COMC: How to Sex Your Furby

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

It was the promised second half of Care of Magical Creatures, and it was being held in the same calendar year! In the same season, no less!

Normally, COMC would have been a boring lecture followed by a group activity. Today, though, the professor was unprepared. Unprepared, unmotivated, and uninterested. So instead, written on the chalkboard was an assignment:

Male Furbies
-Larger body size
-More pronounced curve of the beak
-Longer fur tuft on top of head

Female Furbies
-Smaller body
-Longer toes
-Wider hips

WHAT GENDER IS YOUR FURBY? DISCUSS.

Since he was technically supposed to be in the room while he was "teaching," Grant was sitting at a desk at the front of the room, reading a book. He'd even put it down if somebody asked him a question. And while Grant was normally a stickler for proper terminology, there was no way in hell he was going to tell his students to "sex your furby."

((COMC Rules: There are no partners or assigned groups. This is an open RP to all students, even people who aren't on the list or don't have furbies. If your character is furby-less, you can assume they pick up a loaner furby at the door. There is no right or wrong answer. If you need prof or TA attention, PLEASE put a note in the subject line.))

Comments

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

Hehehe, well the fur tuft was no indication, he managed to give his furby a mohawk. Not that he really cared either, he hoped they were supposed to turn in the animals today.

[bone-not-rock.livejournal.com]

Billy had, without a doubt, the world's ugliest furby (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v239/Catremistrae/furby-charcoal-1.jpg). Even then, he wouldn't have given his a mohawk. "Man, what did that thing ever do to you?" he asked Turlough.

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"What? It's not hurting it any. If anything, it's an improvement." In Turlough's opinion, anyway. And it's not like the Furby noticed, anyway, it was cleaning it's paws.

[bone-not-rock.livejournal.com]

"An improvement?" Not that you could make these things look worse, but still. "So what's making it stay up like that?"

[vislor-turlough.livejournal.com]

"Magic. That or impossible physics, take your pick."

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

Interesting that Near's first class would be with a professor he'd already met. And, in his unconcious arrogance, dismissed as ignorant in his field.

Furbies, hmm? He picked one up to inspect it, aware that the comparative criteria were of little use without at least one clearly identified specimen.

[papayagami.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's Near.

Well, seeing as he didn't recognize anyone else currently hear, and Nemo wasn't here yet, Soichiro walked toward Near with Toh-Dye.

"So. You find out that one's name yet?" He gestured toward Near's furby.

He looked around in confusion as he heard someone (who has blue hair) say "why the hell is Light's dad here?"

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

"I have only just now acquired it." He held the thing up. "How do you determine its name?"

[papayagami.livejournal.com]

"Well, as strange as it sounds....tickle it three times and pet its back. That's how I found out this one's name," he said, gesturing to Toh-Dye, who expressed interest in Near's furby.

"Near. I seem to have met L. And then a second L. Or someone who looked like him, his name was Attempted Alternate. Can you shed some light on this, or is that confidential?"

It's just damn lucky he never met Beyond.

[cardarchitect.livejournal.com]

Looking around hurriedly, Near lowered his voice, pitching it to carry no further than Soichiro's ears.

"Before those like myself were prepared to succeed L, there were earlier attempts at replicating his abilities. They were less than successful."

[otakukonata.livejournal.com]

Well, this wasn't the class Konata was expecting. Where were the more fantastic creatures, like the griffins, and thestrals (though she would have to take people's word on it, she hadn't seen anyone die), and dragons?

[charlesofdensen.livejournal.com]

Hmm.

Given that May-Lah Kah was rather small (and actually quite helpful) and had rather large toes, he was inclined to believe May-Lah Kah was female.

[wh0-kill3d-m3.livejournal.com]

Laura came in with her Furby cradled in the crook of one arm. She shot Grant a worried look, but didn't approach him. Instead she took a seat in the middle of the room and started copying the information on the chalkboard into her notebook.

[bowchickamaou.livejournal.com]

Yuuri liked his Furby. Yuuri liked almost everyone and everything, so this was not a huge surprise.

The idea of figuring out his Furby's gender squicked him a little. He felt he'd rather not know. Still, it was a school assignment, and the Furby didn't seem to mind. Yuuri gulped.

"Um, Wolfram, you go first. I'll learn from what you do!"

[wolfram-jyari.livejournal.com]

Wolfram had refused to pick up another furby for himself. Yuuri was going to be married to him one day (even if it killed them both, so help him Shinou), and, like their adventure with the mighty Bearbee, Wolfram and Yuuri were going to make a creature grow through their love! Besides, the furbies were stubby and they waddled. He'd just share Yuuri's.

"What!?" The lazy loafer demanded. "Why do I have to go first? You're the one who picked it! That probably means it's a girl, anyway, so the activity is done."

[bowchickamaou.livejournal.com]

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with girls! My mom is a girl!"

Yuuri's logic was, in this instance, unassailable.

"Okay, Mee-Mee Noo-Loo (http://www.mimitchi.com/html/ffaq3.htm#Q9)." He squared off against the Furby, who merely peeped a cheerful noise at him, completely unperturbed by Yuuri's determination and discomfiture. "We have to figure out whether you're a boy or a girl."

