Wilderness Survival; Wednesday, Second Period [03/06].

[sword_chocobro]

"Well, everyone," said Gladio, with a nod, as they were back on that familiar mountaintop again, "time to get back to it. When we left off before the break, we were talking a lot about sustenance. We've covered how to obtain water, some good foraging practices, and different methods of fishing. Today, we're going to up that to a bit of small game hunting and trapping, so apologies to anyone who gets a little squeamish about the fact, out here in the wilderness, there's nothing between us and the meat we eat except ourselves. And I'm not sure about the rest of you, but it hits a little different when it's meat you've caught yourself, that's for sure. Especially when there's no meat at all if you don't.

"Now, we're going to go over a lot of different things about small game hunting and trapping," Gladio continued, "including several different kinds of snares and traps and how to build some, as well as a general overview of what kind of small game you might find most places. Obviously, that's going to change a lot depending on where you are, but that just goes to show that, when going to a new place, it's always good to research this sort of thing before going, because you never know what might come in handy to know. As for today, this list will cover everything programmed into the simulation so you know what you might be hunting for in just a bit. And if there's not any initial questions, then, I'm just gonna jump right in."

Conversational Japanese; Wednesday, Fourth Period [03/06].

[id_kill_him]

All of her exploits around the vehicles scattered throughout the Astrotorium had, unfortunately, not satiated Yukari's need for speed, but rather had only made it more potent. What did that have to do with the fact that she'd eschewed all the desks in the room to the side and brought in some beanbag chairs and a couple of stations with video games and screens (boy oh boy, did she love the seemingly endless plethora of resources this school had!)? Well, you were about to find out!

"Driving in Japan," she stated, "is not nearly as common as driving here in the United States, especially inside the city, where biking, walking, and public transportation are all pretty popular, but driving is a lot of fun, and I'm personally a big fan of it and try to do it whenever I possibly can back home!"

Despite all the violations and bans and not even having a car and yet somehow always managing to convince her parents to let her borrow theirs!

"So, today," she said, "we're going to learn some words and phrases around driving, some general information about driving in Japan, and, even more importantly, we're going to talk about drifting and words associated with it!"

Because that was definitely going to come up a lot in your every day associations with using Japanese, right?

"Then, finally, we're going to put that knowledge to work by playing racing video games for the rest of the day, so let's make this short and sweet and get to the good stuff!"

Music, Wednesday

[suitably_heroic]

Atton had somehow found himself a small stool, and he was sitting on it in front of the class. This was his topic, so he figured he’d take a little of the pressure off of Lana. For now, anyway.

“Singing,” he said, “Tends to be something people think they either have a talent for, or they don’t. That’s poodoo. Even I’ve had to grudgingly admit that technique and soft squishy ‘reach within yourself’ kind of crap has got something to do with doing it well.”

He tapped his chair with both hands. “Now there’s not just one way to sing,” he said. “Most music genres, in fact, have their own quirks, whether we’re talking about loud, dramatic operatic singing, loud, dramatic metal grunting, or… well, all of the soft stuff in between. We don’t have the time to focus on teaching you the intricacies of any of them, but we do have the time to get you started on the basics. Which mostly means breathing.”

He pushed up out of his chair. “Breathing and singing are linked. I mean, the noise we make when we open our mouths is basically our body manipulating our breath on the way out, right? When we sing, we mostly use our diaphragm, a muscle right underneath our lungs.” He patted it over his chest. “It, not our lungs, is really the key to breath control,” he said. “As I understand it, anyway.”

He glanced at the class.

“I want you all to stand up and put your hands right here.” He patted his chest again. “Then, without squaring your shoulders or making a big deal about it, inhale. Let your breath move that part of your chest, and nothing else.”

A breath.

“...and release,” he said. “There. Now you know the basic, very first, for-beginners breathing technique for singing. We’re going to practice a few more today.” Beat. “And then? You’re all doing karaoke.”

He looked towards Lana. “Including you.”

Lana raised an eyebrow at him, but didn't argue. "Whether any of us can carry a tune is apparently a question for another day." She didn't think she was terrible, but she wouldn't be quitting her day job. "If you've ever done meditation," she told the class, "the breath is a similar technique. The idea is that you want it to expand your diaphragm, which fills more of your lungs than just the top, which is what happens when you breathe shallowly."

She demonstrated that, too. "So, as Atton said, keep your attention here," she gestured, "and breathe deeply."

And hope you could remember the tune to something Earthly in your vocal range.

Teamwork, March 6, 2024

[sith_happened]

Anakin and Ahsoka were once again standing before the class with more than a few feet of distance between them.

"Sometimes things get awkward between team members," Anakin said in one of the more predictable and obvious set ups for a class, "and ignoring it until one of you moves or dies isn't an effective strategy."

"Not that that stops some people trying," Ahsoka added, voice dry as Tatooine. "Hard as that might be to believe."

"I'm as surprised as anyone to hear that," Anakin said.

Ahsoka didn't even miss a beat before replying with "Some people also have a teaching philosophy of do as I say, not as I do."

"There was an entire Temple of that," Anakin muttered. "Regardless, waiting for the heat death of the universe isn't an option, so eventually you must do something else."

He was choosing being passive aggressive, for instance.

Really? Ahsoka hadn't noticed.

"Rest assured that if you don't, the universe will find a way to force the issue." Was Ahsoka blaming their recent sleeping arrangements on the will of the Force? Yes.

Because the Force hated Anakin Skywalker in particular. Yup. Very reasonable assumption to draw. "So how would you deal with, say, sharing a tight space with someone you don't like very much?" Anakin asked.

"Or who you like, but have very understandable mixed feelings towards." Ahsoka's life would be much easier if she didn't like Anakin.