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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [12/19].

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 11:01:32 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

You know what? It had taken a bit of quickly rearranging and discussing things on their part, but Gladio was feeling a little inspired by the dreidel game around the island that morning and decided to whip up something real quick based on that for their class that day. After all, it was the final class. Might as well make it really interesting.

So what you had awaiting you in the training room that morning was a giant Gladio sized dreidel, and one it were his own variations on the letters with four symbols, one on each side, of course. There was a pair of crossed swords, there was a Cup Noodle^SM, there was a large bird that some knowledgeable people might recognize as a chocobo, and then there was a large question mark.

"So," he started, "today's our last class, and, in the spirit of keeping you on your toes and balancing that line between fun and fight that we've explored this semester, I've convinced these guys," he hitched his thumb toward his co-teachers, one of whom had been much easier to convince than the other; guess which one!, "to veer a little off our original plan with something in the spirit of today's little bit of holiday whimsy."

"We will be spending the class," Ignis continued, "taking turn in spinning this overly large dreidel--"

"Stay clear of it when it lands!" Prompto pointed out with a chuckle.

Ignis sighed slightly at the interruption. "Well, hopefully, that would be obvious to you by now, but, yes, stay clear of the dreidel as it lands, and, based on what it lands on, that will determine what will happen next."

"If it lands on the swords," Prompto offered, "you're getting a random enemy to attack. If it lands on the Cup Noodle^TM--"

"Cup Noodle^TM, Gladio?" Ignis was not the one to interrupt, with another sigh, though Gladio just chuckled smugly. "Really?"

Prompto cleared his throat a little bit to get back on track. "If it lands on, yes, really, Iggy, the Cup Noodle^TM, everyone gets a random treat! If it lands on the chocobo, you get to play a random fun game. And if it lands on the question mark, that means you get to pick!"

"Pretty straight forward, right?" Gladio asked. "If not, obviously, let us know if you have questions, otherwise, whoever wants to give the thing a spin first, step on up, and let's get this class going!"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [12/12].

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 10:54:31 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

It would seem that someone had made a recent venture out onto the Isle of IKEA, and the spoils of that journey were now gathered there in the danger shop training room.

"There's a bit of an idea on this world," Gladio started, "apparently, that the true test of a relationship is the attempt to build pre-fabricated Swedish furniture together. If you're able to withstand that, there's a good chance you can withstand anything."

"I'm not entirely sure how much merit there may be to that claim," noted Ignis, "but it certainly does translate well into a teamwork building activity."

"And so," said Prompto, grinning proudly in a way that made it pretty clear which of them came up with this idea in the first place, "that's what we're doing today! We've got a lot of things here to build, and only vague instruction booklets based entirely on pictograms to show you how to do it! And we're going to see how many of these things you guys can manage to put together by the end of class!"

"While being attacked," said Gladio, grinning schemingly in a way that made it pretty clear which one of them came up with this addition, "randomly by holiday-themed monsters."

"With weapons," said Ignis, sighing resignedly in a way that made it pretty clear which aspects of this class none of them had prepared for, "that are all apparently candy canes today..."

"But hey," Gladio offered encouragingly, "at least they're big candy canes?"

"And I'm sure some of you could think of some really clever ways to put those hex keys to use, too!" Prompto chimed in and then bounced a little as he clapped his hands. "So let's get started!"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [12/05].

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:05:44 GMT

Posted by: hashtag_chocobro

"Well," said Gladio, at the start of class, which was still held in the training room sim, but the place had been decked out in good holiday cheer like that rest of the island, the pillars wrapped in twinkling lights, the weapons all with big red bows, the light feeling of a dusting of snow drifting down from the ceiling, which was much more manageable than freaking marzipan, and your three instructors were standing in front of a very large Christmas tree surrounded by a variety of wrapped gifts, "if you haven't figured it out by now, it's December, which means the island's getting into the holiday spirit, and you know what? So are we. And this idea's almost all Prompto's, so, Prompto...." He gestured toward his fellow teacher. "Take it away."

( The Gift(?) of Giving! )

"So that," Prompto concluded proudly, with a little bounce in his step, "is what we're doing today! Iggy made some nice holiday snacks and treats to enjoy, too, while we're all just opening presents and figuring out how ruthless or kind we want to be, so take a moment to help yourself and then we'll get started!"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [11/21].

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 09:57:55 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

The usual training room had been replaced this week with a sort of open-air sports pitch of sorts, and Gladio stood with a big grin on his face as he was flanked by his two coteachers. They each held onto a weapon: Ignis held a sort of double-staff-like weapon, while Prompto was idly swinging what looked like a ball on a rope. Meanwhile, Gladio himself had a much smaller than his usual sword weapon slung over his shoulders with one hand, while the other one was tossing up and catching a skull.

