"Our discussion for today is this- why do you think the ritual changed so dramatically over time from something harmless to something sinister?"