Sex And Candy, Wednesday, Second Period

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy had left a note on the classroom door telling the students to head up to the Danger Shop. As the students arrived, they would see that it had been programmed to look like a beautiful garden. A closer examination would show that everything in the garden was edible--more than simply edible, even. Much of it was candy. Spun-sugar flowers decorated the path. The bark of the trees might be made of candied peppermint, or peanut brittle, or simple chocolate. Even the 'dirt' was made of crumbled cookie pieces, with gummy worms burrowing through. Colorful rocks were little pieces of hard candy and the weeping willow dangled branches of thin caramel over the path. The apple tree was growing candy apples, of every different variety, and the tiny lemon tree gushed lemonade when the bark was cut.

Today, class was held in a garden full of moddable candy and treats.

A really sharp observer might notice that there was no sign of Cindy.

[Please wait for OCD up]

Comments

15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"WHO GOES THERE, TRESPASSING UPON MY LANDS AND EATING OF MY GARDEN?!?" The voice roars and echoes through the garden, accompanied by a cold wind and lowering skies. The lights go out and all is pitch black for a moment--and when the lights come back on, Cindy is sitting casually in the center of the garden, grinning at the students.

"Sorry for the theatrics, folks," she said. "But we're talking about fairy tales and the forms must be observed." She gestures at everyone to take a seat around. "Hi, I'm Cindy Perrault and this term we're going to be talking about fairy tales--not the safe, happy fairy tales where only the bad guys get hurt. We'll be looking at the older stories, the ones that carry lessons to children--the ones that don't flinch away from death or blood or sex or pain. Sometimes all of them at once."

"But that's for a little later. Today, we're doing introductions, so I'd like your name, class, your favorite fairy tale and why you like it so much. Don't worry if you're not from this time or this world--your favorite story will do."

Introduce Yourselves

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"I'm Cindy Perrault and my favorite fairy tale is the Seven Little Goats (http://www.grimmstories.com/en/grimm_fairy-tales/the_wolf_and_the_seven_little_goats), mostly because it's a story that has a mother who is neither evil nor absent, and both the villain and the little goats are intelligent and try to outwit one another."

And it was one she used to laugh at Bigby about.

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[trigons_child]

Raven tensed at Cindy's entrance, but relaxed when she saw it was only their teacher. She took a seat obediently, and when it came to be her turn, she said, "My name is Raven, and I will be a senior this fall. I am unfamiliar with fairy tales, though I have studied mythology in the past."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"All right," Cindy said easily. "We can work with that. Myths and fairy tales are among the same family--next week, in fact, we'll be discussing the difference between different types of stories: myths, fables, legends, that sort of thing."

She gave Raven a smile and said, "What's your favorite myth, then, and why?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[notmyownage]

Yep, Claudia totally called that one. She might actually have to thank Captain Hook.

"I'm Claudia Donovan," she said. "I guess I'm a senior, now? And, uh. I don't know how much it counts, but I loved the stories about Matthew and Maria Looney. They're people from the moon." That made them fairy tale-ish, right?

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"I don't think I've heard of those," Cindy said, making a mental note to look up both the books and if they were Fables or had Homeworlds. It never hurt to check. "What about them makes them you love them so much?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[whateverknight.livejournal.com]

"Squall Leonhart. I... never paid much attention to fairy tales. I thought they were silly. But I'm here to learn."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"I appreciate your honesty," Cindy said. "Why did you think they were silly." She gave him a wry grin. "It's okay. Be blunt."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[didntchewgrass.livejournal.com]

Elphaba was more than happy to introduce herself. "My name is Elphaba, and I suppose... am I a senior now, or does that not happen until the fall? But whatever it is, I'm not from this world. And while I could easily tell you my least favorite story for children, I will say that I have quite enjoyed Earth's tale about the ugly duckling."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy could see the appeal, even if it wasn't one of her favorites. There was a heavy 'beauty is the sole determination of worth' aspect to the story that made her want to grit her teeth, but in society--especially as a teenager--beauty might not be the sole determination, but it was the most important one. So rather than going on a rant about the problematic nature of the story, she nodded and replied, "Rising senior is the term I've heard used. Though now you've piqued my interest. What is your least favorite story?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[showmetheproof.livejournal.com]

"Dana Scully, junior," she said, looking chagrined at the handful of peanut brittle in her hand. "And I should have realized... anyway. My favorite fairy tale is probably Thurber's version of Little Red Riding Hood." Even if she hadn't typified it herself this morning.

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy grinned at Scully. "Good to see you again. And you might as well finish that, it's too late now." There. That was comforting. "Thurber's version? That's the one where Red pulls out her gun and shoots the wolf, right? Because little girls aren't as..." gullible? Was it gullible? "...as gullible as they used to be?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[walkswithcoyote]

It was easy to see why Bran and Charles had signed her up for this course.

