Library, Thursday (3/5)

[wildandbrave]

When Cosette came in to find "HELLO MY NAME IS" stickers attached to the circulation desk and half the chairs in the front section of the library, she had a moment of panic. What if they were stuck on the books as well? What if they were stuck on all the books? What if they wouldn't come off very easily?

A few quick trips into the stacks later, she was reassured that she would not, in fact, have to spend all of today and possibly the rest of the semester peeling nametags off of the books, and anyway as it turned out the nametags stuck to the furniture peeled off much more cleanly than she'd been worried they might.

Except that the nametags had all been blank, and now she was going to spend all day wondering what the chairs' names were.

[OOC: IDK, apparently it's nametag day today. It is also an open, OCD-free post day today.]

History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2

[glacial_queen]

Another class, another visit to the Danger Shop. This time, the class stepped into dusk, the sun lowering on the horizon and the sky turning pink and orange. The air was still very warm and the drone of bees came from somewhere nearby. Karla waved to them from her seat by a small campfire, burning merrily near towering shrubs covered in small pink and white flowers. Under the trees were the makings of a cookout: bottles of soda chilling in a cooler, unshucked corncobs roasting over the coals in aluminum foil, and a thick sausages waiting patiently next to a pile of sharp sticks, already peeled for their convenience.

"Hey there," Karla said, ( gesturing at them to sit down. )

Independent Study: Thursday - Period Three

[wandering-stone.livejournal.com]

"Today we will be focusing on Eleanor's topic," Jones said as the students entered her office. "No field trip today but in the future I plan on returning to this subject as I do with all of yours at one point before your presentations."

She went over and popped in an old VHS cassette into a player and a documentary began.

"I warn you know that the topic of the video is not a pleasant one. If you wish to study elsewhere if you find it disturbing you may go to the library."

[OOC: Seriously. The video has major trigger issues regarding human experimentation and racism. Don't click if you don't want to see it.]

Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

[suitably_heroic]

Today's self defense class would be taking place in a large hall with multiple exits. Each exit was guarded by an identical burly guard. The two exits along the left wall were closer together, while the north wall had only one. Every other wall had two at a similar distance.

"So," Atton said, "Sometimes, you're going to wander into a situation you might have trouble getting out of. Say, because you've pissed off whoever's running the local club and now they want to box you in."

Yeah, he wasn't even going to pretend this wasn't about Sparkle's stupid mess from two weeks ago. It was a good lesson for everybody anyway.

"Of course, it's not always going to be as obvious a set-up as this. Sometimes you might run into trouble on the street and have someone blocking your way. Maybe you're even in a fight with somebody you know in your own house, and you suddenly realize they're a whole lot bigger and stronger than you." Atton shrugged. "Whatever the case, lesson one is this: avoiding the fight is always better than getting in the fight, unless you're absolutely sure you can win. And even then, avoiding might spare a bunch of people some injuries they don't need."

He walked up to one of the big burly guys, who didn't budge. (He hadn't activated their AI yet.)

"Which is why your first order of business in a situation like this, is to try and catch your opponent by surprise," he said. "Play the feeble, naive card if you can, or downplay yourself otherwise. Move yourself in close, and then--"

He whacked the guy very hard in the middle of the sternum. The guy doubled over, winded. "...Hit him in the solar plexus," he said. "That'll tap a lot of people out for just a few seconds. And a few seconds is all you need to--" he opened the door behind the guy, "...Get the hell out."

He pulled the door back shut. "If that doesn't work, though, you better get ready, because you're about to have a fight. If the guy is bigger than you, which is likely, hold up your arms to protect your head like this." He demonstrated quickly. "Bigger person also means bigger reach, so respect that. Keep moving, use your speed. Parry, don't block-- the smacking a guy in the bottom of the arm and redirecting the blow thing we already practiced a few classes back. If you parry, you might even be able to get a few blows in right after, because his reach is neutralized. Get in close if you can, hit him in the solar plexus or the head."

He looked back to the class. "Again, the point is to disable your opponent long enough, fast enough, that you can get out. Covertly. The last thing you want to be doing is drawing a ton of attention to yourself, because then everyone in this room is going to come swarming, and they'll probably call their friends."

Finally, he stepped on the big burly guy's foot. "And finally, never, ever try to play fair. You got a bottle on you to threaten him with? He might bail, or you might improve your chances of knocking him out. Got access to spices? Some pepper to the eyes will buy you the time you need to get out. Sand, hot sauce, all great things to go to the head with. If you want to go really drastic, cut the guy's knees. Your targets are gonna be knees, groin, eyes, bridge of the nose, kidney, heart, neck, throat, and the solar plexus. That's where it hurts."

Beat.

"And then get the hell out as soon as possible."

He motioned towards the class. "Now it's your turn," he said. "Try and get out of this one."

Art of BS, Thursday, March 5, 2015

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

"Afternoon, folks," Josh said, grinning. "I heard you had a totally groovy time over vacation, which makes my decision to stay in DC and turn into a Joshsicle much smarter. One of the keys to successfully BSing your way through life is the ability to react quickly and ad-lib in a situation without coming across like an idiot."

He sighed and pressed play on the DVD set-up in front of the class. "It's not as easy as you think," he said, "which I learned to my sorrow here, in front of a room of reporters with cameras."

They all watched Josh implode as he watched and shook his head ruefully. "So yeah, idiocy happens to the best of us," he said. "Today, you have to give a quick speech and use the words 'groovy', 'Jello', 'disco' and 'macrame' without sounding like a jackass." He grinned. "Good luck. Don't come up with any secret plans to fight inflation, okay?"