(Not a real skull, it should be noted, although he did consider it, considering they probably had a pretty good resource for that kind of thing!)

"Today," he then announced, "we're going to be playing a game I came across that just looks like a whole lot of fun and could be a good way to work in all those teamwork and combat skills all in one. It's called Jugger, and it's from some apocalyptic movie from Australia, and I've been looking forward to bringing this in ever since I heard about it." He chuckled faintly. "The rules are pretty much like what you'd expect from a field pitch sort of game, like soccer or rugby or something like that...only with weapons and fighting. The goal? Collect the skull," he lifted the one in his hand demonstrably, "and run it to the goal at the opposite end of where your team started. But only one person, the Qwik...or runner, really...is allowed to actually touch the skull, and the remaining people, the pompfers...or enforcers...use these swords, staffs, and chained balls to defend their qwik and stop the other team's pomfers from interfering or the other team's qwik from getting the skull."

"So it basically is quite a bit like rugby, if you're familiar," Ignis offered helpfully, "only with weapons."

"Which makes it even cooler," Gladio said.

"Yes," Ignis sighed, "which makes it even cooler."

"So," Gladio continued, "we're going to break up into teams, and since there's an uneven number of you guys, we're going to join in, too. I'm gonna hop onto the Blue team, and Iggy and Prompto here will be joining Red."

"We'll want everyone to have a chance at being both qwik and pompfer," Ignis added, "so we'll switch things around every period. Now, let's take a moment to learn more about how the game is played and its rules, and then we'll begin. Please remember to warm up and stretch as we explain, as I suspect things will get quite physical once the skull in in play."

"I really wish we'd just call it a ball, you guys," Prompto chimed in with a sigh.

Gladio looked like he was considering it, and then grinned and shook his head. "Nah," he said, and tossed the skull Prompto's way. He struggled a little to catch it, and then looked a little like he wished he hadn't once he did, and then Gladio clapped his hands.

"Alright, guys. Let's get started."

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [11/14].

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 10:55:20 GMT

Posted by: hashtag_chocobro

"Alright, guys!" Prompto started out class that morning with his usual good cheer and excitement, with maybe a particularly eager grin to put what he'd been working on in the danger shop to good use for the lesson that week. "Today, we're going to start putting some of our teamwork training and combat skills," hey! He said the name of the class!, "to good use in what's essentially a dungeon crawl."

"Or," Gladio offered, "you could think of it as sort of a an escape room plus monsters."

"An escape series of rooms," Ignis corrected lightly.

"Basically, though," Prompto continued, "the concept is pretty simple: you guys wanna get out of the dungeon, but first, you all have to team up to solve the puzzle to get out of the room, and while solving the puzzle means getting to move on, you'll also have to fight monsters to get to the next one. Which is kind of a slog when it's a real dungeon, but thankfully, we're only doing three rooms, because we only have so much time.

"And each of the monsters themselves," Gladio elaborated, "will also require different methods of attack."

"So essentially," Ignis gestured faintly, "each step of the way should require you to work with your teammates in figuring out how to defeat both puzzle and monsters and hopefully find your way to victory."

"So grab some weapons of choice," Gladio grinned, "warm up a little and ask some questions, and then we're throwing you in and seeing if you can get out by the end of class."

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [10/31].

Thu, 31 Oct 2024 11:12:10 GMT

Posted by: hashtag_chocobro

"Tonight," said Prompto, getting things started as everyone was gathered in the usual training space, "there's a party going on at Ignis' place for Halloween, and we," his hand danced between himself and his coteachers, as if there was any question about who he might be referring to, "thought that was a good set-up for an interesting discussion today! Because while we hope there's nothing like that which happens tonight, a party or a gathering can sometimes be the sort of event where you end up having to use your teamwork training and combat skills unexpectedly."

"As a matter of fact," Ignis added, his voice quite deal more grim and serious than Prompto's usually bouncy approach, "it was a series of treaty agreements and public addresses where some of the most devastating and egregious attacks on our nation occurred back during the war. Thankfully, in both cases, there was some amount of preparation that, while not preventing most of the devastating harm that befell both Insomnia and Altissia at the time, it helped to mitigate at least some of it."

It certainly didn't help that one of those was also quite planned, much to everyone's surprise, but he didn't need to go into any of that right now.

"So what we're going to do today," Gladio continued, "is we're going to talk party defense. There's going to be a big event, and you've all heard rumors that the enemy is going to use this as the perfect time to infiltrate and attack. So we're going to take some time to talk strategy and ask questions, and build from there, and then we'll put your suggestions and ideas into the sim and run them, and we'll see how it goes. If it goes well, awesome. If not? We'll debrief and reassess and try again. Pretty simple, right?"

