fandomhigh | The Care & Appreciation of Animals!; Monday, Third Period [07/03].

Hopefully, the students in the class would be gathering at the animals shelter, as instructed, and the animal shelter was clearly ready for them! And so was Sidon, waiting with a big grin and an eager excitement as they all gathered to get ready for the lesson to begin.

And, of course, the introductions!

"Hello! And welcome," he boomed, throwing open his arms and puffing out his chested excitedly, "to the Care and Appreciation of Animals! I am your faithful instructor, Sidon!" Here, he swept one of his fists in front of him in an enthusiastic pump, flashing them a grin that caught perfectly in the light, and he held it for a brief second before continuing. "The Zora Prince! And also the manager of this fine shelter! I have worked here ever since I myself was a student at the high school, many years ago, and many more in my timeline, but those are details that do not quite matter in this instance. What does matter is that Furnado Animal Shelter has been home to a wide variety of different animals and creatures that call this island home, and it is here that they will find love, attention, and the care they deserve, and where one might come in to find love, attention, and the care they deserve from them, as well!

"Before we really get into it, however," Sidon continued, "we must keep in mind that our furry, feathered, and scaled friends are all their own individuals, as well as living beings, and so extra care and precaution must be taken as we learn about them and ourselves through them! Absolutely no mishandling of the animals will be tolerated, nor will any straying from the instructions as given when dealing with particular kinds of animals. We are going to go over some very important safety tips before we get started, as well as some other things to keep in mind going forward.

"And, once we're finished with that, I will be giving you all ten minutes to familiarize yourself not only with the shelter, but with the animals as well. I'd like you to use this time to find an animal that you feel you may already have a special connection with: a new fast friend, or one of your favorite kinds of animals, or an animal you feel represents you! Depending on the animal, the vet here," he gestured with the utmost respect and admiration to the shelter's tireless and dedicated doctor, "will help you with handling them, or we will just leave them be and describe your animal when you get back, and we will take some time getting to know you through your new friends: let us know who you are, why you're excited to be learning about the Care and Appreciation of Animals, and why you picked this particular animal to befriend today! In the following weeks, we will be focusing on very specific animals or very specific types of care, but, for today, let's just get to know each other and the animals a little better as a whole, as well as how to keep everyone involved safe and comfortable!"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Like a real animal!

Beta

Liberty Hazlett

Amicia de Rune

Kurt Wagner

Josephine Jones

The instructions not only include very important things to keep in mind when handling and caring for various animals around the shelter, but also some points about demeanor, dress, and a very vital emphasis on letting Sidon or the vet know immediately if any issues arise and where to find the First Aid kit, but let us hope no such thing will be necessary.

And a very important reiteration that no exceptions will be allowed for anyone straying even remotely away for the care and appreciation parts of the class title!

Was now going to be the time that Beta discovered new allergies? Perhaps, but let's hope not.

Libby nodded along eagerly to all of Sidon's instructions and precautions, feeling a little tremble of excitement over getting to spend a whole class period just enjoying some animals. Of course, she knew already that she was going to have a terrible time trying to decide on just one animal to pick, which almost made her wonder if she should try and get away with picking several because that reflected her indecisiveness, but then she shook her head and resolved to follow the assignment properly and (somehow!) narrow it down to just the one after all.

Take some time to explore the shelter and see some of the animals and just get to know what's there, before picking an animal to 'represent' you, and returning once the time is up to introduce yourself, let the class know why you're interested in caring for and appreciating animals, which animal you picked, and why!

Pets are fairly moddable, of course, within reason! It's a very diverse animal shelter!

At the end of the exploration time, Libby had flip-flopped back and forth on a few different choices, thinking it was a shame they didn't have any sheep at the shelter, because that would have made her choice much easier. If she picked a lamb, she could just say because that was what she turned into a few times. But no lambs meant she had to think on something else.

And she came back with a big white rabbit cradled in her arms, with floppy ears and big blue eyes, and the softest fur she believed she had ever touched before in her life.

She smiled a little and waved a hand while still cradling it as best she could, when it came to be her turn. "I'm Libby," she said, "and I mostly just picked this bunny rabbit because she was just so pretty, and I had trouble deciding on an animal, but my friend Zo had rabbits back home, so it reminded me of hers. I like that rabbits are mostly just sweet and like exploring but also minding their own business....well, unless that business involves strawberries from the garden, and then they might be interested in eating them, and I suppose that applies to me, too."

This should be easy, no? Amicia would not have had a problem with this exercise just a few short years ago. But that was then, and this was now, and she found herself staring into a pen of fuzzy, wooly animals.

Would it be misleading to pick one? A sheep, or a rabbit perhaps, or a cat? She suspected she deserved something rather more vicious. Like a wolf.

She found her motion eventually, and steered clear of the birds, the... rats. Somewhere in the middle of the pen, she found a little goat, instead, and raised it up into her arms. Not quite true, perhaps. But also not as much of a lie, and-- it made her smile as the little thing squirmed in her arms, and tried to give her a small headbutt.

But she did not have much to say.

Edited 2023-07-03 18:08 (UTC)

"Ah-ha!" said Sidon, once he'd spotted that Amicia had claimed an animal, and never one to shy away from trying to urge at least a few words out of someone. "Wonderful! I see you've managed to locate a new friend! Why don't you tell us a little bit about them!"

Amicia looked up from the goat to the rather large… gentleman, and blinked. "He is a goat," she said slowly. "He is têtue-- ah. Stubborn."

Kurt was thrilled to find they had sugar gliders there and he was definitely picking that for his animal, for a number of reasons- including that that was what he had turned into himself once. He walked back over and joined the class with a smile as said sugar glider made itself comfortable on his head.

"Hi, I'm Kurt" he said with a wave. "I picked this little guy because he really represents me- we both have a lot of energy and we both have cool ways of getting from one place to another. And I also kinda turned into a sugar glider myself once so... I kinda have a soft spot for them!"

"What an excellent choice!" Sidon complimented with a grin and an encouraging pump of his fist. "A sugar glider for Kurt! Fantastic! And what would you say was one of your favorite parts of actually being one? Having turned into an animal is certainly an phenominal way to better understand said animal, I am sure!"

Having never had any animal transformations himself, remarkably, he didn't know for certain, but it didn't take a great leap of faith, really.

"I like how energetic and friendly they are" Kurt said with a grin. "And I really wish I could glide like they do- I always thought flying would be a lot of fun!"

After a while of searching, Jo found a Jack Russell Terrier and was instantly drawn to it, carefully reaching down and picking it up, "I'm Josephine Jones, I've always loved animals, we have a lot of them on my family's property but I've wanted to learn more about being able to help care for them," she smiled at the Jack Russell terrier she had in her lap, "and I've always loved dogs," she said fondly as she considered why she felt it was a representation of her, "I turned into a dog last year," she added.

For the record, Sidon didn't choose the cats that seemed to be intent on climbing on him; the cats chose him!

The Care & Appreciation of Animals!; Monday, Third Period [07/03].

Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Sign In - C&AoA, 07/03.

Listen to the Lecture - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Listen to the Lecture - C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Listen to the Lecture - C&AoA, 07/03.

Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Re: Class Activity: Introductions!, C&AoA, 07/03.

Talk to the Teacher - C&AoA, 07/03.

OOC - C&AoA, 07/03.