History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2

[glacial_queen]

"Kiss kiss!" Their usual teacher was waiting for them outside the Danger Shop today, looking quite cheerful and noticeably less pregnant than the last time they'd seen her. "Today we're visiting the Alnwick Poison Gardens, located in Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Normally, I'd bring you all directly there, but it's winter, so everything we'd want to see is dead. The same goes for my personal poison gardens--" yes, that was a plural "--only they're dead and buried under six feet of snow. So it's the Danger Shop for us today. On the plus side, I got to set the temperature, which means that we get an hour to pretend that it's not bloody freezing outside."

Stepping through the doors to the Danger Shop would usher the students into beautifully designed and sculpted grounds. Off in the distance was a castle, likely familiar to any fans of the Barry Plodder movie franchise. Several hundred feet to their left was a giant treehouse, built into a stand of sweet-smelling lime trees. And directly in front of them stood a walled garden, a pair of forbidding gates barring their entrance. Even without the handy "The Poison Garden" sign above them, it would be easy to guess this was where they were going, with the skull-and-crossbones motif and the warning on either door: These Plants Can Kill. For all that the Alnwick Gardens tried to suggest a old, pastoral feel, state-of-the-art surveillance equipment watched over the poison garden; where people were free to wander about and examine the plants elsewhere, entrance here was strictly monitored and guarded. Inside the walls, many of the plants were kept behind bars, out of reach of onlookers, and yet more warning signs abounded. The Poison Gardens were beautiful, a profusion of color, and that much more dangerous for it.

"Because this is only a simulation, we do not need to worry about guards or guides for our trip," Karla said. "But were this real, we would never be alone. There are over a hundred different kinds of poisonous and toxic plants in this garden, including several species of narcotics which require special dispensation from the British government to grow. Every plant in this garden can kill you, most in horrible and excruciating ways, and the staff don't want to worry about someone being stupid enough to pick a flower as a souvenir and end up dead." She held up a basket full of gardening gloves and sheers. "Here, you can feel free to cut samples to get a better look, but I'm insisting on using gloves anyway. This being a simulation doesn't excuse carelessness. You'll notice how the sign says not to smell the plants? They're not kidding. Every year, a decent percentage of tourists end up passing out because they've inhaled too many toxic fumes while exploring the garden. Should you find yourself growing lightheaded or developing a headache, step back from whatever plant you're examining, come back to the gate or head to the vine tunnel at the exit, and breathe cleaner air." Safety protocols would prevent anyone from passing out (or suffering from worse side effects if they touched or ingested any of the plants), but that didn't mean that the experience would be pleasant.

"Take this class to explore the gardens and the poisons in it. Feel free to take notes if you'd like. You'll need them for next class, when we get a little more...hands on."

Library, Thursday (January 29)

[wildandbrave]

Cosette had noticed yesterday's posters about the snowball fight, and was actually getting fairly excited about the idea; that wasn't something she'd ever really had the chance to do, and it sounded like a lot of fun.

That was for the weekend, though, and there were still a couple of days left to wait. Luckily, it wasn't as if she was hurting for ways to keep herself occupied in the meantime, especially since today was her library shift.

The periodicals were a bit restless today, and that would keep her busy tracking them down and putting them back where they ought to be with the occasional brief but stern lecture. In between bouts of magazine-wrangling, she settled down at the desk with a small stack of books to read; there was one story in particular about a tailor and a talking clock that she happened to find especially interesting.

Independent Study: Thursday - Period Three

[wandering-stone.livejournal.com]

Jones' office was pretty much set up like it was last week. There was hot tea available along with muffins and scones for any students needing nourishment.

"Good morning," she began. "I hope you all enjoyed last week's exercise. Dr. Disaster takes great pride in his simulations and it is meant as an amusing diversion from the humdrum of normal classes. Today we shall press forward with the creation of a thesis statement. In an academic process, the thesis statement is used after a short description of the topic to directly state your opinion and how you will present your argument to an observer or reader. Today I would like you to present your thesis and how you plan to support it. Next week we will be taking a field trip to my home dimension that will be related tangently to one of your topics. During this time I would like you to do some research on your topic and provide a bibilography of potential research resources you will use for your presentation."

And with that she randomly pointed at one of her students to begin.

The Art of BS [Thursday, January 29, 2015]

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

"Right, so we have about two weeks until Valentine's Day," Josh said, "which means it's time to find a date for that dance. And BSing--used in small quantities because open and honest communication yadda yadda relationships blah--certainly helps to grease the wheels a bit at the beginning of things."

He gestured to the supplies he'd gathered. "So today I want you to make yourself a Valentine's Day card to give to someone else with words that are flattering but not so over the top that they won't think it's sincere--and then you need to present your proposal for why you'd be a great prospect as a date to the dance. And then you can eat the conversation hearts. Because conversation hearts."

He clapped his hands together. "Okay. Go."

Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

[suitably_heroic]

If Atton was looking distracted today, well, he'd been tracing Visas' journey these past few days and a lot of it wasn't adding up. He was worried, and with his mind off doing that, it was easy for him to slip further back into his old casual whatever-I-don't-care persona.

"Today we're going to be practicing getting out of holds," he said, gesturing at a simulation of two faceless yellow human-shaped people standing side-by-side. "Usually, not actually something you run into a lot during Fandom invasions, but pretty useful in real life."

One of the two faceless people took the other into a headlock.

"That one, for example," he said. "Now, a headlock is gonna seem difficult to get out of, but it's not. First, make sure to turn your head so the other party doesn't get to choke you." Pretty useful, really. "Then, distract him. Stomp on something, I don't know. Finally, you reach up and give him a good shove in the nose."

The figures followed his instructions to the letter; the headlocker stumbled back, leaving the headlockee free to turn around and grab his wrist.

"Then there's the wrist hold. Your first instinct is going to be to pull back, but that just makes your attacker stronger," he said. "Instead, squat down a little and bend your elbow until it's sticking well past the hold. It'll become uncomfortable for your attacker to hold on, and he'll let go."

As the fake people demonstrated.

"Finally," Atton said, gesturing towards the avatars, one of whom was now trying to bear hug the other from behind, arms around their waist. "If someone tries that, and you don't want them to, you're going to want to drop your weight down, then hit him in the head with your elbows. Or stomp down on those feet again, that's always a nice, sensitive target. Worst case scenario, you have to try and break those fingers, but I wouldn't recommend that for today's practice."

He gave a little wave of his hand. "Find a partner, or use one of the avatars," he said. "Go practice."