Creative Problem Solving, May 12, 2025 [2nd period]

[sith_happened]

Anakin and Ahsoka were standing in front of eight tables, each of which held a bunch of bananas, a cutting board, and--worryingly--duct tape, masking tape, a stapler and a glue stick. "Welcome to Creative Problem Solving," Anakin said.

"There's a saying that when all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail," Ahsoka added. "Our plan is to teach you creative ways to use that hammer."

"And to think on your feet using what you have available," Anakin said like having these particular items would be a normal situation for some of them.

"Just remember there are no wrong answers in this class," Ahsoka said. "But we will be judging on how creatively you interpret our instructions while still staying within them."

"We'll do introductions as you explain your creations," Anakin said. "Make the biggest and best banana using only the supplies you have in front of you. You have 120 seconds, after which Ahsoka and I will judge you." The creations, right, Anakin? Not the participants?

The creations, right?

"And after we're done judging, we'll give you homework," Anakin said. Because summer homework was the best!

Comments

Sign in 5/12

[sith_happened]

Already regretting this.

Re: Sign in 5/12

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi

Re: Sign in 5/12

[what_big_teeth]

Eleanor Zarrin

Listen to the instructions!

[sith_happened]

As you settle behind one of the tables! You have a bunch of 8 bananas, a cutting board, duct tape, masking tape, a stapler, and a glue stick.

Re: Listen to the instructions!

[thatsmysword]

Well. That was one day to shock a man out of the confused torpor he'd been in since his arrival.

Henry raised his hand. "Are we meant to do this drunk or sober?"

Re: Listen to the instructions!

[deathtofrendo]

A younger Quinn might have barked out a startled laugh at that.

This Quinn was eyeing the teachers suspiciously as she waited to see how they responded to what some might call "insubordination" from a student.

(She was also wondering about the answer. What the fuck did "best banana" mean? How did one build a bigger banana? This wasn't even a problem, how could it be "creative problem solving" to work on it???)

(And also, how the hell had she been signed up for this class when she hadn't even registered herself as a student? The moose in the front office had been aggressively unhelpful. Even given the fact that it was a moose.)

Re: Listen to the instructions!

[sith_happened]

"Well, it's not even lunch," Anakin observed, "but I'm not going to say no if you're of legal age."

Make the biggest and best banana!

[sith_happened]

You have 120 seconds. That's enough time, right?

[OOC: RNG declares that it goes thus:
Lydia
Vi
Eleanor
Jonathan
Steve
Henry
Cal
Quinn]

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[grenadesandohana]

Okay. Okay. Steve stared at the objects in front of him and came up with three ways to turn them into weapons, but that wasn't the objective today. Biggest and best banana...he finally pulled off a large piece of duct tape and used it like bunting, taping the other bananas onto it, one next to the other. It looked ridiculous, but it was very long?

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[snipsnspecks]

"It's certainly very long," Ahsoka agreed. "But do you think it counts as one banana?"

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[giveittoyoursister]

Vi was...dubious about this whole banana business, but she started taping the ends of the bananas together, angling them so they were kind of a banana frame.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[sith_happened]

"What's your name?" Anakin asked, even though he knew.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[thatsmysword]

Henry didn't know what any of the items on the table were, but after about thirty seconds he figured out the bananas were smashable.

So he sort of. Squished a bunch of them together.

This felt very stupid.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[snipsnspecks]

Sometimes the right solution to a problem required looking very stupid indeed.

"Well, it's a start." The start of what, Ahsoka did not elaborate on.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[what_big_teeth]

Right. So. Just bananas, huh? Eleanor had to wonder if this was the level of challenges they'd be facing throughout the class, or if this was just going...easy? Maybe?...on them since it was the first class. Either way, she reminded herself not to overthink it (impossible) and also to focus on her own work so she didn't worry about or be influenced by her fellow classmates.

Her first compulsion was to just tape all the bananas together, but she was pretty sure that would just be regarded as lazy and lacking in effort, so let's see how many bananas she could get partially peeled, smushed together, and then very carefully re-peeled, as it were, in 120 seconds, without using any other items, because what good was a banana you couldn't even eat?

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[mustbeawitch]

Lydia stapled her finger.

She muttered a quick spell as she did so, and a glamour settled over the bunch of bananas, making them appear to be one banana the size of all eight bananas put together, modeled upon the most beautiful of the original bunch. If anyone tried to touch it, they would discover it wasn't real, but why on Earth would you try to pick up a banana that size?

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[deathtofrendo]

Quinn . . . pulled a single banana off her bunch.

That was it. She didn't even touch anything else. Just pulled a banana off and set it down.

It was a banana. Anything else wouldn't be a banana, it'd be . . . squished banana, like the "should we be drunk" guy. Or a rearranged bunch of bananas, like the other people were doing.

She didn't even make sure the banana she pulled off was the biggest in her particular bunch, though. So like. Her argument did not hold a lot of weight.

She was very curious, again, to see how the teachers would react.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[moreofaponchoguy]

Cal spent about 10 seconds silently panicking before breaking the bananas apart and trying to build one long, single banana with duct-taped pieces. It might be okay if no one attempted to pick it up.

Re: Make the biggest and best banana!

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon had a lot of problems. And he didn't consider himself particularly creative. But he was, at the heart of him, a smartass.

He taped the bananas into a möbius strip.

And your homework!

[sith_happened]

Anakin handed out $20 bills to every student. "Using this money, buy either Ahsoka or I the best present you can think of. Bring it to class next week."

Re: And your homework!

[thatsmysword]

"I have two questions," Henry said.

This was going to be a theme for him going forward.

Re: And your homework!

[deathtofrendo]

". . . Is this school accredited?" Quinn asked, staring at the $20. Which she was not yet touching, no.

Re: And your homework!

[intheeyeofthebeholding]

Jon eyed the $20 with a sigh.

Could he maybe buy the two of them a get-along shirt?

Talk to Anakin and Ahsoka!

[sith_happened]

Who are professionals and not making big banana jokes.

OOC

[sith_happened]

This is gonna be fun.