fandomhigh | So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 1, Period 3

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So You Say You Want a Revolution: Week 1, Period 3

Aly was enjoying being back in a classroom, perching on her desk and watching the students make their way into the class. She smiled at the students who had that shiny patina of being brand new to Fandom and nodded to Ino ~~if she was there~~ as a student she'd known before. Once everyone was close to seated, she stood up, leaning back against the desk.

"Good morning. I'm going to admit straight off that I might be a little rusty with this whole teaching thing. It's been a little while," she gave a little smirking smile that said you could take her seriously at your own risk. "I'm Alianne of Pirate's Swoop. You all can call me Aly, duani is acceptable if you're uncomfortable with just a nickname, but the first person who calls me Miss Aly gets me unhappy."

"This class is 'So You Say You Want a Revolution.' If you're not interested in revolutions, pretend because you already missed the class on Canada. During the term, we're going to talk about why formenting revolution can be a good thing. We're going to discuss what revolutions can be used for, how they can be put together, and why a failed revolution can be just as effective." She gazed at all of them with a slight smile. "And yeah, I hate theory so practicalities will be covered. Demolitions, weaponry, organisation, magic - or not, tactics." She grinned. "And my favourite, intelligence."

"Ten years ago, I helped organise a rebellion that put my Queen in power and have served as her Spymaster ever since - when I wasn't teaching here, of course. Almost everything I'm going to be teaching you is what I learned during the rebellion and in the years since. And if I didn't learn it there, it's something that was useful to me at the time." She paused for a moment before adding. "In spying, your brain is almost everything - half of spying is half mental which I've said many, many times before. A single person can't put together an effective revolution. But a single person can destroy one. And a destroyed rebellion feeds only the ravens and Stormwings. It's a dangerous game. And one you have to commit to fully if you're going to succeed."

"Today I'm going to be traditional - for once - and get to know all of you. I'd also like to hear what you think about revolutions and rebellions. When are they appropriate, what would it take to rebel against the current power structure of your home country, society, or even this school." She smiled mischievously. "I'm looking for a TA or two too so if you're interested, let me know."

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She is there and still vaguely amused at being back.

"What does duani mean exactly?" Ino asked curiously, approaching after class. "And hi! I figured it's best to ask before callin' someone something I don't know the full meaning of."

Also, she was interested in a TA position--but Ino tended to take a bit of time to lead into things.

Aly shook her head, amused at the question. "Boss lady. Either that or 'grandma,' the translation can go both ways. It's what my pack started calling me when I was sixteen."

"Pack?" Ino asked lightly. "I'd guess you're still too young to be a grandma, huh?"

A beat.

"Boss lady, though, I get. Duani. Kinda fun to say, no?" She thought so. Ino tugged at her hair a bit. "I might've caught the bit where you said you were lookin' for a TA or two?"

"Gods, I hope so," Aly laughed in response to question. "I don't need to be a grandma for a long, long time." She nodded. "I am definitely. Should I consider you as volunteering?"

Ino grinned at her. "Absolutely," she assured her. "How could I not, for a class on revolutions?"

Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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"If there is an opening to assist in the course..." And he was asking as someone who expected to be turned down; interested, but slightly defeated beforehand.

"There'll be openings for everyone to assist," Aly said, eyebrow raised expressively at his attitude. "In fact, I doubt it'll be much good at all if everyone doesn't participate."

Okay, that was...confusing. "So...you don't need a TA anymore?"

"Oh no, I do," she replied, a little amused. "Why are you interested?"

Cloud shrugged a little. "I have some experience with rebellions, and this course seems...veru interesting." And different from the Macro-Tactics one; he liked both, but Aly had a different approach he wanted to explore.

Rinoa was hesitant, but like that ever stopped her.

"Hi," she said uncertainly. "So ... this class will help us be more effective? My group back home, I mean."

Count her among those interested in possibly TA-ing, as well ~~just to make your life more difficult zomg sorry~~.

"That is my hope," Aly said, giving the girl a smile. "You probably already know no one has all the answers, but I'm hoping it'll help you think about possibilities that maybe haven't come up yet."

"Like ... ethics?" Rinoa asked hesitantly. "We've already had some disagreements about tactics."

"Like ethics," she agreed. "Those disagreements will probably continue for as long as you're dealing with the situation. Even if you win, years later, people are going to be arguing over how to punish collaborators, how to split up regained land."

After all the staring he'd done and the intelligent discussion he'd gotten from the teacher, Nico felt like he should maybe he should say something to her after class. And if he was radiating a bit fear, well, it was just because he was just steeling himself to deal with someone he was unsure of. "Professor? I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" Aly repeated, a mischievous amusement playing about her lips. The fear wasn't acknowledged. "For what?"

"Uh, mostly for making everyone in here think," Nico said, what with Percy using his brain for five seconds and all. "But this is the first formal education I can remember...and I can't wait for next week." There was a little bounce within him that he was holding back, what with this being a Serious Topic and all.

"Formal education is vastly overrated," she told him. Which might be an odd position for a teacher. "But if you paid attention in that casino of yours, you probably have a good handle on how humans behave. It'll help as you continue on." The word choice of 'humans' there was on purpose. 'Mortals' just seemed decidedly unsubtle.

"I don't know that there were many humans there," Nico said, trying to think back. It was such a blur of games, he hardly recalled seeing even Bianca...sad as that was.

Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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Re: Talk to Aly [Rev 9-1]

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After class, Percy stuck around and wandered over to the teacher. He didn't know why since he didn't tend to mix well with teachers but he was fairly sure she wasn't going to attack him.

"I've never had a teacher that just taught a class on revolutions and rebellions," he said absently. "Usually it's part of some boring social studies unit."

She wasn't an idiot. She only attacked gods if she knew she was going to beat them.

Aly chuckled at his comment. "You're not wrong about it being boring," she admitted. "And a class about 'great rebellions in earth's history' would probably work at Fandom, but I'd put myself to sleep teaching it and few of you would learn anything worth learning other than how to not pay attention."

Not getting attacked made it a fairly decent day in Percy's book. It had happened before so he was always wary of it happening again.

"I can barely stay focused in interesting classes so boring ones would end up being nap time," he said honestly, shrugging. ADHD was good for some things, not good for others. "It's good that you have experience though. Probably makes it easier to teach the class."

And it made him more likely to pay attention if it wasn't straight reading from a textbook.

She eyed him, amused at his candor. "So, blowing up schools on accident? Sounds like you might have some experience too."

Percy scratched his cheek which was more a way to stall than anything else.

"Uh. I was just kidding. I haven't blown up anything," he lied, not really sounding all that convincing. Considering she was focusing on that, he figured he wouldn't believable. "I don't have any way to do that."