fandomhigh | Tropes and Scope [Class 2, Period Three]

"Hello, class!" Belle called cheerfully, as the students assembled in the Danger Shop. Today, they would find themselves not in last week's nondescript classroom, but in a possibly familiar set of cliffside ruins. Belle herself was perched on a crumbling bit of stone, a group of swords and some strips of cloth laying on the ground beside her. "Now, last week, we talked about what types of stories you all like to read, and one of the most popular answers was action and adventure -- which, to be perfectly honest, is my favorite, too. We're going to spend a couple of weeks running through some of the great patterns you find in each genre before moving onto the next, and I figured...well, what better way to kick off action than with action?"

She hopped off her sword, selecting two cloths -- one black, and one white. "How many of your favorite books, plays, or movies," she was still trying to act like that concept wasn't unfamiliar to her, but it was hard, "feature a great fight between two opposing forces? Sure, our favorite stories might deal with one man against many, or two armies running at each other at full force, but oftentimes, it comes down to one versus one. I borrowed this setting because from what I understand, there's a film with a famous swordfighting scene that takes place here, and while the color scheme is off -- black is usually signifying evil, while white stands for good -- I thought it might work for our purposes today."

She started to move through the class, alternating between passing out white and black cloths, along with a list for each student. "Tie these around your wrist or waist or into your hair -- I don't particularly care. Team White, you stand for the good, the right, the moral high ground. Team Black, you oppose them -- you stand for personal gain, for evil, for selfishness. Remember these things as you fight, because they should influence your choices. I want you to team up, and everyone grab a sword. While the ends are blunt and you won't hurt yourselves, I want you to reenact a classic swordfight using as many of the tropes on that list as possible. Afterwards, I want you to think about how many times in your life you've seen those actually used. It's probably more than you think."

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"I'll enjoy the sight of yours more," Karla retorted. "When it's pouring onto the ground."

She held up her sword. "To the winner go the spoils--of your love!"

Whatever that meant. It sounded like something she'd seen in a cartoon once, filled with pretty males with long hair and improbably-long swords.

"Spoils of my love?" Elphaba questioned, raising her sword. "That sounds rather sordid, doesn't it?"

Karla just laughed at that. "Well, I am the bad guy. Sordid is kind of my thing." She paused a moment then suggested, "Can we call that the seduction duel?"

"I think I'd have to try and seduce you back," Elphaba said. "We might be here all day if I tried."

"I'd give you a head start?" Karla teased. "Besides it'd be worth it to hear the squirrel report later."

"I meant that in the sense I wouldn't have any idea what to actually do," Elphaba said, lowering her sword a bit. "It's not exactly something I have experience in. Or have read much about."

"I have some books I can loan you if you're interested," Karla said, forgetting to be evil for a moment.

...Or maybe not, considering the quality of the books she was offering.

"You kind of have to turn your brain off to read them, but they're fun!"

"...I'd like that," Elphaba said, quietly. She then raised her sword again, smirking. "But don't think this means you've won! I command power in my very fingertips!"

Blue fire crackled up Karla's sword. "Tcha! Like you're the only one!" she crowed, adding what was hopefully a maniacal laugh. "Mwahahahaha! With both magic and steel at my disposal, I cannot hope but to triumph!"

Yeah. Most of Karla's villainous dialogue came from those same books she was offering to loan Elphaba.

"Well then, let's turn up the heat on this, shall we?" Elphaba said, trying to summon a flame in her free hand.

And amazingly, it worked. It wasn't big, no bigger than a candle flame in her palm, but she did it. Her face was trying to remain serious for the activity, but she was mentally grinning ear to ear.

Karla broke character long enough to cheer, leaving her sword to float in midair so she could applaud. "You're getting better!" she said. "How long have you been able to call fire at will?"

"Well, I've done it a whole... once before," admitted Elphaba. "Normally I just end up with sparks. I think my concentration is improving."

"Good!" Karla said, nodding encouragingly. "Have you been practicing? Over the summer, maybe?"

"Tara helped me back in the spring semester," Elphaba said. "And I've been practicing all summer. It didn't work when I most needed it, when helping Alexander reclaim his beloved, but I'm thinking with more practice there's nothing that'll bring me down."

"Alexander?" Karla asked. Someone had missed all of the excitement and even the news about Alexander and his beloved Cassima. "What happened with him? You know, I don't think I've seen him around at all yet this year."

Yup. Missed all the news.

"That's because he's now married and staying in his kingdom," Elphaba said, just a hint of a sigh in her voice. "His sister is here, now, in his stead."

"He got married?!" Yeah. Karla'd missed everything.

But she didn't miss that little hint of a sigh. "You okay?"

"It's nothing," Elphaba said, deflecting a bit. "At least nothing I'll talk about in class. I'm very happy for Alexander, and I'm glad he was able to find his Cassima." And that was very true, too.

Karla thought she understood. After all, she'd been very happy for Ben and Tahiri, even when she'd been crushing on Ben.

"If you want to come by my room and talk sometime, I could loan you some of those books, too," she offered. "Maybe have some chocolates and a good gossip-fest, too."

"I suppose that would be good," Elphaba said, though she didn't think she was one for gossip. Or most chocolates from this land. Bu then, she raised her sword again. "But I think first we should finish our assignment."

Aha! But Karla's chocolates weren't from this land, so perhaps Elphaba would like those better.

"Just 'good'?" she teased. "I think we can do better than that. I have some chocolate-covered honey-pears that I think you're going to love."

Behind Elphaba, several rocks flew up into the air. She was just going to keep talking though, to keep her friend's attention.

Hey, she was evil, right? An attack from behind was totally in her idiom. Not that she would actually hit Elphaba with the rocks, mind. There were limits to just how far her school-assigned evil would go. "You've never had a honey-pear have you? They're amazing."

Edited 2011-09-10 16:51 (UTC)

Tropes and Scope [Class 2, Period Three]

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