Conversational Japanese; Wednesday, Fourth Period [04/03].

[id_kill_him]

"Well!" stated Yukari, with a scoff and maybe the faintest hint of a smirk on her face as she stood in the front of the classroom again finally. "It's nice of you all to finally show up for a change!"

Because, when in doubt, gaslight and insist that it was everyone else who was the problem! It was the Yukari Tanizaki way!

"So, we've probably got a lot to catch up on, and I was thinking, since it's spring, today, we'll focus on words and phrases associated with spring time and popular springtime activities in Japan. And, after we go over the vocabulary and contexts, you can partner up with a friend and practice trying to use them in a conversational way. Which follows the same formula we've been doing for the past few weeks, which you'd know if you were actually here.

"Naturally, then," she whipped toward the board so she didn't have to deal with any protests or arguments about the finer details there since she couldn't see anyone with her back to them, "we'll start with sakura...."

Wilderness Survival; Wednesday, Second Period [04/03].

[sword_chocobro]

Looks like the weather was holding out to be pretty springtime nasty and gross that day...

Perfect.

Of course class was being held outside today! Of course all the usual gear was waiting for everyone just outside of the preserve, keeping nice and dry and ready underneath a large tarp he'd put up well before class.

"Alright, everyone," he said, "gather on up under the tarp for now and enjoy it before we head out there, because, naturally, we're talking about hiking in crappy weather, and it looks like the forecast decided to cooperate with us on that one. Now, obviously, we're going to go over a lot of things, like protecting your gear and proper clothing and things like that, then we're gearing up, heading out, putting these into practice, and then at the end of the trail, I've already got a nice little shelter set up so we can get a fire going and warm up a bit with hot cocoa and things like that. If you're going to be trudging through the woods on a day like today, might as well have a little something to look forward to at the end, right?"

And that might not sound like everyone's idea of something to look forward to at the end, but, well, it wasn't their class, now, was it?

Teamwork, Wednesday, April 3, 2024

[sith_happened]

"Sometimes the best part of being in a team is not having to talk about something that happened," Anakin said, nodding. "Like last week. We will never ever ask what the other person was doing last week."

Heh. Doing. Also, truly what an inspirational and not at all unhealthy approach to life!

"We will also stop them actively volunteering the information," Ahsoka added. "Some things don't need to be shared." Like Anakin's sex life.

It was very fulfilling, thank you for not asking! "Stopping beings from over sharing is a skill that needs to be practiced, though. You can't always, for instance, just turn a droid off when it starts going down a doom spiral."

Sorry not sorry, Threepio.

"Sometimes you get lucky and something attacks and distracts everyone." From thinking about anyone in the classroom's sex life.

"That happens more often than you'd think," Anakin agreed. "Especially here."

...and now he was waiting for a well-timed attack.

So was Ahsoka. If only they'd thought ahead and established this class as taking place in the Danger Shop.

After a very awkward pause, Anakin cleared his throat. "Or you can just talk, I guess. Pair up. One start prattling on about something far too personal. The other person needs to make them stop. You'll get bonus points for creativity."

Was this how you ended up with students being gagged? Probably.

Did they care? Not as much as they should. It wasn't Ethics class.

Music, Wednesday

[suitably_heroic]

"Welcome back," Lana said. "Glad to see you're all improved." This week was much better than last. "Today we'll resume with discussing more modern music. In the mid-to-late nineteenth century, blues grew out of black music from the southern United States, and later from northern cities like Chicago. Artists like Leadbelly are typical of this style. It could merit an entire class on its own, but we're limited here; I encourage you to look it up yourself. A little later in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, ragtime developed, also predominantly from black artists; Scott Joplin's music is one of the more notable types."

Atton let out a slow huff. "By 'black people in the southern United States'," he said, "We mean enslaved people and their descendants." Beat. "But please continue."

"It should be noted that both of these types of music were peculiarly American," Lana said. "Eventually, a new American type of music developed with roots in both of them - jazz." Not jizz; that was entirely different. "It started in New Orleans, Louisiana; there are many subtypes of jazz, and several involve quite a bit of improvisation, so it can at times be difficult to define. But it moved the primary importance from the composer to the performer, prioritizing how things were played, rather than how they were written."