"I'm Mercedes Thompson. I'm a sophomore and my favorite fairytale is probably, well, any of the original Grimm's stuff. Maybe The Devil With the Three Golden Hairs?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"With the luck-child who comes home with the four donkeys laden with gold," Cindy said with a laugh. "I've always liked the Devil's grandmother in that story--what's her motivation? Why is it your favorite?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[onlymistaken]

"My name is Cally," said she, "and I suppose I'm in the junior class now. I'm not from Earth; my planet's stories in this vein are usually about the creation of life on Auron, and how our telepathic gifts supposedly came into being."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"Oooh," Cindy said, her interest piqued. "Would you care to share some of those? Or, at least, the underlying message or moral those stories are meant to convey?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[twintuitionist.livejournal.com]

"I'm Juliet Darling," Juliet volunteered. "I ... guess I'm a junior now? And I like the story about Snow White and Rose Red, because they're twins and they win in the end and marry princes. Nobody gets eaten or, like, maimed."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

Cindy's first impulse was to laugh--not at Juliet, but at what really happened between Snow and Rose and Charming. Their relationship was a lot more fraught than the tale let on; though Cindy wasn't all that surprised that Charming and Rose had ended up in bed together. Charming was a scoundrel and Rose was carrying a boatload of bitterness towards her sister.

Oh Fabletown. Maybe Cindy was due for a visit back. She found herself missing it.

A short visit.

"Is there any kind of message or moral you think the story is trying to get across?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[godofxbox]

Oh the class was about fairy tales. That made way more sense. Well, unless you were Alex's dad; who knew why he'd signed him up for it.

"I'm Alex Aaron, and, uh, I always liked Thor. Does that count?"

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[steel-not-glass.livejournal.com]

"The story of Thor is a myth--meaning that, at some point, people believed in it and him and the many gods of Asgard," Cindy explained. "We'll be talking more about the differences and definitions next week, don't worry. Fairy tales are stories that discuss creatures and characters of folklore. Do you have a favorite one of those?"

If not, Cindy was happy to let Alex explain why he was drawn to Thor so much.

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[dabblinginbitch.livejournal.com]

"I'm Ramona," she said when it was her turn, casting a very light wave with one hand. "I'm...I guess I'm gonna be a senior. My favorite fairy tale was always that one about the swans (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wild_Swans), where the brothers all get turned into birds and their sister has to rescue them." She paused with a slight shrug, adding, "There just doesn't seem to be a ton of girl power in fairy tales. That one has the woman doing the saving. Even if it's kinda ruined by the witchcraft element and how she's voiceless and all."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[selfhelphero]

"Um, I'm Billy Kaplan, and I'm a sophomore, I think," he said, still wondering why his parents put him in this of all classes. "I think my favorite fairy tale is Jack and the Beanstalk, but that might be because I've only read the nice version where Jack escapes with the golden goose, so he and his mother live happily and well fed ever after."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[wwiii]

"I'm Warren Worthington," Warren introduced himself, as soon as he'd landed and the small heart attack that he'd suffered at the loud voice and the sudden dark had passed.

"I guess I'm a rising senior now," which was really, really weird to say, "and I think my favorite fairy tale would have to be The Steadfast Tin Soldier. It's tragic, and it's simple, but... I kind of like that."

And maybe he identified with the last soldier, missing a leg because he was cast from the small bit of tin in an old spoon. He just took it, all the way through, and then he was thrown into the flame because he wasn't good enough.

... Okay, so it wasn't a flattering comparison, really. But still.

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[iwishiwasbig.livejournal.com]

"I'm Dave Nelson and I'm a sophomore," Dave said, giving a little half-wave. "I've always kind of liked the Emperor's New Clothes. But I think part of that is just because I had a picture book version of it as a kid, and they really had to jump through some hoops to not show nudity in it. And that's just not something you expect from a kid's book."

Re: 15 Minutes Later...

[onapalebicycle.livejournal.com]

"I'm George Lass," George said, "and I'm gonna be a senior next year, but I don't know if that means I'm a senior now, or what."

She was not up on these things.

"I think my favorite fairy tale is ... one that not a lot of people have heard?" she hazarded. "It's about ... god, lower-case g, giving Toad an urn (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Like_Me#Creation) that had Death inside, and then Frog wants to borrow it. Frog nags, Toad caves, and Frog jumps around with it like an asshole and breaks it. So ... now there's death, because Frog was an asshole, and maybe that's exactly why god-lowercase-g gave Toad the urn to begin with, just as a set up. I ... think I like it because it doesn't really have a moral, so much as ... you know. Shit happens, because people suck."