Wider hips? Did Mee-Mee Noo-Loo even have hips?

Yuuri stared at the Furby for a long uncomfortable moment. The Furby blinked its weird eyelids at him like shutters.

"Um. I think you're a boy. Because of your large body size," Yuuri finally decided.

Maybe Mee-Mee Noo-Loo was just fat? Or very well-nourished? Did large body size really mean anything? Aiii!

[wolfram-jyari.livejournal.com]

Wolfram, meanwhile, was wondering about something else. "I wonder if our mothers have longer toes?" He knew that they had wider hips and smaller bodies. At least, they will. Wolfram would be taller than his mother one day.... one day.

If he had to inherit so much of his mother's appearance, why couldn't have he also received her statuesque height!?

"And I think it's a girl. Mee-Mee Noo-Loo is a girl's name. No boy would let himself be called that!"

[hogwarts-kojiro.livejournal.com]

Furbies. Furbies were important. The Headmistress was a Furby, and Kojiro was sworn to protect and defend her.

Somewhere Kojiro had gotten word that COMC class was dealing with Furbies. This concerned him greatly. He needed to take action.

Unannounced, he swung through a window ninjalike. "To protect the peoples from refrigeration!" he shouted, and proceeded to liberate some Furbies. He opened the cage of loaner Furbies that sat at Grant's desk, scooped out an armful of the little creatures, and (leaving the cage door open) ran out the classroom door.

"Goddamn it." Chance Silvey, the TA, had been sitting at the front of the room with a copy of Nessie Speaks. (She was still interested in that magical liopleurodon, even if it didn't make such a hot research prospect anymore.) She dropped her book and began trying to gather up the Furbies who were hopping out of the open cage. Pursuit of the mystery samurai ninja king would have to be Dr. Grant's task.

[defense-rests.livejournal.com]

Mia was rather late coming to the class due to Pearl not feeling well (read: crying herself to sleep) and May-Lah had obviously not wanted to leave. She was only coming to class to explain Pearl's absence and apologize - and was rather surprised to see the man dashing out the door. (Whether it was Kojiro or Grant pursuing Kojiro was beyond her, since she'd never met either and his back was already to her.)

When she saw the Furbies trying to escape the classroom, though, she snatched up a few herself, careful not to hurt any of them as she carried her armful over to the open cage. "Someone take issue with keeping them in captivity?" she asked Chance as she deposited the ones she'd caught and hurried to scoop up more.

[chance-silvey.livejournal.com]

"Thanks." Chance is mainly grateful to have an extra pair of hands. The Furbies are agitated and skittering all over the place. "God only knows. One minute everything's ordinary, the next minute some Asian guy with bleached hair and an oiled-up chest is swinging through the window and liberating the lab animals. Maybe he's with PETA. I could have told him we're not actually doing anything to the Furbies. Except maybe publicly embarrassing them. Sorry," she tells one of the Furbies as she scoops it back into the cage.

[defense-rests.livejournal.com]

"You're welcome." Mia sidestepped to avoid kicking an excited Furby, catching another one making a mad dash for the door and blocking the first Furby with her foot. "Hold it right there, you." She scooped it up as well and brought it back. "Ordinary? Here? I'm starting to think that's just a precursor to the insanity." The description got a smirk. "Escaped cabana-boy-slash-trapeze-artist? No, even for this place that's stretching." Another Furby was retrieved and babbled at her in irritation. "I'm sorry, but you're liable to get stepped on at this rate," she told it.

It sulked as she deposited it into the cage, but seemed otherwise fine. "I don't think we've met," Mia said before turning back to the remaining stragglers. "Mia Fey. I'd shake your hand, but - ah ah ah ah!" The last was directed at the Furby that was about to take a short walk off a high table that she caught before it could plummet to the floor.

[dinosaurman.livejournal.com]

Apparently ninja-fu was like the Spanish Inquisition: nobody expects it. Kojiro was out the door before Grant was on his feet and chasing after him. A quick dash down the hallway made it clear that a fifty-five year old scientist was no match for Kojiro, samurai ninja king. The little furbies were wigglers, though, and even the muscled manliness of Kojiro couldn't hold on to them all. Grant followed the trail of unhappy furballs, picking up the ones that had been left behind.

[jezzthespoon.livejournal.com]

He couldn't claim to be bored, precisely, not even given that he'd basically spent his time sitting there and staring at his borrowed Furby, which he indeed found rather boring. He couldn't claim that, not with the heated scuffle in another part of the room followed by the shouting human and the swarm of escapees. Jezz scooped up one of the Furbies from the floor and set it side-by-side with his initial one before continuing his stare, in case comparison might get him a flash of insight. None seemed forthcoming.

[sbisawesome.livejournal.com]

"Hey, it's Drowy Drowington!" Strong Bad waved a boxing glove cheerily as he sauntered over. "So is your Furby a lady or what?"

[jezzthespoon.livejournal.com]

"Oh," said Jezz, "it's you." He looked at the two Furbies again and pointed. "Perhaps this one. That, or it's a small male." Or maybe the other one was a large female, but he saw little point in going on a spiral of possibilities.