Cooking for Camp and Field; Friday, First Period [06/04].

[chef_chocobro]

Although the cloudy weather of the day might lead to the sort of weather Ignis would like to have for his lesson that morning, he couldn't exactly rely on it, and he certainly couldn't expect the sort of torrential downpour he would have preferred to make his students more miserable truly experience this particular challenge of being a camp chef. And so it was to the Danger Shop that the class would be directed, where they would find themselves in a scenic but rocky space with the basics of camp already set up, and dark clouds and rolling thunder very quickly on the way overhead.

"We have been blessed," he started, giving the students a wry smile as he glanced up toward to encroaching rain, "so far with excellent weather for our weekly excursions, but, unfortunately, when out on the field, one cannot always expect sunny skies. But just because it may be raining does not mean one's team must necessarily starve or subject themselves to sub-par meals or," the next part almost said like it was a dirty word, "covenience foods. So, today, we'll be going over ways to protect a campfire even in the most challenging of rainy situations. You might even find that it can be quite pleasant, accomplishing a hearty meal despite the odds."

A rumble of thunder rolled in the distance, and he had to smile for the perfect dramatic emphasis.

"Let's not waste time, though," he said. "We only have so much of it before the rain arrives."

Blacksmithing Basics; Friday, Third Period [06/04].

[special_rabbit]

"At this point," Amaya gave the class a little bit of a lopsided and eager grin, "your daggers should start looking more like daggers, and if they don't, well....we might need to go back to the drawing board or perhaps work a little bit more on filing, but I think you've all got it close enough. So today, we're going to be going over some of the more basic finishing techniques, or, at least, finishing when it comes to the blade itself, and those techniques involve heat treatments, especially tempering and quenching.

"First things first: I've had some iron heating up in my own forge for a bit now, so I'd like each of you to grab on of these rods with your tongs and put those in the buckets of oil you've got at your station. That's what we're using to quench the blades, and you'll have a much better time if you quench with warmed oil than cold. If you cool your blade...especially a thin blade like the ones we've been working, too fast, you're more likely to crack it, and that's no good. Anyway..."

So she had them heat their oil, then check their blades, and get started on the first step: normalizing. Reseting and redistributing the steel to a more normalized state and relieving stresses. Heating it and then letting it cool in still air, repeating it about two or three times, and she showed them how to use a magnet to help determine if you're doing it properly, because heating it properly will cause the metal to become nonmagnetic which was just neat, when you got right down to it. You can also take color into consideration, but that's something that'll develop with experience, since there's a fine art to just telling it's ready by looking at it.

Next step: the quench! Amaya explained that quenching is basically what's going to harden your steel, and oil is generally better than water, and they were basically rapidly cooling the steel, changing the makeup of the steel to strengthen it. Heat it up, quench it to cool it, then heat it back up again. Heat and quench, heat and quench. You want to be quick about it; the steel cools pretty quickly even just in the air, and hten get it in the oil with a slight back and forth or slicing movement. Be careful of flare ups, and submerge the blade for about ten to fifteen seconds.

Do a file test on it, to see if the file bites into the steel. If it does, the blade's not hard enough, time to go for another round. If it doesn't bite into the steel, your knife is hard enough, and you've got to finish it up with some tempering that's not dissimilar to baking.

"I usually just pop these guys up on top of the forge for that step," she explained, doing just that and showing off a few other things that were already up there. "And that's probably where we'll leave them until next week, when we'll see how they turned out and finish up on making 'em a little prettier. Any questions before you all get started?"

Paintball!, Friday, June 4, 2021

[heroic_jawline]

If you thought class would be the same as always, you'd be wrong this week! Well. Sort of. It was still paintball, but this time the teachers moved things to the beach!

"Welcome back to paintball. I hope you've all put on some sunscreen today," Tony said.

"If not, I have some with me!" Because Steve was That Guy. "To increase the difficulty, we've also gotten everyone big metal cages to run around in!" he added, beaming like this was not the most horrible idea ever. "So you have to run and shoot and there's a lot fewer opportunities to hide."

A lot more opportunities to steer into the ocean and bob away, though.

"Steve and I will be around in case you roll into the water," Tony promised. Because yes. That.

"But we're sure you'll be careful," Steve said optimistically. "Get your modified Nerf guns and pick a ball out, and then we'll blow a whistle to get everyone going!"

So You Want to Be a Hero. [Friday, Period 5]

[misshapen_spark]

"Last week we covered basic unarmed self-defense," Yang said, sunglasses on because she'd been up way too late the night before. "But unless you've trained in unarmed combat, it can be nerve-wracking. And you run the risk of injuring yourself."

"But not everyone is a weapon, or carries a weapon with them at all times. Or your weapon-of-choice may have been broken, or taken away from you. So today, we're going to go over my second-favorite form of combat... found weaponry."

Look, Yang loved punching people. She was a bruiser. But the joy of smacking someone with a broom was glorious.

"And I'm not just talking about your typical 'hit them on the head with a bar stool.' No. That's cliché. I mean, it works, but come on. They'll be expecting it. Pool cues. Brooms. Chair legs. Bricks. A bottle. Or, hell, use a weapon you do have in a way they don't expect." With that, Yang mentally disengaged her metal arm as she spun around, catching it by the wrist with her biological hand, and using it to strike a training dummy like a baton. "If they aren't expecting it, you're more likely to get away with it."

"Now have fun!" And with that, the entire Danger Shop turned into a bar, with a riotous brawl already in progress, and Yang picked up a stool to smash it over a npc hologram's head.

What? Some things were classics for a reason.

Practical Philosophy, Friday

[endsthegame]

"Sorry I'm late," Ender said, as he walked onto the lawn with the sandwiches under his arm. "Sometimes kids don't let you run on a schedule."

He set the bag down and sat down next to it.

"I also didn't have time to prepare much," he said, "So let's keep this simple: tell me about your week."