Hunting 101 - Wednesday

[6buckstohisname.livejournal.com]

"Okay, kids," Dean said, taking a seat on the teacher's desk. Look at him being all teacherly. And nary a dodgeball in sight! "Today we're gonna talk about shape-shifters. The kind that can turn into anyone they want, not the ones that grow fur and fangs. Those'll be covered next week."

"I apologize to anyone who ate right before class, because this might get kind of gross," Sam said with his best puppyface. "Like Dean said, shape-shifters can take on the appearance of anyone they want, and the ones we're familiar with do it by, well, shedding their skin with each new appearance. Literally."

That got a smile out of Dean. Because he was a twisted individual. "If they see you, they can look like you. And if they look like you, they start being able to think like you. And we mean literally. They have some weird ability to get your memories and and mannerisms. Which makes them harder than hell to catch when they start killing people."

"Not all of them are automatically killers," Sam said. He was still determined to be the diplomatic one here. "But it's pretty easy to get away with crimes when you can change how you look whenever authorities get too close."

"Or impersonate the cop investigating the crime..." Dean shook his head. "Easy way to check. Cameras. They can look normal everywhere but on film. Their eyes glow like they're on fire or something."

"And, probably obviously, finding a pile of gross skin sitting around is a bad sign too." This was the anti-eating class, seriously.

"Oh, and teeth. Hair too." DAMN IT, BOYS. Dean clapped his hands together. "Alright, how to stop these suckers is simple. Silver works on them. If you're fresh out of silver... decapitation. Which works for a lot of things, really. When it doubt, remove the head and burn the remains."

"We're not going to have you practice that sort of thing yet." Suck it up, Dean. "For now, we're going to give you guys some cameras and have you practice your photography skills. Taking pictures when something strange is going on is always a good idea in general. Snapping good shots of suspicious people takes a little practice, so try to get your shots without stopping and focusing for too long. You might not get the chance to take your time."

Working the Long Con [Wednesday, Period One]

[talentforlying]

They kept coming back. John was starting to get weird-ed out by this.

Class met in the Danger Shop today, which was modified to resemble a pool hall. "Welcome to the unofficial Land of the Hustle," he proclaimed, spreading his arms wide. "Today, we're learning how to shoot pool and take the money of idiots and college kids with more money than sense."

"Pool hustlers use deception and misdirection in order to win cash from inexperienced players -- or from skilled players inexperienced with the world of hustling. Now, there's a few different options for a skilled hustler, and some things to watch out for if you don't want to end up the wrong side of the bet."

"A hustler will usually play with a low-quality "house" cue stick provided by the pool hall, or an unadorned but high-quality personal cue that looks like one, known as a "sneaky pete." Or, with the nascence of local competitive league play in recent years, may play with a flashy-looking but evidently low-end personal cue, to give the impression that the hustler is a beginning league player. They will typically play a game or two for "fun" or for low bets -- a beer or equivalent amount of cash -- in order to check out the opponent and give the impression that money can easily be won, often losing on purpose with the intent of winning a much larger wager later against a predictably overconfident opponent. This is known as "sandbagging" or "dumping.""

"They will pocket some difficult and impressive shots or make surprisingly secure safety shots, the ones crucial for winning, while missing many simple ones, thus making early victories appear to be sheer luck and may pretend to be intoxicated, unintelligent, or otherwise impaired. When betting on trick shots, they may intentionally miss the first or several times and lose a small amount, then raise the bet to an amount well beyond the loss and succeed at the well-practiced feat."

"Many of these ploys can easily be mistaken for the honest faults of a less-than-exceptional player. The engendered doubt and uncertainty is what allows hustling to succeed, with the "faults" being dropped when a significant amount of money is at stake."

"Americans are partial to Eight-ball, so we'll start with that," he said, handwavily going over the rules. "So grab a partner, and work on your game."

Library, Wednesday, All Day

[3girls-1core.livejournal.com]

Living in bouncy castles were making things rather...interesting...so Sholeh was even more glad than usual to make her way to the library today. Having books to shelve and straighten made her feel a little more organized and at ease.

How to Be One with Your City, Wednesday, Period Two

[cannotdenyher.livejournal.com]

Another Wednesday, same time, same Danger Shop!

Except not quite.

Because unlike the noir cityscape of the weeks before, the Danger Shop was currently a beach on a lovely summer's day, with smooth sand reaching as far as the eye could see, and gentle waves rolling against the shore. There was a net for beach volleyball, and other assorted equipment for a fun day on the beach. It was all pretty lovely, actually.

And in the middle of all of this, the Spirit. Looking completely out of place and, yes, a little sheepish.

"Trouble with the room controls," he said by way of greeting, then nodded at their surroundings. "The room has spoken. A beach day it is. We'll be back to our normal, more ––" He glanced around, adjusting his collar, like he needed a pause to figure out a polite way of phrasing things. "–– city-like escapades next week."

And that was all he had to say today.