"On it's surface, anyway," Ignis drawled. "I'm sure, once we start getting into it, you'll find that few things are ever rarely as simple as they seem."

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [10/17].

Thu, 17 Oct 2024 11:36:29 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

"So next week," Gladio said, starting class with a clearly eager sort of grin, the kind that made it pretty clear they were leaning pretty heavily into one of his favorite wheelhouses, "we're heading to Quebec for the school trip. Naturally, I figured this was a good time to look into some of the military history of the area before we head on up there, and see what we can learn that might be helpful to is. Specifically, we're going to be talking today about the 1775 Battle of Quebec, where the American Revolutionary forces took it upon themselves to march on Quebec City after a failed attempt to rally the French-Cadanian forces to ally with them against the British. And it's actually a really good example of what not to do and what can go wrong, and so we're going to learn from their mistakes and discuss what worked for the French and the British, what didn't work for the Americans, and everything in between.

"In brief," Ignis offered, "pay attention to key elements that impacted the results of this particular battle: political loyalties, the importance of numbers and terrain, even the elements of weather...there are numerous points of critique, criticism, and consideration evident in a study of the battle, which I've no doubt you'll all be able to point out and explore further."

"We've got two short but concise videos for you guys to watch that'll explain it far better than we can," Prompto said with a chuckle, "so let's just get right into it, learn a little about this battle, and then we'll talk about it! And then, next week, while we're there, you can think about what was and what might have been! Because history is kind of cool and helpful in learning stuff that we can still use today!"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [10/10].

Thu, 10 Oct 2024 10:20:02 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

"You guys may have noticed," Gladio started class with a faint grin, "that we've been leaning pretty heavily on the communication concepts these last few weeks, which hopefully just really highlights for you how important we think good communication skills are for a team. And we still want to do a little something more with communication, but we also don't want you resting too much on your laurels in the combat part of all of this, so today? We're going to be playing a sort of communications guessing game....but with a twist."

"In this here bucket," Prompto lifted it up proudly, "is a bunch of various people, places, and things. You're going to pull out one of these random...well, prompts," excuse him a moment while he snickered at the word choice, "and then it's up to you to decide: you can either try to get the rest of the class to guess what your word is, but, you can only do so through charades and gestures and answering yes or no questions. No speaking beyond yes or no."

"Or maybe," Ignis allowed, "since sometimes the answer to a seemingly simple question can be surprisingly complicated."

"Especially if you're a pedantic asshole like some people in the room," said Gladio with a grin.

"Who shall remain nameless," Prompto added, as if no one really knew who they could possibly be talking about.

A pedantic asshole who was remaining nameless cleared his throat. "Are we talking about clear and precise communication?" he asked. "Or are we not?"

"We are! We are!" Prompto confirmed, barely holding back a snicker. "Anyway, we're getting off track. The point is, we're going to sort of do a charades sort of thing, you pick a word out of the bucket, and your teammates have two minutes to try and guess what that word is, and you're only allowed to use gestures or answer yes or no or maybe to questions. And, if your team fails to guess in those two minutes?"

"We unleash a few monsters on you guys to fight," Gladio said.

"So, yeah, you know," Prompto chuckled, "pressure's on! Get yourself armed up, and then we'll get started!"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [10/03].

Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:23:28 GMT

Posted by: chef_chocobro

"Last week," said Ignis, as class got started, and they were still in the Danger Shop, but it looked far more like a war debriefing room than a training room that week, "we discussed communication and demonstrate the ease at which it could easily breakdown, and we certainly hope that the playful nature in which we approached the topic did not distract from the importance inherent in such breakdowns when they occur. But what if the meaning of a message was intentionally obfuscated with the attempt to keep the information therein clandestine and confidential while still clear and understandable to those intended to receive it?"

"Codes," Gladio translated helpfully with a grin. "Today, we're talking about codes."

"Now, clearly," Ignis continued, "written correspondence that follows a certain cipher is the most common form of coded message, as it can be easily created, easily understood, and easily discarded. Of course," he smile went a little tight here, "that might not always be an option, though I have certainly found a knowledge of Braille or similar tactile languages to be incredibly helpful, even when not dealing strictly with those who cannot read standard writing. Even creating your own version to throw off the chance that your enemy may be familiar enough to break your code can be quite helpful. Speaking in a variety of agree-upon phrases and the strategic use of coded words that bear significant meaning can also be helpful."

"Sometimes codes can even be other things not written or said in messages, too!" Prompto offered. "Like, for example, let's say a ribbon tied around a certain tree in a certain color could mean something like 'okay to proceed' or 'danger!' or 'proceed with caution'. Flags are also big on this, as well as gestures, or little marks and sigils. Again," his grin was a little rueful as he gestured toward Ignis, "there are issues with visual cues sometimes, but not always. Audio cues like certain sounds can be helpful, too, or just the placement of certain objects. Like, if the cat statue is in a certain position, that's bad news! Something like that."

