fandomhigh | The Pen Is Mightier [Thursday, 1st Period]

Rick was not in the classroom today, rather like he hadn't been in class last week. This time, though, there was someone to replace him. Or at least stand in for him. That someone was the Doctor, a man who looked to be in his 20s with a thing for tweed and bow ties.

"Hello! Your teacher is missing. Nothing to be alarmed about, though my TAs are missing too, so perhaps there is. Not sure. I should find out." He'd been busy with things. "I will find out," he assured them. "But not now, because we have a class to teach. Me to teach, you to learn. The Pen is Mightier. It doesn't say what it's mightier than, but the power of the word is very mighty indeed, so let's agree with that. I'm the Doctor, by the way, in case you didn't know and need to call for help. I don't know what you'll need to call for help for, but it never hurts to be prepared.

We won't be writing today, so you can put your pens away, but every good story that's been written down started out in someone's head or someone telling a story out loud to someone else. They turn into novels or short stories or sometimes urban legends or myths. I have a few myths about myself around the place, though only part of them are true. So here we go. There are only a few of you, we should be able to manage this. We're going to come up with a story, off the top of our heads, doesn't matter how detailed or simple it is. You start. Say it out loud for everyone to hear and then pass it off to the next person to continue when you're done. We'll keep going round and round until we're finished."

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Like you wish your teacher hadn't disappeared only to be replaced by this nutter.

Prince Alexander of Daventry

Christian

Raven

Karla

Harper Finkle

As teenagers often do at length.

Raven hoped Professor Castle was all right, though this being Fandom, people vanishing from time to time wasn't actually always cause for alarm.

Karla was perhaps a bit surprised to see the Doctor in the classroom, rather than Mr. Castle, but it wasn't like she hadn't gotten used to his mannerisms already.

Harper was also hoping that Mr. Castle was okay, wherever he was, and that if he got changed into a painting, that he was at least hanging up in an interesting museum.

Someone start the story, say a few sentences of it and then tag the next person to carry on!

"Once upon a time," Christian began, as all good stories began, "there was a young man. He was poor, a cobbler's son, but handsome and very brave. One day, he heard there would be a tournament in the town where he lived to win the king's daughter's hand. So he went to his mother and said ...."

And there he stopped, waiting for someone to continue the tale.

Raven didn't think the poor girl would want to be given away as a prize for some sort of contest, so she took another path.

"And he said 'I do not think it is fair that the king's daughter has no choice but to wed someone who wins a tournament. I am going to go to the castle to see if I may speak to her and make certain if she is content with this fate, and if she is not, I will help her to escape it.' And his mother wished him well on his quest."

Apparently the brave, handsome cobbler's son was a meddler, just like Raven could be at times.

Funny, this was all sounding strangely familiar to Alexander as he picked it up.

"Of course," he offered, "the quest would not be an easy one. Not at all. In order to reach the castle, he had to traverse through the dark Forest of Kaviinaar, with its bent and twisted grey trees. Origianlly, the forest had been meant to be defense for the castle, and the town had built up on the other side, but since then, a terrible darkness had overtaken it. Rumour had it that an old hag of a witch lived in these woods, and was wont to make unsuspecting travellers her daily repast. Thankfully, though, the brave, handsome cobbler's son was equipped with..."

There he trailed off, to let the next person think of what wonderful tool their hero might have at hand.

"A stout heart, a quick wit, and, most importantly, a pair of shoes that could fly," Karla supplied, remembering Luke's shoes from Friday. "While he had been raised to fear the forest, he had never encountered anything more dangerous than a woodland creature when he was sent gather herbs and plants for their meals from the outskirts of the forest. So, whistling a jaunty tune, the cobbler's son entered the depths of the forest, heading deep into the heart of it. Barely had the shapes of the village been swallowed up by the trees when he discovered..."

"A HUGE lake!" added Harper. "At first, the cobbler's son wondered if he could go around it, but after walking for ages along the shore, he didn't feel like he was getting anywhere. So then he tried to wade out into the water to see how deep it was, but he had to turn back when the water came up to his shoulders. You see, the cobbler's son couldn't swim. What he really needed was..."

"What does everyone remember about the story? You won't remember all of the details unless you have an excellent memory, and that's fine. The point is, writing things down opens them up to long-term interpretation, but at least everyone is looking at the same text and making their judgments from that rather than a story that sits in your memory and changes every time you think about it. You forget things, remember things, remember things wrongly or differently. Oral stories continue to take shape long after the first telling. Written stories do too, but I'll let your teacher tell you about that if he ever comes back. When he comes back," the Doctor corrected. "When. Probably when."

He's the madman scanning the room with a sonic screwdriver, in case you can't tell which one he is.

Rick's player's computer is still a work in progress, but will hopefully be back in working order tomorrow. She sends her apologies from the corner where she's rocking back and forth from internet withdrawal. I'm in class for most of the afternoon and evening, so please be patient with me for pings if you need me.

The Pen Is Mightier [Thursday, 1st Period]

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Arrive, Mingle, Talk

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Activity: Round Robin Story

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Activity: After the Story

Talk to the Doctor

OOC