towerofanimus | Time to get working!

Entry tags:

Time to get working!

Characters: Ishtar (AU1) and All the teachers/interested students that want to learn!
Setting: Big Library + branches out depending on what the teachers want to do with the lessons. Note that the library is only a starting point so feel free to take it beyond the library!
Format: Up to You
Summary: Ishtar sets up the program that Hei wanted to set up for a while, but he was feeling unwell, so she took over.
Warnings: TBA

[ As promised. In the library, there were signs giving off the subjects of the teachers and what they were teaching along with the name of the teachers. Ishtar tried her best to organize it so that the hug library was of good use. She spaced the areas off so that there weren't too many noises coming from one professor, and she even made sure to provide them information if they so need it.

She stretches a bit and prepared herself for what will happen next. She knew Hei was a lot better at this than she was, but she did her best. She hoped it would work out. ]

[ ooc: general mingle log for the teachers that volunteered for Hei's Teaching Program/School Program. For those who volunteered, there's a spread sheet provided here and for new teachers interested, just sign up at post here. Once you sign up go ahead and tag your subject line, or if it's not there feel free to create the subject like etc. For organizational purposes, I will link the specific threads later when they become too hard to find. Enjoy and I hope everyone has a blast. If any other questions needed, feel free to direct them to me or Final! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[As Tohko wandered into the library and saw the signs, she chuckled a little to herself. So the school was finally starting to open. Of course, it looked like things were just getting started, but progress was progress. Besides, the first class for any subject usually wasn't too hard to make, as it wasn't too heavy material-wise.

Smiling, Tohko quickly grabbed a book on grammar, a copy of The Master and Margarita, and a copy of The Little Prince before going into her small area, still smiling. This should be a lot of fun, and she was willing to help out almost anyone she came across.]

Though Shion was teaching he wanted to attend some of the classes himself, especially those that he had no background in. And literature was something he always wished to learn more about.

He smiled at Tohko. "Are you still open for students?"

Tohko, who had been reading The Master and Margarita, quickly put the book down and smiled at Shion when he walked in and spoke. Her grin just grew even wider as she spoke.

"Of course, of course! I'm always happy to teach students. However, before we get into a lesson, I have to ask you one question: how good is your grammar and spelling?"

"My grammar and spelling? It's fine, I don't struggle to spell words correctly and my grammar has always been above average." He wasn't boasting, just stating facts, there was no room for anything but perfectly correct in No. 6.

"Where I come from we are encouraged to type rather than write, and so my hand is not the neatest but it is legible and I have been practicing here as I would rather write things by hand." Rather than let the administrators have access to it.

At that, Tohko nodded, smiling. This was good news. While grammar and spelling was very helping to people like Romeo and Aleph, there was nothing better than discussing fine literature.

"Alright then! I'm glad to hear it! It's good that you've started writing things by hand. There's nothing wrong with typewrite, but handwriting is something just belongs to you. It's a form of self-expression that captures all your emotions, thoughts, and even your unconscious.

However, I digress. Since you don't need grammar and spelling lessons, we'll be jumping ahead to talking about The Master and Margarita!"

"Yes, that's why it was discouraged." Shion blinked, "I'm afraid I haven't heard of that book... books were outlawed in my city and though I have been making my way through this library I haven't come across that book yet."

Tohko..looked pretty shocked and sad at that revelation. Since books were life for her, banning them was worse than saying you couldn't eat bread and cheese.

"That's horrible! I'm sorry to hear that..book banning is a terrible thing to do..but it is good that you've been given an opportunity here to read a lot. However! Since you haven't read The Master and Margarita yet, we should probably do a quick history lesson so that you and fully appreciate the satire. What, if anything, can you tell me about Mikhail Bulgakov?"

Shion nodded, it was a terrible thing to do but he had tried to make up for his lack of knowledge here, and now months after the labyrinth and the punishment the administrators had put him through he could find joy in learning again, and not just try and desperately absorb knowledge.

"I'm afraid nothing. Even if the history of our worlds were the same the study of history was also mostly banned in my city, we only learned about the formation of the city and only the version they wished us to learn. With there being no history books here... it's one subject I know nothing of at all."

At that, Tohko sighed and nodded.

"I see..I'm sorry to hear that then. It's never a good thing when information is restricted and regulated like that. I'll tell you all I know about Mikhail Bulgakov's life at the point where he started writing The Master and Margarita, as it's important to know. It will help you understand one of the main characters.

First, Bukgakov's writing career started at about 1919, and he shortly moved to Moscow after publishing his first almanac. While he still wrote a few after that, his main body of work included plays and novels, such as The Fatal Eggs and The Turban Brothers. While the public loved his work, the critics hated it, as he used a lot of satire in his works that criticized the government and it's policies. The only reason he was able to keep writing was because Stalin, the government's leader, actually liked him and kept finding work for him. You do see the irony here, don't you?"

"So he criticised the government but instead of punishing him the leader allowed him to keep working." Shion wondered at why that could be. "Why did he like him?"

"His writing ability. Stalin liked it so much that he said it was beyond party classifications like 'right' and 'left'. Sadly, it seemed that the critics didn't share their leaders view."

"Right and left?" Shion blinked at her, "So he was such a good writer that the leader did not mind the criticism?"

"Either that, or Stalin just ignored the criticism and enjoyed the stories. Either way, Stalin kept giving him work."

"I guess that was good of him, but I can't imagine his government were pleased with him for it." If such a person had wrote stories critising No. 6 they would have disappeared pretty quickly, before anyone even knew they existed.

At that, Tohko sighed and nodded.

"The critics did rip into him quite frequently, and getting a lot of money for his work was difficult at the best of times. It got so bad that Bulgakov, in his despair, burned his first draft of The Master and Margarita when it wasn't accepted. He had to rewrite the whole thing from memory later on."

"Did he manage it." Shion asked, hanging onto her words, like he would with a good story.

Since history was just the story of the world to Tohko, it was a bit fitting that Shion was hanging on to her words. Smiling, she nodded.

"He did. While he died while rewriting the novel for the fourth time, he got it all down on paper, and it was eventually published. While it was heavily censored when it first came out, eventually, it was republished and restored."

"Who restored it? Did they get into trouble?" Since Shion thought it must have been a very controversial book to be censured despite the leader liking the author enough to turn a blind eye to his critisisms.

It wasn't that Stalin didn't turn a blind eye..he just didn't care. But Tohko didn't know enough to point that out.

"Lidiya Yanovskaya published the final canonical version of the novel in 1989. And don't worry. No one got in trouble. The critics that had held Bulgakov back had moved on or died, and his final work is now considered one of the best novels in Russia."

"So everyone appreciated it, but only after he was dead..." Shion smiled softly, "That's quite sad."

Tohko smiled, but hers was a little..larger.

"It is a little sad..but that's not quite true. Bulgakov got married two times, and his second wife was with him when he burned his manuscript. She loved the story and encouraged him to re-write it and ignore the critics. The Margarita in the story is based on her a little."

"That's good, I'm glad he had people to help him."

"So am I..but you know, Shion, people always have others that they can rely on and count on to help them out."

"Not always." He said quietly, "But often. It's a good thing about being human I think."

Literature

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