Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques | Tuesday, period 1

[sharp_as_knives]

The Danger Shop was set up in Hannibal's preferred configuration of a number of well-appointed cooking stations for the students and a larger one for him at the front. He waited for them all to settle, then greeted them. "Good morning to you all. I am Doctor Hannibal Lecter, and this is Beginning Gourmet Cooking Techniques. If you didn't intend to take this or have changed your mind, ( now is the time to leave )

101 Ways To Survive In The Field, Tuesday

[suitably_heroic]

"Hey, class," Atton said.

He was sitting at the front of a perfectly ordinary classroom, though his butt was decidedly on his desk, and not his chair. "Welcome to the second day of Blow-Off Week, or as radio likes to call it, Introductions Season. I'm Atton Rand. I've served in two armies, been around for three wars, and nowadays I'm a Jedi knight, which is a fancy word for 'member of a group of monks with fancy powers who are also special operatives'." He shrugged. "Yeah, I don't really get it either, and I am one. I do know you never ask a Jedi about their teachings, though, unless you want to get a wall of cryptic mumbo-jumbo thrown at you."

Somewhere, Mical was getting a headache.

"So I've been around the block a few times," he said. "You don't make it through three wars purely by running on fumes and luck: there are things you can learn to keep yourself going while you're in a threatening situation - combat, infiltration, whatever - and it looks like things might go downhill. Now, there's no substitute for sheer, bull-headed stubbornness, and if you've already got that one, then you'll probably figure out half of what we're going to be talking about yourself if you haven't already. At the same time, having a hard head isn't going to stop your leg from bleeding out if you get hit. You need basic medic skills. You need to know how to keep your adrenaline pumping so you can keep functioning until you're out of there. You need to know how to get out of a locked room. And so on. I know all of that stuff because I've lived it."

He shrugged. "Now I know that at this school, the chances are high most of you know at least some of this already. Maybe even more than me, though I doubt it. So let's kick this off with name and year, and then you can tell me what 'in the field' means to you and what skills you already have that are useful in it."

Subcultures 101, Tuesday, Period 3

[living_endless]

"Hey, everybody," Didi said from her perch atop the desk. "I'm Didi. Welcome to Subcultures 101, where we talk about how people get together in groups to feel unique."

She flashed a quick smile, hinting she was kidding, then went on. "According to our friend Wikipedia, a subculture is 'a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles.' What that means is a subculture is a group of people that's different from the mainstream culture -- but not too different. They are often perceived negatively by mainstream society, which may see people who belong to subcultures as lazy, sexually deviant, or juvenile. Meanwhile, people who identify with a subculture may see the mainstream as boring, repressive, or" -- airquotes -- "simply uncool."

She slid off the desk and passed a handout to the students. "This is Wikipedia's list of subcultures. Some of those are probably familiar to most of you from this reality, like preppy, goth or punk. Others are going to be more obscure. What I want to do today is introductions with name, grade, why you're in this class, and one subculture you either identify with or want to know more about."

Diplomacy, Relationships, & Tactics: The Art of War, Week 1 [Wednesday, Period 2]

[atreideslioness]

Each desk had a copy of the syllabus ready and waiting, and Ghanima sat on her desk, hiding her smile behind her tea as they filed in; mentally cataloging the new and familiar faces. Apparently, a few of them were gluttons for punishment. MARA.

Tahiri was standing instead, hands tucked behind her back and boots unceremoniously shoved under her desk (look, she was indoors and in no danger of frostbite, so you couldn't make her wear those things) but just as busy taking stock of the familiar and unfamiliar students. And resigning herself to another semester of brain-breakage.

Sorry, Tahiri, but you were co-teaching with your former teacher. There was bound to be at least some brain-breaking.

"Good afternoon and welcome," Ghanima said in a clear voice that carried effortlessly. "This is the Art of War, and I am Lady Ghanima Atreides. You may address me as Miss Atreides, Lady Ghanima, Miss Ghanima, or some variation thereof. If you are in the wrong class, please feel free to leave at this time. For those of you whom I have had in class before," she smiled suddenly, looking far less severe. "Welcome back."

Tahiri nodded and offered the class a smile. "And hello to the students who weren't in our class last semester. I'm Tahiri Veila, but Tahiri is fine. Miss Veila, or Jedi Veila, if you have to be formal." Her tone suggested that she wasn't particularly encouraging formality.

"This is perhaps the one and only class at Fandom High that you'll ever have a textbook," Ghanima said, not particularly apologetic. "Thankfully, it's not one written by the American educational system or textbook writers in Texas."

GHANIMA. NO.

"Instead, we'll be using a translated copy of 'The Art of War,' Chinese military treatise that was written during the 6th century BC by Sun Tzu. Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it has long been praised as the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time. It is divided into 13 chapters, or P'ien, and the collection is referred to as being one Ch'üan, or chronicle."

"Which is a long time ago, yes, but you'll find the principles are easily applicable in almost any setting. As I discovered while I was taking this class," Tahiri added with a slight chuckle. That had been the semester where she, Jaina, and Ben had all been in the class, and one or more of them usually ended up missing class because of some mission back home. It was sort of hard to forget.

She started around the classroom to distribute copies of the text to the students. "Though let's just be clear, a battlefield isn't the only place these principles can be applied. They're just as useful if, say, you're dealing with a difficult person."

Ghanima was tempted to offer a cookie to anyone who beat the Jedi Attendance Record of 2008, but, well, that seemed like a terrible idea.

"I'd like to point out that people who take this class have a higher-than-average rate of surviving Very Impulsive Ideas," she said instead, dryly, giving Tahiri a fond smile. "The book is not only popular among military theorists, but also among political leaders and those in business management. The book addresses strategy in a broad fashion, despite the title, touching upon public administration and planning. The text outlines theories of battle but also advocates diplomacy and cultivating relationships with other nations as essential to the health of the state."

Tahiri laughed and -- once she was done with the handouts -- held up her hands in a 'you got me' gesture. "Politics has never been my strong suit, but the last few years I found myself working to resettle war refugees and help them adjust to coexisting with different cultures. At first I was surprised how much of this class I could apply on any given day there, which I guess means I really should've paid a little more attention to the lectures."

"It can even be used in regards to your personal relationships, platonic or romantic," Ghanima continued. "Or, just for navigating the high school social scene. In examining the text, you might even get to know yourself better, which is the biggest war of all."

"Sun Tzu himself is a bit of a mystery, and historians debate whether or not Sun Tzu was a real historical figure. Which, really, is par for the course with anyone truly interesting." Ghanima smiled at the class brilliantly. "If you're larger than life, they'll never believe you were real."


Tahiri was tempted to make a joke about how that must mean she knew a lot of mythical people, but instead she just grinned. Maybe her glance flicked over to Mara if she was there for a moment, but that was totally coincidence, right? "We're actually going to start off with a lesson from the text today, but don't think this means you get out of introductions time."

Ghanima knew many mythical people, and people who'd grown to mythic proportions due to circumstances beyond their control. Friends, family, family of friends. She wasn't going to look at any of the students in particular, if only because Fandom had taught her that they would, perhaps, all become larger-than-life within their time.

Ghanima moved to the front of the room, picking up her chalk to write quickly;

So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will fight without danger in battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.

"Know thy enemy, know thyself. We'll cover it more in-depth later, but for today I would like you to go around the room and introduce yourselves. Give us your name, class, and some random fact about yourself. Pay attention to what your classmates have to say, you never know when such information could come in handy."

Tahiri nodded to the class. "Just . . . try not to use it to take advantage of them, okay?" In class, at least.

[OOC: Going up early for funsies. Wait for the OCD is up!]