Fandom High School

This week being much more sane than the last, Aly was sitting on her desk, waiting for the everyone to arrive. "Morning all. Welcome to last class of the semester. I don't believe in final exams - if you live through it, you passed. And since I don't generally support overthrowing the school administration -" except in extreme cases, Dolores "- There's really not much of a scope for a practical examination."

"So I hope that you've all learned things. And I hope that you don't hesitate to put what you learned to use in defense of your people, your country, or anyone who needs it. I have the notes here from our first class. What I'd like you to do is look over your answer to the question 'when are revolutions appropriate, and what would it take for you to rebel against the current power structure.' Take a look and then discuss if your opinion has changed. Why or why not?"

Once the discussion was over, Aly nodded, glancing from student to student. "I hope you learned something from this class, and I hope if you ever need me, you'll let me know. We've been talking about revolution and war this term, so I'm leaving you with a quote I found a few years ago from a stateman of this country. It's something to think about. 'I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, [...] in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music...'"

The class had been notified to meet in the Danger Shop, and that was where they found Aly who was looking slightly gleeful as she made sure the final settings were correct.  Once everyone had come in, she turned to clasp her hands in front of her and greet the students.

"Good day, everyone.  We're talking about explosions today.  Mostly because I like them, but also because they an be a great strategic weapon in a street fight.  We won't have time to cover all types of explosives - there's another class for that this term - but I very quickly want to mention pipe bombs and molotov cocktails - two types of improvised explosives that you can pretty much make anywhere.  They are both nice bombs, but they're a bit sloppy.  They're street weapons more than tactical weapons, and they can't necessarily be directed towards strategic goals." 

"This isn't to say that there isn't a place for that type of weapon.  In a revolution, you use any weapon you can get your hands upon.  But unless you're planning on simply erecting barricades in the streets and never moving beyond that - and that rarely works as an overall strategy - you're going to have to move to a more strategic outlook."

"We did this twice while fighting in the Copper Isles.  The first time," a shadow and then a look of triumph crossed Aly's face quickly, "we destroyed the Rajmuat slave docks.  It was a message to the King and to his Spymaster - that they couldn't stop us and they couldn't continue to profit off the labour of slaves.  The second time, the capital's armory was blown up to distract the soldiers for a bit while we set up for the endgame.  Strategic use of explosives - they're a means to an end.  Not the end itself."

"What I've done today is given each group a structure to decide how to destroy.  We're not focusing on the actuality of the explosives this time.  Let's assume that you have an co-conspirator who can handle the making of the bombs.  What I want you to do is decide where to place them and discuss the possible problems with destroying these bridges and forts and the possible issues that may arise while attacking them."

"If you have someone in your group who has the magic to deal with the situation, that's fine.  You can use that, but I'd like you also to look at the problem without magic."

"After you've made your plan, the Danger Shop has all these structures programmed in.  You can choose where to want to place your devices and see how big an explosion you can make."

"Questions?  Ideas?  Worries?"

This Wednesday much better than last Wednesday.  Or at least the honesty spell had worn off and there wasn't going to be another fight in Aly's class so she was assuming this was a much better day.  Also she had coffee, and no, she wasn't sharing. 

"Morning, everyone," she said once the class was assembled.  "I'm guessing you're probably all in better moods than last week?  If not, sorry, we're not fighting anything today.  Instead we're going to talk about conflict resolution."

( Cut the click we do... )

"Hope you all enjoyed your guest teacher last week," Aly said, looking tanned from a week in the Copper Isles. "The Doctor gave you all a good report -" she smirked, remembering the exact words "- except for something about not arguing about grammar? Good call, life's way too short."

She gestured to the class to gather around the cut open (think dollhouse) scale model of the school. A scale model in all aspects like only the Danger Shop could provide. The school was set up as a working castle with an outer wall, guards, an armory, and all sorts of little people wandering about to do their daily jobs, milking cows, making bread, patrolling the walls, sharpening their swords, etc. The Principal's Office had been transformed into the throne room of a tiny king. "You're working in your groups today, and what I'd like you all to do is come up with a plan to infiltrate - and hold - this castle. You're getting way more information than you'd normally have in a situation like this so make use of it. Also you can use any personal powers or skills you have in your group, but I'd rather that's not all you focus on. If someone can melt the stone of the outer wall, that's great, but you still might need someone to subdue the fighters inside or the talk the King into surrendering. Use all your resources including those listed on the board to make up your plan." She glanced around, looking for any questions. "And I can't promise that your class next week won't be actually carrying out these plans."

When she flipped around the white board, the board only read:

Use your imagination. No guns. Bombs are fine.

Aly waited outside the door to the Danger Shop until the class was assembled. Once they were, she pushed open the door, revealing a room outfitted like a dance studio. Mirrors, barre, sprung floor, and all. Aly waited at the door to make sure every student got in, and none escaped once they saw what was in the room.

