Correspondence Scholarship, Class Two [Tuesday Morning, June 17th]

[theexdisgracedacademic]

When the students arrived to their domed classroom, there was a broad-shouldered clay man standing before them. A pair of goggles were awkwardly affixed to her face. The hour to begin arrived, but no other tutor came with it.

The Clay Substitute laid her hands upon the podium. "PLEASE. OPEN YOUR TEXTBOOKS TO PAGE-"

Much the same as last week, there was a hubbub in the hall outside. The door slammed open, and one figure marched another to the front of the class. The Beleaguered Dean, swathed in a coat of thick tweed and a thicker coat of nervous sweat, was all but pushing The Ex-Disgraced Academic back into their pace behind the podium.

The Academic wasn't missing a beat in the argument: "-can't at all see what the issue is, so long as they learn the material-"

"You cannot offload your duties to an Underclay aspirant!" The Dean's fury is only matched by the fearful tension in his voice, "And an unfinished one at that! How did you get it up here-"

The Academic's eye widened in almost-honorable affront. "You can't prove that this perfectly capable worker is unfinished, can you?"

"No, but I can certainly prove that it's not on the faculty list." The Dean wiped his brow. "Get on with it, man!"

The Clay Substitute barely moved, but the grinding of her turning head rumbled through the floor. "I WAS TOLD THAT I WOULD BE PAID IN FULL, REGARDLESS OF HOW LONG CLASS WENT?"

Coin was exchanged, and, the Dean ushered The Clay Substitute out of the room. The Academic hissed through their teeth, clearly ready to vent their terrible mood at the first faces to cross theirs.

They turned to look at the class. And smiled a terrible smile. "Good morning."

Targets acquired.

"So! You've all decided to return for a second week. I suppose it can't be helped. Any damage you incur from here on out is upon your own heads." They began their lecture. 

“English is a phonographic language, as the distinct letters of the alphabet each represent units of sound. The Correspondence is logographic, meaning that similar to the languages of the second and fourth cities (and the Khanate, of course), Correspondence Symbols each represent units of meaning.”

 

 

In bold, rapid strokes, The Academic scrawled a symbol onto the chalkboard:

They whirled around, pointing an accusing claw at anyone unfortunate enough to still be moving their pens. “Do not copy this into your notes! If you fancy yourself cheeky and attempt to copy it whilst my back is turned, I will still know, so do NOT try me.” They turned back, circling the image. Anyone foolhardy enough to ignore the command would earn immediate combustion to their notebook, and a quick, scathing look of satisfaction from The Academic.

“This is the symbol for “an unmappable direction. It is one of the more frequent symbols to be found in practical human application of The Correspondence, as well as in architectural engravings ranging from first city ruins all the way up to lapsarian London. It is also exceptionally flammable. None but the most expensive of papers can contain it.” And with a terrifically wicked smile: "Chalkboards are fine, though." 

They continued. “The Correspondence is a purely semiotic construct. There are currently no known pronunciations or verbal applications for these signs-“ The Academic covered a bark of laughter, and then continued, “-apologies, but I would hate for my lectures to contradict the well-documented research that the Ministry of Public Decency has gently requested I adhere to."

The Academic pushed their current chalkboard up and out of the way, revealing an unblemished second layer. They added a tidy column of six simple symbols. "There are one hundred and eight basic radicals, and we've discovered twice as many in total. But for this course, we will begin with six."

 

 

And, after writing these on the board, the academic turned to the students. “These you may record in your notes, however-“ their tone sharpened, slicing through the momentum of those who may have rushed to begin- “confine each radical to its own sheet for practice.  None of these, alone, is a complete symbol. But some can be converted very easily into real Correspondence symbols, and it is vital that you do not accidentally do so. Spend the rest of today's duration memorizing and practicing these radicals until you can reproduce them by heart. You'll know if you're doing well, because you paper will become warm to the touch once half-full. I will also be writing additional complete correspondence symbols on the other chalkboards. Your homework is to discern which of these six parts of speech each of the symbols is.”

The Academic pointed once more at the spray bottles on each row of desks. “At any sign of smoke, you are to douse the offending student’s work, without hesitation. Last week was not a one-off exercise. Consider this both a basic safety precaution, as well as your first taste of operant conditioning. Get to it!”

 

Comments

Re: Activity

[theanachronistictailor]

One could call it pride, and there was certainly pride in the confidence with which the Academic handled the chalk and the symbols, but what was even more plain was the sheer excitement that seemed to emanate (radiate, if one wanted to make a joke) from their gestures. There was a plain love for the subject apparent. And, yes, pride at being so good at it.

The Tailor took it in with quietly, relieved and even perhaps a little thrilled to not be belittled over the question. They repressed the smile that threatened to form, not wanting it to be taken for any kind of mockery. No, they were learning, and quite a lot too, both about the subject at hand and the individual teaching it.

(Which came back to the question from last week: If so enamored with the field, if so prepared to show off, why such hostility with the Dean? Why was this so forced? Or maybe a better question; who was doing the forcing?)

"Understood. Thank you, Emissary." Back to the symbols. On the top of the page, The symbol and its meaning, and then, chevrons. Back, and forth, never touching but in rows that were almost perfect, back and forth, like patterns, with variations to size that drew the eye with intent. The page was a little over half full when the Tailor felt the distinct warmth, and now they smiled.

(In the far back of their mind, an idea was growing, but it was still loose and unformed and out of reach. An idea about patterns.)

They took care, when each page was done, to lay them flat and separate. The pages were heavy with ink, symbols in varying size--they hadn't always gotten the hang of the thing, and in rotation some of the symbols seemed less effective--but the hand had clearly started with more precision and relaxed with practice. That would explain the nature of the final symbols they finally turned to.

They frowned. Cross-compared, and noted, without copying the symbols:

1) Person ( with verb ? )
2) Verb ( on concept ? )
3) Adjective
4) Adverb
5) Person ( 2 verbs ?? )

They felt as though they were missing something... The Tailor wasn't prone to asking for help, but they cast a cautious glance at the person beside them. Worse comes to worst, they could try to logic it out, maybe?

Re: Activity

[theanachronistictailor]

Following their conversation with the Morbid Socialite and the additional discussion with the Chimeric Professor, the Tailor returned to their notes with new feeling. A sharp line of ink, rather reminiscent of a cut, was placed under the original notes, but they paused before putting pen to paper. Then, they grabbed an additional sheet of paper and a stub of pencil. This they went at with a quicker hand. It wasn't organized and it wasn't nearly as legible, but what could be made out was... interesting, to say the least.

concept loose, not strict, added mark ( could be plural? 2 concepts? )
long. old?
box [] contained? confined? building? no
both adjective form and adverb
BOX IS BROKEN...
loose verb... thoughtless? easy action? relaxed action? loops are easy to draw
strict verb across from loose verb... two conflicting actions? person who does two things
same symbol as first but modified. IF person who plays (doubtful), then person whos play is work??
whos work is to play???

Why does the place symbol make me think of the Neath?
downward shaped. like a hole. opening to surface.

It would be apparent this was not to be turned in, but was more a brainstorm sheet for their own stream of consciousness. After all, they had begun to doodle along the vast margins they'd left.


(OOC: the Tailor formatted this thing extremely messy and I don't think dreamwidth will display just how unaligned all of it is, and Im half tempted to write it out so you can see just what a wreck their process is...)