"Needless to say," Ignis added, "coded messages can take on a wide variety of forms and shapes, from your classic scrambling of an alphabet, to a series of sounds, or even something as particular as, oh, I don't know," the faint grin suggested he did know, actually, "choosing to pair a certain wine with a certain food that, to those in the know, sends a very clear message indeed."

"And that," said Gladio, with an air of conclusion that would be a little misleading, "is the key to a good code: making sure everyone who needs to now knows it, and that no one who shouldn't know doesn't. So today, we're going to go over a little bit about different methods of codes and ciphers and some ideas for making some to sort of get your brain working, and then we're going to see about making your own secret messages and seeing who can decipher them."

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [09/26].

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 12:09:32 GMT

Posted by: hashtag_chocobro

"We've just had two pretty combat-focused classes," Prompto said, getting class started with that eager grin of his yet again, "so this week? We're going to take it down a notch and focus a little more on the teamwork aspects. More specifically, today, we want to do some work with communication."

"Communication," Ignis continued, perhaps with that slight touch to tightness that came with a very personal awareness of the application of words to reality, "is key to success with a team, in all aspects of life, be it on the combat field, in a place of business, or even at home in your personal relationships. In a combat situation, effectively communicating with your teammates has, in many times, been crucial to our success in a battle. A quick rapport can maintain energy, impart important details that the others might not have noticed, or simply share strategies to give one an edge on the field."

"But communication," Gladio added, his deep rumble sounding particularly grim, "can also breakdown pretty easily, too. And sometimes communication can fall on the wrong ears or in the wrong hands, so you've got to be careful and aware, and it's those two concepts we'll be working on today, and then, next week, we'll combine communication and combat together. For now, though, we just want to explore some various aspects of it. Today, we're just going to focus on game to really show how communication can get lost in the jumble. Next week, we'll have some fun with codes, so if you want to get a head start on a code system, you know we'll be impressed, and then we'll bring communication into action. Pretty solid plan, right?

"And so," Ignis concluded smoothly, "in respect to the topic at hand and in hopes of demonstrating effective communication right off the bat, are there any questions before we begin?"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [09/19].

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 11:45:09 GMT

Posted by: hashtag_chocobro

"Last week," Prompto, of course, was bouncing a little with the excitement of being the one to head class this time around, especially considering how much more erudite and imposing his fellow chocoteachers were, "we sort of got a feel for what part of a team we might best fit into and divided a little, and so it would just stand to reason that this week is all about conquering!"

"Which means," Ignis offered, "putting some of those skills and traits we discussed and worked on in last week's session to good use in actual combat."

"Well," Gladio amended with a snort, "as actual as it's going ot get in a sim. But yeah, this week, we wanna focus on the actual fighting, and this class is going to be a lot less of us teaching you guys much as just sort of overseeing a scenario where you guys can put some of the things we talked about into actual use with a battle, see how you bounce off of each other, and maybe discover if what you thought were your strengths in a certain area really are. That means you try and stick to the group you chose last week as best you can, and, if it's working out for you, great, lean into it, and if not? Time for a reevaluation and to consider a different approach."

"It took us a while to think about what kind of enemy we wanted you guys to fight," Prompto said, "and we knew we wanted to step away from the usual Bust-A-Base scenario we usually throw our classes into, but we've ultimately decided on one of these guys..."

Prompto gestured to a empty space to their side, where the ground suddenly seemed to begin to roil and shimmer with a strange dark energy, shot with purple energy and smoke, and what crawled up from within the dark portal with a great big grumbling groan was a massive daemon, practically as big as a house, all muscle and giant arms, which were clearly needed to heft his ridiculously enormous blade that put even Gladio's usual greatsword to shame. And as it pulled itself up to its great height and pulled back to let out a fearsome roar, a sort of surreal giggling sound accompanied it, as several bright flaming Bombs of varying colors seemed to spring up from their own smaller portals around him, grinning at the group with big sharp teeth and black, black eyes.

"These," Ignis explained, "are an Iron Giant and a variety of different elemental Bombs, common daemonic enemies from our daemon hunting days. We could, to borrow a phrase, practically fight these particular enemies with our eyes closed."

And, yes, there was a smirk there, but he continued. "However, I suspect they are quite new to you all, even if you have fought something similar. So we'd like you to take a few minutes to prepare yourself with weapons or other details before deciding, as a team, how best to meet this enemy, and then, of course, attempt to take them down."

