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Tarot already had someone in mind when it was her turn to pick an important figure. She stood, cleared her throat a little, then did her best to give a clear report. "There was a Litch known as Argus the Stoneskilled. They were the alchemist who was responsible for the creation of the soul stones that are commonly used. Before the new type of soul stone was discovered it was a lot harder to imbue stones, and there was a higher chance that something would go wrong with the imbuing. They didn't last long either, not like stones today can."

Tarot's pointed, cat-like face held an expression of somber seriousness rather than her usual bland apathy. "If it wasn't for Argus, a lot of people wouldn't be here. It wouldn't be possible to store soul stones like the Great Cache. I came from there. A lot of the Grimm also came from the Great Cache. A lot of people are affected by Argus' discovery in some way or another, and I think it's amazing that they could touch so many lives like they have." Tarot resumed her seat, her expression still a study in seriousness.

Vincent gave the topic a little thought as he stood up. He knew a scattering bit of knowledge for several races since he'd looked some things up during his little writing challenges, but he only knew of one race in any kind of detail that might work for a class assignment.

"My adoptive mother is an Elf, so I know a bit about their courtship practices," he said. "Arranged marriages are actually pretty popular with wealthy families. I guess a lot of them are business owners, or started out that way, so it's kind of like an extension of that. I mean if you're gonna inherit the family business one day it's probably best to have a suitable partner, or that's some of the thinking behind it. Like marriage is just a kind of business deal." Giselle had explained it better, and with examples, but Vincent didn't want to take up too much time talking.

"There's lots of Elves who don't go for arranged marriage though, and their courtship is mainly about gift-giving or activities together. They go for high quality though, like sometimes they have to save up for a bit to get a good gift, cause giving something cheap or common reflects a bit badly on the gift-giver." Vincent shrugged, but grinned and took his seat. Honestly, when Giselle told him about it, it reminded him a bit of Baphomet courting culture. Gift-giving seemed prevalent with both races, anyway.

Laurel looked thoughtful. "I've done a lot of digging and research on Grimm, so I know a bit of how their courtship works," she said. "In the past the different packs would trade younger members, to keep bloodlines diverse and strong and, I assume, to help make and strength ties between the various packs."

Laurel sighed quietly. "Of course with the massive reduction in population, that wasn't possible. The remaining Grimm lived close to the Nixie, so they began adopting some of their courtship practices. Mother of pearl is a popular courtship gift, especially if you've put time and effort into shaping it, though jewelry in general is a good gift. Food, trinkets. The main theme seems to be the thought and effort put behind the gift."

She paused for a moment, then shrugged lightly. "The population is slowly making a comeback, and new packs will probably end up forming eventually. I'm honestly not sure what will become of our courtship rituals in the future. We might go back to the traditional ways, but with so many of us being raised into a multi-cultural place it might very well be that the traditional ways will end up staying in the past." Laurel realized she'd trailed off on a bit of a tangent and blushed a little, but grinned. "Anyway, that's what I know about Grimm courtship."

Quartz pondered for a moment. She could cover her own race, but she thought she might try to display some of her knowledge about others besides her own. Not that she knew about more than one or two other races, and even then her knowledge wasn't nearly what one would call comprehensive, but for the class it should do.

"I've learned a bit from a friend about Naga courting practices," she said in her soft voice. "They make special dances for the people they're interested in. There's also specific touches that seem to have deep meaning. Um, I think touching noses is supposed to be the most special. I also know they typically don't hold with the practice of arranged marriages." Finished with her answer, Quartz sat back in her chair.

Acacia stood, looking thoroughly bored. "Prince Aerath was the first Geist prince in their history. He got that title by successfully sacking the capital city. I don't know if it was the capital city then, but it was still an important place. I guess it's pretty cool, being chosen to be a prince because you did something rather than being born to something. And Prince Aerath was the first one, so that's also pretty cool." Acacia resumed her seat.

It was an easy choice as to who Skylar picked to talk about. Overall he wasn't very interested in historical figures, everything that happened was years and years before his time and Skylar was the type to gravitate to something that he could witness with his own eyes. However, there was one figure in particular that he had heard his father mention once or twice.

"Argus the Stoneskilled, the Litch who alchemized soul stones. It would seem that Argus was a particularly important individual. I chose this historical figure because I've heard about it a few times from my father who is quite skilled in Alchemy."

Short and to the point. There was never any reason to beat around the bush.

Traditional courting practices? Iah may of found a few nightmares and daydreams to be of his liking, but he hadn't given any thought to courting traditions... should he? He was only a junior, but he did know a few students who had started dating as juniors. However, it seemed like a pretty big jump to him. He would rather focus on his schooling and making friends, not spending the time courting people. Oh well, he probably should look into it for this class at least, and there was one particular race he was interested in more than the others.

"The Chimera are a race of nightmare who value a lot of things, and one of those is better serving ones clan through power, being self-sufficient, and other daily aspects of life. Arranged marriages are quite common for them, a lot of them being paired off by the time they are juniors, like I am. Rejecting said arranged marriage however and fighting for the one you love seems to be the biggest sign of true love and commitment to them. Many who are in arranged marriages don't go that route, trusting their parents decision as good intents for their lives. The arranged marriage aspect of their tradition is what I am most interested in. As a naga, I grew up around the bakeneko as a freshling. They too have arranged marriage practices, but it fell to disuse before I was born. With the chimera, I do believe that the parents really do have the best intentions in mind, and even if the child doesn't go along with it, the act of going for the one you love is seen as an act of true love. Even if I myself would still never use that model for myself or my own children if I ever had any, I still respect the parents and people who do."

May 2017

Username: Embi-lamb
Nightmare/Daydream: Qasim
Prompt:

Quote:

Tethys has been talking about "daily rituals" from various cultures with the students. What is one of your student's daily rituals? Do they recognize that it's a ritual? If they don't think they have any daily rituals, have them explain why.

Write a 100 word minimum response from the perspective of your student answering Tethys' question

Prompt Response: If there was ever going to be a daily ritual in Dawbie's life, it would most assuredly be his nightly sock making sessions. It didn't matter how Dawbie was making the socks. Whether it was knitting, or other forms. So long as he was making something Dawbie was content. It was almost like a nightly meditation. At this point, Dawbie wasn't really sure what other kids even did in their spare time. He spent so much of his time alone ... but at least he had Reese now. She seemed to rather enjoy his sock theme jewelry ... Dawbie wanted to show her how to make real socks! Neither of them could wear them, of course ... but it was still a nice thought.