(Untitled)

[stormweathered]

The classroom was strewn in disarray of copies of Lord of the Flies, newspapers (Castle felt a pang of guilt at destroying as much literature as they had for the project, but he calmed himself with the reminder that the bookshelf refilled often and handily), and the sticky substance best used to create paper-mache. It was, as far as he was

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[stormweathered]

Castle had drifted to the side of the class midway through, pen poised above his papers. Part of them were in preparation for the quiz the week after, but there were some pages in there that had to do with a concept for the next Nikki Heat book that he was drafting up in his mind. Even though Gina wasn't around to pressure him didn't mean that he didn't want to write it. Besides, he still had his muse and his ideas were far from dried up.

Every once in a while, he cast a look upwards to make sure no one was experiencing any difficulty -- but also to make sure that the classic art of paper-macheing remained pure.

[lt_blade]

Sonya's 'head' was nearly done (just needed to let it dry), when she decided to speak with the teacher about the syllabus. She could understand the activities, but one thing didn't ring right.

"Fake blood? You sure you don't want that for when we start on Dracula?" It was slightly cliche, but then if she knew anything it was 'gallows humor', but the idea of such a project left her a little unnerved-it wasn't as though she hadn't seen enough 'real blood' to last a life time: hell, some of the signs (and warnings) involved with pregnancy also included blood.

The last thing she felt like doing was attempting to create a fake batch for a liturature class.

[stormweathered]

"Is there a universal timeline about these kinds of things?" Castle asked warily, his brow furrowed as he asked the question that plagued him aloud. "Because I don't really recall the universe telling me I can't do fake blood twice. Plus, you know, teacher," he added with a bright grin. "Also, it's just a suggestion, paint does the same trick," he pointed out.

[lt_blade]

"It's not sticky or thick enough." She corrected. If there was any sort of 'symbol' that seemed to highlight her career, it was blood: blood, sweat..and even a few tears. "It just seems more fitting for a story about vampires, unless you're thinking about how half the kids in the book become 'blood thirsty'."

Sonya had read the book before-she'd done a lot of reading on the trips when they were moving from base to base.

[percy_jackson]

Paper mache. I'm doing paper mache. On an Island I'm not supposed to be on, and after I've melted down an ancient bronze sword.

For the past two years, the fact that I'd managed to get through two school terms without being expelled was novelty enough, but Castle's class took things to a new level. I mean, there were similarities to that new age school where the teachers thought that the best way to teach "Lord of the Flies" was re-enacting it. And I mean, really realistically re-enacting it, but Castle was attentive. His methods were unorthodox, but they were methods.

Methods that included paper mache. And learning how to make fake blood, which was kind of cool.

After I formed the nose, I wiped off my hands and wrote on the cue card, "Jack Merridew" and the traits, "Selfishness."

[stormweathered]

"Good," Castle said with a prodding gesture of his hand, studying the head thoughtfully. "Now, why does this weakness make him interesting in a literary standpoint? Think of the people you know. Does their selfishness make them more human? Less perfect?"

[percy_jackson]

"Well..." I looked at my head. Now that I stepped back, i thought that it looked rather uncomfortably like Luke. Luke had Jack's charisma, and had turned a number of us half-bloods against the gods. But then, Jack hadn't killed Kronos at the last minute. And Jack hadn't had Luke's troubled family history, with a mother driven insane by a stupid feud between Zeus and Hades. Had he?

I shook this thought from my head. "He had a lot of power," I said. "He knew how to get the Island behind him, but he didn't use that power to help people. That makes him selfish. I guess... from a literary standpoint... it makes him interesting because he makes things happen. He makes bad things happen that the good guys have to deal with." As if they didn't have enough to deal with already.

"It makes him human," I said, a little bitterly. "But less perfect? Whose perfect?" If not the Gods, then who?

[stormweathered]

"There you go," Castle encouraged with a pleased smile on his face. "I want you to focus on what you said about power. That's a strong argument to have. I like that you didn't look to his selfishness from a base standpoint, but used examples. Very good," he said with a nod. "Now, turn it on its head. Is there a point in the text where he's sympathetic because of his selfishness? Does it ever make you feel pathos for him?"

[weary_head]

Dean kind of can't believe this class. He only signed up to satisfy the pre-med requirements he assigned himself, and he's been dreading it, at least until he saw the lesson plan.

None of the assignments feature books he'd have picked to read himself, especially not the monster books, but the projects look interesting. Some of them even look fun.

It's weird. It's weird, and Dean feels weird doing it, but he makes a paper-mache head when he's asked, and he fashions it in the form of Jack. Up to his elbows in sticky glue, Dean grunts. That little kid was such an asshole.