"But don't worry," said Gladio, grinning, and throwing in a wink as he gave his own sword a bit of a twirl to his side before settling it comfortably across his broad shoulders, "we'll jump in if we start to feel like you guys could really need the help. You're not gonna, though...." He quirked a challenging eyebrow. "....right?"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [09/05].

Thu, 12 Sep 2024 11:20:00 GMT

Posted by: chef_chocobro

"Last week," said Ignis, being the one to start the class of this week, "we mostly focused on teamwork, with a small bit of the combat on the side. This week, our focus is going to be entirely on the combat, with incorporating the teamwork aspect next week. In fact, this week, we'll be breaking down the elements of our specific team and exploring them separately, because, though it may initially seem antithetical to the whole concept of teamwork, focusing on your individual strengths can sometime be beneficial to when you eventually bring them to a team."

"Exactly," Gladio agreed with a firm nod. "The real key there is that you don't cling to that individual mindset once you've got a partner or two, and knowing how to synergize your skills with theirs, but that's going to be a lot harder if you're not already working from a solid foundation for yourself."

"So this week," Prompto flashed a bit of a grin for how smoothly this was all going; lead by example, baby!, "we're going to be splitting up into three different groups based on what you feel is the best combat style for you. Gladio here is going to be the brute strength offensive, Ignis is going to be more focused on finer details and finesse, and I'm, obviously," he pulled out a pistol and give it a demonstrative twirl around his finger, "going to head the ranged attack group."

"Now, clearly," Ignis offered, "these are far from the only classifications for types of fighter, and you may very well not fit into any of them yourself. Perhaps something to explore a bit later, or within whichever group you feel is closest to your style. We are clearly basing this one our own strengths and what we feel we can bring to you with the most confidence, but adaptability is also a big part of understanding your combat style, as well, from both your side of things and ours."

"So take a moment," Gladio concluded, "and think about which group you want to work with today, and keep in mind that this is just sort of getting started, we're going to be mixing it up big time in the weeks ahead, but, for now, since we're just getting started, go with what you're most comfortable with, and that's what we're focusing on. Any questions before we split up? Or are you guys pretty much ready to jump right into it?"

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Teamwork Training and Combat Skills; Thursday, Second Period [09/05].

Thu, 05 Sep 2024 12:24:05 GMT

Posted by: sword_chocobro

Class was, probably unsurprisingly, being held in the Danger Shop, where it was likely to be held every week, unless the students were informed otherwise. The setting, however, didn't seem that particularly thrilling or exciting: a good, open space for training, with plenty of mats on the floor, weapons on racks off to the side, and several cactuar-shaped training dummies, one of which one of your instructors was leaning on companionably.

(Prompto. It was definitely Prompto, who grinned at everyone and flicked a wave in the air, but it was Gladio who was going to be doing most of the talking).

"Hey, everyone," he said, starting with a firm nod and his arms folded in front of him as he looked over the familiar faces not unlike a general observing a lineup of new recruits, "and welcome to our Teamwork and Training class. Now, we all already know each other, some," he may have broken with a faint smirk and a nod toward one student in particular just then, but never mind, "more than others, but that's a good base to start with. Because knowing your teammates is easily the first step toward success in working with them, be it on the battlefield or anything else life might throw at you. As you all know by now, our background is in combat: the three of us trained together as Crownsguard back in the day, with the intent to be Kingsglaive, the elite force that protected the king of our nation. Some pretty gnarly shit happened, that whole society crumbled, but we continued fighting together when we could as Daemon Hunters for about ten years, until everything came to a head again, and we came together to fight gods and immortal assholes again to save the world as we knew it. You know." He smirked again. "No big deal.

"And now," he continued, "we wanna bring some of what we've learned through all our time together to you guys to help you out in your own battles. You know how it goes. And, today, while we all know each other, so proper introductions like we don't is just gonna be a pedantic waste of time," did he glance a little over toward Ignis just then? Maaaaybeeee, "it's still good to refresh ourselves on where we're coming from going in, so we're all on the same page moving forward. We're going to focus on a couple of things today: our strengths, our weaknesses, what we bring to the table, and what we need to work on. After we kind of get a base going, we're going to throw some scenarios at you guys to work through to figure out who in this team is better suited for what. Not everyone's going to get to be the hero of every story, sometimes you might have to carry a little more weight than the others, sometimes you get stuck in the sidelines for most of it, and that's okay, because being a part of an effective team is not only about knowing what the best course of action is, it's also being able to accept that sometimes? You ain't it.

