The Multiverse is F'd, Y'all; Wednesday, Second Period [09/20].

[somethingwithturquoise]

"Today," said Summer, from the front of the classroom where their first portal was all warmed up and ready to go for the first leg of their lesson, "we're going to take a little bit of time and sort of explore some of the diversity of the multiverse, which is sort of a loaded statement, since, as mentioned before and as will be mentioned until you're absolutely sick of it, the multiverse is literally infinite, it has no limits, nearly anything is possible. Which, by the way, side-note, if there really is something you'd like to see in the multiverse, don't hesitate to bring it up to me. It might take some doing, but I'll see if it's possible to turn it into a whole thing for this class. But right now? We're going to narrow it down a little and focus on some of the diversity that can exist in even just one universe, with keeping in mind that while this universe has this, there are many universes that do not. How different are those universes because of this disparity? Well, that's a pretty big question a little too out of the purview of some thrown together community college class, really, but not a bad idea to keep things like that in mind as we traverse the galaxy.

"Now," she continued, "a long, long time ago, in a galaxy not far away from this one, really, on the grand scale of where multiverses are placed next to each other if even such a thing exists, before I ever came here as a student myself, my family and I were on the run from an Evil Galactic Empire^TM and needed to just sort of chill for a while. Only problem is that, with an Evil Galactic Empire^TM, there's only a limited amount of human-habitable planets left that aren't already under their thumb, and you better believe that there was a reason for it. So we're going to do a little planet hopping today, and I'm going to take you to those three planets, or just a little spell each, and then we'll come back here and discuss some of the notable differences, if there's anything familiar in your universe, and whatever else about our experiences. Sound good, yeah? If there aren't any questions, then, let's get on up and get going! Off to the Cob Planet!"

Yeah. You heard that right.

Rube Goldberg and You, Wednesday, September 20, 2023

[meepmeepmeep]

Well, the attempt on Stark's maker space during the party had gone...less well...for Beaker. So! Back to the drawing board!

Today, the class would be able to interpret from the props objects around the Danger Shop, was devoted to being able to launch yourself through a window. There were scale model pieces if you didn't want to risk life and limb and a Gonzo-sized motorcycle if you were, well, Gonzo.

There were also windows (without glass, Beaker had some sense of safety) to try to launch yourselves through--and fire suppressant foam to cover you in when you succeeded.

Because that's what happened when Beaker got onto that floor on Friday.

"Meep meep meep!" Beaker said when his all-meep explanation of the activity had been completed.

The History of Assassination. Wednesday, First Period [9/20]

[atreideslioness]

As students arrived today, Ghani was putting a very awake and chatty Trebor into what resembled a pack-and-play, except that when she pushed a button, a force field surrounded it.

Look, you deal with assassination threats your way, Ghanima handles them in hers.

"So!" she said, as Trebor made babbling sounds in the background. "Some of you have wondered what is the difference between assassination and murder."

"Perhaps some of you will say money, because a professional killer is historically involved in the vast majority of assassinations, with personal assassination only really coming into fashion in the last few centuries."

"However, the answer is simple: how much of a public figure is the victim? An assassination is the murder of a public figure, and they are often politically motivated. If someone kills your dog, regardless of if they were paid to do it or not, that’s not an assassination, that’s just murder -- unless, perhaps, your dog was running for mayor and there was a disagreement on policy."

This was Fandom Island, Ghanima ruled out nothing.

"So, to be clear, first up, we have homicide," she said, actually walking over the board to write the word large across it. "Homicide is a manner of death, when one person causes the death of another. Not all homicide is murder, as some deaths caused by another person are manslaughter, and some are lawful; such as when justified by an affirmative defense, like insanity or self-defense."

"Then we have murder. The unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another. The victim is a regular person, and the motive is often personal. He murdered her because he suspected her of having an affair. She murdered him for his inheritance. Or it was an impulsive murder fueled by an argument of some kind."

"Then, finally, crowning the pile, is assassination. A murder by sudden or secret attack of a public figure, often for political or religious reasons."

"The earliest known use of the verb "to assassinate" in printed English was by Matthew Sutcliffe in A Briefe Replie to a Certaine Odious and Slanderous Libel, Lately Published by a Seditious Jesuite, a pamphlet printed in 1600, five years before it was used in Macbeth by William Shakespeare. However, assassination as a tool is far older than our use of this particular word for the act."

"The Egyptian pharaoh Teti, of the Old Kingdom Sixth Dynasty in the 23rd century BCE, is thought to be the earliest known victim of assassination, though written records are scant and thus evidence is circumstantial. Two further ancient Egyptian monarchs are more explicitly recorded to have been assassinated; Amenemhat I of the Middle Kingdom Twelfth Dynasty in 20th century BCE is recorded to have been assassinated in his bed by his palace guard, meanwhile contemporary judicial records relate the assassination of New Kingdom Twentieth Dynasty monarch Ramesses III in 1155 BCE as part of a failed coup attempt. Between 550 BC and 330 BC, seven Persian kings of Achaemenid Dynasty were assassinated."

"Both The Art of War, a 5th-century BC Chinese military treatise, and Chanakya's political treatise Arthashastra cover assassination, and its costs. I will teach Art of War either in the spring, or next fall."

"Now, I'm curious. How do you feel about the lines between homicide, murder, and assassination?"