Shutting the door behind her, Aly made her way to the center of the room. "Right. This wasn't the original plan, but then I realised Homecoming was this weekend. And if there's anything I want to impart, it's the need to always, always be prepared for anything. When you're planning a revolution of any type, you have to pay attention to the basics before anything else. And today, we're going to start with the most basic of all. Movement."

"Controlled movement, complete control over each muscle is necessary to move silently, to climb well, to fight, to keep your hands steady," she grinned quickly. "You get my drift, right? It just so happens that one of the best way to work on movement control is through dancing." And now Aly looked even more amused. "So, that's what we're going to do today."

Aly raised an eyebrow at Nico. "Want to come up and help me?" It wasn't really a question and soon Aly was reminding Nico just to follow her lead. They demonstrated a trio of dances that, while simple, relying on paired movement and working with your partner, not against him or her.

After the demonstration, she turned back to the class. "There you are. Pair up, give it a try. If there are any questions, feel free to ask." Aly grinned. "And before anyone asks, yes, there are a number of other ways to train your muscles to control movement. Martial arts is one, tai chi is one, simple repetition of movement until it's in muscle memory is one. But I like dancing. And you all should know how to dance anyway," she teased. "Your homework this weekend? Dance with someone at Homecoming. And try to enjoy it."

[OOC: Seriously. It' the week before Homecoming. This had to happen. Nico modded with permission because obviously Hades' kid needs some embarrassment.]

"Three days until Parents' Weekend, and most of you are still here? I'm impressed," Aly said teasingly. "Those of you who are new, don't worry. No one's died as a result of parental or other visitors. Embarrassment, I can't help you with. What I can do is-"well, technically she was going to probably start the embarrassment early, but whatever "- possibly give you some pointers on handling not just this weekend, but every time you need to establish a quick rapport with another person whether you need them as a contact or ally for your movement or just because you want your girlfriend's mom to like you.

She flipped the whiteboard around to reveal the writing on it.

( Oh how I love the flirting classes )

Aly was finishing writing on the whiteboard as the students came in, but she turned with a smile once everyone was seated. "Morning to you. I hope you all came with your tongues well-exercised and ready to charm." She made a little face. "And pretend that didn't sound terribly dirty. What we're talking about today is persuasion. Nearly everyone needs to talk people into seeing things their way once in a while, but in a revolutionary situation, it becomes much, much more important. You don't only need to convince people to join the revolution, but you need to convince bakers to help feed your troops, talk guards into leaving a window unlocked, spin the issues for journalists to write about, and even persuade your own people to stay disciplined and wait for a plan instead of running in willy-nilly.

"It's a sad fact, but a good 70% of a rebellion is going to be planning, and you need to make sure you know how to use that time to talk your fellows into to your excellent ideas." Aly flashed a smile at that. "Because you'll all have them right?" She pointed to the whiteboard. "Two things are up there. First is a 8 point guide to persuasive arguments. The examples under the points are from a speech by French leader Charles de Gaulle. If you don't know about him, take some time this week to look him up. He was quite a character. But what he did in this speech is walk into a room full of French soldiers who were ready to fight to the death to keep Algeria a French territory. He walked into that room and gave a speech about the benefits of Algerian independence, and by the end of it, the entire room was on their feet cheering for something they'd have scorned an hour earlier. In this world, at least, it's considered one of the greatest examples of persuasive speaking ever, and a copy of it is on each of your desks to reference."

( Examples below! )

Aly was enjoying being back in a classroom, perching on her desk and watching the students make their way into the class. She smiled at the students who had that shiny patina of being brand new to Fandom and nodded to Ino if she was there as a student she'd known before. Once everyone was close to seated, she stood up, leaning back against the desk.

"Good morning. I'm going to admit straight off that I might be a little rusty with this whole teaching thing. It's been a little while," she gave a little smirking smile that said you could take her seriously at your own risk. "I'm Alianne of Pirate's Swoop. You all can call me Aly, duani is acceptable if you're uncomfortable with just a nickname, but the first person who calls me Miss Aly gets me unhappy."

"This class is 'So You Say You Want a Revolution.' If you're not interested in revolutions, pretend because you already missed the class on Canada. During the term, we're going to talk about why formenting revolution can be a good thing. We're going to discuss what revolutions can be used for, how they can be put together, and why a failed revolution can be just as effective." She gazed at all of them with a slight smile. "And yeah, I hate theory so practicalities will be covered. Demolitions, weaponry, organisation, magic - or not, tactics." She grinned. "And my favourite, intelligence."