"Just to sort of interject," Ignis said, "with an example: between the three of us, Gladio is, as one might assume, what one might consider a bit of a tank...when he fights, he fights heavy and hard. I tend to be the tactician; I like to analyze a situation before rushing into it, and once I do make a decision, I move in with swift precision. Prompto, meanwhile, in addition to having a proclivity toward technology, is also our ranged fighter. He works best from a distance, cutting through the fray with well-targeted shots. But not all situations call for rushing in, and sometimes, taking time to make a decision can cost you, and what happens when the shots go awry or the enemy moves in? We all have strengths and weaknesses that can be utilized in different ways for different situations, and that is what we intend to explore today.

"And if there's some time after all that," Gladio added, "I personally would like to spend some time with the practice dummy here to see those of you who are combat trained to see which weapons you like and what your style generally is."

"So with that," Prompto chimed in with a grin, "let's get started, yeah?"

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Teamwork Through Meditation and Also Lightsabers, Tuesday morning

Tue, 20 Aug 2024 16:02:21 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

For their final class today, the Danger Shop looked like the break room of a capital ship if you were from their galaxy, or like a slightly gray, boring room to anyone else. "Sometimes you have to practice in less beautiful locales," Anakin began, gesturing around. "If you are about to head into battle, it's especially important to focus beforehand and this might be what your surroundings look like."
"Hopefully you'll never have to find out for yourself, but battles are chaotic and messy," Ahsoka added. "Being able to clear your mind and work in harmony with your compatriots can be the difference between life and death."

Anakin ignited his lightsaber--real, not a trainer today--with the casual ease of someone who'd done that gesture a thousand times. "Jedi work in partnership with at least one other Jedi in battle, sometimes with multiple Jedi. It's vital to quiet your mind to react to those around you," he said over the hum of the blue light of his weapon.

Ahsoka followed suit, and if you thought they were showing off, look, they weren't wearing cloaks to dramatically toss aside, so clearly they weren't. "It would be awkward to hit someone on your own side rather than the other."

Anakin nodded. "Pair up with the practice lightsabers and spar."

While your teachers continued totally not showing off.

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Teamwork, Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Wed, 24 Apr 2024 14:03:05 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

If you thought Anakin's creativity was limited to just making Rey's warehouse ~~a death trap~~ a death trap, you were happily mistaken, class! Today's Danger Shop had been turned into an obstacle course too! Oh, how lucky for all of you!

Anakin, at least, looked happy about it. That was probably the first clue that it would be a bad day.

Ahsoka for her part looked vaguely nostalgic, which probably wasn't a good sign if you were looking for any help there. "The true test of teamwork is if you can make it work under pressure."

"Most of the time you can't and then there's unhelpful yelling in the middle of a battlefield and it's just embarrassing for everyone around you," Anakin agreed with a nod.

"'Should you really be doing that, general?'," Ahsoka quoted in a passable imitation of Rex. "'Of course, I know what I'm doing!'"

"And I did know what I was doing and it worked and we won and then everybody clapped," Anakin replied.

It was possible that wasn't exactly how it had gone every time.

"Sure they did, just like you're good at landings." It turned out Ahsoka being willing to talk with Anakin wasn't necessarily better than the weird, awkward vibes.

"Those ships just weren't cut out for the fast paced environment I put them into," Anakin declared. "Right. Pair up, go through the obstacle course, don't get horribly maimed."

Should they warn for the ninja attack halfway through? Of course they weren't. It wouldn't be a surprise if they did that!

Teamwork!

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Teamwork, Wednesday, April 17, 2024

Wed, 17 Apr 2024 13:42:48 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

"Next week is your final examination," Anakin said. "We trust you have learned enough about teamwork to pass it."

Presumably they have learned about teamwork somewhere else! Teamwork was all about weird vibes, right?

"If not, you still have some time to find a way to adapt before whatever ridiculousness Master Skywalker comes up with."

Were... were they almost acting comfortable to be in the same room as each other? Almost as if telling the truth to other people was good for you? Weird. That can't be right.

"It won't be ridiculous," Anakin promised airily.

"It will be ridiculous," Ahsoka said with the assurance of years of experience.

"So," Anakin said, shooting her a tiny grin, "ask questions about what might be on the exam. It is your final chance."

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Teamwork, Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Wed, 27 Mar 2024 13:15:09 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

Granted, the sign would probably not help the students' impression of the weird vibes the teachers already had going on between them, but Force sensitivity plus massive awkwardness meant the truest form of teamwork today was just not showing up.

"NOPE" read the sign on the door.

Followed by "TAKE A COLD SHOWER. ALL OF YOU" in smaller, more controlled letters.

Ugh, this week.

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Trust in Teamwork - Wednesday, 1st Period

Wed, 20 Mar 2024 14:06:26 GMT

Posted by: snipsnspecks

"So we've talked about what it's like to work with beings who are annoying," Anakin said. "Today we're going to wade into the problems that occur when your teammates cause you to form crushes on them."