Atton nodded along, leaning back against the desk. "So what you saw a lot of in the early days were things like call and response, a legacy of blues," he said. "One musician plays something, the other reacts. As jazz developed, this became more elaborate, with musicians coming up with entire melodies on the spot. Of course, as the music got more popular, you also saw more forms of jazz where there was a composition, and then a spot for a soloist to go to town."

"When the government declared alcohol was illegal, underground clubs flourished," Lana continued, "with bands in them often playing jazz and fueling its popularity. Duke Ellington was one influential performer and composer, writing and collaborating on over a thousand pieces, many of which are still regarded as classics. Another popular performer was Ella Fitzgerald, known as the 'Queen of Jazz'. She was renowned and popular on her own, and also collaborated quite a bit with another prominent musician, Louis Armstrong.

"Jazz was one of the most popular forms of music for years, but then unfortunately there was a war, and between musicians being conscripted and the materials used for recordings being needed for martial purposes, it suffered a bit of a drawback. It drifted largely in two different directions - academic, less accessible music, and popular music with more diversified interests that became less...well, less 'jazzy', I suppose."

Atton pushed away from the desk. "These days, a lot of people look at jazz as a kind of old, classical art in its own way, deeply improvisational and experimental," he said. "In what originally came to be known as 'bebop', notes didn't have to go well together for it to work as jazz, creating an alienating effect called disonance. The tempos could go fast and strange, and chord progressions were combined and complicated. The traditions of classical music were no longer sacred. Eventually, it led to the birth of free jazz, which loosened up the rules even further."

He shrugged. "It's not for everyone, and other styles of jazz persist to this day," he said. "Meanwhile, the interest of the masses moved away to something a little rougher but more conventional. But we'll talk about those guys next week."

He tapped the music player. "Today, we're going to listen to some jazz standards," he said. "We're going to try to play 'Summertime' together, and I want everyone to try some improv. All right?"

APPLICATIONS FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS FOR SUMMER 2024!

[bigdamnprincipal]

Hello everyone! It's time again for applications! To apply, read the following information, click the link to the application form, fill it out for the character you want to play, and send it off!

( The basics you need to know )

* As we continue the process of transitioning the game to a collegiate setting, no freshmen, sophomores, or juniors will be accepted. All student applications must be for seniors or college students.

* Teachers are required to teach at least one class/workshop per week, and be accessible to students when needed. This also applies for characters applying to teach an adult class at the Community Center, rather than one at the school.

* If you would like to apply for a new character to teach an adult workshop, fill out the Character Application exactly as if you were applying for a teacher, but mark it "Townie" instead. Note in the Course Description that it would be an adult workshop, not a student workshop. Because of the need to keep track of the adult workshops being offered and start them at the same time, these applications will be processed on the same schedule as student/teacher applications.

* Current townies or teachers can also apply to teach an adult workshop. If you would like to teach an adult workshop with a current character, you can fill out a limited application by following the instructions here.

* See this post for more about character activity.

* All accepted characters go on probation for the first month. After that time, if there's anyone who's disappeared or is causing problems, we'll talk to them about it and possibly discuss removal from the game. It's very difficult to get to the removal stage.

* Improvisation. Fandom High is a balance between planning and improvisation. Some people plan plots, but a lot of the day-to-day stuff is purely improvisation where you throw a bunch of characters together and see what happens.


( What’s needed to apply )

( Early applications )

( What happens once you’ve applied )

( Notes for Current Players )

( Notes for New Players )

Application Form (This is a GDoc whose text you can paste into an e-mail or attach as a txt file, then send to us at fandomhighadmins dot iambicnut dot com.)

You only need to fill out the parts that are relevant to the type of character you are applying for (ie: if you're a student applicant, don't fill in the stuff marked 'Townies Only').

If you don't get a confirmation email from us within 24 hours, please email us!

Applications close April 28th at 11:59pm Eastern. The next application session for students and teachers after this will be for the Fall session in July!

Got a question? We're here to answer it!