[needthepractice]

Beckett isn't even sure why she's signed up for the class in the first place. It'd been a whim when she'd first done it, but looking around the classroom, she can't help but smile to herself. It's exciting to see Castle in an element that isn't strictly related to homicide or police work, to catch a glimpse of him doing something that he loves in regards to literature. And she'll never admit it out loud, but she also likes the fact that their positions are reversed, that she's learning something from him for once.

A grunt nearby has Beckett looking up from her eerily convincing batch of fake blood. It's an assignment she wants to perfect later on, and as far as she's concerned, she's got lots of experience to base it on. "How's it going?" she asks, smiling politely.

[weary_head]

"Pretty good," says Dean. The look of intense concentration on his face cracks the drying 'blood' on his cheek, but he doesn't seem to notice. Wiping the back of his wrist across his forehead, Dean looks up, and wow, this is not the type of woman who usually addresses him unprompted. Dean does his best to look smart.

"I picked Jack. What about you?"

[needthepractice]

"Definitely Jack," Beckett agrees, smoothing out the edge of her head to make it a little more rounded before she peers at her own bowl of fake blood again. It needs something else, because it's already starting to congeal a little faster than it would normally, and she wrinkles up her nose in thought.

"I always felt bad for the others. Especially Piggy."

[a_royal_bastard]

Alistair had never even heard of papier-mache before, nevermind made anything out of it. But there he was, trying his best to do as he was told. And if he was told to make a head on a pike, well, gruesome or not, he could attempt that. That he'd seen something like it in the Deep Roads at least gave him an idea of what they'd actually look like. Still, to put a child's head there -

He would just have to remind himself it was fiction.

So after some careful deliberation - mostly between Jack and Ralph, admittedly - when he settled on Jack as his choice. He knew the type, and knew how dangerous they could be even in smaller groups. Now, all he'd have to do is make the project.

Which would be the true test, as it turned out. He had signed up to learn, though, and he was certainly learning a new skill.

[stormweathered]

Castle knew of Alistair. He'd even come across him in the IPD office, but they had yet to have the soul-bonding connection that Castle had with Ryan and Esposito back home. "You're doing well!" he praised excitedly when he came across Alistair. Sure, it was still a work in progress, but Kate had given him a quick background and any artistic craft project was amazing. "Do you have any questions? Really, honestly, I'm here to help."

[a_royal_bastard]

Alistair had taken the class without connecting the name of the teacher with the man Kate had always spoken so highly about. Now that he had realized it, he admittedly felt even more pressured to do well, not wanting to come across badly. The offer had been made, however, and Alistair did know he could use assistance.

"Should I make the mix a little thicker?" he asked, showing him the bowl of the gunk he's working with. It's a little too watery even to Alistair's eye, but given it's the first time he's done it, he didn't want to over do things and waste the materials used to create what he'd be dipping the paper into.

[stormweathered]

Castle leaned over the table and peered at the mix, dipping his pinky in and raising it to the light to allow it to drip and for him to test the consistency. "No, I think you've got just the right ratio of newspaper to goop," he said critically, flashing a grin in Alistair's direction. "How did you find the book? Enjoyable?"

[halfscarlet]

Billy vividly remembers the last time he'd read Lord of the Flies for school, and none of those memories are any good. It hadn't been his teachers fault, but instead the rest of his entire school life -- between daily bullying and weekly beatings, he'd rarely enjoyed anything until his powers had suddenly flared up.

After that, school seemed kind of pointless to worry about when he spent his time fighting wars and saving people every other week.

The book and the whole papier-mache thing takes him back to grade school, and he's does his best to make it look like an actual head. In the end it's creepy looking and he's got some glue and a strip of newspaper stuck to his cheek, but Billy proudly writes down Roger on his little card and underneath it, 'Evil.'

Sometimes, things are just as black and white as the newspaper he's working with.

[stormweathered]

Castle was stuck staring at the head for a little while, nodding in vague horror. "I think you and I need to discuss a coalition of head-building for when I inevitably need to scare a future boyfriend of Alexis'. They just don't have horror shops here that I can turn to," he maligned, casting a wary look over his shoulder to ensure Alexis hadn't heard that.

[halfscarlet]

Billy pushes down a bit of newspaper that's trying to curl back up, and he gives Castle a grin. "Um, maybe? I think my allegiance lies with Alexis, but if there's a real need to scare future boyfriends, I'll totally help out."

[stormweathered]

"In return, I will totally and utterly be on your bro-side for anything," Castle announced with his chin high in the air. These things were dignified affairs and ought to be treated as such. "Okay, but seriously, talking about actual education aspects," he said, reigning himself back. "Why'd you pick him?"