Don't make him bring out the horrifying safe sex presentation, gang. He'd do it. He doesn't care if some of you are adults.

Especially since it was bad enough even when Anakin wasn't trying to mortify you. Possibly even worse then.

"It's a situation we're both far too familiar with," Ahsoka added. Then after a beat. "Not with each other. Obviously." That was obvious, right?

Super obvious. "We're both from an Order that advised us to ignore those feelings until they go away," Anakin said, which was just a super healthy approach and explained so much about their current interactions, "but I've been told that other places get different advice."

"There's a difference between not letting personal feelings interfere with the task at hand and ignoring them." Only if you actually dealt with them like you were supposed to, Ahsoka.

"I can do both," Anakin said breezily.

That silence on Ahsoka's part was very much not agreement, Anakin.

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Teamwork, Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Wed, 13 Mar 2024 15:49:54 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

New Wednesday, same weird teachers! "So," Anakin began, "we're back to normal again, back into our routines where the same people are doing the same things and gradually driving us all crazy by the way they tap their fingers against the table as they think, or never put the cap on the toothpaste, or drink all of the coffee without starting a new pot."

Just pulling examples out of the air, really, not from several decades of marriage.

"Leaving dismembered droid parts all over your shared quarters..." For another completely random example.

"That was Obi-Wan," Anakin lied.

"Lying about who left dismembered droid parts all over your quarters," Ahsoka continued without skipping a beat. "I know he didn't do Artoo's maintenance."

"Maybe Artoo left Artoo's parts on the floor," Anakin declared.

"Oh, and now we're blaming Artoo?" Maybe if it had been Chopper, Ahsoka might have bought it.

"Artoo isn't always perfect!" Another lie. Artoo was always perfect. Anakin coughed. "So. How do you stop petty problems from escalating? Do you ignore it? Bring it up? Move out?"

Join the Sith, Ahsoka didn't say. "The ideal solution is to talk it over like adults."

Stop laughing.

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Teamwork, March 6, 2024

Wed, 06 Mar 2024 14:29:21 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

Anakin and Ahsoka were once again standing before the class with more than a few feet of distance between them.

"Sometimes things get awkward between team members," Anakin said in one of the more predictable and obvious set ups for a class, "and ignoring it until one of you moves or dies isn't an effective strategy."

"Not that that stops some people trying," Ahsoka added, voice dry as Tatooine. "Hard as that might be to believe."

"I'm as surprised as anyone to hear that," Anakin said.

Ahsoka didn't even miss a beat before replying with "Some people also have a teaching philosophy of do as I say, not as I do."

"There was an entire Temple of that," Anakin muttered. "Regardless, waiting for the heat death of the universe isn't an option, so eventually you must do something else."

He was choosing being passive aggressive, for instance.

Really? Ahsoka hadn't noticed.

"Rest assured that if you don't, the universe will find a way to force the issue." Was Ahsoka blaming their recent sleeping arrangements on the will of the Force? Yes.

Because the Force hated Anakin Skywalker in particular. Yup. Very reasonable assumption to draw. "So how would you deal with, say, sharing a tight space with someone you don't like very much?" Anakin asked.

"Or who you like, but have very understandable mixed feelings towards." Ahsoka's life would be much easier if she didn't like Anakin.

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Trust in Teamwork - Wednesday, 1st Period

Wed, 21 Feb 2024 14:22:50 GMT

Posted by: snipsnspecks

"Today we're watching an instructional video," Anakin began like it wasn't going to be a movie day.

"Before anyone questions the plausibility of the subject of this video, I should mention that similar events happened on the island when I was a student here, " Ahsoka added. "If anything they were even stranger."

"It was very, very strange," Anakin agreed, pursing his mouth. "So. Watch the video and then we'll discuss how teamwork that doesn't involve stealing my ship and bombing the weather event from space could help to mitigate this problem."

Because sharks falling from the sky could happen again. Stranger things had happened!

"Did we ever figure out who stole your ship?" Ahsoka asked offhandedly. "They certainly had your landing skills."

"I have my suspicions," Anakin grumbled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" A voice that definitely didn't belong to one Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra randomly yelled from outside the classroom. "And I'm great at landings!"

"Tell that to the ship's brakes!" Anakin yelled after her.

"Your shuttle had brakes?" Stop helping, Ahsoka.

Anakin gave her a look. "Sometimes I slow down." Not most of the time, though.

Ahsoka just raised her not-actually-eyebrows at him.

"That's not the point," Anakin decided, pivoting back to the movie. "Let's watch and then discuss."

And hopefully not spend a lot of time on Anakin's flying!

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Teamwork, Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Wed, 14 Feb 2024 14:21:29 GMT

Posted by: sith_happened

The two teachers were at the front of the classroom again and in an effort to never have anyone ever address Anakin as "Grandpappy" again, he'd decided that no one in class would talk today.

