Shop Class; Tuesday, Fourth Period [02/13].

[special_rabbit]

Amaya stood at the front of the classroom, not with her usual excitement for a project as she usually was, but, instead, with a deep sigh and a shake of her head.

"Apropos of absolutely nothing," she insisted as a way to get things started, "we're doing a project today that's going to utilize a lot of the tools and skills we've learned up to this point and learn how to make metal roses."

It was such a shame, really, that such a cool project was always tied in with such a terrible holiday, but....it was a cool project, and the students did seem to like it, and it was always a bit some good advertising for one of the more profitable items at the shop, especially this time of year.

"Now," she said, smoothing into that whole advertising part for a moment, "these are similar to the ones I actually make every year in my shop, but those are created and hammered out in the forge. These skip some of those steps and will utilize other tools, like metal saws, drills, and welding torches, to created an equally stunning result. Metal has a reputation for being tough, strong, and durable, but hopefully, this lesson shows you that, if you only know how, you can bend it to do some pretty impressive stuff fairly easily!"

There was a slight pause, the sort of pause of a woman who wished she could just go back to being oblivious to the metaphor inherent in her work.

"Anyway," she said, shaking her head, "I'll walk you through the process, let me know if you've got questions, and then it's time to gear up and get started on your own!"

In the Cupcake of Good and Evil, Tuesday 2nd Period [2/13]

[stykera]

“There's a holiday tomorrow,” Stark said. “With chocolates and hearts and flowers. I thought about chocolate but then I worried what my co-teacher might do to that chocolate. I'm still worried.”

Just look at all that worry on Stark's face. Really.

To that, Summer could only scoff. "Pffft," she said. "Like I'm going to stick with anything as pedestrian as just chocolate today. I mean, you could do chocolate, it's going to fit into our focus of the day, but you could also do plenty of other things. Because a trend in cupcakes, cakes, and desserts in general these days is definitely giving a little extra surprise with those cupcakes by including a filling."

Sounded pretty safe so far, right? Only if you didn’t know Summer! Stark knew Summer very well and was eyeing her warily.

“I’ve made a strawberry champagne filling for strawberry champagne cupcakes,” he said, gesturing proudly in the direction of his cupcakes once he stopped watching Summer. “They seemed…seasonally appropriate?” That they were also likely to be something his co-teacher would enjoy was an even bigger reason he’d gone that route but surely everyone knew that already.

"And I made…." Summer started, tilted her head as she considered how to best describe what she made. "....well, I'll just let them [NSFL link omg] speak for themselves."

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

"So as you can see," Summer continued along brightly as if she hadn't just ruined everyone's whole hour, day, possibly week or month, "there's a lot of different directions you can go with a filled cupcake. Let's see what direction you decide to take!"

Stark just sighed and rubbed at his eye as if trying to erase the memory of what he’d just seen.

Art in STEM, Tuesday, February 13, 2024

[heroic_jawline]

There were two boxes of donuts for the class (and the leftovers to feed one supersoldier) due to the holiday today.

"Happy Mardi Gras!" Tony said brightly. Nary a bead on him, alas.

Well, sometimes Steve used his Very Disappointed In You face and so the beads stayed home. "And it's also the day before Valentine's Day, so just...keep your sweets eating to a somewhat healthy level, okay?" Steve added.

Somewhere there was a Captain America PSA about tooth decay.

Oh, was Tony going to have to cancel the giant chocolate fountain he ordered?

"But today we'll be talking about love locks. Or those padlocks you might see on bridges all over the world."

...let's not be hasty about cancelling the giant chocolate fountain.

"The padlocks--like on the Love Locks Bridge in Paris--add too much weight to the structure and break it," Steve said, looking disappointed in humanity.

"It's a very cute gesture, yes," Tony said. "But it can get out of hand very quickly."

Steve nodded. "So today let's brainstorm either ways to reinforce a bridge to prepare for the weight or ways to show your love that doesn't include destruction of public property."

Diplomacy, Relationships & Tactics: the Art of War [Tuesday, Period 1]

[atreideslioness]

 "Today we are going to discuss the breaking-down of tactics and use of energy," Ghanima announced briskly, Trebor strapped to her back, napping, as she paced about the room. "Energy, to Tzu, was vital in the directing of a force, as was the endless combination of tactics at his disposal."

"First, tactics are not always as straight forward as they may seem." She turned away from them and quickly wrote out on the board;

10. In battle, there are not more than two methods
of attack--the direct and the indirect; yet these two
in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn.
It is like moving in a circle--you never come to an end.
Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

"Endless permutations, all made possible by the energy held by your troops." Ghanima continued to write, her slanted scrawl quickly filling the board as she spoke. "The limits only created by your own lack of imagination, and the strengths and weaknesses of your force."

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined
energy, and does not require too much from individuals.
Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize
combined energy.

22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting
men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones.
For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain
motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope;
if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if
round-shaped, to go rolling down.

23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men
is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain
thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.

"So. Energy feeding into tactics, and vice versa. What is an indirect tactic versus a direct one? How do you know? How does 'energy' work into it all?"

"Discuss."