The Art of Poetry; Monday, First Period [03/28].

[sake_shinigami]

If Shunsui felt any differently today than he would any other day, he would apparently be the last to realize it, but thus was the nature of someone in a relatively constant state of mildly sustain amorousness. And so it was rather business as usual for the classroom, the desks aside, the pillows out, a pot of tea ready to be shared, and a new type of poetry to discuss.

"Good morning, ducklings ♥," he greeted them with his usual sleepy smile as he poured the tea to distribute. "I know we spoke of romantic ballads back in February, but I was feeling this week might be a good time to explore another type of romantic poetry out there, and that would be the ghazal ♥. Hailing from the Arabic world, the ghazal is a short poem that focuses specifically on romantic loss and the beauty that goes along with love despite the pain of having lost it. Which is a lot, for a single type of poetry, but, clearly, it was a broad enough experience to have sparked a whole poetic genre, and so we will have a closer look ♥."

So, after taking some time to go over the very particular structure of a 'proper' ghazal ("While love itself, especially when unrequited or otherwise terminated, is quite messy and chaotic, it is almost as if the structure of a ghazal is a vain attempt to wrangle that chaos into something that might make a bit more sense through it all ♥"), and how the themes had developed overtimem from something religious to something more person, there were, of course, examples to go over.

"So, ducklings ♥," Shunsui finished with another smile, "any thoughts? Particular examples you liked? Ruminations regarding the theme or even its transformation from being religious to romantic? And, of course, I encourage you try your hand at your own ghazal shall you find the Muses to be particularly generous today, as well ♥."

Mythbusting- Monday- 3rd period

[throughaphase]

You know what worried Kitty? Teenagers working with even fake explosives or whatever, even in the Danger Shop, during this week. Which limited the ones she could do some, and then after trying to figure it out she kinda got frustrated herself and said screw it (but not like that).

"We're having a movie day!" she announced, pulling out the TV for them to watch. "Today we're going to watch and see whether it's possible for a diver to get their head exploded with too much pressure."

Try thinking sexy thoughts about that!

Guiding the Powerful Yet Incompetent, Monday, Fourth Period

[tellmehowstuffworks]

"Your king now has a war raging along the southwestern border," Yennefer reported to the students. "It isn't going so well for him. Spring sowing in important agricultural areas could be in danger, and he assured everyone this would be quick, bloodless, that his army would be welcomed with open arms! Instead the locals keep throwing incendiary bombs at them and stealing their siege weapons.

"The king has decided to throw a feast for his nobles, to reassure them that everything is going fiiiiine. However, rather than the planned sumptuous meal of fifteen courses, he decided at the last minute that it would be rather droll to serve them peasant food, sourced from...some tavern somewhere. What can you foresee going wrong here, besides someone breaking a tooth on a pebble baked into the bread? Because that's sure to happen."

Exit Strategies, Monday, Period 2

[jedigrammarians]

"Sometimes," Aphra said, in a tone like she was imparting the very wisdom of the universe. "The thing you need to escape from is..."Dramatic pause."...yourself."


Aphra, it was sex pollen week, not idiot pollen. Even if it was hard to tell on occasion.

"Because sometimes your own worst enemy is yourself." That might be true for some people in this room. "Sometimes, mess up and you push everyone away and no one will take your calls anymore."

Then her comm unit crackled and a somewhat annoyed voice came out. "Flamingo Buffet? How did you even get the frequency to send me those pictures? Call me."

Aphra was already halfway out the door. "So think on that. You do like you? Or something."

Mad Kings & Queens: Raving Royals and How To Survive Them (Tuesday, 4th Period)

[atreideslioness]

When the class arrived today, they'd find the desks missing. Instead, there were cushions on the floor surrounding a large low table, with a game on it.

"I'm going to assume that most of you are completely unable to focus on anything remotely academic today," Ghanima stated.  If she looked faintly amused, well, what was going on didn't affect her unless she let it do so. "So today we're going to do a practical application."

"There is always a cost to removing a corrupt monarch from power," she continued. "People. Resources. There's not even a guarantee that you'll win."

"Each of you is a revolutionary trying to save their people. The person opposite you is a corrupt or insane ruler, that must be deposed." Ghanima held up one pawn, smiling. "It's up to each of you to decide where to draw the line for acceptable loss. Each army you lose is a point off your grade, unless you win it all."

"Have fun."