"We're playing Charades," he announced.

Ahsoka was only able to resist bringing it up because she wasn't sure how much he knew about that lumberjack business. "Think of it as an exercise in non-verbal communication. For when you don't share a language, or the person you're speaking with is hard of hearing."

"Or when you're in combat and need to communicate without yelling," Anakin added helpfully.

"Though in that case, it's helpful if you actually pay attention to the person trying to warn you about the gundark nest."

"There was no way I should've guessed that gesture meant gundark," Anakin protested.

"We were on Vanqor, what else could it have meant?"

"That's not the point." It was entirely the point. "We have a hat full of words for you to act out." None of them were gundark. "Let's see how well you do without talking."

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Trust in Teamwork - Wednesday, 1st Period

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 13:58:50 GMT

Posted by: snipsnspecks

Another Wednesday, another class featuring two awkward Jedi at the front of the classroom. “Sometimes you have to work with someone who might not like you,” Anakin said. He, of course, had never experienced this because he was an absolute delight.

That was one word for it. "Or they may just be angry at you." For reasons.

Anakin pressed his lips together. "Or that," he allowed. "But you still must work together and getting them killed on the battlefield or--" he paused to come up with a slightly less deadly option, "--finish a group project! How will you manage to collaborate?"

Was it by ignoring the problem? Because that was what Anakin was trying.

Because why deal with it, Ahsoka, who was not dealing with it, didn't say. "Getting into fist fights is generally considered counterproductive." Look, some people here had been involved in some somewhat unique group projects.

"Unless you're the only person who hasn't done their section, in which case you deserve what you get," Anakin added unhelpfully.

"You'd know." Not that anyone here had ever claimed pushing the data work onto their Padawan was a 'learning experience'.

"Well, sometimes the assignments are clearly punishments from other Jedi who are jealous," Anakin said with a shrug. "I wouldn't coddle them." Back to the topic, maybe, Anakin? "So how would you approach this dilemma, class?"

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Trust in Teamwork - Wednesday, 1st Period

Wed, 17 Jan 2024 11:32:57 GMT

Posted by: snipsnspecks

Today the teachers weren't any closer together, but they were using the excuse of the obstacle course set up in the middle of a fake backyard to be separated. "Teamwork is all about communication," Anakin said from where he was standing disconcertedly close to a bunch of clean, empty. suspiciously people-sized wheelie bins. He was also holding helmets, also a terrible sign.

Ahsoka for her part had an equally disconcerting stack of blindfolds. "After all, you never know when you might lose sight of your goal, as it were, and have to rely on the advice of others."

Anakin shot her a look for that. "So you'll get to see just how well that works when the person giving the advice isn't terribly good at it. You're going to pair up. One team member gets into the wheelie bin. The other gets the blindfold. The person in the bin is directing the person in the blindfold through the tasks on this course. That person may not speak Basic."

English, Anakin.

"Allow us to demonstrate," Ahsoka said, shooting Anakin a look right back before tying a blindfold around her own eyes. "It's simple enough if you're willing to listen to each other." Or if you could just use the Force to navigate. Either or.

Anakin climbed into the wheelie bin. "How's your Huttese?" he asked, sticking on the helmet.

Ahsoka's reply, delivered in bright and cheery Huttese, was very much not printable.

"That sounds anatomically unlikely," Anakin said dryly. "Right. We have three tasks to accomplish." He switched to Huttese. "//Straight ahead for two meters.//"

And he was wearing a helmet if she "accidentally" dumped him on the ground.

Ahsoka would never do that. That didn't mean she had to be gentle as she pushed the bin either.

Make this look good, he sent mentally. Because he was bossy forever.

Just for that (and because they came from a very dramatic line of Jedi), Ahsoka wasn't going to use her hands to push.

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Teamwork, Friday, December 17, 2021 [Take Two]

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 18:20:44 GMT

Posted by: heroic_jawline

Yes, JARVIS had been insisting that today wasn't really Friday, but Steve had gone to bed on Thursday and so that made today Friday, right? He didn't remember anything else.

Logic!

"Welcome back to our final class," Steve said with a smile to the students he was sure were probably a little late. "You've done very well this semester."

"And you made it here even with the weather being what it is!" Tony added, frowning in confusion. He was pretty sure he'd said that same thing yesterday. He looked into his cocoa mug for answers, but it wasn't coffee, so it didn't have any.

Had Steve augmented his cup with marshmallow snow from outside? Yep. He toasted Tony with it cheefully. "So we've set up a small obstacle course to test what you've learned," Steve said. "And afterwards, you can have hot cocoa."

"It'll be great," Tony promised. "...possibly again."

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