The Various Gods & You, Monday, First Period

[ifwebeworthy]

"Have you ever noticed how the Roman pantheon is mostly the Greek pantheon wearing new hats?" Don opened by asking the class.

"Was it conquest or trade that caused them to mirror the Greeks," Jane added. "Or was it just more common back then and most of the surviving texts are from Greek and Roman sources."

Food for thought!

"You do see it a lot, albeit usually not quite so...wholesale.." Don said. "Some of the Greek deities, in fact, were 'borrowed' from other cultures further to the east, and in Christianity you have Easter, which is ostensibly about the resurrection of Christ but takes its name from the West Germanic goddess of spring Eostre. And don't get me started on Christmas. Or there's Saint Brigid in the Catholic Church."

"It can be a form of conversion," Jane said. "A 'we have what you're familiar with here too' kind of thing."

If the class could gesture at Christmas some more... it would.

"Or it can be a bid for legitimacy, which is what's going on with Rome," Don explained. "The Romans adopted a revised origin story where their city was founded by people fleeing the destruction of Troy, so of course they were a continuation of Greek culture!...even though Troy wasn't Greek...but the thing I want you to consider is, how does this work when you're talking about real gods? Are there two people, Jupiter and Zeus? Does Zeus sometimes slap on a fake mustache and an Italian accent?"

"...that'd actually be pretty funny." Guys, no. "Better to just take this as a thought exercise because the implications are something."

And they didn't have time to unpack all of that.

It was Monday morning. No one wanted to do that. "So, yeah," Don said. "Discuss!"

Sex and Sexuality, Monday

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Today, the instructors stood at the front of the class, Jon looking a little more awkward than usual and Hannibal looking as calm as ever.

"Sex can be extremely fun," Hannibal began.

Jon rolled his eyes. "'Sex' encompasses a large variety of activities. Which we are not going into depth about, but we are going to discuss."

"There are also many things that may not be explicitly sexual, but are involved in relationships nevertheless," Hannibal added, "and it is important to know your boundaries."

"Everybody has them," Jon said. "Things you enjoy, things you don't, things you actively despise. Things you aren't sure of. If you don't know what yours are, you could come up against them or have a partner come up against them before you realize."

"I should hope it goes without saying," Hannibal added, arching an eyebrow, "but any partner who deliberately crosses your boundaries once you have set them out is not a person you should remain with."

Jon was giving Hannibal an incredulous look for that, but he wasn't about to get into things in front of class.

Honestly, it's not as if Will had ever told him not to frame him for murder.

Jon sighed. "So yes, it is important to discuss your boundaries with a partner. Or at least communicate them. It could be as simple as saying 'stop', or you could sit down and have an entire discussion. Mostly that depends on you and the situation."

"So, we have another quiz for you," Hannibal said cheerfully. "We will not be reviewing these in class." He passed out pages with a quiz on them. "These are best gone over on your own the first time, so that you can consider some of the variety of things you might be interested in or not. You may also at a later date go over them with your partner. We'll even give you another copy if you would like to give them one."

"Why kill ten trees when you could kil twenty?" Jon snarked. "I also have a URL I can give you for an online version. Anyway, go over these. We're here if you have any questions about what's in them, what something means, or how to use them."

Fast Talking, Monday, Period 2

[jedigrammarians]

Class was in the Danger Shop today. Which was nice and non-ominous.

Just as non-ominous as the fact the simulation seemed to be some sort of fighting arena with a bottomless pit in the middle and some very unsavoury looking characters with nasty, sharp, pointy weapons and nastier, sharper, pointer teeth.

"Sometimes fast talking isn't enough," Aphra called out from her and Isabela's position on the sidelines, safely outside the area. "And you'll have to resort to fast fists."

"Or daggers."

"Or blasters."

"You'll be fine," Isabela called out. "Just remember what we've taught you about teamwork this semester!"

But you hadn't taught them anything about teamwork.