"Ten years ago, I helped organise a rebellion that put my Queen in power and have served as her Spymaster ever since - when I wasn't teaching here, of course. Almost everything I'm going to be teaching you is what I learned during the rebellion and in the years since. And if I didn't learn it there, it's something that was useful to me at the time." She paused for a moment before adding. "In spying, your brain is almost everything - half of spying is half mental which I've said many, many times before. A single person can't put together an effective revolution. But a single person can destroy one. And a destroyed rebellion feeds only the ravens and Stormwings. It's a dangerous game. And one you have to commit to fully if you're going to succeed."

"Today I'm going to be traditional - for once - and get to know all of you. I'd also like to hear what you think about revolutions and rebellions. When are they appropriate, what would it take to rebel against the current power structure of your home country, society, or even this school." She smiled mischievously. "I'm looking for a TA or two too so if you're interested, let me know."

Revolutions is, uhh, here.

Cause I'm dumb.

*facepalm*

The class had been handwavily notified to meet in the Danger Shop, and that was where they found Aly who was looking slightly gleeful as she made sure the final settings were correct.  Once everyone had come in, she turned to clasp her hands in front of her and greet the students.

"Good day, everyone.  Today we are talking, again, about explosions.  A few classes ago we talked about pipe bombs and molotov cocktails which are both nice bombs, but they're a bit sloppy.  They're street weapons more than tactical weapons, and they can't necessarily be directed towards strategic goals."  She grinned at Sam if she was present.  "As some of you noted then." 

"This isn't to say that there isn't a place for that type of weapon.  In a revolution, you use any weapon you can get your hands upon.  But unless you're planning on simply erecting barricades in the streets and never moving beyond that - and that rarely works as an overall strategy - you're going to have to move to a more strategic outlook."

"We did this twice while fighting in the Copper Isles.  The first time," a shadow and then a look of triumph crossed Aly's face quickly, "we destroyed the Rajmuat slave docks.  It was a message to the King and to his Spymaster.  That they couldn't stop us and they couldn't continue to profit off the labour of slaves.  The second time, the capital's armory was blown up to distract the soldiers for a bit while we set up for the endgame.  I planned both attacks though, sadly, I had other responsibilities so couldn't plant the charges on the armory."  She smirked.  "That and I might possibly have been in trouble still for going on the slave harbor raid."

"What I've done today is separate you up into groups and given you a structure to decide how to destroy.  We're not focusing on the actuality of the explosives this time.  Let's assume that you have an co-conspirator who can handle the making of the bombs.  What I want you to do is decide where to place them and discuss the possible problems with destroying these bridges and forts and the possible issues that may arise while attacking them."

"If you have someone in your group who has the magic to deal with the situation, that's fine.  You can use that, but I'd like you also to look at the problem without magic."

"After you've made your plan, the Danger Shop has all these structures programmed in.  You can choose where to want to place your devices and see how big an explosion you can make."

"Questions?  Ideas?  Worries?"

[OOC: Please wait for OCD with groups is up!]

Aly waited for the students to all come in before going to close the door and sit on her desk.  "To those of you I had in my class last semester, I want to apologise.  This is a bit of a redux of a few topics that we covered that are just as important to a revolutionary as to a spy.  The currency of both is information.  And to get information, you have to be able to get people to trust you and possibly even mislead them to convince them to spill the beans."  She grinned.  "We're going to go through these pretty quickly in this class session, but I don't want anyone to think that makes them less important.  If you still have questions after class, come find me in my office or save them and ask next class session."



"Okay then, today?  I want you to use both these topics together,"  Aly smirked.  "Flirt with someone else in the class, try to establish a rapport.  But do it all through lying."

[OOC: Please wait for the OCD threads are up.]

 

*cough*

Revolutions for this week is here

*goes to facepalm*

When the students came into the classroom, Aly was writing a list of criteria on the whiteboard at the front of the class.  She finished up the last point, flipped it around, and turned around to watch everyone find seats. 

"Good afternoon, all," she said with a bit of a grin as she seated herself on the top of her desk.  "Last week we talked about the reasons why you personally would rebel against a government.  What I'd like you to do today is to get together in small groups - two or three - and agree within the group and why you - as a group - would rebel against something.  You can determine what you're rebelling against.  Revolutions aren't put together by one person.  It's always a group effort.  So today, let's start that."  She glanced at the avowed monarchists in the class.  "And you have to decide on some criteria.  Saying it is never appropriate won't fly today."


After Aly had finished going through the list, she glanced over the class again.  "After you come up with a group reason, someone from the group should present these reasons to me and the class."  She grinned.  "I'll ask questions.  For next week, I'd like everyone to write me a quick three page paper on a revolution of some sort.  It can be from this world or your own.  Just look at the reasons behind the revolution and then make your own judgement on whether or not it was legitimate and if you'd've supported it."  She hopped back up on her desk, playing with her necklace.  "If you don't have any questions, go to."

[OOC: Wait for the OCD is up!  Paper is handwavy, of course, but if you could have some idea of what was written about, that would be excellent.  *plots*]