Library, Thursday (March 12)

[wildandbrave]

Cosette was a few minutes late getting to the library today, and a touch disheveled to boot; she had a couple of leaves and maybe a stray twig or two in her hair, as if she'd been out in the preserve.

Which she had, as was her habit in the morning. More to the point, her habit in the morning was to take a walk in the preserve and see if she could say hello to any of the teal deer.

That had not worked so well today, so she'd had to make a run for it and as a result was mildly, if visibly, distressed. Not because the deer had -- it didn't seem right, but the only way she could describe it was that it had snarled at her, and then tried to charge. That wasn't what had her upset, though; no, she was mainly worried about the teal deer.

Which was why you'd find her in the stacks whenever she had some down time today, rummaging through books on zoology and veterinary science and anything else she could find on illness in deer. What she'd do about it if she found any answers was anyone's guess, since she hadn't even thought as far as how she'd go about finding that particular deer again. It couldn't be all of them afflicted, after all, could it?

[OOC: OCD-free today, but open!]

Self Defense, Thursday, Period One

[suitably_heroic]

Was it just Atton, or did parts of the island seem about as exhausted as he was? Weird. Weird enough that the notion was still troubling him when he stepped into the Danger Shop that morning, even if he was doing his best not to show it-- the weird, and his own exhaustion.

"Okay, last week we got a crash course in getting out quick," he said, "So it's probably a good idea if we spend some time working on ways to quickly disable someone."

He hit a button, and a featureless NPC appeared in the middle of the room.

"Situation one," he said, "Someone comes charging at you. When that happens, you don't want to be running away - that's futile, unless you're a real fast short-distance sprinter."

The dummy character came rushing at him. "Grab the arm, first," he called, as he did so. "Use that momentum to swing yourself around-- and then..." He pulled the dummy into a headlock, dragging it down to the ground. Then he let go and got back up.

"Another option is to step aside just so, grab their wrist and squeeze down on the pulse," he added, "If that's more your speed."

He rolled his shoulders. "Situation two," he said, "Somebody's coming at you with a gun, and you don't think they'll let you go easily. In that case, try to get in close. Pretend like you're going to give them your wallet or something. As you're in close enough..."

He approached the dummy character, moving out of the line of fire the dummy's outstretched arm hinted at. Then he grabbed the dummy's wrist and-- "Slam down hard on the elbow joint," he said. "Then force the gun up." He shoved the dummy's arm up. "They'll probably drop the gun and you can take it. Pepper spray's also a good option here, if you've got it on you, or something like it."

Atton looked towards the class. "Okay, that's two options for today," he said. "Pick a partner or grab a dummy and go."

Art of BS, Thursday 4th Period

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hey," Kathy said, waving from the front of the room as everyone walked in. "So, professor Lyman couldn't be here today and asked if I could run class. I know that normally that means a movie day, but other than finding a Youtube clip of every time the Mister BSes his way out of a problem, I couldn't think of a good movie to show. Sorry about that. Umm, instead, we're going to look forward to college--which might not be on the docket for everyone, but neither is doing a press conference."

She started handing out lists of class titles on it. "Today, your job is to take one of the weirder and more esoteric classes that Fandom has offered in the past, like 'Annoy Your Teachers' or 'Don't Be Evil' or 'Prophecy' and try to convince a college acceptance board that the class offered a valuable learning experience. Feel free to make up whatever you want about the class, but it has to be something that would fit in with the class title as given. If you're not speaking, you're a member of the board and have no idea that powers, time travel, and multidimensions exist. Feel free to ask questions or challenge assertions or whatever. Okay? Does anyone have any questions before we, uhh, get started?"

History of Poisons, Thursday Per 2

[glacial_queen]

Instead of the Danger Shop, class met at the Causeway today, with a portal ready and waiting to go.

"If I'd managed this better, today's class would have taken place last week because we're going back to Mexico today," Karla said with a grin. "Specifically, we're going to the Wahaka Distillery in Oaxaca. The Wahaka Distillery is known for its production of mezcal, an alcoholic beverage made from maguey plants. The more well-known alcohol, tequila, is a form of mezcal, made specifically from the blue agave plant. Mezcal, however, can be made from a variety of agave and maguey plants, and traditional distilleries use fermenting traditions that go back hundreds of of years."

Stepping through the portal led them out into warm sunshine, leaving them standing in a field filled with spiky-looking plants. "Alcohol is a poison, though not generally a toxic one. The human body is capable of processing ethyl alcohol and harmlessly passing it through the system, though that 'harmless' is gravely dependent on how much you drink and how often. Excessive drinking can lead to all kinds of unpleasant side effects, from vomiting and a hangover, to liver failure and death, because, again, poison." Karla explained how alcohol affected the body, including a breakdown of the blood alcohol content levels and what could generally be expected from each.

"As for how alcohol is made, it relies on fermentation, where yeast and certain kinds of bacteria break down sugars into carbon dioxide and alcohol. Today, we're touring the distillery to see how this most popular and ubiquitous of poisons is lovingly crafted into a popular drink."