Ethical Dilemmas, Thursday, (Per 1)

[deathsmajesty]

Liliana had reached out and informed the class that they would be meeting in the Danger Shop today several days before the island had decided to be cute. So, the giant steamer trunk that simply said THE MENDING (in all the alphabets that she could read, including Braille for maximum rudeness!) that had nearly blocked her in the room this morning hadn't only inconvenienced her--as well as proving her her previous decision both right and prescient. Had she thought that being in the Danger Shop would stop the luggage from appearing, however....well, that she was sad to discover was not to be.

( Might Get More Bags After This Class... )

"But, what is easy to decide in a solarium, surrounded by your peers and focusing only on a single child's misery, may become much harder when you are face to face with the people who will actually pay the price for your actions." She waved around the park, then pointed to various buildings. A hospital. A university. A day care. A market. "Welcome to Omelas, darlings. Today's ethical decision: decide whether or not you will be the personal architect of the city's downfall. Best of luck."

American National Park Tours with Sam Eagle, Thursday 5/29, period 2

[but_mostly_america]

Sam had awoken to find a very classy leather briefcase embossed with ‘Emotions Are For Weirdos.’ He accepted this from the island as a gift that he was due, obviously.

And now he was in front of Portalocity once again waiting for his students to arrive. He just happened to have a very snazzy briefcase with him.

“Good morning, students! Today we shall be visiting New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia!”

“This park is the newest in our National Park System, having been redesignated in 2020! It exists to protect the New River Gorge.”

“While we were there you may participate in such activities as whitewater rafting! I recommend you not bring all your luggage with you on a raft! Or on a hike. Or on any of the tours. In fact I recommend none of you bring luggage at all. This is a field trip! There is no need for this excess!” Sam shook his head disapprovingly. He did most things disapprovingly.

“There are also guided tours and you may visit the visitor's centers! You may go on hikes! You may do anything appropriate to a National Park setting! I recommend visiting Thurmond for history, railroad history!”

“Do not,” Sam said, eyeing everyone fiercely, “miss the return portal! I will not come back for you!”

Philosophy of Food, 3rd period

[sharp_man]

"Good afternoon," Hannibal said, nodding to the class. "Today we continue our discussion of what is and isn't food, and how our preferences are formed."

He waved toward the table behind him, which held pairs of dishes this time. "We've got an assortment of foods and beverages today, organized into pairs. You may choose only one from each pair - you cannot have both. You may choose neither, if you prefer. But in any case, you must explain your choice. Why do you prefer the option you've chosen - taste? Nostalgia? Curiosity? Feel free to debate with each other as well, and ask each other or me questions. Remember, there are no wrong answers - it's reasoning and thought we're looking for."

The Art of Breakfast, Thursday, Period 4

[carbsliftthespirit]

Yes, even Raiden had a couple of bags following him around today, although they were relatively small and he was mostly ignoring them. (One said DUMB and another said CURSED and, well, he was both of those things. What of it?) He had more important things to worry about.

When the students entered the home ec classroom, they would find their teacher on the phone. "I don't care about interior design, I just want to open as soon as--you care about interior design." Of course Castor cared about interior design. "Hey, listen, do you have a bunch of bags following you around today? No, no reason--look, I gotta go, class is starting. I'll call you back."

He hung up and smiled at his students. "Sorry about that! Just dealing with some business stuff. This week we're going to talk about breakfast meat! Because man cannot protein by eggs alone, or something like that. Of course, some people are vegetarians and we don't judge them for that, and they have to get their protein from...beans and stuff. But I don't think we have any vegetarians in this class?" he double checked, before going on with, "If you do I have some vegan breakfast sausage, but it's..." Look, it was up to you.

"Obviously you can eat any kind of meat for breakfast and no one's gonna stop you, but some are more common than others. The most common breakfast meat in the US is probably pork, in the form of sausage and bacon," Raiden told his students. "Turkey, say, is not common at breakfast except in the form of 'healthier' alternatives to pork sausage and pork bacon, and you only see chicken--well, again in sausages, chicken apple sausage is really good, but also in the South in the form of fried chicken breast served on a biscuit or a waffle. Beef makes a show in dishes like corned beef hash or steak and eggs, and for seafood, you can put smoked salmon on a bagel up in New York, or go back to the South for shrimp or fried catfish served with grits." The South was killing it in the food game once again.

He gestured to a table full of food behind him, featuring the various breakfast dishes he'd just named and a few more besides, all separated out by type of meat (or "meat" in the case of the vegetarian alternatives) and carefully labeled. "I need your help with a project of mine. I want y'all to try this stuff, and tell me what you think. What's your favorite? What are you not into? What's missing?" Yes, he was using you for menu market research, but he was also feeding you.

Library, Thursday 5/29

[noonedecidesmyfate]

Belle had some bags with her today. A trunk labeled "Mama" and a somehow aggressively masculine bag labeled "technically still betrothed ugh" and assorted smaller items that she was doing her best to keep organized and out of anyone's way.

The usual gremlins had a few bags of their own, apparently. Belle would have simply nodded and moved on but some of them had decided to play catch with smaller items and that was disruptive. And odd.

She sighed and put her feet up on the trunk, pushing the bag with "Avoiding Home" aside as she did so.