The Art of Poetry; Monday, First Period [01/17].

[sake_shinigami]

"Welcome back, ducklings ♥," Shunsui started the class with his usual sleepy smile, carefully pouring cups of tea for his students and passing them over (clearly it had to be a nice Chinese Clouds and Mist this morning) once they got comfortable and it was time to begin, then pouring one for himself. "Last week, we discussed the origins of poetry and the epic poem, and I tasked you with composing one of your own ♥. Let's start class with what you've come up with, although no worries at all if you haven't ♥. Believe me, I understand that the muse is a truly fickle mistress who will come and go as she pleases, which just makes it all the better when she finally does grace us with her presence ♥."

Something he rather wished his lieutenant would understand when it came to that novel of his, but anyway...

Once they were done with that, he moved onto the lesson of the day.

( We sit together, the mountain and me || until only the mountain remains. )

He let the final poem linger a little with a faint smile and a sip of his tea. "I would like," he then said, "for you to find a stirring landscape to inspire a poem for you next week ♥. As you can see by the examples, it does not need to be complex or long; in fact, the simplicity in inherent in the style ♥. In the meantime, though, let us discuss ♥. What did you think of the shanshui style? Do you know of any other examples? What do you suppose the purpose of poems like this may be? The floor," he ducked his head, tipping his hand, "is all yours, ducklings ♥."

Mythbusting- Monday- 3rd period

[throughaphase]

There was no Danger Shop workshop today. Instead, class was held on top of a skyscraper, which was empty except for them because this was fake. Also, any barriers over the sides of the building also because this was fake.

"Welcome to New York," Kitty greeted the class. "This is the Empire State Building, and today we're going to test whether you can kill someone on the sidewalk by dropping a penny from here. Keep in mind this is the Danger Shop, no one down there is real, and essentially this isn't any different than beating up a dummy at the gym.

"So, here's a shiny penny," she said, holding one up. "Each of you will get to try it. We are 120 stories up, at 1,250 feet above that sidewalk. While falling, the penny will reach terminal velocity at 65 miles an hour. What do you think, would someone down there be in trouble?"

Guiding the Powerful Yet Incompetent, Monday, Fourth Period

[tellmehowstuffworks]

The Danger Shop once again resembled the great hall of a medieval castle, with the king sitting in a thronelike chair at the end of the room. Yennefer told her students, "You are visiting an important lord, and the king has decided he likes the tapestries here much more than the ones at home. So much so, in fact, that while you and the lord who owns this castle weren't paying attention, he ordered some of the servants he brought along to take them off the walls and pack them up for him to bring home, a scenario generally known as 'theft' and 'wildly offensive to your host.' The servants, however, are frightened to disobey. What are you going to do with this situation?"

Exit Strategies, Monday, Period 2

[jedigrammarians]

"Okay, so we're going to revisit the buddy system later down the track," Aphra said, not looking at anyone in particular. Tahani. Vi. "Instead we're going to look at the right way to exit the situation. Namely, the one that works."

She waited a moment before continuing. "If there's anything I want you guys to take away from this class, it's that results matter more than method. Unless you're hung up on ethics, but even in that you can just redefine results. Your goal is to get out of a situation with your skin, and possibly other people's intact, you might need to lie, you might need to steal, or cheat, or blow things up, and what works for some of you mightn't work for others, you do you."

That probably wasn't how that phrase was supposed to work, Aphra.

"Anyway, we're going to watch a short instructional film about different ways to handle the same situation, then I want you think about which of those three ways speaks to you. Share with the class even."